D&D 5E Thinking of getting one of these "Dungeon Chronicle" notebooks

Staccat0 · Jul 22, 2017

Our next 5e campaign is about to start. I was thinking of getting my players on of these:
https://www.amazon.com/Dungeon-Chronicle-Pages-Catherine-Thrush/dp/0991478878

Just as a fun souvenir for keeping the notes. Has anyone used one or a nice looking product like it? Any thoughts? How many pages did you burn through?

OR BETTER YET, have any of you came up with a slicker idea? I know that I can just do ruled notebook paper, but I want something with a bit of style that encourages the lazy dorks to take notes.

pogre · Jul 23, 2017

Players, in my experience, are either note takers or are not. I think you would be wasting your money.

I play at a table full of note takers and it is very different from the campaign I run. For the campaign I G.M. - I do a rehash before sessions that takes about three to five minutes that is akin to "last time on..."

So, you are going to need to recruit a note-taking player or adopt a way of getting your "lazy" players the information they will need for the current scenario.

Good luck!

MNblockhead · Jul 23, 2017

I agree with Pogre. But you know your players. If you do buy something like this, don't get upset of some or none do not use them. We all have our favorite game aids and like to play the way we like to play. The gift giving become oppressive.

Giving fellow players gifts on birthdays and appropriate holidays makes more sense. If you buy a game aid for everyone for your campaign, it seems that you are expecting that they use it at your game.

Again, YOU know your players. It may very well be that they would really appreciate the gesture.

akr71 · Jul 23, 2017

I second @pogre's sentiments. Some people don't take notes - one group is at the point that I just make hand-outs for them. Not for everything mind you, but if they find a letter with important information, I hand it to them. Clues to a puzzle, person or trap that they are likely to encounter sometime during the same session - they are on their own.

Buy them a $0.99 folder or notebook - back to school sales should be on.

Inchoroi · Jul 23, 2017

Yeah, I wouldn't bother buying this, as nice as it looks. If the players are going to take notes, they'll have cheap, dollar store notebooks galore (my players do).

Staccat0 · Jul 23, 2017

Sorry, my little joke at the end probably threw people off. They do take some notes. I just wanted to make it part of the in-universe fiction with a prop. I was (and still am) trying to spare ya'll the gritty boring details of my next campaign, haha.

Jester David · Jul 23, 2017

I'd recommend using Google Docs and a binder more.
That looks nice, but it's probably a self-published book, which means it won't open flat at the table. You might find a generic journal from Chapters works better.

Greenstone.Walker · Jul 23, 2017

I'm a big fan of taking notes. In the OotA adventure I am playing in, I am using some A5 spiral bound notebooks with Alice in Wonderland on the cover, bought from a local specialty stationery store. As a GM, i use A5 spiralbound notebooks with hard plastic covers, for durability.

I've found that taking notes at the table using an electronic device is too slow and distracting.