"Previously on..." - Recapping the previous session

[sniffles]

For the GMs out there, do you recap your previous session when you begin a new session of an ongoing campaign?

How long do you spend recapping if you do?

Do you do the recap yourself or have the players do it?

I'm just curious. I realize that this may be impacted by how often you play, so feel free to include that information if it's pertinent.

 

[Arnwyn]

- Yes, sometimes; especially if the previous session had some really pertinent info.

- Just a minute or two.

- I do it.

 

[Corathon]

For my regular (weekly) game, I rarely give recaps. They aren't usually needed.

OTOH, I sometimes go back to the town where I was born for vacation. When I do, I game with old friends. At the start of one of those vacations, a fairly detailed recap is usually needed. Perhaps 5-10 minutes.

 

[Nyaricus]

I always mean to. What my new group of players (one is a best friend and long-time fellow gamer, another is a fellow I knew from highschool who is new to gaming and the other 3 are all from the internet and are established gamers save for 1 newbie) have thunk'd up is grabbing those 3x5 index cards, and folding them in half and writing important info on the side facing the players; we just started doing that a coupls sessions ago, and already there are a ton of cards in front of my DM screen.

As for a specific time in-game to recap last session, no I don't. I really would like to get into that habit, and I am keeping a journal of our games, but I never seem to remember to do that. Maybe I will though...

cheers,
--N

 

[Ilium]

We often spend a few minutes doing a recap because we tend to have several weeks between sessions. Also, it's pretty common that one or more players can't make it, so if they're present the next week they need to be brought up to speed.

I encourage the players to do the recap for two reasons:
1) I'm often busy getting my kids to bed
2) It gives me some idea of what they did or did not pick up on in the way of clues and plot hooks. If they obviously missed something I'll either mention it myself or introduce it again early in the session.

 

[Masquerade]

I begin each session with a recap. In a face-to-face game, I'll usually keep these quick--probably between thirty seconds and two minutes--and only cover the most important events. I don't have any experience with players doing it.

In my current digital tabletop game, I've instead been opening each session with excerpts from a newspaper that relate to the events of the previous session.

 

[Rhun]

I try to begin each session with a 2-3 minute recap of the last session.

 

[Hella_Tellah]

I like having the players do it, offering commentary only where necessary to avoid future confusion. The reason I get the players to do it is that it gives me an idea of what caught their attention, which parts they found memorable. It helps me to start out the game with a reminder of what catches my players' interest.

 

[el-remmen]

We usually do a 2 to 3 minute recap. I ask for a player to do it, but sometimes (having the best memory) I end up doing it, or at least adding to it.

I second the person that said that it helps give me an idea of what stuck out to the players and what was overlooked.

 

[adwyn]

I find myself having to have the players recap because I rarely remember, though starting each session out with a combat similar action oriented encounter helps get the juices flowing.

For my bi weekly 1920's pulp game I used sepia toned and black and white video clips of the characters figures along with 3-10 second clips from old serials and news reels to make a 20-30 second recap that I emailed out the night before the game. Of course that amount of work was why it was a short campaign.