Boxed Text - A Railrod Sign, or Great tool for Immersion? Both?

[weem]

Towards the end of my last campaign (ended last month) and in the first game of my new one (two weeks ago) I have found myself writing out more and more boxed text descriptions.

As a DM, I love it - it lets me get down good descriptive text of a person, place or thing that is edited and gets across the feel I am going for without having to search for the words on the fly. I use it more and more now as a transition piece - to help keep the players on track etc.

For example, when the players get on the boat they are waiting for in my upcoming game, I will have something like so (this is not the exact 'boxed text', it's just a quick example)...

Wade escorts you onto the 'Goletta', a relatively small merchant ship he has assured you is heading for Port Winters. The events of the past few days weigh on you as you step aboard, and while being shown to your quarters, your mind wanders... adrift in a sea of questions... why are people killing and kidnapping those whose names are on the list... who made the list... Wade mentioned that "Tolan" was likely an agent of the Red Mask, and the ship 'Dmitri' that left last night certainly belonged to them... but what was their part in this, if any... back on deck now, the whipping of the sails grabs your attention and draws your thoughts to the task at hand... the Captain was introducing some of his crew to you and you seemed to have missed the first few names...

On the other hand...

As a player, boxed text to me seemed to draw (my) attention to the fact that this was probably all predetermined - you were intended to get to this point and you may not have had much of a choice about it.

So the question is, what do you think of boxed text in this regard, from both a Player and DM standpoint?

 

[Ambrus]

As a player, boxed text to me seemed to draw (my) attention to the fact that this was probably all predetermined - you were intended to get to this point and you may not have had much of a choice about it.

This is the feeling I inevitably have when I hear boxed text being recited to me as a player as well as the feeling I dread engendering in my players when I DM.

There's also something about the loss of eye contact with players and the brisk pace brought about by plowing through boxed text that seems to signal a break in the flow of the game; much like a TV commercial. And like a TV commercial I find players tend to subconsciously tune out when boxed text is being read aloud; as if it's just pointless fluff and not really all that relevant to the scene at hand. For that reason, I find that Information delivered in boxed text tends to be forgotten, misremembered or misunderstood later during the session when it could prove of crucial importance.

In my experience it's better to paraphrase boxed text in one's own words to keep the flow of the game going without interruption. Also, because I'm forced to think about what I'm saying and to structure it so as to be clear to the players, I speak slower and more animatedly. The last two help to engage the players and keep them interested in what I'm saying. For these reasons I rarely if ever use boxed text.

 

[renau1g]

That boxed text is pretty poor, I don't like telling PC's what they're feeling/thinking (although a lot of published modules do) so if the box says, this room brings a feeling of dread or something like that, but my PC is playing a fearless bravado, I'm thinking it won't. I agree with Ambrus, reading it breaks the momentum, just like when someone's giving a speech and they stop to read from their notes. As a DM I like to paraphrase, lets me stretch my creative muscles somewhat, and as a player I prefer the DM make it his own

 

[weem]

This is the feeling I inevitably have when I hear boxed text being recited to me as a player as well as the feeling I dread engendering in my players when I DM.

There's also something about the loss of eye contact with players and the brisk pace brought about by plowing through boxed text that seems to signal a break in the flow of the game; much like a TV commercial. And like a TV commercial I find players tend to subconsciously tune out when boxed text is being read aloud; as if it's just pointless fluff and not really all that relevant to the scene at hand. For that reason, I find that Information delivered in boxed text tends to be forgotten, misremembered or misunderstood later during the session when it could prove of crucial importance.

In my experience it's better to paraphrase boxed text in one's own words to keep the flow of the game going without interruption. Also, because I'm forced to think about what I'm saying and to structure it so as to be clear to the players, I speak slower and more animatedly. The last two help to engage the players and keep them interested in what I'm saying. For these reasons I rarely if ever use boxed text.

My players actually like it and want more! When I first started doing it they actually all said, "that is cool, are you going to do more of those"... But like I said, I (like you) get that feeling about it that makes me think (sometimes) that this is a one way street which is a little distracting to me (from a player standpoint).

I think that's why I tend to gear them towards transitions or setups for action, etc - which is the way I think I would prefer them from the player side.

 

[weem]

That boxed text is pretty poor, I don't like telling PC's what they're feeling/thinking (although a lot of published modules do) so if the box says, this room brings a feeling of dread or something like that, but my PC is playing a fearless bravado, I'm thinking it won't. I agree with Ambrus, reading it breaks the momentum, just like when someone's giving a speech and they stop to read from their notes. As a DM I like to paraphrase, lets me stretch my creative muscles somewhat, and as a player I prefer the DM make it his own

Totally get ya there.

In that case above, it does reflect their feelings as these are questions they posed at the end of the last game (I even wrote them at the end of my game summary). I would never tell/dictate to my players what they think or feel, but in this case it did reflect their thinking when we ended the last game - and this boat transition will occur at the beginning of the next game. Perhaps it was a bad example, but you get the idea

 

[renau1g]

Ah, sorry, my bad. I assumed it was the module which had that in it.

 

[Ambrus]

Perhaps boxed text is better when used to describe a transitional scene as you illustrate rather than how they're usually presented in adventures. But like renau1g, I'd also hate being told what my character is feeling/thinking about. Stick to describing what they players are experiencing through their senses (perhaps with some colorful metaphors) and leave them to develop their own impressions of that to them.

 

[weem]

Ah, sorry, my bad. I assumed it was the module which had that in it.

Haha, it's cool - I'll just brush the poo off and it will be as good as new! I just threw that up as an example anyway (though it's probably close... quick, look over there!)

Like I said, I see where you are coming from

 

[Quickleaf]

You may be the only DM in the universe whose players ask for more boxed text.

I notice I can usually slip in a 3-5 sentence descriptive text (no dialogue, no telling PCs what they are thinking/feeling/foing) at the beginning of an adventure, at some critical juncture, and rarely at the end. Anything else and I'm just boring them to tears.

However, to contradict myself, I used a "boxed text" dialogue between two NPCs to great effect to fill in what the PC of a player who missed a session did - she went to spy on her nemesis and here's what she overheard...

You tracked down Victor to the docks where he and the magistrate’s two tiefling deputies are directing a dozen redcoats to load up a boat with several chests. Security is tight here and it appears they are moving a small fortune north along Mercy River. While spying from the rooftops you overhear the magistrate talking with Victor briefly…

Victor: Tieflings can’t be trusted. They’ll stab you in the back.
Magistrate: Oh, and you’re so much better? When I found you, you were leading a gang of street thugs.
Victor: The King took everything from me. I had no choice but to become a thief.
Magistrate: Well, let’s see if we can put your thieving skills to honest work for the tax office, shall we?

Maybe the fun(funny) part was just seeing the DM talking to himself.

 

[weem]

You may be the only DM in the universe whose players ask for more boxed text.

Mine (boxed text) might be a little more subtle than you are thinking (most of the time) though. Often when I read it, it was written as I would say it anyway (albeit without pausing and searching for words) and I will read straight from it at a time when I would be describing a scene anyway (like walking into a new town).

I don't know, yea, maybe my players are just freaks, haha.

It's not like they jump up and down clapping for it, but they did as if I would be doing more and when I said yea, I was considering it, they were into it (hence doing more).

---edit---

I also understand the value of eye contact and do look up from it, or just describe it without reading when I remember what it said for the most part. With that said, I do read right from the page (while looking down etc) as well, so... may need to work on that