Injecting Energy and Emotion: Crafting Tabletop Experiences That Resonate

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about how to be a better Game Master (GM) for tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs). I think it comes down to a few key areas I haven’t come close to mastering yet:

1. Deliberate Practice - away from the table

2. Focusing on the Energy of the table - not just the details

3. Understanding What Makes Stories Emotional - for characters and players

Let’s start with that second one.

Focusing on Energy

When we plan our sessions, we usually jump straight to mechanics. We plan monster stats, map out puzzles, and diagram intricate plot threads.

But what if we’re approaching it backwards?

What if the real secret to a memorable game lies not in the details of what happens, but in the energy and raw emotion of how it feels?

There's a TikTok creator named Miss Excel — stay with me — who only posts about Excel tips. When someone asked her about her creative process, she shared something fascinating:

She doesn’t script anything. She doesn’t brainstorm a list of video ideas. She just dances. She gets her energy up by moving, and when inspiration strikes, she immediately records a video while her energy is high.

She’s not just selling Excel tips — she’s selling her contagious excitement.
Her energy fuels her creativity, and that excitement spreads to her audience. They might not even care about the tip, they get pumped to experience her energy!

So, can we Game Master like this?

Instead of grinding through prep, what if we started by cultivating our own excitement, shaping the emotional experience we want our players to have?
Is it possible that we spend too much time trying to “get it right” and not enough time getting ourselves excited?

*personal anecdote on this later*

The Practice of Energy at Your Table

Energy isn’t something you wish for. It’s something you practice, and there are ways to deliberately cultivate it.

Here are a few methods:

Change Your Physical State

Get up and move—do jumping jacks, go for a walk, anything. Physical movement spikes adrenaline and raises your baseline energy before you ever sit down to GM. I’ve been walking and exercising when coming up with ideas, and I’ve tried standing and pacing when GMing.

Change Your Focus

Stop worrying about pitfalls. Focus on the thrilling parts you're about to unveil. One of the best pieces of advice I’ve heard: "Don’t save the best bits."

Don’t think, “Oh man, this should be the climax of the campaign.” No. Do the exciting stuff now. Don’t build toward it—lead with it.

Change Your Narrative

In productivity and happiness literature, there’s a concept called mental framing. Instead of “I have to do this,” think, “I get to do this.” Even if you love being a GM, you might still find yourself saying,

But…are we putting too much pressure on ourselves? I might not say “I have to GM tonight”….but I will say “I have to figure out how to make this exciting”. That usually leads to me trying to think mechanically. I need to change that narrative.

Deliberate Practice being a GM

Let’s talk about Point 1 now.

In my real life, I’m a mentor and teacher. I always tell my mentees: You can’t learn in the clinic. Learning happens outside the clinic — and you bring that growth to your patients.

For some reason, I never thought about practicing being a GM. We often assume that simply running more sessions is enough practice. But when we’re GM-ing…that’s the actual GAME.

Think about improvisers who GM Actual Plays — think about how much practice they put into their skills. How many classes, workshops, and improv sessions do you think Brennan Lee Mulligan has been a part of? They practiced the skills — and then applied them live.

So, what are some ways you can practice a GM’s skills outside of a session?

Record Yourself

Tell a two-minute story into your phone. Watch it back. Did you move? Did your voice rise and fall? Did you seem excited? If not, try again, but bigger.

Make Boring Stories Exciting

Try telling a mundane story—like cooking brussel sprouts—with thrilling energy. Good storytelling is about emotion. Don’t talk about the cooking process. Start with your anxieties about cooking a new recipe, who you were cooking for (the stakes of the situation) then montage through the cooking and get to the results, the emotional results. Practice explicitly describing the emotional highs and lows.

Read Scenes Out Loud

Read books, plays, stories out loud. Play with pacing, tone, and emphasis. You don’t have to be a theater kid — you’re simply building a toolkit to shift the emotional current at your table when you need to.
(Personally, I am fortunate to practice every night by reading bedtime stories to my girls, trying to act them out like a GM.)

Story is Emotional First, Logical Second

Now let’s talk about Emotions in stories…point number 3.

Too often, we focus on the “what” of a game:

• What’s the mystery?

• What monster is waiting?

• What plot twist is coming?

But players rarely remember the details. They remember how it felt EXCITING. Good storytelling is emotional first, logical second.

When you prep, ask yourself: How should this feel?

• The oppressive dread of the city of Malus.

• The frantic escape from the Acidic Maw in Carrion Haven.

• The awe and danger of confronting the Heart of Ascent on Eruption’s Crown.

When you start by designing for emotion, everything else — puzzles, maps, enemies — falls into place naturally.

Want a horror moment? Focus on eerie descriptions, slow pacing, uncertainty. Want a triumphant charge? Focus on soaring music, bold colors, NPCs offering overwhelming support.

Prioritize EMOTION First.

I recently read an article about viral video creators who think about the emotion they want before they even come up with the video idea. BEFORE THE IDEA?!?

For example they ask themselves which of these they want:

• LOL — That’s hilarious!

• WTF — That pisses me off!

• WOW — That’s amazing!

• NSFW — That’s freaking crazy!

• Ohhh — Now I get it.

• Finally — Someone said what I feel!

• Yay! — That’s great news!

Only after picking the emotional goal do they create the content.

As an aside, a great GM I know, when I shared this list, said: “Every encounter should be a WTF moment!”

TTRPG Storytelling is Asking Emotional Questions

Energy is vital — but it’s not the only ingredient. Sometimes, you also need basic storytelling principles.

A few key rules for telling better stories:

• Intention: What does the character want?

• Obstacle: What stands in their way?

• Stakes: What happens if they fail?

Get in the habit of thinking in these three lens. And also, importantly:
The most powerful stories aren’t about victory. They’re about TRYING.

This is at least true in books and movies. Audiences, and players, connect most with struggle, because struggle is real and relatable. Whether it’s a disastrous date your on or surviving a collapsing dungeon, the drama comes from effort, not outcome.

Every story hinges on a “five-second moment of change”. The moment when everything shifts emotionally. That’s the true heart of it. The moment in the movie when the actor realizes they were wrong, or what they can do.

As GMs, can we structure sessions around these moments? Can we do this to create stories players remember for years.

But here’s the twist in TTRPGs: storytelling isn’t a one-person show. It’s shared.

Great GMs don’t tell stories — they ASK the right questions to BUILD them with players.

For example:

• “What memory haunts you about this place?”

• “When you see the ruins, who do you think of first?”

• “What’s something you’re secretly hoping to find here?”

Questions like these invite players into the emotional undercurrent of the game.
They help players invest — not because you forced them to, but because you invited them.

You don’t have to be a master improviser. You just need to be curious.

Character Building: Values Drive Conflict

If you want to ask good questions, you need characters to have established values. Another creative lesson that crosses beautifully into TTRPGs: Good characters aren’t just defined by their looks or class. They’re defined by their values.

When building NPCs or PCs, think through three layers:

1. Exterior — What do they look like? (Visual shorthand.)

2. Mannerism — How do they interact with others? (Quirk, habit, style.)

3. Core Values — What do they truly care about?!!!!! (most important)

The best drama emerges when values collide:

• Internal Conflict: Two of a character’s values come into conflict.

• Interpersonal Conflict: My value vs. your value.

• Environmental Conflict: A character’s values vs. the world’s reality.

I heard this description on a podcast with Richard Powers. I love this concept. The podcasts gives some wonderful examples of the different conflicts as well. (Environmental might be Hiccup vs Berk in How to Train Your Dragons - my example :P )

If you want rich, meaningful drama, put characters in situations where they must choose between their values. That's when stories get really interesting.

But again…you shouldn’t force that as a GM. Ask questions, let the players bring this to the table. Not all tables are about DRAMA. Some people just want to kill some monsters and collect some 1337 loot, and that’s also fun and awesome!

Final Thought: Creativity is You — Pushed Out

At the end of the day, creativity isn’t about forcing a perfect idea. It’s about amplifying your idea. Through - Excitement. Energy. Emotion.

Get those flowing, and the ideas — and memorable sessions — will follow.

I'd love to hear from all of you in the comments: what are some ways you prepare for a session beyond just building encounters and monsters? I think props and music selections are great tools for building excitement. What other creative approaches do you use? Share your ideas in the comments!