What do you like to do to help create an atmosphere at the table? Thanks so much to Wicked Warlock for sponsoring this video! Visit wickedwarlock.com/pages/ttrpg-bundles and get 21% off of Wicked Warlock’s best selling candles! wickedwarlock.com/pages/ttrpg-bundles
@Treebohr
3 ай бұрын
Wicked Warlock is a fantastic pun.
@annak1042
3 ай бұрын
@@Treebohr I didn't even realise it was a pun until your comment, so thank you for pointing it out! I enjoy the name so much more now.
@thatpoemguy2083
3 ай бұрын
I love the fact that Taliesin is feaured on the thumbnail of this video, since he has an advantage in establishing an atmosphere, by virtue of being Taliesin Jaffe 😆
@tonysladky8925
3 ай бұрын
For taste, one of our campaigns had a fire-themed kingdom put our characters to a test to determine if we deserved their help to fight the BBEG. Our characters walked across hot coals, but we the players were subjected to a mini Hot Ones challenge with some irresponsibly hot chicken wings and questions we had to answer in-character. 10/10 would recommend.
@artloveranimation
3 ай бұрын
that is amazing! I could totally use that in my campaign mwahahaha
@dolphin64575
3 ай бұрын
Re: locations. As a librarian, PLEASE book our rooms for D&D sessions! And tell us about your campaigns! And ask us to get books for you to check out! Don't break your budget on RPG books when your library is likely OVERJOYED to know what their community is interested in.
@darktrent182
3 ай бұрын
Not only that, but library collections might also buy the D&D rulebooks, like the system I work at just did.
@dolphin64575
3 ай бұрын
💯 my system has a pretty robust TTRPG collection, including and outside of D&D 😁
@darktrent182
3 ай бұрын
@@dolphin64575 We had the Escape from Innsmouth adventure for CoC, but it got weeded due to lack of circulation. I still get sad over it
@widowmeler
3 ай бұрын
not quite the same, but thought i'd share. when my siblings and i were young, my mum decided she wanted to read the lion, the witch and the wardrobe to us all. one night as we sat down to read, she gave us a treat! some turkish delight! i had never had it before and thought it was great! and then we got to the point in the story where the witch tricks edmund with some turkish delight.... we all went CRAZY, feeling as though we were part of the story by being tricked with the turkish delight too. its a memory that has stuck with me for almost 2 decades, and i think thats a testament to how well these immersion tips can work to pull people into a story.
@eskiyodo
3 ай бұрын
I remember in one session I played with, we took Hero's Feasts pretty regularly, and they usually had the same kinds of foods in them, so during our break one session, our DM put a bunch of things they had prepared in the oven/on the table for us. It was amazing.
@eskiyodo
3 ай бұрын
Campaign, not single session, haha.
@nay-knee7779
3 ай бұрын
I seriously recommend the meals thing. I have made many meals for my players ranging from simple to very elaborate to great effect. My players have started making food that their character bought/made for roleplay moments (FREE FOOD!)
@verwulf
3 ай бұрын
I usually play themed music quietly. In the background, but I never thought of the candle. That sounds amazing. Especially scented ones.
@kmads3572
3 ай бұрын
For the Ghosts of Saltmarsh campaign I'm running, I made a welcome aboard packet by getting some glass bottles from a hobby store, then I bought printer paper that looked like parchment. I printed the welcome aboard packet and a town map and then burned the edges of the paper so it looked like old parchment, then I rolled them up and put them in the bottles like a message in a bottle type thing, which was also the opening hook I used for the campaign.
@starscream71288
3 ай бұрын
This is me anxiously awaiting the video discussing music.
@LadyNachtlich
3 ай бұрын
On the topic of sounds, you can also find just ambient sounds too. I’ve seen tavern and town ambience when you don’t want to deal with music.
@antonjoj212
3 ай бұрын
Oh my god, Mike. Did you catch the latest episode of Doctor Who??
@SupergeekMike
3 ай бұрын
lol I’m still catching up on the TV from the week where I put out 6 videos in 7 days, so I’ve seen Dot and Bubble but haven’t watched Rogue yet.
@ger_hynes
3 ай бұрын
TabletopAudio is so good for free atmospheric music. When I was running a short Drakkenheim adventure I had "Barovian Castle" start playing the moment the party emerged from the sewers into the ruined city and my players went nuts.
@mentalrebllion1270
3 ай бұрын
I use taste for helping slip into character for some of my more roleplay heavy games. I do this with tea. I usually pick a tea type that I feel suits the character and that’s what I prepare and drink for the session. Now, don’t do this with all my characters but I have two I do it with at least. Since taste is such a strong and lasting sense memory, this makes it my easiest method of getting into my character’s mindset. For the two teas (or tisane in one case), so those who are curious may know, I use a very spiced black chai (must have cardamom and cinnamon) and the other is a simple peppermint tea. Both are distinctive flavors and ones that suit their characters. Well…sorta, lol. The chai one is more because what I know of the world building. The hometown my character comes from in that game is well known to be a hub for spice trade, major trade hub, and so a lot of the food described from there has a lot of spices to it. So, chai. As for the peppermint, that one comes from a far north and cold area and is a half wood elf, is mostly calm, but has quite the kick and is the party’s potion maker as needed. Peppermint just felt like the right personality, especially since her main romantic interest has such a winter/cold magic theme.
@RS3isRealscape
3 ай бұрын
did you know that when invited into a middle eastern home to refuse service of peppermint tea is considered to be an insult i found out the hard way now i never refuse it
@mentalrebllion1270
3 ай бұрын
@@RS3isRealscape I was not aware of that but I’m not one to turn down mint tea in general. Now, if it were my brother, he would have to as he is actually allergic to said plant. But that is an interesting cultural anecdote. Honestly though, my preference for tea in general tends to lean oolong. Major tea drinker in general.
@Cassapphic
3 ай бұрын
I love using music for my games, I definitely take a lot of inspiration from jrpgs and most of my players also come from that background, so I like picking specific songs as themes for areas or characters. I know the kinds of mysic I use could be distracting since it's more active than a lot of the typical rpg ambiance you see in things like critical role, but having "praise this despair" into "the scion's dance in purgatory" both from fire emblem echoes, I have personal attachment to these songs as themes for one of my favourite villains ever, Berkut, and they transition well as I had the bbeg invoke the power of mechanus for his second phase.
@Skimmer951
3 ай бұрын
I mainly dm online and we rely a ton on music to set the mood and i have a very curated list with tracks from tons of games i like to fit any situation required. Even tracks dedicated to characters. And it helps a lot in atmosphere. I also use voicemod on otherwordly characters to bring a little oomph
@darkness_visible7227
3 ай бұрын
These are all really cool idea but it is worth remind people that you should always check with your players before incorporating them. Music, lighting effects, even things more subtle like smell can be amazingly immersive for some people but for folks who struggle with sensory overload can become too much very quickly. A cool surprise effect isn't cool if it suddenly means someone has to take five because it's all become too much. You're not enhancing an encounter if someone misses the whole thing because they've disassociated. As always, communication is big and clever :)
@Spark_Chaser
3 ай бұрын
My GM's "Atmosphere building intro" is opening and closing music. One of his biggest tricks was that Outro music was usually indicative of what was going on in game. Certain characters had theme music as well. When some of our villains showed up, he would kick on that character's music. There are tons of music options out there, as well as audio ambiance. Tabletop Audio and Ambient Mixer are great for setting a mood at the table, and TTA has a soundboard setup that you can use to adjust sounds as you play. Knowing I'd get a cupcake for dying in a Tomb of Horrors, I'd dive into the Green Devil's mouth and just enjoy my cupcake.
@SupergeekMike
3 ай бұрын
Lol I realized that when I was editing the video - everyone just jump into the traps, eat some cupcakes, and spend the rest of the session playing Mario Kart!
@Stephen-Fox
3 ай бұрын
Personally, I like to play in an atmosphere of mostly nitrogen with a decent chunk of oxygen, plus trace amounts of other gasses. But seriously, the one thing I would note for some of these techniques - music and scent in particular, but also lighting particularly if you do any flashing effects with them - is that it will not be compatible with every player, particularly if you have neurodivergent players in your group. Check in with your players for these, same as you would before starting to explore themes that while not flagged as lines or veils, are things that are common triggers that the players may not have thought to flag, or might be ok in normal circumstances but not if you have an elaborate battle map that goes all out on that theme.
@chibirad
3 ай бұрын
hey mike love your vids. just wanted to comment i thought i was hallucinating when i heard your background music for your video and had to check to see if my vtt was running! good choice :)
@taejaskudva2543
3 ай бұрын
Controlling privacy really means different things to different people's needs. For me, playing online wasn't private because the needs of my family were constantly busting in on the game, either delaying me until I was tired enough that it didn't feel worth it to login or interrupting because it was the kids bedtime and they were riled up, etc. I had to stop playing even though that group is my longest time friends. Just the ability to leave my house and go to my friend's house where the only interruptions will be his partner and possibly her friends watching TV on the couch in the other room is privacy enough to make that game the one the abides. Maybe not quite as majestically as The Dude, but good enough.
@TheCrazyPlayer
3 ай бұрын
Since I know player accessibility is a thing for you, Mike, I do want to mention that some of the ideas in this video could present problems for players. For example, I have a negative reaction to strong fragrances; they provoke migraines in me, which is not conducive to a good gaming experience. While setting a mood is cool, best to check with players beforehand if there are known problems; saves a lot of mid session headaches that way. May St. Algorithmas bless this video. 😆
@sagesaria
3 ай бұрын
Man, the talk of snacks and meals at the end made me wish I could run in-person games. Themed foods are, no pun intended, my jam, when it comes to party planning. I'd say music is the one that you really want to be sure in advance is okay with your players - some people literally can't hear/process what's being said in game if music is playing. But if they're okay with it it's a great tool...my Friday night game has a music bot to play music for boss fights, and there's a particular track (I think from one of the Fate games?) that I basically consider the theme of our warlock's patron.
@Teschmacher
3 ай бұрын
Picked up Eyes Unclouded from the DMs Guild, and each one-shot comes with a recipe! Love eating my adventures 💕 And yes to the candles and handouts. Digital works great for many, but I'm a tactile.
@lyliaa2943
3 ай бұрын
Nice! I look forward to the playlist video :)
@artloveranimation
3 ай бұрын
One thing to add to the list that I've been doing recently, if your party is fighting a monster and you don't have the budget for every mini, have a picture on a screen to show them in glorious detail to your players' horror 😂 Sometimes I'll draw the monster myself and tape it to a token to stand up on the battle map, which for me is usually a white board 😅
@k1tkat-kate
3 ай бұрын
I know my ADHD brain will 'out of sight, out of mind' absolutely anything, so I really like the idea of having small props or pictures of new items/people/monsters etc. in addition to feeling more 'immersive' it would actually be really helpful.
@kiara-kh7nh
3 ай бұрын
If you like music, the Dwarf fortress soundtrack is a womnderful addition to your playlists!
@BlackOpMercyGaming
3 ай бұрын
Choking to death on a standard healing potion’s dice is the MOST immersive way to participate in DnD…. Truly a REAL wizard…. Died from 2d4 damage…. Errr well, died to damage from 2 d4s
@datDrowningFish
3 ай бұрын
On the audio front, I’m getting in to making pregame radio bumps for my CyberpunkRED game. I’m writing them as in-world radio news breaks with plot adjacent info, similar to the Screamsheets prewritten adventures, and I’m hoping I can start prerecording them with realistic radio sounds for more immersion.
@kimberlycaritas
3 ай бұрын
Wondering if anyone has advice for dealing with excessive side-talk at the table. Our games hit just about every level of immersion-thematic lighting, music, meals, even people occasionally coming in-costume-but we have a LOT of neurodivergent folks (myself included!) at the table, and the amount of side conversations that happen is frankly totally immersion-breaking. I've spoken with our GM about it, but I'm wondering if there are any other ways to discourage players from side-talking so much (& I *will* be discussing it with them, too! just curious if anyone else has found extra tips that have worked for them.)
@RottenRogerDM
3 ай бұрын
Yes, Privacy is number 1. In college we use common rooms and uncommon rooms until security tossed us out. Lighting. Harrumph. Candles. I use candles to cut the smell of the five cats. But candles would be a great crazy fun uncle gift. Or honey you is old and I don’t what else to get you. Music depends on my mood. I am currently using the Mission Impossible theme to open the Golden Vault session. But as background sometimes I have asked the dm to turn down a nock. However using music is much easier nowdays. No more lugging the cassette recorder to the game. Food is a great prop especially if you running Pipyap.
@bristowski
3 ай бұрын
This is a good channel. I like Mike.
@southron_d1349
3 ай бұрын
A couple of things to note about music in games. I've had players with minor, but significant hearing difficulties. Playing background music would've been a bad idea. Then there are people like me who cannot stand so-called "background music". It's incredibly annoying and not background at all. The Weekly Scroll is running a Dragonbane campaign and I managed to get through the first episode but only with difficulty. I'd like to try to catch up with their game (they're on to Episode 25), but the soundtrack stops me from trying. A pity because they're a nice group of people and I'd love to play Dragonbane.
@mottekla2734
3 ай бұрын
When you plan to use scented candles, please talk to your group before you light the candles. For people with sensory sensitivites, scented candles can be too much sometimes
@iPivo
3 ай бұрын
Dislike and unsubbing until you share the pancake recipe! JK, loved the ideas Still want the pancake recipe, though
I mostly think that atmosphere is a red herring. Nothing's more immersive than cognitive investment.
@SummerOtaku
3 ай бұрын
The latest Star War… 😂
@thethan302
3 ай бұрын
Roleplaying trumps theatrics every time.
@RS3isRealscape
3 ай бұрын
who are the 3 dunderheads who downvoted this shame on you SHAME SHAME SHAME! i cast Vicious Mockery upon three
@starsapart9311
3 ай бұрын
Hear me out: potion bottles full of candy dice. You can absolutely pour them right into your mouth then. 😂 That makes reading what you rolled impossible, I know, I know... But the VIBES. 🥹
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