Do You Want Immersive Roleplay?

[Imaculata]

One of my favorite moments of immersion occurred when I wasn’t even at the table. The PCs had dropped anchor for the night, and were gathered around the table talking. I got up and took a break to stretch my legs. When I came back, they were still talking in character.

That happened to me recently as well. We took a short break to fetch some junk food, and while over at the restaurant they continued in-character, because they were so into it.

During that session we also had a great moment where I played the part of one of the female npc's, and she explained just how utterly terrified she was after what the party had witnessed in the realm of the dead (and then shown to their crew with cantrips). I noticed that a massive silence just dropped as everyone was totally into it. They really felt for her, because they understood why she was so scared for her life. I usually try to keep things light-hearted and fun, but sometimes the plot calls for some drama, and when it hits it hits those feels hard.

It is great when the players are really immersed in their characters, and in the world. And my last session was dominated by such great immersive moments. It also motivates the players to do some awesome role playing, in my experience. Give them a world that feels immersive, and they will immerse them selves in their characters more.

 

[Umbran]

I see it as emotional identification with the character and this does not require me knowing less about the game world (or plot or whatever) or having less handling time with the mechanics. I also see immersion as a feeling one can learn to induce and control such that each player is in control of his or her own level of immersion. So when I see complaints that X or Y "breaks my immersion" - usually in reference to how the GM or another player is playing - I just shake my head.

Which amounts to "my play experience should be used as the standard for others". "My way is the Right Way, and everyone else is Wrong."

Do you forget that different people are, you know, *different*? And maybe, just maybe, have different requirements to reach the same state? Or even may want a slightly different state that fits under the same name that you don't normally reach?

The greater the skill, the lesser the impact. My "immersion" doesn't depend on what other people at the table are doing. I've worked at making that so.

Setting aside the hefty condescension in that statement.... That's fine for *your* immersion. But the world isn't made up of iseriths.

Lack of allowance for differences between people makes me just shake my head.

 

[Nytmare]

I've always seen immersion as something that goes hand in hand with suspension of disbelief, and as such it's more of a thing that the game being played props up and carries along, than it is a thing that the players have to actively fight for and achieve.

Do you not think the method actors find it easier to stay in character if the people around them treat them as their character rather than as an actor?

Don't method actors have a reputation for being incredibly picky though about how their fellow actors interact with them?

There are different schools and practices of method acting, but by and large the horror stories that you hear are method actors who act by fully embedding themselves in the role that they are trying to play. The stories arise from those actors not wanting distractions that could pull them out of their mental state, which is totally understandable. There's also always the possibility that the person might just be plain old crazy.

The different aspects of this can range from insisting that people only talk to you as though you were your character, to walking around in costume 24/7, to physically torturing yourself, to adopting a drug habit. It could also present itself as things like the crew needing to dress in costume, or not being allowed to use things like phones or walkie talkies, or needing to carry the actor around in a wheelchair because they're playing someone who's handicapped. This could also be not breaking character for only as long as you're at work, or not breaking character from the moment you're cast till the show wraps.

You also, no doubt, can see how working with certain method actors could be difficult depending on whether they're portraying a docile, somewhat senile grandmother, or a violent, drug addicted bank robber who likes to stab things.

 

[Imaculata]

Lately I've been the default DM, so currently to me it's all about the immersion of my players. Its a responsibility to me; something I want to trigger, not force. I'd probably seek immersion as a player as well, but currently I'm totally in the mind set of a DM.

When I think of immersion, I don't demand that my players are great actors, or that they are in-character 100%. What I mean with immersion, is that I'm able to make them laugh, be afraid, be sad, or filled with joy and jubilation. I want my campaign to provoke those feelings when it is called for. When their characters experience those things, I want the players to feel those same emotions. It doesn't matter to me that they constantly make OC jokes throughout the evening. Just as long as I'm able to engage them on an emotional level at the important moments of the story.

One session ago my players came face to face with the big bad of my campaign. A cosmic horror in the vein of Cthulhu.. a creature they could not possibly fight directly, or have any hope of defeating. I wanted them to feel that fear and despair. It had to be one of those holy sh*t moments, and it had to be a cliffhanger for that evening. That is what I think of, when I talk about immersion. I wanted my players to go home feeling totally blown away, with that feeling of "Wow!" and "What the hell are we going to do?!". I wanted them to be thinking about the story for the entire week, until the next session. So how do you do that?

To me, it's all about details. It's not about boring information overload, but you want to describe what they see, what they hear, and what they feel. And that last point is not as simple as simply telling them what to feel. You want to describe what their characters go through emotionally, so they as players feel it too. You don't just tell them their character is terrified, but you give a description to them that is so vivid, that there isn't a shadow of a doubt that this is the most terrifying thing their characters have ever seen.

And that was what I wanted to get across. Immersion does not mean describing every flower and every tree leaf. Its about drawing them into the story, and engaging them emotionally. If I'm unable to do that, then I fear that the campaign would just be a flat dungeon grind with a story tacked on top.