Listen up fellow DMs
do yourself a favor and get yourself a cloak. I don’t care if you pick it up for cheap at a halloween clearance sale, i don’t care if you pawn it off one of your larping buddies, just lay your hands on a damn cloak, cowl or some other shroud like garment.
The reason? It’s the same reason that priests wear vestments and doctors wear labcoats, and that reason is LOOKING THE PART. When you’re wearing something extra to the game you’re signaling that you’re invested, that your words hold a special meaning because you are the person who gets to dress special for the occasion while everyone else is dressed like their normal old plebeian selves.
Cloaks can also be a useful tool in your roleplay arsenal. Hide your face to conceal all intention, pull it back to give prominence to an important scene. Put it on to signal to your players “table talk later, this time is game time”. Cloaks contain so much expressive potential that they might as well be another set of eyebrows.
Yes, you will look ridiculous, but you’re already speaking in funny voices and spending valuable time playing a game of heroism and imagination. WE ARE ALL RIDICULOUS, and the sooner you accept that the sooner you can go on to enjoying the game.