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So...immersion. What do you as a player or a GM do to foster it within your group?
As noted in earlier threads, I've:
- brought props like ancient coins or tankards
- used outrageous and possibly annoying accents
- worn costume-y bits, like the Kingmaker campaign where I wore a tiara the entire time I played (if you can picture that)
- spoken in a different tone/inflection/speech pattern that wasn't related to accent
- addressed individuals in character as much as possible during play
But I figure there must be tons of good immersion building ideas out there! How do you do foster immersion in your game?
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- I love props, although, mostly they are lost on my players. You know the usual, aging paper, fancy outfits, small artifacts...
- I've given up on accents a while ago. IMHO, they rarely contribute to the game, and when they do they are awesome, but when they don't, they kill immersion faster then a bug zapper kills moths.
- Different tone/inflection is good.
- Costume-y bits...rarely but sometimes they are fun\
- I have strongly suggested players to refrain using third person when referring to actions of their players. It heavily breaks immersion for me and a few other players.
My stuff
- I love to use different languages for different races (greek for elves, norwegian for dwarves, turkish for orcs etc...since my players don't know these languages, it is really fun for them to eavesdrop on npcs and understand nothing if they have not learned the language.)
- I also provide setting knowledge for those who wish to know. You know, common knowledge, children's tales, legendary heroes, stuff like that.
So...immersion. What do you as a player or a GM do to foster it within your group?
As noted in earlier threads, I've:
- brought props like ancient coins or tankards
- used outrageous and possibly annoying accents
- worn costume-y bits, like the Kingmaker campaign where I wore a tiara the entire time I played (if you can picture that)
- spoken in a different tone/inflection/speech pattern that wasn't related to accent
- addressed individuals in character as much as possible during play
But I figure there must be tons of good immersion building ideas out there! How do you do foster immersion in your game?
I do all of these, except for the costume stuff. Though, I have considered it. When possible, I print out full color pictures of monsters and NPCs to show the group.
The only thing we do in my group is instrumental music, which seems to have sufficed for us. When I'm running (which is most of the time), I get so into the game that I generally forget to play the music or forget to stop it when it needs to be changed or turned off, but when other people run it's used to great effect, and sometimes I get it right, too.
Some of us do accents too, but I don't know that that's really immersion building (as in getting really into the world) as it is an acting things, but it is a sign that the people playing care. We ran a Call of Cthulu game once that was set in dark ages Normandy and we had accents being slung all over the place.
The only thing we do in my group is instrumental music, which seems to have sufficed for us.
Completely spaced on the music thing. I normally would do this as well, but it distracts one of my players and she has forbidden it. Since she is our hostess, I can't really say anything about it. If I could host the games, she would have to deal, but for reasons beyond my control it is not feasible.
I don't do anything. My group is hopeless.
Okay, that's an exaggeration. I try to avoid cracking jokes and I do voices. It just doesn't usually accomplish much. ;D
I agree on a lot of what's here, but I'm going to have to say don't do voices unless you're 99.99% sure you can pull it off. It's usually going to lead to you getting made fun of. Our DM has tried to do a goblin voice (which is actually like most of his voices) and its become an on-going joke now.
Even an experienced GM like Chris Perkins who works for 4e and has done official games for D&D, I've watched him run a game online and when I heard his accents for a game it was stupid and distracting.
Different tone could work though.
Seeing as how my friends all keep telling me I should get into voice acting, I think I'm doing a pretty good job with it. ;)
-Always speak in character (or make it very clear when you are speaking ooc)
-I do voices as GM, some are better than other. I don't do accents as Finnish accents are very annoying if done wrong.
-Sometimes I use props, for example for my Jade Regent campaign I asked my brother to paint me a picture of the House of Withered Blossoms and of some main enemies in the Empty Throne. Sometimes I make old paper scrolls and stuff like that.
-Music even though I'm not sure if it's helping to create immersion or making it harder (it makes some scenes lot cooler but there hardly is any music actually playing where characters are so..)
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We're rather lucky. Our GM does celebrity voice impressions. He's very good at Hank Hill, and his goblin voice is hilarious! He also pulls off a very convincing Murderface from Dethklok. :)
Having lived in the upper Midwest USA for years, I can pull off a Wisconsin accent without much prompting. I add a little Fargo and some Bobby's World for additional color, and no one's ever asked me to STOP DOING THAT! Heh. YMMV, I guess.
I had missed this thread until now.
I think that some of the comments reflect some of what I consider to be the common misconceptions about immersion in the game.
My definition of immersion is that is when the players at the table (including the GM) demonstrate that they care about the story.
Accents, props, voice impressions, none of that means anything if the story is not capturing the imagination of the players. And if the story is capturing their imagination, none of that is necessary.
So the best way to achieve immersion is to have a compelling story that keeps the players interested.
This is really, really hard. You know it's not really happening when the players can't tell you the names or history of any of your critical NPCs.
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I don't need props for immersion.
Either I can imagine myself in the role, or I can't.
Props won't help.
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I noticed that some folks use and need 'em, and some folks don't.
For example, there's a very famous writer who could only write by candlelight while wearing a monk's habit. Could he arguably write without them? Probably could. Did he? No.
Personally I think they're fun and add to the process. YMMV.
Me too. I find handouts, props or just about anything representing aspects of the game world adds to the immersion, even if its indirectly related. I recently had my golarion world map printed out on one of those retractable marketing posters you see at conventions, conferences and so forth. It's a little over two metres tall and a metre and a bit wide.
After taking it along for a few weeks I decided not to bother once (the players were still stuck on smugglers shiv, so there hardly seemed any point in a world map) and its absence was immediately commented on. The general view was it helped "get in the mood", even if not really necessary.
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I'm trying to think of the time I've felt the most immersion in a game, be it a game I played in or GM'd for.
In a campaign I was GM'ing, I would begin every session with a "Previously, on (campaign name)", and then talk about what happened last session, and everyone appreciated it, because having to think about what happened last game is a bit of a pain - I'd rather the GM spell out the important bits. I'd do this for every session, talking about the game played the previous week.
In the very last session though, when we all knew it was going to be the last session, I changed it without warning. I started it with "Previously, on (campaign name)" and then I went through a history lesson, starting from Day 1 of the campaign, covering every important part of the campaign, every pivotal moment. I covered the plot hook, how those first characters all died, important parts of every act, and how it had all led up to that final day.
It felt different because everyone stayed silent while the story was being (re)told, and it had a surreal feel to what was to be the beginning of the end.