This is RPG-ology #97: Paperwork, for December 2025.
Our thanks to Regis Pannier and the team at the Places to Go, People to Be French edition for locating a copy of this and a number of other lost Game Ideas Unlimited articles. This was originally Game Ideas Unlimited: Paperwork, and is reposted here with minor editing [bracketed].
Bill Friant, the friendly giant, played many games with us over the years. He was one of the first players in the D&D game I got roped into running for the neighborhood kids, and in the first D&D game in which I was ever a player rather than the referee, his character was my trusted lieutenant. When I needed a playgroup to test Multiverser, to see whether the rules I was writing would make it possible for someone other than E. R. Jones to create the same kind of experience, Bill was the first on that list. Of course, during test play there were always changes being made, improvements to character papers, tweaks of the system (although as to that, most of it was fairly well established by the time we got that far). We were playing weekly, and it was not uncommon for new character papers to be printed up each week. Bill took this in stride. He brought a large looseleaf notebook within which were half a dozen plastic page protectors. As each new character paper came out, he relegated the old ones to a trapper folder in the rear, and slid the new papers into the plastic protectors. It was one of the best systems for keeping character papers I had seen. If he needed to mark the page, he slid it out and did so, then slid it back in. If there were any spills on the table, or greasy snack foods, the papers were safe. They could be changed in a moment, if necessary.
It’s not the only trick I’ve seen over the years. Organizing papers can be challenging, particularly if, like me, you keep detailed records of your character’s history, abilities, and possessions. But there are a lot of ways this can be streamlined, even if the idea of a looseleaf binder doesn’t appeal to you. It does have the disadvantage of being rather large, if you’re trying to keep a lot of people’s papers together in separate packages.
I always found that a simple two-pocket folder worked well for most of the player characters in our games. Everyone had their own system; the most popular was current character papers to the right and old papers and history to the left, but some divided it by character versus equipment, or put maps to one side, or used one side for party information or adjunct characters such as henchmen or retainers. Jim Denaxas was the first player I saw use a three-pocket file folder; he was the mapper for that group in which Bill first played, and one pocket was dedicated to the maps. By the time I was playing Multiverser, I was using a six-pocket folder. I kept notes on equipment in one pocket, notes on magic I had used or was hoping to try in another, long-term plans and ideas in another–I am not really very organized, but can create the illusion that I am. I had already found pocket folders useful for adventure histories, and kept my character journals and reports and such in these.
I found this useful on the other side of the table as well. I have frequently run out to buy yet another twenty-one pocket portable file. Useful papers, blank character sheets, maps, world descriptions, and more can all be organized inside one of these. I started using one when I was working on Multiverser (although I believe Bob Schretzman was using it years before to organize his Gamma World materials); as each revision of a chapter was printed, it would slide into its pocket in the file, and the old one disappear into the rear for reference. It was in some ways more convenient than a book, although it was more cumbersome. I have also used those two-pocket folders–and I still [find found] them for a dime each occasionally–to take worlds and useful papers to demonstration games. They pop out of the box or briefcase when needed, and contain only the specific required papers, making them very convenient.
I keep speaking of putting updated character papers and updated pages in the folder; but behind this is another assumption. Once upon a time, I did all papers by hand. We sketched a general layout on notebook paper and filled in the information, erasing and rewriting as data changed during play. Maps were hand-drawn on graph paper (although after the first couple were damaged from use, I got in the habit of photocopying them and working from the copies), and map descriptions and wandering monsters were done up on stacks of papers that were a disaster if they got dropped. But today it is all computerized. I use templates for character papers, and save each character to print out at need; updates are made to the file and printed out, with automatic dating on the bottom of each page to make clear which is the most recent version of the character and how old it is. My maps are drawn in a paint program, using copies of a file laid out as graph paper, and printed at need–and if I need a map to give to players as part of a treasure find, I often just slice a bit of the whole map and paste it into a new page to print out for them. Descriptions and encounters similarly exist as [magnetic digital] code somewhere, updated and reprinted when needed, and so fresh and available to pop into one of those folders. They look better than the old ones, and are easily updated–and I can get as many copies as I need, whenever I need them.
Of course, it is not really convenient for the referee to be thumbing through complete copies of everyone’s character paper. That’s usually more information than he needs to know, not organized in the way he needs to know it. That is, it is rare that I would need to know all of a character’s attributes at a particular moment; it is far more common that I would need to know one attribute for every character, such as everyone’s dexterity, or in the case of checking against the strength of a bridge, everyone’s weight. For this I use a spreadsheet. Character names go down the side, type of information across the top, and you fill in the boxes. Ability scores, proficiencies or skills, preferred weapons with bonuses and restrictions, useful equipment items such as torches and oil flasks, armor class and defensive values, spells normally carried–whatever information the referee is likely to want to know can go on the spreadsheet. My preference is to group like information in page-width sections and print these one above another so that I can go to the appropriate sheet and find everyone listed with specific information, but there is merit to the spreadsheet or grade book approach in which a list of names down the side lines up with multiple pages of information or a continuous flow of fanfold paper.
I’ve also found it useful to keep something of a calendar or daybook. Of course, it has to match the calendar of my world, but again computers make this rather easy. As each day elapses, I jot in brief notes of what happened–simple things like “Adventure 12–prisoner rescued” or “shopping trip”. That gives me a better feeling for how things are progressing, what has happened when. Also, I can note events that have not happened, whether known to the players or not, such as the date of an anticipated party or tournament, or the moment when an enemy scheme will take effect. The calendar helps immensely at keeping track of what has happened and what will happen.
I also make the computer do a lot of the paperwork for me in other ways. Character money is tracked in a spreadsheet program, such that I not only have an idea of how much money the character has, I know the distribution of the coins and the value of other negotiable possessions. Experience points are similarly tracked, generally as part of the cash program. The spreadsheet will even easily tell me how many points a character is from the next level.
Note that none of these programs are part of some sort of special gamer’s software package. My maps are done in a standard art program, papers in a word processor, spreadsheets in a spreadsheet program–everything was pretty much on my computer. This is not to say that such specialized programs aren’t worthwhile. I’m sure they do much to streamline the process. I’ve just never needed one and never tried one. Ever since I first hand-copied important tables onto a cheat sheet and stapled together my own character information spreadsheet (modeled after a teacher gradebook), I’ve always found ways to use what I had to organize my papers and my games a bit better. It doesn’t have to be expensive–although I admit I still have a bit of a penchant for browsing stationary departments thinking of ways I could use the various forms and papers to make my games better. It just requires that you use the resources you have effectively.
[Next week, something different.]
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Next article: Clones.