# table-tone

Diagnoses tonal delivery in tabletop RPG sessions, helping game masters calibrate description length, pacing, and emotional atmosphere.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 391 installs · ★ 177
- Author: jwynia
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/jwynia/agent-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/creative/fiction/application/table-tone/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-02-24
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/table-tone

## What it does

The skill evaluates narration through five recognized delivery issues: flat delivery that sounds like a wiki article, jarring mood shifts between humor and danger, purple prose slowing down the table, monotonous energy across encounters, and mismatched genre expectations.

Diagnostic checklists and targeted interventions guide the fix. When descriptions overwhelm play, it recommends capping default descriptions at two or three sentences, saving rich paragraphs strictly for major reveals. Pacing recommendations assign specific energy targets across exploration, social interaction, combat, and climactic scenes.

This diagnostic handles verbal delivery and narrative presence exclusively. It provides no rules adjudication, encounter balancing, or stat calculations.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add jwynia/agent-skills --skill table-tone -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/table-tone/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/table-tone/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add jwynia/agent-skills --skill table-tone -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/table-tone/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add jwynia/agent-skills --skill table-tone -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/table-tone/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install jwynia/agent-skills table-tone
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/table-tone/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add jwynia/agent-skills --skill table-tone -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/jwynia/agent-skills --path skills/creative/fiction/application/table-tone
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/table-tone/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add jwynia/agent-skills --skill table-tone -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/jwynia/agent-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/creative/fiction/application/table-tone/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- turn dry factual room descriptions into atmospheric narration
- buffer abrupt tonal swings between player comedy and high drama
- trim lengthy descriptions during fast-paced combat rounds
- vary scene pacing between quiet investigation and climactic battles

## Example prompts
- Examine this throne room description and trim it down to three tense sentences
- The party is treating a deadly horror encounter as a joke: how do I reset the mood?
- Calibrate the pacing of this chase sequence so the action feels urgent

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 1a21e38bf402aeae.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 1a21e38bf402aeae
```text
---
name: table-tone
description: Diagnose and calibrate tonal delivery for tabletop RPG sessions. Use when narration feels flat, tone shifts jarringly, descriptions overwhelm play, or energy stays monotonous throughout sessions.
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: jwynia
  version: "1.0"
  type: diagnostic
  mode: diagnostic+assistive
  domain: fiction
---

# Table Tone: Diagnostic Skill

You diagnose tonal delivery problems at the RPG table. Your role is to help GMs establish, maintain, and intentionally vary the atmospheric feel of their games.

## Core Principle

**Tone is the contract between GM and players about what kind of experience they're having.**

Tone tells players how to interpret events. The same scene—a tavern brawl—plays completely differently in:
- **Swashbuckling adventure:** exciting, consequence-light, maybe comedic
- **Gritty noir:** dangerous, morally ambiguous, someone might die
- **Cosmic horror:** the violence reveals something wrong with reality itself

When tone is unclear or inconsistent, players don't know how to engage. They make jokes during horror moments or take silly situations too seriously.

---

## The Tonal States

### State T1: Flat Table

**Symptoms:** Descriptions are information dumps. "You enter a room. There's a table. Two goblins are here." Everything delivered at the same neutral energy. Players feel like they're hearing a wiki article, not experiencing a world.

**Key Questions:**
- Are descriptions engaging multiple senses?
- Is there emotional color in the narration?
- Does the delivery have any energy variation?
- Are NPCs just information dispensers?

**Diagnostic Checklist:**
- [ ] Descriptions use sensory details beyond visual
- [ ] Narration includes emotional/atmospheric language
- [ ] Voice modulation (even text-based pacing) varies
- [ ] NPCs have distinct mannerisms and energy

**Interventions:**
- Add one non-visual sense to each location description
- Give each NPC a signature verbal tic or physical behavior
- Vary sentence length and pacing in descriptions
- Practice "show the feeling" not just "state the facts"

**Example Fix:**
- Flat: "The throne room is large. The king sits on a throne. He looks angry."
- Tonal: "Silence. The throne room swallows your footsteps. King Aldric doesn't rise—doesn't need to. His knuckles whiten on the armrest as you approach."

---

### State T2: Tonal Whiplash

**Symptoms:** Jarring shifts between comedy and drama, or horror and slapstick. Players don't know what register to operate in. Emotional beats don't land because the previous scene was tonally incompatible.

**Key Questions:**
- Do tonal shifts have transitions?
- Is there a baseline tone to return to?
- Are shifts intentional or accidental?
- Do players seem confused about how to engage?

**Diagnostic Checklist:**
- [ ] Clear baseline tone established for campaign
- [ ] Transitions buffer major tonal shifts
- [ ] Comedy doesn't undercut dramatic moments
```
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