>DM encourages players to recap the previous session>Players invariably forget a handful of small details>DM ends up recapping the whole thing again anyway
I write stuff down to avoid the GM changing stuff, retconning stuff against us and then the gaslight that "no, it was always like that, maybe you forgot". Alread happened too many times with different GMs
I have my players do the recap. Anything they forget will be used against them
I suggested that my players do the recap one session and they looked at me like a deer in headlights. I generally write a quick recap after each session anyway as part of my after session work so I was able to give one anyway, but now I don't even bother asking. My players seem to remember characters they've met and loot they've gotten from past sessions so I know they're engaged.
>>97933015Asking the players to try it makes them actively think about the game they just played, or the one they played a week or three ago, so it sticks a bit better in their memory. Helpful for the GM too since it keeps them abreast of what players thought was important and makes sure everyone gets to the same page after the GM goes over their own notes/memoryThe act of doing it is itself worthwhile
>>97933270Recaps are also valuable because it informs the GM on what aspects of the campaign are memorable, thus allowing them to either fix the aspects that are floundering or fixate on the ones that flourish.
>>97933015Ask it from the perspective of the character then it's non-canon
I made the rule on my table that if the players can't remember it and I can't remember it, then it didn't happen. This extends to everything. Items, locations, NPCs...I have a very bad memory. My players have bad memory. This is the alzheimers campaign.
>>97933297Unless you're all playing characters with a faulty memory I makes no sense that for them everything that happen give minutes ago Is remember as something from a week ago. I gets worse when game time and real time get start to drift appart a lot, people should be able to remember clearly what happen last week even if for the players were a couple months of sessions.
>>97933015you can always play it solo
>>97933397I'm in a campaign that has a few normies in it so it gets cancelled over stupid shit all the time. The DM expects us to all remember the half dozen NPCs introduced every session even though they're typically 2-3 weeks apart
>>97933015It's a recap. Omitting small details is fine if all you need are the broad strokes to get back into the swing of things. Don't take it personally if the players don't announce what the color of the nobleman's pendant or the what the insignia on the guard captain's cloak was last session. It doesn't necessarily mean they don't remember, but rather that they don't think it's paramount to beginning to session to bring it up.
Even if it’s a bit frustrating, the process OP outlines is fine and dandy. Having the players fish for the details a little bit warms up their memory even if they can’t recall everything. Then the DM recapping everything establishes what actually occurred. This whole early stage should be about facilitating the transition from everyday life to the world of the game. Getting everyone on the same page is crucial even if it’s not time efficient.
>>97934037It ends up just wasting more time than the DM recapping right away
>>97934157i just don't recap afterwards. Whatever the players forgot is gone forever. If they can't be arsed to remember it, then it isn't important.
>>97933015You shouldn't trust human memories period. The human brain has a nasty tendency to made up stuff on the fly.
>>97933015The core of the issue is that human memory isn't like a hard drive; it’s more like a creative director. We don't "play back" a recording; we reconstruct the scene every time we think about it, often using current feelings and new information to fill in the gaps. Every time you pull up a memory, your brain essentially opens a document, makes a few "clarifying" edits, and then hits Save As. Over time, the original "file" is long gone, replaced by a version that fits your current narrative or ego.The brain hates a vacuum. If a detail is missing like what color shirt someone was wearing or exactly what was said the brain will often fabricate a detail that feels logical. You won't know it's a lie. To you, that fabricated detail feels just as "real" as the truth. Studies show that simply being asked a leading question can change a memory. If someone asks, "How fast was the car going when it smashed into the pole?" versus "when it hit the pole?", people will "remember" seeing broken glass in the first scenario, even if there wasn't any.Why is the brain like this? The brain doesn't need to remember every leaf on a tree; it just needs to remember "Tree = Fruit" or "Tree = Predator." We use pieces of old memories to imagine the future. A rigid, "read-only" memory system would make it much harder to adapt to new situations or "what if" scenarios. You can’t trust a human memory for the literal, granular truth. It’s great for the "vibe" of what happened, but for the specifics? That’s why we invented cameras and journals.
>>97933015I encourage my players to recap last session because I want them to tell me what happened from their perspective, and to see what they were paying attention to the most, because it helps me focus on where to take the game. And if they can't do that it tells me they're not really focused or interested in the game. The amount of small details they can collectively remember does not matter at all.
>>97933015The recap is more for the benefit of the player experience than the GM. It brings forth the details the players can remember/find important, and shunts back the stuff they can't. The process of trying to recall gets them in the appropriate headspace of the session, unlike just being narrated to by the GM immediately. For the GM, it can serve to highlight what the players thought was important in the session; and also give an approximation of how good the last session was. I mean, if your players remember the session clearly, it probably elicited some emotional reaction out of them.
>>97934256Why should the players recite every minute detail of a 3-4 hour game session before starting a new one every week? That just seems like a waste of time.
>>97933015One of my players isn't available on average for more than 3 weeks at a time (he's the note taker) and the other two never take anything seriously so they often forget what they were doing in-session, let alone something that happened weeks ago.I ask them to recap and only interject when they say something wrong, I don't say anything if they miss small details.
>>97934670If the detail was minute, then it wasnt important and it is not featured again. Since the players didn't remember it, they won't care either.
>>97934961Minute does not mean unimportant, it just means it is seemingly minor and might get glossed over during the flow of things, the players didn't know it deserved mention, or they didn't think it was relevant enough at the moment to mention it. That doesn't mean they didn't remember it. What do you do if they bring up a small detail later that they didn't mention in a recap? What about things like XP numbers or exact amounts of loot? If they don't give you a full bookkeeping detail does that mean they didn't get those rewards?
I keep My notes on a fun little interactive calendar that everyone can see and use to track the current day :DD
>>97933015I reward players for writing session recapsI ask differnt players to provide a session recap after the sessionUsually the "last session" is summarized in a few sentences.
>>97936197This is the way
>>97933015I always take this as an opportunity to retcon things and twist narration in my favor - as a player embelishing my heroics, glossing over the fuck-ups, shifting blame to somebody else and ramping up the rewards were given or promised. Vice versa as the DM.Start with little details that can be excused as honest mistake and if nobody calls me out on my bullshit keep pushing it as far as I can.
Do you make them recap in or out of character?
>>97933015Try not running shit games.
>>97934157Wasting time? What time is being wasted?You blocked off 3-4 hours of the week for this game! Two or three more minutes where I bring up details you didn't bring up in your recap, which are important enough for me to bring up, isn't a waste of time at all
>>97936708I write my recaps in character in one of my games. We're kind of a government body of treasure hunters/peacekeepers so I write everything in a police report format.
>>97935087Yesterday's game, my players remembered some random tidbit everyone had forgotten for like three sessions. I said "sure". Because this is more flexible than what you seem to think. It's not like we are actively trying to screw each other.
>>97933015I'm just checking to see how much attention you're paying.
>>97933456>what is note takingsorry about your goldfish brain
>>97933015this, what a waste of time.>>97939634you'll see that in the game and should punish those who dont without impacting those who do.
>>97933015As a player, I tend to write summary after the game. But I am never sure what is important detail, and what is just flavorful detail GM pulled out of his ass on the spot.That's kinda frustrating and it makes my notes longer then they could be.Do you have any ideas how to better deal with that?>>97936708>Do you make them recap in or out of character?In the world, but out of character.My current characters is studious person would write notes, but the previous one certainly wasn't.I also write it mainly for other players to remember stuff that happened before. The perspective of non-involved witness is better suited for that.I also enjoy discovering and cataloguing the settings lore, and I don't want to miss it just because my character would.
>>97933015Unironically my GM lol
>>97933015>Used to gaming group where a player is expected to provide a recap, with the GM and other players pitching in to expand or add details they think are important>Join Delta Green game with new group (still game with old group too)>DG group has a shared virtual corkboard for working the case, and I try to take extensive in-character notes>Offer to do the recap>GM says no thanks, but I feel gratified that he covers almost exactly the details I had written
>>97933370>This is the mage campaign.FIFY.
>>97933033Holy shit, I gotta start doing that to my players so they actually pay the fuck attention.
>>97933015A buddy of mind said that a DM of his let them start with inspiration if they wrote out session recaps. He has one for every session.
>>97939713>Do you have any ideas how to better deal with that?Just excise the stuff that doesn't seem relevant later. If a few sessions pass and the DM doesn't mention it again, it's probably not super relevant.
>>97933015>GM also doesn't remember
My players are better notetakers than me lmao
