I have been running rolplaying games at Twenty Sided Store and recently we concluded a 6-week campaign season of Curse of Strahd, a Dungeons & Dragons Ravenloft adventure and just kicked off the first organized play campaign of Numenera by Monte Cook Games, an excellent science-fantasy roleplaying game (RPG) that uses the Cypher System.
So, I thought it would be a good time to talk about setting, tone & theme in roleplaying games, specifically through engaging the senses. Vivid smells, sounds, and colors can be described through physically engaging your players’ senses and actually immersing them into your fictional worlds.
A little preparation can go a long way to making a campaign engaging to the senses. In Curse of Strahd, it was important to capture the essence of a classic gothic horror tale of gloom and mystery set in the foreign land of Barovia. Similarly, part of the fun of the Numenera setting is exploring an Earth - a billion years in the future, a world where nanomachines, interdimensional aliens, hyper-evolved cephalopods, and a host of other weird phenomena have rendered the world almost incomprehensible.
Lets get started...
Sound
In most tabletop RPGs, sound is the primary way of learning about the game world. Players talk and listen to the Dungeon Master (DM) - a clever use of sound, or sound effects, can really enhance a game.
For example, when I ran a game of Sorcerer, a game about demons, corruption, moral decay, and the limits of ambition, I made sure to have an off-putting (but not too obtrusive) background track on loop. Then, as the DM, when I roleplayed the different Non-Player Characters (NPCs) I would modulate my voice in volume, tone, and accent to make each character feel more distinct.
In the Numenera campaign, I might play some white noise as the adventurers explore an exotic vehicle that has crashed and buried inself in the sand. What’s that strange, rhythmic tapping that they hear in the forest? - as I proceed to tap under the table using a ruler to create added suspense.
Humans are exceptionally good at noticing and reacting to changes in sound patterns, something storytellers often exploit when telling ghost stories. In the Curse of Strahd campaign, I would speak slowly and softly as the players explored a location, and then slam my hands on the table for dramatic impact when a trap springs or a monster appears, making the players jump. I'll admit, this is easy to overuse, but you can never go wrong with vocalizing the creak of an old door or replicating the pitter-patter of rain on the roof in which the adventurers are huddled for protection.
Sight
Sight is the second most common way of engaging your players. Most DMs have used images or minis at some point in their career. Let's go further than that...
As a performer, I love costumes. During the Curse of Strahd campaign I dressed in black, slicked back my hair, and wore copious amounts of eye-makeup and black lipstick to set the tone for the campaign. For the Numenera campaign, maybe I'll don a weird hairstyle or apply some intricate makeup.
Props are cool too. Before a home game I'll pull out and arrange my old Halloween props - tomb stones, spiders, cauldrons... (trying not use the overly gimmicky ones, of course).
Lighting is the best prop and can really change the vibe in the room. For a simple effect, try lighting some candles over a dark tablecloth.
Hand drawn maps or Dwarven Forge dungeon tiles covering the table for the players to interact with are also a sweet alternative. When Monte Cook visited the store to run a Numenera game, owner Lauren painted a large underwater battle map to immerse the players in the setting.
Touch
Giving people things to touch and fiddle with has long been a technique used in many different venues, from classrooms to interactive theater spaces, as a way to hold people’s interest.
Using simple handouts, even a sheet of paper with a fragment of Strahd Von Zarovich’s journal on it is much more interactive for a player than simply listening to the DM read the text. If you want to go all out, stain the paper with tea to make it look aged.
In Numenera, players can find Cyphers, which are like consumable magic items, meant to be used frequently. Using a deck of cards to represent the tangible objects instead of marks on a character sheet, is a great way to encourage players to use the Cyphers fast and freely. Monte Cook Games has created a Cypher Deck (which the store stocks) that I use often. To up the ante, hand the player an actual object when they find a Cypher, like a tiny potion bottle filled with red colored liquid or bits of an old malfunctioning electronic device.
Taste and Smell
Yes, you can of course, cook up some tavern stew for your players to eat while they gather information, but food and scents can also be used more subtly. At a convention I was at recently, I signed up to play Golden Sky Stories, a lovely game about friendship, dreams and magic in pastoral Japan. As we gathered to the table, the DM offered us jam cookies before we started. This reinforced the tone of joyous delight among the party, straight off the bat, without using any words. I would love a glass of dry red wine, before venturing into Castle Ravenloft!
For Numenera, I might try doing the opposite. A rose-petal potpourri placed on the table, while describing buzzing ceramic automatons trailing electrical cabling above. The unusual juxtaposition might help underscore the weird nature of the world.
Go the distance
Anything that immerses your players more fully into the world, or even just enhances the mood of the world, will intrigue your players. During Curse of Strahd, I used the Tarroka deck, a D&D themed tarot deck, to read the players fortunes. The fortune-telling performance was mainly about setting up the atmosphere, but it also was used to further the plot in a meaningful way.
Engaging your players' senses is a powerful way to achieve atmospheric immersion. So go ahead. Sing at your players. Feed them fritters. Tell them to close their eyes and hand them peeled grapes. It’s sure to be memorable!
Can you and your crew be the first to make it to the frosty north? In Race to the North Pole, players compete to become famous explorers by beating their opponents to the Pole. The game features a rotating board to capture the wild and unpredictable weather of the North Pole. Move you pawns toward the center of the board, gear up to survive the harsh conditions, make a perfect plan... and watch helplessly as the merciless wilderness spins the board and changes your route.
Someone's died in the Abbey, and it's up to a small group of investigative monks to find the killer. Mystery of the Abbey wonderfully updates the classic whodunnit board game Clue. Move your monk around the Abbey, cross off suspects from your list as you investigate, and be the first monk detective to solve the Mystery of the Abbey.
Bycatch is a brand new card game that requires the use of a camera phone. Each player takes on the role of a nation, and cards are drawn representing people, some of which are terrorist suspects. Players can create shelters for their people, and players can use their camera phones to do surveillance on the opposing teams. Bycatch is a very smart game that asks deep questions about surveillance and wars on terror.
Clear your mind, ignite your senses, and take in the beauty and power of the lotus garden. With Lotus players compete to grow beautiful flowers, using insect guardians to help them. Along with easy-to-learn rules and fast, fun gameplay, Lotus also features stunning artwork, with a unique "card fanning" technique to recreate a blooming flower.
This new expansion to the famed bluffing game Coup: Rebellion G54 adds new characters and gameplay mechanics. Lie your way to victory with new roles like the paramilitary, arms dealers, and socialists, and try to gain as much influence as possible before the end of the game.
Two new expansions to the second edition of the Cthulhu-centric investigative/horror game Mansions of Madness - Suppressed Memories and Reoccurring Nightmares - hit shelves today. These expansions bring all your favorite investigators and monsters back from the first edition of the game and make them playable with the second edition. So whether you miss playing as Ashcan Pete, or you want to square off against the Priest of Dagon, these two expansions bring the best moments from the first edition back from the grave.
Take flight with the newest expansion to rebel fleets in the tactical ship-to-ship combat game Star Wars X-Wing. The ARC-170 provides heavy firepower, crew and astromech upgrade slots, and introduces new pilot cards like Shara Bey (Poe Dameron's mother) and three other aces.
New in stock this week are also: Star Wars and Marvel crochet kits, hoodies, and LEGO sets, new Star Wars photomosaic puzzles, and Dungeons & Dragons miniatures to tie into Storm King's Thunder.
