Do You Take Combat Notes?

[Rhuvein]

I've always taken basic combat notes as a player and DM. In my current game as a DM, I've started taking more extensive notes to use and improve my campaign journals. My gaming group consists of new and younger players, and finally they've begun to take more interest in the game beyond the immediate hack/slash action.

So I'm looking to put fourth journal reviews of each session and embellish (via DM prose) the action so the players can enjoy (or in some cases cry like babes) at the combat recaps!

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

I tend to jot down the basics plus conditions (stunned, blinded, fell in a hole and died ).

Since we average no more than one battle per session, I like to point out what happened to each player in the last session's combat when I do a recap of the last session's events.

I don't get too detailed beyond writing down damage, with this being out of necessity.

J. Grenemyer

 

[BlueBlackRed]

I tape my games as well.

 

[Mean Eyed Cat]

If you use a laptop at the table you could easily bypass the whole mp3 recorder, and just digitize straight to your PC and then you wouldn't have to worry about transferring files at all, or a max time. All you'd need is a simple mp3 or WAV editing program, and a microphone that can be pluggd into a mini jack.

This is what I do. I downloaded a fairly cheap mp3 recorder off the internet (I think its called a "StepVoice Recorder") and picked up a microphone (Sony puts out a good omni-directional microphone). Works like a charm with my laptop.

 

[Wombat]

Combat is probably the one time when I don't take notes for a character.

I mean, I keep track of the highlights (if someone pulled off a weird stunt or something, beating a particularly difficult opponent), but for me the combat is won or lost. It is the other material, the clues to a mystery, the NPCs, the locations, that need the notetaking -- combat is merely what stands in the way of victory, not the victory itself.

 

[megamania]

Generally I note AC's and lost Ability scores. Then the loss of HP. If something happens that stands out I write that down for Storyhour reasons. multiple crits or failures and the such....

 

[paradox42]

I run my games in online chats on psionics.net, so I get a complete log of everything that happens in the game- rolls and all. I rarely use the actual combat rolls for anything, except to make new rolls later if the player isn't present and the character has to be NPCed for some reason (i.e. can't be plausibly written out of the story temporarily or set to "do nothing" mode), but on those occasions it can be quite useful.

My own rolls made secretly (that is, not using the dicebot in the chat room) are the only ones not recorded, but typically I don't need those anyway since memorable ones tend to be pretty obvious. Natural 20 on a save? Check. Natural 1 on an attack? Check. I'll usually describe those as a special effect in the game, or note OOC what I got for the amusement of all present. Example: last session, a pair of creatures had to make saves against the PC telepath's Dominate, which was DC 39 thanks to all the bonuses the player piled on; both needed natural 20s to succeed. One rolled a natural 1, and the other a natural 2. The dice gods not only spoke there, they actually yelled.

 

[the Jester]

In one of my groups (with the Jester as DM), the players take combat notes. We also recently started up player-scribed roleplaying notes as well. There is an xp bonus for doing so.

As far as how much detail gets written, that varies quite a bit.

Brain beat me to it!

I used to take the notes myself, but a couple of the players offered to share the burden. I give xp for "lubricating the game", i.e. helping it to run smoothly, and this certainly qualified; so it has become a thing where the players often roll off to see who gets to "whore" (as we refer to it now) in each combat. Often, longer combats get shared between two or more players. The non-combat roleplaying notes have proven an invaluable aid when I write the story hours up.

Some of the players write down damage and everything when they take combat notes, but most synopsize somewhat. Honestly, the only time I really care if I see the damage in the notes is when it's actually noteworthy (3rd level pc deals 50 hp in one shot, epic character pops out 500 points of damage, etc).