How do you keep your GM notes?

[payn]

I've tried tablets and online tools, but I agree, there's something about the immediacy of paper that keeps me in the moment.

Personally, I'm all about finding that sweet spot between organization and flexibility. I remember when I first started Gaming, I tried various methods, from digital to paper. Eventually, I settled on a hybrid approach: I keep digital notes for easy reference and a physical notebook for jotting down spontaneous ideas during sessions.

I totally get what you mean about staying in the moment during play. That's why I prefer having everything I need condensed onto one or two pages or a single notebook spread. It keeps me focused without being overwhelmed.

I’ve found digital to be a life saver as GM. I can prep and run so much better with digital tools even off vtt at the table. I can’t imagine going analog ever again.

As a player it’s a push as I find being a player is very little work.

 

[aco175]

@johnnyhall welcome to the boards. It is nice to bring back older threads and see not much has changed in the way I keep notes.

 

[Umbran]

How do I keep notes? Poorly, by most people's sandards.

My notes prepping for sessions are perhaps vaguely sensible things - typically jotted down in a word processor as I prep. Before covid I didn't work with a laptop at the table, so I'd print my notes for play. They then just stack up in a folder. Finding old notes is a bit of archaeology, digging through the strata.

If there's a published adventure in the mix, there's going to be a blank sheet in the stack of notes, because....

What notes I keep during play are scrawled on whatever medium is at hand at the time. So, I try to keep a pad of paper, or a sheet for session notes, at hand during play to jot things down on.

 

[der_kluge]

Colville sold me on the idea of OneNote, and I'm a convert. It's really quite a good tool. It has a bit of a learning curve in terms of making it work for you, but I do like it.

 

[kigmatzomat]

I started using a DOS database. Then on my Palm devices I kept things in the notes app with the wiki plugin and all files synced to the PC. Now I use Obsidian, which runs on all my devices and keeps the files in simple markdown/text files.

Obsidian is awesome. A relationship graph, multiple tabs, search tools, plugins for in-game calendars, media support, it's just a ton of utility.

 

[Jd Smith1]

I used to use OneNote, but I didn't like the changes, and dropped it.

For a campaign I have three Word docs: Scenarios, Sidebars, and PC-specific operations. And a fourth doc that contains seeds, and a campaign outline, tracking the metaplot and event sequence.

In addition, a lot of my campaign notes are also noted on information points on my Roll20 maps so I don't have to switch back and forth.

 

[Arilyn]

Just scribbled notes in a notebook. People like giving me fancy journals with pretty covers, so I've been using those.

 

[Maenalis]

I have an A4 briefcase with no handles (basically a file folder) that I use as a sort of GM screen. If there is an information that I would like to hide from my players the file folder is closed. It has 2 basic notebooks with some random handwritten notes in it (like dwarven names, tavern menus, DC tables, stats for wandering monsters, stats for bystander NPCs etc.) and some handwritten notes from the adventure (monster stats, story outline, DCs, maps etc.) along with printed handouts, printed maps, a couple printed pictures from NPCs and locations and I occasionally print an NPC stat or a monster stat if it is complicated, like a high level lich with several spells.
I don't use any kind of electronics, and I don't carry the rulebooks with me (we play PF2). I rule on the fly, write a note and look it up later, at home.
I only carry a single set of dice, 2 mechanical pencils and a lot of graphing paper (and my phone provides the background music) and the adventure.
We usually play theatre of mind style.
One of my players writes a detailed write up after the game, which he sends to me and the other players.
If there is some meta information (downtime is coming up, what would your characters like to do after this session etc.) I remind them in an email after the game.

 

[Clint_L]

My outlines are on google docs in a folder I create for each campaign plus shared folders for settings. I write down any important new elements that come up in a game, and add them to the online outlines as necessary. A lot of it I just keep in my head. I don't sweat the non-essential details.

 

[MNblockhead]

I've already answered that I use journals in Foundry VTT. But I just installed a new mod for Foundry called Spotlight Omnisearch. It is awesome. While designed to be a similar to a mac spotlight search for Foundry, it has a number of apps built into it, such as you can make dice rolls by typing in e.g., 1d20, solve math problems, create ad hoc timers, create ad hoc trackers, etc. But one of the most useful features is that you bring up the search field and type "note" followed by whatever not you want to take. It creates a journal for you. Each note is data and time stamped and added to journal pages organized by date.