Because players miss sessions, you forget things, and sometimes someone said something was so freaking funny you'd be kicking yourself for not having captured it.

These actual play recordings aren't podcast-worthy; they're the rough cuts—average-to-poor sound quality with the low hum of your AC or refrigerator in the background.

The time spent creating session content, and the shared experience it makes is capture-worthy. And nobody will listen to these except you and maybe brave members of your group, but the information is invaluable.

The microphones and software in your phone are already sophisticated enough for the task. You only need to go out and buy something fancy if you are an audio dork like me and want to get into it.

Voice Cringe: If you don't like the sound of your voice played back at you, that's what you sound like to everyone else; you may as well get to know the real you. Honestly, you do get over it after a while.

Basic

You'll have no problem finding a sound voice recorder app for your phone (even the stock app). We're keeping these methods cheap because it's more about getting an audio log to leave in the pocket of your dead skeleton so some protagonist in an apocalyptic future can listen to your D&D sessions and give them hope:

  • Naming Conventions: YYYY-MM-DD GameName Session#
  • Keep hope alive by placing your Phone or Omnidirectional recording device on a sound dampener. Thick felt pads work well as they slide around the table quickly.
  • Rubber mats for your players to roll math rocks on. Those little boulders are loud AF if you don't have any shock absorption.
  • Placement: Once you figure this out, drop that sucker in the middle of the table so everyone's voice carries an equal distance. Moving the recording device justcloser to the GM is good, as the conversation is mainly directed toward them.

Advanced

If you want to record a session easier on the ears, you'll need software to scrub the audio clean of room noise and use compression and a limiter to add that professional touch—basically, more money. Recommendations:

  • Cleanup: iZotope RX: Elements has everything you need for basic cleanup, but you can always spend more with anything in the audio gear.
  • Plugins: Presswerk has compression and a limiter, and you can run it in RX, allowing you to see the changes you are making to the audio. Although if you want to dump money into this insanity, get Pro-L2 and Pro-C2. They have a Pro Bundle that goes on sale semi-annually that I highly recommend $$$.
  • File Format: You'll soon discover that recording to MP3 is compressed trash, and 32-bit WAV format is God tier for your purposes. We've now hit peak insanity with this project, and you are drowning in foolish debt. Your Phone or whatever is trash for this task, and you up all night looking into Curtis Judd reviews into pro audio recording devices, microphones, tutorials and techniques. spiRalINg deepER IntO tHe RaBbIT hOLE.

Congratulations, you're an actual play podcast now!