BrokenClock
I was wondering what everyone uses during their game session. Do you just use this site and read your info from here or do you print things off? Do you use DM software?
I really like the way Wizards lays out their adventures, with everything in neat little tables. Is there some sort of template available online for that, or is it still better just to use this site?
I was excited to make my Obsidian page, as a graphic designer. However, I was even more excited as an English major to start writing adventures! I just want to make sure they are organized properly.
Comments
In game, I have tons of info written in the GM-Only section of the NPC tracker and wiki pages. As the players encounter new persons, places, or things, I make them available to the players in OP in real time. This is great, especially if your players tend to forget an NPC's name or information in a book they've found, etc.
I also use a lot of handouts and props, and come up with accents and quirks for the NPCs. I think this helps immerse the players in the action a little more.
I think I might just make a template based on the official D&D stuff. I like the way they have things organized (adventure background, synopsis, hooks, etc) It will be good for when the players do something weird and then half of everything I wrote gets tossed in the can.
"I met a traveller from an antique land....."
CotM May 2016: Mysteria: set in Wolfgang Baur’s MIDGARD.
Previous CotM Aug 2012: Shimring: High Level Multiplanar Campaign
Inner Council Member
I use a second word document to track NPC/monster stat blocks. I used to store monster stat blocks as comments in Excel. That was when I had a fancy initiative tracker (I could mouse over a monster to see its stats). Since I have switched to a low-tech card-based initiative system, I've done away with my complex excel tracker. Now I just plug in monster & HP into excel while keeping stats in word.
Those are the big 3 documents adventure outline, npc stats, HP tracker.
My general trend has been to pare down my planning docs to the minimum necessary to run a smooth game. I try to put stuff into tables &/or hilight types of text in different colors for maximum scannability at the game table.
Oh, I also use the online dice roller from WOTC to make most of my rolls as a GM. It's great because in a fight with lots of baddies, I can just tell it to roll 12d20 when they attack and it gives the number on each dice in a list. I've found it makes big fights go quicker, because I don't have to actually HAVE a crapload of dice all organized, or roll a single set a bajillion times.
I mostly use OP to help me remember what is going on between sessions. My players love to wait months before ID-ing a potion. OP is invaluable when they say, "Hey, my character sheet says I have this thing I never identified... You know, the one I got two adventures ago..."
I have bunches of little slips of scrap paper that I've crafted out of junk mail. I jot ideas and notes on them as they come to me, and then I put them into OP afterward - embellishing as needed.
I am, however, very fond of the idea of using a RNG website to pre-roll a bunch of rolls that would normally be made in secret. I prefer to roll attack dice out in the open, where the players can (if they choose) cling to the hope that they can somehow subliminally influence the result. But as long as I can be honest with myself when it comes time to apply those pre-rolled results, that will save me a lot of time.
That said I do still keep a binder full of notes I've written down for the game, old Planet Hopper Guides from Wizards web site, so I guess you can say I supplement my old fashion DM binder with OP during games.