At the simplest level, I like to create timelines - like the one below. This is for my Stars Without Number campaign. Such a list is handy because I create it in excel and can do odd date math on the fly - which is especially nice since now spreadsheets can handle dates into the far future. With an autosum, I can see that the campaign has lasted 311 days - Earth days, that is.
Little titles and notes keep everything straight in my head, and I can remember if an NPC was planning on hunting down and killing the party - and how long that npc has been formulating the plan and stalking them - waiting for the time to be ripe. You know, typical stuff to make the players paranoid. ;)
So that's why I like to do. How are YOU at note taking?
| Place/Event | Duration | Start Date | Events of Note | |
| Travel/Stay | ||||
| Halal System | 1 | 1-Jan-2300 | Ship assaulted by Captian Kaylah Tabari. | |
| Interstellar Travel | 6 | 7-Jan-2300 | On the Edmund Fitzgerald (Methan owned.) | |
| Interplanetary Travel | 2 | 9-Jan-2300 | '' | |
| Jaisalmar System | 2 | 11-Jan-2300 | Hijacked ore shipment on ice world. | |
| Interplanetary Travel | 2 | 13-Jan-2300 | On the Edmund Fitzgerald. | |
| Interstellar Travel | 5 | 18-Jan-2300 | '' | |
| Interplanetary Travel | 2 | 20-Jan-2300 | '' | |
| Hephaestus System | 87 | 17-Apr-2300 | Meet Methans, destoyed casino, Sgt. & Adam KIA. | |
| Interplanetary Travel | 2 | 19-Apr-2300 | On the Konjiki Yasha (Methan bio ship.) | |
| Interstellar Travel | 6 | 25-Apr-2300 | '' | |
| Interplanetary Travel | 2 | 27-Apr-2300 | '' | |
| Metha System | 1 | 28-Apr-2300 | Accepted by Methans. | |
| Interstellar Travel | 5 | 3-May-2300 | On the Fort Knox (Methan accountant transport.) | |
| Interplanetary Travel | 2 | 5-May-2300 | '' | |
| Perdurabo - Hard Light | 2 | 7-May-2300 | Begin clandestine criminal investigation. | |
| Travel to Comet | 2 | 9-May-2300 | On the Leadbelly with Captain Ranse Hardlee | |
| Stay in Comet | 4 | 13-May-2300 | Exploring tomb of the Ushans (asparagusheads) | |
| Travel to Hard Light | 3 | 16-May-2300 | On the Leadbelly with Captain Ranse Hardlee | |
| Perdurabo - Hard Light | 15 | 31-May-2300 | Foil evil plot on Hard Light | |
| Travel to Colony | 2 | 2-Jun-2300 | On the shuttle Bon Grunj with pilot Kingston | |
| Stay in Colony | 62 | 3-Aug-2300 | Fight pirates and capture pirate ship | |
| Travel to Hard Light | 2 | 5-Aug-2300 | Aboard the Fat Tuesday. | |
| Perdurabo - Hard Light | 2 | 7-Aug-2300 | Fuel up and say goodbyes. | |
| Interplanetary Travel | 2 | 9-Aug-2300 | Aboard the Fat Tuesday. | |
| Interstellar Travel | 6 | 15-Aug-2300 | '' | |
| Interplanetary Travel | 2 | 17-Aug-2300 | '' | |
| Euphrates System | 1 | 18-Aug-2300 | Refuel at mining asteroid. | |
| Interplanetary Travel | 2 | 20-Aug-2300 | Aboard the Fat Tuesday. | |
| Interstellar Travel | 6 | 26-Aug-2300 | '' | |
| Interplanetary Travel | 2 | 28-Aug-2300 | '' | |
| Tigris - Blue Saturn | 49 | 16-Oct-2300 | Destroy 2 pirate ships, meet the Kingpin. | |
| Interplanetary Travel | 2 | 18-Oct-2300 | Aboard the Fat Tuesday. | |
| Interstellar Travel | 6 | 24-Oct-2300 | '' | |
| Interplanetary Travel | 2 | 26-Oct-2300 | '' | |
| Nile System | 1 | 27-Oct-2300 | Return Thad, meet Captain Zarkon of White Chapel. | |
| Interplanetary Travel | 2 | 29-Oct-2300 | Aboard the Fat Tuesday. | |
| Interstellar Travel | 6 | 4-Nov-2300 | Aboard the Fat Tuesday. | |
| Interplanetary Travel | 2 | 6-Nov-2300 | Aboard the Fat Tuesday. | |
| Amazon System | 1 | 7-Nov-2300 | Arrive at Kyroth Colony. PLANT ATTACK! |
- Ark
A number of games out there have 'campaign turns" - weeks in Traveller, months in Flashing Blades - that really facilitate keeping a campaign timeline like this.
ReplyDeleteAs Gary Gygax wrote in the 1e DMG, time is a resource. A little effort to track that resource is time well spent.
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ReplyDeleteI've always kept track of time in any campaign I've run... Time is vital to our understanding of the universe whether in-game or IRL. If you run a series of one-off adventures with different players all the time, I suppose it's less important, but even then, it's tough to make a world feel real if it isn't real to you.
ReplyDeleteMuch like you, I jot down notes during play... then afterward write up a timeline of the events that transpired. It quickly ends up with more detail than my world calendar, but they feed each other... When I'm planning for a game, I review the events log to refresh myself on where the PCs are, then look at the world calendar so I know what the world may throw at them and can pre-determine any likely changes to encounters. Knowing that nobody will sell them weapons during the upcoming three week Festival of Life or that Ikarat Pass becomes impassible for the winter after first snow each year tends to hurry them along. Knowing the world has it's own logic and consistency also lets the players become their characters much more easily, and aids that ever-important "suspension of disbelief!"