One of the reasons that I love gaming, especially LARPing, is that at its best, it is a form of Storytelling that is deeply immersive. In the climactic moments of games, I can be totally overwhelmed by the rational and emotional reality of the scene in a way that is greater than in books, or television, or movies, or any other form of story. And as a Storyteller, one of my goals is to help players achieve that immersion, to experience the story more deeply.
One of the methods that I've come to use over the years(in fits and starts) is what I call Five Sense Storytelling, trying to find ways of using sensation to deepen immersion. Different circumstances call for different methodes, but each of the senses can be engaged for game. More importantly, I have found that the more senses are engaged in a given game setting, the deeper the overall immersion. Here are some of the ways that I've found useful for deepening immersion.
Sight
Sight is probably the most important of the senses to engage and the one that is also the hardest to fully engage. It is inevitable that in game situations there will be some difference between what you see and what is represented in game. However, there are a few things that can be done to help narrow the gap between reality and experience.
Lighting-Lighting is one of the most underutilized methods of space transformation. While a lot can be achieved by choosing the time of day(horror is harder on summer weekend afternoons), there is a lot that can be done with lighting tools like colored light bulbs and simple lighting equipment(I use Hampsters). Just changing the way a room is lit will change people's experience of that room. Done correctly, it can take a boring conference room and transform it to a creepy conference room.
Decoration-That's where decorating comes in. Props and added decorations can help make that conference room into a truly different space. Things that interrupt the way people interact with space or that change the sight lines of a room are especially good in this regard.
Costuming-This is one of the most important things. Require some degree of costuming. DO NOT ALLOW NAMETAG COSTUMES. If someone wants to play a high powered business deer, then either require that they wear a suit and antlers, or talk to them about playing a high powered business deer who wears jeans and a t shirt and a human mask. As a player, make character choices based on what you can costume, if you only have red tunics, don't make your house colors blue.
Touch
Touch is one of the more complicated senses to engage in LARP, but also one of the easiest. For instance, Costuming and Decoration often invoke tactile responses, either through the feel of the material or the weight of the costume. Beyond the side effects however, Touch can be very important.
Props- The most important way to engage touch is through the use of reasonably convincing props. The weight of a briefcase with ten thousand dollars in it(lighter than you think) or a million dollars in it(only barely possible). The feel of a sword at your belt. The visceral creepiness of a human heart sticky with blood(or honey). Props can really invoke reactions based on touching them.
Hearing
Despite being relatively easy to use in game, Hearing is more rarely invoked. However, Hearing can be very helpful for filling in gaps, adding to the general background of a gamespace by creating a pervasive soundscape. Music can also be used as a pre-game exercise, a way of setting a scene, and music is not the only way of using Hearing.
Music In Game-One difficulty in running games set before 1877 is that there is no ability to have sourced music unless you pretend to have hired musicians. However, you don't need a source for music in game to have music in game. Ambient music can help set the scene as a musical score does in a film or television series. Having special music for climactic moments can make those moments even more climactic.
Music Pre Game- I am also a big fan of music being used out of game as well. I make soundtracks for characters, soundtracks for games, soundtracks for factions, I make soundtracks for thematic elements. These can be very useful for getting into the headspace of game, establishing the mood of a game in your mind before doing game planning or other game work.
Sound Effects- And don't forget sound effects. It's one thing to tell characters that a terrible rain storm is happening outside. It's another to have the sound of rain pervading the entire space. If you're running a game on a starship, have the sound of a warp core idling. Soundscapes can make environments more immersive.
Taste
This is not the first, nor will it be the last time that I advocate having food at game. Not only does food help ease people in to social interaction, but different foods can help set the mood in interesting ways. Tea and cakes set an easy genteel atmosphere, while meat cooked over a fire well befits a postapocalyptic showdown. This is also where I recommend wine at game. Make sure that your players don't over indulge and that the presence of drink does not lead to recklessness(man, I sound like a temperance crusader), but having some wine can make players feel more refined and if there is a Trader Joe's near you, a case of two buck chuck is only 36 dollars.
Smell
Finally, the least utilized sense in terms of game creation, smell. I mean, if you've been to the fourth day of a four day gaming convention, you may have experienced the use of smell in game, but I'm talking about positive usage. The repeated use of small amounts of burned herbs or incense or of a specific perfume or odor spray can invoke sense memory, helping people return to the headspace of a game. Alternatively, using a specific scent as a specific character can help you enter the headspace of that character.
Regardless of how you choose to do it. Engaging the senses in game can go a long way towards immersion. And immersion is the fast track to engagement.
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