D&D 5E (2024) Journals now on D&D Beyond [edited]

[Clint_L]

My most recent "maps" have been overhead photos of Dwarven Forge builds that I have uploaded into the Maps VTT. It only takes a few seconds, and includes a tool so that you can get the virtual tokens exactly the right size for the physical map. It's pretty sweet.

 

[mearls]

I'm a heavy Maps user, and this new feature is super useful. It was easy and smooth to hit 'j', make a note, and keep the game flowing. Here are my notes from our last session. I run games in one hour bursts, and this is great to track things:

If I had to use paper and pencil, or open another app, I would have captured maybe half of it and 100% would have forgotten to note the deal they made with the head of Lord de Carlo.

 

[SothFan]

Digital sticky notes? I would expect a robust software package to track things happening inside it first. Who made the kill on the Death Head Tree? What day did each character level up? How many death saves are left before Nora dies?
Automated events that are occuring within the software itself. That should have been the first thing, so neither player nor DM needs to make a sticky note manually to remember. Maybe even have a list of all NPCs that had a token placed. That way you at least have the name npc_Bob in map_Havenfeld.

For non-tokened, is that a word?, NPCs well that should come later.

Without any automation, they added Notepad to a virtual tabletop. With plans to upgrade it to Wikipedia.

 

[bedir than]

Digital sticky notes? I would expect a robust software package to track things happening inside it first. Who made the kill on the Death Head Tree? What day did each character level up? How many death saves are left before Nora dies?

These types of notes have little to no impact on the games several sessions later in an adventure.

But the demeanor of the Queen towards the PCs will, and that can't be automated (well, it can, but not via tracking dice rolls).

Game notes like Journals in Maps are for tracking plot points, quests, side quests, motivations. You see in Mearls notes above that the summary of events are the key moments -- the types of things that would be featured in a "last week on" TV series review rather than a set of highlights from a sporting event.

 

[Selas]

NGL, those notes looked great! I take notes in my homegame and it's never like those, and I have to constantly switch to word or other apps to do it, losing track of what;s happening while I do it. Having this feature is super nice to still keep engaged while jotting down notes, and when the player version comes out it'll be even more useful

 

[SothFan]

These types of notes have little to no impact on the games several sessions later in an adventure.

So there is nothing of merit in LotR to know it was Eowyn that killed the King of Angmar? Not a single plot point of importance? No reason to know Samwise killed Sheholb(sp?)?

I heard someone mention "emergent story" in one of these discussion, and if you do not know who achieve the great feat clearing a plot point, then you will have one really lame story later to tell about your game.

Wes: Hey did you guys finish your Ravenloft game?
Makenzie: Yeah, it was amaze-balls!
Wes: So which Dark Lord did you claim victory over, and who defeated them and how?
Makenzie: Oh we did not keep track of that stuff, but get this! There was an NPC in Little Barovia giving away free steamed sweet potatoes!
Wes: ...

 

[bedir than]

So there is nothing of merit in LotR to know it was Eowyn that killed the King of Angmar? Not a single plot point of importance? No reason to know Samwise killed Sheholb(sp?)?

I heard someone mention "emergent story" in one of these discussion, and if you do not know who achieve the great feat clearing a plot point, then you will have one really lame story later to tell about your game.

Someone shared how an example of actual notes from the game.
You don't need to invent a scenario. You can read an example and trust that one of the lead designers of 5e knows how to play 5e or not.

 

[mearls]

Following up on my last post: my notes for my last session were incredibly sparse. However, I have noticed two things in using Maps:

• I run dungeon heavy games. In maps, I use one big dungeon map that I reveal as the PCs explore.
• That combined with good note taking has made dungeon exploration shine.
• The last session was a mix of the players looking over the map, going over the stuff they have found and NPCs they have met, and plotting their next move.
• I'm looking forward to the journal feature growing. Even just having one session of detailed notes made things much easier. I could prompt the players and remind them of info they had collected.

It's the most satisfying dungeon exploration I've run maybe ever. It's been wild how the technology makes tracking critical info so much easier. Dungeon exploration IME is kind of a slog in analog play, with a lot time spent drawing dungeon maps. Online, it all flows naturally.