I currently run two d&d games, one for a group of teens. There are currently 3 of them (of 5), one is in a situation where he cannot afford a PHB, so he uses 5e.tools, and that is all he uses his phone for. Another does not have a PHB, but has meticulously copied all of their abilities from my PHB, ABs never touches their phone. The third has a PHB, but also has ADHD, and is always on their phone.

My adult group no one uses a device.

I keep an iPad at the table to look up images when I forget to print the graphic, or if it is not too visible in black and white.

I have considered a basket for phones for the teen group, but only one is an issue and even without her phone she drifts from paying attention. I also have adhd so I empathize with her.

Why would it be banned?!

I honestly can’t remember the last time someone in one of my groups used pen and paper. Mostly (but not always) the dice have remained though!

Why have the dice. Just click a button.

/s

Pen/paper is better then some screen with endless distractions. I personally wouldn’t play if everyone was on their computer. Might as well just play from home.

I’m not a fan of using tech if I can get by with pen and paper. From a Judge perspective, I only use my phone/laptop for music.

If my players are on their phones I don’t make a deal of it (not everyone can keep 100% focused all the time).

I do understand that some people reach for their phone when they’re getting fidget-y so for everyone at the table I provide a basket of fidget toys that can occupy their hands. I don’t make any deal out of fidgeting, but I try to provide an alternative to the phone that scratches that itch.

i have played in a few different models, and i love p&p & tablet games. i find laptops prevent some tabletop interaction and can detract from the interactivity of the players.

when p&p and tablets get set down, they are flat - this is an awesome feature of theirs when sitting around a table. it also allows the group to more easily play on the couch or other places without a dining table.

Lets just say I don’t agree. I find paper so frustrating. I lose it, or I can’t decipher what I’ve written. I forget it on some sessions… It’s an ADHD disaster. But with a laptop, even if I forget it, I can still use my phone to access the character.

I even use digital dice rollers when it’s not a PITA to share the results with the rest of the table.

As a GM, I keep my laptop with me. I don’t usually have a DM screen up, so the laptop serves many purposes to that end. I don’t think I could run a game from only a tablet, personally, and I could never run from just pen and paper.

For my players, I prefer they don’t have a laptop, but tablets are totally fine. For the same reasons another commenter mentioned about being readily there at the table.

For DnD, there are a billion options for online character sheets. I prefer they use their paper sheets if possible - I feel like it keeps you more in tune with your numbers. But I definitely understand having spells or items or abilities separate. They’re so wordy and there’s so little space to write them down.

For Pathfinder 2e, I’m all for ditching the paper sheet and using something easier. It’s not too awful in the beginning, but the quick math needed to do “I rolled a thirteen, plus four for expert proficiency, plus eight for our level, plus one for guidance, minus two for sickened, minus four for MAP. That is… Uhhh… Wait, I gotta start over.” Pathbuilder or just opening a Foundry character sheet on your phone or tablet is so much easier.

When I started DMing digitally during Covid I liked it so much more

It was way easier to look things up, I liked that I could make the maps interactive and they were a higher fidelity than marker on mats.

So for me as a DM I want at least an iPad and my phone even if running a game in person. I made myself a few apps to help run the game smoother and set up encounters.

As a player I’m fine with paper only, I did buy spell cards and stuff while DMing and those are great for playing.

I use

• notebook and pen for notes during play (temporary notes and those to be transferred to GM notes later)
• mobile with my adventure/secret notes
• PC for rulebook pdf, playing music and managing VTT (most basic there is, I could be displaying that on a tablet)

My users range from

1. scrap of papers and looking at the map over my shoulder
2. through notebook and laptop for VTT
3. to full laptop-only setup

But also I split the party the moment they get a job and with 3 players we don’t have a problem of running out of things to do for a character. There are many different people but at my current table someone scrolling through the mobile means their character is underutilized and it’s time to toss them some problem

Some people, especially kids (no shade, I’m mostly talking about myself when I was younger) have difficulties focusing on the game when the distraction machine is in front of them, leading to DMs restricting or banning their use.

I only implement restrictions when there’s actually a problem. Haven’t needed to in a long time

I do all of my prep on my laptop, take notes on my laptop, and have a digital GM screen on my laptop, so I use my laptop at the table. I don’t see why any other players shouldn’t get to do the same.

If they’re getting distracted and are not interested in playing the game, then it’s not the tools that should be removed from the table.