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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Oryan77" data-source="post: 3340286" data-attributes="member: 18701">Wow, I had no idea a large amount of people didn't like when DM's read box text.I had a player once that actually complained to me that I was reading the descriptions of a room rather than giving the description off the top of my head and wording it myself. I don't read in a monotone voice...at least I don't think I do. She complained about everything and eventually quit the group, so I wrote that complaint off as her just complaining again because I DM'ed differently than her last DM.A big part of my DM'ing style is to be descriptive and attempt to absorb the players into the environment so they get a feel for the mood of the place & can get a good mental image of their surroundings. I believe this is a must when running a Planescape campaign since everything is so different from session to session. I usually read boxed text and then I explain it again in my own words just to spicen it up more.Now I'm wondering what bad boxed text is! None of my current players complain, they seem to listen to it everytime I read boxed text. I have no idea what's too long, too boring, or too descriptive. I've read on Enworld before that you should describe sounds & smells in boxed text every so often. So, I'll be brave and post my latest boxed text that I wrote myself just to get some criticism...so is this considered bad boxed text:(This is the first time they've entered into this coastal town on Arborea. They also don't know what happened to Rheen the Satyr that they captured & turned in for a bounty to a Merchant sailing ship.)***While walking down the cobblestone street, you notice that this small coastal town boasts an amphitheater with a bowl-shaped set of marble seats all carved out of a hillside just outside the town. Houses within the town are stacked almost on top of one another on each side of the narrow streets. Both pleasant & foul scents such as fish, vineyards, sea water, & a multitude of other aromas can be smelled in the air.As you pass through what appears to be the town square, you notice many young scholars debating issues of the day within a large rotunda. A slight breeze blows in the air & you catch a foul stench crossing your path. Glancing around, you find the source of the odor. On the edge of the town square, you see a limp dead body dangling from a 20 ft wooden post. It appears to be a male with the legs of a goat. His arms are stretched above him & tied to the top of the post. A wooden sign nailed to the post below the body has the following message burned into the wood: Here hangs Rheen, creature of lust & violator of the body, executed for past crimes of which, there are too many to name. Let mighty Zeus judge him, and punish his soul as he sees fit.***Now I'm not a writer, so please don't judge me on my grammar or anything like that. I'm just wondering if this is bad boxed text for a group that's 50% roleplaying & 50% hack-n-slash. What makes this good or bad?</blockquote>

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