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Do you make notes on what has happened after a game session?
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<blockquote data-quote="kigmatzomat" data-source="post: 1367680" data-attributes="member: 9254"><p>Yes, do so in some fashion. Sometimes the mere act of writing the data down will help solidify it in your head if you lose the note itself.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Depends. As a player I get a cheap daily planner ("Everything's a $ store" is great) and log travel times, names of notable NPCs, the critters we fight, the loot we acquire, and who is given what. </p><p></p><p>As a GM I have a PDA (Palm==Great!) for my stuff and a cheap notepad for the players to record acquired treasure and its source; I decided it was too much work and left the book-keeping to the players. Every so often I have to flip through the book and note that there's about 500lb of coins and gear rattling loading down their packhorse to get them to distribute/identify it, but it's a lot easier. </p><p></p><p>For my PDA, I have a system of files: regions/places, XP-list, plots, and major NPCs. I generally start with a regional file that includes the names of the towns and the NPCs they might encounter so I don't forget or have to make them up on the fly. When I'm not sure where they go, I come up with a list of names and then just copy the name & profession to the city I used it in. later as places becomes more important I create a specific file with all the game details. A typical city file will list the party's favorite inn, local shops, weapon & armor smiths, the town's temples with High Priest and the lesser priest's they've befriended, local nobles, merchants of interest, and the thieves' guild. Town fairs or other annual events are noted as well. </p><p></p><p>I have a file that lists all their battles chronologically with the CRs and experience earned so I know exactly when they leveled and how close they are to next level; incredibly useful for planning out plot events. I also use it to keep track of time. I used to forget how long it would take to travel between places that weren't well mapped and this helps jog my memory. </p><p></p><p>I have a "future plots" file with the basic idea of each plot thread I might want to run, the events that would trigger the plot, and a general idea of the resources involved or how tough I want the fight to be. A typical plot entry might be "winter travel: a pack of winter wolves trail the party without attacking for 2 days. Wolves are hunting pack for Frost Giants who follow at a distance, led by baying & howls. On day 3 they set ambush after heavy snowfall. Wolves attack from beneath snow, Frost giants approach hidden by fog spells cast by Frost Giant/Sorceror. Total CR = party+3" This lets me remember good ideas without making them obsolete. Some plot points do become obsolete and you just have to get used to it (like if the players decided to never willingly leave their sunny, tropical home). </p><p></p><p>All major NPCs get an entry with their relevent bits of history, followers, etc. Many times major NPCs were minor ones that the players just interacted with incredibly well or took as a cohort. Some entries are all the plots or plans the NPC has while others are full character sheets or where I plan out spell lists. </p><p></p><p>Key sites will have multiple Plot entries, will show up in both region files and in their own place file, and may have multiple NPC files. </p><p></p><p>But my game has 3+ years of development to it with lots of NPCs (the fighter has favorite prostitutes and pimps in different cities!) so not every game needs this kind of filing system. </p><p></p><p>Just experiment with keeping data. If you realize you can never find anything you wrote on X but you always seem to have Y, give in and just use Y. Your players will thank you and your stress level will reduce.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="kigmatzomat, post: 1367680, member: 9254"] Yes, do so in some fashion. Sometimes the mere act of writing the data down will help solidify it in your head if you lose the note itself. Depends. As a player I get a cheap daily planner ("Everything's a $ store" is great) and log travel times, names of notable NPCs, the critters we fight, the loot we acquire, and who is given what. As a GM I have a PDA (Palm==Great!) for my stuff and a cheap notepad for the players to record acquired treasure and its source; I decided it was too much work and left the book-keeping to the players. Every so often I have to flip through the book and note that there's about 500lb of coins and gear rattling loading down their packhorse to get them to distribute/identify it, but it's a lot easier. For my PDA, I have a system of files: regions/places, XP-list, plots, and major NPCs. I generally start with a regional file that includes the names of the towns and the NPCs they might encounter so I don't forget or have to make them up on the fly. When I'm not sure where they go, I come up with a list of names and then just copy the name & profession to the city I used it in. later as places becomes more important I create a specific file with all the game details. A typical city file will list the party's favorite inn, local shops, weapon & armor smiths, the town's temples with High Priest and the lesser priest's they've befriended, local nobles, merchants of interest, and the thieves' guild. Town fairs or other annual events are noted as well. I have a file that lists all their battles chronologically with the CRs and experience earned so I know exactly when they leveled and how close they are to next level; incredibly useful for planning out plot events. I also use it to keep track of time. I used to forget how long it would take to travel between places that weren't well mapped and this helps jog my memory. I have a "future plots" file with the basic idea of each plot thread I might want to run, the events that would trigger the plot, and a general idea of the resources involved or how tough I want the fight to be. A typical plot entry might be "winter travel: a pack of winter wolves trail the party without attacking for 2 days. Wolves are hunting pack for Frost Giants who follow at a distance, led by baying & howls. On day 3 they set ambush after heavy snowfall. Wolves attack from beneath snow, Frost giants approach hidden by fog spells cast by Frost Giant/Sorceror. Total CR = party+3" This lets me remember good ideas without making them obsolete. Some plot points do become obsolete and you just have to get used to it (like if the players decided to never willingly leave their sunny, tropical home). All major NPCs get an entry with their relevent bits of history, followers, etc. Many times major NPCs were minor ones that the players just interacted with incredibly well or took as a cohort. Some entries are all the plots or plans the NPC has while others are full character sheets or where I plan out spell lists. Key sites will have multiple Plot entries, will show up in both region files and in their own place file, and may have multiple NPC files. But my game has 3+ years of development to it with lots of NPCs (the fighter has favorite prostitutes and pimps in different cities!) so not every game needs this kind of filing system. Just experiment with keeping data. If you realize you can never find anything you wrote on X but you always seem to have Y, give in and just use Y. Your players will thank you and your stress level will reduce. [/QUOTE]
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Do you make notes on what has happened after a game session?
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