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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pming" data-source="post: 7749629" data-attributes="member: 45197">Hiya!You want your players to become "more immersed" in the game? Encourage them to use a pencil and paper. I'm dead serious. Get them to take notes, doodle pics of symbols the see on some trap, draw artistically rendered maps (more looks, not so accurate), write down names of people they meet and deal with, etc.Nothing, and I mean NOTHING will get a player more involved in the game more than that player writing stuff down themselves. And yes, this includes the "old school mapping" that someone has a tread on that I commented about. If someone says "this is my favourite character", and they hand you a two page character sheet...don't expect much "immersion" from them. If they pull out a three-ringed binder stuffed with pages, bits of cloth, maybe a piece of leather tied around a feather....just weird 'crazy lady that lives in the attic' sort of clutter. Well, that's the type of person that might be a bit TOO immersed. But err on the side of "crazy attic lady" than "2-page involvement dude" if you have to. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />When a player starts showing you maps they drew of the Palace of the Silver Princess from 1986, sketches they did of their characters gear when they were 11 years old, and multi-page write ups of their "Journel of Grenda the Guild Thief"...and seeing them so damn proud and excited about reminiscing? Ahhh....now THAT'S the stuff! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />When a player hands you a standard 2pg character sheet and says "Huh? Oh, he's a 14th level Fighter. He's got...[insert mechanical numbers and abilities]" and that's about it. Well, that person doesn't "get" one of the biggest cool-factors of RPG's, imnsho. They may have a tonne of fun playing...but they are playing for the "numbers", not so much the "story".In capping it all up: Immersion is something the Player does, and that the DM can only help/encourage. Scented candles, subdued lighting and background music will only get you so far.PS: In case it wasn't obvious...the DM has to be just as "immersed" in their campaign world. If a player says "The Ruby Coast? Why is it called that?", you had better dang well be willing and able to pull out a swack of paper showing maps, histories, NPC's that live and lived in the area that made a name for themselves, the local areas favourite foods, customs, music, dress style, sayings, etc. You know, "all that so-called 'boring' stuff that most players won't ever actually encounter". Yeah, all that stuff? That's the important stuff. That's the stuff that holds your world together and lets the players immerse themselves by writing down stuff they hear you say about something, in their Journel that made an impression on them. "Grenda discovered a new favourite food on the Ruby Coast today. It was a mix of....", complete with a picture of the food, DIRECTLY ties that PC, and Player, to your Campaign World, and you. Shared creation, you might say. But you will never get that if all you detail is "CR appropriate encounters" that only serve to point the PC's the the next encounter. Nobody will remember the fight with 6 pirates on the beach. They will remember the "Ruby Crab BBQ Hot-Pots" they had them making Con saves or turn red from the spices....and how the locals accepted them as members of the society because they tried the dish (regardless of the Con saves outcome). ^_^Paul L. Ming</blockquote>

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