COVE

With a game that is meant for use by diverse groups of people, how do Gothic aesthetics make their way into play? With a game that tends to be mostly narration and dialogue, most of the atmospheric setting falls to the prowess and knowledge of the Dungeon Master (essentially narrator) and players. Small props and miniatures can be used to help physicalize actions and efforts (mostly for battles and interactions that rely on the amount of space between players and monsters), but for the most part, play is oral. Similarly to the "dark and stormy night" trope of a setting at the start of many classic Gothic novels, Dungeons and Dragons players must pull themselves into the atmosphere of the world through words, though spoken instead of written.