How do you transport your books?

[Tyndmyr]

If there's one thing D&D has a ton of, it's sourcebooks. So, out of curiosity, how many do you typically take with to games, and which top your list, and how do you lug them all around?

Me, I have a rather large dice bag, a cardboard box for about a dozen models, and eight books that I typically lug around in a bookbag. I typically carry SpC, MiC, the books for whatever PrCs Im using, and of course, DMG and Phb.

[Last Laugh]

I use my backpack and only take the books I'm gonna use most. My laptop has most pdfs.

[Bibliomancer]

I use my backpack and only take the books I'm gonna use most. My laptop has most pdfs.

I tend to bring as many as I can fit in a backpack (usually around 15). Since I'm playing a Wizard right now, I try to bring all spell reference books that I'm using, plus setting sourcebooks and 2 PHBs and a DMG.

[Scoot]

I lug around what we in the group have come to refer to as "The Library".

2 old scrappy backpacks full to the brim with books, I think around 10-15ish books each.

I usually bring whatever the party may need, popular selections include the Complete Series for PrCs, and multiple ToB's. 2-3 Player's Handbooks are always included.

[The Dark Fiddler]

I leave my vast collection (core + ToB. Amazing, ain't it? ) at my friend's house, where we game. Same with character sheets and dice.

[Tackyhillbillu]

I leave my vast collection (core + ToB. Amazing, ain't it? ) at my friend's house, where we game. Same with character sheets and dice.

Core? Really?

Who needs core when you got the SRD?

(However, the TOB is an absolute necessity.)

[ScionoftheVoid]

I have to fill my bag with other things, so I only bring two or three books. If I need more I can drop them off the day before. Not a fan of bringing my laptop other places or our group would have access to more than twice as many books. Top of the list to bring are the Player's Handbook (spells, class abilities, etc. We have a copy where we game but we usually have at least two casters so it's much quicker if we can look up spells simultaneously), Spell Compendium or Complete Mage if any of us are using spells from them and one variable book. If I'm DMing the variable one is inevitably the Monster Manual (I could use the one we have there but being able to look at two pages at once helps and I don't mind players metagaming as long as they aren't actually looking at/for what they're fighting. If the players remember it correctly, so do the characters due to hearsay, experience or whatever else. If they go with a Knowledge check I tell them exactly what they know about a creature, no more no less. If they try to know more than their Knowledge skill would suggest and misremember, the character does too or doesn't know it or whatever).

I dread what will happen to my bag (and my fingers, damn handle) when I gain more books.

[oxybe]

in our current wednesday 3.5 game (level 7)?

Heroes of Horror
Spell Compendium
Rules compendium

after what... 10 years of playing 3rd, i don't need the PHB for basic rule questions, but the RC is really nice to have. we have 2 copies in our group: mine & and our usual GM.

this is effectively a one-shot type game under another player, to give our normal 3rd ed gm some recoup time after finishing our campaign (2 and a half years... 70-some sessions). once this is over, he's converting from 3.5 to pathfinder core only.

in our Sunday 4th ed game (level 4)
PHB 1 (i'm a fighter+some rules i'm still a bit fuzzy on)
Martial Power 1

it's a low level game, and i don't have a full idea on his "real" combat style (more defensive, more offensive, ect...) so i'm keeping to the basics right now.

in our Monday 4th ed game (level 14)
PHB 1 (rules)
PHB 2 (i'm a Barbarian)
primal power (a few extra powers)
Adventurer's vault (some of my items are from here)

now, i just got MP2, AV2 & Divine power after a big trade-in of Magic cards to the FLGS so i might include the first two after giving them a thorough read. with PHB3 coming out next month i've got lots of reading ahead of me (hooray for keeping some trade as backup... ).

this stuff, alongside my dice, random crud, mug & work binderthing, all fit snugly in my kitbag.

[Kylarra]

I mostly drag my laptop around for quick reference.

[Masaioh]

Laptop. My other supplies such as dice, laminated paper grids, markers etc take up much more space.

[Smeggedoff]

Thinkgeek Bag of Holding for the books I actually take
Laptop for the ones I don't.

And we use the Projector/whiteboard at the university where we game for maps and such.

[Saintheart]

Laptop, mostly.

My miniatures and maps, though, I transport in an old briefcase. There's a very satisfying "CLACK" sound that comes when I press the unlocking studs.

[RandomNPC]

messenger bag, five books, two notebooks, pack of loose paper, binder of blank sheets, folder of characters, with a home made dice goblin in there too.

the dice goblin is the best part.

[Blazen]

I keep mine in the trunk of my car in case I ever need them, but generally only bring my laptop.

[The Dark Fiddler]

Core? Really?

Who needs core when you got the SRD?

(However, the TOB is an absolute necessity.)

We don't play within easy access of a computer, and you never know when the internet will collapse.

[Harperfan7]

Weird. I was literally just thinking about starting this thread.

I use a lime green milk crate for my books, and a leather pouch that has "nuggets" stamped on the side for dice. I stole the crate from a huge stack of milk crates outside some restaraunt in Indianapolis (it was the only green one there, how could I not?). The pouch I remember bying from a garage sale when I was 5 (a full 6 years before I ever knew what D&D was).

EDIT: and for miniatures, I use a red and black "wolverine" shoe box. We call it the Beast of Malar.

[T.G. Oskar]

Backpack + Tote bag.

Backpack usually has the following: Core books + Core book sequels (PHB 2, DMG 2, MM 2/3/4 + Fiend Folio), XPH, Spell Compendium, MiC.

The rest of the books are on the Tote bag, such as: all Completes (ALL!), ECS, Unearthed Arcana + ELH, Book of Exalted Deeds, Miniatures Handbook, Oriental Adventures and whichever other book I might be missing (but not so much)

The rest of the stuff usually hangs on the Tote Bag, except for the dice and the pencils which are on the backpack.

The odd part is that I had to do a good walk hanging BOTH the backpack, the Tote Bag, and ANOTHER backpack holding...other stuff. I wouldn't say a mile walking with all that stuff, but it was quite a load to the shoulders, more if I had to rise up a hill to get to where I wanted. So it was quite a walk.

[herrhauptmann]

Generally just what I need for my character. So PHB, MiC, SC (as appropriate). The books that have my Prestige classes so I can double check wording on class features. If I don't have the books, I print from teh pdf.
This actually goes for 3.5 and 4e.
Generally I'll bring a shoebox of mini's (from my old steeltoed boots), OR a tube of battlemaps.
One or the other, it's too bulky to carry all at once, and no one in the groups ever help me get through doors with all that extra crap, even though I'm bringing it for them.
Though I typically don't bring the maps anymore unless the DM asks me in advance. Cleaning them off is a pain when other people won't even move their books/minis out of the way. (Most of my group is very inconsiderate now that I think about it)


edit: The books typically go in a bookbag. If there's too many to fit, say because I'm DMing, the get stacked up and tied with rope like a package. Very convenient handhold too.

[PersonMan]

Usually, the game is at my place, but if I'm going somewhere, I usually take my laptop and the DMG, MM or whatever I feel will be useful. I use a lot of homebrew monsters/classed NPCs and write down my adventures in Word, so it'd be difficult to go without my laptop.

[Soranar]

I use a USB key

[Zeta Kai]

A wizard does it.

[Zom B]

My wife and I just got netbooks, so I'm going to start using that. I have a library of pdfs I keep on drop.io along with my heroforge character sheets. Previously we gamed in my dining room, where I used my desktop, but that had me sitting away from the table and facing away from the group. I don't use dice anymore. I have my own dice rolling program I use (see spoiler below), which is much more handy.

My dice rolling program, just copy to Notepad and save as a .vbs file:

Spoiler

Show

Dim numberdice
Dim dietype
Dim total
Dim x
Dim msg
Dim roll
Dim rollstring

Do

rollstring = ""

total = 0

Randomize Timer

numberdice = InputBox ("Enter the number of dice (_d). Enter 0 to quit.","DieRoller by Zom B")

If numberdice = 0 then
Exit Do
End If

dietype = InputBox ("Enter the die type ("&numberdice&"d_). Enter 0 to quit.","DieRoller by Zom B")

If dietype = 0 then
Exit Do
End If

For x=1 to numberdice
roll = int(Rnd*dietype)+1

If rollstring = "" then
rollstring = roll
else
rollstring = rollstring & " + " & roll
End If

total = total + roll
Next

If numberdice > 1 then
rollstring = rollstring & " = " & total
Else
rollstring = total
End If

msg = MsgBox ("The rolls were:" & vbnewline & rollstring & vbnewline & vbnewline & "Go again?",VbYesNo,"DieRoller by Zom B")

Loop Until msg = VbNo

[Ormagoden]

I know a guy who uses this.
I also know a guy who uses this.

[CockroachTeaParty]

I bring my laptop with PDFs, and whatever books I might need depending on the session. If I'm a player, I bring any relevant splatbooks, usually the ToB and PHB II.

I have the core rules pretty much memorized, and hit up the SRD for anything that evades me. My friends have learned not to question my rulings though, even when I'm not DM; I'm always right.

[Jerthanis]

I generally take a notepad full of game notes and a the main book for whatever system I'm playing. I'll draw up my battlemat ahead of time and take it in a cylindrical mailing tube.

Most of my players bring their own copies of whatever sourcebooks they get their classes out of, but if they just brought along notes of what their abilities did I wouldn't mind.

When playing Exalted, it's almost become a running gag that none of us remember to bring the Abyssals book.

[LemonSkye]

My group games in the same place every week, so most of the actual hardcovers and assorted paraphernalia (dice, battlemap, character sheets, etc.) stay there. Most of our books are in PDF format, and 4 out of 6 of us have netbooks or laptops, so that makes up the rest of our library. It's nice not having to fight over the books when you're leveling up.

[lsfreak]

By books stay on my computer, for the most part. I write/type notes on anything that I think will be relevant for the night. If something unexpected comes up (interpretation of a feat we don't have the text to but only the notes, for example) I listen to the players' views, compare them with my own, and make a ruling, with the knowledge that I might reverse the ruling after having read the actual text.

My current gaming backpack is a bag of dice, PHB, and about 300 pages of printed material and notes, most of them about 8 month's worth of statblocks.

[absolmorph]

I carry all four books (DMG, 2 copies of the PHB and MM1) downstairs.
I run the game at my house, so transportation isn't an issue.
Of course, for the game that I'm a player in, I stick a copy of the PHB and my laptop in my bag, along with my dice and a notebook.

[AslanCross]

I game at home, so it's not such a problem.

I do lug the books to work so I can do my DM prep during off hours, so I carry them in one of those cheesecloth shopping bags. Bringing 4-5 books makes for a good workout. :P

[Tetsubo 57]

I use a hard case 'tool box' that I bought at Home Depot for I think $25. It looks like a metal brief case and has a padded lining. It's tough as nails and hasn't ever let me down. It's my 'GM-in-a-box'.