Particularly when you’ve gamed with the same group, on the same night of the week and at the same place for awhile, those traditions become an integral part of your gaming experience — and that’s a good thing.

But it can also be a good thing to shake up that formula a bit from time to time. Small changes can sharpen you up a bit (and ditto for your players), tweaking your perspective on the game slightly, but noticeably.

Here are six little changes you can use to keep your group on their toes without doing anything drastic:

  • Game somewhere different (another part of the house, someone else’s place, your FLGS).
  • Switch up the seating — no one sits where they usually do.
  • Start your next session at a different time of day.
  • If you eat together before games, eat out instead of cooking or ordering in.
  • Change one thing about the ambience of your gaming space (put on background music, alter the lighting).

That’s just the tip of the “micro change” iceberg, of course — what small stuff like this have you done in your own campaigns?