Updating my GM notebook

     Some time ago, I watched/listened to Glenn Hallstrom explain how he put his GM notebook together. Basically it is a place to put any important tables and lists you may need, as well as holding dice, index cards or whatever ephemera you can fit in there. Here is mine, of course I picked pale blue.

With my dog for contrast

     I have some pregens stuck in the front pocket, index cards and extra pencils (and a couple of dry erase markers) in the pouch.

     From there it gets a bit chaotic, I have plastic sleeves to protect papers from wear and I can use the dry erase markers to make notes. I need to go back through and organize/swap out the pages.

     It starts off with dungeon/ruin environmental hazards, a few more ruins related pages (from Aeons n Auguries) as well as page on generating random terrain. Then some d30 random tables (courtesy of New Big Dragon Games) and then it descends into several bits and bobs including the Labyrinth Lord equipment table and copy of the YE Fast Pack page from B4 Lost City. At the end, we have my copy of Everyone Everywhere and Shady Dragon Inn.

     What happens is I end up not using it, so my new goal is to take it apart and put it back together so that it has an ease of use. Anyone out there have their own GM notebook, or your own idea of what it should contain? Leave a comment below and we'll see what we can come up with.

Look what was waiting for me...

     Look at this

     Richard LeBlanc, Jr. has some cool stuff, if you are unfamiliar check it out here. The D30 DM Companion and D30 Sandbox Companion which I had ordered just last week from New Big Dragon. I work second shift, so all I could do is look through them. It is habit for me, if I am excited about a book I cannot read through it, instead I can only flit from section to section. So today I will be checking them out, and lamenting not having a d30 handy.

     The cover/pages are great quality and the art is wonderful. Very reminiscent of the first supplements put out for D&D. I am excited about the worksheets he has in these. The dungeon crawl worksheet for developing a single room (I hope that's correct), what is special about it, any traps, basically what is here. Hex crawl worksheet, which I think is my favorite, helps you develop an area and place it in the larger world. The settlement worksheet is exactly what it says, with a handy checklist for what vendors/shops are in town and how many of each in case it is a large city. Both books come with a mapping key, which I always love since it will help with my map making. The rest of these two invaluable assets are mainly tantalizing tables to help indecisive game masters flesh out their locales, or give exciting ideas to those looking for that spark!

     Alright, enough of that. I have some stuff to do, hehe.Take care everyone, and do yourself a favor and check Richard's site out.