Steve the Paladin Charges forth, his shield gleaming with holy energies, curdling the undead in his path. Vincent the Rogue exhausted and hurt says, “bloody hells the hordes are endless we should have never taken this mission.” Jessica the ranger replies, “Don’t give up we are almost there. We’ve just got one more room to go and we are all rich.” The party rushes forth into the room with the tension at its peak, then from the heavens they hear: “Uhh, Hey Greg, what was your passive perception again, there’s supposed to be a trap in the room and I need to see if you noticed. And hey Pablo, can you tell me if you’re out of turn undead because I might need to add to the dungeon if you’re not fully exhausted yet.”

Can you imagine a dungeon being run in such a way? It happens all the time and it can easily be prevented. The DM should never have to ask what a player has left or what his/her statistics are. I’m not saying you MUST know everyone’s strength, dexterity etc. but something like passive perception should be known to the DM at all times.

The DM should know when the wizard goes to web the entrance that he’s out of 2nd level spells already. How can a DM remember so much? He can go back to the beginning and remember session reviews and notecards.

Session reviews and notecards have been imperative to the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game since its inception in 1974. It’s the one thing that nothing, not even modern day technology can change; albeit it changed how we write and now keep those reviews. But notecards are still the same. They’re still being used the way they’ve always been used.

In my 21+ years of DMing nothing kills the moment faster than stopping the story because the DM forgot what his/her players’ attributes are. It’s highly important to know your team and to know them as good, if not better than they do. And today’s focus is going to bring us back to the one thing that’s not changed in 40+ years of Dungeons & Dragons, the notecard.

One of the basic things I believe every DM should do is to keep a series of session of reviews which are to be written at the end of every single session. Some may prefer more detailed reviews than others. The session reviews and other game information are kept in their own separate folder on the computer. Important information on your characters and the game should be kept here. Backstory and game information should all be kept in their own file/folder. The Session Review will help you in keeping track of exactly what happened when and where and who is actually carrying what etc.

It also offers a neat gift at the end of the game or if a player is forced to depart before the conclusion of the game. If you’re like me, then you’ve seen your games span many months and often years and sometimes, players move and/or otherwise unable to stay with the campaign for the duration of its life. A strong write-up (session review) at the end of each session will give them a history of their character. It will remind them of just what they’re character did and what he/she went through. You can even take it a step further and have it (unofficially self-published) through places like Digipod. There are places that will offer to bind the work for relatively cheap and each player as well as the DM will then have a physical copy (or book) of the story they were all just a part of. Then again, some may prefer to keep it as a file on their computer. I personally have bound books as well as a folder specific for concluded games. Either way is fine and I promise you your players will be grateful for the additional work you put in. And for the duration of the game, it will help serve as a reference point to you.

It’s important to have a few boxes readied. Two boxes are really all you need. They can be anything from basic cardboard boxes to your local grocers Rubbermaid containers. The first box is for dice rolling. You may see a drastic change in the numbers of your characters once everyone is forced to roll in the center so to speak. Having a united box or platform for dice rolling will actually help out more than you know. It will keep everyone more involved as they lean across the table to see if their allies are hitting or missing. Too often, our heroes make decisions based on the success of their comrades. And by keeping them all rolling in the center, they’ll all be leaning over and watching to see if their allies are succeeding or failing.

For example:

Jericho the half-orc barbarian is hurt and he knows his cleric Alviss the Dwarf is hurt too. Alviss isn’t far from going down. Jericho knows one more wave of gnolls and they’re done for. The more important situation is that down the mountainside, Gunyar the fighter is downed. If Jericho can get healed then Gunyar can be saved. But the severely wounded two remaining gnolls are lucky and the remaining party misses with their attacks. The first gnoll swings and drops Alviss. The second one swings and puts him closer to death. Jericho, now separated from the remainder of his surviving party opts to flee down a hidden tunnel. More gnolls are coming and he doesn’t have rages or a way to be healed. A single shot and he’s down. Alviss and Gunyar are left for dead and Jericho flees the encounter that shattered them.

*When the remaining party swings at those gnolls in the center on the platform or in the box, rest assured everyone’s going to be leaning and watching to see if the attacks are a success or failure.

That brings us to Box number two. The second box is for you, the DM to keep. It’s your power box. Whether you use index cards or 4th edition power cards doesn’t matter. The idea is to have the characters write their abilities on these cards and keep them with their character. For example: when Teagan the wizard casts his 3rd level wizard spell, he is to hand his 3rd level arcane power card to the DM, so it can be put into the power box. The same goes for Neva the Barbarian when she uses her 1st, 2nd, or 3rd rage for the day, she is to hand the DM the proper power card to place in the power box

With casters, it can be easier than you think because they only have to write Arcane 3 for example or Arcane level 3. Today’s 3rd level spell may differ from tomorrow’s etc. This allows them to feel as if they’re contributing and the others can watch as their barbarians hand in rages for the group etc. Another fun trick is to have them name certain abilities to make them unique to their character. This allows them to better define their character thus, allowing it to become even more unique.

For example:

Neva the Barbarian is high enough level to utilize four rages a day. Those rage cards are as follows:

Rage 1: It’s only just begun Rage 2: I’m still here Rage 3: we’re only just getting started Rage 4: I’m still here

Remember, each character should always have their name at the top of the card. Ideally, you’ll have them all to the top left for example so as the DM you know just where to look for the card. If possible, try to color code the players with different colors or card styles so that you can more efficiently redistribute them back to the characters once the proper rest is taken for them.

It’s highly recommended that as a DM, you have personalized cards with your characters information on them. It’s much easier to go in and change their information on cards than it is to go through various documents on a tablet etc. Afterwards, when the game is finished is the time to go in to your files/folders and update the information that was previously just on notecards. You don’t want to have to ask them what everyone’s magical items do again or what everyone’s passive perception is? That information should be kept on cards actively available to the DM at all times. In regards to passive perception, I’ve even seen a few bend notecards over the top of their DM screen with the Passive Perceptions of the characters listed on them.

Just as important, REMEMBER the items and wealth of your characters. Use notecards when designing magical items or utilizing them. This way if it gets handed off it’s already written up for whoever decides to use it. You and the players should have matching notecards for all magical items in the game, this way there is no confusion as to what exactly was ever handed out. I also use notecards to keep track of their gear and weight. Keep a total on the top right for example and then a list of what they’re carrying. This of course also depends on which encumbrance rules you’re choosing to play with.

No one will be able to argue that they did or didn’t utilize their abilities. If the barbarian has four rages and you have all four of her handwritten cards, then she obviously used all four of her rages. This will also help keep your game honest. It’s best to have a notebook ready. I’ve even seen notecards used for initiative order. Of course, as a DM, you’ll need to write in ink, Monster 1, Monster 2, etc. and then in pencil write down which one each monster is. For example:

1) Monster 1: Initiative roll: 23 Order: 1

Roc

HP: 248 AC: 15

The bold represents ink.

You can even go so far as to write down their abilities, attacks, hit points etc. if you want to personalize the card. Doing so takes time but you can also keep the card for future use. Let us remember that notecards are a powerful tool thus allowing the DM to reference just about anything from previous monsters fought to items on characters. If the DM is wondering how a specific item will work in an upcoming encounter; rather than prep the characters by asking what certain items do and/or wasting time by going to his/her computer or tablet, he can quickly grab the pile of cards and from behind the DM’s screen, look and see(for example) what Azurik the Cleric of Saint Cuthbert actually has.

That brings us to hit dice. A common question you might be thinking is how to keep up with hit dice? Yes, it is more than acceptable to use the same notecards for hit dice. Again, on the top left hand side the player should write the character’s name. And then simply, all that’s needed is class and hit dice. For example:

Leucis Tiefling Wizard

Hit Dice 1

His second card would read:

Leucis Tiefling wizard

Hit Dice 2

Some might think that’s too many cards. It’s true. It is a lot. Two options lay before you. The first one is to make a trip to your local hobby store. The arts and crafts stones come in several colors. Each player can use these stones to represent their hit dice and when used, they get thrown into the power box the same as any ability. Make sure however that your characters each have different stones or counters for their hit dice or you’re going to run into the “whose stone was this” problem. Option number two has seemingly proved to be the most efficient for me personally. I actually keep a single notecard and just tally hit die uses. It’s one card with each of the characters’ names on it. And when they use a hit die, I strike a tally against their name. These notecards should be stacked neatly behind your DM screen allowing easy reference to just about anything you need. And remember, you should never have to ask your party what their passive perception is. You’re going to inspire them to start making checks when/if they otherwise wouldn’t. That stuff should already be known to you and notecards are the way to go. I hear Galeforce 9 has some really nice spell cards. I believe I’ll be looking into them as well. It doesn’t matter what you use for notecards, hit dice, power cards, dice rolling platforms or your power box, as long as you have these tools and you and your players can make the distinction between them.

Thanks for reading. A few more helpful hints to close; make sure you have enough minis and mats to play. Even from gridded maps from Walmart (design boards) purchased for ten dollars are good enough. Buying miniatures in bulk is always better. Purchasing the Legend of Drizzt or Castle Ravenloft board games will not only provide you with an additional Dungeons and Dragons experience but you’ll also get a series of additional pieces to add to your collection! Old fantasy board games from Dragon Strike to Hero Quest are great for purchasing miniatures in bulk as well.