How to Level up Tabletop Role-Playing Games
Tabletop RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons and FATE are not only fun, they can really improve your life . Whether you’re new to tabletop RPGs or a veteran goblin slayer, there are tons of tricks that will make your games even more addictive and fun.
Collect your players on one page
Nothing spoils a fun game like players who seem to be at odds with each other and with their Master of the Game (GM). Some players enjoy the many battles they can “win”, while some prefer to focus on the storytelling and character building moments. Whether you’re launching a game or just a player looking to make a helpful suggestion to the group, it’s best to get everyone on one page. It’s perfectly okay for every player to want different things in their game, but it’s important to respect and understand what everyone wants before you start playing.
Chris Chinn’s tool , aptly called the Same Page Tool , will make life easier for everyone. This is a simple questionnaire filled with questions to help you clarify what the GM’s role is, what the player’s roles are, as well as things like deciding how strictly to follow the rules. You can also supplement it with Adam Dray’s excellent “Discussion List” . These elements include session scheduling, game location, hosting responsibilities, and other vital information regarding things outside of the real gameplay. There is nothing more aggravating than starting an exciting campaign and never going on, because such things never agreed.
If you are introducing a new player to your game (either a newcomer to the group, or just a beginner to RPGs in general), Eric Schmidt of Learn Tabletop RPGs invites you to run a very simple introductory session for them:
Run it as a pilot for a TV show. It should be intense, it should hint at a larger world, and it should make the participants want more …. Keep the first session relatively short. New players take a long time and should take three to four hours of immersion to get a feel for the game. Chances are, you’ll know well before the end of the session if they’re addicted to it or not – body language is often a useless sign …
Regardless of how the session went, make it clear to the new player that they are okay if they are still trying to get their bearings. Ask them if there was anything that confused them, that they liked it, that they didn’t like it, and if they have anything they would like to include. If they’re a very new tabletop role-playing game, Becky Chambers at Mary Sue tells you them to talk about their character in the third person, as opposed to the more general first person. This makes them more comfortable because they can describe the appearance and actions of the character without feeling like they need to utter silly voices or act in a certain way. They might say something like, “Dwarf Wittson is jumping off a ledge to attack the goblin below” instead of (with a dwarven accent) “I jump off a ledge with an ax high above my head and aim at the target screaming.” goblin skull, AAAAA! Over time, they may switch to a first person view, but for now it is better for them to stay comfortable.
Move phones away (or at least activate airplane mode)
RPGs require careful attention and often a strong personal bond between you, the general manager, and other players. I reached out to writer and seasoned GM Stephen James Wardle , creator of the D&D Threshold series on YouTube (full disclosure: he’s my personal DM / GM and he’s great) for some advice, and he said the most important thing is to get rid of distractions. :
Cell phones are killing the game. Forcing everyone to be in front of the camera for Threshold made cell phones go away and it improved games 100x. I am planning shorter 1-2 hour sessions and anyone can put their devices aside for that time. It’s not hard and it makes everyone’s interaction so much better. This single change (combined with refraining from discussing each other) is the biggest change you could make to your game.
Phones and tablets are fine if GMs or players want to use them for character sheets and other apps, but make sure they are at least in silent or airplane mode. If you absolutely need your phone to be on, vibrate it and keep it in your pocket unless you think it’s an emergency.
Use sound to set the scene
A healthy imagination is essential when it comes to board RPGs, but you can help everyone immerse themselves in the game by using their senses. Fortunately, hearing, one of the most important senses when immersed in water, is also one of the easiest to play. It not only helps create peace in the minds of the players, but also drowns out sounds (for example, the dishwasher, the neighbor’s dog, or the sounds of the city) that can destroy the illusion.
Wardle recommends starting by using ambient noise to create the desired ambiance. This is especially useful for horror RPGs (such as Call of Cthulhu ) where it can be more difficult to maintain the right mood. We’ve used multiple ambient noise sources to improve performance, but they can also be easily used to create an epic scene. A bustling coffee shop can be a bustling tavern , and some sleepy temporary frogs can be a midnight journey through a perilous swamp. When we play, Wardle prefers free ambient-mixer.com . You can mix and match multiple samples such as rain, wind, various bodies of water, trains, fantasy cities, and even the Slytherin common room at Hogwarts. You have complete control over the soundstage you want. Definitely worth study and other free sources such as Tabletop the Audio .
If you’re willing to spend some money on your sound, Syrinscape is a viable, albeit premium, software option as well. Available for Windows, OS X, iOS, and Android, the app gives users access to fantastic, grisly and sci-fi soundscapes that can truly be beaten to your will. It costs $ 10 a month to subscribe, or $ 3.99 to purchase certain sound packs to use anytime. This is probably ideal only for those who regularly play role-playing games, but if you have a dedicated group, you can all share the cost for almost free.
Depending on when and where your game is set up, music can be used to set up a scene just like ambient noise, and often even better. For example, if you’re playing Vampire the Masquerade (a vampire RPG that takes place in our time), then the mood can be well tuned with new wave, goth rock, darkwave, or post-punk. If you’re playing a game like Call of Cthulhu (a horror game set in the early 1900s), a little early 1920s jazz and melody might be fine. Even Dungeons & Dragons can be supplemented with contemporary music such as instrumental metal or New Age soundscapes. So head over to Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music or Google Play Music and start finding some perfect radio stations (or creating your own playlists from your favorite games and movie soundtracks).
Include other senses
Sight, touch, and smell can help enhance just about any table session . Mood lighting is easy, but it can turn your play space into pretty much anything you want. A little candlelight can turn your dining room into a dark and messy cave. A small fluorescent lantern can make your living room look like a ship that has lost most of its power. If you’re willing to spend some money, you can even create lighting presets with dedicated Wi-Fi enabled bulbs like Philips Hue or Lifx . With one touch of your smartphone, you can instantly transform your players from one place to another.
Luke Thurpeinen of Across the Board Games invites you to bring a few props with you to each session to give your group a sense of touch. However, as Turpeinen explains, one must choose the supports carefully and not overdo it:
I think too many costumes and props can distract from the plot and distract the players, but one or two key props can go a long way in broadening the immersion of the game. You can draw the crazy doodles left behind by the Elder God cult and give them to the players, or you can ask them to find a stick of digitized ancient texts that they can “study” between sessions. Maybe if they find a clue inside, they can gain some advantage in the story?
Even something as simple as a hand-drawn map or talisman that they can hold in their hands will help draw them into the world of the game. While taste and smell are probably best preserved for snack breaks, Paul of Dice of Doom suggests that a few scents might actually attract players:
Let’s say a group visits a fortune teller’s tent. Why not light some incense? Give the experience a little realism, a little immersion. Or how about exploring a musty old basement? Place a smoldering old item from your cellar in your zippered bag and open it at the appropriate time.
Everything from scented candles emitting the scent of the ocean to pine needles making players feel like they are walking through a forest can create truly stunning scenes. Don’t overdo it, of course, but a couple of scents can turn key moments of your story into something memorable.
Use apps to make character creation easier
While many purists prefer to go the old fashioned way, a few apps can make it easier to create and manage characters, especially if you’re new to RPGs. Hero Lab software can streamline the character creation process if you’re willing to shell out over $ 30. This makes it easy to create characters for games like Pathfinder , Shadowrun , Call of Cthulhu, and a few other popular RPGs. The app works on Windows, OS X, iOS, and you can even download a free trial from their website. If you’re more like D & D 5E, this free generator characters from ForgedAnvil perfect fit . The only downside is that you need Microsoft Excel to run it, but it will work fine in the trial version.
When you have digital character sheets, Nate at SyncRPG recommends that you use Google Drive to share them with your GM. Whenever your GM has a question regarding your character’s stats, equipment, items, or other interesting points, he can pull out your character sheet without interrupting the game session. If they ever find it difficult to figure out how the ability works, the GM can take their own notes and pick up on the work the next time they get stuck. This can be very useful, even if you just scan hand-drawn character sheets and share them in the same way.
If you’re not the most creative person, deciding what your character looks like can be excruciating. Everyone wants to look amazing, right? Hero Machine allows anyone to create their dream character with just a few clicks. You can download the client for Windows and OS X for about $ 10, but it’s completely free to use in your browser, so go crazy. Now everyone can see how amazing you look in your shiny armor.
Enhance future sessions by recording in-game audio
If you have a dedicated group of experienced players, you can really improve your game by recording some of your sessions and listening to them. Tabletop RPGs require you to translate your imagination into word of mouth, and it can be hard to get out of your head. To combat this, Wardle suggests that you record part of the session’s audio using a recorder or smartphone app:
As soon as we started playing D&D with the cameras on, we sat all the players in front of the TV and re-watched the sessions that we recorded in the afternoon or so. From these recordings, we learned to do things that made our games easier to watch and also make them more fun. We’ve noticed how often we talk to each other and how this causes players and GMs to miss out on important information that is critical in co-op play. Observing yourself or listening to yourself, even though it seems silly, can reveal some bad habits you may have acquired.
This can be especially helpful for more intelligent players and grandmasters who inadvertently forget to convey the incredible actions and emotions they are experiencing in their minds. For example, your character might feel betrayed, but if you don’t say something, no one will ever know. Are you listening enough to your fellows? Are you describing epic things that you imagine in your head? By identifying your play habits, you will know how to make your future activities even more fun.
Borrow your favorite mechanics from other games
If you are usually a master of your group of friends, Wardle recommends that you read and play as many other gaming systems as possible. You may have a favorite RPG board game that you love to play, but when you are in control of the world you are playing. c, knowledge literally becomes power. You can take your favorite game mechanics from other games and incorporate it as you like into your favorite game. As Wardle explains, storytelling is the most important thing a GM should focus on , but new rules can shake things up well:
… that mechanics is a tool, while storytelling is a game. The more tools and systems you have, the better your games will be. When I need to develop rules for a particular moment or mechanic, I can use my experience with other systems to find out what works in that situation.
If you find a new game system that you like, get your friends together and play the “one-shot” campaign to get a feel for how it works and take your best moments with you.