Something that I added to my binder is a roll table of stuff found in pockets. It's one of the things I end up using the most as my party's rogue will try pickpocketing literally everyone they come across.
I laughed when you asked if Millennials remembered Trapper Keepers, but you know, we had Trapper Keepers in Elementary School when I was 10 or 12, and I am as old as Trapper Keeper. (1978) They were just as ubiquitous when I was in school in the late '80s.
DM tip: progress not perfection. Write down ideas and notes as you think of them or as soon as you can. I bought a really nice DM journal and didn’t write in it for a year while I tried to figure out how best to organize my ideas. You can always reorganize notes later
A pencil pouch is basic, but genius - it'll beat digging through my 'rules box' for them at the start of each session. Tabbing my session binder is a fine idea, as well. Thank you.
I need. NEED to do this. I don't know how I've gotten through in-person DMing with my "organization". Fantastic content as always, Hannah! And congrats on your first sponsor! Woo!!
haha! I feel like a panicked train-wreck without this thing! With it, I feel like the Zeus manipulating the lives of mortals MMAAWWWHAHAHA! *cough* I mean, yeah, you should totally try it out.
DM tip : when prepping your adventure, make a mind map of the story beats of the session or adventure, with branching elements to tell you what each beat contains so you don't forget anything, and if it's your first time don't go further than that. Allow yourself to have a structure that helps you keep a flow to the game while also having fun improvising ! Miro is a great free mindmap tool for that.
Mind maps can save you a lot of hastle. Another tool that I suggest looking up is Kumu, specifically design for Relationship trees, it's very useful when you have to handle a complex political web, or when you have many recurring NPCs. Here's the legend I use if that can help you out figuring how to structure your relationship tree : Element Type : PC Element Type : Key NPC Element Type : Link NPC (needed to link characters to plot points, key npc and other stuff, but that won't be the center of attention) Element Type : Main Antagonists Element Type : Factions (I can add a few of the faction types depending on if there's a lot of different kind, like country vs religion vs town) Connection Type : Ally Connection Type : Ruler Connection Type : Ennemy Connection Type : Family Connection Type : Has Infiltrated Connection sub Type : Secret (doted lines) Connection sub Type : Secret/official (single line)
On another note, funny you should post that because I discovered your channel a few days ago through your first DM binder video ! Thanks for the tips and tricks !
First I want to say I love the tattoo and the yellow nails! The new updated system looks amazing! My tip would indeed be names! I now have panic lists for first names sorted by primary stat instead of race (a tip from Dael Kingsmill which I found very useful), surnames, town names, tavern names, magic shop names, and a few random shop names. I also add a list of jobs that NPC's can have to add some character to NPC's or to towns, like candle maker, wheelwright (a person who makes wheels), or toymaker, just to give some more variation than "farmer", "tavern keep" and "merchant". I am also an over-the-top worldbuilder so I have my calendar for my homebrew world, the deities and a huge list of festivals and festivities and on which day of the week (which has nine days) they fall. ...amongst other things of course...
Awesome binder!!! I’m no way near as organized, but my three go-to organization hacks are: 1. I note the PCs’ passive perception on my DM screen, and save rolling unnecessarily; 2. Just like you, panic lists and names!; and 3. I keep a spare generic dungeon (map and monsters suitable to the adventure) at the ready for when the PC’s inevitably hare off in an unexpected direction, or a session just needs to keep going beyond what I’ve prepped. Thanks for the excellent vid!
I had to comment to A) say that your channel is top of the list for me alongside Dungeon Dudes, XP to Lvl 3 and Lunch Break Heroes and B) to be the 69th comment of course 😆. Hannah you are an inspiration, especually for us fellow female DMs. If I'm feeling stuck or overwhelmed with prepping I always put your videos on and come away energised and inspired to create. You are the Leslie Knope of DnD!! My DM prep tip: Watch your favourite RUclips DMs videos for inspiration, then sit down and use Sly Flourishes "The return of the lazy dungeon master" guidelines to make the most of that inspiration and get the main prep done. If you're feeling tired STOP, that is all the prep you need! But if you want to keep going, put on the Mighty Vibes LoFi playlist, and channel some of that Halfling Hannah creativity to flesh out your scenes, NPCs and locations a little more, make battle plans for your monsters, a list of bad dad jokes for your NPCs to tell etc. Good luck everyone!!
I have a question. Which eberron book gives you the lore of the world. The characters, and maybe game play. For 5th edition. Or should I say. Which one do you reccomend
on the Weather research - "hour of my life, I wont get back *sigh*" -> oh these rabbit holes. I think i quallify as Hobby geologist now because I prepped some Sessions in an ancient dwarfen Cave system. Just to create a plausible Quest.... that totally was ignored by my players. I'm watching with headphones and i took 1d4 Thunder damage at the beginning segment of the video. Since you give us Advice, let me give you one back :) Tip: Try to reduce Hard/flat surfaces as much as possible. Maybe try to Hang a Blanket/Curtain or similiar behind the Camera, so that this catches most of the Sound waves. Or if you have a hard floor, try to cover it with carpet or also a blanket just during your shoots, and see what effect it has on your recordings. good luck and keep going. I like the content :)
I completely understand your pain on the rabbit holes..Sorry about casting thunder wave on you!! And thank you for the advice, I am at my wits end with the that room. I have a curtain, a rug and I put foam sound squares down on the floor and even hand them up around the room. It is just a terrible room for sound.
More excellent content! Your initial dm folder video was my intro to your channel, and I’ve been a fan since! One question, where did you get the pages for your monster cards? I bought all of them as well, and I haven’t found pages for the larger monster cards?
Thank you so much! The larger ones are photo sleeves for 4x9 photos! I found them at my local Walmart in the Office supplies section. I struggled with that for a while too! I used just page protectors and tape for a while lol!
@@HalflingHobbies I love monsters too, like you mentioned. I’m not sure how you feel about 3rd party stuff, but I found a Kobald press book of more monsters, called the creature codex, at Barnes and Nobel for like $20. I was stoked.
If you have distance as an issue with your table top game. Just go ahead and master ONE VTT system. I chose Roll20 but there are better ones out there now.
How do I only get one pdf? I’d like the weather chart, but do I have to become a patreon for a month to get it? If so, how do I only sign up for a single month?
This is really great!! I love these binder videos so much. They are so well explained! I'd be really interested how you store your paperminis. The ones you've made in your video seem to be 3d and not foldable, so I was kinda wondering.
Thank you very much! All the paper minis can fold at the base, which is part of why I love them so much! When you use cardstock it is easy to just unfold and stand them up. So I store them either in the monster sleeve with the monster card or in the folder like I showed. Simple to store and super portable!
How big is your prep binder? I have just the monster cards in a binder and it’s huge! Really liked the side-quest folders. That’s definitely a great way to keep organized for whatever your players decide to do!
Thank you! I got them at my local game store. This is the same one from Amazon on sale (no affiliate) but I always support local when I can. Dungeons & Dragons Tactical Maps Reincarnated (D&D Accessory) www.amazon.com/dp/0786966793/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_6JM8RGCTGZ6NQ13YP19Y
Hi Hannah Another great video, the work you put into your videos and your campaigns is nothing short of admirable. We are witnessing the next DM on Critical Role, your a worthy successor to Matt Mercer. Captain America could lift Thor's hammer but he's not worthy to lift the binder
Something that I added to my binder is a roll table of stuff found in pockets. It's one of the things I end up using the most as my party's rogue will try pickpocketing literally everyone they come across.
Oh my gosh. I love it SO MUCH. I don’t have a rogue right now, so that hasn’t been an issue. But I need to make some anyway!
Thats brilliant, think that is what I'll be adding tonight
I laughed when you asked if Millennials remembered Trapper Keepers, but you know, we had Trapper Keepers in Elementary School when I was 10 or 12, and I am as old as Trapper Keeper. (1978) They were just as ubiquitous when I was in school in the late '80s.
Your folders contain universes! And thanks for the shoutout, so cool! Happy to be a sponsor!
Many! And thank you so so much for supporting Halfling Hobbies and such a great charity!
DM tip: progress not perfection. Write down ideas and notes as you think of them or as soon as you can. I bought a really nice DM journal and didn’t write in it for a year while I tried to figure out how best to organize my ideas. You can always reorganize notes later
Excellent point!
Trapper Keeper! Everyone had to have one. Good times.
A pencil pouch is basic, but genius - it'll beat digging through my 'rules box' for them at the start of each session. Tabbing my session binder is a fine idea, as well. Thank you.
My organizational tip is the mini sticky notes...super helpful and easy to step accross. This is a lovely setup!!
I totally agree! Thanks for the comment!
Hi Hannah, thanks for the great content! Been craving some female DM inspiration and this just hits the sweet spot. Keep 'em coming!
Thank you!! Will do!
I need. NEED to do this. I don't know how I've gotten through in-person DMing with my "organization".
Fantastic content as always, Hannah! And congrats on your first sponsor! Woo!!
haha! I feel like a panicked train-wreck without this thing! With it, I feel like the Zeus manipulating the lives of mortals MMAAWWWHAHAHA! *cough* I mean, yeah, you should totally try it out.
I am glad you didnt put the Teletubbies OST in the background to this one.
Far more enjoyable 😉
Great tips!
I am glad I'm not the only one who does a GM binder! I even make player binders for all my people :)
DM tip : when prepping your adventure, make a mind map of the story beats of the session or adventure, with branching elements to tell you what each beat contains so you don't forget anything, and if it's your first time don't go further than that. Allow yourself to have a structure that helps you keep a flow to the game while also having fun improvising ! Miro is a great free mindmap tool for that.
Mind maps can save you a lot of hastle. Another tool that I suggest looking up is Kumu, specifically design for Relationship trees, it's very useful when you have to handle a complex political web, or when you have many recurring NPCs.
Here's the legend I use if that can help you out figuring how to structure your relationship tree :
Element Type : PC
Element Type : Key NPC
Element Type : Link NPC (needed to link characters to plot points, key npc and other stuff, but that won't be the center of attention)
Element Type : Main Antagonists
Element Type : Factions (I can add a few of the faction types depending on if there's a lot of different kind, like country vs religion vs town)
Connection Type : Ally
Connection Type : Ruler
Connection Type : Ennemy
Connection Type : Family
Connection Type : Has Infiltrated
Connection sub Type : Secret (doted lines)
Connection sub Type : Secret/official (single line)
Ooo! I have been looking for a good mind-mapping app! Thank you so much for the recommendation!
On another note, funny you should post that because I discovered your channel a few days ago through your first DM binder video ! Thanks for the tips and tricks !
That is awesome! Thanks for watching this one too!
Omg I love the squirrel attack 😄💘
😁 thank you!
Thank you for all the hard work! This helped me get a bit more organized.
I am so glad!
You might enjoy several of the printouts from the blogs d4 Caltrops and Technical Grimoire.
First I want to say I love the tattoo and the yellow nails! The new updated system looks amazing! My tip would indeed be names! I now have panic lists for first names sorted by primary stat instead of race (a tip from Dael Kingsmill which I found very useful), surnames, town names, tavern names, magic shop names, and a few random shop names.
I also add a list of jobs that NPC's can have to add some character to NPC's or to towns, like candle maker, wheelwright (a person who makes wheels), or toymaker, just to give some more variation than "farmer", "tavern keep" and "merchant".
I am also an over-the-top worldbuilder so I have my calendar for my homebrew world, the deities and a huge list of festivals and festivities and on which day of the week (which has nine days) they fall. ...amongst other things of course...
Thanks so much and WOW amazing suggestions! I love them all and will have to start adding some of these pages!
Awesome binder!!! I’m no way near as organized, but my three go-to organization hacks are:
1. I note the PCs’ passive perception on my DM screen, and save rolling unnecessarily;
2. Just like you, panic lists and names!; and
3. I keep a spare generic dungeon (map and monsters suitable to the adventure) at the ready for when the PC’s inevitably hare off in an unexpected direction, or a session just needs to keep going beyond what I’ve prepped.
Thanks for the excellent vid!
And thank you for the excellent tips! Heartily agree with all three!
More of a minimum prep person myself, but damn that’s impressive. That job board idea is just fantastic.
Thank you! 😁
Bloody stien is a awsome name for a vampire hangout/speakeasy
Awkward Transition and Trapper Kepler were worth the price of admission. So cute!!
😁 thanks!
AWESOME! I've been reorganizing my DM binder and this couldn't come at a better time, great video and super helpful :D
Yay! Glad it was helpful!
Reduce encounters to 1 3x6 note card. Two sides if necessary. ;)
You are super organized... I need to do this for my game. I especially like the one shot folders...
Thank you! It was the best way my squirrelly little brain could figure out how to organize everything. I am glad you liked it!
I had to comment to A) say that your channel is top of the list for me alongside Dungeon Dudes, XP to Lvl 3 and Lunch Break Heroes and B) to be the 69th comment of course 😆.
Hannah you are an inspiration, especually for us fellow female DMs. If I'm feeling stuck or overwhelmed with prepping I always put your videos on and come away energised and inspired to create. You are the Leslie Knope of DnD!!
My DM prep tip: Watch your favourite RUclips DMs videos for inspiration, then sit down and use Sly Flourishes "The return of the lazy dungeon master" guidelines to make the most of that inspiration and get the main prep done. If you're feeling tired STOP, that is all the prep you need! But if you want to keep going, put on the Mighty Vibes LoFi playlist, and channel some of that Halfling Hannah creativity to flesh out your scenes, NPCs and locations a little more, make battle plans for your monsters, a list of bad dad jokes for your NPCs to tell etc. Good luck everyone!!
Thank you so so so much for the kind words!! I so appreciate your support and kindness!!
This is awesome!
Where are the maps from? Couldn't find them in the list.
This is brilliant! I’m building this now!
Awesome! I hope you have fun!! Let me know how it goes!
Did you make a binder for CoS? I’m in need of a good way to organize for this.
I love how you just got a tattoo. I thought i was just seeing something
Thank you! I LOVE it! 😊
I have a question. Which eberron book gives you the lore of the world. The characters, and maybe game play. For 5th edition. Or should I say. Which one do you reccomend
Great info. I'm adopting some of this for my game. Thanks
Glad it was helpful!
on the Weather research - "hour of my life, I wont get back *sigh*" -> oh these rabbit holes.
I think i quallify as Hobby geologist now because I prepped some Sessions in an ancient dwarfen Cave system. Just to create a plausible Quest.... that totally was ignored by my players.
I'm watching with headphones and i took 1d4 Thunder damage at the beginning segment of the video.
Since you give us Advice, let me give you one back :)
Tip: Try to reduce Hard/flat surfaces as much as possible. Maybe try to Hang a Blanket/Curtain or similiar behind the Camera, so that this catches most of the Sound waves. Or if you have a hard floor, try to cover it with carpet or also a blanket just during your shoots, and see what effect it has on your recordings.
good luck and keep going. I like the content :)
I completely understand your pain on the rabbit holes..Sorry about casting thunder wave on you!! And thank you for the advice, I am at my wits end with the that room. I have a curtain, a rug and I put foam sound squares down on the floor and even hand them up around the room. It is just a terrible room for sound.
More excellent content! Your initial dm folder video was my intro to your channel, and I’ve been a fan since! One question, where did you get the pages for your monster cards? I bought all of them as well, and I haven’t found pages for the larger monster cards?
Thank you so much! The larger ones are photo sleeves for 4x9 photos! I found them at my local Walmart in the Office supplies section. I struggled with that for a while too! I used just page protectors and tape for a while lol!
@@HalflingHobbies I love monsters too, like you mentioned. I’m not sure how you feel about 3rd party stuff, but I found a Kobald press book of more monsters, called the creature codex, at Barnes and Nobel for like $20. I was stoked.
Matthew Fields VERY COOL. I take monster from anywhere and everywhere! Lol
If you have distance as an issue with your table top game. Just go ahead and master ONE VTT system. I chose Roll20 but there are better ones out there now.
I MISS HALFLING HANNA!!!
New DM Tip - Write a bunch of names down for NPC's, Towns, Items, etc in advance. You never know when you'll need them ;)
Don’t prep too much and not too little either!! XD
Glorious! The perfect advice! 😂😋
Fantastic and exactly what I needed! Thank youu!
Awesome! So glad to hear it!
My advise KISS
Keep
It
Simple
Stupid
hurts my feelings everytime.....(Office joke)
but its true keep what you need
I NEED THIS
How do I only get one pdf? I’d like the weather chart, but do I have to become a patreon for a month to get it? If so, how do I only sign up for a single month?
This is really great!! I love these binder videos so much. They are so well explained!
I'd be really interested how you store your paperminis. The ones you've made in your video seem to be 3d and not foldable, so I was kinda wondering.
Thank you very much! All the paper minis can fold at the base, which is part of why I love them so much! When you use cardstock it is easy to just unfold and stand them up. So I store them either in the monster sleeve with the monster card or in the folder like I showed. Simple to store and super portable!
Great stuff friend 👏 👍
Thanks!
Woohoo sponsorship!!!!!!!!
🙌
How big is your prep binder? I have just the monster cards in a binder and it’s huge! Really liked the side-quest folders. That’s definitely a great way to keep organized for whatever your players decide to do!
The prep binder is 2 inches and I probably could have gone 3 and not been so stuffed. There are A LOT of cards in there. 2 inch binder was pushing it.
Where are the maps from? In love with this video btw
Thank you! I got them at my local game store. This is the same one from Amazon on sale (no affiliate) but I always support local when I can. Dungeons & Dragons Tactical Maps Reincarnated (D&D Accessory) www.amazon.com/dp/0786966793/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_6JM8RGCTGZ6NQ13YP19Y
Hi Hannah
Another great video, the work you put into your videos and your campaigns is nothing short of admirable.
We are witnessing the next DM on Critical Role, your a worthy successor to Matt Mercer.
Captain America could lift Thor's hammer but he's not worthy to lift the binder
😂😂😂 thank you so so much for such kind words! I appreciate it more than I can say.
You are insane, but probably in a good way :-)
I'll tell you a secret, all the best DMs are ;)