Anyone know a place to get good short enviroment descriptions?
- Thread starter ecliptic
- Start date
Bagpuss
Legend
Best tip I ever heard was to involve all the senses. It's very easy to get stuck on discribing how a place looks, we live in a very visual world after all. But think about sounds and particularly smell, rarely do people discribe the smells of places but smell prompts memory more than any other sense.
Also try looking for some wordlists on google. Get a thesaurus and a dictionary.
http://dictionary-thesaurus.com/Wordlists.html
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/
And practice, practice, practice. Write out descriptions ahead of time, you don't need to use them in the game, but its nice to have some notes to look at. Read some published adventures, read novels, borrow or steal discriptions if you have to at first. Read a broadsheet every day or at least once a week.
The more you exercise your vocabulary the bigger it becomes and the easier time you will have describing interesting scenes at short notice.
Also try looking for some wordlists on google. Get a thesaurus and a dictionary.
http://dictionary-thesaurus.com/Wordlists.html
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/
And practice, practice, practice. Write out descriptions ahead of time, you don't need to use them in the game, but its nice to have some notes to look at. Read some published adventures, read novels, borrow or steal discriptions if you have to at first. Read a broadsheet every day or at least once a week.
The more you exercise your vocabulary the bigger it becomes and the easier time you will have describing interesting scenes at short notice.
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One trick, that at first seems to make things more complicated-- actually focuses your ability to visualize the scene.
Describe the sceen through a particular character's eyes.
Its a good way to get every character/player involved.
The wizard sees things different from the thief; the fighter sees things different from the cleric.
Depending on what information you want to give out-- consider this another tool in describing things..
Describe the sceen through a particular character's eyes.
Its a good way to get every character/player involved.
The wizard sees things different from the thief; the fighter sees things different from the cleric.
Depending on what information you want to give out-- consider this another tool in describing things..
Index cards and build your own. Just state the location then add single words to it, then look for alternative to each word in a thesaurus. Things to remember is describing something:
A picture is worth a thousand words, if you find a picture you like use it, this is great for breath taking wonders and will impress players to size and difficulty.
Lighting - first and foremost, it it well lit, gloomy, dark, shadowy, flickering with touch light.
Distance & Size - one of the first things notices too, the size of a location sets the stage.
Smells - Musky and damp, mold, dusty and dry, of a wet animal, of rot and death. Does the oder come overpowering, is a hint.
Objects - What do you see, table chair? You can do this by walking into a room and making note of what comes you your eye first.
Distance & Size - one of the first things notices too, the size of a location sets the stage.
Smells - Musky and damp, mold, dusty and dry, of a wet animal, of rot and death. Does the oder come overpowering, is a hint.
Objects - What do you see, table chair? You can do this by walking into a room and making note of what comes you your eye first.
A picture is worth a thousand words, if you find a picture you like use it, this is great for breath taking wonders and will impress players to size and difficulty.
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silentspace
First Post
Read a book.
Edit: I prefer the great classics of literature. There are just so many of them I'm waiting to read. Personally, I read very few fantasy-genre novels. I have in the past, but have been disappointed often (although there are undoubtedly great pieces of literature in the fantasy genre).
Edit: I prefer the great classics of literature. There are just so many of them I'm waiting to read. Personally, I read very few fantasy-genre novels. I have in the past, but have been disappointed often (although there are undoubtedly great pieces of literature in the fantasy genre).
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