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Comments on How can I make a game of D&D5e playable in a Sabbath-observing environment?

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How can I make a game of D&D5e playable in a Sabbath-observing environment?

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Being a person with some semblance of a real life, and the same applying to my players, I often find myself in the position of only having several hours of free time on Saturday - Shabbat (the Sabbath), a day where, as a religious Jew, we traditionally refrain from anything considered "work", including writing.

For RPGs, particularly D&D5e - which is the system we're using - this poses a problem. I as the DM often find myself making notes either on paper or electronically, and the players use pencils to mark HP, spell slots, etc. on their character sheets, as well as taking notes, marking down inventory items, or solving puzzles that I give to them.

Essentially, I need to find a way to run a game without relying on writing at all, from either the players or the DM.

How can I make a game of D&D5e more easily playable in a Shabbat-observant environment on Shabbat? I'd prefer answers that avoid potentially expensive items such as a HP counter ring, although I'm aware of the potential that those might be the best approach to take.

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4 comment threads

Have you experimented with dice as counters? (5 comments)
I have a sideways answer that might not be satisfying: instead of playing D&D, play a RPG that uses c... (2 comments)
Is recording voices an option? (3 comments)
Variant rules might trim down some note taking. (2 comments)
Is recording voices an option?
Cereal Nommer‭ wrote about 2 years ago

Not a complete answer, but have you considered recording your sessions in lieu of note taking? If it's acceptable to all participants, a shared private live stream or even just a voice recorder phone app could make a record of your session, that the DM and players could listen back to and update notes and verify inventory on a later date.

It doesn't really address HP, spells, puzzles, etc... but it might mitigate bookkeeping during a session. I have personally used recorded notes as GM and a player in D&D games and tend to find it helpful, but additionally time consuming. Listening to previous sessions over again helps you find things you missed, but takes a while to go through.

Mithical‭ wrote about 2 years ago

I've considered it, but that's also not practical over Shabbat (no devices).

Cereal Nommer‭ wrote about 2 years ago

That restriction might be helpful to include in your question. It nixes a few other things I was considering. I don't I have any better ideas than dice/poker chips at this point then.