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by Mike on 24 October 2022
Add page numbers to your preparation notes and character sheets. This is a tip for both D&D DMs and players. For 1,500 years people have learned how to create the equivalent of digital hyperlinks in physical books by referencing locations in an index.
While many of us prep our games or run our characters using online tools, sometimes we're using PDFs of products which still have page numbers and no easy way to hyperlink specific locations. For others running in-person games using physical books, writing page numbers in your notes or character sheets speeds up referencing spells, powers, character abilities, magic items, monsters, locations, NPCs, campaign information, and just about everything else in D&D right at the table.
For players, think of your physical character sheet as an customized index of specific options in the books you use to make your character. Write down the book's abbreviation and page number next to spells, feats, class features, and anything else you might reference. Write down the page number while building your character. It'll save you considerable time during play.
If you're a dungeon master, write down page numbers next to monsters, magic items, locations, NPC descriptions, or anything else you think you might reference during the game. You can do this in your notes whether they're digital or physical. You can also recommend and help your players write down their page numbers as well.
Writing down page numbers pays huge dividends in gameplay. No longer do you have to rifle through the Player's Handbook trying to figure out how big the cone of a cone of cold is (PHB 224). No longer do you have to page through Kobold Press's Tome of Beasts to find the empty cloak stat block (ToB 176). No longer do you have to scramble through your copy of the Midgard World Book to learn more about the dwarven canton of Grisal (MWB 71)
Use technology proven over 1,500 years. Write down page numbers in your character sheets and game prep notes.
This week I posted a video on customizing your Lazy DM Notion Template and recorded my preparation for session 2 of my Scarlet Citadel game.
Each week I record an episode of the Lazy D&D Talk Show in which I talk about all things D&D. Here are last week's topics with timestamped links to the YouTube video:
Also on the Talk Show, I answer some of the questions I get on the monthly Sly Flourish Patreon questions and answer thread. Here are last week's questions and answers:
Every week I ponder what I've learned from my last game and put them into some D&D tips. Here are last week's tips! What did you learn from your last game?
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