When preparing notes, the question you should ask yourself is: How easy are they to reference during play? This is especially important for those using screen reading software or magnification. Long, waffling notes can be difficult to reference, particularly in the middle of a session when you’re juggling the chaos of a game table. Pre-written adventures often provide notes in lengthy paragraphs, filled with descriptions to read aloud and extensive references. While these may work for some, they’re not practical for me as a visually impaired game master. Instead, I create short, well-structured notes that are easy to use and navigate during gameplay.

One of the biggest challenges in preparing notes for a game session is figuring out how to structure them effectively. As a visually impaired game master, I need my notes in a clear order and I need them to be concise. The best advice I ever found came from ‘Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master’ by Sly Flourish, where they explain their method for organizing notes step-by-step. I adapted these suggestions to fit my own needs, since I don’t prepare for just one game system, like Dungeons & Dragons, but rather for a variety of systems. However, I strongly recommend you go and listen to the “Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master” audiobook, which I have linked at the end of this blog post.

I use a structured template for every session, and below, I’ve outlined this template with explanations of what I include and why. While previous posts on this blog dive deeper into some of these sections, I wanted to provide a quick, helpful overview here. In addition, I’ve provided some advice around approaching notes that I wish I had read a long time ago.

Improving Session Notes

Rarely does anyone write notes for an upcoming session and think, “That’s it. I got it first time.” Personally, I will put down notes for a game and then revisit them several times before the session takes place. The book ‘Atomic Habits’ by James Clear details how small incremental changes can lead to better results. A single workout doesn’t get you fit, two Mandarin lessons don’t make you fluent and, likewise, a single writing session doesn’t give you great notes.

The reason I read Atomic Habits, is because I am a habitual procrastinator. If there is something I can distract myself with, to avoid the task at hand, I will. The hardest part, is getting started. I commit ten minutes each day to my tabletop roleplaying game session notes. I sit down with the intent of spending ten minutes on my notes, and then before I know it an hour has passed. The issue isn’t dedicating that hour, the issue is getting started. By lying to myself that I just need to spend 10 minutes on my notes, I quickly become engulfed by wanting to add more.

The point I am making here, is that if you want great notes it will take work. Sure, you can prep for a game in ten minutes and have a fun session prepared, no problem. If you are like me and want to give it your all, I’d suggest trying to work on your notes each day, whether it is ten minutes or thirty minutes. Small incremental improvements lead to a far more cohesive experience and you will notice the difference.

Thinking About Notes

Getting your ideas down is the first step. Once you’ve jotted down a few vague concepts, you can step away and think about them. After I have an idea written down, I consider how it could potentially play out. I’m not trying to predict player decisions or railroad an outcome; rather, I’m imagining the situation to determine how it might escalate.

Let me give you an example. In my current Imperium Maledictum campaign, one of my players is a psyker (essentially a space wizard) who has been summoned to the Astra Telepathica (the organization that polices space wizards). I initially wrote down an idea for an interview between the space wizard and the wizard police interrogator, where the interrogator plays good cop but has a nasty side. This seemed kind of boring, though. How could I escalate the situation? I started thinking about how one of the players has a daughter who is an unlicensed space witch. Perhaps the interrogator could delve into the space wizard’s mind and discover that this illegal space witch is on the loose. This scene escalation could cause the space wizard to be concerned that the space wizard police might want him to help find the other player’s daughter. That could produce quite the conundrum. It didn’t play out that way, though. The player took it in a slightly different direction, and I ran with it. The point of the example above is that if I had left my initial notes as just an interview, it would have been fine. But reflecting on it a few days later gave me the idea to put the space wizard between a rock and a hard place (something my players welcome and enjoy). I also wanted to make the point that your ideas are there as a guiding light, but sometimes you ditch them to follow the player’s actions instead. These notes are here to give you a safety net, not to dictate outcomes.

It’s suggested that sleeping allows our brains to organize information. That’s why sometimes you encounter an impossible problem and then find a solution the following day after sleep. It’s why when you’re angry about a situation, you can often go to sleep and wake up with a clearer perspective. So, jot down some ideas for your notes, step away from them and then come back after your brain has had time to organize your thoughts. My final suggestion is to take a break from your notes and from thinking about them entirely. Go read a book, watch a movie, spend time with friends or even do something routine like washing the dishes. These external influences can shift your thought processes and when you return to your notes, you’ll see them with a fresh perspective.

Structuring Your Notes

All of the advice I have provided in this blog series on creating encounters, NPC’s and scenes is all well and good, but how do you structure your notes? The rest of this blog will show how I structure notes, with brief descriptions for each section. For greater detail on each of these sections, please refer to the earlier blogs in this series. The next blog in this series will provide an example of notes I prepared for a game session, so that you can see practical examples.

When preparing notes I begin with the following headings listed in a document:

• Hooks
• Cinematic Opening
• Scenes
• Encounters
• Locations
• NPCs
• Rewards

The rest of this blog will have a heading for each of the sections listed above, with a description below each heading.

Hooks

For each session, I jot down five to ten hooks, things I can use to draw players into the story. These hooks might be clues, small events, consequences of prior decisions or opportunities to achieve player goals.

Player goals are especially important because they’re the key to truly engaging your players. If you’re worried your players might be losing interest, give them the chance to pursue a personal goal, it’s a surefire way to re-ignite their interest. If a player’s character doesn’t currently have a goal, take the time to talk with them and help them find one. Even something as simple as acquiring a specific item can be turned into a compelling objective by tying it to an NPC or faction, giving the player a stronger sense of connection to the world. These character hooks are what make campaigns truly memorable.

Not every hook needs to be used. I usually have a couple that might appeal to each player. If I notice that one player isn’t as involved in the way the story is unfolding, I’ll pull out a hook that fits the moment and use it to bring them back into the action. This approach helps ensure every player feels included and engaged.

Below are some examples of hooks I’ve used recently in my Imperium Maledictum campaign:

• Marrow’s Sanctioned Status: Marrow wants to clear his name as a Payker. The Administratum adept shows up at their base.
• Marrow’s Visions: Terrifying dreams haunt Marrow’s sleep, due to the ever growing presence of The Warp.
• Norrik’s Bounty Hunt: After gathering a crew in Dust Slab City, Thrag Gorr is after Norrik.
• Norrik’s Xenos Hunting: Vox chatter says there’s a Xenos creature loose in a part of the lower hive.
• Pavel’s Skitarii Ambition: Pavel wants to become a Skitarii. Receives a message from the junker letting him know the parts are ready and the cost.
• Pavel’s Traitor Vik: Vik sells out Pavel to the Mechanicus.
• Udvar’s Family Lodging: Udvar wants to find new lodging for his family. They have found a home for 100,000 solars in the midhive.
• Udvar’s Witch Hunt: The Inquisition investigates Udvar’s daughter Mila, using House Caliber’s venators.

Cinematic Opening

I used to start my game sessions with lengthy descriptions or NPCs explaining the situation to the players. If a movie began this way, you’d likely lose interest. In your game, I recommend following the storytelling rule of “Show, don’t tell.” For example, if the session involves hunting down a killer, avoid starting with the player’s boss briefing them on the case. Instead, have the players walking the streets when a sudden shriek pierces the air. As they rush to the scene of the crime, they can choose how to investigate, allowing the story to unfold organically. This is how a movie would hook its audience and it’s a great way to engage your players from the start.

That said, this approach may not work in every situation. For instance, in a Cthulhu-style mystery, where players might be traveling to the ends of the earth in search of a cursed idol, it might make sense to begin with them planning their journey. In such cases, think about how a movie would set the stage. Perhaps your session begins with the players taking on the roles of a prior expedition, one which discovers the idol and unwittingly unleashes its horrors. This short 5-to-10-minute prologue creates excitement, sets up the stakes of the adventure and illustrates the dire consequences of failure. By experiencing these consequences firsthand, players may feel more invested in avoiding them, leading to second-guessing and a heightened sense of tension.

An ongoing campaign doesn’t always require a big, cinematic opening. Sometimes, simply picking up where the players left off, slogging through the dungeon or continuing an investigation, is more than enough to maintain their engagement. Focus on what best serves the story and keeps your players immersed.

Scenes

Many modern tabletop roleplaying games refer to sections of a story as “Scenes”. For example, Alien RPG describes its one-shot adventures as “Cinematic Play”. This is a fantastic way to think about the moments within a game session. While the haunted-house style of play in Alien RPG makes it easier to balance scenes of mounting tension with encounters of frantic action, other games may flow more like a steady progression of scenes, each leading naturally into the next.

Ideally, scenes wouldn’t be tied to specific locations, but that’s not always practical. For example, the King resides in his castle, so that’s where the players will meet him. On the other hand, a conversation with an FBI informant could happen just about anywhere. Strive to separate scenes from specific locations whenever possible, allowing them to function as flexible events, but don’t stress if this isn’t always feasible. Some locations will naturally dictate the scene.

The difference between hooks and scenes is in their level of detail and scope. Hooks are often simple, introducing a minor NPC or hinting at a clue. Scenes, however, are more complex and detailed. For example, a scene might involve the introduction of a major NPC, providing you with opportunities to prepare deeper notes since the interaction is likely to be more involved. Hooks can present a single clue, while scenes can create an environment filled with multiple clues and layers of interaction.

Think of scenes as hooks that have been fully developed with additional preparation because they are critical to the story. Typically, you’ll need three to five well-prepared scenes per session to keep things moving.

Encounters

While scenes are often crafted moments within a story, to build the narrative, encounters are the big events that break up scenes. Encounters are the gunfights at the negotiation gone bad, they’re the chase after the perp or the random instance with a world-building event.

Prepare encounters that you anticipate may come up or be relevant. If your players are likely to confront a mad wizard, plan for that combat encounter. If a bounty hunter is stalking one of the characters, set up both the social scene and combat encounter. And if the xenomorph is going to chase the players at some point, have that chase encounter ready. Not all encounters are focused on combat, as detailed in the blog post in this series on “Encounters” they can be social interactions, puzzles or barriers unrelated to the story.

I recommend having one or two random encounters prepared as well. These shouldn’t be connected to the main story or specific scenes; these filler encounters add depth to your world and fill in where you need. I find this is often enough to cover any gaps if players move through the session faster than anticipated or if I haven’t prepared much beyond certain points. It slows the progression of the story, while giving the players something to enjoy. These can be either combat or non-combat, depending on the system you’re using.

Locations

Having your locations prepared is an important part of prep, providing a base to work from even if you’re skilled at creating settings on the fly. A simple outline can guide you to the right atmosphere and give you a starting point to build upon. While some games require locations to be set in stone, I would recommend leaving the smaller details open to interpretation. How many times has a player asked “Is there another way out?” or “Does this location have this common item?” Much like the blog post in this series on “NPC’s” I recommend giving locations room to breath and build them as play progresses.

I recommend including a brief description. I follow Sly Flourish’s approach from “Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master”, noting three key elements that define the location. Additionally, I jot down any specific points of interest. If I’m running the game virtually, I’ll also link a music track if I have a particular track in mind to set the mood. Keep locations straightforward and develop them further as needed during play, don’t overthink it.

Below are some location descriptions I’ve used recently, during my Imperium Maledictum campaign:

• Hell’s Drop: Guarded stone bunker; Large caged elevator; Stained with blood
• Outpost of Justice: Crumbling gothic building; Defaced Aquila carvings; Hanging enforcer skeletons
• Serisse Gardens District: Constant contaminated downpour; Overgrown xenos plant Life; Burning day festival
• Tyrant Lord’s Hall: Flickering candles and shadows; Cages of captured nobles; Grim silent guards

NPC’s

Having key NPCs ready makes for a smooth session, but I also recommend preparing a few background NPCs linked to various hooks, scenes or locations. For instance, if one scene takes place in a castle, consider creating a guard or servant NPC who can add flavor or information. If that NPC isn’t used in the castle, they could instead appear in a later scene at a tavern, perhaps the servant can work there instead or the guard is off duty and enjoying a drink. Creating versatile NPCs that can mix and match across scenes helps add flexibility to your storytelling, though this won’t always be possible. This approach also encourages you to think more deeply about your hooks, scenes and locations, anticipating how they might play out.

For these “just in case” NPCs, a name, a brief description and a general motivation are often all you need. This minimal preparation allows you to stay reactive and prepared without overloading on details. Avoid creating every potential NPC for a location; usually, one well-crafted character is enough if players are looking to gather information. The motivation is an important part of the preparation, as it either explains why the NPC is willing to help or clarifies what they might want in exchange. However, only use these motivations if relevant, don’t turn every information exchange into a side quest. Sometimes, the story flows best when players receive information quickly, keeping the momentum. Not everything needs to be a challenge.

Rewards

When preparing for a session, I usually note a few items to hand out, an amount of in-game currency to distribute and any experience points, if the game system uses currency and experience points. The items I choose are often things the players have shown interest in or items I believe would benefit them. If you’re not sure which items your players want, ask them. Once players tell you what they want, they can then look forward to getting their greedy little paws on them in future. Some sessions may not call for distributing items, but it’s helpful to have them on hand as an option or to carry forward to a future session.

Determining a reasonable amount of in-game currency is more important than you may think. I choose an amount that fits the current campaign stage, ensuring it doesn’t unbalance the game. Once set, I stick to that number throughout the session; I’ve learned that improvising often leads to handing out too much, leaving players asking, “Are you sure?” The same goes for items: having a pre-planned list prevents regrettable decisions since, once given, items are hard to take back.

If your game includes experience points, it’s helpful to note down the experience point allocation in advance. This serves as a useful reminder, as experience points are an extremely valuable commodity to players in games which us them.

Links

• Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones Audiobook
• Sly Flourish’s Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master Audiobook

Game Prep Advice Blog Series Links

Below are links to the other blogs in this series on game prep for blind and visually impaired game masters.

• Jim’s Blog – Game Prep Advice 1 – Introduction
• Jim’s Blog – Game Prep Advice 2 – Combat
• Jim’s Blog – Game Prep Advice 3 – Encounters
• Jim’s Blog – Game Prep Advice 4 – Investigations
• Jim’s Blog – GM Prep Advice 5 – NPCs
• Jim’s Blog – Game Prep Advice 6 – Notes