Core Rules Book on Tape [Archive] - Wizards Community

Core Rules Book on Tape [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
srkingdavy
02-02-05, 09:42 AM Before you continue reading: this is not meant as a joke, parody or humor post.

I know who has been playing dnd for over 15 years, mostly as a player but he has DMed occasionally. A bit of a min/maxer, he has a good knowledge of the rules and a memory like a steel trap, he likes forgotten realms and dragonlance. He's also blind.

You might never guess it if he was sitting at the gaming table; until he gets up and pokes his cane around, you'd think he was like any other player. He can't refer to the rules except using a (somewhat innacurate) handheld device which uses OCR and text-to-speech to read books to him.

What I was wondering are: what are the possibilities of doing an audio version of the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide? I thought it might be possible to do an audio version of the d20 rules, but there's a lot missing from them. Not only will it be the only way many people would be able to access the rules, but I for one would also like to have an audio version of the rules to play in the background while working.

What does everyone think of this?
Levis
02-02-05, 11:20 AM Wouldn't a braile version be of more use?

The braile version of the encyclapedia britanica has an interesting layout with many of the descriptions in the shape of the item they describe.
Evil Wizard
02-02-05, 11:26 AM I have to agree that some form of braile version would be much better than trying to convert the entire PHB to audio. As big as the book is, you'd need several tapes/CDs to hold it all to begin with. And the nature of the books requires you to reference pages in a very non-linear format. You don't want to sit and listen to character creation rules for an hour trying to get to the magic section. And imagine listening to someone rattling off the equipment lists!

A braile PHB would be vastly preferable to a book on tape, seriously. It's not a linear story that you sit and follow from start to finish, it's a reference book. Trying to shuffle through a bunch of CDs to find the section you need would be entirely too cumbersome. It would be much faster to use a braile index, and go by page numbers.
Aliquid
02-02-05, 11:59 AM The best version of the rules for the visually impared (in my opinion) would be a software version. It would have audio files with a spoken version of every section in the book... but considering it is software, you can navigate from section to section by interacting through the keyboard.

An audio based index would allow quick and easy reference to different sections of the book.

On a side note, I remember a couple years ago, a friend and I were designing brail dice (he was a sculpter)
Dave Stebbins
02-02-05, 07:20 PM As others have mentioned, the huge amount of information that is presented in tables or lists would make an audiobook version of any of the core rulebooks near useless. If braille is not available, the player's best bet might be to utilize the time of one of the many people who volunteer to read to the blind, as he could direct them to look for specific sections and to summarize portions of a list or table.
MrkGrismer
02-03-05, 04:10 PM SRD plus http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=braille+embosser&btnG=Search+Froogle&scoring=p would probably be a good alternative.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
srkingdavy 02-02-05, 09:42 AM	Before you continue reading: this is not meant as a joke, parody or humor post. I know who has been playing dnd for over 15 years, mostly as a player but he has DMed occasionally. A bit of a min/maxer, he has a good knowledge of the rules and a memory like a steel trap, he likes forgotten realms and dragonlance. He's also blind. You might never guess it if he was sitting at the gaming table; until he gets up and pokes his cane around, you'd think he was like any other player. He can't refer to the rules except using a (somewhat innacurate) handheld device which uses OCR and text-to-speech to read books to him. What I was wondering are: what are the possibilities of doing an audio version of the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide? I thought it might be possible to do an audio version of the d20 rules, but there's a lot missing from them. Not only will it be the only way many people would be able to access the rules, but I for one would also like to have an audio version of the rules to play in the background while working. What does everyone think of this?
Levis 02-02-05, 11:20 AM	Wouldn't a braile version be of more use? The braile version of the encyclapedia britanica has an interesting layout with many of the descriptions in the shape of the item they describe.
Evil Wizard 02-02-05, 11:26 AM	I have to agree that some form of braile version would be much better than trying to convert the entire PHB to audio. As big as the book is, you'd need several tapes/CDs to hold it all to begin with. And the nature of the books requires you to reference pages in a very non-linear format. You don't want to sit and listen to character creation rules for an hour trying to get to the magic section. And imagine listening to someone rattling off the equipment lists! A braile PHB would be vastly preferable to a book on tape, seriously. It's not a linear story that you sit and follow from start to finish, it's a reference book. Trying to shuffle through a bunch of CDs to find the section you need would be entirely too cumbersome. It would be much faster to use a braile index, and go by page numbers.
Aliquid 02-02-05, 11:59 AM	The best version of the rules for the visually impared (in my opinion) would be a software version. It would have audio files with a spoken version of every section in the book... but considering it is software, you can navigate from section to section by interacting through the keyboard. An audio based index would allow quick and easy reference to different sections of the book. On a side note, I remember a couple years ago, a friend and I were designing brail dice (he was a sculpter)
Dave Stebbins 02-02-05, 07:20 PM	As others have mentioned, the huge amount of information that is presented in tables or lists would make an audiobook version of any of the core rulebooks near useless. If braille is not available, the player's best bet might be to utilize the time of one of the many people who volunteer to read to the blind, as he could direct them to look for specific sections and to summarize portions of a list or table.
MrkGrismer 02-03-05, 04:10 PM	SRD plus http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=braille+embosser&btnG=Search+Froogle&scoring=p would probably be a good alternative.