I have started recording my sessions. And there are a couple of reasons why you, too, should do that.
It helps you remember details
When I’m DMing I have to keep track of lots of things. So I am going to forget small, but sometimes important, details of things that have happened during the session by the time it ends. But, since I record my games, there is no chance I won’t be reminded of them. This way, I can plan my next session without missing anything.
It helps you improve your skills
When I listen to one of my recorded sessions, I always find something that can be improved. I note it down and make sure to keep it in mind for the next session. For example, one time I realized that in one session I wasn’t describing very well the characters’ surroundings. Since then, I have been putting more effort into it.
You can write a session report more easily
If you like writing session reports that’s a lifesaver. You won’t have to take notes in the middle of the session or put effort into remembering what happened afterwards.
You can just keep a collection of your sessions
If you are a perfect DM with awesome memory, the reasons above aren’t that appealing. However, even then, keeping records of your sessions can still have its usefulness. Listening to your sessions can be fun. I would never believe that I would enjoy listening to my sessions that much. A hilarious catchphrase one of your players comes up with on the fly, the occasional inside joke or that critical success or failure that led to hilarious situations have extra value because you were there when they happened.
I use a small audio recorder I got at a reasonable price. The quality of the audio is actually pretty good. I even keep it behind the DM Screen and it has no problem recording everything my players say.
But if you don’t want to buy an audio recorder just for gaming, there is another solution too. You can record the sessions using your phone’s recorder. You will have to find a good spot to place it and the recordings may not have super good quality but it will work. You won’t be using the recordings for a podcast anyway.
Until next time, have fun!
The Kind GM 
Our DM started doing this for memory purposes, and also cut it together to use as a recap for us. It was incredibly useful and very fun!
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I started doing this on January and I regret not doing before. It is really useful. What your DM is doing is very cool!
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It’s great because we can listen back and relive it. We haven’t played for a bit but we’re picking it up again in a few weeks, so hopefully I can convince him to do it again. It can be hilarious to listen back to what you’re characters do!
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That you’re/your is going to annoy me now…
In any case, great post!
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I’d love to do this, but we have one group member who usually takes on a leadership or other pivotal role (e.g. the investigator in our recent Dresden Files campaign, the driver in our Dread game and the agent of the Justicar in Vampire) whk gets extremely anxious when recording and clams up.
I completely agree with you on the value of recording sessions and it is something I would love to do, but it’s just not gonna work for my current group.
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That’s a pity because it has really helped me. When I started recording I told my players I do this for personal use only and it’s not going to go online. Also, to keep them from thinking about it, I put the recorder behind the DM Screen. That way, they forget about it and play how they would play without me recording the sessions.
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