During the course of my D&D life, I've seen a lot of
DMs use real-life gimmicks to keep their games interesting. Here's a couple
that come to mind: One DM would go out and buy small glass bottles and fill
them with juice or soda and give them to his players when they found a potion
in the game. Whenever it came time for their character to down the potion, the
player would have to do the same. According to the DM, this added a small touch
of realism to his game. He also mentioned how making the player drink the
potion in real life made the potions in his game so much more important.
Another gimmick that I recall is a DM who used poker chips to represent coins.
Anytime a player gained or used or lost coins they would have to keep track of
it in real time with the poker chips. Apparently, this made the players a lot
more careful with their in-game currency and much more cautious with their
dealings which, in turn, enhanced the roleplaying.
I've also heard of many other gimmicks such as giving out
glass gems to represent in-game ones, only allowing the player with the
"talking stick" to speak during combat, and even asking the wizard of
the party to speak in Latin when casting their spells or the Bard to actually
sing his/her songs. All of these extra bits are designed with one purpose in
mind: to get the players more immersed in the game. And frankly, as long as
none of these gimmicks go too far or are potentially harmful in some
foreseeable way, I'm all for it.
To illustrate, here are three of the real-life gimmicks I
have used myself:
1) The Character
Obituary
Shortly after their character has died, a player may be
feeling a bit down. They've worked hard on creating something that has now been
lost to them in some manner. Surprisingly, some players may take the loss of a
character harder than they would a distant real life relative. I know I've seen
something along those lines and I'll bet I'm not the only one. So, to help them
move on and maybe even look back with a fond memory or two, I've come up with
the Character Obituary. This is just a short little blurb about the character
that would appear just as any other obituary would in your local newspaper.
Here's a sample of what I mean taken from the death of a character in one of my
recent games:
"Obituary: Mal
Mal, Drow Rogue, assassin specialty. Mal's life, while
not that long, was full of good memories and many good laughs. His primary
claim to fame was being the official trap detection device for his party, as
well as picking locks and backstabbing foes when it suited him. He found
particular joy in killing goblins and other such small unseemly creatures.
Alas, Mal was felled by a Beholder via turning him into stone, biting off his
statue's head, and grinding it into gravel. Although there was a suggestion
tossed around that the head could be glued back together like a 3D puzzle, it
was ultimately denied. Mal is survived by his fellow party members and a
talking parrot by the name of Grady O'Malley."
It's simple, not hard to do, and it will allow the player
and the group as whole to remember a character that may have played a big part
in getting them where they are. Personally, I like to post these up on Facebook
but you could print them off and give them out almost like sympathy cards.
2) The Achievement
Badges
Another little thing I've been experimenting with is giving
out my groups and players achievement badges. These badges are earned in-game
just like the old Boy-Scout and Girl-Scout badges and they help the players and
groups remember major events in their gaming careers. A badge would usually be given out after a major
event like the group killing its first epic monster, or surviving a centerpiece
dungeon, doing something extremely rare like finding a +5 weapon, or even
completing a whole campaign. Again, I post these badges on my playing group's
Facebook page, but I'm sure you could find dozens of interesting ways to create
real-life ones. Perhaps even create actual badges to be sewn on backpacks,
jackets, etc.
3) The Retelling
of the Story
I've used this one on and off for years and I think I've
decided that I need to keep it around for good. At the beginning of each game
session I ask one of my players to volunteer to recount the events from last
week. Now how they do this and in what style is completely up to them and let
me just say that I've found some of them downright hilarious.
For example, I've heard the story retold like a 1930's
radio announcer recounting what happened in the "last episode". I've
heard the story retold in a completely biased manner that made the coward of
the party seem like the hero. I've heard the story retold in slurred "dunk
speech" and I've also heard it told in many ways that put extra emphasis
on the really bone-headed moves some of the party members made (to which
everyone would laugh). Personally, I reward my players with 100xp for each time
they tell the story and I'm proud to say that most players jump at the
opportunity to put their little spin on the history of the adventure.
Simple little things like these help make the D&D
experience seem more real and gives the players something that they really
can't get from most other games: personalization. When your DM or your fellow
players care enough to give or make something exclusively for you or for your
character ,you can feel like the most important person in the world. For me,
that's a big part of what D&D is all about.
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