What's in your DM binder?

[haiiro]

Pretty much all of my goodies have been listed already. The one major item that I have not seen mentioned (unless I missed it) is a calendar.

I print out a calendar (1 page per month) for the campaign world. I keep about 1 year in my binder, and I make copies for players to keep in their own binders. The calendar might include marks for important dates, phases for any moon(s), and so forth.

Ravellion mentioned keeping a calendar in his binder, but didn't go into the details. I like the idea of keeping a year's worth of dates handy, with some things marked in secret on my DM's version, and others out in the open on the players' version. Sounds like yet another great addition.

 

[grodog]

I forgot to mention the calendar, which I've found to be an invaluable resource!

Since I run a Greyhawk game, I use Clay Luther's great Greyhawk calendar, which is now available on Canonfire! at
http://www.canonfire.com/html/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=viewdownload&cid=7

 

[haiiro]

Having started this thread, I'm embarassed to say that I missed this issue of Johnn Four's RP Tips newsletter: <a href="http://www.roleplayingtips.com/issue69.html">Putting Together The Ultimate DM Binder</a>.

A good amount of the suggestions found therein have also come up in this thread, but there is a lot of other useful info in the newsletter. I particularly enjoyed the sections about determining what your binder is going to be used for -- which, logically enough, has quite a bit of impact on its final form.

Edit: one other thing I'm definitely going to try with my binder is photocopying monsters before I expect to use them. This will enable me to take notes (or even mark off hit points, etc.) on the monster's sheet, and will prevent players from combining my description with their rough idea of which letter I have the MM (or ToH, or whatever) open to -- a common problem, in my experience -- into a very good idea of what they're facing. I've never tried this before, but it seems like a good idea.

 

[Arnwyn]

Oy... one DM's binder? I have 6 binders (not counting my location folders and adventure folders) - three 3" binders, and three 1.5" binders. Every one of them is almost entirely filled... :/

Binder #1 (3"): 1) Campaign prologue. 2) Economics, trade rules, new mundane items, alcohol lists, etc. 3) Comprehensive disease charts. 4) New arcane plant charts. 5) New magical pool effects. 6) New rules - mostly from Dragon magazine (yes, I hack up my magazines...), such as the jousting rules. 7) New spells - again, from Dragon Mag and other sources like the internet.

Binder #2 (3"): Entirely monsters. (New monsters, monsters from Dragon Mag, plus the 2e Spelljammer MCs and Kara-Tur MC - all updated to 3e.)

Binder #3 (3"): 1) NPCs (stats and pictures, if applicable) from many sources, including Dragon Mag, internet, those 2e D&D trading cards. 2) New magic items - mostly from Dragon Mag.

Binder #4 (1.5"): Comprehensive spell tables (Arcane & Divine) to determine random spells found on scrolls, categorized by rarity in my campaign.

Binder #5 (1.5"): Complete year-by-year history of the campaign world. Yes, it fills up an entire 1.5" binder.

Binder #6 (1.5"): Prestige classes - mostly from Dragon mag.

 

[VorpalBunny]

I have one binder for each game I run (D&D3, AD&D, CoC, Shadowrun, Star Wars).

My D&D binder has:

- Adventure hooks and ideas that I jot down so I don't forget them
- Blank character sheets
- Assorted web enhancements from WotC
- Some "Elminster Speaks" material I printed of the WotC site
- A Forgotten Realms calendar for 1372 DR
- Adventures and conversions of older modules
- NPC's and old player characters
- A sheet with stat blocks of every current player character in my campaign