Hey guys,
Well my adventure is finally off, and I'm having trouble figuring out the best way to keep records of what goes on in the campaign. Right now i've got a notebook for notes regarding who is friends/enemies with the party at the moment as well as keeping a blog of the story so far. Would you guys have any other suggestions as to what to do? I'm DMing this, and didn't realize how much record keeping i'd have to do for Skull and Shackles, even after reading the adventure path over three or four times.
Do you think keeping a blog of the story is a good idea? I know it allows the players to check up and remember what happened.
Any other record keeping ideas would be great. I already am keeping a copy of everyone's character sheets and such for that side of record keeping.
I do my story keeping through a Facebook group, but a blog would work just as well. In terms of what to track its really about where your comfort level is. For instance in my home-brew campaign I am controlling xp for the entire party directly, but I always know where it is so I do not "track" it in a written form. However I have a *very* loot oriented party, so I write out each chest on a separate sheet and let whoever gets there see the sheet, in order of arrival at the location. I also have a map of the entire campaign area, but that might not be needed for an AP.
To me, bare minimum of what a GM needs to track:
1. Everything you need to run the next series of encounters (whatever you think would take your group about 2 sessions, trust me they can surprise you with how far they get in a night.
2. A list of character names in the party, and their class(es), as well as any companions, pets, mounts, etc.
3. A list of people in a given location that players might find interesting (very useful for when they get stuck or distracted.)
4. Page numbers for any beasts, unless you are writing out each start block for each monster in your notes.
5. Disable Device DC, Perception DC, and save DC's where appropriate.
6. Story notes, so you can tell the story properly.
You might like to try a wiki, which has the advantage of being collaborative and so your whole group could update it if you want.
Plenty of these around but Obsidian Portal offer free and paid RPG focussed wikis: Obsidian Portal.
@Zimheaho I do have an obsidian wiki for my campaign, however my players are way too busy to contribute to it, and I'm not a fan of wikis myself. Just too much of a hassle. I grew up on the computer but i prefer spreadsheets to text files for record keeping that way, and I have no idea why lol.
@Derf I was thinking of first doing a homebrew setting, but since two of my players have never touched a D20, i'm shying away from that until they get more comfortable with the system. I have most of the stuff you mentioned, or its in the books for the AP (page numbers for monsters that aren't included in the path, and the stat blocks for characters who are unique to the path)
The DCs are on the GM screen thankfully, but would you suggest I keep a separate sheet of everyone's perception, sense motive, and other modifiers for things that I would roll secretly? And maybe tape it to the GM screen?
Also, how do you guys track initiative? I've seen many different ways, normal list of initiative numbers as they are rolled, the white board approach, the 4e "card" approach (I keep a stack of cards of monsters/characters and put them in initiative order, and move down the stack) as well as the electronic approach.
What works for you guys? I don't like the normal writing stuff down because some of my players are keen on the ready action and delay action stuff, so initiative orders get all out of whack and i'll end up filling a sheet or two of paper in a long combat
I keep a journal of events that happen. A page or two per session with what happened, where we went, who we met, battles, etc. plus some other info such as when we level up and the date in game (although real dates would be nice too, now that I think about it.). I read it back to the group at the beginning of each session, and others at the table interject with additional comments. Another players keeps the party treasure list, another keeps notes for our "quest log", and another is the mapper (and kingdom tracker. Its kingmaker).
I've only been keeping campaign journals for two years or so, but I can't see a reason I'd ever stop now. It helps the group out alot.
A friend and co-dm got me a neat dry-erase/magnetic combat tracker sheet a couple years back which I use to track initiative. Write the names of the players on their own markers, 1 or 2 for "monsters", then arrange them in order of init. After that I just push the current active player slightly to the left, and everyone can see where we are in the order at all times.
I love the paizo init tracker.
@Derf I was thinking of first doing a homebrew setting, but since two of my players have never touched a D20, i'm shying away from that until they get more comfortable with the system. I have most of the stuff you mentioned, or its in the books for the AP (page numbers for monsters that aren't included in the path, and the stat blocks for characters who are unique to the path)The DCs are on the GM screen thankfully, but would you suggest I keep a separate sheet of everyone's perception, sense motive, and other modifiers for things that I would roll secretly? And maybe tape it to the GM screen?
Also, how do you guys track initiative? I've seen many different ways, normal list of initiative numbers as they are rolled, the white board approach, the 4e "card" approach (I keep a stack of cards of monsters/characters and put them in initiative order, and move down the stack) as well as the electronic approach.
What works for you guys? I don't like the normal writing stuff down because some of my players are keen on the ready action and delay action stuff, so initiative orders get all out of whack and i'll end up filling a sheet or two of paper in a long combat
Not saying you need to do homebrew, just telling you where my info is coming from. I have the screen as well, but I write down the checks for specific things. For instance there is a vault door in my groups next session that is *very* special in terms of the open DC.
Personally I use a small handheld whiteboard for initiative, it works well because we keep the same rolls for a period of time (we do all of the exploration/actions in a session turn based, in order) and it allows me to track monster/npc health and initiative at will.
If your players like to move around the order a lot (I have one that does it every combat, after I showed him how lol.) I use the whiteboard and leave space between each player for another entry.
In terms of what works for me, I am still learning it! This is my first true home brew campaign, and only the third campaign I have ever run for more than a session or two. (I co-gm/sub in with another guy)
You can really only know what works for you by learning. Actually this is the very reason I am thinking of creating a youtube channel all about learning to be a Pathfinder GM, and explaining things to new GM's/Players/Advanced Players.