Let's make a D&D character journal!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 ก.ย. 2024
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is there like an online game for D&D? that doesnt involve me having to talk atleast lol
@@itzru._idk if you ever got a response to this, but dungeons and dragons online does Infact exist. Or baulders gate 3 is an easier option
i put my spellbook into a composition notebook
You turned a character sheet into a scrapbook. That's amazing.
Yes !!! I thought I was a weirdo for doing this my self I grow up with my sisters scrap booking an then one day I saw all my stuff laid out next to my sisters school and friends pictures haha part of the fun of playing dnd is making the book for my characters an if they are casters I enjoy makings magic books as well
@@saiynoq6745 great idea! All of mine are still sitting in a binder. But I like looking back on them now & then.
Totally agree, I'm setting out now to do the same for like at least five different now ancient characters, just for the memory lane reference in nostalgic recollection later on.
"He'd cry more about Penelope dying then I would"
I feel that! I recently accidentally killed one of my player's character that she been playing for almost 2 years and the whole table was devastated except her 😂
She was just like "okay, can I look behind your DM screen now that I'm dead? :D"
lmao girl has priorities
I do junk journaling and I'm a DM, and yet it never occurred to me to make a D&D junk journal. Thanks so much for this!
Oh, I never thought about that, too! Thanks for mentioning it xD
Mentioning the Dragonology Handbook unlocked a core memory. Good times, good times.
Same here, I also had Wizardology, Piratology, and Egyptology, as well as a similar book themed around wand makers. Perfect books for the little nerdy kiddos out there, I think they're even still in print too
Dude, my cousin had that book and I loved it! I still remember the riddle section most, and even though I wasn't super into dragons as a kid, I read it so much.
Same!
I was not able to get the Pirateology or Egptology book. 😭
Plus I don't think my poor bent bookcase can hold anymore large books. 😢
I do have Dragonology and the Wizard one. I also have a mini dragon book journal by the same folks.
bloody hell, I think I still have the field guide version
As a DM, I'm watching this and wishing I wasn't the DM for my group so I can have a character journal 😭
YOURE THE DM MAKE A DMS BOOK MY BOYS THAYS DM COOLER
Ginny, I hope it makes you and Francis happy to know I created a character based on Francis because the irony of a map maker afraid to leave the house was too funny!
Her name is Waywocket Coalpalm Doublelock Quillsharpener and she's a druid (ironic, yes), and she has a full backstory now!
My gnome druid Fauna Brightburrow has a pony called Waywocket!
Ginny: Did anyone else have the Dragonology book as a kid? Me: Yes... as a kid...
I’m so glad you did another character journal video cuz I’ve rewatched the other one so many times! Absolute journal goals.
I HAD THE DRAGONOLOGY BOOK I LOVED IT SO MUCH
I had it too. I wonder if it's another case of a generational nostalgia, but I've seen it pop up in several videos made by people around my age recently
I met you at PAX Unplugged a couple months ago, and had you sign my journal (which uses the same lavender binder). You mentioned this video being in the works and I've been looking out for it since then!! Penelope deserves the world and I'm so excited to see the end result 🎉
Oh my gosh, I remember that!! This video took a crazy long time to finish 😂 I was looking at the time stamps on the first few video clips with astonishment haha
Personally I’ve always imagined if I ever got to play that id have to keep fun reminders like cards and add visuals just to encapsulate my charcters. Make it fun. It’s like a scrapbook/journal. You can gamify taking notes, having important facts and stats as well as constantly remind yourself about your character and even add things as you go on. You did exactly this and more. Essentially a mood board and character mental & physical map.
Small Rage Noises is a perpetual mood! I love the work you're putting into your D&D characters!
I have zero knowledge about D&D but your video was recommended by the algorithm and I gave it a try - long story short, I'm AMAZED. The journal is absolutely beautiful and it actually gave me ideas on how to work my own. Thank you for sharing it, it looks super cute and organized ✨✨
Ok I know this video is like a year old so nobody is reading the comments but until I watched this video I had no idea how much I needed D&D Stickers in my life lmao
I am :)
I rewatch the video a lot. Finally going to make my own!
❤ I wish I had the patience to do this. Now, this is something my oldest daughter would love to do. 😊
Thank you for this , l took my daughters to Staples ,they bough a ton of stuff they wanted, and as it is supposed to rain the next 4 days l know they will be creatively productive. Your abilities are loved and adored.
Love the aesthetic of this! At this point I’ve commissioned so much art that I might as well start a comic book
Though a fancy character journal is probably a tad more realistic…
may be another cross over or inspiration video.
That Journal looks so good!
Thank you! 🥰
Yass 😭. I'm defo doing this for my dragon born Inferno lol ❤
As someone from Saskatchewan, i am first SUPER impressed she pronounced it right and second agreeing withthe thought of hiding such an annoying word! Lol
You really inspired me to get creative with my character sheets, too. For instance, I have my Druid written up in a binder on a piece of A4 paper, with their stats lined up such that you can overlay A5 paper: The A5 is for their wild-shapes (Dire Wolf, Giant Spider, ...) with AC, HP and the Strength, Dex and Constitution stats, and on what remains visible of the A4 are Int/Wis/Cha and other immutable stats.
Also the entire black binder's cover is completely rendered invisible by all the cute animal stickers I put on there.
omg the first journal video is one of my favorites of yours! it was such a big inspiration in starting my own journal, and now that i’m starting to run out of room in that one i’m excited to watch this one as i work on volume 2 :D
On dndbeyond, to get around the rage bonus not adding (and other things like GWM) I add multiple versions of the same weapon to my character sheet and customize them for the added bonus damage or penalties to hit. (Maul, Raging Maul, Great Master Maul, Raging Master Maul, etc.)That way I can roll the one that is correct for that situation and it will still do the calculations for me! Hope that helps others out there who don't like doing the math each time or forgets to add it after ❤
I’m starting a DND club at the middle school I work at and I think my students would LOVE doing this for their characters!
Not only are you an amazing storyteller, cosplayer, *and* roleplayer, but you're also a fantastic designer!
This is awesome! I am new to DnD and making my 1st character. While I don't have ADHD, I do get anxious and easily overwhelmed in this process but I love organizing things and it is part of my self-care process so I use journaling alot...so I combining two fun things in one!!! Thank you so much for making this video!
Such a wonderful companion to the Alsling video! Even if they don't look this awesome, character journals can be a big help in playing your character efficiently, and being ready for your turn. Here are a few notes for the less aesthetically-talented or -oriented:
2:02 An alternative for a more functional journal would be a navigation diagram, visually clarifying what each section contains. It can still look great, if you come up with some good design... Color-coding might be useful.
2:11 Notice the layout draft in the lower right. Very important if you want to plan your own, personalized layout. Especially for a different TTRPG system!
3:37 Visual cues are important. Using the graphic design style from a familiar character sheet helps you to orient yourself and to quickly find the information you want, in a unique setting like a personalized journal.
8:57 This doesn't have to be letters or diary entries. Any character-design details, in whatever form you'd like them, can be used here. It's important (at most modern tables, at least) to be able to find your way back into your character's mind, even if you don't actively roleplay them!
THE DRAGONOLOGY BOOK
I gasped as i remembered that thing. You threw me in a loop of enthusiasm and memories and now i want every d&d thing i make to be this book.
Right?! My paladin oath may have just had a line added: "*Beauty*. Treasure, defend, and share that which is fair, but be not deceived by false faces". Or, in less-paladin-y speak: "Aw, that's so pretty, I want to be part of something that neat".
I. Love. This. So creative. It just goes to show how fun and beautiful the creativity aspect of playing and GMing TTRPGs can be. We only play a few hours a month, but the creation process gives me joy for dozens of extra hours in that month.
Actually waiting on most of my supplies to arrive in the mail. Sadly, unless I get an update otherwise, it wont be arriving today like I had hoped when I placed the order, so I wont be able to have the start of a Character Journal for tonight’s dnd session. But when the supplies DOES arrive, I plan to begin putting together one like yours! It’s for a Drow Cleric of Eilistraee I’ve been playing in Icewind Dale (session 3 is tonight, and unless it changes dates, I’ll have to miss session 4, meaning I wont play again till next month, as the game is Bi-Weekly). Been basically watching and rewatching this to see how you (and others) make these beautiful journals, since I’ve never made one before. It’s a beautiful project and I hope to bring my own to life.
I've never played D&D before but I am a huge fan of RPG's like FF and Skyrim. I love the character creation and the binder to house it all. This was very inspirational maybe I'll give D&D a go!
The amount of awesome in this journal inspired me to update both my way-over-the-top character journal for Hal Stormsong and also finally update my BuJo/Scrapbook which I have ignored for a month. This is so damn cool. Kudos, Ginny!
Ahhhh I do this do! I actually started journaling after you posted your Aisling journal video, and i felt like that would, as you say, be such a lovely tribute to my characters. I actually use bullet journals for them and this has become my absolute comfort hobby, I can spend hours on a single page. Thank you for reminding me where this all started for me, and inspiring me ❤❤
Ginny, you're simply amazing. I've never thought of putting that much effort on something like this before, but you make it in a simple yet so aesthetically pleasing way that you emanate bardic inspiration for everyone that watches you.
Thank you so much, I really mean it. ❤
I somehow never noticed Penelope was Path of the Beast! My personal favorite Barbarian subclass, merging combat and exploration into arguably one of the most diverse Barbarian's due to not being locked into your choices permanently like Totem. Plus, works with shields and small races better than any other!
hell yeah girl this is what dnd is all about. CUTE ANALOG CHARACTER SHEETS. also what a dope ass idea for a character i wish them a long and happy life ✌
I've really been enjoying building my character journal for my current campaign. It even encouraged me to commission my first character art.
I really admire the amount of effort you put into your costumes. Iv dabbled in it myself..and it's fun..but your levels are up there!
Beautiful work. After DMing for stints here and there over the years, I finally now have a group that not only takes notes at all (that's a first already!), but draw beautiful art of things they encounter, jot down funny quotes, all while being the most engaging caring, wonderful people. This video reminded me of them, and I just had to gush.
Man, I love this. I'm old school and always play off paper. I tend to use form fillable PDFs, and I have a habit of keeping a copy of the character at every level so I can go back and see how they grew over time. When I get to play again, I'm totally doing something like this.
A /do/ buy stickers to give to my players. They are all teachers so they find it amusing.
Always worth keeping copies at each level, or even each session - stuff changes, sometimes rapidly, and occasionally you may want to for plot or meta reasons undo that multi class dip into cleric from 4 levels ago as not fitting the current character.
Even the sponsorship was tailored to the specific kind of weird that I love ahhhh, Im glad I discovered this side of scrapbooking
Oh my lord, the word "dragonology" just blew the dust off of the most ancient neural pathway in my brain. What a blast from the past!
OMG that Dragonology book reference made me audibly gasp with recognition. I'm so glad that im not the only one.
I build my binders that same way! I never thought of adding an envelope though. That was a nice touch!
I finished my character's journal today, I am still fighting the spell book, because the cards I made myself dont really fit, but thank you a ton for inspiration and sort of a guide! This video is very helpful and full of ideas
I've never gone quite this far, but I do like to pull apart and reorganize my character sheets so important things are easier to find. And I've found that just the act of copying things over helps me learn/remember the character's features.
Just started a new campaign after a 7 year break from DnD so it's start to give my new character some love by making a binder too! 💖
something i learned for this, is that if you choose to draw everything on paper but the paper is too thin, look for a cheap note book with thick paper, it can hold markers really well and you have lines to add small notes. using glue either a stick or the elmers school glue will create a great bond between the papers. this works so well if your original journal you choose to use has too thin of paper where you can see the pen on the other side.
I like the contrast between the effort put into this and the ranger player in my 3 year campaign that asks if he gets a second attack every combat encounter.
Watching this has made extra upset that I’m a forever DM 😢. Maybe I’ll make abridged versions for the primary antagonists of my campaign!
That could be fun, and the players could from time to time find that WIP or torn out page detailing the horrors they themselves have done. Making it a real part of being the DM, weaving it into the plot. While giving the PC lots of ways to get confused, wondering if there are other bad guys (even though it is them), or if there are other victims (so they want to help this BBEG, for a while anyway).
That's really cool. I was going to ask "what happens when your character gets disintegrated next session", but you actually covered that one! I really like how it turned out.
This is just the video I needed! I was just getting ready to start making my character journal. This is giving me so many ideas.
I LOVED that Dragonology book, it was my D&D spark.
I super loved how you put the artist names on screen when their art was there! It made it so much easier to follow up on the ones I liked, thank you for that
I made a conspiracy board for my Wizard Balthasar, and I gotta say. Crossing the room, picking up this whole ass cork board, carrying it back to the table, and pointing to the big circle that says "Vecna" never got old.
Shame Balthasar ended up turning evil and becoming the avatar of Vecna
Oh NO. You've just made an intersection between my fondness for overdeveloping my D&D characters and my new obsession with junk journals (which are ALL ABOUT those interactive bits you're talking about!) and now I may be doomed.
I fucking love you! I can’t believe you braught up the dragonology book 😂
I love Penelope so much! I’d love to see her respond to some of your POV roleplay videos. (Also, I love how Francis has embraced her role as a sponsor segment.)
This combines two of my favorite things, dnd and scrapbooking.
For your rage bonus on D&D beyond. Add a second version of the same weapon you are using. Click on it. Add custom damage bonus for your rage damage. Then when you are raging you click the roll on that weapon and when you attack and aren't you click the other one.
Wow this was so cool to watch, I feel inspired right now to give my dnd character a diary she keeps secret from her party members
One character I play alot I have a similar book for. Only it also functions as prop for her (pact of the tome warlock).
And because her patron sends her literal notes with instructions, my DM gives me small pieces of paper for said instructions, and I keep them in the book. Because it's a fun to have a record of all the quests her patron has sent her on. (also, because they are literal delivery quests it's even more fun of a quest log.)
A while ago I watched a video where you talked quite a bit about taking notes. I introduced one of my groups to using Google Docs and sharing it so we can all sit and write notes together. When someone has to leave, our sweet healer says "I'll make sure to write everything down so you don't miss anything!" She is a sweetheart.
I've largely used "Presentation Folders" with the page protectors and a few of the trading card sheets for class/racial ability and spell cards that I can swap out between characters as needed for some of the basic ones.
The folders essentially have the fold over prongs rather than the binder rings and there's a transparent front (mine also has a couple pockets in the back for other things). I'd bought a pretty large box of them for rather cheap at an office supply place a long while ago and have a decent stack of characters that last for more than a session or two...they're also rather good for keeping a few pregenerated characters in if you're running the game with something like AL games).
I loooove character journals so much!!! The utility and aesthetics in a single journal, gives me life!
I saw your previous D&D Journal video, and ever since I’ve been maintaining journals chronicling the events of each campaign I’m in. I’ve always been a note-taker, but I used to write my notes by hand in a journal. Now my notes are typed, thorough, AND organized. Thank you Ginny D for inspiring me to go the extra mile with my D&D notes.
The Dragonology book is one of my favorites. But, as a kid? Oh my age is showing!
I've rewatched your other video like a thousand times, so I'm so happy you came out with another! Amazing.
I’m going to do this with all of my characters now, this is so fun and will help me to better present my characters
When I started playing my freinds and I used to use a new composion book for each of our PCs, Ive always wanted to play more often then I was able too so I always enjoy writing in my "field journal" in first person.
I do this for my PC, and I really love it! I just work on it during sessions (we play online so I have all my craft supplies at home w me) and I find its a nice thing to do with my hands in the down time.
Ginny: "did anyone else have that Dragonology book as a kid?"
Me: glancing up from the video at my bookshelf that still holds my copy of Dragonology ... amoung other childhood favourites
Crafting is such a rewarding pastime, it really makes the soul come alive. Your journal rocks!
My brother had the Dragonology book and I had a very similar book called Fairyopolis. We also had and shared Wizardology. I gave mine away to the girls I used to watch when we moved and am looking for a new one now that I've been reminded of them.
that's inspiring. I may make journals up for my characters. I got hooked back into dnd after 20 years. played weekly for 3, but sadly i am void of dnd and miss my three dwarf ladies terribly. i miss my escape from reality too.
If you aren't confident in your ability to make something like this by hand, but still want to make some custom sheets I recommend trying to do it in Power Point. It's a surprisingly robust program for this sort of thing, and more user friendly than Illustrator.
This got me so absolutely hyped, I have already been wanting to do more creative things with my dnd character besides just constantly drawing fan art of him lol I picked up all the bits and bobs for it, snagged the items you linked, and can't wait for the sheet protectors to arrive! I've only gotten two pages done so far, but it's so fun and I can't wait to add all the details for my character Eliathandren O'Sarifal. This is such a fun character development tool on top of just being useful as a character sheet.
As someone who saves a lot of their journals, if you want to keep physical copies later and reuse your binder- pull out all the pages (optionally wrap them in a paper) and tie it up with a ribbon to store compactly. I like to label the outside so when you're feeling nostalgic you know what you're unwrapping. Second, a top tear distressing tip, fold up the paper as if it were being carried around, distress the outside really well, then unfold it and do a lighter distressing throughout. It really adds *that look*
the sleeves are such a clever idea! will definitely have to implement that :) i'm awful at taking notes and usually just write down the names of important npcs or items, but having a cute journal has definitely been incentive in my spelljammer game to take more detailed notes!! plus my character's a doodler so doodling on my notes is acceptable/in-character lol
I'm going to make one of these for my cleric, Emily. She's my favorite NPC that I can finally play as a PC. I'm pretty excited to make a journal like that!
Hell yeah the Dragonology handbook was awesome!
There's also a D&D themed one called "Dungeonology"
Sooo I’ll have to thank TH-cam random suggestion for leading me to this gem 💎
I actually do the same, have done so for my various PGs and will continue to do so.
My notes for the campaigns I play in go in a notebook that is full of lil sketches just for the fun (like a merchant sign for the shopping list, a quick doodle of an npc to remember their appearance or a skull when we thought we were headed towards tpk lol)
Also, my last pg for an Iron Kingdom campaign (d&d but make it steampunk-ish) was an inventor/mechanic so she had her very own weathered-leather journal where she jotted down ideas for her creations (and yes, my DM kept receiving those very ideas at like 3 in the morning), lists of stuff she needed to buy, people she had to meet and so on. And when in the end she died (in a “if I’m going down, you’re coming with us to the bottom of the ocean the moment this boat explodes” way) my dm was in pieces. It’s been almost a year and he still mourns her.
So yeah, I totally get it when you say “if she dies it’ll be worth it”
(and tbh is also soooo nice to just dive back into those random tidbits of info of past campaigns and long-lost pgs you kinda forgot, it’s like going through a family photo album) ❤
Oooooooooh! I've been looking forward to this!
I still have my copy of Pirateology! My younger brother destroyed Dragonology, and bought me a copy of Pirateology to replace it because he couldn't find Dragonology
The city where I live is still extremely visible on your purely-for-the-aestethic map - so when I suddenly get the feeling that I'm being scrutinized by a Deep Gnome Barbarian, I'll know Penelope is having adventures!
We totally bought the dragonology book for my eldest, we all enjoyed it immensely. 💖
I was inspired by the first video to make a character binder for my dhampir monk and now, as I'm getting ready for a new campaign as a kobold ranger, I'm working on another. These videos are great inspiration and I love them! I also really like the more scrapbook vibe of this one, and since I'm making a ranger, I might do something very similar!
I started thinking about doing a slightly less extra version of this for one of my characters and slowly realized over the course of the video that both of our characters are small, fey-adjacent beast barbarians. Really threw me for a loop.
Mine is a teddy bear construct (using the stats of an autognome) built by a fey and powered by an actual human heart. And he collects teeth. He doesn't just live in the uncanny valley, he was literally made there.
I feel like my life diverged at the point that I got that Dragonology book
Ginny, i need you to know that the sleeves you linked went from being in stock to sold out in
I love your character Penelope! Love your D&D videos and helped me along the start of my D&D journey. This video has inspired me to make personalised journals for my characters.
This is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen a DnD player do.
I just came here after watching other videos about creating a character and watching this really contributed to what I've looked for!
It's great to see Dnd players be so highly invested in the character it's almost a shame if it has to end someday.
In my case I play DnD with 4 friends and all of them live in the same town so we're able to play once a week. Really getting to know the own character to that extent has always been a challenge because most campaigns only last for about 6 months.
I do enjoy writing and thinking about new characters tho!
Still it's just amazing watching you care about this character so much, it's really inspiring! - and thank you c:
Ginny's handwriting is so good!
I might use something like this for my novel's characters. Probably not with a new journal for each character, but maybe color coding the pages so I know where one character ends and another begins. Thanks for the inspiration!
I once watched a video that jokingly mentioned how being obsessed with the Dragonology book essentially was a sure sign of ADHD, autism, and neurodivergence, haha! It is definitely true for me!
This journal came out SO lovely. I watched your Aisling video over and over again, and this one also came out so well. The art that you got commissioned is fabulous! I would love if you ever showed a before and after video of your character journal being filled up or updated after a campaign is over. Thank you for always bringing so much aesthetic to DnD!
I have made a custom character notebook before, but keeping it modular with a binder is definitely a tip I will keep in mind for a next one!
I'm ADHD and prefer paper as well, I've always thought that makes a lot of sense. I can have more control of what is happening, and also concentrate in the analog crafting of it.
I think I would enjoy this for my astral elf character I’m using for my radiant citadel campaign.
👍👍 it's awesome! I did something similar a while back, the prompts and profiles for combat stuff and writing a letter in character, it was so fun 😊!
Omggg the dragonology book, I think about it so often!!!
Very nice character book and I enjoy seeing your delight at it. (I'm from the school of take a blank index card and write everything you need on one side of it, though)