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Message: <blockquote data-quote="overgeeked" data-source="post: 9262654" data-attributes="member: 86653">I would highly recommend Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master. It's fantastic for ADHD referees.I use Scrivener to organize all my notes. I already had the program so it was not an additional cost. I create a folder and several text files to keep track of things. It's all in one place for ease of reference. I don't have to go looking for anything. It's all right there. A specific folder on your computer with the relevant text and image files would work much the same.I organize my notes into nine sections. Factions. NPCs. Plot Hooks. PC Goals. Fantastic Locations. Lore. Magic Items & Treasure. Notes on the PCs. Those We’ve Lost. These are all in one doc or individual docs depending on the size of the campaign. Various other bits and pieces are tracked, like who's the current owner of a magic item and who's the former owner. As much of it as possible is directed at generating plot hooks or in response to PC goals. Is it happening in the next session or the one after that? Then it doesn't matter. Worry about it later.Plot hooks are the situations I've generated and dropped into the world. PC Goals are the self-motivation bits the players or their characters have come up with. Two sides of the same coin, only difference being who created them.These are a mix of Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master, Guy's notes (How to be a Great GM), and various other things I've found that work for me over the years.I also make extensive use of random generators. I have thousands of random names in various files, dozens of Excel spreadsheets set up to generate 100 NPCs with a click. Copy and paste the output, format it a bit, and drop it into a doc file. I have those handy so I can drop any old NPC I could possibly need into the game.Find a stack of battle maps and set them aside. Make sure there's a good variety of locations. Use whichever one is next on the pile when you need it. Don't waste time looking for the perfect map. Use whatever's next on the pile. If that means what you thought was going to be a tomb encounter is really a library encounter, great. That adds spice and keeps things fresh. Riff on some library-themed monsters and go. That will be way more memorable than the 7,521st dungeon delve where you face 2d6 of these 1d4 monsters: 1. goblins. 2. orcs. 3. skeletons. 4. zombies. Also work up or buy good, generic random monster tables. Pick up something like Forge of Foes and use the chart in the back as your baseline monster stat block. Or check out Blog of Holding's 5E MM on a Business card.One trick I'd suggest is not trying to control the story, instead let the players and PCs dictate where things go. Learn to improvise and work with what they want to do. It lightens the load considerably. If the PCs already have goals when you start, all you have to do is dangle those in front of the PCs and put relevant obstacles in their way. Having PCs intrinsically motivated is so much easier than trying to prep a pre-written module and constantly forcing the PCs back on track.The more you can offload to randomness, the better. It will also keep you entertained far longer than having to prep everything ahead of time. You get to be surprised along with the players. That's great and it keeps things fresh.</blockquote>

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