As previously mentioned, I use Gametable for running my D&D 4e campaign online. The organization of required information is by far the most important aspect of properly and smoothly executing online gameplay. People play online for a few reasons. Perhaps your comrades are scattered around the globe or maybe you just don’t have the time or space to get together and meet face to face. Regardless of your reason(s), having required information organized and close by will help keep the game moving, making the best use of the time you have set aside to play.

So.. first we have some files sitting around. I’ve got my Gametable folder with the program itself, pogs, underlays, and maps. Later, after you finish reading this post, you may/should have some more files to manage. For me, I also have some prop images and an html file to coordinate the night’s session (more on that in a moment).

You could keep the files on your computer somewhere but I’ve decided to have a dedicated USB thumb drive hold all of my D&D campaign goodness. They’re cheap enough now a days and you can usually find a really nice special at Staples or Officemax if you keep your eyes open. Heck, last week at Wal*Mart I saw a 2 gig Cruzer for $14. Here’s my bad boy:

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Anywho, I can take the thumb drive with me to work and work on the files if I have some down time. All files are in a central location so I don’t have to worry about having different versions of the same work at different locations. Head over to PortableApps.com, download and install Nvu to the thumb drive.

Let’s talk about this .html file I mentioned a couple paragraphs ago. This method is something I came up with to satisfy my need for organization when DM`ing over the interwebs. It may not work for you for various reasons. Maybe html isn’t your thing. This may seem too time consuming. Actually, If you don’t like this idea, comment here as it may cause me to reevaluate my options for setting my sessions up this way.

Basically, I use Nvu, a free web editor, and run it off the thumb drive. For example, in my next upcoming session, we`ll be doing a little dungeon crawl. What I`ll do is create a very simple web page that only I will see during the session. On it, I`ll have info for each room the PCs will venture through, info on each monster, rough description blurbs to read upon entering various noteworthy areas in the dungeon, and speech from NPCs (in green text). Items in red text are DM notes on skill DCs and super uber-secret info for DM eyes only. For tracking monster hit points, I use a drop down menu with numbers 0-max hp. When they get smacked around by the PCs, I manually reduce the number until it reaches 0. There’s no need to submit anything on the page even though its a form element holding the HP data. Its just for your use. Save the file to your thumb drive and open it locally when its time to play.

This shot shows the top of my page. I have links to encounters within the page for fast navigation.
(Click for large version)

While this shot shows how I set up an encounter. I take a scan/screenshot of the book/pdf, and insert it right in to the page. (info here is 3.5 as its an old file) That way, everything I need is right there. Also, you`ll see the drop down menus used for HP tracking.

Since I play when the wife is at work (night shift, weekends), I commendere her laptop and run the html page on it while my desktop has Gametable and the voice program running.

In summary, this is only one possible method for organizing an online campaign session. The page doesn’t have to look pretty. It has to be functional. You`ll be the only one who sees it and, personally, I’d rather have it as simple looking as possible.

So. What are your thoughts on this? Overkill? A waste of time? If so, what other methods would you suggest?