A good GM is an organized GM. Introducing the GM Plot-keeper!

For most Game Masters, there's nothing better than hand-written notes in a spiral notebook that you borrowed from the supply closet at work. 

For those few who want to be a bit more organized, I wanted to share one of my new favorite tools for be being a better GM:

GM Plot-keeper Example

This document is arranged so that you can easily organize key features to your plot with enough room for scratch and note-taking as the game progresses. 

Key features for me include:

Important Characters

Quick and Dirty Stat Blocks

Dialogue and Event timelines

I like being able to print out (sorry trees) the story and make notes as I go along. I can keep track of encounters, hit points, treasures, and most importantly, how the players fucked up my story.

Showing up with a plan is half the battle, but being able to stay organized when things go haywire keeps the game interesting and consistent between settings. 

Couple of tips when using the GM Plot-keeper:

1. I save a different file for each session. This helps prevent "over planning" as you will get a feel for how long certain plot lines will take. 
2. This tool works best when you have a structured dungeon or encounter that you want to run, but can be used to great effect with open-world situations
3. When playing a more flexible or open-world session (e.g. players are in the middle of a large city with plenty of destinations to choose from), try organizing it by location and writing detailed descriptions and opening lines for typical NPCs.
4. Having a separate page for Quick and Dirty Stat Blocks can be useful, but feel free to drop one in the body of your story as needed. 
5. Use your notes to prepare for the next session!