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

[Jhaelen]

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.

That's me I also tend to forget details of the past session pretty fast.

We're meeting once every 3-4 weeks with 4-6 players out of 8, so it's quite important to do a recap. One player keeps a diary and jots everything important (or rather deemed important) down.

 

[GQuail]

We deal with recaps in two different ways in the weekly game for which I DM:

1. We write "Infodumps", session reports in prose format on ourCampaign Wiki. These are mainly done by me and one other player. I try to get these up before the next session starts but it isn't always doable, since it takes a while - they're pretty long story hour type things. But quite a few players like them, and because they can be cross-referenced with other Wiki stuff they are handy for more long-term reading.

2. We begin every session with someone saying "Last Time, On Dungeons And Dragons" (it's become something of a ritual, and also a hint if someone thingks it's getting late and we're still talking rubbish!) and then I give a short recap on the last session. This usually only lasts a minute or so amd just contains the basic facts to get everyone ready to start again, especially if there was a plotline that only really affected one player they forgot about. (Oh, you found out you had psionic brain cancer? That msut have been when I was building this dice tower.)

We're often missing a player during any given session (we're currently on 6 players, and have had as many as 8 in this campaign - but a few work retail and so could get stuck with late shifts and short notice) so I find a quick description of the previous session is almost always needed. I do it becuase, usually, players will forget something - either it didn't seem important at the time (when the Orange Dragons come out, who cares what the general said about the Pharaoh's appointment?) or some don't remember it because it only affected one or two people.

At a weekly game I play in that another guy runs, old habits die hard and when the GM start the session I usually say "Last Time, On..." and give a potted recap. He then picks up from that and fleshes out that description with the details he thinks are important, and we get going from there.

 

[Stoat]

We have a little ritual. I begin every session by saying, "When we last left our noble band of heroic adventuers . . ." Someone in the party snickers, and I correct myself. "When we last left our desperate band of tomb-robbers and hired killers . . ." I then provide a brief, two or three sentence recap.

 

[Armadillo]

I like to open with "When last we left our heroes" then hand off to one or more of the players for the recap. It is a great way to get the players engaged in the game.

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.

Absolutely. Plus, it gives me feedback on what they are interested in and enjoy about the game.

 

[sniffles]

Thanks for all the responses, everyone. I was curious how my group's handling of recapping compared with other groups, and it's given me some interesting things to think about.

We recap every session, even if we play weekly. I record our sessions, and on many occasions the recap takes from 15 - 30 minutes, though admittedly that includes a lot of off-topic chatter.

I also Story Hour all of our games, which I'd hoped would serve as memory aids for the other players. But that doesn't seem to be the case. I know they read the Story Hours, but I guess the way I've chosen to write them isn't useful enough for memory-jogging purposes.

 

[Ahnehnois]

I post fairly detailed reviews online after each session, so I figure if someone needs a refresher they've got it. If I think the players are missing some piece of information, I'm the sort who'll stop mid-session to explain/remind them.

Having a hard copy of what happened is very helpful in the long run, I think, more so than in-session recaps (although something like that could be dramatic under the right circumstances).

 

[Amazing Triangle]

I use to recap. Now I do session summaries online. I also send online "news stories" from around their known world. For which they pay 1gp (usually after 5th level).

So I only recap if things were left undone. (forgotten key info)