Increasing immersion

That's clearly not going to work for many groups, though.

In the end, OP, immersion is a collaborative endeavor, and the players contribute more than 50% to that. Work with them and make sure they're set up for success.

This. I've always found anything but the most bareboned and effective of props to be really trashy and offputting.

I brought my friends to an abandoned barn at night to run a horror RPG in a 1990's era modern setting. I also gave them flashlights with purposely faulty batteries so that they started flickering and dying about 45 minutes into the game and by the end, they all ran out and the players pulled out the glow sticks I gave them. They needed the flashlights and glow sticks to see their rolls, since they were the only light.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get my creepy sounds to work because of no wi-fi, so I couldn't scare them as much as I wanted to.

I did finish the game with the 2 surviving characters following a line of emergency lights. I had 4 red LED road flares set to spin and threw them across the barn in a line. It was super fun, especially since the players that died got blankets, food and warm coffee and watched the remaining players lose their shit.

>Hey sorry guys, I didn't have much for game funds this week so I had to go a little cheap on the beer this time
>pulls out Steel Reserve
>an hour later everyone's stumbling over each other to the bathroom to empty their full bladders.

Do you dress up too?

We do, definitely. Like says, it does miracles. I find it's important not to skimp on the verbal descriptions, though. Just because she can actually FEEL the ruffles of her skirt brushing up her thighs as she awaits penetration, doesn't mean she doesn't want to hear it in words, also.

After all, there's a reason most of us got into storytelling, we love things like words and descriptions.

>Somebody having fun in a different way than me is autistic

You're just salty because you don't have an imagination.

Eliminate the gaming table. Let everyone sit around the living room. Removing the GM screen and table makes it less game-y and more about the storytelling.

Also: try a roaring fire in your fireplace while you play a late night game. Turn the lights down and focus on narrative, description, and atmospherics.

Whenever I see someone at my table get really immersed, I give them an in-character blowjob. Positive reinforcement works WAY better than negative reinforcement for things like this.

>in-character blowjob
Wait, like you cause their character to get a blowjob from an NPC?

No I mean I, physically and irl, give them a blowjob that also happens in character. Depending on the player, the character, and the in-game situation, the in-character source of the blowjob varies.

That's nice of you. It's the little things that make a good GM.

But man does it leave you with a sore jaw the next day!

>varies
Can you give some examples?

Off the top of my head, I've done:
- visitation from your goddess
- Captain of the Guard who has thrown you in the dungeon decides to have some fun
- fever dream about the nurse assisting your recovery
- the party rogue and their friend (I had permission and help)
- part of the reward from a golem for solving a puzzle

There's more, but I think you get the idea. Lots of possibilities.

Sometimes I wonder if there's some 13 year old user reading this crap and becoming convinced that dnd sessions can become some kind of bizarre hybrid of roleplaying and swinger's parties.

You think swingers don't play DnD? What, like we can't handle it or something?

Well, people tend to believe that people who belong to mainstream groups like "moviestars" or "athletes" or "soldiers" don't play DnD.

I mean, it's not true, obviously, but it's a persistent idea. I suppose there's nothing preventing people in the swinger scene from playing DnD.

This thread got pretty gay, pretty quick.

Nope. I just think that these obviously-false stories could create distorted impressions of tabletop gaming, and I draw a small measure of amusement from this idea.

Yeah. Who the fuck complains about immersion as a concept?

Well, if you accept that swingers could play DnD, then I'm not sure what distortion you're referring to. Unless you mean that the poor preteen will think "ah, so that's what goes on", like it's an everyday thing.

I wonder if there's a sharp difference between a swinger who gets into DnD later, versus a DnD player who becomes a swinger later? And if a group of each would be compatible, or what concessions/paradigm changes each might have to go through before they could mesh well.

Just so you know, I'm one of the people you're replying to and I didn't make up a bit of it. But I honestly don't expect anyone to believe me, because it's definitely not the norm for most people.

I use music. Music itself doe not add to the immersion however it's a shortcut to set the mood.

Your players being in the right mood for the setting will be the best way

This.

Anyone have that screencap story of martian horror where the GM made the player wear masks and played eerie space sounds all night?

I'm having trouble envisioning a person who becomes a swinger first, then get into D&D.

I can only imagine it would occur after a conversation involving confusion over the term "roleplaying".
>Hey, are you into roleplaying?
>Oh yeah
>My group and I are getting together this weekend, would you and your SO like to join us?
>That sounds amazing.
>Okay, great! I'll bring in the rulebook, or are you familiar with this edition?
>Ummm...

The most important thing is finding a quiet place to host games without any distractions.

Since this is nearly fucking impossible, most games are usually brought to a screeching halt by interruptions.

It happens literally all the times that I try hooking up, I thought that hiding my face with a wolf's head in the site would tip people off.

Wearing a wolf's head fits with either form of roleplaying, so that might be your issue.