D&D General What goes in your DM binder?

[MNblockhead]

As a proud Minnesotan, I still have trouble reading "binder" as a three-ring notebook. I still call rubber bands binders. One bit of regional language I've never shook off.

 

[el-remmen]

Personally, I need to type and print so I can then scribble on them mid-game. I find using a laptop or tablet at the table clunky and weird and everything takes me longer - but I am an old man. I mean, I even play my remote games using an ATT (actual table top).

 

[EzekielRaiden]

...I have a binder?

 

[Stormonu]

All of my electronic books are hyperlinked/indexed, so I can find info pretty fast on my I-pad (better now than flipping through a physical book for me). However, whenever I need to record information, I find myself still reaching for a paper pad and pencil.

 

[GrimCo]

Binders?

I'm lazy DM. Minimum prep, maximal improvisation.

Notebook with couple of names, bullet points with possible hooks, possible encounters (just names, no stat blocks). That's it. And e ink graphic tablet for rough sketching. Plus, some dice.

 

[amethal]

As a proud Minnesotan, I still have trouble reading "binder" as a three-ring notebook. I still call rubber bands binders. One bit of regional language I've never shook off.

As a non-American, I also have trouble reading "binder" as three-ring notebook, since the number of rings doesn't seem that important to me.

Do Americans have a different word for a two-ring binder or a four-ring binder? Two rings is standard where I live, and you can get four-ring ones if you look hard enough, but three-ring ones are unavailable.

 

[Meech17]

As a non-American, I also have trouble reading "binder" as three-ring notebook, since the number of rings doesn't seem that important to me.

Do Americans have a different word for a two-ring binder or a four-ring binder? Two rings is standard where I live, and you can get four-ring ones if you look hard enough, but three-ring ones are unavailable.

That's interesting. Here in the US (At least where I am in the Midwest) the three-ring variety is the default. If someone asks you to get a binder, you're probably going to assume three-rings. I've seen two-rings, and four-rings, and even six-ring binders, but those are considered odd/specialty. Loose leaf lined paper you'd use in school is typically punched for three-ring binders.

 

[MNblockhead]

As a non-American, I also have trouble reading "binder" as three-ring notebook, since the number of rings doesn't seem that important to me.

Do Americans have a different word for a two-ring binder or a four-ring binder? Two rings is standard where I live, and you can get four-ring ones if you look hard enough, but three-ring ones are unavailable.

No, think most Americans would call them all binders. But the two ring binders just don't seem to be very common here, compared to India, Taiwan, and countries in the Mid-East where I've worked. Getting way off topic, but an even bigger difference I had to get used to is that shelves of binders seem to be the main filing system in many countries. In the US I was so used to file drawers with hanging folders and papers filed loosely into them, that I get very annoyed having to file things in other countries. I thank our internet gods for cloud storage, SharePoint and other digital document-management systems.

 

[Meech17]

No, think most Americans would call them all binders. But the two ring binders just don't seem to be very common here, compared to India, Taiwan, and countries in the Mid-East where I've worked. Getting way off topic, but an even bigger difference I had to get used to is that shelves of binders seem to be the main filing system in many countries. In the US I was so used to file drawers with hanging folders and papers filed loosely into them, that I get very annoyed having to file things in other countries. I thank our internet gods for cloud storage, SharePoint and other digital document-management systems.

As someone who still has to file away a lot of paper into filing cabinets...

Putting it all in binders instead sounds like one the levels of Inferno.

 

[Imaculata]

I usually have one binder for the campaign, and one for maps. I also keep a more general third binder for equipment (for many campaign settings), which the players can look into.

The campaign binder contains:

-The campaign outline
-Quest descriptions
-Character descriptions
-Location descriptions
-Campaign bible (timelines, lore)
-Regional random tables
-Global weather table
-Alcohol effect table
-Firearm misfire table
-Custom monsters

And the map binder contains:

-The world/region map (Basically our main campaign map)
-Maps of cities
-Maps of dungeons

I don't let the players read the campaign binder or the map binder, as that would spoil the surprise. But I'll take out a map when I need it. They are free to check the equipment binder whenever they go shopping, or during character creation.