The metrics that actually keep work in ttrpg campaigns honest
The signals I care about are whether session prep stays short, whether player choices produce visible consequences, and whether the notes are strong enough that the next session can begin from motion instead of recap fatigue.
Three metrics worth pressure-testing:
- prep time saved by reusing session structures
- player callback rate to earlier story hooks
- how often reusable GM notes carry across arcs or campaigns
Source material behind the scorecard:
- Cairn: cairnrpg.com/
An openly licensed, beautifully clean ruleset that rewards smart prep and active play.
- Donjon generators: donjon.bin.sh/
A durable resource for names, dungeons, treasure, and procedural prompts.
If your team has a sharper dashboard, share the metric definitions and the decisions they actually change. That is what makes numbers reusable.