DnD session planner online: a filled board for one session, shared with your table

The big limit: everyone with the link sees the secrets list

A board link on the free plan shows the whole board, either to look at or to edit. It can't show one list to you and hide it from your players, and it can't hide part of a card. Per-person permissions and invite-only boards are on Pro. That matters here, because a session plan is half things the players should see and half things they shouldn't.

A simple way to handle it on the free plan, using two boards:

1. 1Open the ready board and fill in everything on your own board, including the secrets and clues list and the NPC notes. Don't share this one.
2. 2Start a second board for the table and put on it only the recap, handouts, loose threads and next session, retyped or copied card by card. Leave out the secrets list and anything you wouldn't say aloud.
3. 3Send players the link to the table board. Each board takes one of your 5 free boards, and a board a player opens from your link takes one of theirs.

The two boards drift apart, so the table board works best for things that change slowly: the recap, the handouts and the date for next time. If you want one list that truly stays hidden while the rest is shared, use a tool built for it (see below).

How the ready board is laid out

It follows the order most prep guides use. Sly Flourish's Lazy GM Resource Document (updated December 24, 2024, read November 14, 2026) lists eight prep steps, among them a strong start, potential scenes, secrets and clues, fantastic locations and important NPCs. The board has a place for each of those, and it adds a recap, handouts, loose threads and a next-session list, because those are the parts a table shares.

• Start here: how to read the board. Delete it once you've replaced the example.
• Last session recap: four cards, one per thing that happened, with an owner. The player who keeps notes can own these.
• This session: scenes: a strong start first, then the scenes you expect, each with what kind of scene it is (talking, exploring, fighting).
• This session: secrets and clues: each card is something the players can find out. Arrows run from each one to where it can be learned.
• This session: NPCs and places: the few people and places you'll need tonight, not the whole cast. For a full cast sorted by place, use the NPC tracker board.
• Handouts for players: the text of each handout as a card, ready to paste into chat or read aloud.
• Loose threads: open questions players or you want to follow up, each with an owner.
• Next session: cards that start with "NEXT:". Delete each one when you've used it.

How to set it up for your own session

1. 1Open the ready board above. Rename the lists if you like and replace the example story with yours.
2. 2Write the recap first. One card per event, in a line. Ask a player to own it and fix what you got wrong.
3. 3Add three to five scenes. Start with a strong start, then the scenes you expect. Players rarely follow the plan, so leave the order loose.
4. 4List the secrets and clues, then draw an arrow from each to where it can be learned. If a secret has no arrow, players can't find it tonight. Give it one or cut it.
5. 5Put only tonight's people and places in the NPC list.
6. 6Write handouts as cards. Players can read them on the board, or you can paste the text into chat.
7. 7Finish with Next session. Before you close the board, add the one or two things you'll pick up next time, and who owns them.
8. 8Share the link as above. Set "Anyone with the link can edit" only if players should add or fix cards.

If players and you type in the same card at the same moment, the edits are merged keystroke by keystroke with no lock, so give each person their own cards. Everyone sees what others add within a few seconds. A card a player adds counts toward their own 150 items, not yours.

The free-plan limits, before you build

Instaboard's free plan allows 5 boards and 150 items per account, with 3 pictures and 1 file per board. Each card and each list is one item; arrows and pen strokes don't count. The ready board has 31 cards and 8 lists, so it is 39 items. Pro is $5 a month billed yearly ($59.99), or $7.99 monthly.

Our own arithmetic: four boards the size of this one is 156 items, which passes 150, because the limit counts all your boards together. Keep one board for the campaign and rewrite it for each session. Move yesterday's recap into one short card in Last session recap, and delete cards you've used. A card that opens into its own board counts toward your 5, so keep each session on one board rather than one board per scene.

A board someone opens from your link takes one of their own 5 free board slots. If they are already at 5, they can still open the link and write; the board just isn't added to their boards.

Handouts, maps and portraits: three pictures per board

The free plan allows 3 pictures per board, so the ready board has none: every handout is text on a card. A handwritten letter or a map is a picture and takes one of the 3. A link card's preview picture doesn't count. For maps with pins, Kanka is built for it (below); for dice and battle maps you'll want a virtual tabletop, which this board is not.

When something else is the better choice

Each line is from the maker's own page, read on November 14, 2026, unless it says otherwise. Plans change, so check the page before you pay.

• You want links between everything. If you want to click from a secret to the NPC who knows it, use Notion, Obsidian or Kanka. Here, the arrow is the link, and it only runs between cards on the board.
• You want hidden notes. Kanka's features page describes member visibility; the Instaboard free plan has none. Use two boards or Pro.
• You want character sheets. D&D Beyond is the place for them; this board holds no rules content.
• You only want a printable sheet. The D&D Beyond Campaign Journal PDF says permission is granted to photocopy it for personal use.

On Reddit, game masters disagree about which note tool to use. In r/DnD in July 2023, u/tea-cup-stained named Notion and Obsidian as the two serious contenders, called Notion "great for sharing" and chose Obsidian for fast links; u/RuroniHS replied that a basic paint program lets you place text anywhere. In r/DMAcademy in July 2025, u/Prior_Actuator9003 described a template page they copy for each session: a summary of last session, where each player is, and planned scenes. Those are single accounts, not a verdict.

What the board doesn't do

• No hidden lists on the free plan. Everyone with the link sees every card. Per-person permissions are on Pro.
• No search, no links between cards and no wiki pages.
• No dice, no maps with pins and no battle grid.
• No stat blocks or rules content.
• No session scheduling, reminders or timeline axis.
• Writing needs a free sign-in.
• 3 pictures per board, 5 boards and 150 items on the free plan.

For a cast of people sorted by place, with who leans on whom, see the DnD NPC tracker board. For a cast in a novel or screenplay rather than a campaign, see the character relationship map.

About the name

Instaboard is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast. "D&D" and "DnD" are used on this page only to name the game this board is meant for. The campaign, people, places and secrets on the ready board are invented, and the board holds no rules content from any game.

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