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View Full Version : Things you like to add in games



*.*.*.*
2015-03-20, 04:36 PM
I'm derping kind of hard on the exact phrase, but what little things do you like to add to your games(Not houserules, per se). I frequently give 'tokens' to my players for good roleplaying and tactics, these tokens must be used by the end of the session and are used for rerolls and bonuses(usually minor +5 or so) to rolls. I'm also a fan of making my player write their character names on name cards, when talking in character; they must flip the card up to show everyone their name. Any other little tidbits you guys like to add to your games to spice them up?

Beta Centauri
2015-03-20, 04:47 PM
To my 4th Edition D&D games I've added an extra power that every character and creature has, called "Do Something Cool." It can be used by itself or in combination with other skills, powers, items and feats to allow a player or the GM to do something cool. Every game has a similar option, but I wanted to make it explicit.

cobaltstarfire
2015-03-20, 05:29 PM
I like having props for some things. Like if they might find journal pages or something I'll print them or write them out and hand them to the player who found it.

I also like to draw my own artwork of the monsters to go along with descriptions.

My DM has this cool little treasure box shaped thing that we do hidden rolls in. It makes hidden rolls pretty fun.

mephnick
2015-03-20, 06:09 PM
I print out little portraits of NPCs (usually stolen from a mtg card) and put them on card stock. Whenever they're interacting with that NPC I put the card in front of my screen so they can visualize the character.

I have no idea if this adds anything, but I like it.

DigoDragon
2015-03-20, 07:13 PM
I have no idea if this adds anything, but I like it.

It helps I think! Especially if there are several NPCs on the scene talking.


I like adding some music in the background. A little mood-music softly played adds to the ambiance of the scene which in turn helps the players get immersed into the scene.

Karl Aegis
2015-03-20, 07:16 PM
You mean there are systems that don't come with all of these things? Maybe I need to play some less cultured RPGs.

Anonymouswizard
2015-03-20, 08:05 PM
I frequently give 'tokens' to my players for good roleplaying and tactics, these tokens must be used by the end of the session and are used for rerolls and bonuses(usually minor +5 or so) to rolls. I'm also a fan of making my player write their character names on name cards, when talking in character; they must flip the card up to show everyone their name. Any other little tidbits you guys like to add to your games to spice them up?

I have 35 orange d6s. When running a game I will hand them out for good roleplaying. These dice are 'lucky charms', which have an effect depending on the system:

In Call of Cthulhu they lat you pass any 1 SAN check or flipflop any d% roll.
In world of darkness they cancel any one bad thing not directly caused by a PC or NPC.
In D&D they add 1d6 to the roll.
In shadowrun they add to you dice pool.
In GURPS they let you make a single roll 4d6w3.

A lucky charm has one use before returning to the pool. A normally player can expect to scrape one or two in a single session.

goto124
2015-03-21, 01:05 AM
I print out little portraits of NPCs (usually stolen from a mtg card) and put them on card stock. Whenever they're interacting with that NPC I put the card in front of my screen so they can visualize the character.

I have no idea if this adds anything, but I like it.

Player: I pull out my gun and shoot the NPC in the face

*pulls out BB gun in real life*
*aims at card*
BANG

themaque
2015-03-21, 07:40 AM
Request written Character Backgrounds
Character art for NPC's
Handouts for MAPS, designs of Magic Items, Notes and whatnot.
Props when not to distracting

I also like to make a quick reference sheet for all the character sheets so I can reference without asking questions and slowing games or planning down.

and we haven't used the In/Out of character cards, but I like that Idea.

In my L5R game I will reward with XP any idea that players implement to make the game more fun or immersive. One week a player showed up in a Kimono, and he got bonus XP.

I also end every session with "Problems, Complaints, concerns, or praise" to try and make sure everyone is happy, no rules calls need be discussed, and where people may want to go next week.

Yora
2015-03-21, 08:24 AM
I always tie character advancement to story progress. There is no need for players to seek a fight unless the enemy prevents them to get to the place they need to.

Kol Korran
2015-03-22, 08:49 AM
Lets see:
- I use quite a lot of music for specific moments, people, places and such. This takes quite a bit of my prep work.

- At times I use pictures of people or places and show them to the players. Mostly of NPCs. The other guy that sometime DMs my group uses these a lot more than I do.

- I make a lot of battle maps for locations that are likely to crop out, including some for random places. This lessens the battle prep down considerably, and gets people quickly into the action.

- We put an interesting little rule where the players roll ALL the dice in the game. This improved the game greatly!

- We have at times made wiki sites for out campaigns, to keep log of the sessions, clues, characters, and more... They usually fall into disuse after about half of the campaign though.

- And of course I keep logs here on the forum, but only me and one of my players read them from the group. The rest can't be bothered... :smalltongue:

Phoenixguard09
2015-03-22, 09:02 AM
I do a few little things.

- Record the session and write up a detailed campaign log.

- Run little competitions between sessions such as interviews with characters, describe your character's clothing, use the Game of Thrones sigil creator to design your character's coat of arms, etc. The rewards for these vary from XP to a can of coke to minor magic items.

- Pictures of creatures, places and characters. These are usually either quick sketches or images from the internet, although there are some paintings of places I have shown them.

- Character advances are plot-based. We play a homebrew system, but I think I would keep this in other games as it has really helped this group realise that sometimes you don't need to murder and burn your problems.

- I'm going to hand out actual tokens for the players to represent their Luck points in game. I've been meaning to do it for some time but I keep forgetting. I'm also going to give each of my players a model of their character for Christmas this year.

BWR
2015-03-22, 10:06 AM
The most common in my games is the luck die. Any time I'm caught with my pants down about something - if a certain NPC is favorably inclined towards the PCs, if an NPC is attractive, if the weather's nice, if a certain item is available for sale, if any particular NPC knows something useful about something, whatever - I roll a d20 (usually, though sometimes a percentile) and make my decisions based on that.

Not only has this saved me a lot of time in the games, since I tend to be rather indecisive about some things I haven't thought properly about, but in some cases my immediate response when asked about something is to rule against the players, even if there isn't always a good reason for me to do so (if there's a good reason for me to rule in their favor, of course I do that - it's just some borderline issues that I have a slight tendency to rule against them).

mephnick
2015-03-22, 10:14 AM
- We have at times made wiki sites for out campaigns, to keep log of the sessions, clues, characters, and more... They usually fall into disuse after about half of the campaign though.

Oh yeah, I do the wiki too. Though it's mostly a place to reference information about the setting.

For myself mostly, because it's not like anyone else cares enough to read it.:smallannoyed:

Phoenixguard09
2015-03-22, 07:21 PM
For myself mostly, because it's not like anyone else cares enough to read it.:smallannoyed:

Been there mate, I feel your pain.

themaque
2015-03-22, 07:35 PM
I had a GM who once used opening theme music to the adventure. When we sat down to play, while everyone was getting all their gear together, he would play that ONE song he selected for this campaign. Something that fit the tone and style of the whole story. It was... kinda cool.

Dimers
2015-03-22, 09:40 PM
I've created my own in-game fortunetelling system, which I also intend to use for adding random elements to games after someone asks for a reading. I haven't filled in the whole thing yet, so I haven't been able to give it a test run. :smallfrown:

And I like GMing By Mad Libs -- at the end of a session, I ask for one keyword from each player to build future sessions, like which NPC will be associated with a change of heart, what will the PCs smell next session, what number will influence the party, that sort of thing.

Kid Jake
2015-03-22, 10:18 PM
The only consistent thing I've started carrying over from group to group is that if they amuse me and I think it's going to be a steady thing I'll start a Campaign Journal between sessions. So far, most players seem to enjoy reading about their exploits after the fact and it provides a handy refresher before we play.

Dimers
2015-03-22, 10:29 PM
The only consistent thing I've started carrying over from group to group is that if they amuse me and I think it's going to be a steady thing I'll start a Campaign Journal between sessions. So far, most players seem to enjoy reading about their exploits after the fact and it provides a handy refresher before we play.

If I were going into one of your games knowing that, then I would have to play a character who delusionally thinks someone is always watching and recording her. :smallbiggrin:

Kid Jake
2015-03-22, 11:35 PM
If I were going into one of your games knowing that, then I would have to play a character who delusionally thinks someone is always watching and recording her. :smallbiggrin:

Most don't until we're a session or two in, but if they did then I would interact with their paranoia during the log. :smallbiggrin:

While We're Playing
Crazy PC: "Hold up guys, I'm pretty sure we're being watched..."
Narration: "But of course, there's nobody there."

While I'm Writing
Crazy PC: "Hold up guys, I'm pretty sure we're being watched..."
Narration: "But of course, he couldn't prove I was there."

themaque
2015-03-23, 08:32 AM
friend of mine did a twist of that for his Shadowrun game. He wold have example headlines that where in the news in between games. If things went well, the headlines would be hints as to what's going on in the greater world or perhapes a sad news story about the poor schlub who ended up taking the fall for us.

If things went poorly, the headlines spoke of authorities still looking for the terrorists who set of the dirty bomb near downtown Denver. (True story. Always have actual skill in explosives when setting bombs)

Cikomyr
2015-03-23, 08:49 AM
I hand out gifts to players/PCs who

- Do good roleplaying
- Contribute clever and innovative ideas
- Help me out as a GM to keep the story going

Plus, i never. EVER let the excuse "but we dont have any rules for thar!" stop me. I improvised Vehicle Combat rules, Sectarian Religious Politics, Steampunk Intership battles. Industrial manufacturing start up. On the fly. And my players usually love it.