I’ve been running Dungeons & Dragons for 12 years: here are 12 gadgets and essentials I use all the time as a DM — and 2 that I wish I had

I love Dungeons & Dragons. I’ve been playing for 12 years, and the way I play the game has changed over time – and so has my Dungeon Mastering toolkit. I’ve now got a cadre of go-to gadgets and tools I use pretty much every session, either during my preparation or play. As luck would have it, there are plenty of Presidents’ Day Sales on them right now.

My main tools are centered around organisation and music. My trusty Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Lite has an ‘Open in Split-Screen view’ mode I use all the time: on one screen is a document with my session notes, on another is a blank Notes page I can write on with my stylus as I go. The Tab S10 Lite is currently $70 off at Amazon right now. Apple users will want a similarly-sized 11-inch iPad with A16 chip instead, which comes with a hefty 128GB of storage and $50 off, so it’s $299 compared to the Samsung’s $279.

Music is one of the main ways I create atmosphere, and I have a couple of pre-made playlists pumping out of my Amazon Echo Dot Max (when playing at home) or my reliable Bose Micro Soundlink portable speaker (when playing elsewhere). For prep, I’ve found a printer to be invaluable for character sheets, rules and even tokens to represent miniatures, and the HP Officejet Pro 8135e Wireless All-In-One Printer is 33% off in the Presidents’ Day sales right now. Another gadget I love is a note-taker for recording your sessions and referring back to them during planning: the Plaud Note AI voice recorder is perfect for this.

Finally, my wish list. A DM buddy of mine told me about a game he ran using color-changing smart lighting, representing fire-breathing dragons and green poison gas, and now I want the Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance 4 Pack A19 75w Smart LED Starter Kit yesterday. A 3D printer to make some custom miniatures would be nice: we rated the Creality Halot-Mage S 14k Resin 3D Printer our best 3D printer for miniatures last year.