How Do I Get My Players to be More Descriptive?

[boxstop7]

Ow! Sonofa...

Nope, don't think I know you. Maybe that should change, however...

~Box

 

[Allanon]

Well I recently started a game to introduce my girlfriend and the girlfriend of my regular DM to D&D. I solved this problem by simply doing ALL their the descriptions due to their already hard time dealing with rules etc. and frankly this worked out great. Now I know that between DM'ing and already giving most of the descriptions it would mean that you'd be giving a one-man show but as blackshirt5 pointed out,leading by example is always something to try and this in a sense it taking it just one step further. And as soon as they feel comfortable and have a idea what is expected of them you gradually let them do their own descriptions.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Talk to them off table before or after the game discussing 'how to make my game better'.

Reward them and give praise - in real life this is a big issue and also works in games. Just noticing and making a positive comment does wonders.

Handouts and homework - sometimes you have to give it, have them come up with descriptive adjectives for their spells.

 

[barsoomcore]

This one I can attest to doing, but it's not getting the response I want -- people still are responding in a third-person manner.

Don't let them.

Here's how:

You tell them they're riding up to the city gate and that a guard has stepped out to intercept them.

You: "Hold, strangers! What brings you to our fair city?"

(note -- you might want a better dialogue writer)

Player 1: "Okay, we tell him who we are and ride by."

You: "What do you say?"

Player 1: "I say my name."

Player 2: "I say my name, too."

You: "The guard stands before your mount, frowning. He summouns two of his fellows. 'Answer our questions, travellers, or you will not enter. What brings you here?'"

Player 1: "I tell him we're looking for the old wizard."

You: "What old wizard are you looking for, stranger? Do you mean harm to one of our citizens?"

Player 1: "No! We just want to ask him about this cursed sword we found! Sheesh!"

Note that Player 1 is now speaking in character.

You have to force them to do it. Lazy players won't otherwise. Not because they don't want to, but just because they're lazy. Keep asking them "What do you say? What do you say? What do you say?" If they have to tell you exactly what their character says anyone, they're more likely to say it in character.

Keep in mind you should not do this with each and every NPC the players encounter -- but use this technique as a signal as to which people they maybe ought to spend some time talking to.

 

[Psychotic Jim]

I have to agree with the wisdom of the previous posters: lead by example. Giving them at the start some incentive for description like little extra XP might help- but don't give too much- that could just make them do desciotion because you hand out some external reward . Just give the players the minimum reward needed to get them to do the description you want and that might make them believe later the reason they went along with it was because it was fun. Or at least it might expose them to the fun of desciption and role-playing without them having to wait it out solely for the reward.

Also, it might be prudent to avoid describing the player characters' own actions like the visual and other sensory effects of their spells to the players. This might intimidate them into letting you do all of the description. You can do a lot with the magic system without actually chaning the mechanics of it.

Your players might just enjoy different elements in an RPG than you do, and you may have to face up to that and make some sort of comprimise.