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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Fanaelialae" data-source="post: 7928560" data-attributes="member: 53980">I disagree that it doesn't matter. In one of the newbie groups that I run, the guys like to get a bit inebriated during game. I don't mind. Sometimes they remember things more in the way they wish they'd occurred rather than how they've actually occurred. When that happens I usually tell them that doesn't sound quite right and I check my notes, then let them know what actually happened.These things can have significant bearing on the campaign. So at least part of it is about keeping the game on track. Not in the sense of a railroad, but rather in making sure that the players don't declare the score 3:2 when it was in fact 2:3 (or whatever). Maybe you'd be fine with retconning the score if that's how your players remember it and you aren't sure, but not me. You're opening yourself up to someone remembering at any time that it was in fact 2:3, and then having all sorts of inconsistencies that cascaded from there (generally, at that point, it's better to accept the retcon and just go with it, but that undermines the consistency and verisimilitude of the campaign).Prep doesn't impact my note taking directly, except in the sense that I need to take more notes when I'm improvising. For example, if I prepped an NPC named Bernard, I can just jot down that they made a deal with Bernard. If Bernard is an NPC that I've made up on the spot, and I described him as a flamboyant gnome with red hair, then it would be best if I wrote that down so that the next time they meet him I don't describe him as a cheery blonde halfling. Maybe the players wouldn't catch the inconsistency. But maybe they would. I know I've caught inconsistencies in other GM's games, but said nothing if it was minor because I didn't want to be impolite. It was nonetheless not ideal, like the veneer on the walls was peeling.Can a DM take too many notes? Sure, pretty much anything can be overdone. A GM can make their world too realistic, barraging the players with detailed minutia until they fall asleep from boredom. That doesn't mean that injecting extra details for the sake of realism is a bad thing, it just means that most things are best in moderation. Similarly, taking notes is a good idea to consider. I know, personally speaking, that my game improved noticably once I started taking notes during game. The first campaign I ever did it for, the players complimented me saying it was the best campaign I'd ever run. Was it all the notes? Doubtful. But they undoubtedly helped me provide a higher degree of fidelity and persistence than had been present in prior campaigns, because I wasn't trying to remember over a year's worth of sessions from memory.</blockquote>

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