A session recap does two jobs. Next week, it gets everyone back into the story in the two minutes before the dice come out. A year from now, the pile of them is your campaign's history.
Below is a template that works for D&D, Pathfinder or any other game, a filled-in example, and some notes on reading a recap out at the table. Copy it into whatever your group already uses.
The template
# Session [number]: [a short title for the night]
Played: [real date] In game: [date, or "two days after the wedding"]
At the table: [character (player), character (player), ...]
## Previously
[One or two sentences. Where the last session left off.]
## What happened
- [The first thing that mattered]
- [The next thing]
- [Three to seven beats in total, in order]
## People we met
- [Name]: [who they are, in one line, and what they want]
## Places
- [Name]: [what it is, and why we were there]
## What we got
- [Loot, money, rewards, and favours owed to us]
## Open threads
- [Questions we have not answered]
- [Promises we made]
## Best line
"[The quote]" - [who said it]
## Next time
[Where the party is right now, and what they meant to do next.]
What each section is for
The title. Give the session a name, not just a number. People remember "the night under the pier" long after they have forgotten it was session 14.
Dates. The real date helps you find things. The in-game date matters more than it seems: travel time, downtime and deadlines all depend on it, and it is the first thing everyone forgets.
At the table. Who played, and who was away. A player catching up after missing a week will want to know what their character was doing.
Previously. One or two sentences that link this session to the last one. This is the part you read aloud first.
What happened. Beats, not a transcript. Each line is an outcome or a decision: the party learned something, chose something, won or lost something. If you have more than seven, some of them belong together.
People we met and Places. One line each. These answer the most common question at any table, "wait, who was that again?" If a name keeps coming back, give it a page in your campaign wiki.
What we got. Treasure, money and favours, and who is holding them. It saves an argument later.
Open threads. The most useful section in the whole recap. Unanswered questions and promises the party made are what drive the next session, and they are exactly what gets lost between games.
Best line. Optional, but this is often what people reread recaps for.
Next time. The exact scene you stopped in, so the next session can start there without a recap of the recap.
A filled-in example
This is the session from the note-taking guide, written up with the template.
Session 14: Under the North Pier. Played 12 October. In game, our second night in Gullhaven. At the table: Tess (Mara), Wren (Jo) and Hob (Sam).
Previously
We arrived in Gullhaven with a letter sealed in blue wax and no idea who sent it.
What happened
- At the Leaky Lantern, the innkeeper Brom admitted that the harbourmaster takes a cut of every smuggled crate.
- Brom paid us 40 gold to keep his name out of it.
- Wren spotted robed figures meeting the night ferry, and refused to call it a cult just yet.
- We agreed to watch the north pier after dark.
- A boat with no lights came in, and we hid under the pier as it tied up.
People we met
- Brom: innkeeper of the Leaky Lantern. Frightened of the harbourmaster, and paying us to stay quiet.
- The harbourmaster: not met yet. Takes a cut of the smuggling.
Places
- The Leaky Lantern: a dockside inn, and where we are staying.
- The north pier: where the boats with no lights come in.
What we got
- 40 gold from Brom. Tess is holding it.
Open threads
- Who sent the letter with the blue seal?
- What is in the smuggled crates?
- Who are the robed figures at the ferry?
Best line
"I'm not saying it's a cult. I'm saying it has robes." - Wren
Next time
We are under the north pier, and a boat with no lights is tying up right above us.
Reading it out at the table
The recap earns its keep in the first few minutes of the next game.
- Have a player read it, not the GM. It gives the GM a minute to set up, and the story sounds like the party's own.
- Read "Previously" and "What happened" only. The rest is for reference. Two minutes is plenty.
- Ask "did we miss anything?" Someone always remembers a detail, and the GM can correct anything the party misunderstood without spoiling what they did not.
- Finish on "Next time" and start playing straight from that scene.
Keep it short, and keep it soon
Half a page is the right length. If a recap needs more than that, the "What happened" list probably has too much detail in it.
Write it within a day or two of the game. After a week, the recap becomes guesswork, and a short recap written the same evening beats a long one that never gets finished. If writing the whole thing is the problem, take turns, or split it so one person writes "What happened" and another fills in the people and places.
Where to keep recaps
Keep them all in one place, numbered, oldest first. Once you have a few, link the names in each recap to a page about that person or place, and you have the start of a shared campaign wiki.
If you use RealmBinder
In RealmBinder, each session note can start from rough notes, a recording of the game, or a short interview where Chronicler asks about the session one question at a time. A short recap of the last session sits on the campaign's front page and updates when the notes change, so it is ready to read out when everyone sits down.
The template is still a good checklist for what to put in your rough notes. If the names, decisions and open threads are in there, the recap has something to work with.