How to combat non-note takers

tl;dr: Give out awards— this has worked for me for decades.

  • As you're narrating and introducing anything with a name, pause a second after saying the name and look around at all of the players. This gives them a chance to write stuff down, if they're going to.

  • Later, when you're running the adventure, if something you have already named comes up again, do not name it. Hint at it, and ask the players if they remember the name. Whoever names it correctly first gets the award.

Your "award" can be virtually anything you can come up with. I started with— and most frequently use —experience points. 10, 50, 100— whatever is appropriate to how important the name/detail is to the overall story and the character's level.

I've also used:

  • "ticks"— collect enough ticks and the character gains a permanent +1 INT, a magic item of choice (inherited from a long lost relative, in most cases), and other perks.
  • "Luck Points" (a system unique to my campaigns for the past 20-some-odd years) that allow players to reroll dice for their own character or that they can use to allow another player to reroll a die— because their character's "luck" has "rubbed off" on the other character.
  • Gold/Gems/Money— because who doesn't like money? (I've even let players roll for a gem randomly off the gem tables.)
/r/DnD Thread