Portal Layout

Slugrat
Slugrat
edited March 2015 in Campaign Portal Building
I would like to get some input on how you guys/gals put together your adventure logs. Do you use short stories, bullets, personal logs? My team seems to be having trouble agreeing on a method. What do yall do with yours?

Comments

  • Unknown
    I as the GM do a log for every session that is written in the manner of a story and runs through the events of the evening. I also allow for my players to do logs if they like from the perspective of their characters (like a journal entry, mission report, letter, etc) for bonus points they can use for special things to help encourage the behavior, though so far this has not been used by anyone. You could always mix and match all of your ideas, the GM doing a little story blurb with a Player Secret at the end that has a bullet list of the key point while having folks also contribute personal logs. I would suggest a good tagging system if you do this though so that content can be easily located as you build up more and more logs (I do a table of contents post in my our logs to help facilitate navigation).

    --
    Alex
    "Dragon Age: Requiem":https://dragon-age-requiem.obsidianportal.com/
  • Bookscorpion
    Bookscorpion
    Posts: 58
    I do most of the logs for my campaign and I write personal logs/diary entries mostly. Sometimes, I do other stuff like surveillance logs, company reports or whatever fits. The other players, when they write logs, also write personal logs.
    I second the tagging, it makes finding stuff so much easier. We tag every character that plays a part in a particular log, for example.

    ---------
    "Shadowrun: The Rat's Nest":https://ratsnest.obsidianportal.com/

    Shadowrun: The Rat's Nest - COTM  November 2014

  • Bortas
    Bortas
    Posts: 645
    I've done kind of a mix of all of that. Originally - I used to write out the adventure logs in short story form. If I was short on time, a series of bullet points. Now, I offer my players "Karma Points":https://morwindl.obsidianportal.com/wikis/player-karma-points if they write out the adventure logs (also if they write journal entries from their character's perspective). The writing ability of my players varies greatly, so the quality is ... a bit less than I would prefer in some cases, but it also transfers a large task to them, and helps invest them in documenting the stories of their heroic escapades.

    I'll third the tagging. Tag their character with their character name. Every adventure that character is present for, tag their name. Every wiki page they discover, tag their name. Every item they acquire, tag! The tagging system is what makes wikis powerful and useful, the more tags you use, the more the site can be useful.

    -bort
    "Morwindl":https://morwindl.obsidianportal.com
  • twiggyleaf
    twiggyleaf
    Posts: 2,006
    I generally like to keep mine quite concise. I know it's sometimes difficult but personally, I find it hard to concentrate if there is too much presented. I usually think of a heading (usually related to music, a song, or a line from a song), have a small picture on the front and then the link. Once the text page is opened up, I usually always make sure I name every character with a link to their character page, and include a couple of other important links if there are any (e.g. place names or NPCs in the Wiki). Mainly I write in prose although sometimes use verse. I always encourage players to do something but if they choose not to, I don't worry too much, and just put in my own entry.

    twiggyleaf
    CURRENT CAMPAIGN: "Mysteria":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/mysteria - set in Wolfgang Baur’s MIDGARD.
    Previous CotM Aug 2012: "Shimring":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shimring

    "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

  • Unknown
    I have been digging on the idea of a concise wrap up recently here myself, and I am thinking I am going to take a stab at developing a little mini trailer for each section of the story once we close it off. I am presently working on getting one together for the character origins section that we just finished up, so I suppose we will see how the concept goes. I think it could potentially stand as an interesting side method of depicting the story as we go along in a more condensed fashion.

    --
    Alex
    "Dragon Age: Requiem":https://dragon-age-requiem.obsidianportal.com/
  • andrew_patterson_779
    andrew_patterson_779
    Posts: 1
    I have one or two players that like to do the log. A rogue from his wild point of view and a Magus whose point of view is more interesting sometimes. If neither have the time that week, then I do it from the GM point of view. My players earn a bonus for doing it, so one or two are inclined to do so.

    Andy

    https://raven-s-bluff-the-living-city.obsidianportal.com/dashboard
  • cgregory
    cgregory
    Posts: 780
    Depending on the campaign, I have done different things.

    My Throne of Thorns campaign was the most successful in terms of player interaction when it came to creating adventure logs. This may have been because the adventure logs in that campaign were generally not about what happened during the session, but rather about what the PCs, their allies or their enemies were doing off stage. The adventure logs were used in many cases to set up the stage for future adventures or future complications in the kingdom.

    Basically, in my Throne of Thorns campaign, I gave free reign to my players to create any adventure log about any NPC (or to introduce their own NPCs) detailing any complication or enemies they wanted to add into the campaign with the understanding that I might modify any of the posts slightly in order to better fit it into the ongoing campaign (or just to provide a little twist on their ideas). All NPC stats were created by me rather than the players, they provided some of the motivations and personality for the NPC.

    My players loved it, and I added all their post ideas as side quests to the main adventure (or replaced villains from the main adventure with their creations).

    They are among us!

    image

                       XCom: Defiance - Campaign of the Month November 2016

     

     

  • Abersade
    Abersade
    Posts: 417
    I usually write the main adventure log, but in my game the adventure log posts are always from an NPC's perspective that reveals entirely meta-game information. I do this to help flesh out the villains or to show some of the behind-the-scenes politicking that the characters wouldn't normally get to see. Plus, I think it adds something to the game and my players seem fond of it.

    The players themselves write their character journals which would translate more closely to what most folks have as an adventure log. It seems to work out fairly well and it's fun to read each character's take on the events from the session.

    -Abersade
    DM of "Rise of the Durnskald - Wrath of the Fallen Goddess":https://rise-of-the-durnskald.obsidianportal.com/

    GM of Rise of the Durnskald: Wrath of the Fallen Goddess - February 2016 CotM

    GM of Core: The Ashes of Alcarna - April 2020 CotM

    GM of Stream of Kairos

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