Quote from: The_Shadow;811710Actually you can get decent prosciutto and other imported smallgoods...but you can't (readily) get imported bacon, and the domestic stuff is not worth the name.

But between the Yakitori, sushi, sashimi, ramen, curry don and chicken teriaki you can survive a lack of bacon until you eventually give in and go to The Meat Guy.
When I was working in Japan I used to eat a lot of French stuff. There was a really great bistro in Marounuchi near the office ...hmmm...

Quote from: Enlightened;811712I am confused.

I don't remember American bacon being any different except in size.

Eating things in Japanese sizes keeps you happy, slim and sexy.
Eating in American sizes gives FAT GUT!

I've never had American bacon. I'm comparing Japanese to the English style mentioned upthread, which can be a centimetre thick.

Quote from: jibbajibba;811720But between the Yakitori, sushi, sashimi, ramen, curry don and chicken teriaki you can survive a lack of bacon until you eventually give in and go to The Meat Guy.
When I was working in Japan I used to eat a lot of French stuff. There was a really great bistro in Marounuchi near the office ...hmmm...

Yep Japanese food is so good, you feast on 100 great things and miss maybe one or two from back home. And I have ordered kangaroo from The Meat Guy.

Quite a threadjack...food is more interesting than D&D to me at this point...

Quote from: The_Shadow;811725I've never had American bacon. I'm comparing Japanese to the English style mentioned upthread, which can be a centimetre thick.

Ah, I get it.

In America, that's not called bacon. It's called ham.

Hmm, bacon.

Anyway, back to the topic please.

Quote from: Opaopajr;811286Bacon is both food and condiment.

If you used bacon as a condiment your girlfriend better not be Jewish.


...what?

I have created my DM Screen from The Worlds Best Game Screen.

I have printed out initiative cards, player cheat sheets, name tents, and condition cards for use at the table.

I have put away the computer stuff and repacked my "go box" for analog configuration.

Tonight, I finish printing out the Harn stuff I will use, organized it in 3-ring binders, and print out any other various things I may find handy.

Tonight I'm making a "session sheet" based on Harn watches to take notes on the shenanigans that certainly will follow tomorrow.

On SAT - 11am - I run my first 5e session, sans tech!!

Ahh, a GM who preps -- and even provides player reference aids! It's the little things that smoothes out and speeds up the experience. Good times, good times.

Quote from: The_Shadow;811725I've never had American bacon. I'm comparing Japanese to the English style mentioned upthread, which can be a centimetre thick.

Hmm. That sounds more like gammon than bacon.

And brown sauce is the correct accompaniment for bacon, not red!

Optional chrome is what I like best. Not "must never use" or "must use always" but a seasoning to add as appropriate.

With most rules sets, this really comes to GM attitude: really the master of the game, or slave to assumptions from who-knows-where? It's not so common that something's actually going to 'break' (or not work at all) without the whole kaboodle of factors for this and that.

First game last night with 5e! Went super well. I'm completely analog now.

However, a few people had phones and laptops to take notes. I hated it. Now they are distracted!!

I'm going to institute a "no electronic devices" rule. I will of course propose it and discuss first, but I feel like it's detracting from the game.

It was nice being able to just run the game without worrying about rules. It just flows now. I have no idea SERIOUSLY no idea what I was thinking before. How the hell did I get so far down that rabbit whole?

I will get some photos up of my new "GM Rig" to show it off.

I think some people can handle a device for, say, character sheets, but frankly unless they can take notes VERY fast I'd say they should use a notepad and organize their notes electronically when they get home.

I found it helpful in 3e to have html copies of various references, for ease and for not lugging a cubic meter of books to a game. And sometimes a die roller, because I'd often not have dice or borrow or whatever.

But, yeah, I'd say 'no phones/devices' is not a bad policy.

"No electronics" would essentially mean I can't play, as the only analog interaction I have with the system is rolling dice. Books, character sheets, notes (which I type out with a physical keyboard); all on my tablet.

That said, the only apps I have open are rules compendium, character sheet and notes (plus a spell list if I'm playing a caster and possibly Google Drive for setting info), the tablet is asleep unless I'm actively looking something up and my phone is silent and/or not even on my person. When it's game time I'm gaming. Everything else can go hang.

All that being said, my ability to maintain a singular focus on the game despite the potential distractions does seem to be somewhat greater than others' even in my own group, so I can certainly understand wanting to curtail the use of such devices at a table where you can't necessarily trust your players to be as obsessive as I am.

Quote from: woodsmoke;812568"No electronics" would essentially mean I can't play, as the only analog interaction I have with the system is rolling dice. Books, character sheets, notes (which I type out with a physical keyboard); all on my tablet.

Indeed. The tablets aren't the problem; the problem is that the players aren't paying attention, the tablets are just what they're using to distract themselves. If they didn't have them, it would be something else; talking amongst themselves, doodling, flicking through books, etc.

I've also found some stuff is more distracting or time consuming than others.

My iPad, for example, only runs one app at a time, so the delay to switch between PDFs of rules and die roller and character sheet was non-negligible.

I think there's a legitimate argument to be made for the ease of access to potential distractions provided by electronic devices. Idly flipping through books or doodling are readily apparent to everyone at the table and easy for a DM to call out the offender. That's doubly true for chatter. Someone browsing Facebook or playing Candy Crush on his phone is generally sitting quietly and not distracting those around him, and thus more difficult to spot until it's the player's turn and he has no idea what's going on.

A couple of the people in my group are generally solid players as long as the DM takes away their smartphones when the game starts. If they're allowed to hang on to them, though, they're guaranteed to be an exercise in frustration and futility all damn night.

None of which is to say those who are determined to find something, anything to occupy their attention whenever it isn't their turn won't succeed in that endeavor, of course, but that's why I don't game with goldfish people.