As a new DM...

You've rather amply demonstrated my point.

>Oh no, I don't have a pre-scripted response to this.
>What do I say, what do I say?
> WAIT U TROL! YES! THAT WAY I DON'T HAVE TO COME UP WITH A RESPONSE.

What about improvising an NPC when one is required, then making notes on them and fleshing them out in the downtime to ensure that they're consistent if the players ever return to them?

>instead of being driven by your would-be novel.
b-but I just modified old modules like Against the Cult of the Reptile god because I thought they sounded like cool adventures, if I made everything up myself the game would be dull and boring, I'm really no writer, any plot points or twists I came up with entirely on my own would be pretty cliche

Don't feed the troll, user.

that's a good approach, I like to use index cards for stuff like that. also record your sessions so you can remember stuff you improvised

How much do you guys prep things like shop inventories or village NPCs?
Is it too much to come up with persistent NPCs for every house in a small village?
Is it worth writing up little backstories or personalities for them or is this the kind of thing that will just waste everyones time?

I'll have a handful of vague ideas covering the type of people they might meet in a particular location. Trying to do everyone is too much, IMO.

If one of the vague idea NPC's resonate, they'll become persistent, if not I'll just let them fade into the background and be forgotten.

>and I make sure to keyword things so I can easily ctrl+f my way to the info I need.
This is a pretty good idea, I should really start doing this so I don't have those moments of "ooh, fuck hold on guys, give me a sec"

On my laptop, I use an application called Zim to make a local wiki covering the entire universe, all interlinked so it's easy to get to required info

That's a really good idea, shit. I gonna do that.

>when my party does things
sounds like you are asking specifically about notes to adjudicate results
if you are running 5e, I highly recommend keeping a tab open w the roll20 5e compendium to look up spells, items, conditions, etc
can't recommend this site enough: chisaipete.github.io/bestiary/
all your monster stat blocks. I usually keep how ever many tabs open w the monsters I'll be using
name generators are a dime a dozen, use one that suits your tastes
use excel if you don't already to keep track of PC stats, track initiative, damage, etc
use notepad to make minimal notes on plot points as they emerge or to write box text

>I'm finding it difficult to organize my notes in such a way that I can quickly and seamlessly find the information I need when my party does things
Index cards.

If you can't fit the information onto an index card, it's too much information.

Then color code and number them. Colors indicate what the card contents are (i.e. NPC info, encounter list, trap, social encounter scenario, etc) and numbers let you have an index for your index cards.

How the fuck do you study if you don't know how to do this?

Studying is for nerds.

>How the fuck do you study if you don't know how to do this?
Very poorly and a few hours before I need to take the test on that subject

I make a tiddlywiki for important information and reference it whenever possible. I even do this when I'm running a premade module so I don't have to flip back and forth between pages.

>studying
i've legitimately never studied properly, and i just read stuff from the book and asked my classmates random questions before the exam. then i just winged the fucking exam and prayed to the gods i passed it somehow.
i made it through school with this method and only managed to fail french once.

I also do online
Different things for different types of info:
Journal for basic story and large scale mapping
5e tools and pdfs of the books open for quick info on monsters or spells
Have a generic table of difficulty written down and usually just eye ball how difficult a task should be.
Notepad file for important npc and quest progess reports.
Roll20 for rolling dice

>putting all that work into studying
your rpg ideas are good, even if you're a brainlet.

Database. Searchable database. Veeky Forums, in the past, has asked and sought to outline a software that makes characters, places, and connections easy to navigate. Your plight is ancient.

In my own solution, I made a kind of wiki using shit like Laverna, where searching is simple and you can categorize easily by geography.
OneNote is another famous option for "notes, but with some fucking order".

I just have three notebooks with tabs that can be written on for organization.
1 notebook for PCs/Characters
2 for Session notes/ shit that happens in the session I will need to know for later I.E (X character stole Y from Z, Z saw this)
3. my custom monsters/ BBEG shit. I usually type it up and print it out and paste them to a page, then i give them like 5 pages each for notes. (habits, favorite foods, likes, dislikes etc. etc.) this one is primarily so when the party inevitably confronts them i can get into character better.

I converted my setting bible into a pdf after i formatted it and everything. So I can search it easily on my tablet. As for per session shit, I just make a list of Major shit I want my players to get too, and make a few branches that are simple "If___Then___" in structure to give myself a good base for the improv. I.E They come across the aftermath of a battlefield, There is an officer they can talk to. 1. If they help him he survives, if they don't he dies.
from there I can determine stuff for the future/ have potential plot devices. If he survived does he want to repay them? or did they sully his honor? if he died does a relative find out? did he have important information and did a enemy spy see the party talk to him?. That kind of shit.

I just use this
worldanvil.com

I use a 3 ring binder with clear pockets on the outside for each campaign. I copy/paste data from pdfs and print as needed. Notes are typed or penciled in. This way works better for me than 3x5s because they don't get shuffled around. I usually don't need to refer to the rulebooks or a laptop at the table. If there is a rules question I ask a player to look it up, or make a quick judgement call that lasts for that game session, then research it for the next game.

You can't be serious, man. I improv almost every major thing in my campaigns, and I still have a book of notes and ideas for the game.

It's like a rouge-like game, the stuff is randomized, but the system still has key stuff that shows up.

Like, the town is called one thing, the king is called another, the past history in a general sense.

It's all important, you can't remember it all. It's not like the notes are to railroad them, it's to keep things consistent.

Simplified system and index cards. Sort the index cards into piles/decks based on theme. I keep one for each character so I can make notes as we go, encounters can't take up more than an index card. I sometimes have a thought web/clusterfuck to keep track of various groups/factions doing things.

You should be able to keep most of it in your mind. Other than statblocks etc.

Sure, you can think that way. That's how you end up in your mom's basement at 30. This isn't /r9k/. You can be a success here.

Yeah that was me until I learned how to study. Writing everything down multiple times helps a lot with memorization, which is what school testing wants from you.

That probably won't sustain you through college. Learn to study. Seriously.

Nah I'm just old and experienced and know the value of studying and practicing. You do something a thousand times and you get pretty good at it.