[sirwhinesalot]

It 100% counts. As a somewhat irregular DM, DnD is a very poorly designed game.

Using digital tools as a DM for any sort of TTRPG is justifiable for the same reasons we use computers instead of books.

But the real problem is that players need digital tools too as the character sheet for any character with spellcasting is unworkable by hand.

Any prepared caster would need to manually copy every spell of the right level from their spell list onto paper every few level ups. If they don't write out the spell exactly as written (i.e, if they summarize) then you're opening the flood gates of rules lawyering and googling/book opening mid session.

Many other TTRPGs don't have this problem because they are designed with "playing with paper" in mind.

[galagawinkle489]

Book opening is fine. Post-it notes exist. You can easily open the book to the right spell. Just write down the names of the spells you have chosen to memorise for the day on a piece of paper and cross them off when you cast them.

As for rules lawyering... That is just playing by the rules. That is how the game is meant to be played: rules as written except as modified by the group by agreement. Rules lawyering just means sticking to what the rules actually are.

Maybe you mean something else?

As for googling, why would you need to google a spell?

[sirwhinesalot]

It's a horrible experience. I can only suggest you try out TTRPGs that don't need this. I haven't tried it yet but Daggerheart seems to avoid the problem by providing spell cards. You can do the same in DnD and I suggest doing so, but it's not assumed by the game's design.

All the old-school OSR inspired stuff doesn't have this problem.

You should not need to repeatedly and consistently open the rule-book to play what is essentially a board game. That's ok the first time you play a board game, not ok the 20th time. You google a spell because it is much faster than opening the book. DnD combat is already way too slow as it is.

[reactordev]

Investing in a refillable printer and card stock is great for this.

I used to make MTG style cards for spells, quest items, etc. something physical the players can keep with them.

This made casting extremely efficient as the caster has the card with the info on it. All they have to do is turn it in, roll the dice, and describe their action.

[galagawinkle489]

It isn't a board game. Maybe that's your problem. It is a roleplaying game. The mechanics of spellcasting aren't very important because combat just isn't very important. Most people don't even play with a grid and figurines (at least traditionally).

You haven't explained why it is a "horrible experience" to look at a photocopied piece of paper or to open a book to a post-it note bookmark. I do these things every day with other books, for things like work.

Are you just bad at reading books or unfamiliar with how to use them?

[sirwhinesalot]

> Most people don't even play with a grid and figurines (at least traditionally).

This is simply not true. If you want to play a pure roleplaying game, play a rules-light one. DnD is not that.

Everyone homebrews little bits so I'm not going to harp too much on that, but there's no point discussing the issues of DnD's design if we're not talking about DnD's design but rather whatever your homebrewed version of DnD is.

Did you know the game is balanced around 8 combat encounters per session? Do you know how many tables actually play that number of combats per session? It's a badly designed game.

[galagawinkle489]

The game isn't balanced at all. Are you playing the modern version or something? I'm talking about D&D which was always traditionally a roleplaying game and not a rollplaying game.