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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libramarian" data-source="post: 5872876" data-attributes="member: 6688858">Good questions here KesselZero <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> I find it really useful to take notes during a session.  The cool thing  about exploratory, sandboxy gameplay is that the players make more  choices with consequences. That's the heart of it really. So the more   carefully you keep track of what the players do and the choices they   have made, the more you can develop consequences reflecting their   choices. It's sort of  the inverse of typical railroady  preparation:  the players do stuff and you take notes, rather than you taking notes  beforehand about what you want the players to do. It also lets you make stuff up during the session with more confidence   and weight, if you write it down after. I write down almost anything I  make up on the spot. Particularly names, traits and  relationships among  NPCs. Definitely write down  anything interesting the players do if  there's a chance NPCs might hear  about it later.  I use graph paper and tick off squares. At the top part of the sheet, 1  line = 1 month and 1 square = 1 day. Mid part of the sheet, 1 line = 1  adventure and 1 square = 1 turn. Bottom part of the sheet, 1 line = 1  battle and 1 square = 1 round. Generally, resting and outdoor travel  happens on the day scale, dungeoncrawling happens on the turn scale, and  combat happens on the round scale (walking around town happens on the  hour scale, but I usually just handwave that). I put notes ahead on the  "time line" for upcoming events, like if the players have 10 days to  complete a mission, or a torch runs out in 6 turns. It's not too hard  really, I find I have quite a bit of "free time" during dungeoncrawling  (my players talk amongst themselves a LOT). The players enter a room, I  say what they see, they take forever to decide what to do, giving me  plenty of time to track time and roll for WM and read a bit ahead in my  notes or the adventure module. Wandering monsters are really important. Make sure the players know what  they are and how and when you roll for them. Make them question whether  it's actually better to move around at a slower rate in heavy armor.  Consider only enforcing the mandatory 1 turn rest per hour rule if the  PCs are wearing chainmail and up. One really nitty-gritty tip is that i find with the square size of the  old TSR module maps, 3 squares is about as wide as one of my fingers, so  I guesstimate lengths with my fingers--1 for 30', 2 for 60' 3 90' 4  120' (these are the 4 possible movement rates for PCs) Regarding player mapping, I would actually advise NOT using graph paper,  just to emphasize that the map doesn't have to be exactly to scale,  just enough that they can use it to find their way around. As with  anything else, it's supposed to be an enjoyable challenge, not a chore  -- make a map, and you get to move around at 5x speed, along with  whatever other strategic benefits the party might get out of a visual  representation of the dungeon area. If the players don't want this  (which they reasonably wouldn't if it's a small and/or linear dungeon)  allow them to choose to not make a map. For additional incentive you  might have NPCs willing to buy dungeon maps. Oh and I generally give the  players free maps for outdoor areas, towns and normal buildings. It's  just the dark, mazy dungeons where you need to hide the map from the  players. On rolling lots of dice. Whenever you sense that you don't have the  necessary objectivity to make a judgement by fiat, then choose a  probability and roll (e.g. have these kobolds prepared an ambush? that's  a little intense to decide in the middle of a session, so 2/6 chance).  And when you're choosing a probability, think out loud if possible--say  the factors you are considering, don't be a black box. Think out loud in  general, tell the players what rules you are engaging (at least the  first time). Give give give information, information allows them to make  interesting decisions. Also -- the Morale/Loyalty/Encounter Reaction rules in AD&D are very  fun and I much prefer them to the social skill rules in new editions. For a compiled and simplified version see this: <a href="http://www.mobunited.com/mobunitedmedia/2010/11/22/the-most-important-rules-in-my-game/" target="_blank">The Most Important Rules in My Game | Mob | United | Malcolm | Sheppard</a> (Although he doesn't mention it, I recall seeing something very similar in an old Dragon mag.)</blockquote>

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