I keep all of what happened in one journal, and everything else on the computer. All the maps, the schedules, and the character sheets using a gurps character sheet program (forgot what its called), because I run it through discord using a text format. I hardly plan anything besides what’s in my head.
Ive been trying to use different ways to plan besides just pure vibes. like using joplin, or some wiki format or even trying to do use a mindmap? But alas most of what I do is simulating what I believe would happen and keeping character sheets of possible enemies on hand.
So, I’m curious, what do you do?
Obsidian! Can’t recomment it enough! It’s simple, has everything I need and a shitton of plugins (dice roller, statblocks, Initiative tracker, fantasy calendar, a tool for working with maps with pins and everything, ability to embed all sorts of generators from generators websites, wiki styled notes and more!)
I use Onenote, it’s free. Let’s you have a book with folders and pages. You can have blank lines dotted or graph paper. You can use it to search images uploaded to it. Combined with a surface pro to write on the screen I can do everything I want to from draw maps, edit character sheets and take notes. You can hyperlink between pages and print pdf’s into it. Fabulous piece of software for RPGs.
I use the superior method, a mess of illegible scribblings in a journal. I am trying to get better about it, though. And one thing im really trying to do is focus my prep on what the region is like, and what the important actors there are doing, and not on what i think the players will do. Every time I try to predict the pc actions they completely flip my prep on its head, so I want to go for more of an “informed improv” type prep
I felt the illegible scribblings in a journal because thats what I did when I was first starting to layout the setting. Even my maps look like that. I drew most of it in tuxpaint for that deranged feeling 🫣
I think that planning and keeping in mind what NPCs do through out makes the game feel “alive”. I try to do something like that, though I’m not sure how good I am at it. At most I just make recurring characters appear where they might be when a player enters a building or a setting occasionally
Obsidian is a personal favorite.
I use WorldAnvil for all my GM stuff :D Got my notes in their notebook, my worldbuilding in articles, etc etc. It’s a bit of a heavy program unless you’re going hard on worldbuilding, but I do go hard on worldbuilding so it’s perfect for me.
Used to use onenote before, but those aren’t really searchable last I checked.
I use obsidian, and git to sync between devices.
Haphazard scrawls on a notepad during the session, trying to not lose it in between the initiative orders and scribbled HP tracking from combats. After the session I try to collate it all into a OneNote where it’s all organised by campaign and plot element and theme.
Lately I’ve been moving from OneNote to Obsidian. Obsidian’s ability to link between files and then see the visual map of all the links is handy, and it can even detect mentions of a thing even if you didn’t link it at the time, so if something becomes important enough that you later decide to create an actual page for it, it’ll find all the places you previously mentioned it. Very useful.
Poorly! I do it poorly! :D
Characters are in GURPS Character Sheet, an (awesome!) open source character management program. I run our games through Foundry VTT, which handles all the combat tracking, HP/FP management, maps when I have them, etc. It also imports GCS files (and GCA, if that’s your flavor of character editor). Most of my other notes (events, generated people names for unexpected NPCs, etc) go in Google Keep notes. Notes that I have to take on the fly go into my notebook, where they go forgotten until the next session, more often than I’d like…
Between sessions: Google Docs (one document per campaign)
During the session: I’ll print out the document and scribble on it with a pen as needed. I’ve tried editing the doc live (via laptop) during the game but it takes too long and requires too much focus to type as opposed to just jotting down/crossing out as we play.
I’m a big fan of the Notion template from Sly Flourish. You can find it here: https://slyflourish.com/lazy_dnd_with_notion.html
This has been a lifesaver for me for years now. Just need to add some sections for world building and it’d be even better!
Thank you for the neat website! This looks so cool
