What do you do with your old RPG notes/maps/NPCs/PCs/etc?

[Eyes of Nine]

I was going through a bunch of binders, notebooks, and loose papers last night.

Found the notes from my Megatraveller campaign of the early 90's; and the GURPS campaign I ran with a buddy in the late 90's; as well as the binder for the Dungeon World campaign I ran for a couple of years in the mid-teens; and all the material from the 4e campaign I had prepared to run for my sons in the late oughts, including their first characters...

I can't bring myself to toss them; but I'll never use them again. If I was to run any of the above - I'd do it using new stuff, with probably different rules; etc.

What do people do with the artifacts of games past?

 

[Nytmare]

Written notes still exist in whichever folder, binder, or GM screen I had been using at the time. I ran a handful of floating RPGs for a couple of years in college where the players would choose which system and game we'd continue with depending on who showed up. I stumble on to the folder full of characters every couple of years while I'm reorganizing my shelves.

The longest successful campaign I ran (about 4 years?) involved me administering 1/2" binders for each of the players that had all of their past characters and character sheets in the back. Those binders are sitting and waiting patiently, along with all the campaign notes, just waiting for us to pick back up after the 13 year hiatus.

Digital files are all still lurking around. Most on the nested drive in my desktop that, if you dig deep enough, still contains the contents of my first 1996 personal computer. I also have a cardboard box in my closet with all of the zip and 3.5" floppy disks that I assume contain most of the backup files for any of the games I ran from about 1992-1995.

Apple ][e digital files from the 1990-93 era are theoretically still on floppy disks in the diskette file in my parent's attic.

Paper notes, character sheets, and maps from the before times that did not migrate with me to college are probably in a box in my childhood bedroom closet.

 

[Legatus Legionis]

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[Hand of Evil]

My old campaign notes are all converted to PDF and on a USB drive. My maps and NPC I find still useful, I have been using some basic building, like taverns and bars for years now.

 

[Shiroiken]

They've remained in various binders over the decades. At some point I should scan them so they'll be preserved, else they'll join the dustbin of history with most of my notes.

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

If you're smart, all the stuff you have no reason to use again you carefully pack away for long-term storage. If you think you might have a desire to use it or look it over again then sure, maybe scan it all - and then pack the hardcopy away for long-term storage (and BACK UP YOUR HD). What you don't do is actually throw stuff away. YOU WILL REGRET IT if you do. Give it away? Fantastic to lure in new gamers, or give it a second life. That's good for the soul. Sell it? Only if you're starving and have empty pockets. But you don't ever just trash it. Some day, when you're digging through old stuff you will find that old material and start going through it and your foresight and patience will pay off.

Two things you'll never forgive yourself for - not backing up your hard drive, and THROWING AWAY your old gaming stuff as if it's no more valuable or meaningful than day-old frozen fish wrappings.

 

[Scott Christian]

If you're smart, all the stuff you have no reason to use again you carefully pack away for long-term storage. If you think you might have a desire to use it or look it over again then sure, maybe scan it all - and then pack the hardcopy away for long-term storage (and BACK UP YOUR HD). What you don't do is actually throw stuff away. YOU WILL REGRET IT if you do. Give it away? Fantastic to lure in new gamers, or give it a second life. That's good for the soul. Sell it? Only if you're starving and have empty pockets. But you don't ever just trash it. Some day, when you're digging through old stuff you will find that old material and start going through it and your foresight and patience will pay off.

Two things you'll never forgive yourself for - not backing up your hard drive, and THROWING AWAY your old gaming stuff as if it's no more valuable or meaningful than day-old frozen fish wrappings.

I second this. It is well said and true.

 

[Stormonu]

I have three rolling carts filled with old documents all the way back to the '80's stuffed under my DM's tables. First one contains a variety of graph paper, DM notes, maps & notes for my homebrew campaign world (and a half dozen more) and sketch book filled with in-joke cartoons I drew based on old adventures.

The second stores all my old hand-made adventures, whether they were actually run or were ones I put together but never got to use. A lot of the early ones are really, really bad (like the one that is an 88-room ripoff of Dragon's Lair).

The last one is where I keep old characters sheets for a variety of games - and blank sheets for the same systems. I've got blank character records sheets all the way back to 1E & basic and the books they came in!

A lot of the stuff I've been attempting to digitize over the years, especially the maps I made. They're actually more valuable (and far better-looking) than the contents of those ancient dungeons or areas.

A sample of a Kopru temple I did for the Isle of Dread.