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Post by ericfromnj on Oct 13, 2015 10:29:20 GMT -8
So, Mook and d47, if I got a Tascam ($90 version) I could just record the sessions and listen with a headphone?
I like the idea of recording sessions and I am not doing an actual play (because I already have one guy skyping in and he is hard to hear versus the people at the table), so I don't need anything super, but I have to be concerned about it picking up my Florida player...
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Post by ayslyn on Oct 13, 2015 11:36:50 GMT -8
When your players are spending the session doing inventory for their brand new tavern, which they decided to open instead of adventuring, you might have indulged the resource management aspect of the game a little too much. If everyone is having fun, then nope. I would happily keep track of various character's collections as well. The list of rare spirits that my dwarven fighter collected, the esoteric, but non-magical tomes that my mage kept in his library, the string of sometimes effective, sometimes... less so specialty arrows that my ranger kept developing.
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Post by ericfromnj on Oct 13, 2015 11:55:33 GMT -8
...My players were very happy when they opened the Inn of the Wet Wench...
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Post by alverant on Oct 13, 2015 15:47:35 GMT -8
OK I'm a little late to the party.
1) Patreon: Seeing the GM podcast behind a password gave me the kick in the pants I needed to start supporting you guys there. I hope you keep going with the GM podcast. Maybe as a Patreon reward you can release it to supporters a few days before the public? Marc Gunn's Irish and Celtic Music Podcast is available to Patreons on Tuesday and in my podcast feed the following Monday.
2) Listening to podcasts: I have too many podcasts to listen to at normal speed. I usually do 1.4 speed in Windows Media Player at work. What I don't get is why people think the pitch should be higher in a digital format. With traditional tapes everything is pulled by the reader faster so the pitch is increased. But in digital doesn't the player just skip every third bit or something so everything stays the same? I watch MST3Ks on my MS3 at 1.5 speed and during the closing theme song the music is choppy as if bits were left out. Why not do the same thing with audio?
3) Taking notes: I take notes for my group. When we were meeting in person I'd write them out long hand then type them up in an email to send to everyone. Now that we're on Roll20, I type my notes in OneNote then go back and revise it along with filling out pages for NPCs, places, etc before emailing it out. It works pretty well and people think the quality of my writing has gone up. Then again I type faster than I write longhand. I write out the notes as an idealized news reporter, stating what happened with as little bias as possible. Everyone needs them so I can't just focus on my character's POV. If you have multiple people taking and sharing notes, it's a different story. One tip to everyone, thank your note-taker! It's a hard job and they deserve some credit. This goes double for GMs who may come to rely on those notes in the future.
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getwrecked
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Participating in Extra Life 2015!
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Post by getwrecked on Oct 13, 2015 20:34:35 GMT -8
My group records all our session now as notes and to post as AP episodes of our podcast. We have two setups: 1. When I am at home, or if I don't have too much to pack with me and I will have a place to plug in my laptop, I use a Blue Yeti USB mic paired with Audacity. The Yeti is omni-directional and does a good job of picking up everyone at the table. Since it's a USB mic everything is recorded as a single track, so I can't edit individual speakers, but it seems to work ok. www.amazon.com/Blue-Microphones-Yeti-USB-Microphone/dp/B002VA464S2. On the road, I use the same digital recorder as Mook with a 16GB SD card and a mini tripod. That allows me to record something like 200 hours of audio in MP3 format at 128 kbps. It's omni-directional like the Yeti, and can pickup folks from a pretty good distance away. That is a little bit of problem because the recorder picks up a bit more ambient noise than I would like. Probably not an issue for note taking, but it means that when I record an AP I have to do a bit more editing to make it listenable before publishing. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004OA6JW0?redirect=true&pldnSite=1Also, I wanted to thank the show for mentioning The Wrecking Crew's Extra Life campaign and Stu in particular for making a donation. I mentioned this on our own show and couldn't remember Tim's name at the time so thanks to Tim for reading the email!
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d47
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Post by d47 on Oct 14, 2015 0:12:23 GMT -8
So, Mook and d47, if I got a Tascam ($90 version) I could just record the sessions and listen with a headphone? I like the idea of recording sessions and I am not doing an actual play (because I already have one guy skyping in and he is hard to hear versus the people at the table), so I don't need anything super, but I have to be concerned about it picking up my Florida player... Yes, but bear in mind that if it is hard to hear the guy Skyping in at the table, the recording of him is probably going to sound worse. I would encourage you to check out the manufacturer's websites and/or look for demo videos on YouTube. Or visit a store that sells them (probably a musical instument store).
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d47
Journeyman Douchebag
RPG of Choice: Metagaming Melee
Posts: 194
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Post by d47 on Oct 14, 2015 0:13:54 GMT -8
If anyone has an older (pre-lightning) iPhone or other iOS device, the plug-in TASCAM iM2 mic is super cheap now. Generally, I recommend a standalone unit, but $12 is only $12. Works well with the free TASCAM PCM Recorder app. iM2 at Amazon
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Post by HourEleven on Oct 14, 2015 9:45:34 GMT -8
I've had some decent quality in a pinch recording on a nice mic and my iPhone using one of these cables: www.amazon.com/dp/B00A6H1X3A/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_mqPhwb7AN20SAAn omni directional mic, that cable an iPhone will get you "notes quality" audio just fine. It would take a decent amount of post to get it releasable in AP form, but someone looking to get a setup for around 60 bucks...
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Post by mook on Oct 15, 2015 4:55:43 GMT -8
So, Mook and d47, if I got a Tascam ($90 version) I could just record the sessions and listen with a headphone? Pretty much what d47 said, yeah -- if the Skype player is already hard to hear at the table, recording him is unlikely to be much better... but, if you can hear him well enough, I imagine so can the Tascam. We generally sit in a circle maybe 10'-15' diameter and it picks up everyone clear as a bell. We do have very little ambient noise, though, not sure what your place is like. You can then either listen to the recording directly from the Tascam through the headphone jack, or import it onto a computer for audio diddling.
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maxinstuff
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Post by maxinstuff on Oct 15, 2015 12:49:59 GMT -8
...My players were very happy when they opened the Inn of the Wet Wench... I'd have called it the "moist munter" myself.
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getwrecked
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Post by getwrecked on Oct 15, 2015 17:11:09 GMT -8
If you load Audacity onto you computer you could record the Skype call alongside the recorder, then merge the audio afterwards. Audacity can record the audio coming in from Skype without using a mic hooked up to your computer. You would be better off using a USB mic to record everyone at once though.
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Post by chronovore on May 11, 2018 18:05:01 GMT -8
In regards to notes in games, I highly recommend the players take them. With real life demands, etc, it's not always easy to remember exact details. But why not make them part of the game, just like map making? In my Sunday game, my fiancee plays a bookish character who writes details of people, places and other noteworthy items in her journal. So she's really roleplaying the character when she takes these notes when the party rests for the day or in between battles. It's been a great help to the group and is a one of the focal points of her character. When she tells the rest of the party about a certain detail or clue they missed, it's in character. As a GM, I'm all for recording for my own benefit as I don't have time to write down everything and I'm finding I forget names of NPCs or other details. Even more so if we've had a hiatus like we did when a player was recovering for several months from surgery. I'd prefer that one of my players would take the session notes, but it's a Roll20 game and I'm in the earlier timezone; my players go to bed after we close the session, so I take the notes on my own. The reason I like it when players take the notes, it is much more clear what caught their attention, and where they think the game is going — it is easier to tailor it to their expectations, re-emphasize clues they missed, or change direction as needed.
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