PDA

View Full Version : What should i do with old campaign notes



oxinabox
2010-02-13, 04:11 AM
So, I've been running c acampign over the holidays, and now the holdays are almost over.
I ran the last session (actually 3 sessions) last night/this morning.

Now for the first time I've ran a campaign,
from end to finish, with decent notes written in advance.

My normal games tend to be sandbox - so i'll have setting notes.
and then i'll ask the players "What do you do?" and they'll find/make there own quests to furfull there personal goals.
Settign nots are fine, I'll keep those, maybe i'll want to make use of htee setting again.
I also take down the odd bit of notes on some thinmgs that happen.

But this time i decided to tell a story, so the players were sought out (rather than seeking) by there Monarch, and given a mission.

anyway, i have a folder full of campaign notes, npc's.
(also has alot of setting stuff (like important NPCs))
What should i do with it?
It seems to valiable to just throw out

Splendor
2010-02-13, 04:35 AM
If you think its good, share it.

Get one of those free websites online, retype your notes and post them online. Maybe others can use your ideas or even run your campaign themselves.

http://www.dndadventure.com/ had some if I remember.

I thought there was one called hands of darkhold that was well done... but my link doesn't work anymore, and searching google pulls up a self made book but not the campaign.

Kiero
2010-02-13, 08:16 AM
Dump them in the recycling. That's what happened to all my old stuff when I finished with it.

Lord Loss
2010-02-13, 09:29 AM
Keep them. You might just run another campaign in the future of that world, or the past, or at an alternate location in the world. But generally, having a full load of maps encounter locations, gods, etc. lying around is very useful, espescially when DMing on short notice.

bosssmiley
2010-02-13, 09:45 AM
Keep it. Sandbox notes are, by their nature, infinitely reusable.
Recycle it in future games.
Use it as a record of what you've already done.
Share it with other gamers.

oxinabox
2010-02-13, 09:46 AM
Keep them. You might just run another campaign in the future of that world, or the past, or at an alternate location in the world. But generally, having a full load of maps encounter locations, gods, etc. lying around is very useful, espescially when DMing on short notice.

well yeah, I gets having the sheets for decent (as compaired to the standard lazy) security guards, and the elite "executive protection personal" (ie mercs).
and you never know then the old Vampire Sire, pair of werewolves, and wyrd 10 gargantum with pack of dogs, is going to come in handy.
And You can't go wrong with the Cat Guardian Fiend Demon, wh o"doesn't beleive in bullets"

not to mention the 3 gangster npcs i never ended up using at all.

I do have a stack of maps, in the folder, spend awhile going around to tourist places to collect them, thell be useful next time i run a game, for sure.

rayne_dragon
2010-02-13, 01:12 PM
Hold onto them. It's worth having old notes because it can, at the very least, be interesting to look back at them and remember the campaign. At best, you'll find them useful to help with various things in future games. I never intentionally throw out (recycle) anything I use for game notes, except perhaps the sheets I use to keep track of monster hp and inits.

ericgrau
2010-02-13, 02:21 PM
Organize them in a folder under tabs like "NPCs" for quick re-use. Otherwise the tendancy is to take up space and never get used.

If you have anything digital uploading it in a likewise organized fashion would be awesome. People spend a lot of time preparing campaign material, and anything they can steal is invaluable.

valadil
2010-02-13, 02:54 PM
Aside from my first game, I always keep mine. I later tried to look up material from that first one and was saddened when it was nowhere to be found. So now I archive them, even though I've only actually looked something up in them once.

AslanCross
2010-02-13, 04:43 PM
I'm a horrible pack rat. I hoard everything. Since most of my notes are digital, I don't mind the text taking up some space on my hard drive. I've found that notes like these are always good for future reference.

Egiam
2010-02-13, 05:52 PM
I like to go back and review stats for NPCs. If I suddenly need the statistics for a nameless guard NPC, I already have them made up.

I actually think it would be really cool to have a stickied thread full of [SPOILERED] DM notes to mine for ideas. After I finish my adventure, I coul copy/paste them...

oxinabox
2010-02-13, 07:47 PM
the only digital notes i have are spread across this, and other forums.
I'll have to prinbt hem out if i want to achieve.
Storing them at home takes space. (I live in a 10 ft by 10 ft cell - colledge student)
Maybe i'll put them in a folder and dump them in the gaming club clubroom.
Theres a couple of campaign notebooks stored there already

drengnikrafe
2010-02-13, 07:50 PM
Look at them carefully when figuring out how CR works later on. And by works, I mean how to do without it. Examples of how parties work against monsters, what plot was clever, and what they didn't pay attention to. Keep it around for reference.

oxinabox
2010-02-13, 10:50 PM
Look at them carefully when figuring out how CR works later on.
It was a nWod game,
we don't have CR, we don't have levels.
we don't have combat effectivness as a thing that all people have equally (some will have none, some will be combat gods, from the start of the game)

drengnikrafe
2010-02-13, 10:59 PM
It was a nWod game,
we don't have CR, we don't have levels.
we don't have combat effectivness as a thing that all people have equally (some will have none, some will be combat gods, from the start of the game)

That's what I get for not reading the whole thing before I said something.
Keep the notes anyway. If nothing else, you can tell your kids a really neat story someday.