Friday Grab Bag: DM Cleanup on Aisle 5!

Fridays are always a fun day to throw a mix of DnD bits and bobs down on the page. So we thought you guys might like a post on how we tackle “a day after game sesh” and what we do to ensure the next game goes as well as it can.

DM Ben thinks taking physical notes during your current game is imperative to ensuring the next game and its prep go a bit smoother. Let’s take a look at an actual recent example of what we speak.

It all starts with a DM’s notebook (covered in fun stickers of course). You do cover your notebook with stickers, don’t you?! We get ours from game conventions, Dungeon Crates, and Etsy.

During our game sessions, DM Ben takes very quick scribbles of key plot notes/events and any new items they acquire since we loooooove to make and distribute item cards to the players. DM Ben’s notes are pretty sloppy – sorta like that court reporter tapping that odd machine during a trial. The key is just to get something down to help remember it for your post-game prep.

So what are all those ridiculous scribbles? Allow us to transcribe with a more complete, detailed list:

• Looted eight opals
• Snagged four bottles of aged alcohol (of some sort)
• Seized four freakishly oversized worms
• Uncovered a large, oversized fishing hook
• Found a pair of torn trousers, a carved smoking pipe, and a cracked skull wrapped in cloth (see below)
• Lifted a handy oversized map of Waterdeep
• Took what seemed to be a very rare, colorful fish (dubbed a “Succulent Rainbow”)
• Found an ivory locket (with a picture of a very ugly man inside)
• DM needs to help the Paladin pick his deity (for future story hooks)

DM Ben will now make item cards of each of these and note the values in his notebook so he knows what they will sell for when the proper time comes in town.

For some of these session items, we used Nord Games fantastic Dungeon Discovery decks including a Curious Treasure Deck, a Fumbled Searches Deck, and a Wilderland Voyage Deck. They also have really cool Objects of Intrigued decks.

These decks add fun items during investigation checks because we all know modules rarely include enough fun stuff. What blew our minds here is these were all random rolled objects and yet three of them tell a succinct story. A pipe, torn trousers, and a bashed skull outline a murder, right? But why? It will be a blast to create a subplot to solve that mystery now!

So while it can be tough to take a lot of notes for things the DM comes up with on the fly, hopefully, you can see some quick scribbles in a handy notebook can give you a headstart on your next session prep! Besides, everything is more fun with item cards – consider making some for your own next adventure.

We’re going to try this intriguing item card builder by Etsy maker, FelraiderRPG and will report how it went in a future post!