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 resources to help get the atmosphere
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dmariz18
Acolyte

1 Posts

Posted - 28 Dec 2020 :  14:42:55  Show Profile Send dmariz18 a Private Message  Reply with Quote  Delete Topic
Does anyone have any resources to help get the atmosphere? Music, maybe something that can format handouts so they look like scrolls, things like that? Anything to help me take my players out of the living room we play in to the taverns and forests of the game setting.

ElfBane
Learned Scribe

USA
277 Posts

Posted - 28 Dec 2020 :  15:08:48  Show Profile Send ElfBane a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Nothing that's quick. My DnD room is built up over many years of collecting. The room is also my library and computer room, and has many maps, swords, and other medieval knick-knacks. Notice I said "room"... as in a dedicated place for gaming. I'm guessing you're not to that stage of life where you can afford to have a 'game room'. My suggestion is to; darken the room, use low brightness lighting over the game table, and see if your adventurers would be willing to dress in the garb. As for music, don't play current or past popular genres... nothing that will get them grooving and/or singing to latest Hit,,, the idea is to keep them focused on the GAME, not the music. If you like medieval music played with period instruments, then start looking into that genre. Try to stick to mostly instrumental music, so peeps won't be trying to follow the lyrics.

Hope this helps.
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Ayrik
Great Reader

Canada
7970 Posts

Posted - 28 Dec 2020 :  15:25:19  Show Profile Send Ayrik a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Hello, welcome to the keep, and all the usual blah blah blah stuff. Wooly will deliver his copypasta greeting soon enough. Mind the wards.

There's a lot of youtube vids showing how other groups do their thing. Some do music and props, some even do costumes resembling their characters. Of course some of this is contrived for public entertainment, but there's still good ideas if you and your group are interested in that sort of immersion. I've found that simple objects like hats are great identifiers for recurring NPC roles. My players quickly recognized my pliers as blacksmith tongs when necessary. I don't advise playing by candlelight, I've tried it before and the smoky half-darkness just ended up giving everybody mild headachy eyestrain after a few hours.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=role+playing+session

[/Ayrik]

Edited by - Ayrik on 28 Dec 2020 15:34:45
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TheIriaeban
Master of Realmslore

USA
1289 Posts

Posted - 28 Dec 2020 :  16:07:32  Show Profile Send TheIriaeban a Private Message  Reply with Quote
If you have access to MS Word, you can use the Angelina font to look like hand printing. There are also others that look like the typeface used when engraving stone. You can also download dethek (dwarf/gnome) and esprurar (elf) fonts from the internet.

You can emulate parchment, marble, and other surfaces if you go to Design>Page Color>Fill Effects and select the Texture tab. Obviously, you will need a color printer for that. Warning, the last time I did something like that with an ink printer, it left the page "soggy" and I had to let it dry. I have a color laser printer now which doesn't have that problem. However, toner cartridges are significantly more expensive than ink refills.

"Iriaebor is a fine city. So what if you can have violence between merchant groups break out at any moment. Not every city can offer dinner AND a show."

My FR writeups - http://www.mediafire.com/folder/um3liz6tqsf5n/Documents
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Cards77
Senior Scribe

USA
745 Posts

Posted - 28 Dec 2020 :  16:08:57  Show Profile Send Cards77 a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Some small touches maybe you can do now. A real life sized map hanging on the wall, or a real printed map that is owned by the group in game (we do this). We keep it in a special map case and when it's taken out in game, we take it out and spread it on the table.

Youtube up some nice music for different modes: tavern, city, exploration, and combat.

There are some easy websites for sound effects dragon roars, lightning, that sort of things.

Get some small and easy props like scrolls, wands, potion bottles.
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11696 Posts

Posted - 28 Dec 2020 :  16:40:07  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Over on DM's Guild I have some free FR Heraldry that I made. When added to paper backgrounds and fonts it makes decent handouts if you wanted something from a Waterdeep noble family or something similar.
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/177650/Art--Forgotten-Realms-Heraldry

There's other similar stuff on DM's guild that's better than mine, but mine's free. That being said, the others are very inexpensive as well, and this is what I came across by just searching the word "heraldry".

https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?keywords=heraldry&x=0&y=0&author=&artist=&pfrom=&pto=

Also, more for decorative touches, but also useful if you want to actually have players decipher languages, there's fonts here at candlekeep for espruar, dethek, etc.. fonts. There's also MP3 files of music as well, though I've never used them personally.

Go to Candlekeep.com > Alaundo's Library

There you will find the fonts and the link to the shrine of Milil which apparently has a couple dozen music files.

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas

Edited by - sleyvas on 28 Dec 2020 16:51:34
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Returnip
Learned Scribe

221 Posts

Posted - 28 Dec 2020 :  21:37:58  Show Profile Send Returnip a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by dmariz18

Does anyone have any resources to help get the atmosphere? Music, maybe something that can format handouts so they look like scrolls, things like that? Anything to help me take my players out of the living room we play in to the taverns and forests of the game setting.



For music, you can either get soundtracks from movies or video games. Plenty of good stuff out there.

If you want to make a handout look like parchment you can cut the edges slightly uneven with a pair of scissors. Then crumple up the paper, unfold it carefully, drench it in tea, let dry, and maybe iron it flat. This will give it a yellow tint and cover the paper with creases from the crumbling and will make it look better. Great for notes or old treasure maps. If the paper is supposed to be old you can also heat the edges very lightly with an open flame to make them brown. I do not recommend putting the paper in the oven because it's harder to control the yellowing and it tends to make the paper brittle.

Good luck.

On the other hand you have different fingers.
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