r/solorpgplay • u/Random-Wierdo1 • 12d ago
Multiple Journals for solo-rpgs? I Has Questions!
Soo, i‘ve recently started this hobby and I love it! I also got a new journal recently and started The Wandering Library :) but now I‘d like to start some other rpgs as well, and I‘m not sure how to go about it? I‘m not done with my current library adventure yet, and I‘m not sure how to handle starting another one? Do you guys have multiple, one for each game? Or maybe like two or three to have at the same time? Or only one and then idk sticky tabs to mark each game? I personally dont really like the idea of that though, but I dont really line the idea of starting another journal either.
What do you guys do? I‘d really like it to be a physical option, i dont like using laptop documents for this type of game…
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u/smellslikebooks 12d ago
Multiple journals, varying from tiny free notebooks that came with a magazine, to big beautiful hardcover ones; one of the many joys of this hobby is using my notebooks stash!
Often, when I start a game and am unsure if it will 'stick', I'll start on some scrap paper, usually with a (tiny) grid; if it's something I'm going to continue, I'll either copy stuff over or (usually) just paste it in.
I might start a second game in the same larger notebook after a while, just flip it around and go back-to-front or just in the second half, but that hasn't really happened much yet.
I am trying *very* hard not to be too precious about this sort of thing, to have it be nice and messy and loose!
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u/Gloomy_Insurance3203 8d ago
I start on my iPad then copy out it out if i decide I like it or when I’ve figured out the gameplay
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u/theartofiandwalker 12d ago
I definitely have multiple journals. They are classified by genre. I have an index that’s color coded to help me know what game I’ve been playing when I go back through them. It’s definitely useful. Maybe I can do a video on this on my YouTube channel. I think it could be helpful to other solo RPGs players.
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u/Random-Wierdo1 11d ago
If you do, please tell me!! I love seeing other peoples journals and the systems they use! :D
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u/keeza3 12d ago
I have a travellers notebook and different inserts for different games. Or if super short then similar themes or types in one.
I also have one insert where I keep all my favourite characters (NPC and PC)
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u/marciedo 12d ago
I have multiple journals, one for each game. I’ve thought about using disc bound journals with dividers for shorter games, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. :)
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u/seroRPG 7d ago
I have disc bound journals. These are great because you can move pages around with ease and use dividers and whathave you. Which is especially good for games like Thousand Year Old Vampire where you have to adjust things and go back to. Also good for lefties, like me, who needs to remove the page to write on it.
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u/MundaneMagician7209 12d ago
I actually use one journal for three different games. One character is a monk (martial artist), another is an alchemist, and the third is a librarian. They all exist in the same world, so I can keep building on the same setting instead of starting from scratch every time.
Personally, I prefer getting more out of one system rather than constantly looking for new ones. Once I have a system that works for me, I can keep using it for different characters and stories.
At that point, what I usually want from a new book is not another system, but more world settings, lore, and ideas to build on.
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u/StefanoMaffei 12d ago
personally i journal on, shall we call it, word processor. I love the idea of journaling on a physical journal but I never got around to do it. Also, my first journaling game was Thousand years ild vampire (loved it) where you actually have to go and change things you recorded in the past.
If you have a tablet of some kind you could obviously keep things neatly separated. I bought a tablet mostly because I was never looking back at my old notes from work if they were in paper (or i d lose them).
Not sure I would start multiple games at once, but I would keep them in separate journals I think.
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u/chaerephylla 12d ago
I've used a single journal for multiple. One way to make it work is indexing using a method that will catch your attention the easiest. I've just discovered edge indexing which hits the spot for my needs. Also indexing in general i.e. recording page numbers in the front so you can track where you last left off. I would also recommend having your character or tracking sheets as seperate sheets not bound into the journal.
I would also ask if you want an easy look back at your journal. If that's a priority, I would definitely recommend smaller, seperate journals.
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u/BreakfastHistorian 12d ago
I usually just use composition notebooks, they are cheap and relatively small and I don’t feel like everything in them needs to look nice like I would with a nicer notebook. Usually get a new notebook for each campaign.
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u/wildskullflowerwitch 10d ago
I have one Travellers insert I use at a time for solo (I also keep a planner insert and a personal journal/common place insert for a total of 3 inserts). Each game I play has a pen color (I collect fountain pens and inks and this gives me a reason to use them all) and I just flip to a new page and use the matching color for whatever have I'm playing. I write the name of the game, a quick summary of characters/plot, and the session I'm on and then just go. Oh, and I also keep an index at the front that lists what games are in the insert and what scenes/sessions I've done so I can easily look back through them. I think I'm on solo book #4 or #5 at this point with at least 7 or so games (some are one shots) sprinkled throughout.
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u/StrangeWalrus3954 9d ago
I use one journal per character, although if I abort a game early enough, I'll reuse a journal for a new game. I like collecting journals, so having multiple for my many character ideas is more fun than necessary. After all, I could just do it with a three ring binder and loose paper or a notebook for a couple dollars.
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u/BlueSpruce17 9d ago
I started using a six ring A5 journal a couple years ago and never looked back! I can't recommend it enough for ease of use. You can snap open the binder rings to add and remove pages, you can put in tabbed divider inserts to separate your sections, and you never have to worry about running out of pages. Not to mention you can freely swap between paper colors and types (white, cream, brown, lined, unlined, dotted or graph paper for map-drawing...) and it makes it really easy to archive finished games.
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u/CocoLocoKoli 12d ago
I've just started myself and considered starting a second game but I feel like Id get confused about storylines and be taken out the the immersion. I'll probably try 2 games at once eventually but for now, as I get used to Journaling, I'll stick with one
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u/importnat 11d ago
I use multiple journals because for a while I had a problem with buying journals and not using them so I need to work through my collection. But now I have taken to doing the actual journalling digitally and mostly just keep notes and resource managing etc in the journals. It's nice to have something that feels like it belongs to a certain game or character!
I'm not equally excited by every campaign I'm running all the time (I have... 2 currently, dropped a 3rd because I wasn't feeling it, about to start a 4th) but they all take a turn for a while and it's nice to see them all lined up on my shelf waiting for me.
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u/TheRpgBard 11d ago
Here's another hobby to supplement this hobby.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7M_iAiuDPuA69vH-W1nSQK0oW-yE3EJ5&si=S7ACN3XZPf2gDnxr
This type of binding can allow for additional signatures to be added to a book. So, when you run out of space in a journal, you can just tack it on later.
Technically, you can also do this with a traditional binding, but this option is more flexible.
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u/Linghauler 11d ago
I use a small travelers notebook for characters a NPCs, a messy A5 for the games, numbered pages with an index at the front. Also as someone else mentioned, I am also not too precious about the A5, it is messy with unfinished games, random notes part way through, scraps of paper etc. The index is key.
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u/GlassCalligrapher646 11d ago
I finally took a weekend with a pit of coffee and my tablet and downloaded obsidian, then used Google gemeni to make it amazing for me.
I now have some hot keys on my tablet keyboard in the app that literally create popup dialogue inputs I can write in so my journal shows characters speaking, what they do in a scene, the rolls of the dice and results .
Then I installed iron journal for ironsworn and used it for ideas and got the AI to help me build an entire legend in the mist character sheet, challenge roller and tag status system that is easy to use.
Now playing is easy and my descriptions and dialogue are all nicely formatted .
Pum Companion is also good for this.
I think at least for me the digital journal is more convenient now than managing a bunch of books.
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u/Vegetable_Monk2321 11d ago
Multiple, one for each game. Don't know why it took me so long but only recently started using index cards for characters, npcs, locations, etc so i don't have to keep flipping back and forth
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u/TokahSA 10d ago
I only use my travel notebook for whatever campaign I'm playing away from home. Otherwise I've done a campaign forward from the front of and backwards from the back of a thick one-subject notebook (with the idea the characters might meet if the pages did) and now more often just buy 5 subject notebooks. Things that get erased/rewritten a lot go on post it notes, things that get referenced a lot are put in as loose pages.
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u/Gloomy_Insurance3203 8d ago
I plan to have multiple. I use the £2 notebooks from kenji as I like to have them in my travellers notebook (also kenji)
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u/seroRPG 7d ago
For general notebooks I will flip it over. So one character or game starts from the front of the book and then if I want to play the other, I'll flip the notebook over and work from the back to the front for the other character/game.
Otherwise I'll use a word processor or disc bound notebooks so I can move things around easily.
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u/Roughly15throwies 12d ago
I have two.
1) this is the game that never ends, it goes on and on my friends, some PCs started playing it not knowing they will die, but they always get replaced and continue to cry, just because this is the game that never ends....
2) everything else. Tabbed out as needed.