July 12, 2026
How to write a D&D session recap fast (60-second template)
The short answer: a good recap is five lines, written right afterthe session while it's hot, and read aloud in under a minute at the top of the next one. Here is the whole template. Copy it into whatever you take notes with:
LAST TIME: one sentence: where the party was and what they were doing.
YOU AGREED TO: the promise/job/deal currently driving the story.
COMPLICATION: the thing that went wrong or got revealed.
UNRESOLVED: 1–3 open threads, as questions.
YOU LEFT OFF: the exact moment/location the session ended on.
Why after, not before
Most GMs write the recap the night before the next session, reconstructing events from two-week-old memory and half-legible notes. It's slow, details come out wrong, and players correct you mid-recap, which is a great way to open game night with an argument. The same recap written within an hour of the session ending takes about a minute, because nothing has to be reconstructed. You're not doing more work; you're doing the same work while it's cheap.
Why five lines and not a summary
Players don't need the plot re-narrated; they were there. They need the four things the template captures: the active promise, the complication, the open questions, and the exact freeze-frame you're unpausing from. Everything else is trivia. A recap that runs past two minutes costs you attention exactly when you want it most.
Make it a ritual, not a chore
- Read it aloud in a “previously on…” voice. It's corny. It works; tables settle instantly.
- Post it in your group chat the day before. Absent players catch up; present players get hyped.
- End the recap with the UNRESOLVED questions and then ask, “so, what do you do?”
Related: the note-taking habit that makes this template take one minute instead of ten is in how to keep track of a D&D campaign.
If you'd rather not write it at all
Full disclosure: we make Lorevia, which generates the “previously on” recap automatically from your session notes and keeps a running entry for every NPC, place, and quest. The template above works with zero tools, though. The habit is the fix; the tool just removes the typing.