Too bad my players wouldn't do this no matter how much work I put into it.
You could set a house-rule that requires your players to do the recap at the beginning of each session. Tell them it has to be from the journal and make sure you give them ten or twenty minutes at the end of each session to write in their journals.
You could offer them incentives, like XP or better magic weapons or something like that. It may take a few sessions, but they may get really into it.
I very specifically told them I would never, ever give them "homework" for this game. I let them know that anything extra they did would be greatly appreciated and would pay dividends in the story and gameplay but it would never be required.
I've played in games where it was and, despite the fact that I love doing extra stuff around my character and the game worlds, I resented the idea that I had to do it.
That way lies bad mojo.
Having said that, a few of the players have made some really interesting back stories all on their own. I'm absolutely going to incorporate them into the overall story in a cool way. Hopefully seeing that happen will motivate the other players to do the same.
I very specifically told them I would never, ever give them "homework" for this game. I let them know that anything extra they did would be greatly appreciated and would pay dividends in the story and gameplay but it would never be required.
I've played in games where it was and, despite the fact that I love doing extra stuff around my character and the game worlds, I resented the idea that I had to do it.
That way lies bad mojo.
Having said that, a few of the players have made some really interesting back stories all on their own. I'm absolutely going to incorporate them into the overall story in a cool way. Hopefully seeing that happen will motivate the other players to do the same.
Yeah - I don't give my players homework either. I don't want to do anything that will discourage them from playing and having fun with the game.
I'm like you - I love doing stuff for the campaign, and in the off-chance that I get to play I love making a nice back-story and having all the pieces fit together.
I think it may be one of the primary differences between a DM and a player. We inherently spend a lot of time with the material and plan the world and the adventures and run all the NPCs - it's time consuming but enjoyable. I'm not sure most players would agree that any part of it is enjoyable, other than the play itself.
At the start of every session I used to award one AP to the player that made the recap.
After a while one player started keeping a very detailed journal and it happened to be the same player that wanted to do the recaps.
She gets her AP every time and all the other players (including me the DM) are very happy for having someone to ease them in our session. I recently started reading the journal and got lots of ideas for our campaign.
I currently use a funpoint system (based on Greg Bilsland's house rules). The one the players have been strugling with is note keeping. This may be just the thing needed to encourage that more.
