Game Prep Addendum

or How to Keep it Organized

Keeping everything organized for a game can be a real pain some times. I have used many different methods over the years, and have some choice words about a few of them. 

1) When I first started out, I used a three ring binder and loose-leaf paper to organize my gaming notes, ideas, plans, maps, everything. I had this huge binder for each system I ran, and hand wrote and drew everything I would use. This allowed for some serious hoarding, and did manage to keep me organized, it had some drawbacks.

Pros:

• Simple to implement, and easy to organize. if you need to rearrange things, simple remove the pages and put back in any order.
• Ease of use. There is no real learning curve. It is paper, pen, pencil, and a separator.
• Ease of memory, writing it yourself helps to improve your retention of it.
• Cheap. You can get three ring binders and paper super cheap at the dollar store, making a full GM book cost less than $3 with everything you need for many game sessions.

Cons:

• The need to write everything yourself.
• Fragile. A few drops of water, some spilled food, handling things roughly and they tear. This is the bane of the Three-Ring Binder Method.
• Difficult to back-up. Anything you want to have more than one copy of, you have to write more than once. This means if you lose the binder (which I did. multiple times), you have lost your work.
• Difficult to transport. The more books and folders you use, they get exponentially harder to transport.

2) I used Microsoft Word or Open Office Suite for a while, but that meant that I was stuck at my computer (not the case these days, but at the time, laptops were not really a thing). I used different folders for the different categories, and made new files for each entry I wanted. This got bulky and unruly fast.

Pros:

• Ease of use. Word is simple to use, and folders simple to make.
• Portable. These days, a laptop can go anywhere a book can, and you can even do this on a smart phone.

Cons:

• Organizational nightmare. This method is simple and fine on a very small scale, but quickly balloons out of proportion with it's usability.
• Cross referencing. The best way to organize the pages is to have each entry in it's own file. Each section in it's own folder. This means that cross referencing between the files quickly becomes unmanageable.

3) Web based programs. I have used quite a few over the years, most are now defunct or I have forgotten. of the forerunners, I will list Obsidian Portal at this time, as it is the one I have the most experience with. There are others as well, like ScaBard and City of Brass

Pros

• Ease of access. Any computer or web-enabled smart phone can access these databases. This makes physical transportation of the files unnecessary.
• Ease of use. These programs are designed to be easy to use and implement for the game master.
• Online communities. These programs tend to have online communities where you can connect and get advice.

Cons:

• Pay-to-Play. These programs have, for the most part, a free option, but it is very limited in scope and abilities.
• Learning curve. The learning curve on these programs can be a little steep, and learning one does not mean you learn another.
• Server issues. As the programs are hosted on web servers that you do not have direct control of, you may on occasion find yourself cut off from your prepared gaming material.

4) Cloud-based file systems. I have recently begun using OneNote to organize my gaming files. The program acts much like the three ring binder method, as it is organized in notebooks, sections and pages. 

Pros:

• All of the same pros as the three ring binder method.
• Ability to add links and images. The program, being digital, allows for links and direct input of images into the pages.

Cons:

• Not set up for gaming. It is not set up specifically for gaming, which means some things are difficult to get to translate over easily.

There are different ways to handle this issue, and no one correct answer. One GM's answer is not necessarily right for another. I hope this gives new (and some old) GMs something to think about. 

Until next time.