I was wondering how others use notes during an adventure as a GM . Do you make detailed notes about the aventure at hand ? do you just read the adventure then keep the book with you for reference ?

Personally I have been preparing extensive notes with allot of detail , I make almost a guide to the adventure the only downside to this is it does take quit a bit of time .

I have been thinking about making significant cuts to the amount of notes I am making and just let the adventure happen .

I prefer running pre-written scenarios (as I need more family time). I can make up stuff off of a skeleton framework scenario than if I have to make stuff up as I go.

My notes consist of 2-3 things that I think each character should get exposed to each session. With 4 characters, that is 8 sentences.

I also take a pencil and write in my scenarios to underline/highlight certain important things. It's easy to put "-->affects the soldier character," or "---> make sure the wizard gets his palm read by the gypsy mentioned here."

I write up detailed stuff (as those who have seen my Enemy Within material have seen), veering into the classical GM-overload "over-prepping" side.

I also don't hesitate to mark up my copies of published materials or just insert my page of stuff into them etc.

My notes are usually to "handle things if adventure goes this or that way" or people want to know things (when did so and so come to town, where knowing when the villain did and not when the red herring NPC did would tip things off for them).

I end up re-using notes, encounters etc. to avoid waste (e.g., once I have notes about how to handle a massive brawl that gets re-used for spontaneous ones).

At first I went a little nuts but now I kinda roll the same way JH does. Lots of published material. Usually start with a general outline of events as written, brainstorm a few unexpected directions players might take things, and throw some detail and organizational notes to npc's or different triggers.

The more I run the FFG Star Wars and Warhammer games the more general my notes become. Letting the narrative dice do their job has been a successful and rewarding practice. It just took me a while to get there.

Generally depends on what is happening.

First, I start with what the players are currently doing and what they are most likely going to do. Then I tend to thrash out 2-3 things that are going on in the background, so that if the players want to investigate them (or get hit with them later) they can.

After that, I go through and make any notes for specific characters. This can be anything from a line to a short paragraph.

From my most recent experience, this takes about an hour. Much less if the characters are moving more slowly through the story than you thought, and you can reuse the older notes.

In total it's 2-3 pages for the first session, then 1-1.5 pages a session after that unless something major happens.

*Edit* I try to keep my notes general. The more you railroad your players, the more likely they are to run away from the plot.

Try sandbox method - very little prep and maximum player enjoyment.

All the specifics the players then handle during the game and you can roll with them and create the story together.

If a story is planned all the players are doing is modifying small details. If a situation is planned the players are creating how they handled it and they create the story. Much more rewarding for GM and Player alike.

With this method you're preparing the NPC's, their Factions, Motivations, a Location and add a Situation. Keep specifics loose and only prepare things that will be used or obvious. There's no point noting the farmer has a still unless he's going to offer the players some home brew or the still explodes and sets fire to the house etc.

I usually run a sandbox (my current run of TEW is further from open-ended sandbox I've run in a very long time and my PCs are still wandering far afield of the published adventure)...

...but I still go a little crazy doing prep. I'll brainstorm all the things I could possibly imagine the players might do, and try to be prepared for all of them. A lot of "wasted" time prepping things that don't get used, but I enjoy the time spent dreaming things up. I find my tabletop improvisations aren't usually as interesting, or as well balanced, as the things I come up with in-between sessions. The scenes that don't end up happening are stored on my computer, with maybe 10% of them getting used somewhere down the road. If I could just get around to editing it, there's probably a few books in there somewhere.

I usually run a sandbox (my current run of TEW is further from open-ended sandbox I've run in a very long time and my PCs are still wandering far afield of the published adventure)...

...but I still go a little crazy doing prep. I'll brainstorm all the things I could possibly imagine the players might do, and try to be prepared for all of them. A lot of "wasted" time prepping things that don't get used, but I enjoy the time spent dreaming things up. I find my tabletop improvisations aren't usually as interesting, or as well balanced, as the things I come up with in-between sessions. The scenes that don't end up happening are stored on my computer, with maybe 10% of them getting used somewhere down the road. If I could just get around to editing it, there's probably a few books in there somewhere.

If you enjoy all the extra work then run with it and enjoy it I say! Recycle all those unused ideas

But what you describe isn't sand boxing.

What you describe is contingency planning , it's plot based prep juiced up on steroids if you think about it. You're preparing a plot but just factoring in more variables. This is the hardest method to prep for and whilst more liberating for the players than standard plot based prep it's still not situation based prep ie sand boxing.

Sometimes you can start out designing a sandbox "situation" but actually let plot based prep creep in. Rather than just saying "there's a situation unfolding over there, here is a push/pull hook, let the players construct the rest" you start thinking of variables and things to prep for... you are being tempted by the Dark Lords of Preparation.

No, I'd still call what I usually do "sandbox". (And your insistence that I'm not doing sandbox "right" is mildly insulting, to be honest.)

I'm a-o-k with the PCs going literally anywhere, and ignoring my dangling threads or skipping any and all encounters or situations to chase after something else entirely of their own devising. There's one player in my current group who's actually got a reputation for running away from anything that smells like plot.

But if I can tell at the end of a session that they're likely to do something, I make sure I've put some thought into it before the next session so I don't have to scramble to make details up on the spot. If a session ends and I have no clue what they're planning to do next session, I brainstorm everything that I think they might logically try, and do my best to make sure there's something cool that could come out of any of them. If they still surprise me... well that's generally okay. Even the times when it's not as fun (for me) as the neat thing I dreamed up, I still let them do it.