Player: “I listen at the door.”
DM: “You hear a couple voices talking … does anyone speak Goblin?”
Players: *search sheet* “Nope.”
DM: “Yeah you don’t know what they’re saying.”
A bit odd, right? But it’s also pretty common. What if, instead, you had a list of all the players’ languages ready at hand so you could just tell them “you don’t know what they’re saying” and be confident in that descriptor?
Or wouldn’t it be nice to just have people’s passive Perceptions listed? Or their Survival skill modifier so you know if they’re lost in the wilderness but they don’t (yet)? Or imagine being able to roll a stealth roll with the correct modifier for a player while they sweat bullets, hoping they’re not spotted.
There’s an easy, simple solution: make a cheat sheet.
Open up Word, add a table with a bunch of columns and as many rows as you have players, and start filling it out with the info you think you might possibly need. Then print that thing and have it handy as you run sessions. It makes a world of difference!
The Basics of Ritual Casting in 5e – Dungeon Solvers
Harvesters of Worlds: A 1st to 20th Level Githyanki and Mind Flayer Campaign Outline – Sly Flourish
Running Tomb of Annihilation: Hexcrawl – Alpine DM
The Lost Temple of Aphosh the Haunted – Dyson’s Dodecahedron
How to Phase Out Player Characters in D&D – RJD20
The Great Magical Item Analysis Pregame Show – The Angry GM
Dungeon Master’s Character Cheat Sheet – DMsGuild – $1.00 << this is my cheat sheet I use! 🙂
Grand History of Eberron – DMsGuild – PWYW
Nim’s Guide to Poisons – DMsGuild – PWYW
Artifacts of the Old World – DMsGuild – $12.95
Devious, Destructive, & Dangerous Magical Items – DMsGuild – $2.95
Now get out there and tell a story!
Peace,
Maximilian Hart