I love to establish some atmosphere with the games I run, as I find it really adds to the enjoyment. I'd love to hear your ideas and how you run your games!
There's a few simple things that I have found can work really well.
Removing unnecessary distractions. May sound like obvious, but if there are going to be people walking past a window lots during a session, close the curtain - just try to reduce real world stimulus that pulls people's attention from the game.
Background music - can be amazing for setting the mood. Youtube is an amazing resource for this. My players are heading into a dark & mysterious crypt that they expect to be full of undead? Something like this Ambient Dark music. What about taking part in a large battle? Something like this Epic Battle music.
Lighting (when used sparingly). Again, for delving into a crypt or the special horror session, you can use a couple of candles for lighting and dim or switch off the electric lights.
Handouts. I discovered that there are various websites that will do full colour prints onto thick paper (or card) really cheaply and have used that for some really high quality handouts of maps, clues etc. Many of these can be found on the internet and downloaded, so minimal work required.
I use Tabletop Simulator to run my games, as my players are remote and find it hard to centralize for true pencil & paper action. As such, atmosphere has to be a focal point to pull them into the experience and provide some immersion.
We use Discord for voice chat, with a dicebot for rolling. I've managed to add a musicbot to queue tracks with simple commands, so that I can shape the mood as the campaign progresses. I've incorporated mods into my virtual environment, such as sound and lighting effects. This enables me to crack a bolt of lightning above my players visually/audibly, footsteps on wood/concrete/foliage to signal nearby creatures, or even water flow when their adventures bring them near lakes/rivers.
As I cannot control their physical environment or handout physical options, I have to use JPEGS and created GIFS to bring more to the experience. I've crafted a jigsaw game mode to mimic a torn apart map they pieced together, and have used hidden clues via photoshop into images for them to discover.
Keeping interest is key, then going above and beyond to make it exciting. Definitely worth examining the atmosphere and improving what you can, as it brings loads to the overall game experience.
Keeping interest is key, then going above and beyond to make it exciting. Definitely worth examining the atmosphere and improving what you can, as it brings loads to the overall game experience.
Nice work! I haven't run any games remotely, but that's exactly the kind of thing I would want to do, if I did.
You're right - some small touches can really make a difference for immersion. :)
Say your not by chance Brian the StormKnight from Board Game Geek are you?
I posted this on another thread that was similar.
For me the music needs to be ambient and not distracting, classical music can be too bombastic and overbearing sometimes, certain pieces are perfect. But what I've really found is sound pads from Tabletop audio mixed with ambient music. The sound pads have their own ambient music as well but it can get tiresome after an hour or two. The soundpads "The Dungeon" "Dark Forest" "Old Towne" and "The Tavern" are all pretty great.
To keep the Ambient music fresh I have a paid spotify account. There's an artist called Ambient Realms. They have multiple HUGE volumes of 4 to 12 minute tracks with names like Deep Darkness, Caverns Below, Ghostly crypt etc. I usually find a good 5 to 10 tracks that I take turns putting on loops for a while depending on where the party is.
I find a little music is good at the start but generally I let it fall away as we get into the session, just enough to establish things. It can be a delicate balance where too much can be distracting or go overboard into hammy. I do like props, especially if there's a note or letter or item you can recreate as one for the game!
For music I like use Adrian von Ziegler songs and incompetech.com royalty-free music. Also I print or write the key letters, messages and maps and give it to the players.
My focus is always a clean space, ample room for everyone to settle in, player-selected music for atomosphere (set low enough not to distract), nearby food and drink, and the basic things everyone's going to need:
Dice
Rolling Trays
A Chessex Battlemat
Wet Erase Markers
Pencils and a Sharpener
Tokens (for areas of effect, etc.)
My partner in crime plays, but also helps make sure we've got a tablecloth on the table (clean, feels fancy), some kind of snack to share, and similar. My games are better when she's able to be there because she rounds things out. :)
I've been thinking about this lately! We are currently playing in a room that is basically empty, except for the table and chairs. There's this awesome wooden paneling though, so I think we could really "set the stage" so to speak. Currently, we play in the empty room with just the basics game supplies plus a few printouts for reference for the players, and food (of course), lots of snacks and drinks.
We do have a dimmer switch on the lights, though, and have a player responsible for turning down the lights to reflect how much they can see.
I'm not too into the music aspect though. It seems like it would be a distraction after the first few minutes, and just add to the general noise-level in a way that would grate on my nerves. Maybe some ambient noise from a white noise machine would be good, set up to reflect the current environment the characters are in.
Our group seems to like them and in some cases it's a nice visual cue for them and for me as to what items they have available to use. For example, I bought a pack of tiny glass bottles with corks from Amazon for a few bucks. I fill them with water and various mixes of food coloring or colored sanding sugar depending on what's in it. I also got little charms that are related to one of the central parts of the campaign off Amazon, again for just a few dollars, that I use for inspiration tokens. I've been asked "Where's my potion?" if I forget to bust them out before the session started. I could go on, but that's probably a separate thread! :)
As for the topic at hand - thanks everyone for the links and lists of resources for finding music, I appreciate it. I use tabletopaudio and just picked up an app on iOS called DMDJ which has some things I started using last session. I'm looking for more soundboard type apps or sites if anyone happens to come across them.
I got back and forth on electronic devices at the table or not.
In almost every group I'm the book keeper: I keep the excel spreadsheet of all the items, I keep all the sessions notes, etc...
I keep all my character sheets as GoogleDrive documents (and often just share the folder with the GM). Paper is lose-able or damagable, but my digital sheet will never get lost.
When we ran a SpellJammer game, I made a website for our group to keep all the HomeBrew rules so everyone had them at any time.
On the other hand in one of my games 1 player has a habit of playing phone games while playing the game. I don't really have a problem with this if it's not their scene(ie: the party is split). It does really get to me if they are supposed to be in the scene and the player isn't paying attention, because at that point there is no way to "re-engage" them as they won't be paying attention when the chance comes up.
In a Star Wars game I played a Wookie, and used a text-to-speech translator for the first session or two (eventually it was too slow) Microsoft Sam was the "voice" of the translator unit.
Back in college we played a Ravenloft game for a while. Our GM had bought rechargeable "candles". He dimmed the lights and the only props we had were a pencil, our sheets, dice, and a "candle" each. If you died, you turned off your candle.
My fairly new gruop will probably find candles a little funny. They're still learning how to role-play, it's a tough topic of itself. Closing the curtains probably make them feel nervous. To make them relaxed, we always play at home (never in a public place) and use little to no ambient music; though combat music helps them get the intensity of the action, make them feel alive and ready, puts them in the mood.
I'm babysitting, basically.
Snacks and drinks are free, once we tried some ale too and it helped actually (liquid courage I tell you). Plus, my mouth gets dry pretty easily, water should be in arms reach for me. Tavern scenes are the ones my group shines becouse of the real glasses and plates in front of us.
Phones are useful. We have only one PHB and more than one spell casters; so photos of spell descriptions are life savers and same goes for monster stats. But if I see someone checking on instagram, I give a break for couple of minutes. Don't need to be so strict about it.
Phones are useful. We have only one PHB and more than one spell casters; so photos of spell descriptions are life savers and same goes for monster stats. But if I see someone checking on instagram, I give a break for couple of minutes. Don't need to be so strict about it.
I made spell cards for the new edition in Word, printed and laminated them. Took about an hour for the first batch, then I just plug in new spells as people get them and add them to their pot, which takes less than a half hour every week or so. WELL WORTH the time investment to free up game time (keeps people from searching through books or passing the books back and forth), and serves double purpose of getting, and keeping, phones off the table. ;-)
I've always found this is easier for Wizards/Sorcerers/Warlocks then Clerics/Druids.
A Wizard literally can print up a "spell book" of cards, and pull out her memorized list.
Sorcerers and Warlocks have such limited lists the same is easy.
When I play a Druid or Cleric I generally have my "standard list", but if a situations calls for a change it requires a lot of extra looking up. It's why I really love how the Spell List in DnDBeyond, or a few of the phone apps I use to track spells.
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D&D Beyond FoundersHey everyone,
I love to establish some atmosphere with the games I run, as I find it really adds to the enjoyment. I'd love to hear your ideas and how you run your games!
There's a few simple things that I have found can work really well.
Pun-loving nerd | Faith Elisabeth Lilley | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
"We got this, no problem! I'll take the twenty on the left - you guys handle the one on the right!"🔊
Some snacks and drinks help as well.
I use Tabletop Simulator to run my games, as my players are remote and find it hard to centralize for true pencil & paper action. As such, atmosphere has to be a focal point to pull them into the experience and provide some immersion.
We use Discord for voice chat, with a dicebot for rolling. I've managed to add a musicbot to queue tracks with simple commands, so that I can shape the mood as the campaign progresses. I've incorporated mods into my virtual environment, such as sound and lighting effects. This enables me to crack a bolt of lightning above my players visually/audibly, footsteps on wood/concrete/foliage to signal nearby creatures, or even water flow when their adventures bring them near lakes/rivers.
As I cannot control their physical environment or handout physical options, I have to use JPEGS and created GIFS to bring more to the experience. I've crafted a jigsaw game mode to mimic a torn apart map they pieced together, and have used hidden clues via photoshop into images for them to discover.
Keeping interest is key, then going above and beyond to make it exciting. Definitely worth examining the atmosphere and improving what you can, as it brings loads to the overall game experience.
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D&D Beyond FoundersYou're right - some small touches can really make a difference for immersion. :)
Pun-loving nerd | Faith Elisabeth Lilley | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
"We got this, no problem! I'll take the twenty on the left - you guys handle the one on the right!"🔊
Beer. Take away. Kitchen table. Bluetooth speaker hooked up to absolute rock radio station.
We get little done so I might enforce a no mobile rule but otherwise we're there for a social and to roll a few dice :)
Say your not by chance Brian the StormKnight from Board Game Geek are you?
I posted this on another thread that was similar.
For me the music needs to be ambient and not distracting, classical music can be too bombastic and overbearing sometimes, certain pieces are perfect. But what I've really found is sound pads from Tabletop audio mixed with ambient music. The sound pads have their own ambient music as well but it can get tiresome after an hour or two. The soundpads "The Dungeon" "Dark Forest" "Old Towne" and "The Tavern" are all pretty great.
http://tabletopaudio.com/dungeon_sp.html
To keep the Ambient music fresh I have a paid spotify account. There's an artist called Ambient Realms. They have multiple HUGE volumes of 4 to 12 minute tracks with names like Deep Darkness, Caverns Below, Ghostly crypt etc. I usually find a good 5 to 10 tracks that I take turns putting on loops for a while depending on where the party is.
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D&D Beyond FoundersPun-loving nerd | Faith Elisabeth Lilley | She/Her/Hers | Profile art by Becca Golins
If you need help with homebrew, please post on the homebrew forums, where multiple staff and moderators can read your post and help you!
"We got this, no problem! I'll take the twenty on the left - you guys handle the one on the right!"🔊
Cool. Glad you liked the link! Cheers.
Midnight Syndicate for Ambient Dark style
Two Steps from Hell for Battle music (Basi Puldoris who did the original Conan the Barbarain soundtrack works well too).
You can set these as stations on Pandora if needed.
I find a little music is good at the start but generally I let it fall away as we get into the session, just enough to establish things. It can be a delicate balance where too much can be distracting or go overboard into hammy. I do like props, especially if there's a note or letter or item you can recreate as one for the game!
For music I like use Adrian von Ziegler songs and incompetech.com royalty-free music. Also I print or write the key letters, messages and maps and give it to the players.
D&D Beyond Mobile Alpha Tester
How do you guys feel about props?
"Don't quote me, boy, I ain't said shit" - Easy-E
My focus is always a clean space, ample room for everyone to settle in, player-selected music for atomosphere (set low enough not to distract), nearby food and drink, and the basic things everyone's going to need:
My partner in crime plays, but also helps make sure we've got a tablecloth on the table (clean, feels fancy), some kind of snack to share, and similar. My games are better when she's able to be there because she rounds things out. :)
I've been thinking about this lately! We are currently playing in a room that is basically empty, except for the table and chairs. There's this awesome wooden paneling though, so I think we could really "set the stage" so to speak. Currently, we play in the empty room with just the basics game supplies plus a few printouts for reference for the players, and food (of course), lots of snacks and drinks.
We do have a dimmer switch on the lights, though, and have a player responsible for turning down the lights to reflect how much they can see.
I'm not too into the music aspect though. It seems like it would be a distraction after the first few minutes, and just add to the general noise-level in a way that would grate on my nerves. Maybe some ambient noise from a white noise machine would be good, set up to reflect the current environment the characters are in.
I got back and forth on electronic devices at the table or not.
In almost every group I'm the book keeper: I keep the excel spreadsheet of all the items, I keep all the sessions notes, etc...
I keep all my character sheets as GoogleDrive documents (and often just share the folder with the GM). Paper is lose-able or damagable, but my digital sheet will never get lost.
When we ran a SpellJammer game, I made a website for our group to keep all the HomeBrew rules so everyone had them at any time.
On the other hand in one of my games 1 player has a habit of playing phone games while playing the game. I don't really have a problem with this if it's not their scene(ie: the party is split). It does really get to me if they are supposed to be in the scene and the player isn't paying attention, because at that point there is no way to "re-engage" them as they won't be paying attention when the chance comes up.
In a Star Wars game I played a Wookie, and used a text-to-speech translator for the first session or two (eventually it was too slow) Microsoft Sam was the "voice" of the translator unit.
Back in college we played a Ravenloft game for a while. Our GM had bought rechargeable "candles". He dimmed the lights and the only props we had were a pencil, our sheets, dice, and a "candle" each. If you died, you turned off your candle.
Setting the mood is very helpful for new players, and we have a bunch. My sons started a D&D club at school and they have 20+ members.
My fairly new gruop will probably find candles a little funny. They're still learning how to role-play, it's a tough topic of itself. Closing the curtains probably make them feel nervous. To make them relaxed, we always play at home (never in a public place) and use little to no ambient music; though combat music helps them get the intensity of the action, make them feel alive and ready, puts them in the mood.
I'm babysitting, basically.
Snacks and drinks are free, once we tried some ale too and it helped actually (liquid courage I tell you). Plus, my mouth gets dry pretty easily, water should be in arms reach for me. Tavern scenes are the ones my group shines becouse of the real glasses and plates in front of us.
Phones are useful. We have only one PHB and more than one spell casters; so photos of spell descriptions are life savers and same goes for monster stats. But if I see someone checking on instagram, I give a break for couple of minutes. Don't need to be so strict about it.
I've always found this is easier for Wizards/Sorcerers/Warlocks then Clerics/Druids.
A Wizard literally can print up a "spell book" of cards, and pull out her memorized list.
Sorcerers and Warlocks have such limited lists the same is easy.
When I play a Druid or Cleric I generally have my "standard list", but if a situations calls for a change it requires a lot of extra looking up. It's why I really love how the Spell List in DnDBeyond, or a few of the phone apps I use to track spells.