It can be easy to start taking notes for a game, as a DM or player: grab a notepad or open a new document and start writing! But it can also be easy to have trouble finding information when you need it. Pages can get shuffled out of order (if there was even an order to begin with) and walls of text can be difficult to skim quickly. Search functions online (such as searching your Google Drive) can be a lifesaver, but they won't help you take notes in a way that's easy for others to share in or follow. As a campaign expands with new players or extends over years, things you wish you remembered can get lost. And if you're being a helpful player by taking notes for the group during a session, things can get messy fast.
With all of this in mind, I'm presenting the templates below for you to use for your games. They're just examples of how information can be organized and shared in a tabletop game; you should edit things as you see fit. Some fields will be useful to many groups; other fields might not be to your taste. The colors and fonts may not be to your liking but they're easy to change. If images lead to slow loading times, feel free to remove them. And if you do try them out for your games, please let me know how it went for you!
Taking notes during a session can help everyone remember everything better and create a record of your adventures with your friends. It's a good way to track what needs to be updated on character sheets later, which stories were completed, and which new plot threads are ready to be pursued. Having a shared document can help absent players catch up, as well. I have to say that I've found special joy in jotting down jokes and other quotables by players at our table. You can see a beloved old campaign journal a player kept for us here.
This template series is in Google Docs so documents can easily be shared in a group, kept in a central location, and updated quickly. Asking players to be responsible for particular sections - or take over the duty on different days - can help spread the workload around, but talk it over with your group first. Some may be happy to oblige, others may hope for an XP reward, and a few may not want to do it at all.
Resources are free for personal use; please do not offer them for sale or claim them as your own work.
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