Idea Flowcharts for Session Planning

[tennyson]

I'm not sure if this should be in the Computers & Software forum, so feel free to move it over there if need be.

I found this neat little online program that you can create and save idea flow charts on. I've been using it to plan for my past few sessions and it works like a charm. I add to the chart during my downtime at work, lazy weekends, or just when I'm bumming around watching TV.

Right before gametime, I print it out and I have the skeleton of my session right in front me!

http://bubbl.us/edit

Hope someone gets some use out of it!

 

[EricNoah]

Very cool! I use Inspiration for similar effect.

 

[TDRandall]

Looks interesting and promising.

I see a "sharing" feature available - care to make one of yours available to show us exactly how you use it? Do you include only very high level thoughts/scenes or do you fully flesh them out with NPCs/monsters and stats, skills with DCs, etc?

I guess I have a glimmer how useful it could be. I just want an example to really hook me in!

 

[GlassJaw]

Flowcharts are a great idea for keeping track of plots and story arcs. I can see them being very useful for campaign planning and possible outcomes of various directions the players might take. I'm always looking for ways to get out of the site-based adventure trap and this might be a good exercise.

 

[tennyson]

Looks interesting and promising.

I see a "sharing" feature available - care to make one of yours available to show us exactly how you use it? Do you include only very high level thoughts/scenes or do you fully flesh them out with NPCs/monsters and stats, skills with DCs, etc?

I guess I have a glimmer how useful it could be. I just want an example to really hook me in!

It looks like you can only share with "friends" (aka, other people who have registered on that site), but here is a PDF of what my next session looks like. Keep in mind, it probably won't make sense to you (given that you don';t knwo the backstory). However, if you're a DM, you can place relavant pieces of info to remind of bigger plots.

For instance, you may only put down "Group Meets Caravan", but in your mind, you understand that there are a certain number of NPCs, combats or events also associated with this.

The flowchart has helped me in that I am able to physically see different paths that the PCs are offered, and because I leave mine with general event descriptions, it alows me to DM on the fly as well. There is nothing more frustrating (to me anyway) than getting confused in the middle of the session, asking "how did this event tie into that one again?"

MY PLAYERS STAY OUT, OBVIOUSLY