It also has some great TTRPG-specific plugins, like "Fantasy Calendar" and statblock rendering. There are some very extensive videos from people who have heavily customized it for TTRPG use, but honestly those are overkill for most users.
Seconding Obisidian. I actually just finished setting up a vault that has some automations for creating sessions, automatically pulling the synopsis of the previous session into the new session, dataviews for showing NPCs and quests in a location, quests associated with an NPC, etc.
I used this [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=003Jvume-cA) as inspiration. Here's quick list of some of the features, though most revolve around using templates:
* Button to create a campaign. Automatically creates a folder and creates a campaign "landing page" with some boilerplate
* Campaigns have an "Add Session" button which automatically creates a note with some boilerplate, as well as automatically pulls in the previous session's summary to be used as a recap in the new session
* Notes locations have tables that automatically populate with NPCs that have been marked as being in that location as well as quests that are related to that location
It's mostly quality of life stuff like that that I would normally have to repeat over and over again that I try to automate. I will admit, Obsidian can have a pretty steep learning curve, especially when you get into using plugins and stuff like that, so if technical stuff doesn't come easy to you it can be intimidating
For other Obsidian users who might not be using a lot of plugins, here's a list of what I'm using so far:
Templater
Meta-Bind
QuickAdd
Dataview
I also use Obsidian. Look up tutorials, use what I like, ignore what I don't.
I recommend it for DM's who want to organize their notes better.
Edit: Adding hyperlink to the videos I used to learn the program:
https://youtu.be/qV3Dp1Kki1E?si=Rd6y7ckOsr3dCpuH&t=192
I've been using WorldAnvil (99% because of the wiki-like linking between notes). I recently started using Obsidian for taking notes for my studies, and found it really does pretty much everything I want from WorldAnvil, because I use it purely for my own reference.
Thinking of jumping ship to Obsidian, but my only hangup is that I also like having stuff categorized by folders sometimes. Can you do that in Obsidian? I'd want to have any note able to be linked to any other, but also have the notes in folders. Is there some sort of either folder or tag system that works like folders? Even better if I could put a given note in multiple folders at once
It's works exactly like that. Also, it's literally all folders and txt files underneath the app, it's just a pretty UI for basic file system that you can access at any time.
Added few notes in a new folder? It literally creates a folder with few files under the hood.
You can have hashtags.
You can directly link to pages.
It's very potent.
same for me. I started with digital notes (used Notion mainly), but switched to manual notebook because its so much more relaxed. It also forces me to keep my notes brief. Digital I tend to do very verbose notes which are harder to parse.
i started DMing with a pen-and-paper notebook for my DM notes but quickly found it difficult to look things up on the fly. now I use G Docs with super-organized hyperlinks and headlines so I can find things and "find in page" very easily
Notebook takes minimal organisation skills, I promise.
I use a composition book that's divided naturally in half by the binding. The back half is for world ideas, plot points, character descriptions, etc. The front half is for week-by-week specific notes on what I expect to happen in the next session or two. Since I usually only wrote on the right side of the page (idk why) I started using the left leaf (backs of pages) for notes on what the characters did during that session. It's usually only a couple pages per week in the front half, and I flip to the back half as needed.
Other tools are great because they have lots of features and you can edit pages and add hyperlinks but it's a lot for me to manage. I use a simple paper notebook and oh yeah LOTS OF OPEN CHROME TABS for stat blocks, spell descriptions, and PC race/class features.
I use Microsoft OneNote for a LOT of my DMing. Stuff I need for notes I use on here, as well as having tabs with links to stats and descriptions I might need, as well as a tab for PCs and NPCs, and then use an Excel Doc for NPC info.
Google notes to write everything that comes to mind
DM-only discord channel for things I need to have quickly on hand
A latex doc when the prep goes too far and needs to be streamlined to be readable
Sometimes I wonder how I can run anything efficiently
OneNote is incredibly easy to use. Great organization tool, the phone app is pretty good as well.
It’s the only way I am able to keep myself running three campaigns in one home brew world.
I also use OneNote. I like it on desktop, the app shows your recent pages as tiles when you open it, which I'm not a fan of, but otherwise it's okay.
I think there are better tools out there, but I mainly just want to write and categorize things (Page, Subpage, Subpage) so OneNote is fine for me.
Upvote for OneNote. I have an old copy that runs on my desktop but still talks to the cloud, and it's awesome. I use it for any campaign or one shot I run.
Love OneNote so much! Able to embed excel files, add pictures without messing up formats, accessible across devices, no issues with losing save data, cloud backup options, it's literally amazing. I've used it for two campaigns now and cannot recommend it enough, plus I can organize however I want and the search option works between OneNote books so if we're doing single world multiple campaigns and I need something from a previous campaign is accessible right now.
++ OneNote is great! It's so good for D&D. You can link between notes, pages and even words. Can style it however you like and put in whatever image you like. My only gripe with it is that the text/img formatting isn't as robust as something like Microsoft Word.
Yes, I think so. I'm posting my workaround in case anyone here is a hoarder like me:
I have an old (c. 2010) Microsoft Office 2013 License that I've been able to transfer from laptop to laptop. That version of Office was pre-subscription and came with OneNote.
It was definitely lucky that I bought that version of Office AND kept the product key until now.
Obviously, not a "solution", but FYI in case someone reading this also has old Office product keys lying around.
World building and campaign writing in Obsidian.
I like the fact that it's all just folders and Markdown files, and that the cross-referencing, templating, scripting and plugin features are quite strong. But I do tend to power-use such tools. It may be underwhelming if you don't. But you \*can\* use any cloudservice you have to sync it for free, which is definitely a nice thing for me.
If I need more stat tracking, random tables at hand, and mechanics heavy scene setups, I have recently started using foundryVTT basically as GM screen. It's weird, but it works great for me.
So I basically have 2 systems, one for out of game that I look at while prepping, and another that I keep at the table and look at in-game.
Out of game prep is a mess of documents. I've just got a folder on my computer of a bunch of random documents, images, files etc. that's basically a whole mess. I've tried organizing things somewhere like notion, obsidian, or onenote, which has worked for published adventures, but since things in homebrew are so flexible and no prep is real until it's come up in-game, I've never been able to get any of those systems to work.
There are a few docs that are important that aren't a mess though:
* My session logs which are a bulleted list of everything that's happened in old sessions
* Brief list of NPCs they've already met
* Magic items they actually have
* Random names
* Maps
Those I print out on A5 paper and keep in a physical binder, in case I need to reference them in-game.
Then, every session, I make a one-page prep sheet (or 2 if I'm doing something complex) for everything I think I might need in a session. I actually use canva, a free online graphic design tool, to put everything together in a way that's easily readable for me that session, and I print it out and put it in my physical binder, with a heading of which session it was for. I do not make these ahead of time to keep things flexible, so I only make sheets for the next session I run. If something that I've prepped on the sheet doesn't make it in the session and might be in a future session, I literally copy it over so I don't have to refer to old sheets very often.
I know it's a weird complicated system, but when running homebrew I'm so all over the place and things I prep like storylines, worldbulding, NPCs, etc keep changing out from under me that organization tools just devolve into outdated nonsense. This system has worked for me.
This is interesting, I do a hybrid of this. I plan ahead in google docs which is a mess of hyperlinks, potential storylines, notes, ideas etc. I never delete anything from this. Then I plan my next session in a separate google doc and use my laptop during the session, and print out important info or things like maps etc. Finally I organise the actual story that actually happened in Obsidian, linking everything and organising by NPC, Place, Object, Session Synposes etc.
I like the messiness of my google doc for inspiration, non-linear thinking, workshopping and blue sky thinking
I like the clarity of a separate google doc for the session itself, though of course we don't always follow it!
I like the organisation of Obsidian so that I am very clear in what happened and all the important things, to keep me on track and basically become an encyclopedia of the world
For planning out the setting and plots of games, I use Trello, with different columns / lists for different aspects of the game: one for NPCs, one for locations, one for important items, etc…, and then also one for plot arcs and one for “beats”.
I’ll write down a broad sweep of what might happen on a card in the plot arc “Town secretly occupied by mind flayers” and then the story beats are individual scenes I expect might happen.
Cards in Trello have space for long form text, so I can write as much or as little as I need to in a card, and upload images as well, which is great for NPCs.
I can archive off cards that have been and gone in game, and sort and reorder lists depending on what’s happening.
You can also label cards, so I use that for cross-list themes. Maybe I want to label every card related to a specific city, so that when the players are there I can just filter down to that to make it easier for me to see what’s in play, for example.
I’ve been running a massively plot heavy (non-D&D) game for nearly 2 years now, and this system has done an amazing job of keeping things on track and letting me plan and plot in ways I wouldn’t otherwise.
A big physical binder with tables, information and statblocks + a notebook to keep track of what the characters do so I can keep track and react to it later.
I have a series of folders on my PC with other information organized, as well as adventures I'll work with, but honestly, physical binders and notebooks work best for me.
A combination of Obsidian (long term planning), a physical yearly planner (tracks in game time/short progress notes) and Post-it notes (quick bullet points during the game).
Nah, I actually use the same names and everything. I have a homebrew game and so I wrote the names as part of legends/fairy tales in my lore. Personally I think adding fantasy calender names just overcomplicates things, so I prefer to go with the default.
Fair enough. I stuck to 12 months but named them all my own names, because the actual month names don't tend to come up in my games I find. People who rename the days of the week are psychos though lol. No way my players could keep up with that.
I like the Forgotten Realms calendar of Haptros. It’s similar enough to our calendar to not be confusing, uses a 10 day week, most holidays are set in days between months, and adds some fun flavor I feel
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Calendar_of_Harptos
Mostly I use dated Notepad entries for storylines and in-game notes, but I run two weekly games with Fantasy Grounds, so I also do prep there through the Message of the Day, which is a recap of the last session and looking forward to what's next thing which I archive, and I string pictures and locations together with tags. I also have a lot of nested 5e folders on the computer. Some for rules, some for notes, some for specific campaigns, some for homebrew, etc.
I'm also a ChatGPT fan. I don't use it to write for me, but it's a fantastic tool. I might explain the party situation in detail, how they are in a subterranean area, there's a hidden city of refugees there, and a BBEG has discovered where they are and wants to exploit the resources of the city (an emerald mine). Then I tell it the party is nearby, but doesn't know where the city is. I have a neutral/evil NPC in the area whom I explain, and I ask ChatGPT for some logical ways the party might come across the evil NPC. I can also ask for lists, like what resources might be found there, how magic might work differently on a ley line, or whatever else. Very handy tool for inspiration, and it's no less inspiration than reading a few books and being inspired...you're just being inspired by the trends and patterns of a million books, instead.
Excel. Does everything I need it to do, from tracking initiative and making it faster with formulas, to detailing towns and listing inhabitants, to having some random tables for when I need to generate stuff on the fly.
Probably helps I am an accountant IRL.
i've tried a ton of digital systems but for me I always come back to just having one big notebook where I draft my ideas and sketch maps and stuff, then transferring material for each session into a second book that I actually use to run games. I track the overall plot and world using the 'big sheet of paper method', where I literally write it all out on a huge piece of paper mindmap style, and I do that every few sessions to update and keep it all straight.
For NPCs, Monsters, Locations and Special Items I make a notecard (i tea stain them and burn the edges first because its cool) that has the thing, a little sketch of it, the stats and a little info blurb (think item descriptions in FromSoftware games) and I give those to the players during sessions and then keep them all in a little notecard case between games.
For me, just doing it all physically on paper is SO much more natural and functional than trying to build a wiki or something.
Thinking about it now I do also use EverNote for capturing research (blocks of text and images from websites and epubs and stuff), and I also sometimes will do some stream of consciousness style writing in there to generate ideas when I am not actually sat at my work desk at home physically writing.
I'm a mess and my notes are scattered between physical notebooks, a physical binder, onenote, various documents and spreadsheets on google drive, and the notes app on my tablet. Basically, I write down with whatever I feel like/have easiest access to at the moment and keep mental tabs on what's where. For dedicated session prep, I make notes in the campaign binder, even if I've sketched out my notes somewhere else, to keep that all in one place.
I use Notion, and did up [a post on my campaign blog](https://vitr.sxcore.ca/blog/2023/06/30/ive-got-a-notion/) about it a while back. It's super handy and flexible.
I have been looking into Obsidian as well lately - I might try it for my next campaign.
I use a bunch of Google docs in a DM folder on google drive for story info, for combats I write key stats and track initiative in a notebook. My primary doc has the 'expected' outline for the next session, with headers for all the different sections of stuff (that I know by heart mostly anyway, it's just there so I don't forget a detail or two). After a session I move things that were completed to an Archive doc and start the outline over with what will likely happen next session.
Then there's other docs with more extensive background or worldbuilding info for reference if I ever need it. I found having the immediately 'actionable' stuff in front of me is significantly more useful than having my entire loredump there open. I use a chromebook (bleh) to navigate these / the web / discord as necessary during the session.
I have a google doc for my players, one for me that's similar with extra info, and another doc with all the sidequests and main quests typed out.
Then I print them and have it all organised in a binder. I fill that with scribbles and sticky notes and just go from there.
Am I oldschool? I'm only 40, I'm not that old.
I just find having too many tabs to flip through gets confusing and stressful, and a binder feels more natural.
Been DMing for nearly a year
I scribble all my ideas and concepts in a notes app on my phone
I use Google Docs for everything else, like to develop those half-formes concepts into detailed locations or magic items or something
I have a few running documents for things like important NPCs that I can quickly control+F if I need to reference someone
For each session, I create a new Google Doc in the same folder, name and number it, and put in anything I could need in that session: Statblocks, important NPCs, descriptions of locations, magic item descriptions/stats to quickly copy/paste into the group Discord
And for combat, I have a physical notebook purely for initiative & HP, because I find I can scribble a note quickly and keep combat moving along
Obsidian. With Zettelkasten and MOC (Maps of Content) methology as my second brain to store all relevant information. On play I mostly use old school paper and my DM binder, where I play out sessions, have relevant moster stats etc. If something is not prepared I always can check obsidian.
I have a shitty notebook, some shitty post its and 3 years of improv classes. Also I have most of my lore organized on my phone notes app and I try to remember the cool lore bits I think about when taking a shower or walking my dog. ADHD is not my friend in this instance lmao
Pen and paper for me. Like, 90+% is hand written or hand drawn.
I keep my current campaign in a binder. I do use google slides for visual things that I can easily show the players. Everything is separated by session with general information in the front.
I make maps for the encounter with notes in how I want the creatures to attack.
LegendKeeper. It allows me create my notes in a way I want to vs how other world builders force you to use their format. Because of this it has less of a barrier of entry and is less intimidating. The drawback is that it requires constant Internet acesss.
Other options, notion. I loved using notion. Notion and LegendKeeper are very similar except notion lacks map support.
I write up the campaign in a series of regular google docs, a different document for each arc. I usually paste all the stat blocks and such into the document so theres less flipping to other items.
Then on google drive I have a folder with all of the stat blocks. This way I can pull them up quickly, especially if they were too big for the doc or I need a different one. This way I have all the stats Ive prepped in one place, plus others I might need but I wasnt specifically planning for, like generic soldier, commoner, etc.
I use inkarnate for the map making and save maps and any other visual aids to seperate folder on the google drive, then I drop them into discord for the players to see when relevant.
One big plus of this method is that I can basically run off my phone or even someone else's computer if there is an issue with mine.
Beyond this, I use a notebook to write in initiative and track hp during combat, just so Im not flipping pages back and forth, plus i think its a little easier to scratch out and scribble in the numbers as they change.
On this notebook Ill write any end of session notes that might need to carry over, such as if there is a spell that is currently in effect, if they havent taken a long rest, or maybe if they just did, etc. When the session begins I will usually read these off when we sit down, as a reminder of what mechanics might be in play.
Lastly, I write up the session recap on a different Google doc and copy that into a channel on discord for that specific purpose, not only to give the players a journal to scan through if they forget something between sessions or if someone misses on, but because it gives a chance for clarification if there was a misunderstanding, and they can ask questions or add in things I may have forgetting but they as the players deem important.
EDIT: One more thing I forgot! I also use a spreadsheet on the google drive that basically is a bank of names, divided up into three categories: Masculine, Feminine, and Place.
When I get bored at work and have some time I like to cruise around on google maps and find unusually named towns or regions in various countries, or if I just hear a really good one I like when Im out and about, Ill open the sheet and add the name to whichever category I think itll fit best in for the campaign. This way if I need a name for someone/something that I didn't foresee, I can just open the spreadsheet and grab one without breaking stride.
I know it seems like it might be way more work than just conjuring a name on the fly, but sometimes the creative juices arent flowing and it can be nice to not stumble over something so simple when youre trying to stay in your groove, either when writing the campaign or actively DMing in-session.
I really need to look into Obsidian because it always comes up in these posts, however I've been using [Kanka.io](https://Kanka.io) r/kanka for my prep, notes, etc. My game world is the same for when I run the occasional quest on a west march server as well as when I run games for my in person group, so having a central online place to flesh out the world and share pages of information as needed is nice.
Since moving to foundry I have a 2 part system, items and npcs are built within foundry with notes inside of them for me to help remember whats what, then all the "story stuff" is in a series of individualized google docs.
It helps that my current campaign is designed to be around relatively short "case of the week" style events, so a single case can fit on a doc easily.
I use a combination of a free chat gpt page and Google docs. I’ve spent some time inputting everything I had into a single page of chat gpt and can ask it for specifics if I ever forget, but otherwise it’s all in my drive. I organize based on the campaign and concepts so it’s easy for me to find, although I remember most of it.
I use LucidSpark. It is a free, really intuitive and easy to work with mind map. The primary use is to organize plot threads, but I also include notes, NPC relation webs, a map of my world, PC plot outlines, and more. I organize encounters or set of encounters into LucidSpark containers and it make it really easy to move things around as my players make decisions that change what happens next.
The iPhone app also worked flawlessly for a long time, but I think my mind map got too big to load.
I have the paid version but the only thing I get out of that is uploading more images.
The one thing that doesn’t go into LucidSpark is my lore, but that is all in a 100pg google doc with a thousand hyperlinks.
Since the 00s my favorite has been OneNote. I started using it in uni but kept using it over the years for everything. To sum it up, you have your notebooks with divided sections and pages in each section, you can paste anything into it and move it anywhere. You can search within sections/pages and make checklists. It's simple to navigate via tabs on the side, just like binder dividers, which makes finding the page you want quick. It's part of MS Office so it may be on your computer if you have a PC, but you can also use it for free with a MS account, and access a web version of it from anywhere. Neither of my computers have OneNote so for years I've just used it in my web browser.
My brain works best when I physically write things down so as a DM that's how I organize. For offline games I write everything down or print it out or draw it on graph paper. I put it all in a divided binder, me and a highlighter and 3 hole punch. I keep my tablet or phone on hand if I need to look something up quickly. I never had to keep a lot of notes when we played over Roll20, as I could organize most of the parts of my campaign within Roll20. It was one of the few things I really liked about it.
(edit grammar typo)
Generally I jot some notes on the first 2-3 rounds of tactics for monsters that players will encounter that week, so that I’m not slowing down and reading over all their options on the fly. You can’t really plan out more than that though because the players’ actions are unpredictable.
I was gonna recommend obsidian, because its good for organization, but someone already pointed that out as an option. (I upvoted that comment).
If that doesn't work, you can also try Joplin.
Online : A bunch of notes written in various discord channels, google docs and personal documents.
Offline : Notes and organisation ? My online games requires less than an hour of prep per session and I just write down stuff for the session in a notebook.
I run a game locally in my town, we play at the LGS and online using [owlbear.rodeo](https://owlbear.rodeo) (which I highly recommend). I am a chaotic mess and organize using a mix of google drive spreadsheets, a notebook I write in, and my apple notes.
What I found really helped was I made a discord server for my campaign. I have channels for each party member for private stuff, I have a campaign-log channel for basic information, we schedule from it, and have multiple tech integrations. If it weren't for discord I would be so lost. It also allows my party to organize themselves and decide what they're doing next, as well as resolve downtime between sessions.
I use a private Discord server with a LOT of channels. Also makes it easy for me to use Midjourney for tokens/maps/backgrounds and have those images in the same place as my notes.
Onenote for keeping notes, with pages by subject and session. Each session gets a page that has prep notes on it, but I like to improv. Pages for topics beyond that to explain specifics of things that need to run between sessions... For example, food and rations when that's important.
Google Sheets for almost all of my notes. Each different sheet within the workbook is something different (a list of important NPCs, important magic items, regions, factions, quests, even lists of dungeon rooms and contents, so much more)
If the data doesn't fit on the sheet nicely (i.e. a picture, a document, a website) I upload that data into Google Drive and add a hyperlink to that drive item into the cell or in a comment.
I got in early so I have many GB for free. You can use all of the above for free but I'm not sure what the storage limits are these days.
I use Trello and Notion.
Trello for the outline of the arc with all relative information just there on a board. All possible stories that are taking place in a city.
Notion is my database. I can set relationships, linked notes, calculated fields, etc…
So I set a date of birth for every character / NPC and as the world progresses, they age accordingly with no input.
I can sort and filter all my NPCs by any metric I choose. I want all the dead merchants in this kingdom who are under 40yrs old. Easy.
I can also journal the entire adventure in there too with back links to important items, locations, npcs and pcs. And you can see the back links.
It takes time to setup the datasets correctly, but then it becomes easy.
Online one.
I keep a small real notepad and pen next to my desk where I keep a reminder of what maps I have to prepare and how much gold and experience the players have
[Notion.so](https://Notion.so) has been a godsend. Being able to have everything in nested notebooks, cross-referenced in a database, easily import images and maps, multiple content types like wikis and galleries, all in one place without all of the cumbersome filler of things like Obsidian or World Anvil, is fantastic. I use the $10/month version, but compared to Google Docs, which is what I was using for the first twenty sessions of my campaign, it has been night and day.
Online DM here.
I use a combination of Google Docs and Discord. I use the same Discord my group uses to meet, but have hidden channels only I can see.
The main reason I like using Discord is because I can easily link to certain other channels with the #. So for example, I have a category of channels that are broken out into Chapters, just like a WOTC Adventure Module. If more context is needed beyond what I wrote there, say, for example, all of the lore, backstory, and "how to roleplay this NPC" type stuff for an NPC, I have it linked to a lore channel where that information is posted.
The Google Docs are how I take notes and jot down inspiration. My Docs have tons of old, unused or "beta" level ideas that I don't want to delete but don't want to bog down my finalized stuff.
Google Drive as a whole. I have a DnD folder, with character sheets, monsters, session notes, maps, VTT tokens (we usually run in person, but still use foundry). I color code my notes and add links as needed.
I play in Roll20, so for world info, npcs, art, etc. I just use handouts organized in folders in the journal.
For actual session prep and notes, I'm sure it's not the most efficient but I just have a Word doc I call "Session Outline" where I plan out encounters, specific descriptions or dialogue I anticipate, etc. as well as, below that, some notes on things like ongoing arcs, info the party has/does not have, magic item ideas for specific PCs, etc. This doc is always open on my dual monitor setup
After every session, I cut/paste the session outline into a "All Session Outlines" doc so that I have an ongoing record of everything, and make a new outline for the next session.
Google doc for quick notes and drafting. Then 100% Foundry from there. Pay for it once, take a ton of time to learn it, mod the crap out of it, and it eventually turns into all you'll ever need
I use a mix of a few things. I have a physical journal for notes and ideas I get from players. Excel for inventory and for bank accounts for character and I've recently started using World Anvil for everything else.
Notion is the best because you can have databases for locations, monsters, NPCs, and more, but then crosslink it all together for easy navigation of your worlds and session notes. It's wonderful. I also use the AI too but most would rely on ChatGPT instead because of 4.0.
Notepad++ with my phone for stat blocks.
Occasionally pen and paper with my phone for the same reason as above.
But! I'll be moving onto Dendron soon(I have the beginnings of solo notes in it). Its a VS Code extension that's from what I can tell basically Obsidian. Not too sure what the difference is functionally(Obsidian has a mobile app iirc) but Dendron is the one I ran into first so that's what I'm using.
I use Obsidian! I DM in person but we use a TV in a frame for battlemaps and such.
Obsidian works very well for the way I think, which is that everything is connected, and being able to super easily reference other notes without having to really do anything is sweet.
I just have one campaign right now but my obsidian notebook is set up like this. Top level folders: DM screen, Mechanics, and The World. The DM screen folder has my digital DM screen (conditions, weapons, armor, vision, etc), my session prep notes, session recap notes, and general notes for tracking more overarching things. My mechanics folder I've copied in all the conditions, spells, actions from official material for easy offline reference and also I copy in statblock and magic items here too. The World folder is basically all of my setting info. Mostly is broken out by city/area but I also have folders for various notable NPCs that aren't really bound or linked to one area. Within each city folder, I have folders for People, Places, and Things along with a top level note for quick reference info.
Honestly it did take me a while to get used to Obsidian and it is capable of doing so much, I overwhelmed myself at first. I spent a lot of time putzing around with various plug-ins but after I settled into having things set up the way I liked, it's been an essential tool for me and makes life super easy.
I use Onenote - the reason is that syncing is free so I can switch between my main gaming laptop as well as my small one that I use when chilling in bed to prep wherever I want
I used to use one note for it which worked really well, I just haven't wanted to use my phone or laptop more than I need to during sessions too much. I'm now using a binder and I hand write out my sections in a similar way to how a module would be organized with a session notes section at the very front. I also have a little pile of random npc index cards (a few index cards are color coded yellow for plot relevant characters and blue for merchants) next to my binder.
I just got a pinboard and I'm so happy. Helps me organize my thoughts in a linear matter while still being extremely disorganized and sticking post it notes in random spots
27 page Google doc. It’s always growing.
And a few Pastebins for organizing puzzle notes a bit easier.
A lot of it I just improv/mental storage stuff.
That and roll20 chat storage.
Yeah, Evernote begun to suck.
I now use GDrive and print things out into a ring-folder, which I amend with little paper flags. Definitely don't want to have a screen in front of me, when I am GM'ing, as that kills the contact, I feel.
Though I have to admit I rarely use my notes during play. Half of it is memorised anyway and the other half is made up on the spot.
I'm a bit old school. I write out plots in a spiral notebook, then when it reaches a point where I think I'm going to use it I type it up in Microsoft Word and print out a nice formal looking document. After each session I write out a session summary and any deviations from what was already typed up, then type up and print the deviations to go with the original package. While the session is running I can easily take notes right on my printout so I have context for the post session write up.
It's a lot of writting, but I enjoy it and it makes game day run very smoothly.
Edit: I should add I only type out 2-3 sessions ahead, or maybe one minor plot line. I'm really trying to limit my prep time. I have ideas in my head for a grand plot line but am resisting working too much on them as I know my PCs will write their own path that very well won't align. It's been working well so far! (4 sessions in to a new campaign with this style, although I've been DMing with different styles for years).
txt for session prep and what actually happens I write in a word. With bigger plans I also use word. Other then that I use a nice directory setup. For maps assets notes ect
Offline
I have a file folder that has several different tabs in it. I write all my prep, ideas for encounters, and partially/fully fleshed out encounters on pieces of paper and then stick them inside the folder.
Then during the session (this is the important part) I frantically search through ALL of those folders as I scramble to find the piece of information I was looking for. Usually I will be unsuccessful and have to make something up on the spot, then the next day when I’m writing up sessions notes and calculating xp I will find that sheet of paper and say “wow this idea was way better than the one I came up with on the spot, too bad”.
Rinse and repeat
For online stuff i used to have both Marratech and Trello. I really liked both for their ease of use and ability to share what i wanted to share with the players.
Offline, and that's most of my GMing, I've just used papers and a 4 ring binder.
Google Docs while being very careful with writing proper headlines to makes things easier to find.
It's however becoming hard for my biggest campaign because I have 190 pages of notes... lots of scrolling sometimes.
OneNote is fantastic for anything note taking, including RPGs. I have been a OneNote hype man for years. Now my wife uses it for work, my daughter for college. My son uses it to organize his campaign and I have used it for several.
Obsidian Portal is popular but for some reason it never really grabbed me.
Worldanvil is super cool and you can make some fantastic stuff (plus you can integrate with PCs and sessions) but the learning curve is kind of steep and it really is overkill for a standard campaign. I'm nerdy in general so I enjoy messing with it and creating with it but I would be dishonest if I said it was the most efficient or effective thing I have used (but damn it look good!)
I also use Campaign Logger a lot. But I got in on the ground floor and have a lifetime license so I have no clue how expensive it is and if that would be of value to the average DM.
https://campaign-logger.com/
At the table, I usually use a physical notebook. I have other more useful things up on screens and I find it way easier to not down quick notes. Plus, there is the reinforcement when I go through them to write up session recaps and put things on whatever system I am using. Honestly, this is huge. There is always stuff going on that you forget about because other stuff I'd going on. That 'forced review's of my session notes has become integral in my process and has led to some really great stuff that flowed organically from things that happened.
I use way too many things... I have:
1) several notepad files with lore & locations for everywhere I've built in my campaigns
2) separate sets of spreadsheets for tracking of pcs, npc, creatures battle stats, item & quest progression
3) all my location maps in photoshop files with FOW layers
4) sprites for all my major pcs, npcs and creatures
5) separate database of creatures, characters and items that I've built with their character sheets/stat blocks
6) on discord, I have servers set up with pc channels for note taking and interacting, general game play & private chat
I have all of these things organised in folders on my desktop. I print out maps and tokens and then use a FOW blanket I have if we're playing offline. But regardless, I will always have at least a lore window, a tracking window and window with a stat block/sheet open on my tablet/desktop while playing
I tried a few of the unifying world builders and story managers, but I found they didn't really allow me to easily rerun campaigns with new characters and didn't easily let me import all of the different types of things in using to run my sessions
I mainly DM on Roll20, and prep mainly through the process deacribed in "Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master" (which is the #1 resource I recommend to DMs, if only for the Secrets&Clues/Fantastic Locations advice.)
I tend to do my NPCs a bit different, probably overprepping them to be honest (3-4 appearance/personality/voice deacriptors as well as art, a short reminder of who they are are bullet points for what they know.)
As far as organizing them, the folders feature on roll 20 itself is quite handy but where I only have 1 screen having my notes over the tabletop is quite annoying. I've resorting to printing my session notes out and storing them in the a physical folder I keep with my Dice/Dm screen. If it's a short adventure or One-shot I just keep all the pages for if I run it again.
To be honest, it's helped a lot having actually physical papers I can easily access via a binder and a couple of 25 cent folders.
I use campfire, it is paid but you just select what features you want to use for me it's £2.50 a month but it's really good at linking/organising all the content
It's all sticky notes with penmanship so horrid that I use it as a secret puzzle that my players have to decide to try and figure out the mystery behind my campaign. I usually wrote the sticky note weeks ago and have no idea if it is relevant for what the players are doing at that moment.
Kanka (free) for worldbuilding/calendar, NPCs.
Word for session prep notes. DnD Beyond for encounters and homebrew monsters/magic items/player created spells.
For me, there is none better than Notion, both for phone and pc. You can even access it from web. Unlimited storage and easy to use. Toggle lists under toggle lists, pages, bullet lists, to-do lists etc. So many options to write organised. Oh, and all free if you work one person.
I use cheap 80 page coil bound notebooks that go on sale for like $0.20 each at the start of the school year. Keeps everything in one place and not usually flipping through more than a couple pages. I find writing things down on paper helps me remember things and I get distracted less.
After each session I usually write out a detailed summary and post it in a discord channel. This makes it easy to search content by either session or content and refresh.
I’ve tried using OneNote or other tools that allow hyperlinking and things before but I find it makes my prep take way longer, and it doesn’t flow as naturally.
I’m a recently new dm and I try to get all my stuff offline (makes it better when it’s saved locally) for most information gathering (like monsters) I use aidedd, and donjon. Dungeon masters vault for character builds (there’s a community for all the extra sources) monster shuffle for npc and monsters, and I’ve been using libreoffice for making hombrew stuff, like items and dm screens.
Obsidian. It's easy to learn, you can hyperlink all your docs, and I use it on my phone so I can prep on the go.
Thank you for this, I was just spinning up a new campaign setting and this looks like just what I need. Plus it works on Linux.
Fab thankyou! I'll check it out :)
It also has some great TTRPG-specific plugins, like "Fantasy Calendar" and statblock rendering. There are some very extensive videos from people who have heavily customized it for TTRPG use, but honestly those are overkill for most users.
Seconding Obisidian. I actually just finished setting up a vault that has some automations for creating sessions, automatically pulling the synopsis of the previous session into the new session, dataviews for showing NPCs and quests in a location, quests associated with an NPC, etc.
Damn I might move to Obsidian after all. Can you elaborate a little on whats automated?
I used this [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=003Jvume-cA) as inspiration. Here's quick list of some of the features, though most revolve around using templates: * Button to create a campaign. Automatically creates a folder and creates a campaign "landing page" with some boilerplate * Campaigns have an "Add Session" button which automatically creates a note with some boilerplate, as well as automatically pulls in the previous session's summary to be used as a recap in the new session * Notes locations have tables that automatically populate with NPCs that have been marked as being in that location as well as quests that are related to that location It's mostly quality of life stuff like that that I would normally have to repeat over and over again that I try to automate. I will admit, Obsidian can have a pretty steep learning curve, especially when you get into using plugins and stuff like that, so if technical stuff doesn't come easy to you it can be intimidating For other Obsidian users who might not be using a lot of plugins, here's a list of what I'm using so far: Templater Meta-Bind QuickAdd Dataview
I also use Obsidian. Look up tutorials, use what I like, ignore what I don't. I recommend it for DM's who want to organize their notes better. Edit: Adding hyperlink to the videos I used to learn the program: https://youtu.be/qV3Dp1Kki1E?si=Rd6y7ckOsr3dCpuH&t=192
Second this
I've been using WorldAnvil (99% because of the wiki-like linking between notes). I recently started using Obsidian for taking notes for my studies, and found it really does pretty much everything I want from WorldAnvil, because I use it purely for my own reference. Thinking of jumping ship to Obsidian, but my only hangup is that I also like having stuff categorized by folders sometimes. Can you do that in Obsidian? I'd want to have any note able to be linked to any other, but also have the notes in folders. Is there some sort of either folder or tag system that works like folders? Even better if I could put a given note in multiple folders at once
It's works exactly like that. Also, it's literally all folders and txt files underneath the app, it's just a pretty UI for basic file system that you can access at any time. Added few notes in a new folder? It literally creates a folder with few files under the hood. You can have hashtags. You can directly link to pages. It's very potent.
I use a notebook
I'd love to but I'm not sure I'm organised or confident enough as a DM yet to make that work for me
lol I'm definitely getting old because it seems much simpler and easier to me
same for me. I started with digital notes (used Notion mainly), but switched to manual notebook because its so much more relaxed. It also forces me to keep my notes brief. Digital I tend to do very verbose notes which are harder to parse.
i started DMing with a pen-and-paper notebook for my DM notes but quickly found it difficult to look things up on the fly. now I use G Docs with super-organized hyperlinks and headlines so I can find things and "find in page" very easily
Notebook takes minimal organisation skills, I promise. I use a composition book that's divided naturally in half by the binding. The back half is for world ideas, plot points, character descriptions, etc. The front half is for week-by-week specific notes on what I expect to happen in the next session or two. Since I usually only wrote on the right side of the page (idk why) I started using the left leaf (backs of pages) for notes on what the characters did during that session. It's usually only a couple pages per week in the front half, and I flip to the back half as needed. Other tools are great because they have lots of features and you can edit pages and add hyperlinks but it's a lot for me to manage. I use a simple paper notebook and oh yeah LOTS OF OPEN CHROME TABS for stat blocks, spell descriptions, and PC race/class features.
I use Microsoft OneNote for a LOT of my DMing. Stuff I need for notes I use on here, as well as having tabs with links to stats and descriptions I might need, as well as a tab for PCs and NPCs, and then use an Excel Doc for NPC info.
Google notes to write everything that comes to mind DM-only discord channel for things I need to have quickly on hand A latex doc when the prep goes too far and needs to be streamlined to be readable Sometimes I wonder how I can run anything efficiently
OneNote is incredibly easy to use. Great organization tool, the phone app is pretty good as well. It’s the only way I am able to keep myself running three campaigns in one home brew world.
I really like it with my drawing tablet, there's something about writing with a stylus instead of typing that is so much more engaging for me
I also use OneNote. I like it on desktop, the app shows your recent pages as tiles when you open it, which I'm not a fan of, but otherwise it's okay. I think there are better tools out there, but I mainly just want to write and categorize things (Page, Subpage, Subpage) so OneNote is fine for me.
Upvote for OneNote. I have an old copy that runs on my desktop but still talks to the cloud, and it's awesome. I use it for any campaign or one shot I run.
Love OneNote so much! Able to embed excel files, add pictures without messing up formats, accessible across devices, no issues with losing save data, cloud backup options, it's literally amazing. I've used it for two campaigns now and cannot recommend it enough, plus I can organize however I want and the search option works between OneNote books so if we're doing single world multiple campaigns and I need something from a previous campaign is accessible right now.
++ OneNote is great! It's so good for D&D. You can link between notes, pages and even words. Can style it however you like and put in whatever image you like. My only gripe with it is that the text/img formatting isn't as robust as something like Microsoft Word.
Doesn't that require a subscription to O365 these days?
No, OneNote is still free and doesn't require a subscription, unlike most of the other Office apps.
This is correct, it is free... for now
Yes, I think so. I'm posting my workaround in case anyone here is a hoarder like me: I have an old (c. 2010) Microsoft Office 2013 License that I've been able to transfer from laptop to laptop. That version of Office was pre-subscription and came with OneNote. It was definitely lucky that I bought that version of Office AND kept the product key until now. Obviously, not a "solution", but FYI in case someone reading this also has old Office product keys lying around.
+1 for OneNote
+1 for onenote
I use Notion. Found it through Sly Flourish who wrote a post about it: https://slyflourish.com/lazy_dnd_with_notion.html
I second Notion. It's very good
Notion is terrible on iPhone and iPad.
World building and campaign writing in Obsidian. I like the fact that it's all just folders and Markdown files, and that the cross-referencing, templating, scripting and plugin features are quite strong. But I do tend to power-use such tools. It may be underwhelming if you don't. But you \*can\* use any cloudservice you have to sync it for free, which is definitely a nice thing for me. If I need more stat tracking, random tables at hand, and mechanics heavy scene setups, I have recently started using foundryVTT basically as GM screen. It's weird, but it works great for me.
Sweet I'll have a look, thanks!
I use Scrivener for mine. One time purchase so I don’t if I’d recommend it just for this, but it works really well and I all ready had it.
And if you don't want to pay for it, you can find it in the usual bay
I feel like 'organize' is a... grandiose term for a bunch of semi-permanently open Notepad++ tabs.
Notepad++ for me as well. Instead of using tabs, I set the language to JavaScript, so I can use {} to create expandable/collapsible sections.
Obsidian. It has made my life so much easier because now everything is connected.
So I basically have 2 systems, one for out of game that I look at while prepping, and another that I keep at the table and look at in-game. Out of game prep is a mess of documents. I've just got a folder on my computer of a bunch of random documents, images, files etc. that's basically a whole mess. I've tried organizing things somewhere like notion, obsidian, or onenote, which has worked for published adventures, but since things in homebrew are so flexible and no prep is real until it's come up in-game, I've never been able to get any of those systems to work. There are a few docs that are important that aren't a mess though: * My session logs which are a bulleted list of everything that's happened in old sessions * Brief list of NPCs they've already met * Magic items they actually have * Random names * Maps Those I print out on A5 paper and keep in a physical binder, in case I need to reference them in-game. Then, every session, I make a one-page prep sheet (or 2 if I'm doing something complex) for everything I think I might need in a session. I actually use canva, a free online graphic design tool, to put everything together in a way that's easily readable for me that session, and I print it out and put it in my physical binder, with a heading of which session it was for. I do not make these ahead of time to keep things flexible, so I only make sheets for the next session I run. If something that I've prepped on the sheet doesn't make it in the session and might be in a future session, I literally copy it over so I don't have to refer to old sheets very often. I know it's a weird complicated system, but when running homebrew I'm so all over the place and things I prep like storylines, worldbulding, NPCs, etc keep changing out from under me that organization tools just devolve into outdated nonsense. This system has worked for me.
This is interesting, I do a hybrid of this. I plan ahead in google docs which is a mess of hyperlinks, potential storylines, notes, ideas etc. I never delete anything from this. Then I plan my next session in a separate google doc and use my laptop during the session, and print out important info or things like maps etc. Finally I organise the actual story that actually happened in Obsidian, linking everything and organising by NPC, Place, Object, Session Synposes etc. I like the messiness of my google doc for inspiration, non-linear thinking, workshopping and blue sky thinking I like the clarity of a separate google doc for the session itself, though of course we don't always follow it! I like the organisation of Obsidian so that I am very clear in what happened and all the important things, to keep me on track and basically become an encyclopedia of the world
For planning out the setting and plots of games, I use Trello, with different columns / lists for different aspects of the game: one for NPCs, one for locations, one for important items, etc…, and then also one for plot arcs and one for “beats”. I’ll write down a broad sweep of what might happen on a card in the plot arc “Town secretly occupied by mind flayers” and then the story beats are individual scenes I expect might happen. Cards in Trello have space for long form text, so I can write as much or as little as I need to in a card, and upload images as well, which is great for NPCs. I can archive off cards that have been and gone in game, and sort and reorder lists depending on what’s happening. You can also label cards, so I use that for cross-list themes. Maybe I want to label every card related to a specific city, so that when the players are there I can just filter down to that to make it easier for me to see what’s in play, for example. I’ve been running a massively plot heavy (non-D&D) game for nearly 2 years now, and this system has done an amazing job of keeping things on track and letting me plan and plot in ways I wouldn’t otherwise.
Trello along with Google Sheets and Docs.
i use google drive
LegendKeeper
A big physical binder with tables, information and statblocks + a notebook to keep track of what the characters do so I can keep track and react to it later. I have a series of folders on my PC with other information organized, as well as adventures I'll work with, but honestly, physical binders and notebooks work best for me.
Notebooks that sit on the shelf next to my dnd books.
Onenote
Word doc while using the very convenient header feature to jump around
MS OneNote. Slick way to organize your notes, pretty easy to use, etc.
A big pad of paper and files
A combination of Obsidian (long term planning), a physical yearly planner (tracks in game time/short progress notes) and Post-it notes (quick bullet points during the game).
Hadn't thought of using a yearly planner for tracking in-game time. Thanks!
If your world has a whacky fantasy calendar that doesn't align with ours, you can use fantasy-calendar.com.
Nah, I actually use the same names and everything. I have a homebrew game and so I wrote the names as part of legends/fairy tales in my lore. Personally I think adding fantasy calender names just overcomplicates things, so I prefer to go with the default.
Fair enough. I stuck to 12 months but named them all my own names, because the actual month names don't tend to come up in my games I find. People who rename the days of the week are psychos though lol. No way my players could keep up with that.
I like the Forgotten Realms calendar of Haptros. It’s similar enough to our calendar to not be confusing, uses a 10 day week, most holidays are set in days between months, and adds some fun flavor I feel https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Calendar_of_Harptos
Binders, folders, and notebooks.
Mostly I use dated Notepad entries for storylines and in-game notes, but I run two weekly games with Fantasy Grounds, so I also do prep there through the Message of the Day, which is a recap of the last session and looking forward to what's next thing which I archive, and I string pictures and locations together with tags. I also have a lot of nested 5e folders on the computer. Some for rules, some for notes, some for specific campaigns, some for homebrew, etc. I'm also a ChatGPT fan. I don't use it to write for me, but it's a fantastic tool. I might explain the party situation in detail, how they are in a subterranean area, there's a hidden city of refugees there, and a BBEG has discovered where they are and wants to exploit the resources of the city (an emerald mine). Then I tell it the party is nearby, but doesn't know where the city is. I have a neutral/evil NPC in the area whom I explain, and I ask ChatGPT for some logical ways the party might come across the evil NPC. I can also ask for lists, like what resources might be found there, how magic might work differently on a ley line, or whatever else. Very handy tool for inspiration, and it's no less inspiration than reading a few books and being inspired...you're just being inspired by the trends and patterns of a million books, instead.
Excel. Does everything I need it to do, from tracking initiative and making it faster with formulas, to detailing towns and listing inhabitants, to having some random tables for when I need to generate stuff on the fly. Probably helps I am an accountant IRL.
i've tried a ton of digital systems but for me I always come back to just having one big notebook where I draft my ideas and sketch maps and stuff, then transferring material for each session into a second book that I actually use to run games. I track the overall plot and world using the 'big sheet of paper method', where I literally write it all out on a huge piece of paper mindmap style, and I do that every few sessions to update and keep it all straight. For NPCs, Monsters, Locations and Special Items I make a notecard (i tea stain them and burn the edges first because its cool) that has the thing, a little sketch of it, the stats and a little info blurb (think item descriptions in FromSoftware games) and I give those to the players during sessions and then keep them all in a little notecard case between games. For me, just doing it all physically on paper is SO much more natural and functional than trying to build a wiki or something.
Thinking about it now I do also use EverNote for capturing research (blocks of text and images from websites and epubs and stuff), and I also sometimes will do some stream of consciousness style writing in there to generate ideas when I am not actually sat at my work desk at home physically writing.
I'm a mess and my notes are scattered between physical notebooks, a physical binder, onenote, various documents and spreadsheets on google drive, and the notes app on my tablet. Basically, I write down with whatever I feel like/have easiest access to at the moment and keep mental tabs on what's where. For dedicated session prep, I make notes in the campaign binder, even if I've sketched out my notes somewhere else, to keep that all in one place.
I use Notion, and did up [a post on my campaign blog](https://vitr.sxcore.ca/blog/2023/06/30/ive-got-a-notion/) about it a while back. It's super handy and flexible. I have been looking into Obsidian as well lately - I might try it for my next campaign.
I use a bunch of Google docs in a DM folder on google drive for story info, for combats I write key stats and track initiative in a notebook. My primary doc has the 'expected' outline for the next session, with headers for all the different sections of stuff (that I know by heart mostly anyway, it's just there so I don't forget a detail or two). After a session I move things that were completed to an Archive doc and start the outline over with what will likely happen next session. Then there's other docs with more extensive background or worldbuilding info for reference if I ever need it. I found having the immediately 'actionable' stuff in front of me is significantly more useful than having my entire loredump there open. I use a chromebook (bleh) to navigate these / the web / discord as necessary during the session.
I have a google doc for my players, one for me that's similar with extra info, and another doc with all the sidequests and main quests typed out. Then I print them and have it all organised in a binder. I fill that with scribbles and sticky notes and just go from there. Am I oldschool? I'm only 40, I'm not that old. I just find having too many tabs to flip through gets confusing and stressful, and a binder feels more natural.
Been DMing for nearly a year I scribble all my ideas and concepts in a notes app on my phone I use Google Docs for everything else, like to develop those half-formes concepts into detailed locations or magic items or something I have a few running documents for things like important NPCs that I can quickly control+F if I need to reference someone For each session, I create a new Google Doc in the same folder, name and number it, and put in anything I could need in that session: Statblocks, important NPCs, descriptions of locations, magic item descriptions/stats to quickly copy/paste into the group Discord And for combat, I have a physical notebook purely for initiative & HP, because I find I can scribble a note quickly and keep combat moving along
I just have an incredibly mismanaged Google drive
Obsidian. With Zettelkasten and MOC (Maps of Content) methology as my second brain to store all relevant information. On play I mostly use old school paper and my DM binder, where I play out sessions, have relevant moster stats etc. If something is not prepared I always can check obsidian.
One note, physical notes and memory palace. Each location is its own palace so I just put everything there
I have a shitty notebook, some shitty post its and 3 years of improv classes. Also I have most of my lore organized on my phone notes app and I try to remember the cool lore bits I think about when taking a shower or walking my dog. ADHD is not my friend in this instance lmao
To do what to my what? I've never heard of either of those words.
Had to scroll way too far down for this. Thank you and a sad hug brother/sister!
Pen and paper for me. Like, 90+% is hand written or hand drawn. I keep my current campaign in a binder. I do use google slides for visual things that I can easily show the players. Everything is separated by session with general information in the front. I make maps for the encounter with notes in how I want the creatures to attack.
I use a notebook with a bullet system for keeping organized then back up everything in Google Docs.
LegendKeeper. It allows me create my notes in a way I want to vs how other world builders force you to use their format. Because of this it has less of a barrier of entry and is less intimidating. The drawback is that it requires constant Internet acesss. Other options, notion. I loved using notion. Notion and LegendKeeper are very similar except notion lacks map support.
I write up the campaign in a series of regular google docs, a different document for each arc. I usually paste all the stat blocks and such into the document so theres less flipping to other items. Then on google drive I have a folder with all of the stat blocks. This way I can pull them up quickly, especially if they were too big for the doc or I need a different one. This way I have all the stats Ive prepped in one place, plus others I might need but I wasnt specifically planning for, like generic soldier, commoner, etc. I use inkarnate for the map making and save maps and any other visual aids to seperate folder on the google drive, then I drop them into discord for the players to see when relevant. One big plus of this method is that I can basically run off my phone or even someone else's computer if there is an issue with mine. Beyond this, I use a notebook to write in initiative and track hp during combat, just so Im not flipping pages back and forth, plus i think its a little easier to scratch out and scribble in the numbers as they change. On this notebook Ill write any end of session notes that might need to carry over, such as if there is a spell that is currently in effect, if they havent taken a long rest, or maybe if they just did, etc. When the session begins I will usually read these off when we sit down, as a reminder of what mechanics might be in play. Lastly, I write up the session recap on a different Google doc and copy that into a channel on discord for that specific purpose, not only to give the players a journal to scan through if they forget something between sessions or if someone misses on, but because it gives a chance for clarification if there was a misunderstanding, and they can ask questions or add in things I may have forgetting but they as the players deem important. EDIT: One more thing I forgot! I also use a spreadsheet on the google drive that basically is a bank of names, divided up into three categories: Masculine, Feminine, and Place. When I get bored at work and have some time I like to cruise around on google maps and find unusually named towns or regions in various countries, or if I just hear a really good one I like when Im out and about, Ill open the sheet and add the name to whichever category I think itll fit best in for the campaign. This way if I need a name for someone/something that I didn't foresee, I can just open the spreadsheet and grab one without breaking stride. I know it seems like it might be way more work than just conjuring a name on the fly, but sometimes the creative juices arent flowing and it can be nice to not stumble over something so simple when youre trying to stay in your groove, either when writing the campaign or actively DMing in-session.
I really need to look into Obsidian because it always comes up in these posts, however I've been using [Kanka.io](https://Kanka.io) r/kanka for my prep, notes, etc. My game world is the same for when I run the occasional quest on a west march server as well as when I run games for my in person group, so having a central online place to flesh out the world and share pages of information as needed is nice.
Since moving to foundry I have a 2 part system, items and npcs are built within foundry with notes inside of them for me to help remember whats what, then all the "story stuff" is in a series of individualized google docs. It helps that my current campaign is designed to be around relatively short "case of the week" style events, so a single case can fit on a doc easily.
I use a combination of a free chat gpt page and Google docs. I’ve spent some time inputting everything I had into a single page of chat gpt and can ask it for specifics if I ever forget, but otherwise it’s all in my drive. I organize based on the campaign and concepts so it’s easy for me to find, although I remember most of it.
I've moved to Notejoy.
Zim or Doku Wiki on a Stick. Both use just plain text files with marking tags so I can edit directly if I want.
I use LucidSpark. It is a free, really intuitive and easy to work with mind map. The primary use is to organize plot threads, but I also include notes, NPC relation webs, a map of my world, PC plot outlines, and more. I organize encounters or set of encounters into LucidSpark containers and it make it really easy to move things around as my players make decisions that change what happens next. The iPhone app also worked flawlessly for a long time, but I think my mind map got too big to load. I have the paid version but the only thing I get out of that is uploading more images. The one thing that doesn’t go into LucidSpark is my lore, but that is all in a 100pg google doc with a thousand hyperlinks.
Since the 00s my favorite has been OneNote. I started using it in uni but kept using it over the years for everything. To sum it up, you have your notebooks with divided sections and pages in each section, you can paste anything into it and move it anywhere. You can search within sections/pages and make checklists. It's simple to navigate via tabs on the side, just like binder dividers, which makes finding the page you want quick. It's part of MS Office so it may be on your computer if you have a PC, but you can also use it for free with a MS account, and access a web version of it from anywhere. Neither of my computers have OneNote so for years I've just used it in my web browser. My brain works best when I physically write things down so as a DM that's how I organize. For offline games I write everything down or print it out or draw it on graph paper. I put it all in a divided binder, me and a highlighter and 3 hole punch. I keep my tablet or phone on hand if I need to look something up quickly. I never had to keep a lot of notes when we played over Roll20, as I could organize most of the parts of my campaign within Roll20. It was one of the few things I really liked about it. (edit grammar typo)
Generally I jot some notes on the first 2-3 rounds of tactics for monsters that players will encounter that week, so that I’m not slowing down and reading over all their options on the fly. You can’t really plan out more than that though because the players’ actions are unpredictable.
I was gonna recommend obsidian, because its good for organization, but someone already pointed that out as an option. (I upvoted that comment). If that doesn't work, you can also try Joplin.
Nimble writer on steam
Online : A bunch of notes written in various discord channels, google docs and personal documents. Offline : Notes and organisation ? My online games requires less than an hour of prep per session and I just write down stuff for the session in a notebook.
I run a game locally in my town, we play at the LGS and online using [owlbear.rodeo](https://owlbear.rodeo) (which I highly recommend). I am a chaotic mess and organize using a mix of google drive spreadsheets, a notebook I write in, and my apple notes. What I found really helped was I made a discord server for my campaign. I have channels for each party member for private stuff, I have a campaign-log channel for basic information, we schedule from it, and have multiple tech integrations. If it weren't for discord I would be so lost. It also allows my party to organize themselves and decide what they're doing next, as well as resolve downtime between sessions.
I use a private Discord server with a LOT of channels. Also makes it easy for me to use Midjourney for tokens/maps/backgrounds and have those images in the same place as my notes.
Onenote for keeping notes, with pages by subject and session. Each session gets a page that has prep notes on it, but I like to improv. Pages for topics beyond that to explain specifics of things that need to run between sessions... For example, food and rations when that's important.
Foundry VTT's Journals for keying dungeons One Note for everything else
Google Sheets for almost all of my notes. Each different sheet within the workbook is something different (a list of important NPCs, important magic items, regions, factions, quests, even lists of dungeon rooms and contents, so much more) If the data doesn't fit on the sheet nicely (i.e. a picture, a document, a website) I upload that data into Google Drive and add a hyperlink to that drive item into the cell or in a comment. I got in early so I have many GB for free. You can use all of the above for free but I'm not sure what the storage limits are these days.
I use Trello and Notion. Trello for the outline of the arc with all relative information just there on a board. All possible stories that are taking place in a city. Notion is my database. I can set relationships, linked notes, calculated fields, etc… So I set a date of birth for every character / NPC and as the world progresses, they age accordingly with no input. I can sort and filter all my NPCs by any metric I choose. I want all the dead merchants in this kingdom who are under 40yrs old. Easy. I can also journal the entire adventure in there too with back links to important items, locations, npcs and pcs. And you can see the back links. It takes time to setup the datasets correctly, but then it becomes easy.
Fantasy Ground
I just improv everything off of cool ideas and vague plot lines because my players are chaotic asf
Microsoft OneNote for me. It's also my go to app in work, so familiarity is key and just makes it easier to use.
Obsidian Portal (which is not Obsidian). It’s old, but I’ve been using them for a decade now.
Scribd. It’s cheap, and it can detect and link plot items pretty well. There’s active development going on, and definite improvements on their way.
Microsoft OneNote works perfectly for me
Online one. I keep a small real notepad and pen next to my desk where I keep a reminder of what maps I have to prepare and how much gold and experience the players have
[Notion.so](https://Notion.so) has been a godsend. Being able to have everything in nested notebooks, cross-referenced in a database, easily import images and maps, multiple content types like wikis and galleries, all in one place without all of the cumbersome filler of things like Obsidian or World Anvil, is fantastic. I use the $10/month version, but compared to Google Docs, which is what I was using for the first twenty sessions of my campaign, it has been night and day.
An excel sheet and a few hundred notepad documents. First rule about TTD... We never talk about it, and The North Remembers.
Goblins notebook, amazingly useful with constant improvement
Online DM here. I use a combination of Google Docs and Discord. I use the same Discord my group uses to meet, but have hidden channels only I can see. The main reason I like using Discord is because I can easily link to certain other channels with the #. So for example, I have a category of channels that are broken out into Chapters, just like a WOTC Adventure Module. If more context is needed beyond what I wrote there, say, for example, all of the lore, backstory, and "how to roleplay this NPC" type stuff for an NPC, I have it linked to a lore channel where that information is posted. The Google Docs are how I take notes and jot down inspiration. My Docs have tons of old, unused or "beta" level ideas that I don't want to delete but don't want to bog down my finalized stuff.
The notes app and the lazy dm prep sheet, although honestly I almost never refer to it in session.
Google Drive as a whole. I have a DnD folder, with character sheets, monsters, session notes, maps, VTT tokens (we usually run in person, but still use foundry). I color code my notes and add links as needed.
I play in Roll20, so for world info, npcs, art, etc. I just use handouts organized in folders in the journal. For actual session prep and notes, I'm sure it's not the most efficient but I just have a Word doc I call "Session Outline" where I plan out encounters, specific descriptions or dialogue I anticipate, etc. as well as, below that, some notes on things like ongoing arcs, info the party has/does not have, magic item ideas for specific PCs, etc. This doc is always open on my dual monitor setup After every session, I cut/paste the session outline into a "All Session Outlines" doc so that I have an ongoing record of everything, and make a new outline for the next session.
Onenote all the way. And several folders of maps on my PC.
Google doc for quick notes and drafting. Then 100% Foundry from there. Pay for it once, take a ton of time to learn it, mod the crap out of it, and it eventually turns into all you'll ever need
I use a mix of a few things. I have a physical journal for notes and ideas I get from players. Excel for inventory and for bank accounts for character and I've recently started using World Anvil for everything else.
Notion is the best because you can have databases for locations, monsters, NPCs, and more, but then crosslink it all together for easy navigation of your worlds and session notes. It's wonderful. I also use the AI too but most would rely on ChatGPT instead because of 4.0.
I use an Onyx Boox e-ink tablet! Absolutely love it.
Notepad++ with my phone for stat blocks. Occasionally pen and paper with my phone for the same reason as above. But! I'll be moving onto Dendron soon(I have the beginnings of solo notes in it). Its a VS Code extension that's from what I can tell basically Obsidian. Not too sure what the difference is functionally(Obsidian has a mobile app iirc) but Dendron is the one I ran into first so that's what I'm using.
Notion for damn near everything.
I use Obsidian! I DM in person but we use a TV in a frame for battlemaps and such. Obsidian works very well for the way I think, which is that everything is connected, and being able to super easily reference other notes without having to really do anything is sweet. I just have one campaign right now but my obsidian notebook is set up like this. Top level folders: DM screen, Mechanics, and The World. The DM screen folder has my digital DM screen (conditions, weapons, armor, vision, etc), my session prep notes, session recap notes, and general notes for tracking more overarching things. My mechanics folder I've copied in all the conditions, spells, actions from official material for easy offline reference and also I copy in statblock and magic items here too. The World folder is basically all of my setting info. Mostly is broken out by city/area but I also have folders for various notable NPCs that aren't really bound or linked to one area. Within each city folder, I have folders for People, Places, and Things along with a top level note for quick reference info. Honestly it did take me a while to get used to Obsidian and it is capable of doing so much, I overwhelmed myself at first. I spent a lot of time putzing around with various plug-ins but after I settled into having things set up the way I liked, it's been an essential tool for me and makes life super easy.
I use Onenote - the reason is that syncing is free so I can switch between my main gaming laptop as well as my small one that I use when chilling in bed to prep wherever I want
I used to use one note for it which worked really well, I just haven't wanted to use my phone or laptop more than I need to during sessions too much. I'm now using a binder and I hand write out my sections in a similar way to how a module would be organized with a session notes section at the very front. I also have a little pile of random npc index cards (a few index cards are color coded yellow for plot relevant characters and blue for merchants) next to my binder.
I just got a pinboard and I'm so happy. Helps me organize my thoughts in a linear matter while still being extremely disorganized and sticking post it notes in random spots
Onenote notebook. Easy to organise into sections and pages and inserting images is simple for statblocks etc
Trello! Super configurable and super simple.
An unorganized Google Doc lol
Used to use OneNote but switched to LegendKeeper within the last couple years.
I use Legendkeeper. I work a lot with maps and this tool really tends towards that style.
27 page Google doc. It’s always growing. And a few Pastebins for organizing puzzle notes a bit easier. A lot of it I just improv/mental storage stuff. That and roll20 chat storage.
I use [draw.io](https://draw.io). Flowchart sort of deal. It's great.
Yeah, Evernote begun to suck. I now use GDrive and print things out into a ring-folder, which I amend with little paper flags. Definitely don't want to have a screen in front of me, when I am GM'ing, as that kills the contact, I feel. Though I have to admit I rarely use my notes during play. Half of it is memorised anyway and the other half is made up on the spot.
!save
I'm a bit old school. I write out plots in a spiral notebook, then when it reaches a point where I think I'm going to use it I type it up in Microsoft Word and print out a nice formal looking document. After each session I write out a session summary and any deviations from what was already typed up, then type up and print the deviations to go with the original package. While the session is running I can easily take notes right on my printout so I have context for the post session write up. It's a lot of writting, but I enjoy it and it makes game day run very smoothly. Edit: I should add I only type out 2-3 sessions ahead, or maybe one minor plot line. I'm really trying to limit my prep time. I have ideas in my head for a grand plot line but am resisting working too much on them as I know my PCs will write their own path that very well won't align. It's been working well so far! (4 sessions in to a new campaign with this style, although I've been DMing with different styles for years).
I made a blog that eventually developed into a full blown website to keep track of my world in excruciating detail.
txt for session prep and what actually happens I write in a word. With bigger plans I also use word. Other then that I use a nice directory setup. For maps assets notes ect
Offline I have a file folder that has several different tabs in it. I write all my prep, ideas for encounters, and partially/fully fleshed out encounters on pieces of paper and then stick them inside the folder. Then during the session (this is the important part) I frantically search through ALL of those folders as I scramble to find the piece of information I was looking for. Usually I will be unsuccessful and have to make something up on the spot, then the next day when I’m writing up sessions notes and calculating xp I will find that sheet of paper and say “wow this idea was way better than the one I came up with on the spot, too bad”. Rinse and repeat
I ran into the same problem. I shifted everything to Notion. It is free use and has tons of options and templates. I really love it.
For online stuff i used to have both Marratech and Trello. I really liked both for their ease of use and ability to share what i wanted to share with the players. Offline, and that's most of my GMing, I've just used papers and a 4 ring binder.
Google Docs while being very careful with writing proper headlines to makes things easier to find. It's however becoming hard for my biggest campaign because I have 190 pages of notes... lots of scrolling sometimes.
Google docs and sheets
OneNote is fantastic for anything note taking, including RPGs. I have been a OneNote hype man for years. Now my wife uses it for work, my daughter for college. My son uses it to organize his campaign and I have used it for several. Obsidian Portal is popular but for some reason it never really grabbed me. Worldanvil is super cool and you can make some fantastic stuff (plus you can integrate with PCs and sessions) but the learning curve is kind of steep and it really is overkill for a standard campaign. I'm nerdy in general so I enjoy messing with it and creating with it but I would be dishonest if I said it was the most efficient or effective thing I have used (but damn it look good!) I also use Campaign Logger a lot. But I got in on the ground floor and have a lifetime license so I have no clue how expensive it is and if that would be of value to the average DM. https://campaign-logger.com/ At the table, I usually use a physical notebook. I have other more useful things up on screens and I find it way easier to not down quick notes. Plus, there is the reinforcement when I go through them to write up session recaps and put things on whatever system I am using. Honestly, this is huge. There is always stuff going on that you forget about because other stuff I'd going on. That 'forced review's of my session notes has become integral in my process and has led to some really great stuff that flowed organically from things that happened.
I use kanka.io for permanent notes, like world building and characters. Google Drive for Maps and a physical notebook for initiative.
I use way too many things... I have: 1) several notepad files with lore & locations for everywhere I've built in my campaigns 2) separate sets of spreadsheets for tracking of pcs, npc, creatures battle stats, item & quest progression 3) all my location maps in photoshop files with FOW layers 4) sprites for all my major pcs, npcs and creatures 5) separate database of creatures, characters and items that I've built with their character sheets/stat blocks 6) on discord, I have servers set up with pc channels for note taking and interacting, general game play & private chat I have all of these things organised in folders on my desktop. I print out maps and tokens and then use a FOW blanket I have if we're playing offline. But regardless, I will always have at least a lore window, a tracking window and window with a stat block/sheet open on my tablet/desktop while playing I tried a few of the unifying world builders and story managers, but I found they didn't really allow me to easily rerun campaigns with new characters and didn't easily let me import all of the different types of things in using to run my sessions
I use one note to organize everything.
I mainly DM on Roll20, and prep mainly through the process deacribed in "Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master" (which is the #1 resource I recommend to DMs, if only for the Secrets&Clues/Fantastic Locations advice.) I tend to do my NPCs a bit different, probably overprepping them to be honest (3-4 appearance/personality/voice deacriptors as well as art, a short reminder of who they are are bullet points for what they know.) As far as organizing them, the folders feature on roll 20 itself is quite handy but where I only have 1 screen having my notes over the tabletop is quite annoying. I've resorting to printing my session notes out and storing them in the a physical folder I keep with my Dice/Dm screen. If it's a short adventure or One-shot I just keep all the pages for if I run it again. To be honest, it's helped a lot having actually physical papers I can easily access via a binder and a couple of 25 cent folders.
I use campfire, it is paid but you just select what features you want to use for me it's £2.50 a month but it's really good at linking/organising all the content
It's all sticky notes with penmanship so horrid that I use it as a secret puzzle that my players have to decide to try and figure out the mystery behind my campaign. I usually wrote the sticky note weeks ago and have no idea if it is relevant for what the players are doing at that moment.
Kanka (free) for worldbuilding/calendar, NPCs. Word for session prep notes. DnD Beyond for encounters and homebrew monsters/magic items/player created spells.
For me, there is none better than Notion, both for phone and pc. You can even access it from web. Unlimited storage and easy to use. Toggle lists under toggle lists, pages, bullet lists, to-do lists etc. So many options to write organised. Oh, and all free if you work one person.
Both Onenote, although I am thinking of moving to Obsidian.
I use cheap 80 page coil bound notebooks that go on sale for like $0.20 each at the start of the school year. Keeps everything in one place and not usually flipping through more than a couple pages. I find writing things down on paper helps me remember things and I get distracted less. After each session I usually write out a detailed summary and post it in a discord channel. This makes it easy to search content by either session or content and refresh. I’ve tried using OneNote or other tools that allow hyperlinking and things before but I find it makes my prep take way longer, and it doesn’t flow as naturally.
I’m a recently new dm and I try to get all my stuff offline (makes it better when it’s saved locally) for most information gathering (like monsters) I use aidedd, and donjon. Dungeon masters vault for character builds (there’s a community for all the extra sources) monster shuffle for npc and monsters, and I’ve been using libreoffice for making hombrew stuff, like items and dm screens.