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Ozreth
Learned Scribe
188 Posts |
 Posted - 13 Jul 2012 : 08:06:03
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Or something in between? Ive run with a binder full of notes, tables, charts, NPCs, hooks, locations etc etc. I've also run with just a small moleskine and nothing more. There are obviously huge benefits and drawbacks to both and I've never settled on a favorite, though I lean towards the simple notebook.
How about you?
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Kilvan
Senior Scribe
Canada
894 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jul 2012 : 14:24:07
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My black notebook, everything is in it, from sketches to maps, from full stated encounters to key elements from a conversation to reveal. Some are just ideas for later, some are a full synopsis of the next adventure.
I forgot it at work once, we didn't play that night. I lose all my DMing powers without my notebook. |
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Gary Dallison
Great Reader
United Kingdom
6361 Posts |
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Artemas Entreri
Great Reader
USA
3131 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jul 2012 : 14:44:08
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| A binder stuffed with notebooks, maps, grids, etc. |
Some people have a way with words, and other people...oh, uh, not have way. -Steve Martin
Amazon "KindleUnlimited" Free Trial: http://amzn.to/2AJ4yD2
Try Audible and Get 2 Free Audio Books! https://amzn.to/2IgBede |
Edited by - Artemas Entreri on 13 Jul 2012 14:44:59 |
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Tyranthraxus
Senior Scribe
Netherlands
423 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jul 2012 : 15:02:26
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| I used to have a binder for my DM notes but nowadays I keep everything on my computer. I still draw maps by hand and scan them in to edit them in photoshop/illustrator. |
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jul 2012 : 16:48:44
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For me it’s a series of legal notepads and spiral-bound notebooks. I tend to fill up about one to two pages per session with play notes. I write about one page of post-game summary for use as a quick review before the next session starts. When a notebook is full, I file it in next to the at-my-side pile of D&D books for reference, then start a new one.
I tend to have a lot of ideas pop into my head at work or during the train commute home, so I keep a 5” x 7” notepad in my backpack for story and campaign ideas so I can jot them down.
This is the first campaign I’ve run where I’ve used a laptop. I don’t keep my game notes on it but I do use it for the wiki pages I created to collect names found in Cormyr (via the novels set there). Also so I can look up useful articles like Backdrop: Cormyr and Crowns and Mantles: The Ranks and Titles of Cormyr.
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Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
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Jorkens
Great Reader
Norway
2950 Posts |
Posted - 15 Jul 2012 : 14:43:55
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| Usually a couple of loose pages with important creatures and npc's in addition to treasure. Anything more and I just confuse myself trying to remember my own plot. The few times I have actually prepared myself well with notes and everything else the adventure has been worse; I am not exactly what you would call a structured DM. |
No Canon, more stories, more Realms. |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 15 Jul 2012 : 15:01:18
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I have this large zippered bag someone gave me years ago (when I was around 16), and I kept everything in that. The last couple of campaigns I ran I kept stuff in a pair of 'suitcases' - they were actually salesman's display cases to sell vinyl replacement windows that I stripped-out.
Turned out they were fire-proof... the only D&D stuff I still own were in those two cases. Too bad none of my FR material was in them (Mystara in one, and Greyhawk in the other).
The campaign I am starting now will probably be run from a tablet. |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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GRYPHON
Senior Scribe
USA
527 Posts |
Posted - 15 Jul 2012 : 15:03:04
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| A couple of large binders... |
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Thrasymachus
Learned Scribe
195 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jul 2012 : 10:11:09
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It use to be a 4 inch Binder, and the players would squabble about which two would bring in “The Dreaded Trunk of Backbreaking – roll bend bars/lift gates.”, which was a huge sea chest with every Forgotten Realms thing I own. I ran games open ended because my players couldn’t plan a picnic, so I needed everything to roll with the punches.
Eventually, I found a website that sold just about every Forgotten Realms thing on PDF. The site has since closed down, but I still have everything they released.
So, present day (when it's on the road) it’s evolved to a Cell Phone, Itouch 64 gig, and crammed with all those PDF’s, a GPS, minidice, and *sigh* a 4 inch binder.
But no trunk 
During design phases, add the laptop. |
Former Forgotten Realms brand manager Jim Butler: "Everything that bears the Forgotten Realms logo is considered canon". |
Edited by - Thrasymachus on 24 Jul 2012 10:17:16 |
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Delwa
Master of Realmslore
USA
1271 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jul 2012 : 18:34:21
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I'm complicated. I have a grey folder, the kind you use for turning in High School papers. It has a place to secure 3-hole notepaper in the middle and pockets on either side for looseleafs.
The center section has printouts of all the various tables from the DMG and PHB that I'd need (my DM screen, if you will.)
The left pocket holds handouts, NPC sheets and visual aids. The right holds my narrative outline for the story I'm running and a summary of what's happened thus far.
Then I have a small clipboard (about the size of a half-sheet of 8.5 x 11 notepaper) on this, I have the stat blocks for any monsters I plan on using and a set of notecards for tracking HP and Initiative. I have one notecard for each player, and on it their AC, Saves, and perception Skills. On the Dm's Initiative card, I simply pencil in the current hp of every monster/combatant in play.
It all sounds kinda complicated, but I never Dm at my house. It's far simpler for me to go to my players, so I have to travel light.
What's more, the place we play at doesn't have a table big enough for everyone, so we all sit on couches in the livingroom and put a map on the floor. I usually sit on the floor so I can move the minis on the grid. The clipboard doubles as a hard surface to roll my dice on as opposed to the carpet, and the notebook keeps me from having to lug two or three books with monster stats around for reference.
As far as books I do bring with me, the PHB, Monster Manual, and whichever Realms sourcebook is relevant to the current session.
I have a small tacklebox to haul minis in, which also has pockets for my dice, and a PVC tube with a blank grid, and a few rolled up sewar maps and generic inns, etc.
Oh, and currently a separate tube with a hand-drawn by my lovely fiance, full scale grid of the Biltmore House floorplan that I turned into a dungeon.
:D |
- Delwa Aunglor
I am off to slay yon refrigerator and spoil it's horde. Go for the cheese, Boo!
"The Realms change; seldom at the speed desired of those who strive, but far too quickly for those who resist." - The Simbul, taken from the Forgotten Realms Campaign Conspectus |
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Dalor Darden
Great Reader
USA
4211 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jul 2012 : 18:51:52
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I'm rather flexible and don't have a "system" for running my games.
Most often I use my laptop now and a bag of dice. The laptop has everything I need on it really.
I've been known to be too rushed and not have time to get my laptop from home before gametime though...and then I usually just play from memory.
I usually have far more fun playing "on the fly" but it is harder to keep things fully consistent and the depth gets a bit more shallow too. |
The Old Grey Box and AD&D for me! |
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Pazuzu
Seeker
Germany
61 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jul 2012 : 19:19:54
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| Of course I use old-school leather binders with (electronically) printed information and hand-written ones (the later the most). My binder is a good friend and never let me down. It holds any information and idea for my current (for years ongoing) campaign. |
May your dice obey your will. - Gary Gygax (*1938 - †2008) |
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Do you run your game with a notebook or a binder?
