D&D Organization | Keeping Four Games Organized with OneNote

Staying organized in D&D isn't always the easiest thing for Dungeon Masters to do. There are so many things to remember, so many notes to take, how does a DM keep track of it all? Today, I discuss how dungeon masters can keep their Dungeons & Dragons campaigns organized with Microsoft OneNote. It's what I use to keep my four games running smoothly!
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[@theDMLair]

✨Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes GIVEAWAY! Enter here: gleam.io/g42XL/mordenkainens-tome-of-foes ✨ 🔴Let me know in the comments how YOU keep your games organized!

[@IcarusGames]

Praise to Onenote! It is such a lifesaver when it comes to being a dungeon master. I have a slightly different setup where I keep rules in the campaign notebook so I don't have to switch notebooks all the time. The thing I've found most useful is uniformity, I've set up a whole bunch of templates for different things that allow me to get all the info for a place, for example, collected really quickly.

[@theDMLair]

Yes, amen! I have a couple templates I use, too. So helpful.

[@nda95ve]

I've been using obsidian for some time, it's a free tool and incredibly, considering it's free, I'm preferring it to onenote. I think what stops many people from choosing it is that it's perhaps not super intuitive. but guys, having links between one page and another and the ability to manage TAGs is really excellent.

[@tadeusznelson]

Honestly wasn’t expecting much going into this as there are so many random recommendations on this topic from different channels, but this was actually really helpful! Thanks and subscribed!

[@kevotp1]

Excellent video! As a fellow DM that also uses OneNote one of the biggest advantages that I see in using OneNote is the session recap and the ability to use your cell phone to go to the same session log and talk to text the recap. We often play late at night and I'm super tired sometimes I'll forget what happened the next day but if I talk into my phone the high level recap because it was fresh in my mind I can then "pretty it up" or be more detailed the following day after I've had a good night's sleep... Then ill use that for refference prior to nexr session.... Lifesaver!

[@rodrigoluzz7534]

Damn, four tables. I would probably run the same adventure for all of them. 😅

[@theDMLair]

Believe me, I've thought about it... Lol

[@jar-jarnotbinks7685]

Definitly would run the same adventure/module for all the groups

[@brankin421]

Holy f&#@ing crap. 3:45 scared the crap out of me! My lord... EDIT: 7:28 I THOUGHT I WAS SAFE! YOU MONSTER!

[@theDMLair]

LMAO - And now that you have your guard up, sometimes I use the sword zing, sometimes I don't. SO you might feel all safe and cozy for one video, and the next -- ZING! 😈

[@brankin421]

You're DEFINITELY a DM. XD

[@theDMLair]

Yep... I'll get you when you least expect it. 😈😂

[@AKA_Kira]

You might want to take a look into grouping sections. Right click up in the section field and select new section group.

[@theDMLair]

That's awesome!!! Thanks for the tip. That'll make things easier. 😃👊

[@willburn182]

I'm typing notes for my first capaign as DM and started with onenote. I have been scouring the internet for people that have shared their notes. I thought I was overdoing it, and I think I could let my foot off the gas just a little. Thank you for making this video.

[@idiotwithacomputerandanint9433]

16 dislikes were because of the succubus image being censored

[@C4ManMike]

I dunno, i think its more along the lines of how many facial expressions are made in one sentence.

[@Diviner1991]

About to start DMing (been a player for ages but new to being a DM) and THIS was like a touch of divinity xD. Thank you so much for this video and all you’re info!

[@wade616]

I found this video a week ago and it opened my eyes on how to use OneNote. Thank you for so much!

[@ooooldaccount]

Scriviner is the best word processor, has everything one note and the other big word processors. It is also customizeable to fit the theme of what you are writing, color coding folders in a directory on the left, It also accepts pictures.

[@HuevoBendito]

Man, you're WAY more organized than me. I just jot notes on OneNote, mainly names and plot stuff that come up during session.

[@theDMLair]

LOL, Thanks. I used to write stuff in notebooks, but that make it hard to find stuff. Then I started using binders with section dividers. Finally I discovered OneNote. It requires some upfront organiazational effort, but ultimately makes things so much easier. 😁

[@lexieraven6239]

I use Trello and I felt I'm super organised. You just changed my life

[@STEFANiSAKSSON]

Another thing you can do with Onenote is to share a book with your group (or one book to each of your groups). This might be a handy way to share information with the group. I did just that when I started D&D (I am a newbie, and so is my friend I'm playing with). As things are right now there is nothing on the actual campaign in the shared Onenote book, but rather general information such as a link to basic rules (both pdf and interactive web version) and KZbin D&D tutorials.

[@BlindRambler]

I'm currently writing my own module for my group and I'm using Drive. It's not as robust but it does what I need it to do for me. Honestly it's not as difficult as some may think to put one together when you cannibalize the premade. Grab a few monsters here, a couple of tables there, a few traps from over there and organize it for yourself and you got yourself a module. A few custom stat blocks and a couple of house rules and you're good.

[@urpimp100]

Very Helpful. I value these ideas and your general input on how to better plan as a DM. Great stuff man, great stuff.

[@angelwick]

Do you have a general template that others could download? Obviously, I wouldn't ask for you to share your working notebooks with the community at risk of your players seeing. I love the idea of using OneNote (or Evernote) and always feel like there's some better way to organize my notes. I almost feel like I'm using the tool wrong sometimes.

[@theDMLair]

That's a great idea! Unfortunately I don't have a template handy, but that's something I need to put on my to do list. Thanks for the suggestion! As a stopgap, I suggest just getting into OneNote or Evernote and playing around. I showed a lot of my setup in the video; you could try replicating that. I'm not sure that my way of doing is perfect, either. You may find a better way to use the tool.

[@jctxcboy36]

@@theDMLair Any news on that template, would very useful. Would definitely sign up as a patron if this was available for use.

[@elizabethlewellen7256]

This is actually spot on to what I started doing. I have the same set up OneNote and my Ipad. I actually wanted all my notes digital because our friend that runs our other campaign (that is his own homebrew world) he lost it. All the notes everything gone. It has made a mess for him and I never wanted to deal with that.

[@theDMLair]

Totally. It's also convenient to type stuff up on my PC and have it sync automatically to both my iPad and laptop. And I hate lugging notebooks around when I can avoid it. 😀

[@elizabethlewellen7256]

@@theDMLair I have just a small notebook for quick notes at the table otherwise everything is on my Ipad. Our group is lucky because we have D&D beyond as well. No lugging all the heavy books around! Technology had made it so much easier to stay organized and to keep it all together.

[@theDMLair]

Yeah tech FTW! A couple of my players have DnD Beyond and like it a lot.

[@Hypn0ninjaGaming]

Great vid as always. one note is a life saver :) I love your dragon pic behind you btw.

[@theDMLair]

Thanks! I'm not sure I could run DnD without onenote. It's like once you've gone there, you can't go back. 😂

[@tomjagz711]

Awesome.. Thanks for sharing… great approach… I use MS dictation too, cause I’m a terrible typer…Reminder… must add section for Bacon :)

[@oldmanfunky4909]

Onenote 2016 can be downloaded free. It is what I use and it has made the DM life a whole lot easier.

[@TalkativeHands]

Four games?! Mad lad, one is too much for me. Great stuff btw. I heard of onenote but didnt think it was this well laid out. Thought it was just like google docs.

[@fhuber7507]

I wrote my own database with character generation. leveling, equipment and spell list program back in the mid 1980's. Everything else I kept in a backpack in physical paper. I never ran more than one campaign at a time. I didn't have the time or location availability for more.

[@theDMLair]

That's cool. I run 4 at the moment and couldn't do it on paper. I'd lose my mind. Lol

[@Tigris_DK]

the onenote thing is really smart, i will start to use that :D

[@theDMLair]

I'm telling you man it is amazing and works so beautifully for me.

[@Tigris_DK]

@@theDMLair yeah it's a Nice idea and I really like your videos I'm soon to start DM'ing my self for the first time, so all your videos are really good to see :D

[@JBCBlank]

This has been so helpful t hank you!!!

[@ademiranda2]

You are born physical comedian man!! Those faces you make have me laughing. I have seen some of your other videos where you cos play, make voices and such. Funny stuff. Good channel, subbed.

[@theDMLair]

Thanks a lot. 😁

[@ademiranda2]

@@theDMLair having said all that, I don't know if I really need One Note in this new normal of online VTT gaming. Dosen't Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds, D&D Beyond do most of this organization for me?

[@matheusleal2818]

8:42 hey, thats mah boy corvo attano

[@jacobscott8277]

This one note idea is pretty good I think I’ll use it for my next home brew campaign, but I already have so much writing for my home brew that I’ll stick to what I’m doing now. (Using word and my folder on my computer)

[@kirkbrown1267]

Thank You. Mind Blown...! How did I not Know about this tool? My prep can be done in, way less than, half the time, now. 3-Ring Binder. Be gone from me.

[@charms4242]

OMG Can you give us a pdf of your notes? Mainly the rules and the Lore stuff, I would appreciate it very much

[@theDMLair]

DM Lair patrons at the $25 tier literally get access to exports of my OneNote and PDFs of it.

[@leebannister3759]

Downtime Question - Do you share those sections with the players and have them write in what they did during the downtime?

[@theDMLair]

Lee Bannister - I don't. I just take notes as we play at the table. That's why the notes are so crappy. 😬 Occasionally I come back later and add to them, but not often. Downtime is like 5% of the game for us; we spend maybe an hour of table time every couple months on downtime. (Most of our game play is going on adventures that I create.)

[@Piqipeg]

I use a program called yWriter, unfortunately it isn't synced to a cloud. But it works for me as I don't really play outside my home. Every thing I can't put in there I put on google drive.

[@davidcross30]

totally what I needed!! Thanks

[@jctxcboy36]

Had never heard of OneNote before.....just enabled it....do you have one of your instructional videos on how to set it up?

[@jar-jarnotbinks7685]

I like using google drive. It allow me to create files I can share with my players digitally ans let them access all their digitalized handouts. (I still give physical handouts, but it's nice for them to have digital versions they can access anytime since I usually Keep the handouts between sessions) Also help with printer ink and paper usage, and access on all sort of device with a web browser.

[@TacticalTokens]

I use a combination of Google Drive and RealmWorks. I love the dynamic linking in RealmWorks but the program is so poorly coded. So I typically start in Google Drive and then import finished work into a realm.

[@theDMLair]

Interesting, never heard of Realm Works. Is it a free program?

[@TacticalTokens]

Unfortunately no. $50 but it's not subscription like the other programs out there.

[@jasonmed2119]

Would be cool to see your house rules setup.

[@dream323]

in my opinion. anyone who is anyone should be using the free alternative called NOTION. It is completely free and is better than evernote or onenote.

[@STEFANiSAKSSON]

One difference between Onenote and Notion (last time I checked at least) is that Onenote files are stored on your local computer (as well as on the cloud). This means that Onenote works perfectly fine even when you're not connected to Internet. If you, like me, are disconnected often, this may be an important factor.

[@jarrettkozelisky8334]

Do you have a template we can download so we don't need to reinvent the wheel? I have watched a few other videos on this now, great stuff thanks for sharing. Really think this will help.

[@theDMLair]

That's a great idea. I'll see if I can put one together for folks and toss a link in the description to it.

[@jarrettkozelisky8334]

​@@theDMLair You've clearly spent a lot of time to do this, and although i'm not a pateron yet, it might be a nice thing to offer them. And in the process you recoup something for time spent to assist us the masses. Cheers, thanks again.

[@theDMLair]

Thanks! Glad you're finding the content helpful! I do have a Patreon as it so happens. 😁 www.patreon.com/thedmlair Since this is one of my older videos, the link to it might not be down in the description.

[@craigjones7343]

Any chance you have a notebook template you can share?

[@markgnepper5636]

Great stuff friend 👏 👍

[@sprialls1387]

anyone have player notes tips..? i write my notes (its what helps me) but i digitize them and organize them, but i dont know how to organize them super well. almost tempted to digitize them into a character-journal type thing lmao

[@gwarcus]

I dig trello. it lets me make listts, add cards, etc. I have my al qadim setting broken down into bits my players can refer to and look at, even has photos and more. FREE TOO!!

[@theDMLair]

Yes, Trello is great. I use it for organizing my work and personal tasks (since it's a Kanban board).

[@armandolee3508]

would you be willing to share your waterdeep and the sword coast notebook =) im also running a sword coast campaign.

[@theDMLair]

Sure! There's not a whole lot in that one as I use the main campaign setting books for reference. In OneNote I just have the stuff I've personalized or use frequently. Anyway, I exported the notebook and placed it in Google Drive here: drive.google.com/drive/folders/1fUvlGfKBObLMaCTYjM55OyrCFqMNgzPP?usp=sharing You can import that file to your OneNote.

[@XycoticGamer]

One note is the free alternative

[@Number01]

Do you have a downloadable copy of the Downtime rules? Those look great!

[@theDMLair]

I use the ones from Xanathars. Which are nearly the same as the downtime rules in Unearthed Arcana which is a downloadable PDF. A search on google should reveal.

[@Number01]

@@theDMLair Thanks! I'll look it up.

[@Number01]

@@theDMLair Would you consider a series of videos about 5e homebrew rules? I'm thinking about making it something like what you did for your community sourced DM tips series?

[@wolvencreator8585]

How do I keep my games organized? I don't. I panic. I'm new and I've run somewhere around 10 sessions total and I need... ALL the organization tips, pronto. 😂😂

[@fhuber7507]

While I could run 7 different campaigns with a session a week for each... I just don't WANT to work that hard.

[@CommsDanielHession]

I put everything in excel or in notepad. Though, I find this annoying to use and going to build my own app to do it easier.

[@theDMLair]

Build your own app? That's sweet, man. I take it you're a software developer then?

[@CommsDanielHession]

Master Student nonetheless.

[@theDMLair]

That's awesome! I'm a tech writer and I work with developers as part of my job. Don't know if your program requires some sort of app/program as part of your "thesis" or whatever they want to call it, but a D&D app for organizing game notes and campaigns might be just the thing. 😃

[@trwechsler4737]

Comment for the algorithm

[@israelmorales4249]

nice

[@cvmslvt420]

enunciation level 100 over here, LMAO

[@themanthemyththeo6067]

How do you keep your notes organized while your dming? It’s amazing. Me: ...book

[@crooy2841]

.txt and files for png maps and tokens

[@RyanCmr07]

I use dndbeyond

[@pcompani715]

I simply keep my notes on my computer and use it as a DM wall

[@theDMLair]

Yep, yep, that works, too!

[@misterzicold]

It is funny how Onenote notes are structured and video is just jumpy all around. If you are afraid about your players watching video than just warn about it. Video can be paused.

[@77scooby30]

Rocketbook

[@tiffanykampersal5978]

Is there a way to do this in Google sheets?

[@theDMLair]

Sorry not sure. I don't really use Google Sheets a lot. You can probably play around with it and see if there's a way to emulate this.

[@BlindRambler]

You can, you do have to learn a little bit but it's not really that difficult. Use drive, not just sheets. You'll likely use photos, docs, sheets and maybe a couple of pdfs.

[@zackarynigbor7821]

My organization system is quite simple really I'm not organized

[@spanishboi7]

I use Google Drive to keep everything in order

[@theDMLair]

Cool. Do you take your laptop to your games then, to have everything handy?

[@spanishboi7]

@@theDMLair I play everything over Skype atm, but I am able to access all the files on my tablet if I choose to or even on my phone. It helps quite a bit with keeping everything accessible.

[@theDMLair]

Yeah, so convienent to have everything always. Does Skype work well for you guys? Do you share battlemaps and stuff over it, or do you use theater of the mind?

[@user-je4mn4rp8h]

notion

[@mateovillalobos6698]

Get on my level I’ve been DMing since middle school

[@delcarsdungeon]

Good content, but can I ask - does your face ever stop moving? :) You're gonna sprain your eyebrows.

[@theDMLair]

No it never stops. LOL and now that you mention it my eyebrows do hurt just a little bit.

[@jasperheartwood2586]

This guy's mouth moves too much when he talks.

[@casualclinton9553]

Hey I know this was a video a while ago but do have anything on maps, I can’t really keep track of maps or draw them..