DM updates the current quest sheet

It's the Skyrim generation, of course they need their quest markers.

It must be nice to have players who aren't lazy fuckers.

Will, a session recap is a little different than an actual GM-enforced quest journal. Even I did that for my players.

>be me
>first game I ran for my old friends when I get back from college is a steampunk post apoc game
>second session, do a recap of previous session in the style of a fast-talking 1930s newsreel reporter
>players love this, request I continue this
>soon demand it for every session of every game regardless of the campaign
>most recently, I was doing this at the start of sessions for a fucking samurai fantasy game

Why do nerds insist on running funny jokes into the ground?

>In the underdark
>Get stuck taking a wrong turn with some bad shit after us
>Party wizard and sorcerer come up with a plan to get to the connecting tunnel
>Need ten minutes
>Mfw there was a nice place to create a choke point and I'm a sword and board paladin in full plate
Our DM made us roll the first two minutes of combat, shit was fun as fuck. Especially since our rogue was a gnome so he could dart into my space to stab/shoot a crossbow then go back no problem.

My GM always opens the session with "LAST TIME ON DRAGONBALL Z," just like m.youtube.com/watch?v=kMZqlt2G9pc
Makes him chuckle to himself literally every time.

I really hope most of your sessions are just players standing and yelling at their enemies.

Oblivion had one too.

I used to do a "previously, on the super friends!" style thing for a superhero game

That's a great way user.

I'm planning on doing a recap at the start of each session, but at first when they're low level, the campaign theme music I have planned will either be quiet or off entirely. It'll kick in to its reasonable level when they've reached an indeterminate point.

Alamo situations are fun as fuck. Had my PCs defend the control console of some ancient steampunk dwarf ruins while an automaton accessed ancient damaged controls. 2 minutes is kinda the sweet spot in DnD style combat, last an hour or 2, really sells the whole "getting ground down by attrition" feel. Lots of dwemer ruins rip off-spider golems attacking, rounded out by a good old fashioned collossus attacking over the spindly ass bridges that they were using as choke points.

what theme music, user?

It was more an off the cuff thing, everyone was tryng to remember what happened last session, so I just went into it. They were so delighted they asked for it after that.

youtu.be/VvJdNHsY0Fs
Wings That Don't Reach from Live a Live.
I'm shamelessly ripping parts of the game off, including the overall story of the Knight chapter. None of my players know about the game.

You poor dumb ape; I make my PLAYERS do that. They have the choice of recounting it in character like on Avatar, or as a 50s propaganda newsreel announcer.

We're playing elder scrolls.

From GM to GM, trust me make your players do that shit. You and me? The GMs? We know what happened last time. When we recount things we play our hand on what's important to remember, like a "last time on" for a TV show where they mention something from last season that matters now. It also does nothing to incentivize the players to put the MINIMAL EFFORT IN TO REMEMBER WHAT FUCKING HAPPENED A WEEK
AGO YOU GODDAMN GOLDFISH. It also lets us as GMs know what the players *think* is important, and by way of exclusion, what they think is unimportant. What you do with that sacred and profane knowledge is up to you.

go back to /v/

You strike me as the kind of guy who has a large string chart in his bedroom.

You know the rul-
Oh wait this isn't /v/. Nevermind.

>Quest sheet

What?

Just tell the player to take fucking notes.

And if they don't?

>this is a real human bean
Can't you just leave the whiny shitposting to the other boards?

Then I guess they're shit out of luck

Are they though? Because if all the players forget what they are supposed to do then the game comes to a standstill. Then the entire night is fucked.

It's the nature of the /v/ermin to shit post.

If they're so totally lacking in agency they can't play unless the DM is dragging them by the hand then the game was fucked before it even started.

This guy is right.
It also gives you hints at player engagement and enjoyment.
Opinions on npcs
And as you said having a biased recap from the players perspective is just super valuable in and of itself.

sounds like your players don't give a shit. try doing something else that everyone actually enjoys.

Players who are engaged and having a good time should and would want to better their experience by knowing what the fuck is going on.
The only instance I could see the GM needing to do their homework for them is if there was some kind of abrupt break or hiatus in your regular sessions. Even then it'd be a bit iffy since notes are just a good idea in general.

No but I do maintain flow charts and web graphs of the many-layered and hypothetical conspiracies in my game, substituting in new aspects and plots when I think of cooler ideas / expand on what players hook into as long as they don't conflict with things that have been decreed in previous sessions as Word of God.

I wish I had a string conspiracy wall tho.

Not gonna lie, that sounds like a pretty useful thing for a GM to have.

I do it for my game, but I'm not a DM, I'm one of the players. I'm the only one who's REALLY into the game, so it helps the other guys to remember what are our goals, and who's that guy we want to kill, and why.

you da real MVP

>quest

>he doesn't get his jobs from the corkboard

Lol. Like herding cats, amirite?

On a different matter, what if 'survive!' is the default assumption and the game is a meatgrinder fuckfest, how would it be enjoyable?

It would make sense to use a west marches approach?
Character generation roll-play-forget?

Skyrim generation won't come for at least next 3 years,what are you talking about?

i never heard of a quest sheet before.

As a player I usually make logs or take notes.