I highly recommend subscribing to Johnn Four's e-zine Roleplaying Tips and the yahoogroup that goes along with it. And spend some time in the archives occasionally—there are literally hundreds of great tips on game prep and organization.

I have a notecard for each combatant I anticipate needing in a game. The card has all of the relevant combat data, a space to mark initiative, and a space for keeping track of hit points and conditions on one side. If it's an antagonist, the reverse side has the experience point value of the NPC/creature and a list of its belongings. If it's a PC's card, it has my notes about what treasure I've given to that PC so far (in order to keep rewards level for all PCs). When a battle begins, I put the notecards in order by initiative and simply go down through the stack as the combat progresses. As the baddies are defeated, I hand the cards to whoever is tracking rewards. I also make cards for each magic item, treasure cache, and formal quest. If it has a reward attached to it, it gets a card. This (almost) completely eliminates my need to track treasure or experience during game time. The less paperwork I have to do at the table, the faster and more fun things tend to be. These notecards are stored in a small notecard box with internal dividers. PCs go in a section by themselves, and the other cards are divided into encounter sets.

I do all of my map and visual aid management on a notebook computer attached via HDMI to the television. I use MapTool to display the map and character tokens, allowing the players to see an obscured map and me to see the full map on the notebook's screen. This allows me to use good, full color maps without the cost of having them printed or buying minis, plus I get MapTool's fog-of-war and line-of-sight tools, which are much better than trying to cover the parts of a physical map that haven't been visited yet.

I preroll initiative for every monster and NPC, so the only cards I have to put in order at the start of combat are the PCs'. Let's see… I have two large 3-ring binders for each campaign. One is for the players' use, where they can take their notes and I can pass them world and rules information. The other is my GM's binder, which has the following sections:
  • PC Record sheets. I have a slash pocket where I store all of the original character records. If the players want to keep their sheet, they get a scanned copy. This ensures that I have the most up-to-date information on each character and there is no doctoring going on between sessions. (I haven't had a problem with that, ever, but I've gamed with people who have.)
  • The current session's script. Here's where I keep the meat of my plot. All of the relevant factions' likely actions are listed here, along with whatever events I have planned and scripts and characterization notes for NPC dialogue. I also have a list of planned encounters with a potential reward tally so that I can make sure I'm on track with XP and treasure rewards. If I'm running a module, I list the changes I have made to each of the module's encounters.
  • Session notes. Everything that I want to remember for the future goes into this section as it happens. No organization, just quick notes and details that I'll organize later in my post-game time (no more than a day or two after the session, while it's all still fresh in my mind). I keep this information in the binder until prep time for the next game, when I look it over then discard it.
  • Story notes. My relationship map for all NPCs and factions goes in this section, along with notes on long-range plots. Only things that are fact—histories, goals, and current events—go in this section. Potentialities go in my planning section.
  • NPCs. Every NPC the PCs encounter gets an entry, with personality notes at the very least. Important characters may get an entire page. A throwaway shopkeeper gets a single line.
  • Locations. Every location the PCs go to or hear of gets an entry. I'll list the filenames for any maps I use, the location key (if I have one), NPCs at this location, and any other pertinent data. Usually each location gets a page of its own to leave plenty of room for expansion from later visits.
  • PCs. Backstory and character history, along with my notes for personal sub-plots.
  • Treasure. I keep a page for each character to track what treasure they've been awarded and any items on their wishlists. I also have a few sessions' worth of treasure to be handed out, where I've seeded it, and who it's intended for. In addition, I keep notes on any legendary equipment that I've alluded to in here, along with random objects the PCs might encounter. This can be very helpful when it comes time to improvise.
  • Rules. Complete house rules, if I'm running with them. Also, reference charts for things that come up but I don't necessarily want to delve into the books for—conditions, diseases, poisons, suggested difficulty ratings for various endeavours, experience charts, and the like. These are things that are handy to have at my fingertips but not necessary to have in front of me at all times.
  • Planning. This section is for long-range planning. Things that I want to have happen but aren't likely to occur in the next session will go here. The overall plot of the campaign, along with notes on how to keep it on track in light of whatever unexpected things the PCs have been doing. World events outside of the PCs' control. Other potential story arcs and sub-plots. Worldbuilding information that hasn't been revealed yet (so it can still be changed if necessary). This section is likely to be the most chaotic, but it's also the place I'm likely to spend most of my time when I'm not prepping for an immediate game. This is the meat and potatoes of my personal gaming experience—the part that I enjoy the most as a gamemaster.
  • Supplies. Notebook paper, graph paper, empty sheet protectors, a couple of empty slash pockets, and a pouch containing enough pencils for all of my players and myself, a set of dice, and some blank note cards.


Yes, I spend a lot of time on my prep work, but it's the part of the game I enjoy the most, so that's okay.