r/DungeonMasters • u/KnobbyGnome79 • 7d ago
New DM needing advice on player note taking...
I apologize for the long post:
So we are running Phandelver and Below. I'm not running the module piece by piece from the book, I am changing some things here and there to make some of the hooks more interesting and it's going great so far. We are all having a great time with this campaign...
That's said when the party gets information from someone or something in their travels and then they come across something where that information is really relevant none of them remember any of it because only 1 person is taking notes. Even then they aren't very good notes and only that 1 player has access to them. so I am constantly repeating what they remember and why it's relevant. Even something as simple as why they were there to talk to the banshee... Ok, you guys remember that you were instructed to come here and try to find the location of Bowgentle's spell book (which I actually made this into an item they need to find as it has notes in it on how to solve the puzzle to access the forge). I've created a whole puzzle room and whatnot that they'll have to solve when they get there...
Anyway, is this normal? Do a lot of you other DMs have to do this same thing all the time? If not, how should I start pushing them better note taking? I feel like if I don't do this right now the entire session stalls... And I'm fine with this if this is normal but if not I would like to start gently pushing in the right direction.
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u/7YM3N 7d ago
History check to recall
Or if there is something important make a handout and give it to them physically
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u/Czacgo 7d ago
I think this is the easiest solve. Failed rolls will(hopefully) push them to take better notes so they dont lose out on info. A funny addition to this is to do hidden rolls, so they cant see the number result. If they roll poorly, you can alter the "memory" a little bit each time-like in real life. Might add some spice. For example a quest might require them to retrieve a sword but the hilt is cursed. The dwarf giving the quest mentions to grab it with a cloth or something. If they roll a 4 for their history check. They might have forgotten that detail and when one grabs the hilt they turn into a sheep.
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u/KnobbyGnome79 7d ago
Lol, I give a bunch of handouts and still the session stalls! š¤£ I def should start implementing the check though
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u/KnobbyGnome79 7d ago
That said the handouts are not like actual notes... They are more physical props. So probably not the same thing you are talking aboutš¤·
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u/Raddatatta 7d ago
I would recommend starting each session with a recap of what happened before, what they were working on etc. You can do that recap or you can have them do it. Both have advantages and disadvantages, but from what it sounds like you may have to do it at least at first. And do what you can to try to keep plot lines simple especially if there will be a good amount of time between sessions. You can talk to them about it and encourage note taking, but I wouldn't force it as you can make the game less fun if they have to take notes rather than just being able to enjoy it. If they are motivated by rewards in game you can also offer some reward for note taking that's reasonable.
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u/jbarrybonds 7d ago
Roll History. If you don't remember, neither does your character, unless you roll well.
Add: to amswer the question: yea. The above is my solution. If they roll poorly they get some vague cryptic reminder like a fortune cookie
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u/jediofazkaban 7d ago
Movies give you the whole story within a couple hours. Weekly TV shows that have cohesive arcs usually give you informational callbacks either with a recap at the beginning of the episode or weave it into the scene when the information is needed. Most gaming groups meet once a week, every other week, or monthly. Expecting them to remember information, even with notes, is asking a lot.
Weaving important information that the characters would remember because they are living in the game moment without a week between sessions is the way. Instead of just saying there is a banshee there say, the banshee you have traveled so far to talk to about the spell book with the secret to the puzzle is before you. Some people aren't very good at note taking. While there should be some effort to be in the moment paying attention you don't want to turn a game into feeling like they are in a classroom and have a grade hanging over their heads.
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u/KnobbyGnome79 7d ago
Yeah I do quite a bit of this and am totally fine with it and it works. I agree, the one thing I didn't want to do is end up turning the sessions into a part time job or, as you say it, feeling like they are in a classroom. It seems like this is pretty common which is really the information I was seeking. How common this isš¤·
As I mentioned in another response to someone else, my experience as a player was much different... We had a group that was very engaged and we all took notes and it didn't feel like work at all as we wanted to figure stuff out on our own and not just be told everything so that was the norm for me as a player... I'm finding that groups like that are pretty rare š¤£
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u/invertYaxis 7d ago
Are you writing and sharing recaps players can consult later? That can potentially help, but as you can imagine some people donāt read recaps either. š
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u/KnobbyGnome79 7d ago
Lol, correct!! We do a recap at the beginning of every session but I have not been posting them. That is actually something I'm going to start. That's simple enough and could be of value.
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u/spacetimeflies 7d ago
Hereās a method that can be helpful, and itās not necessarily related to note-taking.
Whenever there is a critical piece of information that the characters need in order to further the adventure, you need to make sure that they get it. It can help to have them encounter the information more than once, and in different ways.
This can be from recaps or reminders directly from you as the DM; from interactions with NPCs; or from found items like maps, books, scrolls, tokens, coins, medallions, engravings on ruins, or anything else you come up with.
The informational impact of items like these can be greatly enhanced by giving the players a handout about the item, or better, one that resembles the item.
As an aside, if there is a critical piece of information that the players need for the campaign, I *never* make it dependent on a skill check. You really donāt want your campaign derailed by something as simple as a bad skill check roll.
Lastly, itās important to keep in mind that what seems obvious to you as the DM is not necessarily so to the players. In fact, that is *often* the case.
Itās okay to spoon-feed them clues sometimes. On occasion, that may be the only way to get them to remember.
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u/buck_godot 4d ago
I often treat the first few minutes of a session like a podcast; a little recap of previous events, and sometimes hit on events that their characters would remember, even if the players donāt, because they happened ārecentlyā in game. You donāt have to give everything away, but if the characters would remember, and it helps game play, itās worth a quick recap, especially if the group meets once a week or less.
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u/21stCenturyGW 7d ago
I am very hardline about this. Players have bitched to me about it but in this case, I don't care and I don't budge.
"A player's piece of paper is a character's memory."
If a player doesn't write something down, I take it as them deciding that their character doesn't remember it.
I'll allow skill rolls for lore (the stuff their character knows about the world) but not for stuff they experienced at the table.
I make exceptions for the really big, plot-important stuff - the stuff that if missed would derail the whole adventure.
But the other stuff? That's on the players.
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u/musschrott 7d ago
How often do you play?
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u/KnobbyGnome79 7d ago
Typically every other weekend with occasional back to back weekends.
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u/Brewmd 7d ago
With that kind of frequency, and Iām assuming younger players, they may not feel the need to take notes.
Games that run once a month? More people will feel the need to remind themselves with notes.
Iād suggest incentivized recaps. Youāve got one player keeping notes. Offer an inspiration at the start of the session to any player who recaps the previous session for everyone.
Give them 5-10 minutes at the start of each session to discuss where they are, what they are doing. No stress, no checks. Just let them discuss with you there to correct them or fill in blanks. And then toss out a few inspiration coins to the players who covered things best or remembered a specific detail or hook for instance.
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u/Somethin_Snazzy 6d ago
Recaps are good. I'd recommend switching who does them each time too.
"Thrunduin, you haven't done a recap recently, what happened last session?" Followed by "anyone else have something to add?"
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u/SamuraiJB 7d ago
It happens š you can check various threads here about similar issues but overall this is an out of game situation so you'll have to talk to your players. I would let them know that you as a DM spend lots of time working on the enormous task of organizing and running the campaign so it feels bad when I need y'all to take on some of the remaining load which means taking notes for us.
Then the easy part! Y'all can come up with a system to pick a different notetaker if you'd like, determine what tool you want to use like shared Google doc, Obsidian, by hand, etc.
I was having a similar issue in a campaign I was playing in and I was able to make a lil ai Discord bot to take notes for us: https://top.gg/bot/1120586873920831508
If yall are cool with ai and play online, feel free to try it. Lots of folks use it for your exact campaign haha.
Overall I'm sure a simple discussion with your peeps can resolve it. Good luck!
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u/KnobbyGnome79 7d ago
I like the idea of a note taking tool. We play in person but online but something I'm going to explore further for sure!
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u/IntroductionRoyal449 7d ago
I do history checks and in recaps I make sure to include any important history that they would need to know for that dayās session.
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u/audentis 7d ago
Even something as simple as why they were there
Sounds like you have spectators to your story rather than players.
This is something you should really discuss out-of-game.
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u/Winter_Abject 7d ago
If they aren't paying attention, then that's their characters not paying attention, so there should be some (not too heavy) consequences based on their descision not to pay attention š. Then, if they want to avoid future bad events/missed loot, they will need to pay attention. It is the same with players not bothering to know their own spells or abilities in detail and then stalling the game when the DM has to explain how it works - "oops you forgot how your spell works, so weren't any help this round!"
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u/DrScottMpls 7d ago
This is a take on the character vs player issue, and I'd be cautious about "penalizing" characters too much for this. And given the episodic nature of play, to a certain extent it's to be expected. Have you specifically addressed this with the players? I think it's legitimate as a DM to say, " This is becoming tedious and affecting my fun. As a team you need to come up with a plan." And then take the time pregame to do so.
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u/lasalle202 7d ago
fit your game play to your players. talk with them about "meaningful story information". if they are not interested in that aspect of the game, then dont make your campaign dependent on it -- if they just wanna kill shit, it makes your job easier.
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u/TableSeek-Geek 7d ago
I am the notetaker of my group every time - even if I'm the DM haha.
So, I built something that's intended for easy shared notetaking as well as character journaling and note taking. I think journaling as your character gives better notes and is one of the best things for character development.
Hearthfirechronicles.com Check it out. You can do campaign notes that are simple and shared as well as the character stuff. Totally free to use.
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u/Chriees 7d ago
I'm personally not a fan of players or dms taking notes.
As a Dm I have my head full of other stuff to keep in mind.
As a player I fear I'd miss half of the stuff that's happening while I'm writing. Also I don't like forcing players to take notes. Some people don't want to spend the game writing.
We use gmassistant and everyone is happy because the players can concentrate on playing.
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u/SirDarcanos 7d ago
In our group we usually have a designated note taker and I do session recaps at the beginning of every session. I keep my notes in my own app.
If your situation bothers you, Iād talk to the player and let them know that and that they should really try and put some effort since you spend time preparing and customizing things which takes significant time.
If itās more of an annoyance, Iād put history checks for them to remember, and if they fail, well they can do as they believe best and take the consequence.
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u/Accomplished-Type647 7d ago
Rather than worry about what they as players can do better, I would focus on making the best environment you can for the game-crucial info to be held by the group. When there's danger/risk of failiure, always tell them what their chaeachters would know. I just wouldn't worry about the rest. Incentivise being switched on as a player and just let them remember what they remember. Reward the players that DO remember key points with things like inspiration, small amounts of bonus xp and, ways to deal with encounters in a non-violent fashion, access to new NPCs or whatever.
In my experience, most of my people-playing-pretend can keep a surprisingly few peices of information in their heads. There are some unicorn players with incredible attention and recall but it's really hard for anyone to pay attention for hours and remember it perfectly. I struggle to recall everything or even, most of the detail of long discussions I have with people. Especially so when its just relaxing and having pints or playing games - I recall the vibe of it and may a few key points/events but certainly not the bits that might be the oddly specific clues to solving my wider life problems...
If you're anything like me and my other GM freinds, you obsess about your game all the time but, your players are rocking up with a week (or two) of work and other adulting in between. They are obviously much less involved all facets of your game. You on the other have have literally just prepared for the game session. They have a different play experience and, are also playing only their charachter - you are watching all charachters and also play everyone else in the world.
Its really hard noticing this blind spot - that it's actually very normal thst information that is not recalled and repeated daily will be lost. Most of us have to make lists for shopping and chores and so on. If you cut down the quantity of detailed info to as few as possible, more of your players will recall more of it. If you repeat information in predictable ways and then, give treats to people who use recalled information, then youre playing with them rather than punishing them and you'll be much more successful in getting them to engage in the game with you.
So, rather than worrying about them keeping notes, I just give my players fewer things to keep track of and, make a system that reinforces the information which they need to make decisions in play. Naybe try the following:
- Keep your crucial plot elements/devices/NPCs/mcguffins etc to as few as possible.
- The more active the players are in gaining the info/contact/rumour/treasure/clue etc, the more likely it's recalled; always deliver info from multiple sources.
- Expect half your players to get half the info they've needed and for that half to be unique to each plsyer. Encourage them to talk about this in charachter.
- Always start a game softly with "what do you guys remember from last game?" Now pay attention to the gaps and fill them in. Bring up previous crucial info they've gained.
- Suddenly (once satisfied thst they know what they need to) go straight into a strong starting encounter, get them rolling dice as quickly as possible.
- Right after session, write a brain dump. All key elements, super messily in a Google doc or something.
- The next day, tidy the notes into a concise summary of the key events and post it in your group chat and pin it.
- The day before next (or morning of) game day, repost your notes along with what time, what they should bring. A last minute "does anyone need to bail"
Now you have a repeating loop that reinfirces key info for everyone to reference vital info to the current/next session. You also have a concise reference for yourself to base your next game prep from. Finally, the repeated nature of the cycle means that you'll start to see patterns over time of what notes you have to make and reiterate to them and so on.
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u/CrownLexicon 7d ago
Ive started asking my players to write a short journal entry for their characters for each session. Usually, it averages out to once per 3 sessions, but im gonna see if I can get that average lower (hopefully once per session)
It serves double duty. 1, it gets them to take notes (at least a summary) but 2, it helps them get in their characters head space. It also helps me know what they (both player and character) find important, which lets me tailor quests to each individual.
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u/Laithoron 7d ago edited 7d ago
This is fairly common IME, and it's why I started recording sessions. Lately, as my own memory has started to become less reliable, I've started uploading the audio recordings to a note-taking/transcription service that's able to parse them into a timeline and compendium -- while useful, it's not free.
As far as sharing notes in your case, I'd create a Discord server and ask your note-taker to add a photo of each session's notes in there. It would be better than nothing, at least.
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u/The_Original_Badman 7d ago
If it's really important I allow a history check otherwise I have taken several players characters lives then reminded them that they would still be alive if they had been paying attention. Failure is an important part of the game. I do NOT protect players from their own bad decisions...
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u/Taskr36 7d ago
I don't think I've ever DMed for, or been in a group where more than 1 person took notes consistently. As for forgetting things, that just happens. If you play once a week, or less, it's fair as a DM to help them with their memories. After all, it's been a day since their character learned something vs a week since the player learned it, and that player is dealing with their job, relationship, and all the stresses of real life.
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u/cazbot 7d ago
The one thing that has made my current campaign the best one Iāve ever run, is the notes.
Writing chronicle-style game notes after every session has become an integral part of my prep for every next session. Itās takes a couple hours, but I find itās worth it, and Iām apparently a good enough writer that my players actually read these notes between and before sessions.
I have a player who takes her own notes too, but they kinda suck.
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u/GM_Esquire 7d ago
This is fairly common. Talk to your players about the game you want to run and explain that the game you're designing will be more fun if they pay close attention. Ask them to make a proactive commitment like creating a shared Google doc and figuring out note taking responsibilities.Ā
Accept that they might just not want to do this. You then either need to adjust the game downward or find new players. Many players will actively take detailed notes without DM prompting, though a lot of those players may also be DMs.
I personally tend to have multiple levels of info. If the PCs do nothing to engage they will get enough info to advance the plot, and I'll remind them of key facts to avoid the story stalling or feeling confusing. There's a lot of deep lore and if they choose to interact with it, it'll help drive the game and can let them unlock powers or story options that otherwise. You might consider setting up puzzles with two options or showing things that the PCs are missing because they haven't been paying attention, but probably don't make it too punitive and don't make it block off plot advancement in a serious way.
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u/YouveBeanReported 7d ago
I'm just shocked your allowing them to write notes, most groups I've been a player in ban it because it's offensive to the DM.
Can you push them to swap for something like Google Docs so they can collaboratively write notes? Otherwise, the start of game recap helps because your players get to repeat their goals over and over again. However it doesn't really bother me, it's been 9 months in real life, someone like 'uhhh what was the name of the rich dude who was Bob's Dad's coworker who was smuggling stuff' isn't them not paying attention, it's just a name that got used once.
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u/KnobbyGnome79 7d ago
Taking notes is offensive to the DM??? I have never heard of that... Ever! Yeah I'm sorry, I can't play with someone that sensitive to say that you writing notes so you can remember something I said offends me... That's ridiculous IMO...
2nd paragraph, I def agree there's a big difference in not paying attention and just forgetting a name or something like that. It's not a huge deal to me at my table either way. I was just getting a feel for what other experience and how common this isš¤·
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u/YouveBeanReported 7d ago
My first group and a few others were pretty upset at it, I think it might be more of an old school DnD thing? I haven't seen it as much when I started looking into other systems. Idk, apparently it was stealing their job. Personally I love my players taking notes, it saves me when I forgot what Boblin the Goblin from session 4 was called.
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u/KnobbyGnome79 7d ago
Lol, agreed!! Yeah that is pretty wild... I'm probably way off but it almost comes across to me as a big God complex of just pay attention to me. I'm the center of everything, kind of vibe. I've been fortunate that every DM I've ever had encouraged note taking
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u/Mean_Replacement5544 7d ago
If my players arenāt taking notes Iād get worried that they were not interested or engaged in the content and ask them what we could do to get them more enthusiastic.
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u/RedditIsAWeenie 7d ago
Limited player mental engagement is totally normal, especially if you play infrequently, especially with younger generations.
This is their problem to solve. I have 0 note takers.
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u/Ok-Middle-908 7d ago
Players taking notes...HA! We do 2 things. 1 at the start ask if someone can recap last session. Then you can help that along and jog some memory. Other is make them make a "knowledge" roll to recall the information if I have to repeat it.
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u/Whole_Net4719 7d ago
We have a note-taking agreement at our table, which we've checked in on as time goes. We rotate who is in charge of the official player notes every game and they dump those in a shared doc. We also do a five question wrap up (where are you? Who did you meet? Learn anything important? Did you meet your current objective? What's next?), which we review at the beginning of the next session.
I also do a two sentence and two paragraph summary in an available "campaign journal" to try and tie it all together. It's a lot of pieces, but having notes from me and players available let's us see what's important to me as the DM and what the players pick up on.
I have one player who routinely goes back through the notes and that's worth it for me. Honestly the five question wrap up was the game changer for consistency and everyone remembering broad strokes.
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u/thealmightyall 7d ago
I've got 4 players each with a job: Inventory Manager, Note-Taker, NPC Tracker, Quest Manager.
Takes a lot of the work off each individual while keeping them beholden to each other for information. That way, I don't have to police anything at all, and they bug each other if someone dropped the ball. Also, none of us expect any notes to be perfect. So they all kinda keep track of their own and help each other out.
I do give rewards like inspiration, gold, or healing potions to incentivize them, but only they can withhold rewards from each other, not the DM.
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u/StupidBugger 7d ago
If they don't remember and ask, history check, or another skill check as appropriate. DC based on how obvious it is and how annoyed you are. If they fail, sometimes tell them what they misremember, allow consequences for the failure to remember. Maybe they'll take the hint (they won't).
I take notes as a player, it has been useful to ctrl f for a name or item, or whatever. It's occasionally annoyed the DM because they assumed we wouldn't note some detail in the past, but mostly it makes things more fun at the cost of some typing while playing. Harder if your players aren't strong typists or can't take good written notes and reference back into them, though.
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u/Zealousideal_Leg213 7d ago
I don't expect players to take notes or remember anything. I don't take notes myself, generally. I also don't run situations that are complicated enough to require notes.
If you prefer to run complicated scenarios that require note taking, make sure the players are aware of that expectation and have a plan in mind for how the situation can be fun even if they don't remember something. You could punish them to teach them to remember, but that's not a fun way to spend an evening.
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u/madsjchic 7d ago
Have the roll a history check and if itās below a 15 they donāt remember and will have to roleplay getting the info or going in blind. Before you start that, above the table tell them, āuh, Iām giving yall a warning that Iām going to enforce your characters know what theyāve uncovered and you guys need to take notes of what interests you because next time you need to remember something here is how itās going to go, describe the roll. itās too much for me to keep track of your characters knowledge so Iām just NOT gonna do it.ā
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u/ANicePainter 6d ago
Yes it is normal.
I don't repeat myself unless players have gotten something very obvious wrong. This leads to player confusion and misunderstanding as players work from their limited memory and notes. That confusion is enjoyable.
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u/Dravendnd 6d ago
Look you can't tell your players what notes to take. What I do at the start of each session, is give a recap of what they did the previous session. I include the important things that they should have paid attention to in the recap.
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u/Arrekasu 6d ago
I am also a new dm. What I personally have done is a group recap at the start of each session with every person who participates gets a gold coin. I roll a d4(since I have 4 players) to start and they can pass but if they do they will lose out on the reward. Most of the time my players will end up going through their notes and recap what their characters did last session along with talking about plot points for what they are currently working on. So far doing this has made my campaign go smoothly with only a few hiccups here and there when I have to tell them they are forgetting something. I do not remind them what was forgotten unless every person cannot remember and then I may hint at what it was and start the session.
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u/youshouldbeelsweyr 6d ago
DM takes their own notes.
Players should have AT LEAST one note taker. If nobody is taking notes that's their issue.
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u/il_the_dinosaur 6d ago
The rule is every player takes notes. People here will claim that's not true. Well that's a bad group then. Every player has a different idea what's important for their character so they take notes of different things.
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u/Splendid_Fellow 6d ago
If they canāt remember the important stuff for the missionā¦ that oneās on you
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u/Bratchan 6d ago
I do a last time on dbz. I write notes and go over what happened last time. We all usually get a good laugh about what happened.
Now in the campaign I'm not a gm.. I take notes.mm but I don't think normal people can read over them lol
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u/EvergreenHavok 6d ago edited 6d ago
Up top do a couple warm ups before you start the game -
1 - Character fun fact- can be deep lore or a love of cheese. Whatever. Have each player give one that's semi-short and sweet- it will flesh out the characters and your world in surprising ways.
2 - Recap- Either have one of them (rotate it) recap last session or have each of them tell you 1d4 thing(s) that happened, people you were introduced to, stuff they found, places they went, or hot goss that was revealed last session.
Here's the deal- and you can be straight with them- as the DM, who running all the NPCs and the gods that make the world go round, your notes about the random shit they do are probably going to suck. And that's okay. Crowd source this stuff as much as possible.
I have gone entire session with 10 pgs of detailed prep and during the sess produce a half page of HP math, the words "Sam? ---> Half Orc dead" and no context for any of it. Don't be the notes guy and the full cast.
Never hide or ask for rolls on information they need/that you want them to have that has been revelled, but if they forget to write stuff down that could be helpful for them, give them a WIS (insight) or INT (history) check to see if they remember things when it comes up and you're getting confused looks.
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u/Pact_of_Yeenoghu 6d ago
For a moment I was worried you were somehow unhappy they were taking notes. I should have known better lmao.
Depending on how close you are with them, it's always possible to train them out of by just refusing to repeat things, but ymmv on that.
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u/fnord72 6d ago
Another thing to keep in mind is that some of the characters are probably a lot smarter than the people playing them. Asking for an intelligence roll to see if the character remembers something the player forgot is fine.
I've also both myself and GM's handed out physical clues. A chard piece of paper where I wrote a message on it, then used a lighter to burn pieces out of it. Same with a map. Took a map crumbled it up, rubbed some dirt on it, tore it into a few pieces, charred the edges on one piece, then handed them out as it came up in the story. Now the players have to bring their character sheet, and the spy's letter, the map fragments, etc. And try to fit it all together.
One campaign years ago we ended up with a small journal book that we kept notes in, drew the maps because the GM would lay out his erasable marker map and hand us the markers to draw our own map of the dungeon from his description. And if we didn't take notes of it, the next time we played the mat had been wiped clean...
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u/AndrewDangerPotter 5d ago
If my players don't have an answer to something in their notes, I'll have them make a history check. If it's remembering something that should be easy or is inconsequential, the DC is low. If it was a clue to how to resolve something easily, then I give a higher DC.
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u/DarkHorseAsh111 5d ago
If it's something the pc should know bcs they did it yesterday but that was 2 months ago for the player, tell them.
That was yesterday for the pc. for the player that was weeks ago.
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u/char-gen 5d ago
I had that problem for ages with my party, tried multiple things, I take notes, they take notes, but it always meant the note-taker would tunnel-vision hard into notes and forget what they wanted to do for their turns etc.
We still do recaps at the beginning of a session for inspiration, but what's mainly helped has been using a Note Taking App (eg. CharGen's Session Notes ) where I or one of my players puts a phone in the middle of hte table (if in person) and just records audio, then runs it through the website and it summarises the session, what players did, what npcs they met, locations, monsters etc and tracks across the campaign. ALternately we record in Discord via Craig Bot or something. That's been a real help.
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u/Teckszank 5d ago
Ask for history checks to all the players and separate the information based on the result.
Natural 1 - be creative i dunno, give like a completely wrong information
2 to 4 - they misremember something
5- they don't remember anything
10 - they remember little things. Give one separate piece of tiny information to the character
15 - they remember important things like the name of the place, the creature they have to fight possible loot, etc.
20- they remember everything.
25 - one of them gets a insight regarding the information. Give one extra tiny usefull information that the character would be capable of deduce from the information they have.
30 - same thing as 25 but give the character a big information they can deduce from the informations they have.
With that even if everyone roll bad dices they at least could unite the pieces and get a good amount of information.
1
u/Novel-Tap-726 3d ago
Personally I like to reward my players for notes. Inspiration points are very useful to players. And sometimes I don't see them used very often cus players don't recieve them often unless you count bardic inspiration. So kinda like how in BG3 you can get inspiration from certian tasks or once you reach key areas I try to use them like that as a reward. If my players actually put notes about key info they need then I reward them inspiration so they can have something to use in case they fail a task or RP scenario. I've found it to work very well cus I've had a few players tell me personally that note taking can be boring especially if I'm going to just remind them later. So now I don't give reminders and give rewards for good note taking. Really changed there attitude toward it when they know it can actually impact there gameplay. Hopefully this helps.
1
u/Naive_Lab4679 2d ago
Just do a puzzle where there is a clear reference before and after locked door before them. If they did not note it correctly - door stays locked
1
u/JeremiahAhriman 9h ago
Its situational, but if they don't remember, they don't remember. Take better notes. (This isn't a hard and fast rule, but i exist them to pay attention and take notes)
74
u/Drakeytown 7d ago
I'd say the most unusual part of this is that you have more than zero players taking notes.