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I love Org-Mode. So I obviously would like to use it for my notes for DMing and Playing. However before I get cracking, I was wandering if anyone has tried it, and any half decent custom set ups that work?

For Player-Org-Mode I'd imagine I would want something like a quest log from many computer RPGs, with associated files built as information libraries, including what I know on cities, locations to visit, etc.

For DM-Org-Mode I'd probably want a way of organizing the flow of the story, with encounters as sub-files. Use iimage for maps. Have some way to automatically tabulate XP/Treasure based upon what is marked as done... Likewise, I imagine I'd want to have a few states for PC info: TODO, UNKNOWN, RUMOURED, IN PROGRESS, ENCOUNTERED, |, DONE, SKIPPED, DROPPED.

Any better ideas? Or anyone try something like this?

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I use org-mode to keep track of basic plots and NPC summaries (as GM), rules summaries (if I'm running a new system), and for character sheets (as player). Other than the occasional html export for a wiki, I haven't done anything complicated. – okeefe Sep 12 '11 at 2:51
I tend to use taskwarrior, graphvix, and ikiwiki for my games. Org-mode Seems very similar to taskwarrior. – Sardathrion Sep 12 '11 at 12:21
Is it possible to hack the time and date stamp so it matches your campaign calendar? So, if you mark something as done, it would get logged per the game date and time, not the real life date and time. – Johnn Four Oct 6 '11 at 18:22

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So this is system specific and only tangentially related, and uses vim instead of emacs, but...

I made a vim syntax highlighter for 4th ed NPCs. It helps me read NPC stats. It was a lot easier than I expected, and I would do this again for any crunchy system I planned on using, provided it had enough electronic resources that editing an NPC's file was a valid use case. I also wrote a script to render the NPC with LaTeX, so I could print NPC sheets with syntax highlighting. This was a bit more effort, but well worth it since I like writing on my sheets.

https://github.com/sagotsky/.dotfiles/blob/master/.vim/syntax/4e.vim (ignore line 65 and below. I was trying to add functions for leveling and deleveling NPCs, but they never quite worked out). https://github.com/sagotsky/.dotfiles/blob/master/scripts/4E2latex.pl (requires perl and pdflatex)

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+1 for using vim and LaTeX. – Sardathrion Sep 12 '11 at 16:56
That is pretty neat. I may have to convert it over to emacs. – Glen Nelson Sep 13 '11 at 1:47
@Glen Nelson, go for it! I wasn't suggesting this to start an editor war (that belongs on a different Stack Exchange...) but to share ideas. – valadil Sep 13 '11 at 2:20
up vote 0 down vote

If you find Org-Mode useful there is no reason why it would not work for you as a DM or Player.

Personally, I like to use notepad, and that works fine, because I am used to it . If you are not used to it, you would find it hard to use. I think the same is true with Org-Mode or any other system.

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