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<blockquote data-quote="freebfrost" data-source="post: 210470" data-attributes="member: 3713">Setting the mood for game is of ultimate importance.Background music goes a long way to setting the mood, although I like the &quot;jukebox&quot; idea too -- it is just harder to set up for every game.&nbsp; Music that varies between slow, moody pieces and jarring selections works well,&nbsp; (Being able to burn your own cd's helps a lot here) and keeps the players on edge.&nbsp; A recent game I ran featured the original Silent Hill soundtrack.&nbsp; Two players were big fans of the game, and when the opening track started, both just turned to the cd player and were like &quot;oh, no!&quot;&nbsp; That set the whole tone of that night's game for them, and it quickly spread to the other players.Another technique I have been using lately is increased flavor text.&nbsp; I usually gloss over dungeon dressing items rather quickly, and my players are used to having to ask for more details afterwards.&nbsp; Now, I have switched tactics and am describing everything in extreme detail.&nbsp; Even the most mundane things are now dangerous in the player's minds -- after all, why else would I be describing it all in such detail?Timing and pacing of encounters is very important in keeping these kind of games moving too.&nbsp; I rarely use &quot;standard&quot; monsters anymore, as my players have far too much experience with D&amp;D for that.&nbsp; So, pretty much everything they encounter is a new or varient creature, and they never have the comfort level of saying, &quot;oh, it's a troll,&quot; and knowing what to do.&nbsp; That mystery adds a great deal to the atmosphere of the dungeon.Finally, I would suggest never using &quot;standard&quot; magic items and spells wherever possible.&nbsp; New spells, variants of spells, and personalized magic items keeps the players guessing and interested in the game.&nbsp; No longswords +1 or scrolls of Magic Missiles.&nbsp; Now, we have a longsword that acts as a Feather Fall spell when held, and a scroll of Cloying Mist (that does 1d4+1 points of damage to 1 or more targets...)Oh, and be sure to throw in a throwaway encounter sometimes, like a simple trap, or an easy monster.&nbsp; After that encounter, the players will be on edge waiting for the &quot;real&quot; encounter.<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&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

[QUOTE="freebfrost, post: 210470, member: 3713"] Setting the mood for game is of ultimate importance. Background music goes a long way to setting the mood, although I like the "jukebox" idea too -- it is just harder to set up for every game. Music that varies between slow, moody pieces and jarring selections works well, (Being able to burn your own cd's helps a lot here) and keeps the players on edge. A recent game I ran featured the original Silent Hill soundtrack. Two players were big fans of the game, and when the opening track started, both just turned to the cd player and were like "oh, no!" That set the whole tone of that night's game for them, and it quickly spread to the other players. Another technique I have been using lately is increased flavor text. I usually gloss over dungeon dressing items rather quickly, and my players are used to having to ask for more details afterwards. Now, I have switched tactics and am describing everything in extreme detail. Even the most mundane things are now dangerous in the player's minds -- after all, why else would I be describing it all in such detail? Timing and pacing of encounters is very important in keeping these kind of games moving too. I rarely use "standard" monsters anymore, as my players have far too much experience with D&D for that. So, pretty much everything they encounter is a new or varient creature, and they never have the comfort level of saying, "oh, it's a troll," and knowing what to do. That mystery adds a great deal to the atmosphere of the dungeon. Finally, I would suggest never using "standard" magic items and spells wherever possible. New spells, variants of spells, and personalized magic items keeps the players guessing and interested in the game. No longswords +1 or scrolls of Magic Missiles. Now, we have a longsword that acts as a Feather Fall spell when held, and a scroll of Cloying Mist (that does 1d4+1 points of damage to 1 or more targets...) Oh, and be sure to throw in a throwaway encounter sometimes, like a simple trap, or an easy monster. After that encounter, the players will be on edge waiting for the "real" encounter. :) [/QUOTE]

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