A new year brings new resolutions and why should gaming life be any different? Whether you're a player or GM, these ideas can improve your games.
[h=3]Try a New RPG[/h] It's easy to get stuck in ruts. Mixing things up can breathe new life into a group. Even if you don't like the game, it might stir new ideas for your regular campaign. It's especially easy to work in a new game during periods when a key person might have to miss their regular game. Instead of canceling because they're crucial to a current plot point, run a one-shot of something completely different.
If you normally play D&D consider something like Shadowrun or Tales from the Loop or the new Star Trek RPG. If Savage Worlds is your normal jam, think about Harlem Unbound. If you love Worlds of Darkness games, Blue Rose might be a great change of pace – or a superhero game like Masks or Sentinels of the Multiverse RPG.
[h=3]Expand Your Voice[/h] You don't have to be Matthew Mercer or Laura Bailey to widen your range of character or NPC voices. You can do a lot with simple changes like speeding up or slowing down the pace of your normal speaking voice or lowering your voice to a deeper timber. Practice a more squeaky tone or a nasally one.
If you want to learn how to do an accent, YouTube videos can be your voice teacher. Simply search for “how to do a [insert nationality] accent,” and you'll find a wealth of options, though some accents have far more lessons than others. You don't have to be Meryl Streep perfect. Just a hint of a different accent will make the character or NPC stand out.
Even adding a speech habit like punctuating each sentence with a rapidly said, “Know what I mean?” will convey personality. Just limit verbal tics like that to NPCs they won't deal with often so it doesn't get on everyone's nerves.
[h=3]Do the Opposite[/h] If you both play and GM, but tend to lean heavily into one moreso than the other, mix it up a bit. Playing can improve your GMing because it makes you more aware of respecting player agency as well as countering other bad GM habits. If you mostly play, occasionally GMing will curtail bad player habits. The shift in perspective can do wonders.
[h=3]Add Sound to the Mix[/h] Engaging the senses can improve the game experience, and sound is an easy way to do it. Some GMs put together a playlist of thematic music to do that.
If you want to up your game, so to speak, use sound effects, and today's technology provides many options. Apps like MyNoise have options like “RPG Battlefield” and “Circuit Bender.”
YouTube has a lot of sound effect options like “potion shop sounds”, “old wizard library ambiance”, and “D&D ambiance horseback traveling.” I've made a Pinterest board of the sound effects I use the most for easy access. The first time I used “tavern party” as the characters entered The Yawning Portal Tavern, my players actually sat up straighter, excited by the immersion.
For serious sound effects, Syrinscape sells official D&D, Starfinder, Call of C'thulhu and Pathfinder sound packs for adventures like Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, Masks of Nyarlathotep and Curse of the Crimson Throne so you have creature sounds, weather, explosion noises and more. Syrinscape also sells sound packs by theme like space sounds, aliens, wagon travel, high sea battles and more.
What gaming resolution are you making?
This article was contributed by Beth Rimmels (brimmels) as part of EN World's Columnist (ENWC) program. If you enjoy the daily news and articles from EN World, please consider contributing to our Patreon!!
[h=3]Try a New RPG[/h] It's easy to get stuck in ruts. Mixing things up can breathe new life into a group. Even if you don't like the game, it might stir new ideas for your regular campaign. It's especially easy to work in a new game during periods when a key person might have to miss their regular game. Instead of canceling because they're crucial to a current plot point, run a one-shot of something completely different.
If you normally play D&D consider something like Shadowrun or Tales from the Loop or the new Star Trek RPG. If Savage Worlds is your normal jam, think about Harlem Unbound. If you love Worlds of Darkness games, Blue Rose might be a great change of pace – or a superhero game like Masks or Sentinels of the Multiverse RPG.
[h=3]Expand Your Voice[/h] You don't have to be Matthew Mercer or Laura Bailey to widen your range of character or NPC voices. You can do a lot with simple changes like speeding up or slowing down the pace of your normal speaking voice or lowering your voice to a deeper timber. Practice a more squeaky tone or a nasally one.
If you want to learn how to do an accent, YouTube videos can be your voice teacher. Simply search for “how to do a [insert nationality] accent,” and you'll find a wealth of options, though some accents have far more lessons than others. You don't have to be Meryl Streep perfect. Just a hint of a different accent will make the character or NPC stand out.
Even adding a speech habit like punctuating each sentence with a rapidly said, “Know what I mean?” will convey personality. Just limit verbal tics like that to NPCs they won't deal with often so it doesn't get on everyone's nerves.
[h=3]Do the Opposite[/h] If you both play and GM, but tend to lean heavily into one moreso than the other, mix it up a bit. Playing can improve your GMing because it makes you more aware of respecting player agency as well as countering other bad GM habits. If you mostly play, occasionally GMing will curtail bad player habits. The shift in perspective can do wonders.
[h=3]Add Sound to the Mix[/h] Engaging the senses can improve the game experience, and sound is an easy way to do it. Some GMs put together a playlist of thematic music to do that.
If you want to up your game, so to speak, use sound effects, and today's technology provides many options. Apps like MyNoise have options like “RPG Battlefield” and “Circuit Bender.”
YouTube has a lot of sound effect options like “potion shop sounds”, “old wizard library ambiance”, and “D&D ambiance horseback traveling.” I've made a Pinterest board of the sound effects I use the most for easy access. The first time I used “tavern party” as the characters entered The Yawning Portal Tavern, my players actually sat up straighter, excited by the immersion.
For serious sound effects, Syrinscape sells official D&D, Starfinder, Call of C'thulhu and Pathfinder sound packs for adventures like Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, Masks of Nyarlathotep and Curse of the Crimson Throne so you have creature sounds, weather, explosion noises and more. Syrinscape also sells sound packs by theme like space sounds, aliens, wagon travel, high sea battles and more.
What gaming resolution are you making?
This article was contributed by Beth Rimmels (brimmels) as part of EN World's Columnist (ENWC) program. If you enjoy the daily news and articles from EN World, please consider contributing to our Patreon!!
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