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RPT Newsletter #1,185 | How Can You Take Fast Notes During Sessions?

Stephan Hornick

Community Goblin & Master of the Archive
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Wizard of Combat
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How Can You Take Fast Notes During Sessions?
From JohnnFour | Published December 27, 2021

Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #1,185


Roleplaying Tips GM Keith had this request for me:

Tips on keeping better campaign notes without slowing down the pace of sessions

I've been in the same boat.
For me, I never want to cause a pause in gameplay.
So it feels like I'm always too busy to take notes.
However, there are a few things we can do.
While I produced with my business partner, Jochen Linnemann, an app called Campaign Logger to solve this exact problem, the following tips are universal.
They'll help you get better notes whether you use Campaign Logger, Google Docs, index cards, or another tool.


Here's Our Strategy
We begin with the end in mind.
What is our goal?
What are our most wanted outcomes?
My goal is to have a useful record of gameplay details that feeds seamlessly into my world, campaign, adventure, and session notes.
The session logs, as I call them, become our memory as sessions fade into time.
We use these details to keep our games consistent. We can also mine them for new adventures and 5 Room Dungeons.

But we don't want a record of every word spoken or deed performed. We could just record sessions with audio or video in that case.
Instead, we need a version trimmed to the essential bits.
For me, that's:
  • Names we've made up during sessions
  • Player/character stated long-term intentions, plans
  • Opened and closed loops, and next actions
  • Changes in party resources and costs paid
  • New Laws, Legends, and Lore made up during sessions
  • Ideas
  • Maps and drawings
With these outcomes in mind, we muse on obstacles:
  • Not enough time to take detailed notes
  • Notes must be legible and have enough detail to trigger memory
  • Notes must have enough context to make sense
  • Faster pace = more gameplay = more notes needed
  • Players who take notes miss details and write from their POV (which is often amusing, however)
  • Physical space might be limited for notebooks or computers
  • Electronics might not be close to power
  • All notes must be collected into a single Source of Truth
Whew!
That could stack up to a lot of notes and several reasons why you can't keep up with taking them.
Armed with desired outcomes and obstacles, let's talk about solutions.


Add More Intra-Party Roleplay
When players roleplay amongst themselves, you suddenly have free time.
First priority is to think about what might happen next.
After that, use your bonus time to catch up on notes.

To get players roleplaying more often:
  • Ask players to speak in-character, even while planning
  • Create dilemmas (puzzles are ok but you often get pelted with questions, whereas dilemmas are mostly discussed between players)
  • Have players run and roleplay NPCs such as animal companions, hirelings, intelligent items, and familiars
  • Reward roleplaying with boons
  • Create situations that require planning (offer enough information, maps, and details so players have lots to think about)
  • Run downtime activities and let players control or own pieces of your setting like their own business
  • Set the bar by roleplaying as much as possible yourself

Picture Things As You Go
If you can follow along with gameplay by imagining what's happening in full colour, sound, and video, with as much detail as you can muster, you'll remember more.
This also helps with your descriptions and storytelling.
Then, after the session, you can then catch up on your notes with better recollection.
I find envisioning things before the session helps. You can prep effectively by running encounters and situations over in your imagination. Imaginary playtesting.
This gives me a great base of starting detail come game day.
And playing things out in your mind ahead of time is kind of like reinforcing your long-term memory for something that hasn't happen yet. #InTheMatrix


Get Visual
If you improve your descriptions, you'll feed not just your sessions with wonderful details and evocative storytelling.
You'll also have better recall of details when curating session logs afterwards.
So work hard to improve your descriptions.
Another visual tip: they say a picture is worth a thousand words.
I've found using images of people, places, and things saves you even more note-taking time because of all the information packed within those pictures.
Imagery saves you documenting as much about the who, what, and where so you have more time for logging what happened or what will happen.


Draw More Maps
On-theme with getting more visual is to use more maps.
You don't need fancy or pretty maps.
I draw most of mine during sessions on a big roll of paper.
The key tip here is to annotate your maps.
Then you get a living record that's detailed and visual.

For example, on region maps you can draw routes the party takes in their travels.
You can also draw symbols or label sites where encounters took place.
For town maps, you can label the who, what, where as you make things up.
For encounter maps, you can note results like treasure and escaped foes.

Also invite your players to draw and write on your maps. Get everyone involved for an even more comprehensive and colourful record of gameplay.
Ask them to write rumours heard, transactions made, conditions or flaws acquired, loops opened or closed, and so on.
Mind maps are fantastic memory enhancers and reference tools. Turn your adventure maps into living mind maps by getting your whole group involved.
Consider migrating important details captured on maps and player handouts after sessions into your Source of Truth.


Mine Character Sheets
Along the same lines as raiding player notes: capture photos or copies of character sheets.
You might do this at the end of every session, or after milestones like adventure turning points or leveling up if your game system has that mechanic.
Look at what players have written since last review and update your logs.
I tend to forget what character has what special equipment or items.
So in Campaign Logger I tag items quickly with character names for easy dynamic inventories and reports on who owns/carries what.
You should also check the roleplaying, background, and comments sections of character sheets for any additional details.

And on that note (pun intended!), if players make sessions logs, request access to those as well and mine the heck out of them.
You might also create an official Scribe role within the party and have a player dedicated to logging sessions for you.


Take Note
We want to be clear with ourselves what notes and details would help us most to run awesome campaigns and have more fun at every game.
We want consistency, good reference, and ideas.
Guided by that, take the fewest notes needed to get the outcomes you want.

And to help make note-taking easier during sessions:
  • Get players roleplaying with each other more to buy you time to catch up on logging
  • Visualize as much as you can, and exercise that muscle and skill so you leverage your brain's powerful visual memory system
  • Use maps, pictures, and player handouts for quick annotations and for ways to become more visual
  • Review character sheets and session logs ongoing for any details players might've added during sessions
In exciting Campaign Logger news, we are currently testing player logs and accounts!
You will be able to invite your players to contribute to your session logs.
And it will be free for your players. Your account will cover them.
Right now it's read-only. Meaning, you can deploy Log Entries to players for them to read.
But in future phase we'll be adding Write rights, so players can log sessions alongside you, to help take the load off.
Anywho, I hope these tips help, Keith. Please let me know how it goes.
 
Last edited:

Stephan Hornick

Community Goblin & Master of the Archive
Platinum WoA
Wizard of Story
Wizard of Combat
Borderland Explorer
Reader Tips of the Week
Tips, ideas, and inspiration from your fellow RPT GMs.

Monster Hunts As Skill Challenges
From RPT GM Derek Baert

I usually run my hunts as a two phase deal.
First, they do a skill challenge to track the monster.
They go in an initiative order, and they need a certain amount of successes to locate the monster.
However, if they reach a certain amount of failures, the monster becomes aware of them and either runs, or readies an ambush if it's more of a predator.
To make it more exciting and risky, I let them pick the DC.
DC 10 is 1 success or failure, DC 15 is worth 2, and DC 20 is worth 3.
Once they've reached the set amount of Successes without failing, they get a fun boss battle with the monster.
Then I use Lair actions, legendary actions/resistances, and mythic traits to make the boss battle more engaging.
 

Stephan Hornick

Community Goblin & Master of the Archive
Platinum WoA
Wizard of Story
Wizard of Combat
Borderland Explorer
How to Make the Nu-Edge System Sing (Shadowrun)
From RPT GM Rudy Concepcion

Hi Johnn,
I just wanted to drop a line and let you know that your tips have totally inspired me and made a huge difference in my Shadowrun game.
I'll be honest, at first I struggled because like I already mentioned in a previous email, Shadowrun doesn't really have a resource-management aspect like D&D does, and I had a little difficulty adapting your tips to my Shadowrun 6E campaign.
A few weeks ago, the proverbial lightbulb went off in my head and I figured out how to make it work for my campaign.
I can unequivocally say that it's been a total success, my players are having so much more fun, and as the GM I am too.

I wrote a post about it on Reddit here.
 

Stephan Hornick

Community Goblin & Master of the Archive
Platinum WoA
Wizard of Story
Wizard of Combat
Borderland Explorer
Great idea for a newsletter, Johnn!
I like your approach to this. But I must confess, I come to different results. And I think this is interesting and productive for us GMs.

Previous Method (TT):
Previously, when I met with my players in real life, I found it easier to type in session notes during the session on my laptop (Onenote) or make notes on maps that were presented in the middle of the table.
As I previously described in several posts (e.g. here), I made a lot of use of my Gamerboard, also for note keeping.

Nowadays Method (VTT):
Now with most of the action happening on the screen, I find I can write quicker and with more freedom and with less hassle, if I just take a pencil and a paper to take session notes than switching to another app on my laptop.
Playing in Foundry, I find that many note keeping aspects are assisted by several modules (for journal notes, etc.) and the chat log itself (rolls, results, comments).
Shifting between scenes gives me also a nice way of keeping the last scene like a safe point.

Goals:
Although my goal in note keeping is the same as yours, Johnn. I note down different things, it seems.

I note down:
  • Names (NPCs, Factions, Locations, Items, Other)
  • Party Resources (Health, Fatigue, Mana, Rations, Money)
  • Party Loot (newly acquired, spent/used, carried where)
  • PC Wounds (damage, location, infliction, what from) for further descriptions in the coming sessions
  • NPC/Monster Wounds (likewise) for descriptions when they come back for another fight (many of my NPC/Monsters have a chance to flee and my PCs are often too preoccupied or wounded to follow them)
  • Plot Keys/Circumstances (where treasure is supposed to be hidden, where that NPC is supposed to be sought after,
  • Mission statements/contract phrasings etc.
I do not note down the following during the session but after during prep:
  • New Laws, Legends, and Lore made up during sessions
  • Ideas
  • Maps and drawings
  • Player/character stated long-term intentions, plans
  • Opened and closed loops, and next actions
 

Stephan Hornick

Community Goblin & Master of the Archive
Platinum WoA
Wizard of Story
Wizard of Combat
Borderland Explorer
And because it is such a great article, I post Rudy's Reddit post here again.

Posted by u/Altar_Quest_Fan
Updated Edge Boosts/Actions plus How to Make the Nu-Edge System Sing

So I made a few alterations to the Edge Boosts & Edge Actions for SR6, which my group has found to be highly entertaining and overall it seems very successful. I'm in no way claiming this will 100% solve the underlying issues w/ the nu-Edge mechanics (or even all the issues plaguing SR6 for that matter), however it will give Edge boosts a little more "oomph" and players will have a tad more control over the narrative (if SR: Anarchy comes to mind, it's because I borrowed a few ideas from it). I also wanted to share some of my GMing tips so both players & GMs alike will have more fun with SR6 (although if you're of the opinion that SR6 is a flaming dumpster fire and wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole, I certainly won't blame or fault you).

Updated Edge Boosts
Updated Edge Actions

Updated Edge Boosts:
For the most part what I did here was reduced the costs on some of the more expensive Edge boosts, and I upped the efficacy of some of the 1 and 2 Edge boosts as they felt a little weak-sauce per my group's feedback. What this accomplishes is it not only makes Edge boosts grant more "personal heroic moments", it also helps counterbalance the fact that in many scenarios entire combats pass with nobody gaining any Edge. In other words, you might not gain Edge as frequently RAW, but it's more effective to use now.
Another thing you'll notice is that in the 2, 3, and 4 Edge categories there's something called "Create a minor/moderate/major sfx" respectively. What I did was took the 5 Edge boost "Create a Special Effect" and split it into separate categories, along with an Edge cost based on how big of an effect the player wants to create. I'll give an example straight from my table from the game session I ran just last night:
The team was tasked with heading to the site of a downed T-bird on the outskirts of Detroit to recover some critical components so they could build a Matrix terminal and be able to communicate with the outside world (we're playing the Detroit Rupture scenario from Cutting Black). Before they could reach the destination, the team stumbles upon a MASSIVE swarm of ghouls that were feasting on the remains of ARES corpses that had recently perished from a skirmish with bug spirits. There were at least 30 ghouls, if not more. The street sam asked if there was some way to cause a distraction so they could sneak past the swarm. I grinned and responded "I dunno, it sounds like you're trying to create a special effect, right?". The player's eyes lit up and he was like "Yeah! What if there was a car with a car alarm that I could shoot and set off, kinda like in Left 4 Dead 2?". I mulled it over in my mind and replied "That sounds like a moderate special effect to me, so pay 3 Edge and it's done". Let me tell you, the rest of the party clapped and cheered and just got SO into it. Things still inevitably went tits up and the party wound up fleeing for their lives from a pack of hungry feral ghouls, but still they had so. Much. Fun. Honestly, it totally made the session so much cooler.
I realize it's a bit vague as to what exactly constitutes a "minor", "moderate", or "major" sfx, I leave it up to each GM to adjudicate it on a case-by-case basis. The only guideline I suggest is that if what the player is asking for would provide a small advantage then it costs 2 Edge, an overwhelming advantage will be 4 Edge, and anything in-between those extremes should cost 3 Edge. Keep in mind that most of the benefit should come from the narrative and not necessarily in the form of additional dice etc (although if it makes sense then go for it).

Updated Edge Actions:
For the most part I left these as-is because I felt they were balanced enough, however I did eliminate the 5 Edge category and reduced costs on the more expensive Edge actions such as called shots, etc. Once again my players loved this and found them to be more worthwhile instead of just spending their Edge on that one boost that adds Edge to their dice pool and makes 6s explode etc.

How to Make the Nu-Edge System Sing:
Before I get started, I first want to rant a little. Catalyst had a good idea but very very poor execution when it comes to Nu-Edge (and SR6 in general, but that's a whole different rant). Entire combats pass with nobody gaining any Edge, the various Edge boosts/actions RAW mostly suck (except for the more expensive ones but they're expensive), and unless you build your character specifically to "farm Edge", you won't usually earn a whole lot of Edge during a session. I've been running my current SR6 campaign for over 6 months now, and I can honestly say that Nu-Edge consistently falls flat on its face (except for those very rare moments when it actually works). I don't blame anyone for writing off SR6 as an unmitigated disaster and advocating for playing a different edition. So why then am I writing a post about "How to Make the Nu-Edge System Sing" if SR6 is such a disaster? Because I had a flash of insight, and after coming up with the following tips, my SR6 campaign drastically improved and became so much fun that I felt the need to share my inspiration with the rest of the world. I will say that some of my tips are universal and can be used in any edition of Shadowrun, so even if you're not a fan of SR6 you may still find some value to read on. /end rant
 

Stephan Hornick

Community Goblin & Master of the Archive
Platinum WoA
Wizard of Story
Wizard of Combat
Borderland Explorer
And here is the second part about general GMing tips:

Posted by u/Altar_Quest_Fan
Tips for GMs in general
Without further ado, here are my tips for how to make Nu-Edge sing (and tips for Shadowrun in general):

Tip #1: Set up the next player
In combat, rather than just describe the outcome of a player's action, describe instead what the NEXT player sees (and give a recap of the scenario). This sounds simple, but it tends to go against our ingrained habits of describing the outcome of an attack/spell/etc. from the first player's point of view. Here's an example:

GM: Sledgehammer, you open fire with your Ingram Smartgun, and the bullets punch through the goon's flimsy armor like it was made of cardboard. The poor sod clutches his abdomen and flops over, dead before he even hits the ground. Mystica, it's your action, what do you do?
Mystica: Ummm....how many enemies are still left? How long do we have until HTR shows up? Is Takk still inside the Matrix?

This time using the technique:
GM: Sledgehammer, your Ingram Smartgun downs the goon you were firing at, nicely done! Mystica, you see Sledgehammer's gun spit out a volley of bullets at one of the corpsec goons, punching right through his armor and sending him swiftly to the great alleyway in the sky. You don't have much time to dwell on it though, because another corpsec guard is starting to line up a shot on you with his heavy pistol. In addition, you also see two more corpsec closing in on Takk, who's still hacking in the Matrix trying to get an escape route open. Off in the distance, you hear sounds of an approaching chopper. You know it won't be too much longer before HTR--and more trouble--arrives. What do you do?

Tip #2: Think in terms of price
When I say "price", I don't necessarily mean in terms of Nuyen (although sometimes the price to pay is indeed Nuyen). Remember that a common theme in Shadowrun is "everything has a price", so why not apply this idea to the story/narrative itself? Instead of framing challenges and situations in terms of "Will X player be able to pull off Y action?" (spoiler: they usually do, because players inevitably try to play to their character's strengths except in special circumstances). So instead, think about a given scenario in your game in terms of what price they must pay to succeed. Consider the following:

GM: Takk, go ahead and make your hacking roll to see if you can force open the security door and clear the way for everyone to escape.
Takk: Damn, only 2 hits. Is that enough?
GM: Unfortunately not, your hacking attempt fails and the host retaliates by launching some black IC.

versus:
GM: Takk, make your hacking roll and we'll see if you can get the security door open.
Takk: Damn, only 2 hits. Is that enough?
GM: The host proves harder to hack than anticipated, and your cyberdeck blares a warning at you that it's approaching potential burnout if you continue pushing it so hard. Meanwhile, the host retaliates to your intrusion by launching black IC which will converge upon you very soon. If you want to continue pushing your deck and get this done right now, it will suffer 3 damage on its condition monitor as it burns itself trying to break through the host's defenses. However, if you choose to back off and try another hacking attempt you'll have to deal with the black IC. What do you do?

In the above example, the price to pay for success was either a damaged cyberdeck or having to deal with black IC (which could result in physical damage or even death to the decker). Either way, this is infinitely more interesting than a binary pass/fail situation.

Tip #3: Mix it up with opportunities to gain advantage
This tip is the heart of my entire post. If you take nothing else away from this wall of text, TRY THIS TIP. So when you're setting up the next player and recapping the situation (see Tip #1), sometimes offer players an opportunity to gain an advantage (read: gain an Edge!). You can even make players choose between getting a point of Edge for attacking a lesser foe (or going after a lesser objective etc) or not gaining a point of Edge for attacking a greater foe (or going after a critical objective). Not only does this help make fights more interesting, but it gives your players more opportunity to gain Edge, which as we've established RAW doesn't always do a good job of ensuring a decent supply of Edge.
Here's an example:

GM: Mystica, you see Sledgehammer's gun spit out a volley of bullets at one of the corpsec goons, punching right through his armor and sending him swiftly to the great alleyway in the sky. You don't have much time to dwell on it though, because another corpsec guard is starting to line up a shot on you with his heavy pistol which looks like it packs a wallop. You also see two more corpsec closing in on Takk, who's still hacking in the Matrix trying to get an escape route open. They seem more focused on Takk, so if you were to open fire on them you would definitely have the advantage and get a point of Edge. However, if you ignore the corpsec guard that's aiming at you and don't deal with him, he will certainly blast you. What do you do?

This right here is a real game changer. Your players will absolutely eat up the rich opportunities you lay out before them, and your combats will change from boring "I shoot, then you shoot" into crazy, desperate grip-the-edge-of-your-seat slugfests where everyone, even the less combat-oriented characters, get heavily invested. Seriously, try this one out and see what happens.

Note: Tip #3 obviously is meant for SR6 and the Nu-Edge mechanics. For those playing other editions, instead of a point of Edge (which would be too OP), you can offer your players maybe a couple extra dice on their roll, or subtract a couple dice from the enemy's defense roll or soak roll, or perhaps have their attack deal an extra point of damage etc. Get creative!!

Disclaimer: I'm a big fan of Johnn Four and Roleplaying Tips, however I'm not affiliated with them in any way and do not receive any compensation whatsoever. I'm just sharing a lightbulb moment that I had from reading one of Johnn's articles which resulted in my Shadowrun games becoming much better.
 

Stephan Hornick

Community Goblin & Master of the Archive
Platinum WoA
Wizard of Story
Wizard of Combat
Borderland Explorer
All 3 tips can be summarized as the Zipperon Disney approach, as he was the first I believe who formulated these (correct me if I'm wrong on this).

Zipperon Disney: Run D&D Combat That Flows || DM Pacing pt. 1
Dramatize transitions by creating exigency (=urgency+opportunity), then prompt activity and compress the resolution.
Zipperon Disney: How to Run an Engaging Session II DM Pacing pt. 2

These are one of the best pacing tips I have ever encountered so far!

Nevertheless, I find Rudy's examples and ranting much refreshing and full on point! I still think that many GMs can learn A LOT of these. And from my own experience I can tell you that they make a huge difference and are not so easy to make happen as it first sounds. It is a process to re-learn descriptions.
But: Giving players moments of exigency, i.e. of pointed out dangers, opportunities, and thus actionable options, necessary decisions, and moral dilemma during combat, does change the immersion rate and the actual experience a lot!
 

Stephan Hornick

Community Goblin & Master of the Archive
Platinum WoA
Wizard of Story
Wizard of Combat
Borderland Explorer
Here is a small example on how I make circumstances interesting enough to pose combat options that really peak everyone's interest. How will the player decide??
While travelling with a raft from one side of a river to the other, the three adventurers noticed a body drifting towards them. They knew from an earlier collision with a huge tree branch that the raft would rock and the ropes holding their wagon with all their loot were already very tight and straining. They catched the body and heaved it on board as the druid called from the other side that there was more coming. A tiny body bumped against the raft and a bigger one in armor was heading straight towards them. As the druid shapeshifted into a bison to catch the bigger body with her mass instead, the drifting orc (!) swung around to attack while arrows suddenly shot at them.

GM: "Cael, your body is in cover between the bison and the wagon. You notice the tiny body of a child bumping against the side of the raft, seemingly unconscious or even dead. If it is not dead yet, the fighting orc and bison threaten to crush it between themselves and the raft. You have the chance to stoop down and pull it aboard, but if you fail you might fall into the river yourself. And as a musketeer, all your gunpowder could become damaged in the process."

Later: "Then, an arrow hits the wagon only an arm's length away. It was not aimed at you, you notice, but at the wheezing bard or the body you just helped pull up. If he is still alive, you could pull him behind cover, but risk being shot in the process."

Completely here: RPT #1,176 | How to Start Every Session With A Bang
 

ExileInParadise

RPG Therapist
Staff member
Adamantium WoA
Wizard of Story
Faster Combat for D20 3.5 has a lot to say on session note-taking.

Specifically, by running some sessions to analyze player and GM *time taken* for certain activities, you can generate metrics to measure and tune your combat rounds.

Not mentioned in Faster Combat, but implied here - by speeding up your combats (or roleplay encounters managed with the same tools) you free more time for logging bits for future sessions.
 
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