GM Notes: Handwritten or Typed?

[Tinker Gnome]

Do you handwrite your GM notes in a notebook or just on loose sheets of paper? Or do you type them and print them out, or just use them directly from the computer on a laptop? I personally prefer to handwrite mine in a notebook.

 

[Infernal Teddy]

I have a nice little black notebook, a moleskin, and a fountain pen. My most important game mastering tools

 

[JoeGKushner]

They start off hand written but sooner or latter wind up in computer format.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

I type out my notes on my laptop. I use them directly from my laptop, since I bring it too the game. It makes organization very easy too, I can set up my encounters, etc. on the desktop as pop-up folders and just click them.

I only print out stuff that the player's be using. So their character sheets (using builder), any world info they would have, etc. Or objects like newspapers.

 

[Scribble]

Typed up and printed out.

Except for maps, I still draw my maps on graph paper. (Although I print the graph paper from a free online graph paper maker.)

For encounters I generally have 1 page if possible (landscape 3 columns) of all the stats for the various monsters appearing in the encounter.

I use counter collection digital for my games so I then have a page that has the picture of the token for each type of monster with a list of numbers corresponding to the number of monster of that type next to it... I use this for tracking damage to the monsters.

Then I have a page that has all the counters for all the monsters for the encounter ready to print out.

Then I have a page with all the various treasure and magic items that I can cut out like cards. If the players find them I hand them the various magic item "cards."

For the various "location notes" I do it similar to most modules. Location 1 Any elements I need to know immediately (door is locked, trapped etc... followed by "descriptive text." (I've been trying to do the descriptive stuff in a short form lately with additional info gleaned from perception checks.)

 

[Crothian]

I use a paper and pen.

 

[questing gm]

Typed in Word stored in my laptop which I use during the game. Prefer to print them but ink and paper can be costly considering the print job of printing game/campaign notes.

 

[ProfessorPain]

I used to hand write most of my notes, but I found typing them and putting them into a 3-ring binder helped me keep a better record of things. Also, its so much easier to read New Time Roman than my scrawl.

 

[Buttercup]

I barely know how to compose by hand anymore. I write my own notes using Word, and player handouts using publisher. If I create a campaign specific character sheet I make it available as a pdf form, a publisher file or as paper, depending on how the individual players prefer.

And besides, my handwriting is lousy.

 

[dingle]

Until recently I wrote it all by hand, but now use online tools quite a lot so it's much easier just copying and pasting into a word processor. Also saves hours pouring over manuals, which I can use to develop plots and flesh out NPCs.