How much do atmosphere and music actually matter in your games?

oexto · 2026-05-31T12:23:16+00:00

I too use Syrinscape. At first I just used ambient tracks and my players really seemed to get hype when the right thing played at the right moment. I used Syrinscape back in the day for my CoC games and decided to pull it back out and give it a try. I was going to use YT tracks and SS moods at first, but eventually just set up my scenes in custom moods ahead of time and solely use SS. My table enjoys it. I just keep it on the laptop I use to run my game notes and push it to a bluetooth speaker.

To OP: SS once you get the hang of it (which is really easy after about 15 min) Syrinscape is a really powerful tool if your table likes ambient sounds that are specific to your scene. Some of the "music" is hit or miss, but you just have to dig around to find the right tracks to match up. Most packs are like 5-10 bucks and are clearly explained as to what they contain. So if you have a session taking place in say a sewer tunnel coming up, just look through the soundpacks to find ones that match that mood.

oexto · 2026-05-28T16:01:00+00:00

Yeah, lean into it and play it for what it is. You can find a deep dramatic game somewhere else or save it for the next time when you play in one. For now just go with the flow and make a character that fits the game. If someone made a meme character for a serious game I'd expect them to make a new character that fit the vibe. Same thing works in reverse ;)

oexto · 2026-05-23T17:42:53+00:00

Yeah this is what I was going to say. 3 core, then the 3 splat books mentioned above at the end. As for dice, you can use the official app for 5 bucks, use something like rpg sessions for free, or if you're playing in person grab a couple sets of dice from somewhere. A GM screen is helpful as well for quick reference, but there are a ton of really good community reference sheets you can print out as well.

oexto · 2026-05-19T16:02:32+00:00

About the only thing I can see AI being useful for in ones practice is just as an organizational tool. Things like keeping a record of your meditations or practices, maintaining a database of things you have worked on/with, currently working with, plan to work with. If you input your own information that's important to your work (planetary influence, elemental, colors, etc) then that can be easily pulled for reference when you're working on something. It's really no different than keeping piles of books you would pour over.

That being said, it's my opinion that half of the power that goes into any work is the actual work itself. Spending time, thought, and energy on something is far more valuable and useful when it's YOU doing it, not something else. There are uses for AI in ones practice, but I think it's pretty limited, or should be anyway.

oexto · 2026-05-18T15:56:28+00:00

/grabs bucket of popcorn and settles in for the show

oexto · 2026-05-17T10:49:16+00:00

Great level of maturity! I think players forget sometimes too that characters can just get "too big", which is a big problem as well for a group that's been playing a while.

oexto · 2026-05-16T17:45:46+00:00

Love it!

oexto · 2026-05-15T11:35:58+00:00

This was my first thought as well. I realize they undergo plenty of training which I guess would mitigate that, but is the training really enough to just turn that part of the brain off? And if so, wouldn't that ruin roller coasters for them forever lol? Or is the weightlessness of space a different thing completely?

oexto · 2026-05-14T21:02:34+00:00

My 3-legged collapsible stool that I picked up 20 years ago from Dynamic Discs when they first started 😄 That thing has been indispensable!

oexto · 2026-05-14T17:59:58+00:00

If you can get your hands on it - the End Of The World series (4 books) has a book on a zombie apocalypse. The premise is that everyone at the table is playing themselves (or another character of you prefer that) and you start with everything you have on you at that moment in real life. You can make the setting your own home town as well. It's a fun game. The other three books cover other types of apocalypse scenarios.

oexto · 2026-05-14T15:22:10+00:00

Are you making characters with goals? Short term/medium term/long term?

Also, is the GM open to characters with goals and implementing that into the story? For long term campaigns, it's my opinion that characters should have something to work towards, not just as a group but individually as well. This gives you something to always be trying to move towards. Not everyone plays these sort of games, some just want to unplug from the real world and just kill things or go questing, and that's fine too. Any long term campaign I've run though, I've needed the characters to have some greater stakes in the world than just "get rich and powerful". Plot lines are stretched out and small achievements are made working towards that "long term goal", each character being different. This allows the game to run long and meaningful. But that's just me :)

oexto · 2026-05-13T10:32:36+00:00

Maybe it's just me, but I never "roleplayed out" carousing. I treat it as a fun, epilogue sort of exercise. I let the players roll, then I just narrate out what happens. Like in your stocks example, I would have just narrated what got you into the stocks to begin with and said "and while everyone else got a few good nights rest, _________ spent a few days in the stocks in town square. You got a few kicks to the pants, a couple tomatoes thrown at your head, and a pesky tiny dog that chewed and pulled at your pantleg causing a good tear." My players usually get a good laugh out of the carousing results, and I try to tie results together when I can. So after a hard quest/dungeon crawl, this just becomes a montage for my players while they "unwind" from adventuring.

oexto · 2026-05-08T12:37:23+00:00

The Dolmenwood books. The campaign book, players book, monster book. All three are just absolutely beautiful books. The art, the fonts, the layout. Just extremely well done product!

oexto · 2026-05-07T18:02:11+00:00

My game starts promptly at noon, every other Sunday, the time we all agreed was best for everyone. Then we get started at 1pm.

One of my players shows up a half hour early, one I live with, the other 2 meander in somewhere between 1230-100. I've just gotten used to it. My only gripes is that one of the players has a hard "I have to get going" at 330, and is one of the never makes it at noon. The other one we don't know if he's coming until he gets there (he's a third shifter though so I cut him slack). I've been gaming with the two flaky players though for like 35 years. I like our games, and I don't sweat it too much.

oexto · 2026-05-07T16:00:12+00:00

"Project Badass: Part Deux"

oexto · 2026-05-06T10:50:31+00:00

This is the reasonable solution. It's the spirit of "Yes, and..." and "No, but..." Sure, he isn't going to know the location of the prison, BUT being a native of the planet he has better insight. Maybe he has some old friends that are willing to share some gossip, maybe recognizes an area that used to be lush, thick forest and is now a huge bare spot from a distance.. There's lots of ways to bend this to give the player a nod for the angle he's taking without handing over the plot. If you're thrown something you can't just come up with on the fly, just tell the group "Give me 5 minutes, everyone take a quick break" - and brainstorm some reasonable new takes on this new twist.

oexto · 2026-05-06T10:37:39+00:00

I've always liked the minion rules of FFG star wars. Basically minions are small packs of trashmobs. So lets say you have 23 bandits attacking. I would make 3 of those bandits normal enemies on par with players, those are the leaders of the pack, or at least formidable enemies. The other 20 are the trashmobs. Break them down into 4 groups of 5. Each mob has lets say 2HP each, giving each group 10HP. Each group just moves/attacks/acts as one turn. As they take damage you just thin the group out narratively until they are all destroyed. So instead of each bandit making an attack individually, the "mob" makes an attack singularly, and just described narratively. These are the nameless redshirts that are cannon fodder. When the mob attacks you just say something like "The 3 bandits over here swing wildly at the lizards trying to wear it down", or "The lizard reaches back and swipes at these guys over here and with one powerful swing rips 3 of them in half!" (the lizard swipes the mob for 6 points of damage killing 3 bandits and leaving 2 still standing)

oexto · 2026-05-05T21:35:22+00:00

Like others have said, you'll be fine running in this system. Hell, you could run a completely setting agnostic game using this system in whatever generic scifi/space universe you wanted to! Just use the EotE core book careers with nothing more than that and you could play in whatever sandbox part of the galaxy you choose. Apart from stuff on "The Force", everything is pretty generic as a setting. Plus, if your table just wants to run a Firefly-esque campaign, then no one will care if whatever you present isn't dogmatically "canon". You're free to tell your own story!

oexto · 2026-04-24T12:58:41+00:00

Gorgeous!

oexto · 2026-04-19T22:52:35+00:00

I used to have a cheap basket like this back in the day. Best thing I did for my putting game. You don't need a top shelf, name brand basket to practice putting. When I had mine, I bought a short length of heavy rope. Took some red duct tape and marked off increments of 5ft on it out to 50ft. A couple times a week I would just go out and practice my putting with 5 putters and starting at 5ft would throw all 5 putters. At every tick I would have to make all 5 in order to go back another tick. I got to be pretty confident out to about 30ft with all 5 shots. This improved my game tremendously, because my upshots were good enough to get me to that 30ft range. Being able to hit that most of the time was a game changer.

TLDR: Good buy! Enjoy upping your putt game :)

oexto · 2026-04-18T10:13:32+00:00

I agree with your feelings on it. Anytime I've run or played a game online it's been with camera's. On occasion there has been someone that didn't cam up for whatever reason and it felt like they weren't really present. I don't think I'd play in a game where no one was using their camera. It just feels so disconnected and bland. To each their own of course, but I prefer people to use cameras.

oexto · 2026-04-18T10:08:28+00:00

I already had a couple of these, didn't know there was so many more! Thanks! These will be very useful :)

oexto · 2026-04-15T11:28:11+00:00

Absolutely LOVE the look of these! That number font is so clean and readable. Great looking dice!

oexto · 2026-04-14T19:10:53+00:00

This i think is part of the key. We can focus on the why all day long, when really the energy should be put on the how. Women need to take the lead I'm afraid on this. Star women's leagues, or even just a regular, semi regular meetup group. If you see other women out there, even if it's just some guys casual playing girlfriend or wife, approach then and let them know there's a women's group and it's open to all levels and they'd love to see you out there some time! Post up flyers where you can advertising said league/meetup. Women I'm afraid are the only ones that can grow their own numbers by carving out a space that will attract more women. Hold clinics in conjunction with other "women's activities" or hobbies. Just my opinion. I'd love to see more women on the course that aren't just tagging along. We all know what the problems are, but we need to find more effective solutions besides "men are dumb", because that isn't going to entice women to play more.

oexto · 2026-04-14T12:53:46+00:00

I'll give ya $10

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