TTRPG DATA REPORT
How TTRPG Groups Record Sessions: Discord, Audio, and Notes
In a recent 2,340-session snapshot, Discord was the dominant capture route—but one in three sessions entered Archivist another way.
Published October 12, 2026 · 7 min read
By Greg H. & Greg W., co-founders of Archivist
← Back to GM GuidesThe Short Answer
Across 2,340 Archivist sessions in the 30 days ending September 7, 2026, 67% were captured through Discord, 25% arrived as uploaded audio, 7% began as raw notes, and about 1% as a text upload. Live online capture dominated, but the non-Discord routes together represented roughly one third of recent use.
Session Capture Method Distribution
| Capture method | Share of recent sessions | What it represents |
|---|---|---|
| Discord capture | 67% | A live online session captured from a Discord voice channel |
| Audio upload | 25% | A recording uploaded after play, often from a table recorder or phone |
| Raw notes | 7% | Written notes pasted into the session workflow |
| Text upload | About 1% | A transcript or other text file uploaded after the session |
Percentages are rounded and may not sum to exactly 100%.
Why Discord Is the Largest Route
Discord combines the place where many online groups already talk with the place a capture tool can join. That reduces handoffs: there is no separate recorder to start, file to move, or upload to remember after the game.
The 67% share measures Archivist usage, not the share of all TTRPG play that happens on Discord. Archivist has a direct Discord workflow, so its customer mix naturally reflects that product strength. The result is evidence about how Archivist tables use the product, not a market-wide platform survey.
Audio Uploads Keep In-Person and Flexible Workflows Viable
A quarter of recent sessions arrived as audio files. Uploads allow a group to use a phone, field recorder, conferencing app, or another recording setup and process the file later.
The data does not identify every upload as in-person. An online group can also upload a recording, so “audio upload” must not be converted into an online-versus-offline statistic. For table setup and microphone placement, use How to Record Your In-Person D&D Sessions.
Written Sources Matter When Recording Is Not Appropriate
Raw notes and text uploads were a small share, but they solve a different problem. They let a group build a session record when someone does not consent to audio, when a recording fails, or when older campaign history already exists in documents.
Written sources trade completeness for control. An AI system can structure the source, but it cannot recover dialogue, attribution, or decisions that were never written down. Preserve uncertainty rather than asking a summary tool to fill the gaps.
What Capture Choice Changes Downstream
The input affects what can be checked later. Audio and transcripts provide source context for names, quotes, and chronology. Raw notes are easier to edit and can omit private conversation before upload, but they depend on the note-taker's attention.
Choose based on consent, table format, and the amount of verification the campaign needs. The practical workflows are compared step by step in How to Record Your In-Person D&D Sessions.
Methodology and Limitations
The source is an internal Archivist admin snapshot taken September 7, 2026 covering the previous 30 days. The denominator is 2,340 session records grouped by intake method. The figures are anonymized aggregates; no campaign or user is identified.
This is a product-usage distribution. It is affected by Archivist's features, onboarding, customer population, and the period measured. It should not be generalized to all D&D or TTRPG groups. A later snapshot may shift as mobile capture adoption grows.
Citing This Data
You may republish the aggregate percentages with attribution, the 2,340-session denominator, the 30-day window, and a link to this page.
Suggested citation: Archivist. “How TTRPG Groups Record Sessions: Discord, Audio, and Notes.” September 2026. myarchivist.ai.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most common way Archivist users record TTRPG sessions?
Discord capture represented 67% of 2,340 recent sessions in the 30 days ending September 7, 2026.
Does audio upload mean the session was in person?
No. Uploaded recordings can come from in-person or online games, so this dataset does not measure online versus in-person play.
Can Archivist work without a recording?
Yes. Recent sessions also entered through raw notes and text uploads, though the resulting record can only include details present in that written source.
Use the Capture Route That Fits Your Table
Start live in Discord, upload a table recording, or import written notes. Review the result before it becomes campaign canon.