Journals & Handouts

The Memory Palace of Your World

Imagine a library where every book updates itself, pictures appear when you need them, and secret pages show themselves only to the people you choose. That's Foundry's Journal: one place for everything that makes your world breathe.

No more shuffling paper notes, losing that crucial NPC name, or forgetting which player has the ancient map. Your journals sit in the Journal tab of the sidebar, sorted into folders, and you decide exactly who can read each one.

The Journal Ecosystem

Most GMs end up with five kinds of journal entries. Each one is a Journal Entry document that holds one or more pages.

How a Journal Entry Is Built

Since V10, a Journal Entry is a small book made of pages. The page list runs down the side of the journal window, and you can mix page types in one entry:

• Text pages: written in the built-in rich text editor (ProseMirror), with headings, lists, tables, images, links to other documents, inline dice rolls and secret blocks. There's also a raw HTML option if you like to type your own markup.
• Image pages: one picture with an optional caption, ideal for handouts, portraits and player maps.
• PDF pages: a PDF shown in Foundry's built-in viewer, handy for rules summaries or a scanned handout.
• Video pages: an uploaded video file or a web link (YouTube is supported) for cutscenes and visions.

Headings inside a Text page show up under that page in the journal's table of contents, so a long entry stays easy to jump around.

Creating Your First Journal Entry

Let's build a tavern that's more than a building: it's a character in your story. Click Create Journal Entry in the Journal tab, name it, then add pages. The sketch below shows the idea: a page list on the left and the open Text page on the right, with a secret block that only you can see.

The Art of Information Architecture

Organizing your journals is like building a wiki for your world. Good organization means finding anything in seconds during play.

Folders can nest, and you can drag entries between them. Prefixes like NPC_ and LOC_ make the sidebar's search box far more useful mid-session.

Ownership: Who Sees What

Every Journal Entry, and every page inside it, has its own ownership settings. Right-click an entry in the sidebar and choose Ownership to set a default for all players and an override for any individual player:

Because pages carry their own ownership, one entry can hold a public page and a GM-only page side by side. Inside a Text page, you can also mark a passage as a secret block: owners see it, observers don't. Owners can reveal a secret block later with a click.

Showing Handouts to Players

Handouts aren't just information: they're objects from your world that players can (virtually) hold. Most handouts become Image pages; a typed letter fits a Text page, and a scanned booklet fits a PDF page.

Putting a Handout in Front of Everyone

1. Open the journal entry (or Image page) you want to reveal.
2. Use Show Players from the window's header controls.
3. Pick which players see it. Foundry can also give them permission to view it, so it stays in their Journal tab for later.

The handout pops open on their screens. If you didn't grant permission, they get the pop-up but can't reopen it afterwards, which is perfect for a quick glimpse of something they shouldn't keep.

Rich Content in Journals

Journals are far more than text. Here's what each page type can hold:

There's no "audio page". For sound, use a playlist (see Audio & Music).

Secrets and Revelations

The true power of journals lies in controlling who sees what. Here's one NPC entry seen three ways:

Map Notes: Pin Journals to the Scene

Drag a journal entry (or a single page) from the sidebar onto the scene and Foundry drops a Map Note there: a pin that opens the journal when clicked. Use the Notes controls in the scene toolbar to move, edit or delete notes; each note can have its own icon and text label.

• Pin each room's description to the room on a dungeon map, so you can click it as the party enters.
• Pin a town's shops and NPCs to the town map.
• Players only see a note if they're allowed to see the journal it points to, so you can pin secret notes without spoiling anything.

Session Notes: Your Campaign Chronicle

Session notes in Foundry become a living history of your campaign. They're not just records: they're resources you'll link to for months.

A Session Note Template

Build this with the editor's headings and lists (it's shown here as plain text). Make the main page Observer for players and keep the "Next Session Prep" on a separate GM-only page.

# Session 12: The Dragon's Bargain
Date: October 15, 2023
Players present: Alice (Thorin), Bob (Elara), Charlie (Zephyr), Dana (Kai)

## Previously...
The party discovered the ancient map in the Prancing Pony's cellar.

## This Session
### Act 1: The Journey Begins
- Hired a guide, the "Mysterious Stranger" (secretly Lord Vex)
- Bought supplies from Mira (haggled a 20% discount)
- Zephyr picked the guard captain's pocket (got a key)

### Act 2: The Ambush
- Goblin attack on the mountain pass
- Thorin's critical hit felled the goblin chief
- Elara's fireball turned the tide
- Found a letter hinting at a larger threat

### Act 3: The Dragon's Lair
- Negotiated with Syltharion the Ancient
- Kai rolled a natural 20 on persuasion
- The dragon revealed the Sunstone's location
- Price: one future favor...

## Cliffhanger
As the party leaves, smoke rises from Westbridge!

## Treasure Gained
- 500 gp from the goblins
- Potion of Fire Resistance
- Map to the Sunstone Temple

## NPC Reactions
- Dragon: amused and intrigued
- Mysterious Stranger: suspiciously helpful
- Guard captain: knows something was stolen

## Plot Threads Advanced
- Sunstone location revealed
- Lord Vex's infiltration continues
- NEW: Westbridge under attack?

## Next Session Prep (GM-only page)
- [ ] Build the burning Westbridge scene
- [ ] Stat blocks for the town defenders
- [ ] Decide who's attacking and why
- [ ] Lord Vex's next move
                

Linking: The Web of Knowledge

Foundry's content links turn your journals into a wiki where everything connects.

Making Links

• Drag and drop: drag an actor, item, scene, journal entry or page, roll table, playlist or macro from the sidebar into a Text page. Foundry writes a content link for you, shown as a clickable chip.
• What it looks like underneath: @UUID[JournalEntry.abc123]{Lord Vex}. The part in square brackets is the document's unique ID and the part in curly braces is the label readers see. Let drag and drop fill in the ID rather than typing it.
• Permissions still apply: a player can click a link, but only opens documents they're allowed to see.
• Old links: some older guides show the form @Actor[name]. Drag-and-drop links are more reliable because they don't break when you rename something.

Inline Rolls

Text pages can hold dice too, using the same formulas as chat:

• [[/roll 1d6]] makes a button anyone reading the page can click to roll into chat (great for "roll on the rumour table" moments).
• [[2d6]] rolls at once and shows the result inside the text each time the page is displayed.
• [[/roll 1d20 + 2]]{Spot the trap} gives the button a friendly label.

Want to check a formula first? Try it in the Dice Formula Tester.

Try It in Foundry: Build Your World Bible

Power User Tips

The Quick Reference Folder

Create a folder called "Quick Reference" with:

• Common spell effects
• Condition explanations
• House rule reminders
• Spare NPC names
• Links to the roll tables you use most

The Image Gallery Technique

Create journals that are just stacks of Image pages:

• "NPC Portraits", for characters you didn't plan
• "Location Inspiration", for mood images
• "Magic Item Appearances", for descriptions
• "Monster Art", to show players what they face

The Progressive Reveal

Put several pages in one entry and open them up one at a time by changing each page's ownership:

• Page 1: the basic rumor (Observer from the start)
• Page 2: investigation results (Observer once earned)
• Page 3: the complete truth (Observer at the final revelation)

Going Further with Modules

Core journals cover most needs. If you want extra page styles, a module such as Monk's Enhanced Journal adds layouts for things like quests, shops and encounters. See Modules & Add-ons.

Common Journal Pitfalls

The Wall of Text

Problem: 3,000-word entries no one reads.

Solution: Use headings (they become the table of contents), bullets and images. Split long entries into pages.

The Spoiler Accident

Problem: Players see GM secrets because of ownership settings.

Solution: Check ownership on the entry and on each page. Keep big secrets in GM-only pages or entries; use secret blocks for small asides. Log in as a test player now and then to see what they see.

The Organization Chaos

Problem: 100 journals in one folder, and you can't find anything.

Solution: A folder hierarchy, naming prefixes, and a regular tidy-up between sessions.

Ideas from the Table

The Murder Mystery

Give each suspect an entry with a public page and a GM-only page. Players gather clues as they go. When they accuse the right person, switch the "confession" page to Observer and use Show Players.

The Evolving Notice Board

Keep a town notice board journal that changes with the party's choices. They saved a merchant? A new shop opens. They failed to stop the thieves? Prices go up. Players will check it every session to see their impact.

The Prophecy Puzzle

Write a prophecy in verse and hide each stanza in a different journal around the world, perhaps as Map Notes on distant scenes. As players find them, the full prophecy reveals the campaign's endgame.

Where to Go Next

Your journals now hold lore, handouts and secrets, ready to reveal at just the right moment. Next, Combat Management covers where preparation meets action and the dice decide destiny. Later, Audio & Music adds sound to the scenes your journals describe.