Keeping notes and details and all that stuff

[dsellars]

I have just started GMing a BW game at the moment. Before we started we went though a few iterations of discussion around Luke's questions and character creation.

This is pretty much my first time GMing I was wondering how you keep track of information and what has happened? At the moment I have a few scraps of notes and it's difficult to keep track of easily.

I was wondering about trying to use something like Freemind (http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page) to keep track of it all. Have any of you tried it? or anything like that?

Any general tips?

Cheers,
Dan.

[luke]

I keep a note book for long running games or a simple note sheet for shorter running games.

[Z-Dog]

i use inspiration (http://www.inspiration.com/) to map out conflicts

[pfischer]

Could you give us a couple of examples, Ken?

I use a notebook as well, plus the software Scrivener for planning/research and Omnigraffle for relationship maps.

[Thor]

I'm a poor note-taker. I scribble a few things in my notebook during the session. But mostly I rely on my memory and supplement that by asking one of the players to fill everyone else in on what happened in the last session. That generally shakes things loose for me.

I do write down names and that sort of thing.

[Z-Dog]

per, this (http://www.inspiration.com/productinfo/inspiration/using_insp/index.cfm?fuseaction=langarts)might be a decent example


click on the image to zoom in

what's hard to see is

A. how pretty it really looks on your own computer/printed
B. how fast it actually works (there's a rapid fire option for brainstormin')
C. how complex some of you maps can get (they give simple examples)
D. how you can convert from an outline to a map instantly (very handy)

we used it to set up our BE FoN conflicts

[Z-Dog]

I'm a poor note-taker. I scribble a few things in my notebook during the session. But mostly I rely on my memory and supplement that by asking one of the players to fill everyone else in on what happened in the last session. That generally shakes things loose for me.

I do write down names and that sort of thing.

Rashomon the RPG:

take no notes!
every person's input/memory is valid!
all statements are true! and false!
names change at a whim!


wait...I might have finally hit on how to play Lacuna....

[stormsweeper]

It's not unheard of for NPCs to be renamed because none of us remember the original name. ;)

I have a little notebook full of game ideas, mostly in the form of short lists. I have other loose pages with notes for a particular session or arc with key points I want to hit. Other than that, I keep it in my head, for better or worse.

[Z-Dog]

the things with names always bugs me

how many names do you remember from movies?

main characters, sure...but everyone else?

maybe I'll go with a short worded description from now on:

"a gray mustached, older man in battered armor and sad blue eyes"

rather than, "Um....let me look it up....you meet....Jurano....the fighter...he's old."

that or I'm going to start giving people really loopy names so people remember them.

--

EDIT: actually, I've been trying to play my char the way I act when I meet real people: write nothing down, look for something significant to remeber, and, if not...forget them...I mean, you get introduced to a new person at work, and what do you really remember? "The new hot chick in accounting...with the pretty eyes." "The new fat guy in tech who looks like he Mike Ditka..."

[EarthenForge]

That reminds me...there's this guy on the forum named Thor who has a blog in which he used to post awesome GMing advice. This entry is exactly the sort of thing you're getting at, Ken:

http://urdwell.blogspot.com/2006/09/technique-jareds-rule-of-three.html

It's inspired by Jared Sorensen's Rule of Three.

(I hope you don't mind, Thor - your blog entries are fantastic! :D)

[dsellars]

the things with names always bugs me

how many names do you remember from movies?

main characters, sure...but everyone else?

maybe I'll go with a short worded description from now on:

"a gray mustached, older man in battered armor and sad blue eyes"

rather than, "Um....let me look it up....you meet....Jurano....the fighter...he's old."

that or I'm going to start giving people really loopy names so people remember them.

--

EDIT: actually, I've been trying to play my char the way I act when I meet real people: write nothing down, look for something significant to remeber, and, if not...forget them...I mean, you get introduced to a new person at work, and what do you really remember? "The new hot chick in accounting...with the pretty eyes." "The new fat guy in tech who looks like he Mike Ditka..."

This reminds me of a gaming experience from a few years a sgo that stick in my mind, I think we were playing "The enemy within" and were chasing some one down an ally where we lost him. and a "well informed looking man, with a pipe." pointed the way. Much more memorable than Bob, a bloke.

[Thor]

(I hope you don't mind, Thor - your blog entries are fantastic! :D)

No worries! http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/happy091.gif (http://www.freesmileys.org)

[Kublai]

I keep a spiral notebook next to me and takes notes on names, places and results of conflicts. Not much else really!

Oh, speaking of making it easier to remember names, I tried the outlandish name suggestion. "Brother Brainscock" was a very important human NPC in my all-dwarf game. I was trying to come up with one of those crazy British names. it worked!

[EarthenForge]

That...brings up another good Thor blog entry on the power of names:

http://urdwell.blogspot.com/2006/09/technique-magic-of-yevauds-name.html

That's it. I'm temporarily changing my custom user title. It's only fair.

[EarthenForge]

And to actually reply to the topic:

I take super messy, fast notes on what happens during the game, names, etc., and since I've been posting regular APs on the forum, I later type up what happened in greater detail. Then I print out the AP, add it to my notebook, and throw out the chicken scratch.

I just organized my notebook yesterday - it sorely needed help. It's a 3-ring binder, and I created the following categories:

1. Quick Reference (for oft-referred to charts, PC BITS, etc.)
2. NPCs
3. Campaign Setting
4. Current Story Arc
5. Past Story Arcs
6. Resources (lists of names, descriptions that I can use for color, etc.)
7. Conflict Resolution (multiple copies of DoW and Fight! sheets in reusable page protectors

[The Dragon Master]

I'm fairly new to GMing, but here's what I've been doing, and it seems to work out. I keep some 3x5 notecards handy (just an old habit I got into), and keep track of general details. I have cards of each character with info such as Aliases, names (both player and character), three details that someone will notice on quick inspection, and what there housing situation is. As for NPC's I just keep track of two details, the name, and how the players met them. Events are kept track of by writing things down in broad strokes.

Now if the campaigns ever lasted more than 6 sessions, then I'd be in trouble, but for our group that works well.

[kensanata]

I'm using a wiki on campaignwiki.org. We only had a session via Skype and lots of Emails. After the session I started writing up some stuff, but most of the stuff is just the main characters and a bit about the big conflict itself.

Our campaign wiki:
http://campaignwiki.org/wiki/Krythos/HomePage

If you feel like giving the site a try:
http://campaignwiki.org/

And click on the About link to send me some feedback via Email if you do. :)

[Mordaith]

My games always start out the same. Start of session I am diligent at my task of note taking. After the first two hours I am now standing up and ignoring noting taking all together. Within 24 hours after the session ends I write up a AGR trying to pull the important happenings out of my mind. I send it to a couple of players to review and see if I missed anything. AGR becomes notes for next game.

[Fuseboy]

I can't imagine what's possessing me to go to this level of detail, but here's my little system.

I get a cheap binder - not with rings, but with a metal clip to hold a pad. I get a second metal clip (just one of those black ones with bowling pin-shaped arms) for the left side. I keep the clips closed during the game, with the stuff I use regularly on the top, and stuff I just need to refer to underneath.

On the right side I have my 'current session sheet', which is just a list of planned cues (beliefs I plan to hit, basically) and a log so I can point-form what happens during the game. The points are really, really brief - often illegible, but I do try to write a word or two about each scene; enough to jog my memory later.

If something really noteworthy happens (e.g. one of the city nobility is murdered and her manse set ablaze) then I jot that here as a reminder to work that into my pondering for the next sessions.

http://www.trilemma.com/bw/Notepadformat.gif

On the left side I have a couple of pages of NPCs in 'stat block form', which is something like this:


RADOMIR MIROSLAV (a cousin of Kursk)
I: Always keep tabs on Gomdril and Sergei.
B: I grow weary of this fighting, I will do what's necessary for peace.
Feuding is bad for business. Zoja could be our allies.
Kursk's time has passed. Don't waste time on it.
T: Sweaty, Balding, Know It All
DoW: Persuasion B6, Ugly Truth B5, Perception B5
Fight: Brawling B3
Ally: Viktor "the ghost" Libena (retired assassin), Bohdan Kveta (Fearful, Hysterical)
Knows: Saw Sasha w/ Kursk's serpent-handled knife at Sergei'sBetween sessions, I spend a few minutes updating these so the prominent ones are at the top, the dead ones are in the back, and with a few changes.

With a couple of bits of card with tabs, I can quickly flip to other useful pages underneath. Chief among these are player BITs in short form (e.g. Sasha's instinct to "Never forget an insult", I record as "Insult Sasha."), a list of pregenerated NPC names, and a couple of pieces of scrap.

This all sounds very OCD, but really the whole thing is dog-eared, coffee-stained and the binder is starting to separate down the spine. I just find it practical.

[Sempiternity]

Micheal - I really like that; i'm going to have to try it out!

What i do right now is to just keep a manila folder with:

scripting sheets, DOW/Fight! cheat-sheets, & house rules sheets in the right pocket,

setting info, maps, relationship maps, name-lists, & blank character worksheets, Paul's Beliefs tips, & world burning tips in the left pocket,

and filled out character sheets & worksheets in the middle.

Oh, and i have other tips on sticky notes stuck on the left pocket, as well.


My actual session notes - other than stuff that affects an in-play character's sheet - are kept in a little flip-top pocket notebook - but they're very sparse in form, usually amounting to only a quick sentence-long summation of the key event of each scene.

I try to turn these into more detailed APs after each session, but i've been inconsistent at best in practise. I do believe that a better approach to AP writeups would really help me be prepared for the next session! (Rachel's idea of printing them out and putting them in the play folder sounds spot on, on top of that. Especially with the usual long delay between my sessions...)

[eruditus]

of course it's been said, it depends on the length of the campaign. For longer campaigns then Michael's ideas are really well organized.

For BE specifically I tried keeping all the characters on the wiki and keep them updated.

Nowadays I like to keep log sheets for the session hitting important story points and important rolls for APs. Burned characters are thrown in there as stat blocks. i generally will keep all the PCs together in the same notebook and hand them out at the beginning of the session.

I require that players keep pretty good notes as well and we all try to date our entries.

So what useful bits come out of this? A fact book that we all can look at to remember details about the setting that has already been established. An NPC book with important story points attached. PC logs with their own rolls, story points and artha logs. Together it tells a pretty complete picture, especially for the kinds of stories we tell.

Minimalism is very rewarding. You find stuff faster. That which you don't find probably wasn't important enough to write down and can be given more story-relavant content.

My 2 cents,
- Don

[EarthenForge]

...Chief among these are player BITs in short form (e.g. Sasha's instinct to "Never forget an insult", I record as "Insult Sasha.")...

Brilliant! This is a weird lightbulb moment for me. That's essentially what GMs are supposed to be doing (that is, looking for ways to push the PCs instincts and such), but actually writing it out like that is an awesome idea. It really cuts down on over-thinking it. You inspired me to go write my players Instincts as GM actions, and I released:

a) wow - some of my guys really need to rework a few of their instincts. and, better:
b) there are some really cool scene opportunities I've missed! I think I might actually frame some scenes to hit more directly on instincts rather than beliefs (because, at least in the cases I'm envisioning, the one will follow the other, but with more intensity than hitting beliefs alone)

I'm so glad you mentioned that. :D

[Iskander]

I'm notorious for abusing the Eidetic Memory trait as a player. As a GM, I find I have to basically log every test in the game, or I forget everything. It sucks. All goes in a spiral-bound notebook that I then can barely read.

[Fuseboy]

You use the test log as a structure to remember the story? Or do you find that you need test info specifically?

[dsellars]

I tried doing that but I found I was holding things up too much ;-(

[Iskander]

You use the test log as a structure to remember the story? Or do you find that you need test info specifically?
Both. I find when I'm a player that (with a little jogging) I can remember quite a lot of detail about a session. As GM... I'm more challenged. The sequence of tests help me remember the sequence of events, and I try very hard to note the specific compromises and interesting consequences. It takes a little time... but it's better than forgetting everything.

[Z-Dog]

I'm trying not writing down anything for BW type games, but I can't imagine doing the same for BE. Just seems like so many more details to keep track of in BE...important and interesting stuff that comes back up to haunt you later.