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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickleaf" data-source="post: 6666159" data-attributes="member: 20323">[MENTION=4937]Celebrim[/MENTION] I tend to be a very descriptive imagist DM, though not all of my players are as enthusiastic about listening to me describe something in detail. In actual play, I have found succinct but evocative description of the setting work well.Here are some examples of descriptions I've used for moorland (a tract of open, peaty land, often overgrown with heath, common in high altitudes where drainage is poor). I included them in my random encounter table:1. Peat fires smolder in the distance and a light rain falls, creating a low haze and a deep peaty smoky smell that lingers. Waterfowl flock overhead away from the smoldering fires which cast and orangish pallor over the horizon.2. Uneven stones, fallen logs, and crooked nearly leafless trees are coated in a blanket of bright green moss. On some of the stones you notice old Druidic symbols. Mist clings to the edges of the mossy grove, giving some trees in a distance a nearly human scarecrow-like appearance.3. Swathes of purple flowers and yellow tall grass sway in what at first appears to be the breeze, but soon you realize is actually the soft water-soaked ground trembling with your footsteps. Mud clings to your boots as you traverse the heath.4. A rocky escarpment rises from the edge of the dark lake, with sharp boulders interspersed among smooth rolling green and flaxen grass. Gloomy clouds hang above, washing out the light and silhouetting rocks which might be ruins along the ridge line.5. A network of solid land wends thru rivulets of dark water, traces of bright orange or ochre dun minerals bleeding into the water. Fallen trees appear to have been petrified and where cut their insides appear like dark blue geodes.6. Thick growing pines and golden bell flowers open up to the edge of a glassy reflective lake. Bees buzz about the bell flowers. Midway cross the lake an ancient stone keep rises from an islet, a ruined stone bridge connecting it to the hillside.7. Low stone walls coming up to thigh-high on a human criss-cross the land into fields of muted green, yellow, and brown. There are signs of horse and foot traffic, and also traces of peat harvesting done by the local peasants.8. Twin rocky tors emerge from gentle grassland hills. The sky is filled with patchy clouds that allow you to see the light descending in a diagonal sheet across the moors. Closer examination of the idyllic scene discovers rusted helmets, broken banners, and horse skeletons partially buried in the earth.9. A shallow stream wends thru alder and willow trees bending over it like arches. Thick moss, ivy, clover, and miner's lettuce grows in the spongy soil. The stream drops over a 6 foot falls, and the rest of the terrain likewise drops into a pool with half-submerged rocks leaching an orangish mineral into the edges of the water.10. A grassy ridge rises above the lowlands where mists cling to the valleys below. An old foot trail wends along the ridge and you spot a single crudely cut rectangular stone trail marker engraved with directions to the nearest settlement, as well as little messages between friends or loved ones, or whimsical child-sized hand engravings.</blockquote>

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