Referees: How do you store your campaign notes, notes for current adventure or just in general?

IanBruntlett

IanBruntlett

Emperor Mongoose
Referees,

I'd like to know how you go about organising/filing things for your campaigns...

I have 3 main A4 ring binders (4 ring):
  • Slim one for the about to be run adventure.
  • Normal thickness one for campaign relevant stuff
  • A lever-arch (thicker) one for everything else.
I also store files on a computer, with long filenames so I can use the "find" campaign to find my notes again (and I put the filename in the footer section of typed up notes).

TIA,


Ian
 
Lots of computer files and a notebook at the table. All Computer files are organized into folders to make them easily findable. The notebook is so I do not forget what to enter into the computer after game and also for keeping track of combat during the game.
 
I haven’t been very organized in the past. I’ll be using Roll20 for the Sigularity campaign and the GM in the game I play in has notes and a journal set up there. That game is online in real time every other week, so not quite the same but I think I can make it work.
 
Excel.
For pathfinder, each time I add a monster, it goes in a table, saved on the next iteration. Each tab is an encounter area where you can select the monster and number, and it lists hitpoints, and a description below. Plus room for notes, traps and treasure.

Similar on Traveller, but I only use one tab to track combat for the whole session.
 
I have been running my D&D campaign for 12+ years online and for 95% of that time on our wiki. Traveller has its own wiki for the last 2 years now. I used KloOge for 18 years and now Fantasy Grounds.

I have pages on the sites for tracking the Story Arcs/Vignettes that the players contribute their own notes to. I do not add to those so that becomes the record of what the characters know.

I have my own GM notes sections where I can write my notes that are password protected so no one else can see them. That makes it easy for me to copy/paste the information onto the sections of the site they belong on.

Then I use FG for all the story entries for the various adventures. There are lots of GM tools there to organize the campaign notes that can be shared with a quick drag to the chat box.
 
While it’s not super organized, Roll20 does allow for separate entries for all kinds of things. They can even be character specific so only the GM or a single player can access or even see them. Roll20 is always up, so players and GM can go look at things whenever they like.

That should be more than enough for most uses. He even keeps a game journal.

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Legendkeeper.com Lets you build annotated maps, any kind of docs, link them all together, including the session notes later. Costs a few bucks, but make my life a lot easier.
 
I mainly open a Notepad++ file and make running notes (my sessions are online). Otherwise it's whatever piece of paper is on hand to jot ideas down in. If I'm feeling particularly organised I'll have a dedicated notepad.

I'll usually make a folder for a campaign within my main Traveller directory and locate the various character sheets and stuff there.
 
Secret squirrel scribble.


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It's all in Google Docs (regularly saved to PDF, JIC...)

I only get to play by post, which generates its own history, divided by episode/adventure

I also have a few docs of character information (I include their term history in their info so I know roughly where they were and what they were doing in case I want to create connections or flashbacks.

A master doc of all the people, places, things, concepts, slang, and all that.

And finally a spreadsheet with tabs for recipes, ingredients, cooking appliances that have been referenced, personal finances (one of the characters is poor, and focused on their cash flow), and timeline.

This would never work with live action play... Sigh.
 
Terry, I realise you said this is early days, but how does that work with different characteristics for different tasks? Change them on the sheet before rolling?
 
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