Rep System GMing 04: Like Riding a Bike

Do you struggle to remember things from your reference materials and from earlier sessions?

This happened to me a lot. It still does sometimes. I get into the zone in a session, keeping track of everything that’s going on. Then… the session ends. I come out of the zone. From a more typical state of mind, it can be hard to remember what just happened.

It’s also tricky to keep track of all the NPCs, plot hooks, town names and the structure of your Pantheon – all these reference documents, sitting off to the side.

I’m a lot better at all that than I used to be.

Now, there are memory tricks you can use. Maybe some of them will work well for you. Or maybe they’ll feel just like that – tricks. Gimmicks. Curious toys that don’t actually help you.

We’ve already talked about how to use your visual and auditory systems.

That just leaves your kinaesthetic systems – your senses of touch, balance and feel.

People talk about muscle memory. They say it’s like riding a bike – something you never forget, once you know how. Oh, sure, your skills might degrade. If the skill relies on your fitness – like playing tennis – then becoming unfit will hinder the skills too.

Still, the basic skills are there, even decades later.

Your kinaesthetic rep system – your muscle memory – holds things stable inside you for years. Need to remember the geography of the land, a family tree or the hierarchy of the gods? Do it with your tactile senses.

Map the concepts to your body.

Think about the texture and shape of the ideas. Yes, a family tree does have a texture – and I don’t mean the paper it’s printed on. If you don’t know that, then you’ll get a lot out of developing this inside you.

Heck, you can do a dance that helps you remember. If a dance is too much, come up with a simple gesture for it.

Like the other rep systems, some of you don’t see the value here – doesn’t everyone do this already?

And some of you don’t see the value here – how could that possibly work?

Curious, no?

Either way, this will help you to remember stuff over the long haul. Experiment with it. You might need to develop this skill inside yourself and that’s okay. In fact, it’s great – if you’ve gotten this far without using this part of yourself, just how much more can you do with it?