Reddit mentions: The best computation & data pads

Long post incoming; some of this stuff is copied from other posts I've made:

Getting into D&D is going to be a lot simpler and easier to rolling your own RPG system, unless the system you design is ultra simple and rules-light. And unless your friends happen to be game design experts or prodigies, what they come up with probably isn't going to be as fun, balanced or robust as a system designed and iterated upon by professionals and the RPG geek community.

D&D isn't rocket science, but the first few sessions will almost certainly be fraught with confusion, rules referencing, and/or people getting the rules wrong... but all that's OK. The key is to keep a relaxed attitude and for the DM err on the side of what seems most fun and entertaining. After a few sessions, everyone will probably have a decent grasp on the fundamental rules and things will go a bit more smoothly.

If you do decide to play D&D, you have to decide upon an edition to play, as there are several and they aren't compatible with each other. Right now the two most popular and recent editions are 3.5 and 4th edition. A 3rd party spin-off of 3.5 called Pathfinder is also popular. A big advantage to Pathfinder if you're on a tight budget is that pretty much the entire system is available online for free. For your conservative friends, the fact that it's not called D&D may also eliminate some of the social stigma, making it an easier sell.

My preferred edition though, and the one that is most newbie-friendly, is 4th edition. A slightly dated and incomplete overview of 4e's rules is available in this free quickstart guide. This tells you about 90% of what you need to know to sit down at a table and play as a player, and includes some pregenerated characters, but lacks the rules for character creation and progression.

A free 4e adventure, Keep on the Shadowfell can also be downloaded and perused by the DM, but KotS is not the finest example of adventure design, though you can find fan suggestions online to improve and tweak it.

As far as what products you should or need to buy, the Red Box Starter is probably the simplest and most straight-forward route. Avoid paying more than $25 for it new (a lot of 4e products seem to have spotty availability, which means sometimes they are overpriced).

Like the free quickstart guide, however, the Red Box does not you access to the full rules, but rather a simplified and stripped down overview. It almost follows the model of a choose your own adventure book in some respects rather than true D&D, which can make it a good stepping stone, though some players are impatient with it. It does, however, include some items that will remain useful to your game even when you outgrow the rules and content of the box: a double-sided poster map which can be reused, punch-out cardstock tokens to represent player characters and monsters and a set of dice. At $20 shipped, it's a good value if you feel your need a really gentle introduction into D&D.

However, if the members of your group are not averse to doing a couple hours of reading before their first adventure, and would rather skip the frying pan and jump straight into the fire, you can safely skip the Red Box.

What you really need is: a book that descriptions character creation and level 1-30 character options, an encounter design guide for the DM, a monster resource, plus some physical tools/props.

As for as the player resource goes, any one of the following will fulfill the need: the Player's Handbook, Heroes of the Forgotten Lands, Heroes of the Fallen Kingdoms. I would recommend the latter two, as they are 4e "Essentials" products, which are more up to date and feature more newbie-friendly steamlined design. However, all of the books are compatible with each other, and you can use them all.

You also need a book that tells the DM how to design encounters, run skill challenges, and reward teh players. You have basically three options here: the Dungeon Master's Guide, the DM's Book from the DM's Kit or the Rules Compendium.

Each has their pros and cons. The DMG is written with the new DM in mind and gives you all the rules info you need that isn't include in the players' books, but as one of the originally published books in the edition, it's less refined and does not include the latest errata (which you can download online, though it's a bit of a pain to read through all of it). It's probably your least expensive option.

The DM's Kit seems to be out of print (or on a reduced print run) so it's selling at above retail price. IMO it'd be the best option for a new DM, as it contains useful goodies (tokens, maps, and two quality published adventures) like the Red Box, plus a more up to date version of the Dungeon Master's Guide. But if you have to pay $55+, that's kind of difficult to justify.

The Rules Compendium has all of the rules information a DM needs, and it includes most of the latest errata, and it's generally a handy reference that you'll probably want to get eventually anyway. The problem is just that: it's a reference, and is light on insight and advice on how to build entertaining adventures and run a fun game. Like the DM's kit, it may be out of print, but it's still a good value. The Rules Compendium may be the best option if you're willing to read forums and web sites for DMing advice, which can be system neutral.

The DM also needs a monster resource. Hands down, the best option here is the Monster Vault. It's basically a far superior revision of 4e's Monster Manual, and contains an adventure, a ton of tokens and a battle map to boot. It's a steal at $20.

Another recommended product would be a D&D Insider subscription, which will give you access to the Character Builder, which as the name implies, makes building/progressing characters a cinch, and the Compendium, which gives you access to every bit of crunch in the entire published history of 4e: all the classes, powers, feats, races, monsters, items, themes, etc. as well as a glossary which describes much of the rules. You also get access to Dragon and Dungeon magazine archives, which contains a lot of flavor, design advice, and many pre-made adventures (see this thread for some highlights). It also has a handy monster builder tool. A subscription is $10/month or less if you commit to a longer subscription. Getting one subscription and sharing it among the group can be worthwhile.

Finally, you also need some physical things:

• A sufficiently large playing surface and seating.
  
• Pencils, paper for character sheets.
  
• Dice. You could get by with a single set (including 1d20, 1d12, 1d10, 1d8, 1d6, 1d4) but you probably want a full set for every player plus some duplicates. A pound of dice would likely suffice.
  
• A blank/customizable gridded map. There are at least three good options for this:
  
• A basic Paizo flip mat to be used in conjunction with erasable markers
  
• Gridded easel pads which work equally well for preparing detailed, pretty maps before a session, or whipping up something quick and dirty at the table -- a single pad will last you a good long time. This is what I use.
  
• Gaming paper which is like a compromise between the previous two options.
  
• Miniatures, tokens or other markers to represent monsters. As previously mentioned, several 4e Essentials products include tokens (if you get the Monster Vault, you're set). You can also buy miniatures from gaming stores, on eBay, etc. or you can use just about anything that's roughly a square inch in diameter -- coins, polished stones used in aquarium bedding, dice (though this can get confusing), etc.
  
  Finally, as for convincing your friends, as you've said, D&D is essentially no different from Skyrim, World of Warcraft, etc. D&D is pretty much the granddaddy of those games. If you can tolerate the "occult" elements in those other games, there shouldn't be anything offensive about D&D. And ultimately, the DM and players have full control over what they want to allow in the game. Have a discussion and decide if there's any subject matter that is the party finds offensive and exclude it from the game (or re-fluff it so it it's not so offensive).

I use this stuff:

https://www.amazon.com/Standard-3-Hole-Punched-Sheets-Carton/dp/B00AQDGJRO/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1481062411&sr=8-4&keywords=1+inch+graph+paper

and draw my own maps with sharpies. They come out looking like this:

http://i.imgur.com/Q9pWlEP.jpg

Note that many locations in CoS are too big to fit on one of those sheets, which are 27x32. The amber temple I drew there is scaled to 10' per inch. It's not suitable for grid combat, but I still wanted to draw the map (and I plan on using a plastic battle mat and drawing the rooms real quick when combat occurs).

I just like to have maps for the players to move around on during a dungeon crawl because it helps them visualize the space.

So that paper works really well for the locations that are normal buildings, like the wizard of wines, the coffinmaker's shop, the basement of the church in barovia, even Argynvostholt is small enough that you can fit it to 5' scale on one sheet (you have to kind of leave the ruined side of Argynvostholt off the map, but no big deal). And if you need more room you can tape two of the sheets together.

As for Castle Ravenloft, I'm still not sure what I'm going to do. I could tape two sheets together but then my table isn't big enough to make that useable. The map of the castle that comes is an isometric 3d view which is really beautiful but even if you had it printed out, you couldn't really play on it...

On the other hand, Strahd will be hunting them through the castle since his main difficulty comes from the fact that he can just a lair action to just phase through walls--meaning he's going to be moving through the rooms pretty freely, so I think it's important to have them all modeled. I'm still not sure what I'll do. I want to draw the maps but it's just so huge. I might do the same thing I did with amber temple, and draw it in 10' scale, but then I'm stuck having to re-draw any room where combat takes place, and it makes combat between rooms cumbersome. IDK.

Things you can roll ahead of time to save time:

• The content of the wagons at Tser Pool.
  
  
• Initiative for all the monsters you KNOW will make appearances
  
  
• Madnesses and traits for the mongrelfolk in the abbey
  
  
• random encounters in castle ravenloft (lots of unoccupied rooms here)
  
  
• the results of pulling the rope in K30
  
  -------------------------
  
  Some other random cool stuff I'd like to suggest you think about...
  
  Think about who should get the Blood Spear at Yester Hill. When they get there, the spirit of Kavan, a barbarian warlord, calls out to the most appropriate PC and invites them to take up the spear and rule the tribes. The spear's temp HP gain on kill works for anyone but the chosen PC gets to use it as a +2 spear. If you have an obviously perfect PC for this, like a barbarian, or a ranger or something, then that's great. My suggestion is that you give them weird prophetic dreams of this Kavan, as he gazes out over yester hill sometime long before strahd ever moved into the valley. I like the idea that he keeps a wary eye toward mount ghakis in these dreams, as a kind of very subtle warning against the amber temple. Basically show him, show the spear, maybe even show him doing battle with a giant goat, or a roc. Nice foreshadowing for when the party crosses tsolenka pass and fights these themselves. The chosen party member will probably have the spear by then and will sort of feel like they're really chosen by Kavan. Cool.
  
  Be aware of how dang easy it is to get on the bad side of the burgomaster of vallaki. As written he is very thin skinned. If you kick the party out of vallaki too early you're gonna cut off a bunch of quest threads. So be careful! If you have Izek play the way he's written, and immediately try to abduct Ireena, that is almost certainly going to lead to a fight and lead to the characters being kicked out of Vallaki. So definitely think about what you want to happen here. I kept Izek's creepy obsession and the dolls and all that, but I did not have him try to abduct her immediately. I may not have him do that at all because it's uncomfortably rapey. It just says he takes her to his bedroom...yeah idk, I didn't want to mess with that, you know?
  
  Also, don't feel like you have to spring the Bluto-Arrabelle event the very first time the party might go by the lake. Sometimes they will be too busy to want to deal with anything and if you pull the trigger there's no going back and arrabelle will be dead. The party will be in and out of Vallaki a lot so it's fine for this to be something that comes up the second time they arrive--especially if they are, say, coming back from the west, that way the vistani can stop them on their way in and ask if anyone's seen a little girl around. Then once in town, people are talking about Bluto acting strange/not showing up at the bar today. Etc.
  
  The 3 night hags at the windmill are beyond deadly for a level 4 party if you play them no-mercy. Just be aware of that fact. Lots of things in CoS are that way. The 6 vampire spawn in the coffinmaker's shop also qualify. Just be aware of this and make sure your players know that they can't necessarily kill everything they come across. Hags will be glad to make deals with the party rather than slaughter them, and the vampire spawn situation can be approached in such a way that it's manageable.
  
  Curate your tarokka deck readings. There is a greater than normal chance that items wind up somewhere in the castle. You should make the decision on whether this is something you want. The sword and symbol make things a lot easier on the party. You don't want them showing up too early, like at Tser Pool or somewhere easy like that, but you don't want them showing up right before the end of the game, either, probably. If you think your party would enjoy the card drawing aspect, you have a few options. Let them draw cards, but then whatever card they draw, just give them the reading you want out of it. Or you could simply build in redundancies, so that x card and y card both lead back to x card's location, in order to prevent y location from happening, but preserve some randomness. Of course then you run the risk of drawing X card and Y card back to back... in which case you can designate a spot for that, and default to it if that happens. It's messy, but it's better than all 3 treasures winding up in the basement of the castle or something impossible like that.
  
  

Make? No.

Paint? Yes. I painted all of those.

The Goblins are actually a pretty good deal. Reaper's Pathfinder Goblin Warriors. Get 4 of them for 3 bucks. If you want a bit more variety you can get the Reaper's Pathfinder Goblin Pyros but I'd feel pressured to do Object Source Lighting and I'd screw it up. Got two batches of the goblins and painted them all assembly line style.

Reaper Bones has a fair amount of similar "package deals" for a few monsters. 3-4 Skeletons, warriors, goblins, etc. Easy way to build a basic collection, even if it wont be 100% accurate at play time.

I'm using 3 Warriors, 3 Skeletons, and 8 Goblins as markers for most things right now since they were so cheap and easy. Players are pretty understanding of me using stand ins so far. They're happy to have painted miniatures even if the couple Bugbears in a fight are represented by Human Warrior minis.

Of course, even cheaper, you can get any number of wooden or plastic counters in any number of colors and shapes. Those work great too, but I enjoy collecting and painting (even on my limited budget) so Reaper Bones have been a godsend.

Oh! That 1 inch grid paper can be picked up as an Easel Pad. It allows you to draw out full maps, or even just important rooms ahead of time. Easy to just lay the prepped sheet out and go rather than drawing a room out before the combat.

There's a saying in the Army: Everything is ounces, ounces are pounds, pounds are miles.

Well, in D&D: Everything is seconds, seconds are minutes, and minutes are player interest and investment. Keep things flowing smoothly and keep people interested!

Engineering paper is like graph paper, but the graph is only printed on the back of the paper (and it's printed very dark on the back). This means that you can see the graph from the front of the paper, but it's very faint and isn't distracting like graph paper normally is when you write on it. The top of it is also usually divided into 3 sections for your header, which is nice for including the date, the subject, and the page number for notes. The downsides are that it can be a bit more expensive (depending on what brand you get) and it really can only be used on one side for the most part (because the graph is printed very dark on the back).

I personally prefer the Roaring Springs pads in "buff" color (not a gross green-yellow, but a more aesthetically pleasing brown-yellow) because it's some nice quality paper with good weight to it and the pads are solid. You can buy it on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Roaring-Spring-Engineering-Enclosed-95182/dp/B001TJ5JZM), but I instead bought a full case of 24 pads for ~$120 ($5 per pad) in the middle of my freshmen year when I found the kind of paper I liked best. I've gone through about 2-3 pads a semester up to this point, which isn't terrible in terms of cost (pirate/don't buy one textbook and you come out a long ways ahead) and I get to write on nice paper.

There are also some classes that mandate you to use engineering paper, not so much in EE, but I've seen some mech e classes where the professor requires all assignments to be handed in on it. I'm guessing it mostly is for assignments with drawings and such included, since the graph background on the paper would make the drawings neater to look at. It's also pretty great for math notes/assignments, since it makes graphs easy without the super thick lines of most graph papers.

Here's how I study:

First I need an actual study place. I'm lucky to have an office. It's just a second bedroom but it's my own space. I spent a few bucks to spring for a comfy chair. I went to office max and sat in every display chair they had and compared prices and picked the one that was most comfortable that was within a reasonable price. Having the chair makes me feel more obligated to use that space instead of trying to do HW in front of the tv. Don't ever do homework in front of the TV if you need to learn what you are working on. Same goes for listening to music. Don't put on your favorite band. If you like playing music. Pick something without words. I personally like listening to chill beats when I'm studying. I'm not distracted but I don't feel uncomfortable either like I am in a hospital or something. Having a separate comfortable space really does matter a lot.

I am also super particular about what I write in. I don't have any lined paper. I have one notebook and it is a Spiralbound Ampad Gold Fibre Computation Book. It makes soooooooo much god damn difference. I normally would never be able to keep detailed notes like this because my handwriting is horrible and I'm too lazy to organize it. However having a nice notebook makes me want to keep nice notes. I know my notes aren't like a work of art but they are miles ahead of what they looked like last year.

You might also notice that I took those notes in pen. I only use pilot g2 black ink retractable pens. They are cheap, reliable, and writing with them is less physically exhausting then writing in pencil. A $12 pack of these pens is what I asked for at Christmas. Because it makes a real difference.

So I have my office, my chair, my notebook, my pens and it feels good to have those things that I all carefully picked out so it feels good to study and take notes.

My actual method of studying is to take notes in my office while I read the chapters. I don't take notes in class during the lecture. I don't know how anybody can listen and write and learn at the same time. So I use the Cornell method. Then I do all the homework off these notes. And when I take an exam I write the important formulas over and over for about 30 minutes before each test.

What kind of mat are you using? You have to specify in order for your question to be answerable.

I've left wet erase markings on my Chessex mat for a week, and it eventually comes off. There's ghosting the first time you wipe it down, but if you give it three or more passes, it eventually comes off. Disclaimer: I take very good care of my Chessex mat. I usually keep wiping it with fresh wet paper towels until there's no more trace of ink. This usually requires 3+ passes. Only then does it go back into its poster tube for storage.

Gaming paper is more expensive than it should be. Try gift wrapping paper that has 1" squares on the back, or try office supply paper. Easel pads are the cheapest solution I've found for disposable maps.

EDIT: Two other problems with gaming paper: (1) wax and (2) curl. The paper is waxy, so you can't draw on it well with, say, a ballpoint pen. It also curls. Easel pad paper has neither of these problems.

Alternatively try Paizo's basic flip-mat. It's more easily erased than Chessex mats. Bonus: it's double-sided, so you can pre-draw both sides, to save even more time.

I hope this helps. Good luck.

As a software engineer I got in the habit long ago of making notes like an inventor. Early on I had a job where we were introduced to the idea of the engineering notebook through the story of Brattain, Bardeen and Shockley and the credit for the invention of the transistor. I wasn't working in research then but I am now and using a numbered-page, permanently-bound notebook is important. A "patent notebook" because anything important should be logged in this book and witnessed by a peer. The book I use is a TOPS Computation Book.

This suits me fine since I get to use my favourite pens daily, and if a pen is a work requirement then surely I am justified in having a good one, and one or two backups? I fill one or two pages every day so this costs me about $50 a year in paper alone but it's worth it. Currently I'm using a Pelikan Stresemann M805 with Sailor Kiwa-guro. The permanence is important to me both for the legal aspect as well as resisting water spills - but even if it wasn't I love this ink. It is a dense jet black with beautifully smooth characteristics. It also does not dry in the pen. After two weeks it starts as easily as if it were just used.

Away from work I use another book at home. This one gets less use but still gets filled up every year or so.

INVESTIGATING...

1. With newbies, I make it ultra obvious until they get used to looking around. First I make sure to be clear in my descriptions. I also really push passive perception. I will share that they notice things around them. Whatever makes sense in context that might give an indication they should look around more closely. If that doesn't get them biting them I simply ask "Do you want to look around more carefully?" Then if they say yes I ask them to roll an investigation check. Newbies frequently need to be given more obvious prompts until they get used to operating more independently.
   
2. If they are veteran players I usually don't have to do the above. I let them make their choices but I make sure I am really clearly describing the area.
   
   MAPS...
   
   
3. I do not rely heavily on actual maps unless there is a tactical reason they need one. I use Theater of the Mind. As long as I am describing things well, it can actually enhance play since everyone has a clear picture in their head of a 3 dimensional space instead of a flat map.
   
4. I rarely ever draw a map while in game. It takes too much time. When I do need a map, if the space is complicated enough that I actually feel the players need a map, then I need time to draw it accurately anyway. If the space is something like a 20x20 room with nothing in it but the PCs and the bad guys then I don't usually need a map.
   
5. I also hate spending hours and hours on maps when my players may never even go to the whatever I am mapping. Therefore I use a hybrid of things to provide a map when it is necessary, but almost always prepped ahead of time.I don't always draw the map, though. I sometimes rely on other resources. Examples below:
   
   

• I sometimes use these: https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Tactical-Reincarnated-Accessory/dp/0786966793/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=grids+dnd&qid=1571626033&sr=8-6
  
• and these https://www.amazon.com/DUNGEON-TILES-REINCARNATED-WILDERNESS/dp/0786966319/ref=sr_1_11?keywords=grids+dnd&qid=1571626069&sr=8-11 upon occasion.
  
• I also bought this and use this for larger maps. I create them then save them for reuse/retasking later. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RGYL979/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I only buy it when it is on sale.
  
• I do have erasable battle grids but I ended up rarely using them. If I am putting in the effort to create the map I would like it to be in a format for reuse/retasking later on. And what if the players come back through the area? Having to draw the thing again seems a waste of energy. That's just my preference.
  
• There are also generic maps available for all kinds of settings for very little cost on the Dungeon Master's Guild website. Tons of options. Many look quite professional. Sometimes I use those if they fit with my needs. Example selected at random: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/190205/A-Dozen-Maps
  
• Along with the above, frequently there are really nice looking maps available for specific official modules. I don't believe there are any for Dragon of Ice Spire peak but I know there are many offerings for other modules. Some are really, really good.

When I am not presenting to a client (reviewing early concepts as a team, e.g.), simply a pencil and grid paper is the most efficient for me to sketch out a clean wireframe. To me, this is the fastest way to get my ideas across. I don't want to come off as a douche here, but I am genuinely a huge advocate for paper wireframes. This might be personal, but I also feel like I have a deeper understanding of what I'm making when I sketch it out on paper.

When I am presenting a wireframe to a client, I have been using UXPin. While it's paid (job pays for it), I enjoy using it because it has a robust library of pre-built UI elements that are all readily editable. This makes the process pretty fast. If I sketch out what I am doing first, I can usually put a simple landing page together in about 10-15 minutes. You can also create pretty intricate interactions with it.

Here is an Amazon listing for some good quality grid paper pads

I make battle maps because I find that stuff fun - but you can make very simple ones!

I use this paper - it comes out to <50c per map.

Though you could just use butcher paper and a wooden dowel with one inch marks on it for for every 5 feet - that's what I'm doing after I run out of the grid Paper.

For city maps, I use this method.

Again, I spend more time with it because I like to, but less so when I too am pressed for time. You could likely make them very simple, and they would still look good and make sense.

I can post a few pictures of some of my town and battle maps when I get back if you're interested.

I tried to use premade maps to print initially, but it was both very expensive and hard to see. Again, I can post pics later if you want.

I'm trying to get my best friend into DMing, and I've encouraged him to look into these, which are available in many sizes. Wet erase marker for 30 seconds, bam a battle mat.

If you want something in the same vein that's a little more hardcore, there's these, which I may get if I run a less serious campaign in the future.

There's also Matt Coville's video onterrain that is very helpful. All of the stuff he puts out is, really.

Hope that helps!

I'll try to be specific with what I recommend, giving brands and models if I can. Bear in mind, I'm from a STEM major, so some of this is stuff I've used for math and other related classes that you might not need.

1. Uniball KURU TOGA Mechanical Pencils - These are hands-down the best mechanical pencils I've ever used. It has a mechanism that rotates the lead as you lift up the pencil (I think? or maybe as you write...) so you get a sharp, clean script nearly all the time. My only gripe is I lose the eraser caps a lot, and if you don't have them on it's difficult to click more lead. The "Roulette" model might be different.
   
   
2. TOPS Engineering Computation Pad - I actually take my in-class notes on my Surface Pro (highly recommend it), and use my next recommendation for practice problems, but I use this paper for my hand-in assignments. I don't like ruled paper for any kind of computation work, and with plain paper I tend to veer off and don't get clean lines. With this paper, though, I can see the grid on the backside through the front, allowing me to get a clean look without thick lines muddying up the aesthetics. This isn't necessary, but for me it makes my work easier to read and organize, and it often times is the only green paper in the homework pile so it's easy to pick out as well!
   
   
3. NUboard A4 Dry Erase Notebook - My wife bought this for me for my first semester because I was going through so much paper to do practice problems, and because I hated standing up to do work on a bigger dry erase board. It's the size of a normal notebook with transparent sheets overlapping the dry erase panels, and your notes will (more or less) stay on the board until you erase them. By this I mean that you can do some notes or problems, close the book, shove it in your backpack, and when you open it it will be as you left it. This thing changed my studying habits, and I use a lot less paper now.
   
   Here's some other random things I didn't think of before I realized I need them in the moment. I try to keep these things in my backpack most of the time:
   
   Surge Protector - I do all my studying in the library, and if I don't get there early, all the desks with outlets get snatched up quickly (especially near midterms and finals). I ended up picking up a cheap one at Micro Center and keep it in my backpack in case I need to sit somewhere further away. Also, it helps others that aren't close to one either. :)
   
   Noise-Cancelling Headphones - I study in the "absolute quiet" floors, but even then some people make some noise just shuffling papers, zipping-unzipping stuff, eating lunch, etc. You don't need the Bose fancy ones; anything that keeps the noise out (and, I should mention, your own music IN) will work.
   
   Chegg/Wolfram Subscription - These saved my academic butt so many times. Wolfram might not be necessary if you're only taking one math course as a GEP requirement, but if you're taking up to Calc2 or 3 it's great. It can solve integrations and derivatives, but, more importantly, it will also show you a step-by-step solution. Chegg, however, I think is worth it for nearly any class. I've only had one or two textbooks whose answers weren't on there, and for the others it was a lifesaver. Professors will sometimes not post solutions or answers to problems in class or on homework, and books will often only have the answer in the back. Chegg, however, not only has the answer, but, more often than not, has step-by-step solutions. I used this all the time for two things specifically: 1) Check my homework before I turn it in to make sure I understood the processes (and got the answers right), and 2) doing practice problems from the book that the professor didn't address or post solutions for.
   
   Hope this helps!

The most important thing you can do is to set yourself up an environment conducive to working, where the chance of becoming distracted is as low as possible. Make it comfortable and enjoyable so that entering that environment doesn't feel punishing. Bring yourself some drinks and snacks so that you don't end up with excuses to get up and wander around, and good headphones for listening to motivating music (and drowning out environmental distractions). Wear comfortable clothes. Make sure to have plenty of pens or pencils (with plenty of lead and erasers) and a good notebook for scratchwork (even we professionals tend to work a lot of stuff out on paper). Finally, and probably most importantly, go in with some kind of plan so you don't just end up dicking around on reddit.

Sidenote: As a software engineer, I highly recommend:

• the Five Star Flex binder
  
  • the covers are durable, somewhat flexible plastic
    
  • the edge is bound with some tough synthetic cloth like nylon
    
  • the rings are durable, flexible rubber that won't eat your hand
    
  • it's the best goddamn binder I've ever had
    
  • I recommend adding a stiff cardboard insert to allow you to write when you don't have a suitable writing surface, since this thing is not especially rigid.
    
• decent-quality reinforced notebook paper
  
  • holes are reinforced for tear-resistance
    
• and (optionally, but very useful) an engineer's computation pad
  
  • front writing/drawing area is blank
    
  • back side is graph-ruled and is faintly visible on the front when writing
    
  • this lets you draw or write on the front of the page, using the faint ruled lines as visual guides, while keeping your notes and drawings nice and legible. Very very handy for drawing legible algorithm and data structure visualizations
    
  • also great for math classes
    
  • if you get the computation pad, I'd also recommend a thin, durable straight edge and a shape-drawing tool (has drawing guides for various-sized circles, rectangles, squares, and triangles) to keep your lines and shapes nice and neat. Not especially necessary, but shitty hand-drawn shapes are one of my personal pet peeves in my notes.

This is the kind of engineering paper I use for everything (I picked the first link I saw, which happened to be amazon, but you can probably find it for the same price or cheaper at an office supply store, or for $16 a ream at my university book store).

The grid on this kind of paper is actually printed on the back of the paper; when you have it on the ream, the grid from all the pages sort of adds up and is visible through the sheet, but once you take off the page, you can’t see it anymore. It’s nice for keeping things organized while writing, them when you take it off it looks super clean.

I like this stuff so much that I made a template of it in Krita when I switched to digital.

(If you meant, “where do I get old exam sheets,” then good luck. If you have friends in school, they may be willing to part with some. Your library might have scrap paper too. Or you can go back to college, but short of building your own paper mill, that might be the most expensive way imaginable to get scratch paper).

You've got a couple of options. You can scale everything down. I did that with the Temple of Annam fight, since the room in 1-inch to 5-feet scale is almost 5 feet wide. Doing something like "each square is 15/30 feet" works pretty well to reduce the size of the map but still let you use minis. You just have to make sure that the players know about this an are understanding of any potential issues with distances. If you're still using 1inch scale minis then it'll involve handwaving stuff like how characters can't share 30 feet of space.

You can make a giant map. I like this for major locations. For example, the Thane Kayalithica stone giant fight I used foam core board from the dollar store that I cut into 6 18-inch squares and then carved a grid on them and painted it with cheap craft store paint. It took probably three hours to make. Was it necessary? No. But it was cool adding tiles to the table as players explored the darkened room.

Also an option is using large pads of paper with 1-inch squares on them. I wouldn't necessarily go with that one from Amazon since I think it's more expensive due to shipping, but you can pick up something like that from Staples easily. Also you don't necessarily have to get all of the room, just the part of the room the players are in/near.

Also theater of the mind works well for large spaces. I like having a small drawing of the room and the general position of any creatures/features so the players can visualize something. With the exception of the encounters in chapter 2 and the final fight with Iymrith, you aren't usually dealing with a lot of combatants, so it's decently easy to keep track of everything.

I've used a combination of all 4 options, depending on the amount of setup time I have, the relative importance of the encounter, and other factors. For example, one on one fights with creatures work best in the theater of the mind.

There are a couple areas of interest that might help narrow your field of search if the suggestions get too broad:

• Specific features you are looking for (eg. format, size, binding)
  
• Requirements from your field of study (eg. tamper-proofing, specific formatting)
  
• Restrictions posed by your common work surface (eg. classroom desk, lecture hall 1/4 desk, lab workbench)
  
  ---
  
  I was partial to a comp pad and a Levenger Circa notebook myself, though I used ring bound notebooks or loose ring notebooks off and on. However my usual work spaces afforded a bit of size restriction on what I could use comfortably.
  
  If you can use / have the classroom surface area to use a hardcover notebook, it's definitely a worthy option. Notebooks like the Vela you linked will probably wear better, don't have the risk of damaging the binding, and are easier to store between use or post class session than a comparable double-ring notebook. On the other hand, you'll need one for each area of study so carrying multiple on a busy day could be an issue.
  
  A couple examples would be:
  
  
• Roaring Spring Engineer Calculation Pad (Amazon)
  
• Miquelrius grid notebooks
  
• BookFactory lab notebooks
  
• /u/analogp1xel's loose ring notebook. I had some success with cut-down pressboard folder covers and binder rings, but this version looks like a step up.
  
• Disc Notebooks: Levenger Circa is the one I used, though other options have become available since. Staples' Arc System notebooks look functionally identical. If you go this route, I'd advise investing in the cover and a hole punch only and using whatever paper type you like best.

You cannot have enough engineering paper. It is a bit more expensive than normal paper, but it makes drawing free-body diagrams and the like much easier. And the lines make graphing easier as well. And, as a plus, it's easy to get assignments returned in non-engineering courses because your paper is likely the only one that's going to be this shade of green.

And while we're at it. Only use the green paper. Nobody likes that putrid yellow crap.

I should probably add that my statics/solids/dynamics professor loved this shit and I might have been indoctrinated a bit into the Cult of the Paper.

Wow, what stunning notebooks. Absolutely beautiful.

Not a student -- working electronics engineer here. So, take my suggestions with a grain of salt -- you explicitly say you are not targeting me, and that's fine. That being said, here's what I would love to see in these notebooks.

1. A ribbon to mark the current page
   
   
2. Pre-numbered pages
   
   
3. Laying flat is a big bonus, being able to fold back on itself, even more so. I love computation pads like this, but they are so very ugly. If you ever expand your product line, maybe a riff on the traditional computation pad/laboratory notebook?
   
   You got yourself a customer by this post, btw, ordered three journals, two for my biologist wife and one for engineer me. Keep up the good work.

When I start a new AP, I'll go back and forth between reading the first book of the AP and looking at forum / blog posts about running it. I won't read the whole path, since it very well may not work for the group. I pay special attention to who the important NPCs are since I like to make sure that they're memorable, even if that book only has one short encounter.

Before a session, I have a list of things I try to get through:

• Read the material for the current session as well as the next session. Even if I don't plan on running the next encounter, sometimes I'll cap a session that ran too quickly with some prep for the next few scenes.
  
• Make an outline of scenes that I can reference during the game, with points I need to hit. I hate it when I accidentally forget to drop a key piece of information and have to work it in later.
  
• Load up all of the NPCs and monsters in Hero Lab so that I know that they have no errors and that I don't have to buy any supplements.
  
• If I have a complex layout that isn't combat heavy, I set up Roll20 maps
  
• For any area that DOES have combat, I draw them out on [https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AQDGJRO/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1](large sheets of grid paper). We have the erasable mats, but I find those harder to draw on because they smudge.
  
• Send out any notes to the players and ask for their HL portfolios
  
  I also tend to work a few sessions ahead, if I can, because I hate rushing stuff the day of the game.
  
  Back when I did home brew, I tried to think of sessions as very episodic: What's the set-up for this session, what's the pay-off, and how does it move the story forward? I'd write out the first few session in great detail, but be more vague as I planned out the rest of the story, since who knows how the players would effect the world?
  
  Your best bet to not get mired in world creation is to set a start date for the campaign. Whatever you have by then is what you're going with, and the rest will be improv, or will come to you between sessions. The best campaigns I've run have been ones where the background was fairly easy to grasp for most players. You can even start without a map. In my HBs, I started everyone in a small area and only bothered with mapping things out as they traveled.
  

I have a small leather-bound Moleskine with thinner paper, but I'm 99% sure it's not what you're looking for. The 1/5" graph paper you're looking for shouldn't be this hard to find, though. Here's a link you'll probably like: http://www.amazon.com/Ampad-Engineer-Squares-Sheet-22-144/dp/B000Q5Z5UO

All said, I recommend getting used to 20# (75 gsm) paper if you can - it's standard, easy to find, and you're probably going to be using it your entire life.

BTW: I make two types of graph paper for myself, and they are both 8.5"x5.5". One is square grid, with 1/4" major lines, but 1/12" subdivisions (my work is done in typographic points). The other is a WIP triangular grid. Let me know if you're interested.

IMX, you'll also eventually need to clean the whole mat with something stronger than just water. Wet erase works pretty well, but eventually there's a buildup that you need soap and water and some time to clean off. And you absolutely must clean the mat at the end of every session. Never leave it for a week, or you'll never get the marker off cleanly.

I also really wish they would put "Wet erase only" around the edges. I've seen them that have that and I feel like it would result in fewer dry marker triggered murders.

Personally, I still prefer the 1" ruled easel tablets. With a bit of shopping you can find them for about $0.25 per page. You also have the advantage of being able to draw your maps before the game begins and placing them as needed or switching back and forth as needed.

It's a cheap psychological trick. Having a fancy bound notebook with nice paper and features and whatnot sets up the pretense that what I am writing down is Important and Valuable.

When in reality, I am just brain-dumping a bunch of BS so I can move on with my day, or using it as a glorified day planner. It's not really the words that I'm writing that are Important and Valuable so much as the habit of writing and the organization and mental clarity it provides. It's honestly been revolutionary.

If that's what it takes to keep up the habit, so be it. Also, I have been addicted to this particular brand of graph paper used for engineering drawings since all through college. It's brilliant because the lines are ruled on the back side, so they don't clutter up the page but still allow you to use the grid pattern.

But nobody made it in a bound format; all lab notebooks are grid-ruled on both sides which is very distracting to draw/write on. So I've been wandering around with loose-leaf pads for years. Then I discovered the Dot-Grid journals, which is close enough to the perfection of that type of paper that I could reasonably make the switch.

Hey, finally something I can answer from personal experience.

I was in a similar boat where I didn't want to sink a bunch of money into the game for a projector until I was sure the campaign was going to last a while.

You can get set up for months for about $45. If this is a problem see if your players can chip in $5-$10 each or something.

One inch grid paper is your friend. You can get 27x34 sheets of it off Amazon for about 32 cents a sheet ($31.99 for 100 sheets )

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AQDGJRO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_iIo4AbG33KRFC

For minis you can use paper as well. I recommend getting 1" binder clips and printing off your own minis. You can buy 144 of these off of Amazon for $11

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N2WB1RL/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_jRo4Ab0QTWK5S

I used Publisher, but there's a free version called Libre Office Draw. Make a bunch of 3x1 squares in it on an normal sheet of paper and put in images from Google for all of your monsters. You'll want to make them double-sided so the paper sticks up (One row right side down and the other right side up).

You can fit a lot on one sheet of paper. Then print them off either at home, work/school if they allow it, or do it at a print store for less than a dollar.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Yep. I just finished engineering school this spring, and I've gone through my fair share of pads.

Green Paper is by far the most commonly used engineering paper. It's fairly thin, a little less than printer paper. I mostly used this paper for scratch calculations and everyday homework.

Buff is a bit thicker, but still has the same layout. I liked using this when doing hand calculations that would be included in reports or labs.

For notebooks, look for a Lab Notebook or Engineering Notebook. There are a few options out there, and it depends if you want a spiral or bound book. Computation Notebooks held up very well, and helped preserve my notes.

Thank you for the contest! Hope your course went well!

I would love this booklet of computation paper which is required for my assignments. It would save me lots of time printing!

I have a friend whose family owns a dollar store. Nothing in there loses them money, there are no loss-leaders at a dollar store. Heck, most of the items have at least a 250% markup. They make money on quantity sold throughout the store. Each item is super cheap to purchase but has a great markup and sells through quickly to get new product in.

They do carry a few non-dollar items like flowers and some basic convenience store things like milk and such for the neighborhood that don't follow that markup. Everything else though has insane markups. It's cheap, usually chinese-made stuff that works well enough.

Amazon has 100-sheet engineering paper for $6.14, and it has Prime shipping. That 100-sheet pad costs them way less than $1 to purchase in bulk wholesale.

Heck, even Follett sells 500-sheet packages for only $15.49.

Things I use teacher money for:
Post-It Easel Pads

Flip Chart Paper Also comes in 1-inch grid


Flip chart easels to use with the pads so you can use them anywhere in the room

Thin markers and thick ones

Construction paper

Colored printer paper (i.e. astrobrights)

write and wipe pockets

Organization - file folders, hanging folders, and mobile drawer units

Scissors, pens, rulers

A scanner
Flash drives

Classroom laminator and associated supplies

Paper trimmer

Misc project supplies or manipulatives

A large world map and a map of the US

I'm sure there's more but I'm pretty sure I already spent all of your money :)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001J87JTM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_x7vDDbBMR1SHM
I don’t know if this is exactly what you’re looking for, but I use it for all of my notes. As long as the piece is left in the pad the lines are pretty visible and once removed it just looks like you write pretty straight

I use a chessex map for on the fly encounters, but pre-draw all my dungeons on 1" gridded easel paper. It's a little more up front but has been working great.

TOPS Standard Easel Pads, 3-Hole Punched, 27 x 34 Inch, 1" Grid, White, 50 Sheets/Pad, Carton of 2 Pads (7902) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AQDGJRO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_yq7kzbHTDD8YR

I started using this notebook paper in college. I'm now 15 years into my career and still use it, it's fantastic. Make a nice neat binder for every class.

Tops Engineering Pad

For backpacks, I'm loyal to LLBean. They guarantee their products for life.

Thanks for the reply! Here's an Amazon link to the thicker stuff, but either way, it's a great idea! I just always feel like I'm about to tear the green paper when I write on it, so I like the buff paper. When will they be available for purchase?

I use large graph paper from Office Max or some place similar. Normally $3 for a pack of 10 or you can get a pack of 50 off Amazon for $10.


https://www.amazon.com/Ampad-Quadrille-Double-Sheets-22-037/dp/B00275QXLG/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1541685637&sr=8-7&keywords=large+graph+paper



Then you use paper miniatures. I always recommend Printable Heroes with their Patreon page. Pay the $5 to gain access to his work, download everything you need and you can cancel anytime. If you're a student then you can print them off at school when you have some free time. Cut them out and bam. $15-20 for a good looking campaign. You just have to invest the time drawing the maps/cutting out the mini's.

For notes I buy a ream of copy/printer paper from the office supply store, they sell reams that are already 3-hole punched, it's not very much. I like having no lines interfering with anything I draw. Everything I lay down on the page really stands out against a pure white background. I suppose I take my time and write clearly, what simple sketches I do make, I take a second and do it clearly as well. The result is clean notes that are easy for me to review later.

I also write with .7mm pencil and use Staedtler pens in one or two colors to add emphasis.

All my homework gets done on National Brand engineering paper. ...Found a brand I liked and I stick to it I guess...

Each class has its own 3-ring binder and I load each one with a bit of this plain white paper, and a bit of my engineering paper.

My favorite was engineering paper. It is expensive but gave me the best of both. The front is blank but has a grid printed on the back. You can see the grid enough to draw from but since the front is blank you don't have lines going through any text. The grid is also small which encouraged me to write smaller.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001E6BXM8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_tf1YCbA46EGF6

Go to Lowe's or Home Depot and pick up a sheet of plexiglass or other transparent sheet to put over it, that helps to deal with the overall flimsy nature of the paper.


Another person mentioned presentation paper - There are some pretty nice pads for about $40. I went to an educational supply store and got essentially the same type of thing for a better price per sheet.

​

Do you need books? Don't just buy em all willy nilly unless you're gonna run a specific module or setting.

That said, I highly recommend Mordenkainens Tome of Foes and Volo's Guide to Monsters. A lot of great stat blocks in there. Amazon has good prices for D&D books, and they are often on sale for 20~ dollars.

This is perfect if you like to hand-draw maps for your table. Its 200 sheets, will last forever. I bought this like 2 years ago and I'm barely through the 2nd pad. Course 65 bucks for just paper is a hard ask for some. You can certainly find cheaper easel paper, but this is my fave.

You could always use more minis of course, just search around.

Engineering paper is a light green color. This is to make text and drawings easier on the eyes. In addition the gridded patter doesn’t cover the whole page to leave room for margins and a heading. Finally (and most importantly) engineering paper is only meant to be used from one side. The grid pattern is printed very bold on one side of the paper and it shows through to the other. You write on the non-bolded grid side. This is what an engineering pad looks like:

Tops Engineering Computation Pad (TOPS), Green - 35502

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001E6BXM8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_K25CDbJFDV4N5

I purchased this for my group. It's 1 inch grid paper.

You can draw whatever you want on it and make 1 inch 5 feet. It's pretty large so it's easy to see what's going on, and allows for BIG map design of you increase the moment per inch.

TOPS Standard Easel Pads, 3-Hole Punched, 27 x 34 Inch, 1" Grid, White, 50 Sheets/Pad, Carton of 2 Pads (7902)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AQDGJRO?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

I used the giant grid paper easel pads for LMOP: https://smile.amazon.com/Standard-3-Hole-Punched-Sheets-Carton/dp/B00AQDGJRO It worked really well except for the last map. That place is HUGE. If I were doing it again, I'd do what I'm doing for Storm King's Thunder: I'm drawing sections out on 8.5x11 grid paper and rubber-cementing them to cardstock. This is letting me put them together and take them apart like puzzle pieces, and it's working much better.

[Engineering Paper. Lots of it.] (http://www.amazon.com/National-Computation-Inches-Sheets-42382/dp/B0007LTJO0/ref=pd_sim_op_3)

A dry erase board (at least 3' x 2') with thin tipped different color dry erase markers for homework. One or two people in my engineering dorm had one, pretty soon everyone had one and we'd pooled some money together to put a full classroom sized on in our common room. It's super helpful.

I use this stuff. It's very translucent to use can print out some guidelines and see them very easily. The ink will not go through. And it doesn't bleed. And if you have ink with good shading, this paper really brings out those layered details. I haven't tried many other papers since finding this stuff for cheap on amazon, but it's great for what I need.

Two choices- quality flash light with belt pouch. If you have the funds, the Surefire Fury is an excellent light. If not, the $20 LED lights on Amazon will do just fine. Or an all weather pen/pad set, like Rite In The Rain or Fisher...

SureFire P2X Fury LED Flashlight Dual Output 600 Lumens with 12x EXTRA Surefire CR123A Batteries and 3 Alliance Gadget Battery Cases https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071CR6Q48/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_XdSgAbXTRDKFV

LED Tactical Flashlight TODYM Brightest 1000 lumens Mini Water Resistant Military Grade Flashlight Adjustable Zoom Focus 5 Mode Torch with Rechargeable 18650 Lithium Ion Battery & Charger https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XZ3P4CY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_ahSgAbSJCXZ1M

Rite in the Rain All-Weather Black Metal Clicker Pen - Black Ink (No. 97) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000QBPZKS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_4hSgAb4WYKYZ0

Rite in the Rain All-Weather Top-Spiral Notebook, 4" x 6", Green Cover, Universal Pattern, 3 Pack (No. 946-3) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MQFDNSH/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_PiSgAbJVVGAP2

I don't DM, but I made a whole bunch of tokens for my party using washers and a 1-inch hole punch. The first batch will require some up front cash but once you get going, it'll be cheaper. I've also seen people use Magic cards. If you don't have a printer just get colored construction paper or something.

https://newbiedm.com/2008/11/22/newbiedm-tutorial-counters-tokens-or-pogs/

The edges tend to peel up so either make sure you glue the edges well or get something to protect the token.

Then just get something like:

https://www.amazon.com/TOPS-Standard-3-Hole-Punched-Sheets/dp/B00AQDGJRO/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2GVBW07SJC1RR&keywords=1+inch+graph+paper&qid=1555015575&s=gateway&sprefix=1+inch+graph%2Caps%2C271&sr=8-3

And use theater of the mind until there is actual battle. If it's not a combat encounter, no point in going through the trouble of tokens and drawing a map. Unless you want your players to think combat is possible.

If you want the really good stuff, here it is. It's the best quality engineering paper I've found.

That sounds awesome. Thanks for the info!

I've often gravitated to the 5-square engineering graph paper, but having tight ruling on the back would be even better.

I have been single my whole life. Never been asked on a date, never been kissed etc. I'm just waiting for the right guy to come along! Without a SO I still accomplished being valedictorian of my high school class and am now on honor roll in my third year of studying Engineering.

Here is something that is helpful in my studies! :)

I do it a bunch of different ways. If it's a map I am coming up with on the fly, I usually just quickly draw it on a battle mat or dry erase board.

Sometimes I use donjon (like you did) and then draw it out on one inch grid paper. I just cover undiscovered parts of the map with paper.

I just tried out 2.5d for a battle with a vampire, this isn't the video I used to build mine, but it will give you an idea of what I'm talking about.

I've also tried the method of cutting the map into rooms to lay out as the party moves forward. This method makes it more difficult for the party to know the layout of the dungeon, which can be fun.

It's all just trial and error, in my opinion! Have fun!

Just redid the math its $8, 190/24 is 190/24=7.91666666667, and I'm not trying to make a profit I just want people to get cheap engineering books and make sure I don't have 24 of them. On Amazon engineering pads are around $14-15 so around %50 of normal price I thought is cool. I'll edit the post.

I like engineering computation paper, but I have only one pad remaining and I haven't used it since I consider it precious. However, I'm silly because I could get it on line easily, I'm just too lazy.

Get National brand. Maybe you can get them personalized somewhere.


Maybe this:https://www.amazon.com/NATIONAL-Brand-Computation-Sheets-42389/dp/B0017TMB64/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=Engineering+Computation+Pad&qid=1574173104&s=office-products&sr=1-5

>graph paper

Is that like engineering paper? That stuff was the best. I still have some left over from college that I use from time to time.

TOPS Engineering Computation Pad, Quad Rule, Letter Size, Green Tint, 100 Sheets per Pad (35500) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001J87JTM/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_zBXaub079D154


If you can find the white kind I recommend it.

I recently bought two 1" grid easel pads, which I draw maps on. You can find them on Amazon, or at an office supply store depending on what's available near you, I bought mine from Staples.

As an example of what I'm talking about, here's a link to one from Amazon

For tokens, I use a small collection of D&D miniatures I had from when we last played 3.5 ten or so years so, I don't have much in the way of duplicates and a decent amount are basically impossible to use (My level 3 group ain't fighting Bane any time soon...), so I've been supplementing with some spare dice for the time being, anything will work so long as everyone is clear on what each token represents.

We have been using something like this and it is working alright until we get a more permanent solution.

I write down ideas and things I may or have to do later so I don't forget. It's just an external memory for me. During the workday lots of info flys by I need to jot down to take care of. Carry around a small notebook and pen. You may find yourself using it more.

Start with a cheap one and see where it takes you, if you use it.

Rite in Rain is nice as the ink won't smudge.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RF0SWI?th=1

I can write something down 10x times faster than whipping out my phone and fingering it in or voice dictation.

It depends how much work you want to put into it! Drawing it as you go (or describing it and watching/correcting the players' drawing) is easy and works just fine. I prefer being able to include more details and colors, so I went out and bought a few pads of 1-inch graph easel paper and spend some time drawing out each section of a dungeon. As the players explore, I put a new sheet down and occasionally use some scrap paper to cover up parts they can't see.

As far as notebooks go, 8.5x11 (inches?) seems quite large, but you couldn't go wrong with a pad of rhodia paper, along with a "padfolio".

• Something like this: http://www.amazon.com/eFolio-Zippered-Business-Portfolio-Calculator/dp/B015D2N9RA/ref=zg_bs_490555011_7/185-5001551-2644560
  
  
• Rhodia paper:http://www.amazon.com/Rhodia-Classic-French-Paper-graph/dp/B002C2Z6WG/ref=sr_1_2?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1454205088&sr=1-2&keywords=rhodia+8.5+x+11

If you want to be super fancy, you can just buy this green paper called engineering paper.

It's like regular paper but when you layer it, grid lines pop up. My husband uses it for when he's working on his math in college. I've only ever seen it sold in the campus bookstore though.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001E6BXM8/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/185-0272720-6495714

There's a link for Amazon if people don't understand what I mean.

YES!!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001TJ5JZM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is the yellow engineering pad. Slightly more expensive. 100% worth the extra price.

The buff paper is nice and thick it doesn't feel like I'm writing on tissue paper and it's very mistake friendly since erasing doesn't tear a hole straight through it.

The coveted TOPS green

http://www.amazon.com/Roaring-Spring-Engineering-Inches-95182/dp/B001TJ5JZM/ref=sr_1_1?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1417909218&sr=1-1&keywords=engineering+paper+buff

Get him this engineering paper instead. It's a nice crisp paper, and it's a 'buff' color that makes it really easy to find your assignments in a stack of green tissue paper. There's only one student in my classes who has it and I envy him every time I'm trying to find my graded work in a stack of paper.

Same here. But I've found that the green-ish computation pads, while expensive, work beautifully for doing math.

If you're going to buy him engineering paper - which may well be a very practical present, as in my school any non-typed assignment pretty much has to be done on it - don't get Tops or Ampad. Get National brand.

Both Tops and Ampad I've had tend to come with misalignment, bad binding, and are thinner paper. National is superfantastic.

I find that it really helps to have a piece of paper, both blank and graph, handy. (This is perfect) then to work out a smaller version of the problem by hand, then automate the process via program.

I'm not at work, so I can't tell you which exactly, but it's a computation book. Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Ampad-Computation-Ruled-Sheets-22-157/dp/B000DZEA2G

https://www.amazon.com/TOPS-3-hole-punched-squares-Carton/dp/B000ON9WZM/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1542978361&sr=8-4&keywords=flip+chart+grid

​

Why buy a special mat that you can damage when you can have 50 that you can save and re-use, or throw away, for cheaper?

I recommend Rhodia dot grid for web development, but I'd buy them in stores because they're more expensive on Amazon for whatever reason.

https://www.amazon.com/Rhodia-Staplebound-Pad-No-18-inches/dp/B002C2Z6WG/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1510916210&sr=8-2-fkmr0&keywords=rhodia%2Bdot%2Bgrid%2BA4&th=1

You can use anything you want really. One group I was in used these 1" grid paper easel sized: https://www.amazon.com/Standard-3-Hole-Punched-Sheets-Carton/dp/B00AQDGJRO?th=1

There's also specifically designed products like a battlemats: http://www.chessex.com/mats/Battlemats_Megamats.htm

Hi. For math/physics, I used a computation notebook.

https://smile.amazon.com/Ampad-Computation-Ruled-Sheets-22-157/dp/B000DZEA2G/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1500007199&sr=8-5&keywords=computation+notebook

I really liked it.

At my summer job working for World Class Electronics Company, I was introduced to National 42382. They used it to sketch out their cutting-edge designs. It's very nice stuff. I prefer to use it with a Pentel P205 mechanical pencil (link) and 0.5mm 2B lead.

But when that's not available I just grab a few sheets of copier paper and scribble with whatever Bic pen happens to be laying about.

One of my favorite lab notebooks: https://www.amazon.com/Ampad-Computation-Ruled-Sheets-22-157/dp/B000DZEA2G/ref=sr_1_26?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1504571843&sr=1-26&keywords=ampad+gold+fibre

When I was in industry, they used these: https://www.eurekalabbook.com/products/green-quad-standard-lab-notebook

I also pasted this link in your other posting:

http://www.amazon.com/Engineering-Computation-Letter-Sheets-35500/dp/B001J87JTM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1464385487&sr=8-3&keywords=ampad+engineering+paper

I hope it's what you're looking for.

I've got a flip map, couple of them. And the tiles. I keep going back to the tiles. I also have a 36inch wide format color printer/plotter that helps. Also look into easel paper. They sell pads of it with a 1 inch grid.

https://www.amazon.com/Standard-3-Hole-Punched-Sheets-Carton/dp/B00AQDGJRO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486869039&sr=8-1&keywords=easel+paper+1+inch+grid

This is what I get, good stuff.

http://www.amazon.com/Roaring-Spring-95589-Engineering-x8-1/dp/B002HICQW8/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1347071681&sr=8-6&keywords=engineering+paper

Or you could just get an easel pad of 1" squares like this.

I bought these from amazon a few years back for use as battlemaps. They have served me well.

I highly recommend the Rite in the Rain notepads. They're a lot more durable.

I used these guys. Just pop them is a binder and go. At $7 my student budget approves.

https://www.amazon.com/TOPS-Engineering-Computation-Punched-35500/dp/B001J87JTM/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?adgrpid=54885492926&gclid=CjwKCAjw7anqBRALEiwAgvGgmw_K8Mm047Md59FgUEVgibvyf6OhAEH0iPNQEPq9iFTD24uci6FYZxoC8UcQAvD_BwE&hvadid=274684629489&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=9008533&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=16325616909716343782&hvtargid=kwd-332463960364&hydadcr=2658_9930679&keywords=engineer+paper&qid=1565215139&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Amazon Link

It's a special kind of paper that some of your homework and lab reports will require you to use. Primarily used after freshman year I think.

My apologies, I mean the interior paper being something other than the standard green engineering paper. Some color like this , which is apparently called buff. I always called it tan engineering paper.

Either small (1.5" or less) 3-ring binders full of engineering paper or just a flip notepad of engineering paper alone. Easy to organize and categorize and having a grid is invaluable for drawing sketches, graphs, and tables. And it's green!

This paper, while expensive, is totally worth it.

Engineering Paper stored in a binder. Use the top fields to hold course number, date, and page N of M.

I found the journal I use (TOPS computation book) on an extreme discount on amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F78JLU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

National Brand Computation Pad, Plain and 5 X 5 Quad On Back, 8.5 x 11 Inches, Green Paper, 100 Sheets (42382) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007LTJO0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_3fMUKPwE3UxRP

Amazon!

I got a big easel-sized graph paper and draw out my maps with marker and colored pencil. Sometimes I will scale a map up from a digital version to print out if it's important and details matter (i.e. the Coffin Maker's Shop).

TOPS Engineering Computation Pad, 8-1/2" x 11", Glue Top, 5 x 5 Graph Rule on Back, Green Tint Paper, 3-Hole Punched, 100 Sheets is all I ever use. I use them for notes, sketches, even tracking HP when I'm DMing in my D&D campaign...

You might look at engineering pads if you like light green colored paper. It has a light grid instead of horizontal lines, but it's what I use most frequently for general notes and sketches. I find it to be very neutral on the eyes.

I would check amazon. I have something similar to this, but this particular one is a big pricey
https://www.amazon.com/TOPS-Standard-3-Hole-Punched-Sheets/dp/B00AQDGJRO/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=large+graph+paper+27x32&qid=1562945390&s=gateway&sr=8-3

Spec-Ops Brand T.H.E. Wallet (Black) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0029XC49Q/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_PEmOub0B93H45

Victorinox Swiss Army Swisstool Spirit X https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0027MSC2M/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_7FmOub0T67GKA

Leatherman 831925 Juice S2 Multitool https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JJY4ZZO/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_KGmOub0ZWJAY5

JETBeam BC20 E XPG Cree LED Flashlight, Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005171U8S/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_vHmOub0206RKK

Vivis™ Knight V3 13000mAh Dual USB Portable Charger External ... http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LJCI53M/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_yUmOub0X1GG20

Nitecore Tube 45 Lumens Blue USB Rechargeable Key Chain Flashlight with Lumen Tactical Keychain Light https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OY9TH16/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_sWmOub0CMG570

Rite in the Rain Tactical Notebook Tan 4 in x 6 in #946T https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RF0SWI/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_MXmOub1BV5GBQ

Smith and Wesson SWPENMP2BL M and P 2nd Generation Tactical Pen, Blue https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007DCGT12/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_21mOub18DFKDV

Kershaw 3880 Thermite Folding Knife https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BNPUX94/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_V2mOub0RFH0ZG


These are some of my items.

We had Ampad in school - buy it on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Ampad-Engineers-Computation-Wirebound-22-157/dp/B000DZEA2G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346803182&sr=8-1&keywords=ampad+engineering+notebook

After searching teaching supply, found the right keyword for Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00275QXLG/

You can also steel a page from the other Matt. Mercer uses easel graph paper and predraws the maps where the encounters will take place, laying out the disposable sheet for that engagement and tossing it when the encounter is completed. This tends to be a bit more costly at $40 - $50 per pad, but it does remain an option.

As an engineering grad (well, over 30 years ago) I've been using these for a couple decades: Ampad 22-157

• Square ruled
  
• Numbered pages
  
• Green-ish paper (easy on the eyes)
  
• You can store your pen inside the spiral when carrying it
  
• Lays flat on your desk/bench/launch gantry
  
• \>\>\>Big enough that you can print out letter size pages and tape them inside. Could be a print out of your test plan, data, results, restaurant menu, whatever.
  
  Production of these moved a few (?10) years ago, and the paper is not as heavy as 'in the old days', but I keep a stash for other engineers who realize I'm not all crazy.

On amazon. I think the green version is more commonly used, but here's the red version

I prefer Tops "Engineering Computation" paper for handwritten computations and projects. It has the grid printed only on the back side of the paper such that you can see it on the front of the sheet. This makes it super easy to use for writing equations, drawing diagrams, and making plots on the same sheet and making it look very professionally neat.

I actually had a professor that absolutely insisted that if we wanted to be engineers, we had to use this engineering paper. I thought it was ridiculous, but ever since then I VASTLY prefer using it. It's so much nicer to use for engineering and physics problems than lined notebooks or plain grid paper.

This. And these.

I've only even used green, and I've seen white paper once.

Any university book store.

It's expensive.

http://www.amazon.com/Engineering-Computation-Letter-Sheets-35500/dp/B001J87JTM/ref=pd_sbs_op_1

Roaring Spring Engineering Pad, 8.5 x 11 Inches, Green, 200 Sheets, Grid-to-Edge https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002HICQW8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_YxmkxbEK9JYYY

This is similar

National Brand Computation Pad, Plain and 5 X 5 Quad On Back, 8.5 x 11 Inches, Green Paper, 100 Sheets (42382)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007LTJO0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Z1NCAbZGSMMRX

This?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000Q5Z5UO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_YYzDDbFEYWFHZ

This FEA package

https://www.amazon.com/Engineering-Computation-3-Hole-Punched-35502/dp/B001E6BXM8

Just a tip for on paper design
https://www.amazon.com/TOPS-Engineering-Computation-Punched-35500/dp/B001J87JTM/ref=mp_s_a_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1543395036&sr=1-8&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=graph+paper&dpPl=1&dpID=41Vct6Pt6BL&ref=plSrch

It's everywhere: https://www.amazon.com/Engineering-Computation-3-Hole-Punched-35502/dp/B001E6BXM8

I am an old fart, but what ever happened to this:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HRKL53M/ref=sspa_dk_detail_3?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B07HRKL53M&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=f0dedbe2-13c8-4136-a746-4398ed93cf0f&pd_rd_wg=SfBsv&pf_rd_r=JMPE1CPPG4BMMM7515CH&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&pd_rd_w=tlyXu&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pd_rd_r=841bdf04-f0c6-11e8-a434-bf3dbd9e97d2

with this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00275QXLG/ref=s9_acsd_top_hd_bw_b4UIO_c_x_3_w?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-3&pf_rd_r=MQJ65T6Y1CV2AB1171ET&pf_rd_r=MQJ65T6Y1CV2AB1171ET&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=fc4929e1-76f6-52c2-bfa7-d56d4cc7f662&pf_rd_p=fc4929e1-76f6-52c2-bfa7-d56d4cc7f662&pf_rd_i=1069772

and this:

https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Wood-cased-Pencils-Box-144/dp/B0188A3QRM/ref=sr_1_7?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1543159829&sr=1-7&keywords=pencils+no+2

-)

This is what I've used for 30 years https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001E6BXM8/ref=cm_sw_su_dp

http://www.amazon.com/Tops-Engineering-Computation-Sheets-TOP35502/dp/B001E6BXM8

It's "engineering paper".

WHY AM I ADDICTED TO PAPER?

notability. click wrench. click paper. select green backdrop, select grid (bottom row) === engineering paper

For old-school gamers, THIS was a blank character sheet: https://www.amazon.com/Engineering-Computation-Letter-Sheets-35500/dp/B001J87JTM

I'd be willing to bet that if I looked in my AD&D 2nd Edition books that are in my attic, I probably have a character or two stuffed in the books, on engineering computation paper.

Uni-Ball Signo 0.2mm on an Ampad 22-157. The 0.2mm gel is the only pen that I've found that works with my southpaw microscopic lettering.

Uniball 0.2mm 207

Ampad 22-157

And a LPT for young engineers: Get in the habit early on of keeping engineering/laboratory/patent notebooks.

This stuff is what everyone should use.

I prefer engineering paper. http://www.amazon.com/National-Computation-Inches-Sheets-42382/dp/B0007LTJO0/ref=sr_1_6?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1382121527&sr=1-6&keywords=engineering+paper

TOPS Computation Book. It's sturdy, uses thick, quality paper, and is very expensive.

Its the holy grail of papers.

http://www.amazon.com/Roaring-Spring-Engineering-Inches-Sheets/dp/B002HICQW8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1427338653&sr=8-2&keywords=green+engineering+paper

Just get engineering paper, its gridded and probably a lot cheaper than anything else
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001J87JTM/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1523003168&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=engineering+paper&dpPl=1&dpID=41F-OMtprqL&ref=plSrch

For my money, Rhodia is my favorite. Throughout the week, it's what I use for 90% of my writing.

edit: My bad on the affiliate link. Removed.

I write literally everything on E2 paper. Although, as far as I can tell, it's basically impossible to find anywhere other than our campus. While it's $7 for 100 sheets on Amazon, I prefer the loose leaf stuff our bookstore sells, as it's 500 sheets for $20. I just use it as filler paper in 1" 3 ring binders, and those become my notebooks

Forget about your worries and your strifes. Thank you for the contest.

I really need graph paper. They don't sell the 11" x 17" pads in most stores, and it's so much easier to be able to lay everything out on one page rather than hobble together standard 8.5" x 11" sheets.

The standard is 1in squares, this fits all licensed DnD miniatures. I have a large easel pad of 1in grid paper for known fight locations, and an erasable mat from chessex that I use for "off the cuff" situations.

Buy a shit ton of this and a sponge to mop up your tears.