For DM's: How long or detailed are your adventure notes?

[dreaded_beast]

First of, thanks to everyone who has replied to my earlier threads regarding my creating my first adventure.

I am now in the process of creating my adventure and that it may be quite long, page-wise. I finished my notes for just 2 rooms which took up nearly an entire page. This is 1 page using Microsoft Word in Times New Roman in size 12.

Anyways, how long or detailed are your notes?

Do you really need "detailed" notes? I feel that I have a fair amount of how I want the adventure to go already in my head, but since I am starting out, I feel that notes would be beneficial.

 

[ichabod]

First of, thanks to everyone who has replied to my earlier threads regarding my creating my first adventure.

I am now in the process of creating my adventure and that it may be quite long, page-wise. I finished my notes for just 2 rooms which took up nearly an entire page. This is 1 page using Microsoft Word in Times New Roman in size 12.

Anyways, how long or detailed are your notes?

Do you really need "detailed" notes? I feel that I have a fair amount of how I want the adventure to go already in my head, but since I am starting out, I feel that notes would be beneficial.

I generally have two or three pages per adventure. Usually this covers about 5 encounters. For each encounter I detail any NPC or monster disposition and tactics, details for any challenges they must get past, and notes what sort of information they PCs would get that would lead them to the other encounters. This is Word, Book Antiqua 10 pt, in two columns. About 1,000 words per page, for a 6 hour session.

On the one hand, I have a highly detailed world (about 100 pages at 800 wpp and growing) to back this up, or I would need more notes. On the other hand, I think I'm on the high end in terms of ammount of preparation for game. On the gripping hand, you need to find your own ballance between preparation and impovisation. I'd start out with lots of notes, but look and see what you don't use during play, and trim accordingly.

 

[Agback]

G'day!

Better to have notes and not need them than to need notes and not have them.

I think you are on the right course to prepare in detail for your first adventure. After a while, when you have everything going smoothly, look back over your old notes and see what you used and what you didn't. Then you will be able to gradually pare your preparations down to what is actually needed for your style of GMing.

As for myself, I make few and scanty notes. I sketch family trees as a quick aide memoir in political intrigues. I jot down NPCs names as I introduce them into play, along with their ages and a few brief reminders of their appearance, manner, and what they do, to help me keep them consistent. For a very elaborate campaign I keep a notebook with one double-page spread for each PC and for each institution or important location, so that I can find my NPCs and sketch-maps quickly during play.

Regards,


Agback

 

[Blue_Kryptonite]

Three to four sentences. The rest I improv, keeping notes on what just happened as I go to ensure consistancy.

Example from last week:

Festioval of Orion. PCs chosen as Champions of Orion based on word of saving children in the last town. Evil Priest has rigged atheltic contest.

The rest was improved.

It helps that I keep notebooks full of details on the side though.

 

[caudor]

I try to organize my notes for quick access (so I can glance rather than read).

I keep one page for timekeeping, round tricks, and various ticks.

I keep a combat planner with stats of NPC & PCs

I use cards for monster, spells, and feats that will probably get used.

Then one blank sheet to make notes, treasure found, and misc.

 

[JDragon]

It depends on the adventure and what I expect to have happen during the session. I put most of my time in to NPC & moster stats followed by tatics and then notes on rooms.

For the monsters & NPC's I have an excel sheet I made to track them in, its somewhere between a stat block and a character sheet. I do this for two reasons, one is this way my monsters/NPC's are always in the same format so its easier to find something in my notes and second, by typing the info in it helps me get to "know" the monster/NPC's abilities a little better and double check the modules or my creation work.
The other benifit of this sheet is it posts a small part the information on a sheet that is formated for a 4-6 index card that I use to track init.

For encounters I try to have some notes on what location and condition a NPC will be in when I expect the party to arrive.

For rooms i mainly go by my maps with any notes regarding occupents, traps and such.


As mentioned before more is better to start, once you have a few games under your belt you'll get a better feel for your and your players style which will help determin what you need to have detailed.

 

[Kichwas]

Loose outlines, that I add to as I go.

I put into them a basic premise, a sentence or two for each key scene, some red herrings, and a few personalities.

Example:

The Caper:
The villains will try to kipnap each of the people below. Some they will get, some they will have to fight over.

Scene 1: The Mall fight - after two rounds the goons bug out when hopper grabs Jennifer.

Red Herrings:
One of the -victims- is actually in on it all.
Michael had 3 sons, at least one descendant of a son should make a Cameo at some point, with an alternate plan for the stone.

Sandra Hills: recently released from Providence, now on street in the Fens. - Bipolar heroin addict.
--- Dr. Chris Marshal is her doctor.

2. Jason Prospect
Black Panther advocate and Social Worker
Keeps an old Iron Spike passed down from great
Grandmother who was a slave the prospector owned.

By the end of this story arc, which ran for about 7 sessions, I had a 13kb text file - about half of which was stats for super villains that were only seen in the final scene (one of which actually got scripted out and never used).

The following was the entire notes used for session 3:

Starbase Cafe Scene:

NPCs: Paisley, Swarm, Straw Man, and Zombie Jane.

Setup: The group reports to Jane, letting her know the abduction was successful and getting their next strike.

They are told the risk of using Hopper again is too risky right now

"She's getting harder to keep under control - termination may be nessessary at some point."

Zombie's tactics: threaten to kill every neutral in the area if the team doesn't back down.

PC's can get clues from one of the net machines in the adjoining internet room.

The quote was something the PCs would overhear if they didn't rush in too fast.

The actual game session had the PCs running all over town to figure out where this meeting would happen, narrowing it down to three possible cafe's, and then engaging the NPCs in a 'Mexican Standoff' when Zombie Jane threatened to kill the block... and demonstrated her power on a passing cat so they'd know it wasn't a bluff (she had an explosive death ray power - think of something like the Blade Barrier spell that also does about 12 Str and Con damage per usage, and has unlimited uses). In the end the PCs watched as the villains walked off into the subway. Hopper was a captured mutant teleporter being used by the villains, and the quote was meant to let the players know that might be a weakpoint in the villains, but they never managed to exploit it until the final battle in session 7.

 

[Piratecat]

My encounter maps are scribbled with vague reminder notes in the margins. It works wonderfully for me. Drawing up a full map with detailed explanations is much more difficult, and I almost never do it.

 

[megamania]

My first GM experience I wrote EVERYTHING out. Room descriptions, creature stats (with page referrences) and as I went, I discovered players always did something unexpected so I worked on improv.

Now, 10 years later, A few lines describing the set up, meat of the adventure, and possible outcomes with plenty of creatures to back it up. Dungeon settings I still write it all out however.

So- how one writes up their notes depends on experience, knowledge and the players you are GMing for.

 

[DrZombie]

I've got a small black box, a few sheets of paper, pencils and dice.

The black box contains cardfiles. loads of 'em.Whenever I have time i write a few. Shopkeepers, tavern-owners, farmers, street urchins, thieves, bards, barbarians, city guards, merchants, sailors, prostitutes, bards,... anyone you'd meet in a bar, on the streets.
They contain the bare essentials , a short stat block, and a description. Some of 'em contain small plot hooks, a lover lost, involved in something. All of 'em contain something distinctive.

example : fendor turnip farmer. Short man with dirty fingernails, complains in a nasal tone about the different difficulties one runs into when being a full-time agregarian in the turnip business. Hu Com lvl 1 6 HP AC 11 Bab +0 1d6 shovel

This classic example was the horror of my players, who were stuck in a storm for a day and a half in an inn with fendor as their sole companion. Afterwards they had to walk for a day to town, and fendor accompanied them because they were such a fine group of sympathetic young gentlemen, and he was going in the same direction, selling a cartload of turnips.

Basically this was half an evenings worth of fine roleplaying where the paladin had to physically restrain the rogue who was ready to throttle fendor at one more nasal complaint about turnip farming.... Just a random pick from the black box.

Once I have used a card I make another one to keep my stock up, and file the used card by region. You betcharass that when the players are in the area again there will be a rainstorm. You'll never guess who'll open the door when they knock at a farm seeking shelter...... (insert half-mad evil cackle)



Basically this is a very quick way of whipping up general NPC's who populate the towns and cities of my world. I never waste time trying to make up a shopkeeper. If they enter a shop and aren't really keen on roleplaying, the NPC will go back into the box. If they are, and something memorable happens, I write it down on the card and it gets filed. It also makes it easy to slip in important NPC's without giving it away:

GM : you enter a bar. at the table to your left sits a fat merchant with a goatee and a scar across his left han. He wears a golden ring on the pink of his right hand.
Player : anyone else?
GM: aah yes, some other peasants and merchants.
Player : OK. whatever happens, I'm not saying anything to that merchant, we're in over our heads as it is.
GM : but, but...