The bead cases have moveable compartments so you can resize them for hold groups of minis or single large monsters. The "bag" was sized for the cases (holds three plus an extra shelf). It is the perfect size for standard RPG books, has exterior pockets, and has a top compartment for "work in progress".

This meta-case has wheels and a handle, like luggage. Now I have enough space to bring two cases of minis, notebooks with adventures or characters and dice/pencils/wet-erase markers. Only thing that does not fit is a game mat.

This flew as an item of luggage to Gencon two years ago. It was perfect for a short week of running and playing games in Indianapolis.

Take a look in Jo-Anne's sometime.

Two are used for basic ambience music and ambience sound effects (rain over scary music, that way it can actually stop raining without ruining the music.

Sometimes I do have a third with even more ambience effects (thunders, for example)

Also I have some more energic ambience music for combats on a fourth instance. And lastly, a fifth with various sound effects like doors, dogs barking, whatever I need that plays only once…

Depending on the FUDGE mechanics you're playing with, it's only a little heavier than SHERPA. You can even make a FUDGEy version of SHERPA.

Castle Falkenstein isn't a big stretch from FUDGE either. You may end up with a little more, or a little less, depending on things. Though, CF is a bit genre specific. I've seen people apply the game mechanics to other genres though (there was a space mini's game that someone wanted to play as an RPG, so he took various CF mechanics, replaced the cards with FUDGE dice, and then used the mini's game as the setting material).

If everyone knows the mechanics, Hero can be pretty decent for it. Even though more recent versions of the games have a HUGE tome, it's mostly reference material and examples. Only 1 person needs to bring a copy of it. During play, almost everything you actually need is actually written on your character sheet (a consequence of having to build every power/gadget/etc. from scratch).

And, of course, d6 and mini-6 probably offer a similar degree of "almost everything you really need is already on your character sheet", with a few exceptions. You'd probably do a little more looking things up in the d6 rules than you would with Hero … but with mini-6, there's not a whole lot to look up

http://newbiedm.com/2010/01/01/a-system-for-playi…
.-= Daniel M. Perez´s last blog ..Ierne: The Raid =-.

But, how does that work with combat resolution? Specifically dealing damage. Or did that come up on your train trip.

This is one of the reasons why, of late, I have been drawn more and more towards small-book complete game systems. Give me PTA, Savage Worlds, S7S, Shadow of Yesterday. Even Burning Wheel is far more portable than 3.5/4e. Coupled with my desire to just play and not spend hours on technical game minutia, it's the portability that rocks. I mean, for the same idea I just purchased a netbook to compliment my laptop!
.-= Daniel M. Perez´s last blog ..Ierne: The Raid =-.

These days I play at home so the concern is not that bad. When we start playing somewhere else again I may need to reconsider. But computers and iPods make Gamemastering on the move SO much easier!

Another option that I used in the distant and hazy past is to make liberal use of a photocopier and create your own rulebook with a 3-ring binder. Or, specifically, create a binder for the session, with copies of the rules, monsters, etc. in it. I originally got this idea from the 2e Monstrous Compendium. I never managed to get it to really click, but it worked okay. As a caveat here, though, this kind of planning can make the session run super-slick, but only if the characters stay on the rails. If they surprise you, you may find yourself flailing.
.-= Lugh´s last blog ..Time goes by so fast…. =-.