Building Immersion in a Virtual Setting: Bringing the Dungeon to your Doorstep

As I have mentioned before, I almost only play Dungeons and Dragons virtually. Even before the pandemic, I often played most of my games from my home, connecting to my party through Discord Chat or Zoom. While it certainly has many benefits, I think there are some drawbacks to not having a physical table. One of the big ones for me is immersion. Staring at my party through a screen, with small windows for my companions, can sometimes make the game world feel distant. It becomes hard for me to imagine that I am in the world I am creating for my players. And when you might make most of your work calls in a disturbingly similar fashion to how you are playing your game, it's hard to separate work from fun and get into the mood.

So, for me, getting myself into the right frame of mind is vital to a fun and engaging evening. Clearing my head and putting away the thoughts of the day is where I start. Then getting myself into the right place, using music to help me. I use a scent to invoke thoughts and memories of the game to further get myself into the right place. Finally, when I sit down, I like to prepare my space to make it the optimal environment for play.

Pre-session Pre-gaming

Preparing your Evening In Advance

Before I even start my evening, I try to set myself up to have as much time as possible to mentally prepare, and to avoid any unforeseen obstacles. For me that comes down to two main things.

The first is communicating with my spouse to make sure that the evening is still good for me to be occupied for the better part of the night. As I talked about with Cancellations, I know that life sometimes can throw up a roadblock between me and a session of rolling dice. So around the time I check with my party, I check in with my house. I make sure nothing has come up, or is likely to come up that would mean I would be rushing to get to DnD. If there is a situation, being aware of it early helps. Checking in with your spouse, roommates, or whomever else you live with just helps make sure that your entire household is on the same page, and you can avoid walking into any last minute disasters that will pull you away from the table.

Additionally I try to make sure any of my evening needs will be met with relative ease. I usually have a variety of tasksI need to do when I finish work for the day. Feed the pets, get the mail, and take care of dinner. For me the big area in which I can streamline my night is simplifying my game night dinner. Often I will do takeout, getting a pizza or something else instead of cooking. Other times I will meal prep, just needing to heat up whatever I am going to eat that evening. It might seem small, but saving the time and effort tends to really help me prepare myself for the evening.

Creating a Clean Slate

I play during the week. That means that I have already had 10-12 hours of being awake before I play. Often that also means a full day of work is there, as well as whatever other obligations I have to deal with. That means by the evening of my game, my mind is a soup of the thoughts, stresses, and anxieties that I interacted with during the day. Running my game might be on my mind, but it is one of many voices competing for my attention. I like to avoid walking into a game that way.

I will try to take at least 20-30 minutes to just clear my mind. If I have the time, I try to disconnect from technology a bit. I spend most of my day staring at multiple screens, and sometimes will come home and do the same thing. It keeps my thoughts racing, and makes it hard to slow down. I will often try to reduce a lot of the outside stimuli that my senses are taking in as well. Sometimes I will dim the lights, focusing on my breathing. Other times, I will take a shower with the lights dimmed. Sometimes I will go as far as working through a meditation routine. The goal is to slow my brain down a bit, and clear out the day's problems and let the intrinsic thoughts clear out. As an individual with ADHD, I find I get a buildup of sensory feedback, and that adds to my racing brain. So calming the environment around me helps me clear out my head.

Scent Memory

It is said that scent is one of the strongest senses tied to memory. I am sure that most people can relate. Certain smells, or combinations of smells, just seem to call up memories of a specific time or activity. Since that is the case, harnessing smell to get you into a DnD mindset is a no-brainer.

When I mention smells, I don't mean trying to implement Smell-o-Vision at your table. You don't want to be smelling ALL the smells your party might be encountering. Honestly, you might not want to be smelling most of what your party is encountering, depending on where they are. Instead, I recommend finding a scent (or scents) and use it only when you play your sessions. The scent could be anything. You could burn some incense or use a diffuser, but I prefer to use a candle. 

For me, candles have always been my go to option. I like the visual of the flickering flame, and I find they do a decent job of filling a room with a pleasing scent. The best part about a candle is that once it’s out, it will not be putting that scent into the room. So it's perfect for when you want a certain smell for a period. My current candle of choice comes from Briarwick. They make candles tied in a few fantasy novels, but also have a few thematic candles. My current rotation comprises Gothic Manor, Nevermore, and Dracula. The name and scent profile felt like they fit with my Curse of Strahd campaign.

If you have pets or do not think you want an open flame set up around you, you might instead be interested in wax melts. These scented wax cubes come in a six-pack and are used with some sort of heated plate. They put off the same smell as the candle, but without the flame. If you have children or pets that will become interested in an open flame, this is a superb option. Most places that sell candles will also offer them in wax melts.

Setting the Mood with a little Music

Right after scent, music is up there for me in the importance of setting the right mood. I find music to be a little more dependent on my mood, and it can change based on the day that I have had.

Sometimes I come home and my energy levels feel low. The day has drained me and I need to pick myself up. Usually at that point I go for a playlist full of high BPM music. My tastes are a little eclectic, so at the moment that includes a lot of pop and electronic music in it. Other times I just want to have something in the background, some sort of white noise. At that point I will usually look for ambience. Rain sounds are a big win for me, but Sometimes I really want to invoke the feeling of the game, and the atmosphere that I want to have at the table. For my current Curse of Strahd game, that usually means a playlist that uses a lot of gothic-inspired music. Dark, brooding, sometimes with the use of an organ. For the encounter that I’m currently running, Forge of the Mind, it is more Cosmic Horror inspired. It builds up the anxiety and paranoia to create that vibe.

Something to note is that often, the music I am using before the game does not match the music I will use in my game. Sometimes they overlap, but that's not always the case. I’m not looking for the ambience that my game playlists evoke, so I will rarely turn to them before the game. Often I try to listen to something entirely different so that way the session playlists I have ready will feel fresh. Sitting down at the table and changing my music to a session playlist helps me mentally note that “it’s time to DM”.

Prepping my Play Area

When I get ready to play, I try to get myself to my play area a little before anyone else will get on. Partially this is for me to enjoy the calm before the evening begins, but its also so I can get my area in order.

First thing I like to do is gather anything I am going to need while playing. I do not eat while I DM, but I usually have a few beverages. Depending on the night it will be simple as a few bottles of water or as complex as a cocktail influenced by my evening. Doing this makes sure that I can avoid leaving the game as much as possible.I also will usually make sure to have whatever candle I want to use during my game ready and going as well. It helps really get the scent throughout the room, allowilly experience it. I want to make sure that I have everything I am going to need for the night so I can minimize the amount of times I need to and leave the table.

Final Thoughts

How well I execute my plan can certainly depend on a lot of factors. Some days, I have more than enough time to do this entirely. Other times, either life throws a curveball my way or I do not just get the plan together. So I try to do as much of this process as possible, but sometimes that is not doable. In my mind, if I can at least take 10 minutes to isolate myself, it really influences my evening for the better.

Following this method, I have found that it helps me wipe away what happened during the day. Starting off by isolating myself from as many distractions as possible helps me clear out my mind. It takes anything that was drawing my focus and helps put it away, if only for the evening. I will light at least one candle, something with a scent tied to what I am doing. The smells help evoke memories for me that subtly remind me that the session is about to start.I try to hone my mood with the help of some sort of music. High energy music to help get me excited for the evening, or something thematically similar to get my head in that place. Once that is all in place, I will take some extra time to set up my desk where I will play with my group. I make sure anything I am going to need for the night is in place. My goal is to minimize the times I have to get up and leave, which influence my focus and immersion in the game.

This is what I have found that works for me. Sometimes I can really struggle to get my head into the right place for the night, and this tends to help with that a lot. But what works for me might not work for you. 

Do you have something you do to get ready for your evening? I would love to hear what you do! Let me know below.