I'm curious what everyone uses and why? How do you organize your game notes? Do you use a service that allows players to read or interact with your world?
Quote from: Godsmonkey on May 12, 2022, 01:48:42 PM
I'm curious what everyone uses and why? How do you organize your game notes? Do you use a service that allows players to read or interact with your world?
I use a Word document.
Played in a game where the GM used Discord discussions & documents. He got annoyed that none of us really cared to bother with it. When I'm a player, my involvement is 100% at the table, and apparently that was true of the other players too. This same GM has also played in games I've run, and he wanted to do exte sive record keeping and journaling between sessions even after I told him I'm not interested in reviewing/reading them, so maybe it's just his obsession.
Quote from: Godsmonkey on May 12, 2022, 01:48:42 PM
I'm curious what everyone uses and why? How do you organize your game notes? Do you use a service that allows players to read or interact with your world?
Leather bound notebook. I do not bother offering to let them read it, if they want to know something beyond where the money and monsters are I tell them. I get the feeling I care more about who the local Duke is angry at, or who is betrothed to who, or what political problems are brewing than they do. They make their own notes of adventures, but barely care what the guy's name in charge of the local town is. No need for their interaction.
Very messy and disorganized slide decks (PowerPoint or LibreOffice Impress). One slide for factions, one for NPCs, one for a map, etc. I prefer it to a word processor because slides let me easily move around text boxes, images, and stuff. It's also easier to use all the space available on a large monitor.
Quote from: Godsmonkey on May 12, 2022, 01:48:42 PM
I'm curious what everyone uses and why? How do you organize your game notes? Do you use a service that allows players to read or interact with your world?
Like oggsmash, I use a leather covered book. Mine is A5 size. Easily the best notebook I have ever owned. It even fits a MOO journal in the center (after using the original book it came with). https://www.amazon.com/Refillable-Leather-Journal-Writing-Notebook/dp/B07CRDWD1K (https://www.amazon.com/Refillable-Leather-Journal-Writing-Notebook/dp/B07CRDWD1K)
The size allows me to carry reprints of the LBBs plus whatever folded loose notes I need in addition to the journal. It has a pocket inside and pouch that I use to hold paperclips.
I have not used a service like that, but I have heard good things. One of the guys we game with was showing one to me (I cannot remember the site). I *think* it was mainly free. He is pretty fargin cheap.
In the 11th hour of my 5e days I used D&D Beyond before I decided to no longer do business with them. They were starting to roll out some of those tools, and I have heard they are not bad for people using 5e.
Physical notebook for actual planning.
I often write session summaries somewhere semi-public, this one here is a thread on a forum for my ongoing Crimson Shield mercenary company campaign (https://composedreamgames.com/forum/discussion/8982/dungeons-unleashed-crimson-shield-campaign) using my "Dungeons Unleashed" engine. There has been the most Dragons in this of any game I have run.
Others have been on meetup forums,
Made a campaign website once. That's here; I'm surprised it still works. I thought "webs.com" was suppose to be dead. I still use the setting in most of my fantasy gaming. https://darkageofdarsivia.webs.com/
I'd tried out Obsidian Portal once. Seems fun, but maybe too much work unless everyone is keen. I think I only ran one session for this. It was mostly me testing things out. https://amethyst-diceless.obsidianportal.com/ (this was for an Amber Diceless game.)
Last time I ran a sci-fi campaign I used Scabard Campaign Manager. I kept a tablet at the table that players could use to access star maps, news reports, and other data. I don't know that they ever used it between sessions, but it was helpful to me.
I think that feels a bit too techy for fantasy campaigns so I'm currently scribbling notes on loose leaf paper stuffed in folders and pockets. I should try one of those leather journals instead.
I use the notes app on a pen-enabled tablet. I used to use paper, but I'm lazy and kept losing stuff. The tablet is almost as good as paper for quick notes and sketches, which is critical for the way I run games.
I've used 3 ring binders, notebooks, etc. I've been using OneNote most recently and it's great since you can drop anything into it, so it makes for neat and clean presentation of information, even though it is bare bones in comparison to some of the dedicated tools. Scabard's graphs (relationship diagrams) seem particularly useful.
That having been said, sometimes whipping out a sketch or map on a piece of paper with a number 2 pencil is still the quickest ever.
Scrivener does it all. But it's designed for writers, but you can use it for all sorts. No problem with arranging chapters and using pics for reference.
I use Libre Office or Google docs for most word processing tasks.
Anyone highly recommend any of these RPG Campaign Manager tools? And if so, what does it do special?
Quote from: Spinachcat on May 12, 2022, 09:30:46 PM
I use Libre Office or Google docs for most word processing tasks.
Anyone highly recommend any of these RPG Campaign Manager tools? And if so, what does it do special?
I was using World Anvil. It does everything, and is a good tool if your players like to interact with the game world outside the table. Most of my table consists of casual gamers, so they dont do that a lot.
So, I have recently found myself using notion.so for my game prep. It's free, easy to use and powerful enough that it cant do a large percentage of what paid services like World Anvil does.
Sly Flourish of Lazy Dungeon master has a good template for a 5E campaign manager, but its easy to adapt to other games.
Linked is his video explaining his process along with his template, and other useful links in the description:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AfbMNAsyr4
Quote from: Godsmonkey on May 13, 2022, 06:48:03 AM
Quote from: Spinachcat on May 12, 2022, 09:30:46 PM
I use Libre Office or Google docs for most word processing tasks.
Anyone highly recommend any of these RPG Campaign Manager tools? And if so, what does it do special?
I was using World Anvil. It does everything, and is a good tool if your players like to interact with the game world outside the table. Most of my table consists of casual gamers, so they dont do that a lot.
So, I have recently found myself using notion.so for my game prep. It's free, easy to use and powerful enough that it cant do a large percentage of what paid services like World Anvil does.
Sly Flourish of Lazy Dungeon master has a good template for a 5E campaign manager, but its easy to adapt to other games.
Linked is his video explaining his process along with his template, and other useful links in the description:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AfbMNAsyr4
Another one for World Anvil as a campaign organizer for public consumption and display.
Trello is also a very good note/story board option to jot down what your thoughts and ideas are and reorganize it however you see fit.
Organized folders, .txt documents, named pictures and regular documents.
As simple as.
I buy a cheap composition book for every campaign I run and use that plus a pen.
A fair number of people use hand written notes in some for or other.
What do you find to be the advantages and disadvantages of that method?
Quote from: Godsmonkey on May 13, 2022, 07:08:42 PM
A fair number of people use hand written notes in some for or other.
What do you find to be the advantages and disadvantages of that method?
Other than plain text typing, hand written is always faster. A sketch, a map, etc. Is always quicker by hand. The only issue with have written is legibility (my penmanship sucks).
I'm typically handwritten notes on whatever scrap of paper I have to hand, so in order to be better organized I'm trying this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0891RCTPS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0891RCTPS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and this https://shop.swordfishislands.com/worldbuilders-notebook-royal/ (https://shop.swordfishislands.com/worldbuilders-notebook-royal/) out. That refillable leather book looks interesting too, though I'd want a dot grid notebook inside instead.
Paper & Pencil... and homemade counters.
Quote from: Rob Necronomicon on May 12, 2022, 09:21:40 PM
Scrivener does it all. But it's designed for writers, but you can use it for all sorts. No problem with arranging chapters and using pics for reference.
Yup Scrivener is what I use too. Fantastic tool!
I use Evernote and like it a lot. I build a notebook for my campaign and use sub notebooks for NPCs, maps, encounters, etc. Keeps me organized and with my paid level, accessible from all my devices.
I take notes in a regular composition notebook while playing or DMing.
Then after the session I put player known information and adventure logs on our wiki...Instawiki
which we also use to schedule games.. who is playing and who is DMing.
I keep all other notes, wilderness and dungeon descriptions, etc. in OpenOffice Writer
Maps in Campaign Cartographer.
I also use OneNote on a tablet for taking notes and making crude drawings.
I use OneNote. I do most of my work on my PC but I can access it from my phone or notebook.
Libre Office. Mostly Writer since I can export that to a PDF if I want to share in a compatible format. Sometimes Calc when I need to keep track of numbers and do basic math, dice rolling, cut-ups (random phrases from novels), custom tables, and even grid/hex maps. [Offset squares or text via one of my web toys.]
https://tangent-zero.com/toys.htm (https://tangent-zero.com/toys.htm)
- https://tangent-zero.com/hex_gen.htm (https://tangent-zero.com/hex_gen.htm)
- https://tangent-zero.com/derelict_gen.htm (https://tangent-zero.com/derelict_gen.htm)
- https://tangent-zero.com/map_gen.htm (https://tangent-zero.com/map_gen.htm)
I use a notebook and then transfer it to World Anvil.
Quote from: Chris24601 on May 12, 2022, 03:05:10 PM
Quote from: Godsmonkey on May 12, 2022, 01:48:42 PM
I'm curious what everyone uses and why? How do you organize your game notes? Do you use a service that allows players to read or interact with your world?
I use a Word document.
I use this thing called a 3-ring Binder, usually a changeable cover kind that is called a 'view-binder'.
Stuff gets written down in a
real notebook, then the pages go into the binder.
A three hole punch is very handy tool that I use often after printing out information from the internet.
- Ed C.
Quote from: Godsmonkey on May 13, 2022, 07:08:42 PM
A fair number of people use hand written notes in some for or other.
What do you find to be the advantages and disadvantages of that method?
Portability and functionality.
I tend to carry the campaign notes around with me in case I get any ideas at odd moments, even at work. It is quicker and less conspicuous to jot something down in a composition book with a pen than it is to pull out my smartphone and dictate a note to it.
I use basic txt files thrown in a folder on my desktop. Maps are hand drawn. I print most of the txt files and along with the maps they go in an accordion folder with differing pockets for different subjects.
Journal notebook for prep notes. Facebook for between session communication, summary of last session, and posting relevant images and maps (we've been playing on Skype for the last 4 or so years).
Little of this, little of that. I think better with pencil and paper. I type faster than I write by hand, and my handwriting is awful. Even I can't read it later sometimes.
So hand-scrawled maps on whatever makes sense and college-ruled notebooks for sketching out ideas. Then 3-ring binder per campaign, with a combination of hand-written stuff and Word docs. Also use Worldographer (Hexographer) for maps that will be used long enough to justify the extra effort (e.g. my local campaign area map).
I've also used 3x5 index cards, 4x6 index cards, and the backs of old business cards for various item/NPC notes. But I find organizing them so tedious that I'd rather put the same information in documents, even if I do waste some paper reprinting eventually after changes. Having the 3-ring binder in clear sections and good information in the footers of many Word docs instead of one big one helps a lot there.
There will also be a smattering of Notepad, Excel docs, etc. for various pre-notes at items, but anything useful there tends to get moved to another document before it is kept long-term.
I've looked at most of the online campaign tools but haven't found one yet that is even remotely close to what I would consider using.
I take notes on paper, and write stuff up later with vim and markdown.
I use the "Notes" app on my iphone. The search function makes it easy to find anything, and I always have it with me, so I can jot down ideas as they come...and they are legible.
I use a huge mix. College-ruled notebooks, notecards, post-it notes, printed out maps, printed out monsters, and a wet-erase roll-up grid/hex map for at the table.
I use/have used word/excel, google sheets/docs, roll20, slack, obsidian portal, email, discord, whatsapp, Instagram messaging, and even dnd beyond for out of game communication and messaging. I insist that at the very least everyone use a messaging app, because this is the 21st century and I need a way for everyone to communicate without messages getting mixed up in texts and emails, which I use for family and professional life. I also don't want 20 text notifications if gamers are just sending orc dick jokes back and forth.
A friend of mine uses Kanka, which I find disorganized, and I hate their presentation. I think ObsidianPortal is obsolete. Dnd Beyond can only be used for 5th ed, which I want to stop playing, and it's terrible for integrating houserules and anything created by the dm. Slack came the closest to providing what I need, but I'm still looking for the perfect campaign manager, so I'm going to look up a lot the suggestions from this forum.
I tend to go all in on campaigns and campaign worlds whether I'm running it or not, but the commitment of the people I play with ends at the table. So a lot of the information is just for me, but it helps when I'm running the game.