How immersive do you run your games?

[Brayon]

I've been in and DM/GM several different levels of immersive games. From light, to heavy, and some that just focused on Roll-playing. Currently the game in which I'm in is a Moderate to Heavy immersive game. My players know their characters history, likes, dislikes, and how they will/would react to certain situations. Some take on accents for their PCs, and have found pics that represent what they look like IG. (Take a male/female model/actor, add in some Photoshop, and WAM your PC has a visual.) We've RPed for hours without touching the dice, just to get to know the other characters in the group, and have built trust/friendship among the PCs that wasn't "forced" upon them because they are a Team-in-a-campaign. (I've had PC conflicts with other PCs, that have ended with one or both PCs leaving the team.)

What about your games? How involved are your players with their characters, and with the world at large?

[Shorty Lickens]

I make the players come up with some kind of background and misc. facts & crap. Unless of course I roll up my own characters for them to play then I fill in most details and let them change things if they want.

As an example in my new campaign I rolled up 4 players gave each a distinct personality & history.

Theres an Atlantean T-man who pushed herself into a renegade army to help free slaves in Splynn. She's been thru some minor wars and seen lots of combat for a 4th level character. She has facial features (some scars too) a personality but no insanities, a few family members with very basic histories, height & weight, made some friends, enemies, and acquaintances around Atlantis. She has a slightly wider variety of skills than your average grunt owing to her Atlantean Cosmos-exploring ancestry. I think she's fleshed out plenty well, even has a family crest and colors (which she normally cant show off).

An old farming woman (vagabond) thrown into adventuring life after her village in Florida was wiped out and she was sold into slavery. She's got a great deal of history and personality, as well as several children still alive who have their own histories and connections. Also I made a small story for each skill she has. Actually I think I went a little overboard with her character as far as fleshing out is concerned.

Theres a fallen cyber knight with a few secrets and also plenty of good stories he shares with the group. Again full physical description including scars and such. He also accumulated many allies and enemies over the years.

A spatial mage who mostly keeps his secrets but actually has a rich full history. I keep his info separate from the group. Maybe one day he'll share.

I dont do accents unless the players want it. Can be kind of grating on the throat and ears after a while.

[Alrik Vas]

My current game is pretty heavy on the immersion, honestly. The characters are all originally from the shanty burbs of Fort Eldorado, they all left at different times as the place got too juicer-heavy (the wolfen's parents were even murdered by juicers, literally just because they could and hardly anyone seemed to care). One character became a doctor (corpsman merc soldier MOS) because his family all died of disease. One is a psi-stalker who was orphaned and lived in the sewer for years, surviving off of scraps and the occasional critter's life force until he was taken in by another character's family.

They have a history together, they all grew up being taught how to survive by one character's father, who was eventually dismembered by Brodkil in the woods. They all ended up meeting in MercTown as, well, they all needed money. Some had served in Quebec vs the CS, some in Tolkeen vs the CS, the wolfen went to Europe and was trained as a cyber-knight and fought gargoyles, defending the people independent of the NGR. They all have the childhood bond but they've all grown in different directions and it creates a complex relationship that all of them seem to be enjoying.

I always do silly voices (or serious voices) for NPC's, and the players often use odd diction or have weird sayings...sometimes they even have a stupid story they tell over and over because it was their one shining moment.

In a different, non-Rifts game, we're the Landrian 81st Paratrooper Regiment, known as the Drop Bears and we all do Aussie accents and use whatever slang we can remember or study. Even thought that game is very mission-driven and almost all roll-play, we still have character traits we try to display to give the action flavor.

[Vrykolas2k]

The more the players get involved, the better... which is why I never give them pregenerated characters. They make their own. People who aren't used to having a say in things from beginning to end usually find themselves enjoying the games a lot more when they do.

[Grell]

I let my players set their own level of immersion since it's more important for them to be comfortable and have fun than to adhere to a standard of play that makes them uncomfortable. I like to reward or recognize players that make more of an effort towards immersion and it actually seems to get the other players more invested as a result. From a GM perspective, I like to do heavier immersion during intense or important moments while keeping the mood light during transitions or mundane times.