How to make your DND players remember what happened last session

Whether you play every month, biweekly, or if you are one of the lucky few who gets to play every single week (The dream, right?), each session starts with that one question.

“What happened last session?”

Most of the time, I see my players frantically looking at each other, and then at me. “uhhh, there was this one NPC.” Followed by another player, “I think he’s dead!” “No no no, that was that other dude. I think?” And before you know it, they just stop and look at you. Waiting until I tell them what actually happened.

Again.

I get it. It should be our job to remind them about things they forgot. But, as a DM, it’s also our job to prep every session, work on those puzzles, traps, and treasure. So, it would be amazing to have players at the table who at least remember all the cool hints, tips, and story hooks. And if they don’t? They’re just lazy, right?

Wrong!

By giving them the recap every session yourself, you’re teaching them that there are no consequences to not taking notes. So, I have to say. It’s your fault. But I am also here to say, we’ve got your back! These last months, I have been talking with all my groups about this issue. And let them figure out some ideas that would work for them especially.

And honestly, some of the solutions were way simpler than I expected. So instead of keeping them to ourselves, here you go.

3 ways to make your players remember what happened last session!

1.       Give them something to hold on to

The party arrives at the end of the dungeon. They expect a room full of loot. But they only find a letter from the BBEG, telling the party about something something bla bla bla ADVENTURE!

You’ve prepped this information. So, take the extra mile and make it an ACTUAL letter! Print it, send it over through text. That doesn’t matter. But give them the physical thing to keep.

2.      Recap AFTER the session, not before!

You’ve just played for 4 hours. Had a blast. And while everyone is packing, just ask the question now. What happened? This way, you force your players to remember now, while it is all still fresh. This helps remembering next session when you ask the same question. Trust me.

3.      Take notes, all of you.

This feels kind of obvious. But your players should take notes. And not just the one who always takes notes. That only shifts the problem. ALL players should take notes. And no, not on their character sheet. Where it gets thrown away each time you level, die, or print out a new sheet. A dedicated place for notes. My tip? Our Adventure Log, specifically made to tackle this problem.

Bonus tip, and maybe the best remedy for this issue. Talk about it with your players! Ask them if they feel like they don’t know what they’re doing. Get a conversation going about how it can be fixed. Ultimately, D&D is a game where we all want to tell an epic story. So, if you are the only one who remembers it, is it a story worth telling?

This answer should always be yes.