Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="colonelthread" data-source="post: 2345531" data-attributes="member: 14184">Confessions of a lame DMGreetings and Well Met, fellow dice-chuckers! I originally posted this message over on the WotC boards, in the forum titled "What's a DM to do?", but I thought I should run it by the amazing brain trust here at ENWorld also.I'll admit (and it's been confirmed through solicited feedback) that my greatest opportunity for improvement as a DM is in giving descriptions of things. NPCs, towns, the wilderness, caverns, mines, dungeons and so on. I usually do *pretty* good at giving a description of the action during a combat encounter, but fall flat everywhere else. When I'm writing an adventure outline I have all kinds of ideas pop into my head, but I either think "nah, that's too wordy" or I think I will remember them to use during play - which I never seem to do. I even have a footnote at the bottom of each page of my outlines which says, "Remember! Sight, sound smell, touch, and taste!", but I just don't seem to notice it. Typically my sessions go something like this:Me: "As you enter the entrance to the mine you proceed down an approximately 10 to 15 foot wide tunnel, the walls are made of rough hewn stone. The large wooden timbers supporting the ceiling and walls are beginning to rot from age. You notice it's a bit colder than it was outside."Player 1: "I'll move ahead of the rest of the party, moving silently as I go."Me: "As you proceed down the tunnel you notice that, up ahead about 60 feet, it widens to a 40 or 50 foot cavern with a high-domed ceiling."Player 1: "What does it look like?"Me: "The walls are rough hewn stone, just like the tunnel before it. There are three openings in addition to the one you are in. A large wooden platform sits in the center of the chamber, and metal tracks from all four directions meet in the middle..."and so on. How I'd really like them to go are more like this:Me: "As you step into the narrow entrance of the mine the hairs on your arms begin to stand up straight as you notice the temperature beginning to drop slowly. You nose tingles a bit as you take a breath of the cold and damp air. The bright light of the outdoors begins to fade, and your eyes quickly adjust to the dim conditions, however you are now seeing everything with a stark black and white contrast. The large wooden timbers supporting the tunnel are showing severe signs of age, and you notice bits of wood and stone strewn across the tunnel floor."and so on. Maybe I'm being too critical of myself, but as I mentioned I have received feedback from at least one player who agrees with me on this. The only way I can think to improve is to actually write descriptive text like this into the adventure outline. I've always disliked "boxed text" in an adventure, but maybe it's time for me to begin writing some of my own.So, gentle dungeon masters, here is my request. Please help me come up with a list of texts that can be dropped into a location's description. I figure this is something that everybody might be able to use to enhance their sessions, so it's not (totally) selfish of me. Maybe we can continue to expand and grow the list, and everyone can benefit from it. If it gets big enough I can make it into a PDF file and plop it on a website somewhere. Here's what I've come up with so far, off the top of my head (and a few added by some folks over on the WotC boards).Indoors, Crypt/Mine/Other DungeonSight- The bright light of the outdoors begins to fade, and you eyes quickly adjust to the dim conditions, however you are now seeing everything with a stark black and white contrast.- The large wooden timbers supporting the tunnel are showing severe signs of age, and you notice bits of wood and stone strewn across the tunnel floor.- The flame dances on the top of your torch, casting dark shadows across the corridor walls, which appear to sway back and forth.Sound- You hear the faint sound of running water ahead and the air becomes noticeibly wetter as you continue through the tunnel.Smell- You nose tingles a bit as you take a breath of the cold and damp air.Touch- The mine the hairs on your arms begin to stand up straight as you notice the temperature beginning to drop slowly.TasteIndoors, BuildingSight- The crackling fireplace across the room casts ever-changing shadows upon the occupants and contents of the tavern hall.Sound- The conversations around the tavern decrease, as people turn towards the door as you enter. It soon raises again. (ManinDarkness)Smell- As you enter the inn, a delicious smell, of freshly baked bread and beef stew, fills your nose. (Hal Horn)TouchTasteOutdoors, City/Town/VillageSight- The narrow dirt road winds through the center of the village, littered with ruts from years of ill-maintenance.Sound- Off in the distance you hear the familiar "clang!" of a smith's hammer striking metal.- As you approach what appears to be a tavern you hear the drunken slur of several men singing and laughing.Smell- The powerful odor of smelted copper permeates the air around you, a constant reminder of the town's single industry.- The sweet smell of fresh bread pleases your senses as the sun just begins to rise over the horizon.TouchTasteOutdoors, ForestSight- The forest path, though not difficult to travel, narrows at times to only allow single file to pass.- The moonlight from above filters through the forest canopy, casting spooky shadows across the ground and your travelling companions. Sound- You hear the wind lightly blowing through the sturdy branches of the trees around you.Smell- The sweet smell of nature's creations pleases you as you draw a deep breath through your nose.TouchTasteOutdoors, PlainsSight- The wind causes ripples on the grass, you fell like sailing on a sea of green. (ManinDarkness)SoundSmellTouchTasteOutdoors, Hills/MountainsSight- Reaching the top of the hill you can see ominous black clouds in the distance slowly shifting toward you, a low rumble fills your ears fortelling the coming of a storm... (Unreal32)SoundSmellTouchTasteOutdoors, Ocean/Lake/RiverSightSoundSmellTouchTaste<EOF></blockquote>

Verification