Dungeons and Dragons has been around for a while, you’ve probably heard of it, but if you’re new to playing it, or role playing games in general, it can be a bit overwhelming. Sometimes you’re just not too sure where to start and if you’re already a player, you might not know what to do to be further immersed in the experience.

Here, I’ll run through a few accessories to include in your game that might help you immerse yourself into your game, or help immerse your players.

1) A good DM screen
Let’s face it, even some of the most skilled dungeon masters/game masters need to double, sometimes triple check rules. If you’re the dungeon master, you’re going to want to have a relevant dungeon master's screen to assist you. A DM screen with the relevant information for your campaign is going to save you time and let you focus more on the game, rather than on searching up rules.

Whether your campaign focuses on surviving in the wilderness, having your players crew a ship on their way to a new world or being afflicted by conditions in and outside of combat, you’re going to want to make your DM screen your friend. Plus there are some really beautifully illustrated screens that who can really pass up?




2) D&D Adventure Grid
A simple gridded map can really help wonders when organising yourself and others in a combat scenario.

Putting your players or yourself into the battlefield, a terrain map such as an Adventure grid will allow you to easily see how far you are from foes or obstacles and you can really get a sense of how close - or how far - you are from everything else.

An adventure grid can be the beginning of getting your players, or yourself immersed further into the game, from here, you can really start branching out to things such as Warlock Tiles which can be built up to be the dungeon or tavern you need it to be!




3) Miniatures/Standees
A miniature can really make you feel like you are really part of the game and you are contributing, which can sometimes be what someone really needs to get themselves into the roleplay. Whether it’s a specific miniature, painted or a standee, it can put a personal touch to whatever scenario you’re going for.

Miniatures can also be used to show spell effects and give the game that little bit more of that “wow” factor. I can say from personal experience, when the spell effects do come out, my players always get excited and focus more on the game...Plus it always makes you feel like a boss when you grab it out and show everyone is grouped in an AOE (of healing of course…)

4) Reference Cards
What can I say about reference cards? Much like your DM screen, these can be used as quick reference for DMs and players throughout your sessions. During your session planning, you might come across one that inspires you for your next combat encounter. You might find a spell that you want to incorporate somewhere, maybe you’ll give it to a player if you think it works for them? Maybe you’ll give it to the BBEG? But for whichever, you’ll be able to reference it quickly if you need to.

Having these reference cards at hand will help cut down on time spent trying to figure out how a spell will work, or if a certain class can learn the spell. They can help you track monster stats and abilities during a game. You can even reference magical items, making it easier to plan and giving you more time to enjoy playing! Have you struggled to plan out NPCs? Yeah, there’s reference cards for that too!

5) Notebook
Whether we’re talking DnD, Vampire the Masquerade or literally any RPG, you’re going to want to keep some notes. This will help you remember what you have been doing, where you’re up to in a place such as a dungeon and what information your character has gathered over time or about other characters and creatures. You will be able to play with your mind in the game and be able to reference any information you need at any time.

If you’re running the game, your notebook will help you keep all your information together in one place. All your monster or NPC stats all in one place, town layouts and campaign plot points all referenced at your fingertips. I advise also using sticky tabs and having separate parts of your notebook for easy planning and reference too!

Buying Guide
In summary, if you’re looking for…
Relevant campaign information at your fingertips? A good DM screen
Easy ability to see characters on a map? An adventure grid or terrain tiles
Physical representations of characters? Miniatures or standees
Easy references for items, NPCs and Monsters? Item, monster and NPC reference cards
Quick and easy access to campaign information? A notebook

And there we have it! Our top 5 helpful accessories to help you and your players fully immerse yourselves into your role playing game! What do you think? Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments below!