On another note, I always try to, when I describe, leave out how the PC’s are feeling. I try never to tell them that they’re scared, happy, at ease, or high strung. Instead, I try to let them get a feeling of their own, trying never really to go beyond that “the room leaves you an unsettling feeling”. I have no idea if it helps, but I like to think so

You’ve hit on the the most important sense of all – scent. Describe how something smells and you hit on the most primal part of the brain, and that (as GM) is right where you want to be.

For example, I had one villain (a psychic vampire) in a recent series who smelled of mouldy oranges. In the final session, I hid an orange under the table, and as the room warmed up………………

Boy, did that ever freak them out

greywulfs last blog post..Greywulf’s Games of the Year 2008

@Norman: Hey welcome to the blog my man! Yeah, pushing through the ‘I feel stupid in front of my friends’ phase was a breaktrhough in my DMing. I mean here I am, playing with the same guys since 10-25 years and I still fear getting laughed at by guys I’d trust with my life? Not!

Thanks for sharing your tips.

@Rafe: Good idea! I love the concept of the token. It doesn’t have to mean much…

@ Zed: You went past sensory and jumped into spiritual and Energy flows…. that’s cool!

Thanks everyone! Its good to be back… I’ll try to write and post last Friday’s Game report tomorrow.

My favorite example:
“These strange, twisting enigmas of primal energy are as tributaries to a larger flow of evil, for their energies are centered on one spot: the air above the plaza. ”

While there aren’t any direct sensory words in that sentence, it definitely helped instill the mood of the scene. The event was a huge success, thanks in part to our descriptive text.

“Mary Bernedette was headed for third period when she saw Mary Shannon getting a drink of water at the fountain. She still owed that little twit for the cold-cock donkey punch she’d gotten in gym. Pulling the pipe she’d hidden in her book bag, she laid into Mary Shannon’s knee with a full swing, causing the schoolgirl to fall to the ground clutching it in pain…”

Your turn. (I *love* lunch money…)

-Ben.

Bens last blog post..Lord of the Rings, Conquest of Middle Earth…

Rafes last blog post..The Three "R"s of Session Planning

I tend to use phrases and evocative “flavor” words instead of sentences because it’s quicker to read/scan during play and they are more versatile to my adlib/freeform style of DMing. I’m a 3×5 card nut, and have numerous types.

Terrain cards for each major area such as “Kaim Plateau” or the “Dune Sea”. I put a few words for each of the 5 senses. Just enough to bring vivid mental images that I can then describe to my players. Every so often I’ll pick a couple of senses to use “The southern sun burns into your skin as you stumble across the red and brown layered rocks of the broken lands.” Each area also gets a signature trait to give players’ memories something to latch onto.

Encounter cards for each significant encounter. Pick a few senses and write a couple sentences or evocative words directly related to encounter. For instance I had “mush slide, odoriferous, dog pooh” on the Gnoll ambush card “You nearly tumble as your plate boot slides with a mush, the stench of canine feces spreads quickly, the whole party knows who’s responsible.”

NPC’s. I pick one sense for each major NPC and give them a memorable signature related to it. Such as the smelling the lavender perfume of the arch villianess, the distinctive battle growl of Gnoll chieftain, flowing red hair of the gate captain, how temperature drops and skin crawls EHP is near.

You’ll notice that both areas and npc’s have a unique sensual signature. This is a good descriptive “trick” to get into. Eventually you’ll be able just to mention the signature and the players minds will be flooded with past descriptions/imaginations.

One final descriptive trick I learned from http://www.roleplayingtips.com Before an encounter or major description, read to yourself your notes, descriptive text, whatever. Then close your eyes and take a few seconds to build up a mental image in your mind. When you open your eyes describe that mental image to your players. It will flow from your lips and be awesome. At least it works for me.

“Imagine the hell out it!”

In a completely dark room, what do they hear, what does the air smell and taste like?

Tromping through the jungle, what sounds do they hear, what smells are in the air, what does the air feel like?

The big challenge is shifting the location of the important information– sometimes you have to put it first, sometimes you want it somewhere in the middle, othertimes you want to build up to a reveal at the end of the description.

-Ben.

Bens last blog post..Lord of the Rings, Conquest of Middle Earth…

Your bit about “sensory overload” is just amazing both in simplicit and efficiency – the very definition of elegance.

About “numbers getting in the way of description” – I certainly felt that in the game you DMed for us. I really enjoyed you trying to push me to describe a bit more.

I think techniques to stimulate better descriptions from the players could also be interesting. I think I’ll try using the “senses” thing when I next DM (either with my group of kids or adults).

Asking a simple sense-related question might just help even the shiest of players to do a little bit of description.

I know my narration is sure to improve from this simple tip.

Sweetness!!

Eric Maziades last blog post..Reflections on Scepter Tower of Spellgard