Taking better notes when reading a new RPG rule set.

[rhythmsoundmotion]

I am quite fond of the program Obsidian as a note-taking software and have been tinkering with it for around the past 6 months for keeping track of my GM notes and whatnot. I can certainly see how it might be used for learning a new system where you can have a sort of "cheat sheet" of highlights that then link to their own page with a more detailed view of the rules as needed.

I should try Obsidian, it might help me a lot.

 

[Black Dougal]

Google NotebookLM might be helpful as well. It's been quite useful for me and RPGs. Unfortunately it only works with pdfs.

 

[aramis erak]

One thing you can do is build a cheat sheet with key points from the rules. If on pdf, just copy and paste into Word or Excel or whatever works for you. Moleskine if you like to write with pencil/pen.

Retyping will help with memory FAR better than copy and paste.
Handwriting is better still...
Which is why note taking was taught by the school district I used to work for... starting in grade 3.

 

[Wolfpack48]

Retyping will help with memory FAR better than copy and paste.
Handwriting is better still...
Which is why note taking was taught by the school district I used to work for... starting in grade 3.

They made us color code ours in biology.

 

[Deset Gled]

My recommendation is to do a first read through taking no notes. Just read and enjoy.

Then, after the read through, get a blank character sheet. Go through every single item on the sheet, slowly, one item at a time. You can either do this my generating a level one character, or by reading through each item and verifying you understand how to complete it. Either way, this is the phase where you take notes. Write down details on the sheet to remind yourself how you complete it. Use margins for small stuff (like page numbers) or start a separate notebook sheet to follow through as you fill out the character sheet.

After you've gone through the full character sheet, wait a few days. Then go through it again with your notes. Repeat until satisfied.

 

[aramis erak]

They made us color code ours in biology.

A rather bad practice for about 5 percent of the population... various forms of neuro-atypical can find highlighting makes it harder to read the text. (Scotopic sensitivity is a disorder where contrast changes make letters blur or float; combined with dyslexia, it can render a highlighted text completely unreadable.) Further, unlike note taking proper, it doesn't force you to actually mentally process the text.

 

[Wolfpack48]

A rather bad practice for about 5 percent of the population... various forms of neuro-atypical can find highlighting makes it harder to read the text. (Scotopic sensitivity is a disorder where contrast changes make letters blur or float; combined with dyslexia, it can render a highlighted text completely unreadable.) Further, unlike note taking proper, it doesn't force you to actually mentally process the text.

Yeah, one class where they were a bit overly specific about it. It wasn't helpful.

 

[overgeeked]

I read the book in chunks, out of order (hitting the important bits first), and if on PDF highlight the hell out of it. I also take copious notes on specific rules that strike me as being important.

I’m doing this with Dragonbane right now.

I read the introduction.

Skipped character creation. I mostly referee so save it for dead last.

Read the first half of the skills chapter because it has the core mechanics. Dragonbane is a skill-based game. The second half of the chapter is specific skills and their equivalent of feats, so I went back for that later as part of character creation.

Skipped the next four chapters dealing with combat, magic, gear, and the bestiary.

Read the GM chapter.

Read the intro pages of the bestiary on how monsters work, but skipped the actual monsters.

Read the skills but skipped the feats.

Started on combat.

Etc.

I try to start with the core and build out. Most RPGs are atrocious for actually learning the game. You get maybe a summary of what RPGs are then jump right in to character creation. Blerg.

And I’m always taking notes, summarizing, and quoting the text with page numbers in a separate text file. Like analyzing a text to write a college-level paper.

Most RPGs waste a staggering amount of words vaguely circling around a point or a rule. The use of “natural language” in explaining game rules is a nightmare.

 

[MNblockhead]

Sticking specifically to "taking notes", I've found that making my own cheat sheets and DM screens was the best way for me to learn a system. Generally, published DM screens never really fit with exactly what I need. When I was still running mostly in-person games, I used the Worlds Greatest DM Screen by Hammerdog Games. It has clear sleaves so you can slip in and swap out reference sheets.

Now that I'm running games in Foundry, I have my own Rules Reference note book where I put in tables and references. While it is simple to search a PDF or search rule articles in Foundry, I still find it more convenient and faster to have a notes that I created myself. Also, the creation of the references helps me learn the rules.