diff --git a/src/storied/cli.py b/src/storied/cli.py
--- a/src/storied/cli.py
+++ b/src/storied/cli.py
@@ -488,21 +488,26 @@ action = f"[System: The player wants to add a note to their character sheet. Use update_character with section.Notes to append this note, preserving any existing notes. Note to add: {note_msg}]"
 
             try:
                 console.print(Rule(style="dim blue"))
-                console.print()  # Blank line before DM response
                 renderer = StreamRenderer(console)
                 prev_type: str | None = None
+                got_text = False
 
                 for chunk in engine.stream_action(action):
-                    if chunk.startswith("\n[") or chunk.startswith("Rolled "):
-                        if prev_type != "tool":
+                    if chunk.startswith("[") and chunk.endswith("]") and "..." in chunk:
+                        if prev_type == "text":
                             renderer.flush()
-                            console.file.write("\n")
-                            console.print()
-                        console.print(f"[dim]{chunk.strip()}[/dim]")
+                            console.file.write("\n\n")
+                        console.print(f"[dim]{chunk}[/dim]")
                         prev_type = "tool"
                     else:
                         if prev_type == "tool":
                             console.print()
+                        if not got_text:
+                            chunk = chunk.lstrip("\n")
+                            if not chunk:
+                                continue
+                            chunk = "\n" + chunk
+                            got_text = True
                         renderer.feed(chunk)
                         prev_type = "text"
 
diff --git a/src/storied/engine.py b/src/storied/engine.py
--- a/src/storied/engine.py
+++ b/src/storied/engine.py
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ "condition": "Updating condition",
         "end_initiative": "Ending initiative",
     }
     label = labels.get(short, short)
-    return f"\n[{label}...]\n"
+    return f"[{label}...]"
 
 
 class DMEngine:
@@ -435,7 +435,7 @@
                     if short == "roll" and not self.debug:
                         deferred_notification = True
                     elif self.debug:
-                        yield f"\n[→ {short}(...)]\n"
+                        yield f"[→ {short}(...)]"
                         deferred_notification = False
                     else:
                         yield _tool_notification(name)
@@ -448,7 +448,7 @@ case ToolStop():
                     if deferred_notification and current_tool_name == "roll":
                         reason = _extract_roll_reason(current_tool_json)
                         label = f"Rolling {reason}" if reason else "Rolling"
-                        yield f"\n[{label}...]\n"
+                        yield f"[{label}...]"
 
                     if self.debug and current_tool_json:
                         truncated = current_tool_json[:200]