I am currently running a post-to-play campaign with some friends, and we just started. What are some good uses of or ideas for the Public DM Notes section? What have you guys been using it for?
I haven't put them to use yet because the tools aren't quite ready for show yet (for my uses), but public notes are great for sharing bookkeeping lists that players can reference casually.
Like the name of people they know, the businesses in town, common rumors, etc. That way you don't have to remember when asked on the spot, and players can find information their characters would intuitively know (that they've forgotten between sessions).
As Agile_DM stated, it's great for things the characters would know, but the players themselves might not. For example before you start adventuring as backround, if you are playing with factions (either the ones from D&D or your own), and they are known to the "public", the players themselves might not know anything about them but the characters would at least a little. I would think characters from the NeverWinter, Silverymoon, and Waterdeep regions would know about the Lord's Alliance as that is pretty open, but not all people would know about the Zhentarim as they like to keep secret as is. They might know they exist, but that's about it (think like the CIA in the US, we know they are there, they have a reputation and rumors are everywhere, but does anyone know what they really do?)
Another big thing is for rules (whether that is rules that players just can't grasp and come up every session, or modified rules that you have created). I don't use the features here yet, but I do use a forum for my games on roll20 - which I treat as a "public notes" section. A big thing I do also is post to either clarify rulings or make rulings. I make a post clear to players before we start playing highlighting "homebrewed" or slightly modified rules that I use so it is known up front. Also if something comes up during the session (which almost always happens), I make an "on-the-fly" ruling and we go with it for that session. However if it's confusing or important enough I note it, so after the session I look up the actual rule, if one exists, make a decision on if I feel it is better/worse than the way I ruled it, then I also scan forums (such as these) or even ask here for opinions on how others rule it. After doing my bit of research, I make a post I call "DM Rulings as of dd/mm/yyyy" public to my group, and I note what we will use as the rule going forward. In the post I will go over what happened, what we did in the session and why I am keeping it, or why I am changing it, so that my group knows. I also open it to discussion from them, as I value their input the most (considering they are the ones I'm playing with), and ask them to let me know if they don't agree and why.
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Hey Everyone!
I am currently running a post-to-play campaign with some friends, and we just started.
What are some good uses of or ideas for the Public DM Notes section? What have you guys been using it for?
Thanks!
I haven't put them to use yet because the tools aren't quite ready for show yet (for my uses), but public notes are great for sharing bookkeeping lists that players can reference casually.
Like the name of people they know, the businesses in town, common rumors, etc. That way you don't have to remember when asked on the spot, and players can find information their characters would intuitively know (that they've forgotten between sessions).
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As Agile_DM stated, it's great for things the characters would know, but the players themselves might not. For example before you start adventuring as backround, if you are playing with factions (either the ones from D&D or your own), and they are known to the "public", the players themselves might not know anything about them but the characters would at least a little. I would think characters from the NeverWinter, Silverymoon, and Waterdeep regions would know about the Lord's Alliance as that is pretty open, but not all people would know about the Zhentarim as they like to keep secret as is. They might know they exist, but that's about it (think like the CIA in the US, we know they are there, they have a reputation and rumors are everywhere, but does anyone know what they really do?)
Another big thing is for rules (whether that is rules that players just can't grasp and come up every session, or modified rules that you have created). I don't use the features here yet, but I do use a forum for my games on roll20 - which I treat as a "public notes" section. A big thing I do also is post to either clarify rulings or make rulings. I make a post clear to players before we start playing highlighting "homebrewed" or slightly modified rules that I use so it is known up front. Also if something comes up during the session (which almost always happens), I make an "on-the-fly" ruling and we go with it for that session. However if it's confusing or important enough I note it, so after the session I look up the actual rule, if one exists, make a decision on if I feel it is better/worse than the way I ruled it, then I also scan forums (such as these) or even ask here for opinions on how others rule it. After doing my bit of research, I make a post I call "DM Rulings as of dd/mm/yyyy" public to my group, and I note what we will use as the rule going forward. In the post I will go over what happened, what we did in the session and why I am keeping it, or why I am changing it, so that my group knows. I also open it to discussion from them, as I value their input the most (considering they are the ones I'm playing with), and ask them to let me know if they don't agree and why.
How do you get a one-armed goblin out of a tree?
Wave!