Adventure Logs

DarkMagus
DarkMagus
edited June 2011 in Campaign Portal Building
Hey there OPers!

So I know we love to discuss ways to make our pages better, so I thought I'd chime in with something to share about adventure logs. Aside from the awesome style formatting and additions of pictures, possibly best exemplified by pages such as this: "The ork hunt, from AoL, by Arsheesh":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/age-of-legends/adventure-log/the-orc-hunt , I thought it was rather brilliant when I came across Dyluth's SW: Dawn of Darkness and he had questions asked at the end. ("example":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/star-wars-dawn-of-darkness/adventure-log/episode-i) That really helped by summarizing and bringing up things to think about or look for in future reads.

Well, just recently I came across Irondog's campaign The Silent Throne and his adventure logs ("example":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/the-silent-throne/adventure-log/caravan-guards) have a little sidebar which provides information on the level and size of the party, the xp awarded and the treasure received. I think this is a pretty original idea, I don't remember coming across it before.

Are there any other neat Adventure log ideas you guys and gals would like to share?

Comments

  • BrokenClock
    BrokenClock
    Posts: 51
    I let my players write their adventure logs in the form of journal entries. They can recap what happened during the adventure, express their feelings toward certain NPCs or places, brainstorm as to where they want to go next or perhaps just give some backstory about their character in relation to current events.

    Arsheesh's synopses is great. But why do all the work yourself when you can let the players in on the creation of their own epic story?

    - Clock
    "Govaga":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/govaga/adventure-log
  • DarkMagus
    DarkMagus
    Posts: 425
    Thanks Brokenclock, I thought I was forgetting something. I've seen quite a few campaigns that use journal entries in the Adv. Logs. I think it definitely is a good idea to encourage player involvement. I haven't been lucky enough to have any players who have both had a good internet connection and a willingness to type things up about D&D, most clock-out when the session is over (sorry had to make that joke) until next gaming session.
  • Feachador
    Feachador
    Posts: 15
    I was thinking of having my players keep journals as forum entries, to keep from cluttering up the Adventure Log, but I'm not sure 100% if that's the way I'm going to handle it.

    I saw somewhere that it was mentioned giving characters their own journals. That would be fantastically perfect. For now, though, how does everyone handle 4 or 5 character journals, plus an "official" recap?
  • BrokenClock
    BrokenClock
    Posts: 51
    Here is my general thoughts on individuals who leave D&D at the door once they leave a session: I'm not going to spend hours and hours of my time writing and planning adventures while they do nothing. Having my players write those journals helps me greatly. It gives me an idea of what they want to see and assists me when I'm trying to figure out what they should do next. If I can find the time to write an epic adventure, they can find 15 minutes to post something on this site. If they can't . . . than they can find another group to play with, one that is willing to allow selfish self-centered players.
  • tpmiller08
    tpmiller08
    Posts: 30
    With an incentive of a few +2 to any roll tokens, and ability point tokens, my players are jumping at the bit to write the weeks adventure log. It's a catching trend that everyone first saw as a choir, and now can't wait to have their story spotlighted on the weeks adventure log. (I provide smaller incentives to keep a weekly journal)
  • arsheesh
    arsheesh
    Posts: 850
    In theory I agree with BrokenClock's recommendation. I also agree with his feelings on the individual player's responsibility to contribute to the campaign outside of game time. In a perfect world this is what would happen. Too bad this isn't a perfect world. I tried writing really brief synopses of our adventures for the Tales of Darkmoon Vale campaign, while handing over the lion's share of the journalling responsibility to my players. I even gave them some great incentives to do this; however, at best their logs were sporadic. Sometimes if you want something done you've just got to do it yourself. However, if you know that you've got a group (or even just one or two people really) who are motivated to do campaign journals, this would definitely be my preferred way of chronically a campaign's adventures. My 2c.

    Cheers,
    -Arsheesh
  • Poutine_Paladin
    Poutine_Paladin
    Posts: 285
    In one of the games I'm in (Ruins of Myvolia) we have a couple of characters (including one of mine) writing journal entries (one is writing letters home to mom, which is a nice touch) and we link them to the Main page as separate sections so you don't have to sift through the "adventure log" tab and separate everything. This gets especially complicated as we have 2 separate games happenning in the same world in different parts (with different GM's in fact) so eventually we will have to rearrange some things to clarify what is happening where, as well as any timeline issues. This is one of the reasons I haven't pointed a lot of people to this game as a reference for anything haha.

    I like the first-person character journal entries way of doing adventure logs because it does a couple of things:

    1. Has the players stay in character longer, writing from their character's perspective on what transpired, etc. rather than the player's.
    2. Helps the GM see things like how characters perceived events, as well as what motivates characters, etc so they can plan future events to better accommodate the characters' motivations.
    3. Also helps the GM plan things like working in thoughts that characters are having about each other or their surroundings.

    Plus, it gives players an outlet to actually "play" their characters in a way when between sessions...which is always a bonus.

    I think anyone who ever complains about not being able to play enough should engage in something like this, as it really takes the edge off the itch for gameplay.
  • Feachador
    Feachador
    Posts: 15
    @Paladin - where do you have the players write the journals so you can link from them? The game forums? (That's my first thought, as I said.) The Wiki? off site?
  • Poutine_Paladin
    Poutine_Paladin
    Posts: 285
    I just go to my character's log and make a new link, and then start writing. I don't really know where it goes, actually. Check it out if you want.

    http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/16429

    Scroll down to "Brother Brandos Griffin's Historical Entries" for my character's logs, or "Kaspar's Silent Musings" or "Lucius Vandrail's Correspondences" and find out where they go. Maybe you can tell me? haha.

    All I know is that a couple of us keep these type of logs and then the GM of the game recaps the sessions with a narrative kind of thing somewhere else (at the bottom of the main page you'll see a button labeled "adventures" and you can go there and read that too if you want. come to think of it, it might be kinda nice to have intermittent "see what Brandos journalled" links in those narratives so you can follow along better (like a back and forth).....dunno.
  • Feachador
    Feachador
    Posts: 15
    looks like they're all wiki entries, with a link to a main page for each journal. That's a great idea. I think I can definitely work with that.

    Thanks!
  • GamingMegaverse
    GamingMegaverse
    Posts: 2,980 edited June 2011
    I also have the players do logs, but assign it in a rotating basis. That way each player has to do a log only once every 4 sessions. I give xp for the logs based on entertainment value, substance, and writing in character. Anyone else can write a log if they so choose as well, for extra xp. I, as GM, am also in the rotation, and write from a prominent NPC point-of-view. Check it out: "A God...Rebuilt":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/a-god-rebuilt/adventure-log
    Post edited by GamingMegaverse on

    Just trying to help out.

  • Dyluth
    Dyluth
    Posts: 92
    Thank you for the shout out DarkMagus, and I definitely agree that Arsheesh has no equals when it comes to formatting his campaign's web pages for ease of consumption and stylish layouts. I have to confess that I quickly gave up on the "Questions Asked/Questions Answered" portion of the recap only because there came to be far too many questions being asked and almost none being answered.

    To a small degree it can be helpful though! I also agree that Irondog
  • DarkMagus
    DarkMagus
    Posts: 425
    No prob Dyluth. :) Creativity and usefulness should be and are honored here especially. I just thought that these examples, and any other ideas brought up, would be a great tip for people looking to pretty up their page.
  • twiggyleaf
    twiggyleaf
    Posts: 1,963
    Going back to DM's original post, I really do like Irondog's "Silent Throne" adventure logs, although I won't be adopting it. I do keep my own records of what is dished out but at the moment my players have a party treasurer that keeps everything up to date, and I feel if I put everything on a plate for them, this would soon stop and I would be left to be responsible for it all. (They do little enough as it is, without the invitation to do even less, LOL!)

    "I met a traveller from an antique land....."

    CotM May 2016: Mysteria: set in Wolfgang Baur’s MIDGARD.

    Previous CotM Aug 2012: Shimring: High Level Multiplanar Campaign

    Inner Council Member

  • DungeonMasterLoki
    DungeonMasterLoki
    Posts: 332
    I have all the players that write journals do so in the Adventure Log and as they go up I add the links to a central page. Here's the one for The Spelljoined as an example http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/spelljoined/wikis/journals-and-chronicles

    Putting stuff in the forums is also a good idea, but it does not look like the forums are backed u with the other data when you back up a campaign so I stay with the log.

    Planejammer Panopticon: Central Hub for the Planejammer Campaign Series

    Current Active Games: Planejammer: Catch My Drift! (Starfinder)  | Planejammer: The Spelljoined (Pathfinder 1e) Campaign of the Year 2011 | Planejammer: Beyond The Sky (Pathfinder 1e)

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