Notes vs. Story

[orderofthenight]

Thinking of actually keeping all my campaign notes in Fantasy Grounds instead of OneNote.
Looking at methods for this, and why would anyone ever use notes over story records?
Notes just have less features (grouping) then story does but are otherwise basically identical.

What am I missing?

Are there any best practices for managing campaign notes in Fantasy Grounds?

[JohnD]

Notes are for players. Use Story.

[xazil]

If your campaign supports it look up the DOE extensions from Dulux-Oz. These give you a much more complete campaign management experience. Specifically you are looking for the Locations and Organisations extensions.

[AegisPrime]

I actually do this (use notes as a GM) and despite there being no means to categorize them into folders it's pretty handy. It is however a pain to maintain them - I have an XML file of 'custom stuff' that I use whenever I wipe and restart a campaign (generally after an adventure is concluded) and I have to remember to copy and paste the notes from the db.xml to this file in order to preserve them.

23931

[Trenloe]

I actually do this (use notes as a GM) and despite there being no means to categorize them into folders it's pretty handy. It is however a pain to maintain them - I have an XML file of 'custom stuff' that I use whenever I wipe and restart a campaign (generally after an adventure is concluded) and I have to remember to copy and paste the notes from the db.xml to this file in order to preserve them.

23931
This confuses me as to why you don't use stories? They have exactly the same functionality as notes (they are both FG formatted text fields), but with story you can categorize the notes into a group and you can easily export into a module for use in other campaigns - no need to touch your XML at all. Or if you really want to copy/paste XML then do them in stories - not notes. More flexibility all round.

That said, I'm glad you have a process that you're happy with. :)

[AegisPrime]

This confuses me as to why you don't use stories? They have exactly the same functionality as notes (they are both FG formatted text fields), but with story you can categorize the notes into a group and you can easily export into a module for use in other campaigns - no need to touch your XML at all. Or if you really want to copy/paste XML then do them in stories - not notes. More flexibility all round.

That said, I'm glad you have a process that you're happy with. :)

Mostly because at the moment I'm trying to keep my campaign very compartmentalized. I've ported the majority of the AD&D 2e Dark Sun Campaign Setting into FG along with the Dune Trader class and also Kits from the Gladiator's handbook. I want this material to be kept 'pristine' so it's all in various revisions of XML documents that I compile together to create read-only modules as and when it's necessary. My adventures (I've only ported one in so far, the introductory one from the campaign) are separate read-only modules that contain story entries, NPCs, Encounters, Images for that adventure and any necessary tokens. When the adventure's done you just remove it.

So anything that happens in the game has to be preserved independently of the campaign setting/adventure and the best way I've found to do that is to create an evolving 'custom' XML that I can paste into a 'default' campaign setting and get everything customized how I like it and up-to-date so far as the campaign goes. Nuking/restoring the campaign takes me just a couple of minutes.

Now I *could* use stories to make notes but I prefer to reserve story entries for the actual adventure - it also makes it easier to export my modules because the campaign setting *never* has stories and the adventures *always* have stories.

That probably doesn't make a ton of sense to anyone reading it but it's super-organized and flexible for me. The only fly in the ointment I've discovered so far is (custom) notes attached to the campaign setting maps but they're easily restored by copying the notes into the moduledb XML.

Edit: This is what the 'Campaign Setting' contains for example:

23934

[Evil Storyteller]

I've wondered if the idea has been floated to add categorization to the note tab. For PC's sake.

I know I can make custom notes and categorizations on the Story tab - And it is bloody marvelous. But my PC's in particular have a knack for documentation within the campaign and they wanted to know if there was a way to make it slightly more organized other than just having their name on who created the note. While this works, they have to deal with scrolling through the dozens of notes created and makes for a bog in gameplay while they rifle through the pile.

Is such a thing possible(rational and available really) for the developers? If the same organizational structure of Story could simply be duplicated in Notes it would be grand.

[Zacchaeus]

Players can’t create groups so there isn’t really a way to organise notes In such a way. I can’t think of any real way for players to organise notes other than to order them perhaps by date or location.

[Evil Storyteller]

Players can’t create groups so there isn’t really a way to organise notes In such a way. I can’t think of any real way for players to organise notes other than to order them perhaps by date or location.

Could the DM make the groups and give PC's permissions accordingly in "X" grouping or something? I realize it is an ask, but I think it's tiny(but then again I'm not a coding genius). I'm just trying to think of a way the PC's can't lose the notes they take, and keep them organized as the same time to expedite gameplay.

[LordEntrails]

I've wondered if the idea has been floated to add categorization to the note tab. For PC's sake.

I know I can make custom notes and categorizations on the Story tab - And it is bloody marvelous. But my PC's in particular have a knack for documentation within the campaign and they wanted to know if there was a way to make it slightly more organized other than just having their name on who created the note. While this works, they have to deal with scrolling through the dozens of notes created and makes for a bog in gameplay while they rifle through the pile.

Is such a thing possible(rational and available really) for the developers? If the same organizational structure of Story could simply be duplicated in Notes it would be grand.
I think there are some ideas similar to this in the wishlist (see mR Z;s signature for the link.) It's something that the Devs haven't seen much interest in the community to do. Though, I'm sure it could be done.

[LordEntrails]

Could the DM make the groups and give PC's permissions accordingly in "X" grouping or something? I realize it is an ask, but I think it's tiny(but then again I'm not a coding genius). I'm just trying to think of a way the PC's can't lose the notes they take, and keep them organized as the same time to expedite gameplay.
No, PC's do not see group categories. Again, I'd add it to the wishlist if its not already there.

I suspect its just a matter of resources and prioritizing.

[Evil Storyteller]

I think there are some ideas similar to this in the wishlist (see mR Z;s signature for the link.) It's something that the Devs haven't seen much interest in the community to do. Though, I'm sure it could be done.

https://fg2app.idea.informer.com/proj/?ia=68521

Somebody beat me to it.

Case closed I suppose. It will happen when it happens.

Thanks for your time gentlemen.

[LordEntrails]

https://fg2app.idea.informer.com/proj/?ia=68521

Somebody beat me to it.

Case closed I suppose. It will happen when it happens.

Thanks for your time gentlemen.
Make sure you voted :)

[Zacchaeus]

And, sorry I missed it. Welcome to FG

[Evil Storyteller]

And, sorry I missed it. Welcome to FG

Thank you kindly Sir.

The software is nice. Different than Maptool for sure. But very nice.

[Bidmaron]

Welcome, Storyteller. An extension could do what you are looking for by emulating groups-like functionality, but exposing groups on the user interface is really something SW would need to bake into the system if you actually wanted groups. (I wouldn't because what you really need is something customizable by each user for their own personal organization, not some kind of shared super-groups, IMO). It's a project I'd like to tackle at some point, but I have higher priorities right now for my limited free time.

[damned]

What you might find useful is having each player set up a Note that they keep/use as a link to all the other notes.
They can drag each note into this Master note and add a description.
Not what you are after I know - but maybe helpful....

On another note - I also have a section on the MoreCore character sheets where players can drag Notes, Images etc onto the char sheet for fast/easy access

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=26191
26191

[Mytherus]

As DM I use notes and story. Story is for --- well stories that outline quests and feature encounters etc. Notes are used for brief quick ...."notes". While I agree Smiteworks should have made the notes feature more robust with some organization features....it still serves a purpose.

[Targas]

The reason why we say ‚don‘t use Notes as a GM‘ is, that you might feel lost, if players are extensively using them. Players just see those notes, which they either created or share with others. As a GM, you see every note. I once tried to use notes for some basic information like houserules, description of local deities, tavern food charts, etc. With the players spamming lots of notes, I had a harder time to find this informaton.
Create a story section in your campaign instead, where just you as a GM will have access to it. It‘s much easier.
I use a story entry as well to ‚recap‘ what happened last time, as well as what is supposed to happen this time. I put in fast links to access there, e.g. to a current map, random encounter tables, kinda bookmark of the last section the characters visited, etc.

[Trenloe]

There are a number of reasons why notes are not a great tool for GMs: organisation (grouping, GM adding/changing only, etc.) is one of them, the ability to export into a module for use in other campaigns is also a big factor for many GMs.

[DwightLee]

My entire game is run from the "Story" tab, from there you link to everything

[Mytherus]

Its not the features , its how you use them. If you have a system that works and doesn't confuse you its fine to do your thing even if others are doing the SMH thing like "dude is doing it wrong". There is no wrong if it works fine for you.

My advice though is based on the volume of notes you are writing and how often you do so. If you are writing novels each game session then *YES* do the story thing for the notes as is logical.

However there's absolutely ZERO wrong no matter who tells you be it the executives of SmiteWorks and Wizards of the Coast combined.....with using FG's notes system even as a DM for what I call "here and there" quick notes.

Nothing at all wrong with it.

[Trenloe]

Executives of SmiteWorks and Wizards of the Coast? I don’t see any of those responding to this thread, just community members helping answer the question of what’s the difference between notes and story entries, what they were designed for, what their experiences and usage is, what the gotchas are and helpfully providing potential work arounds.

Absolutely, use notes and story how you wish. Just be aware of the potential differences (limitations) of using notes records versus story records.

For example, we’ve had a number of GMs over the years come onto the forums asking how they can move the pages of notes records they’ve painstakingly created from one campaign to another - manual XML editing if notes are used (error prone and too painful for many to carry out simply and accurately) or laborious copy/paste of plain text (formatting and links are lost), or a simple module export if story entries had been used.

Nobody’s forcing anyone to use FG one way or the other. Take the information presented in this thread and use it the way you wish.

[Dax Doomslayer]

One thing I like to do for 'notes' is use the MoTD extension. I usually write up a quick blurb after each session for the group as a recap and then they have a 'history' from that. I date each blurb and add session number so they have that chronology. They supplement these blurbs with their own notes in the Notes section if they so choose. I don't normally have any input on the Notes of the PCs however. That seems to work well with my group...

[Mytherus]

Executives of SmiteWorks and Wizards of the Coast? I don’t see any of those responding to this thread, just community members helping answer the question of what’s the difference between notes and story entries, what they were designed for, what their experiences and usage is, what the gotchas are and helpfully providing potential work arounds.

Absolutely, use notes and story how you wish. Just be aware of the potential differences (limitations) of using notes records versus story records.

For example, we’ve had a number of GMs over the years come onto the forums asking how they can move the pages of notes records they’ve painstakingly created from one campaign to another - manual XML editing if notes are used (error prone and too painful for many to carry out simply and accurately) or laborious copy/paste of plain text (formatting and links are lost), or a simple module export if story entries had been used.

Nobody’s forcing anyone to use FG one way or the other. Take the information presented in this thread and use it the way you wish.

I was just having fun with the executives comment. Of course they wouldn't post, it was a sarcastic joke on people saying "well I think you shouldn't ".... Obviously its all in good humor -- truthfully I don't care how people use the system, this was just my way of using it. But yeah absolutely there are limitations with notes -- I don't disagree there.

Have a good night.

[Moon Wizard]

We are watching. ;) In all seriousness, use the feature as you want. They are designed the way that the online documentation (wiki and manual) portrays them; so use them how you wish.

Regards,
JPG

[Max Silver]

I know this is 3 years later, but just making a module and loading it in to new campaigns seems much easier then wiping everything when there is a TPW. LordEntrails showed me how to do this in their tutorials. (see their post above)