The Two-Board System

Overview: Organizing Creative Chaos

The Two-Board System transforms campaign management from mental juggling to physical organization. Inspired by agile project management and kanban workflows, it creates a visual, tactile system for tracking your campaign’s past, present, and future.

Whether implemented physically with actual boards and index cards or digitally with folders and files, the system provides clear information architecture that reduces cognitive load and improves creative flow.

The Two Organizational Levels

The system uses two distinct levels—Campaign and Module—each serving a specific purpose in your workflow.

• Campaign Board: Tracks the big picture (entire campaign arc)
• Module Board: Tracks adventure content (runnable modules)

Sessions are play time, not planning. A module might take 1 session or 6 sessions to complete—that’s determined by your players at the table, not your planning ahead of time. You run modules; sessions happen.

Campaign Board

Time Horizon: Entire campaign arc Review Cycle: Monthly Purpose: Track overarching narrative and long-term developments

This board tracks the readiness and lifecycle of campaign-level elements. The Campaign board manages:

• Campaign documentation readiness
• Player character integration status
• Major arc development stages
• Long-term thread tracking
• Campaign health metrics

The Campaign Binder

The Campaign board tracks the health and development of your Campaign Binder, which contains:

• Section 1: Core Documents (Campaign Bible, Theme Cards)
• Section 2: Major NPCs (Antagonists, Allies, Neutral Powers)
• Section 3: Player Characters (Arcs, Backstory Integration)
• Section 4: World Events (Timeline, Background Events)
• Section 5: Campaign Health (Attendance, Energy Levels, Feedback)

Workflow Stages

Module Board

Time Horizon: Current adventure arc Review Cycle: Weekly (post-session) Purpose: Manage runnable adventure content

This board manages the development lifecycle of your modules—complete, runnable adventures. The Module board tracks:

• Module development stages
• Component readiness (encounters, NPCs, locations)
• Adventure content completion
• Current module progress
• Module completion status

The Module Binder

The Module board tracks the health and development of your Module Binder, which contains:

• Section 1: Module Overview (Front matter, hooks, structure)
• Section 2: Adventure Content (Read-aloud text, encounters, scenes)
• Section 3: NPCs (Synced from front matter references)
• Section 4: Locations (Maps, descriptions, environmental details)
• Section 5: DM Notes (Pacing, scaling, troubleshooting)

Workflow Stages

Running Sessions

Sessions aren’t planned on a board—they happen when you sit down to play. Here’s how sessions fit into the system:

Before Each Session

1. Review where you are in the active module
2. Note which scenes/encounters are likely next
3. Pull NPC information from your synced files
4. Gather materials (maps, handouts, stat blocks)

During the Session

Run the module content, adapting to player choices. The module provides structure; your DM skills provide energy.

After Each Session

Capture Play Notes:

• What happened (key events, decisions)
• Player reactions and theories
• Dangling threads
• DM notes for next time

These notes flow back up to update your Module and Campaign documentation.

For detailed guidance on running sessions, see Running the Game.

How the Boards Work Together

The two boards create a natural workflow that pulls information where it’s needed, when it’s needed. Here’s how it works in practice:

Starting from Zero

You’ve got a group of friends who want to play D&D, and you’ve offered to DM. Your Campaign board starts empty, but ideas begin flowing onto cards in the Concept column: “Dragon Civil War,” “The Last Gods,” “The Imprisoned Corruption.” You share these sparks with your players over coffee, gauging reactions. Their eyes light up at the mention of ancient evils and dwarven ruins—“The Imprisoned Corruption” it is.

The card moves to Session Zero on your Campaign board. You create your first Campaign Binder documents: a Campaign Pitch that captures the dark fantasy tone, and a Starting Scenario describing the mining town of Greyhold. When your players create their characters—Marcus the paladin seeking redemption, Thora the dwarven merchant, Elara the scholar-wizard, and Torin the veteran fighter—these become new cards moving into Integration. You’re building a living world around their choices.

Campaign to Module Flow

Session Zero was two weeks ago. Your players are excited, characters are built, and everyone’s ready to discover what “The Imprisoned Corruption” means. Your Campaign board shows cards in Active: the overarching threat, three player character arcs, and the Ironhold setting. Time to create your first module.

You grab a card and write “The Brittle Steel Mystery.” This opening module needs to accomplish several things: introduce the corruption threat without revealing everything, give each character a reason to care, and establish Ironhold as worth saving. You move it to Planning on your Module board.

Opening your Campaign Binder, you pull what you need: the corruption theme, the sealed evil that mustn’t escape, the promise of heroes preventing catastrophe. These Campaign-level truths shape your module planning—the players will discover a local mystery that’s actually the first symptom of something vast.

Through the week, you develop the module. You write the YAML front matter referencing monsters from your catalog. You draft read-aloud text for key scenes. You detail the encounters and DM notes. By week’s end, when you move it to Ready on your Module board, your module is complete and runnable.

The important part isn’t the creation process—it’s that your Module board shows you exactly when to start the next one. When your current module is nearly complete, that’s your trigger. You’ll move a new idea from Backlog to Planning, opening your Campaign Binder again to ensure the next arc connects to your larger story.

Module to Play

Your first module is ready. “The Brittle Steel Mystery” sits in the Ready column of your Module board, complete with all the content needed to run. Time for game night.

You don’t need a separate session board. The module itself contains everything: the opening scene in the Rusty Anvil tavern, three ways the characters might meet, the panicked smith who bursts in with broken tools. Before each session, you review where you are in the module, note what’s likely to happen next, and gather your materials.

As you prep, you realize Torin’s player mentioned wanting family in town. Nothing in your module prevents this—in fact, it’s perfect. You make a note: the panicked smith is Torin’s cousin. This session-level detail enriches the module content without requiring any board updates.

Game night unfolds beautifully—the party investigates, theorizes, and decides to check the Deepguard Archive. Perfect. This is exactly one of the paths your module anticipated. The next morning, you capture play notes: what happened, player theories (Tom thinks it’s sabotage, Sarah suspects magic), and threads to follow up.

The module continues over subsequent sessions. It takes as many sessions as it takes—the players’ pace determines the timeline, not your planning.

The Complete Circuit

Game night generates new information. The party saved Morak but couldn’t prevent the seal from cracking. Sarah’s character revealed she can read ancient dwarven—a surprise that needs tracking. The party decided to seek out the remaining seals immediately rather than returning to town.

These outcomes flow back up. You update your Module with the seal’s status and the party’s chosen direction. This module will likely wrap next session—earlier than expected. At the Module level, you move “The Second Seal” from Backlog to Planning.

When month’s end comes, your Campaign review shows the pattern. The Imprisoned Corruption arc has driven three successful modules. Marcus’s player specifically mentioned how the corruption theme resonates with his redemption arc. You update your Campaign documentation, adding notes about how each seal’s breaking should escalate the visible effects.

The circuit is complete: Campaign priorities shaped Module selection, Modules provided adventure content, play generated outcomes that updated Modules, and Module completions informed Campaign evolution.

Feedback Loops: Information Flowing Back Up

The Two-Board System isn’t just about pulling content down—it’s about pushing discoveries back up. Every session generates information that needs to flow upward through your system.

Play → Module Flow (What happened affects the current arc): During Session 3, the players completely ignored the merchant quarter and spent two hours investigating the abandoned mine instead. They’re convinced the corruption originates underground. This discovery flows up to your Module board: add a card to Backlog for “The Forgotten Shafts” location.

Play → Campaign Flow (What happened affects everything): Tom’s wizard just used a spell in a creative way that shattered your assumptions about magic in this world. This flows all the way up to Campaign. You update your magic system notes in the Campaign Binder. Every future module will incorporate this new understanding.

Module → Campaign Flow (Completed arcs shape the future): “The Brittle Steel Mystery” is complete. The party saved Ironhold but made enemies of the Goldbeard clan in the process. This module outcome flows up to Campaign level: move “Goldbeard Revenge” from Concept to Active.

Player Interest Signals (The most important feedback): Session 2: Sarah mentions her merchant character should have contacts in other cities. Session 4: She asks specifically about trade routes to Ironpeak. Session 6: She wants to send a message to her factor there.

This pattern flows up through every level. At Module: your next arc features Ironpeak. At Campaign: you develop the Merchant Guild as a major faction. Sarah’s interests are writing your campaign.

Review Cadences

The system works because you touch it regularly. Not lengthy planning sessions—quick, focused check-ins that keep everything flowing.

Post-Session (20 minutes): The morning after game night, while it’s fresh. Capture what happened in your play notes, what surprised you, what the players loved. These notes feed everything else. Don’t analyze yet—just record.

Pre-Session (60-90 minutes): Before each game. Review where you are in the active module. Pull the information you need. Prep NPCs who might appear. This isn’t creation time—it’s assembly and customization.

Weekly Module Check (10 minutes): Usually the day after a session. Quick glance: How far through the current module? Anything need to bubble up to Campaign level? Any Backlog ideas ready to move to Planning? This prevents the “Oh no, my module ends next session and I have nothing planned” panic.

Monthly Campaign Review (30 minutes): Once per month. Are player arcs getting spotlight time? Has the campaign drifted from its core themes? What Background elements should activate? This is when you zoom out and see the forest, not just the trees.

Success Indicators

You know the Two-Board System is working when:

• Prep flows smoothly: Module content is ready; you just review and gather
• Sessions feel connected: Clear throughlines between games
• Players notice continuity: Their actions have visible consequences
• Cognitive load drops: Less mental juggling during sessions
• Creativity increases: More mental space for improvisation

Signs It’s Working

• You check boards for answers, not obligation
• Prep feels like assembly, not creation
• Players notice consequences spanning sessions
• You can explain any NPC’s motivation instantly
• Campaign events feel inevitable, not forced

Next Steps

With the Two-Board System as your organizational foundation, you’re ready to:

• Start a new campaign: Follow the Campaign Genesis Process to build from spark to first session
• Create your first module: Use the Module Creation Workflow to design sustainable story arcs
• Master running the game: Apply Running the Game techniques for consistent quality

Remember: The goal isn’t perfect documentation but sustainable organization. When you spend less mental energy tracking information, you have more available for creating memorable experiences.