Being more descriptive as a DM

[Hand of Evil]

Do some homework; take a small notebook or a recording device around with you. When, you enter a new place narrate what you see, you start with the size, the lighting, the people, the flow of the room. Now, start writing down the words you used, then look up the synonyms. This gives you a list of different and sometimes exotic words to use.

Also, read out loud. It does not matter what, just that you do it. This helps build your word list and lets you hear your own voice. Hearing your own voice allows you to very the tones and volume of it.

Build an adjective list. These are action words or phases that you can use during your games, blows just don't hit, they smash, they crush, they pulverize!

Some older threads:
http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/82261-describe-me-10-x-10-room.html
http://www.enworld.org/forum/genera...eative-exercise-describe-these-buildings.html
http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/125457-how-do-you-describe-your-combat.html

Also: see the DM Advice link in my sig for other threads.

 

[fba827]

I try (though not always successfully) to pick two sensory features of the encounter and describe that.
i.e. how does the altar look (drenched in dried blood, etc)
how does the air smell (danky and musky as if there hasn't been any air circulation in here for years)
how does the cavern sound (the repetative drip of water off in the distance echos down the cave like a slowly leaking faucet)
and so on.

just make a concious decision to pick two things and then describe that when setting up the encounter/scenario/etc.

and if you need a reminder, in your dm notes for each scene, just put down a word "2" to remind yourself.

I don't like to write out entire descriptions because I end up reading rather than explaining. So I either make them up on the fly based on what I know of the area, or my notes would simply say "bloody altar | distant water" and then make up descriptions for those two items on the fly.

 

[KidSnide]

All good advice.

I'd also recommend re-reading Fellowship of the Ring, particularly the part when the Hobbits are traveling through the shire. Look closely at how Tolkein describes Middle Earth, particularly the language he chooses and the aspects he chooses to describe. More generally, I'd recommend reading works by excellent authors (including non-fantasy authors) multiple times and pay close attention to what they choose to describe and how they describe it.

You can also try writing out descriptions of areas ahead of time. I wouldn't recommend reading directly from your notes, but writing out what you plan to say and reading it over before you say it will greatly improve your oral presentation skills... in RPGs and in other venues.

-KS

 

[Oryan77]

I also recently wanted to use more descriptions to spice up scenes. So I started looking for all the random charts I could find in my books & Dragon magazines and typed them up in an Excel sheet. Then I made a button that I can click so Excel will randomly choose a description depending on the category I select. It works great and it has really improved my DMing.

For example, the PCs recently rented rooms for the night in an inn. Rather than me give the same old bland description for their room, "It has 1 bed, a window, a dresser, etc etc.", I rolled on the 'Mundane Room Description' chart in my Excel file. I replied to the player with things like, "The bed is unmade, you hear a scratching noise under the floorboards, and the room smells like cigar smoke." The players have been amused every time I have done this (I don't think they know I'm using charts for that info).

The best resources for this that I found were 2 books called The Toolbox & The Ultimate Toolbox. They were suggested to me by Enworlders and they are filled with random charts! You can use the books without doing in it Excel like I do. I just used Excel so I could be more discrete when I used the chart (don't have to open the book, flip through it, & roll dice).

 

[Pbartender]

First, as others have said, don't feel the need to describe everything in detail. Save it for the important and impressive stuff that you want to show off, and it will have a much bigger impact on the players.

Second... Cliches and metaphors are a BIG help, are easy to do, and can invoke strong and immediate visceral reactions in the players. For example:

The liquid in the cloning vats isn't just slimey, "It feels like someone mixed half-melted jello with raw egg whites."

The oddly named drink, roe beer, doesn't taste fishy, "It has a taste and texture not unlike tapioca pudding watered down with Schlitz and the oil drained out of a can of tuna."

The gypsy fortune teller isn't just old and wrinkly, but instead "Imagine what Ernest Borgnine would look and sound like if he were a woman."

And don't be afraid to use modern day references to invoke the right feeling... You're aiming for a reaction from the players first, who will naturally roll that into how their characters respond.

 

[bathtub66]

great replys all, seriously. Exactly what I needed.

 

[knightofround]

Yeah there's lots of good advise in here. For each description I would recommend mentioning at least 3 of the 5 Aristotlerian senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. And then focus upon 1 of those senses 3x more than others. When you get better at DMing you'll be able to toss out 3 sentences with 3 senses, watch which ones captivate the players the most, and then add an additional 2 sentences in the direction the players want.

The toughest one to handle is taste, because its not something we normally focus on unless we are eating and drinking. If you make an active effort in your everyday life you will come to some surprising realizations...but its still hard to do. So often I try to mix up the "taste" sense with the "six sense". Like a sense of impending doom, a sense of feeling at home, or a sense of fear...stuff like that. It's best used as a contrast to other senses.

For example: you might enter a beautiful, warm, and inviting ballroom full of pleasant nobles. A few of them catch your eye and motion you to come towards them. However, you have this nagging feeling that something is not right here. (And then at the end of the ball, its participants turn into vampires)

The sixth sense is often best used when it turns out to be false. Imagine PCs listening to something like the above brief description...they are on their toes the entire encounter waiting for something terrible to happen...and then at the end, the nobles graciously thank the party for their deeds, and provide them with wealth and fame. As it turns out, following the rumors of the party's accomplishments has become quite the fashion. And thus, the courtiers become a new benefactor for the PCs. (While the fashion lasts, anyway) Or perhaps hidden amongst them is the BBEG, who wouldn't dare risk exposing himself amongst so many people...and he's trying to bribe the PCs away with promises of estates so they don't cause any more damage to their plans. Or perhaps some of them think to wield the PCs as a tools for political intrigue.

As you can see, learning how to describe things well can assist in coming up with brilliant plot twists should the PCs decide to do something unexpected.

 

[Festivus]

Here is what I do sometimes when I am stuck... and it might sound corny but try it: Close your eyes... and try to imagine yourself in that scene. What do you see? What do you smell? What can you hear in the background? What does the person they are conversing with look like? What is a character on TV that I am familiar with that can emulate that person?

 

[ExploderWizard]

When describing an area be sure to note everything that is or could become important.

Don't focus on the minute details while there are larger concerns of a more immediate nature.

Example:

" The wooden door opens with a barely audible creak. Beyond the door lies a large square room perhaps 30 feet on a side. The room is sparsly furnished with burning torches attached to sconces on the North and East walls. A large round wooden table sits in the center of the room. Eight stools surround the table. A large wooden keg with a spigot rests upon a stand along the South wall. The air in the room is thick with the smell of unwashed humanoids.

Seated at 6 of the benches are large, sweaty hobgoblins......."

 

[JoeGKushner]

Many of the older editions of Ravenloft go into great detail about how to show and not tell the players what is happening around them. This is mainly because the fear of the unknown is a great factor in players deciding how their characters will react to things. The massive hulking brute that drags around a club so vast that it scraps the floor is possibly more threaning then the ogre with a club.

The only problem you may have in such situations is that you can easily fall into the habbit of overdescribing things, as others have noted, and the players will tune that out.

Keeping read aloud notes is also helpful but don't fall into the old typical D&D trap of having some monsters stand around while you tell the players about the room they've just entered. It also helps the players when you have it written down and can reference it to answer questions.

Some old unofficial modules had some great ideas in terms of description. Depending on how long the players searched or how hard, it had different levels of success that the players could enjoy.