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Dark Wizard Games won the October Spotlight to become our monthly honouree. There’s now an upgraded Spotlight page to announce their status.
This month we offer thanks to; Adept Icarus, The Bundle of Holding, Paul Wilson, Philippe Marcil, Rick Hershey, Sean P. Kelley, and Wintersun.
You don’t need to be a patron to nominate candidates, just to vote, and you need to be a certain tier of patron to be a hero in our random adventure game. Voting happens via this private poll.
So, as the cold settles and the mist rises for autumn, who are our candidates for November?
Can you vote? Please do.
The UK’s descent into darkness is the perfect time for atmospheric roleplaying
The shift from crisp autumn to a darker, damper chill marks a significant change for tabletop enthusiasts. With the end of Daylight Saving Time (DST), the evening darkness settles in dramatically earlier, transforming a 7 pm game start from a late-afternoon affair into a definitively pitch-black night.
The seasonal context: darker evenings, deeper atmosphere
The transition back to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) from British Summer Time (BST) on the last Sunday of October means the world outside your window naturally dims, lending immediate gravitas to your session. You no longer need to worry about dimming the lights or drawing the curtains; the environment is doing the heavy lifting for you.
Lean into the Spooky Season
If your regular gaming night falls close to Halloween, consider a brief thematic detour:
- Run a Horror One-Shot: Take a break from the main narrative to play a standalone adventure with a dedicated horror system. Titles like Call of Cthulhu or the diceless Dread are excellent choices for a single, terrifying session.
- Weave in Subplots: If you must stick to your main campaign, introduce a horror-flavoured interlude. Perhaps a strange, forgotten festival grips the local town, or a seemingly innocuous rumour about a nearby ruin turns out to be frighteningly true.
General GM Atmosphere Tips
To make the most of the winter setting, focus on lighting, sound, and sensory details:
- Mood Lighting is Key: Ditch the harsh overhead light in favour of dim, warm alternatives. Electric candles or fairy lights can instantly create an intimate and potentially perilous atmosphere, making the area of the map or rulebook seem like the only sanctuary.
- Ambient Soundscapes: Background noise can dramatically alter the mood without interrupting dialogue. Search online platforms like YouTube for hours-long soundscapes of rain, wind, distant thunder, or subtle, eerie music specifically curated for TTRPGs.
- The Isolation Trope: Design an adventure where the characters are naturally cut off. Being trapped in a remote cottage by a sudden blizzard or besieged in a haunted manor allows the palpable darkness outside to enhance the in-game feeling of vulnerability.
- Physical Props and Comfort: Don’t underestimate the power of comfort to heighten the sense of exposure. Hot drinks and blankets juxtaposed with the darkness outside create a ‘cosy but exposed’ feeling. A carved pumpkin on the table or a few strategically placed seasonal decorations help anchor the physical reality of the setting.
- Focus on the Senses: Since the lack of light naturally impairs vision, shift your descriptive focus as the GM. Instead of “You see a dark forest,” try “The air smells faintly of ozone and damp earth, and you hear the dry rattle of leaves under a sudden gust of wind.”
