How vivid is the violence in your game?

[Carnifex]

Depends on whether I want to play up the feel of the violence or not. In my online game violence is often somewhat vivid since its so focused on writing and story and I have time to describe each hit - still, I don't go into too much detail unless I really want to make a point. For instance, the last battle that happened in the game, with a bunch of daemon-worshippers and their fleshtwisted, diseased girallon minions and daemon helpers was described by one of my players as the most grotesque battle she's ever taken part in Violence in the d20 Warhammer game I run each week also tends to be fairly vivid purely to remind the players of just how grimy, unpleasant, lethal and dangerous fighting can be, though I only describe most hits quickly to keep combat at a good speed.

 

[Berandor]

Oh, just wanted to add that I try to use an approach to describe combats turn-wise. So I see what everyone is doing in a given round, then sumarize it as a whole, sometimes even changing initiative orders around for the narrative flow:
"As you advance towards the wizard, he begins to frantically weave a spell of protection around him. Just as a shimmering barrier forms in the air, B is there to plunge his dagger into his throat, but the thrust is deflected by the magic. Your sword cuts down at the mage, but before it can hit, C grabs the protective spell, pulls at it, and manages to dispel the barrier. The wizards eyes widen in shock as your blade passes unhindered and wounds him badly."

But most of the times, I forget doing that

Berandor

 

[Epametheus]

Aside from my group's tradition of splatter radius, I usually only go into details of violence in order to a) disturb the players or b) when it's necessary to explain what's going on. My group tends run big, long combats, and trying to graphically describe everything would take too dang long.

 

[A'koss]

I consider myself a detail-oriented person, so that will come across in my battle descriptions. I find that detailing the environment the PCs are in, in terms that the players are familiar with, can lend a lot of weight to battle scences themselves. You kinda ask yourself - what does it feel like to be there? What are the things that you notice first?

Another thing I like to do is to change how I describe battle scenes as the PCs get higher and higher level. I try to describe their actions in relationship to their increasing confidence, skill and... presence for lack of a better word.

A'koss.

 

[wrabbit37]

I tend to gloss over many of the hits, but if the hits and ideas start getting good, I get more detailed with the descriptions. If a huge hit or a crit or anything happens, I describe it in great detail and I throw in a few consequences too (broken arm, dislocated shoulder, etc). Now this works both ways. If the bad guys get a crit against the players, I might break their leg or something too. Magical healing will fix it up, but my players enjoy roleplaying them walking out of a tough combat limping and bruised. Consequences make the combat feel that much more realistic.

 

[the Jester]

I like the gore and graphic description, but it really just depends on the fight and the pacing.

 

[hunter1828]

Most times, I don't get very graphic, but I'm simply conserving time by not slowing down, even a few seconds, for unnecessary descriptions.

On criticals, though, I can get quite graphic. I've had more than one player respond with "Gross," "Ewwww," or "That's disgusting...but cool!"

hunter1828

 

[Dark Jezter]

Anyway, my point is this - Do you think that vividly describing the unsanitary and shocking nature of violence could stem unnecessary violence on the part of players?

Hell no! In fact, my players giggle with glee when I describe how the fighter's greataxe clove the bandit leader right down the middle, or how the wizard's fireball reduced the bugbear to a mass of smoking, blackened flesh.

 

[Stormrunner]

If you want a little more hesitance about violence, IME emphasizing the gore won't do it. What you have to do is emphasize the human cost, the social connections and consequences. E.g., in a cyberpunk game once, the PCs had just hacked to death a drug dealer, a few seconds after he shot a street kid for trying to pickpocket him. They do the usual "loot the body" - and in his wallet alongside losts of cash, they find pictures of his girlfriend, a list of phone numbers including ones for "Mom" and "Dad", and two tickets to the rock concert tomorrow night, by the same band one of the PCs is a big fan of. That brought the players up short a little. For just a moment, he wasn't a faceless mook, but a guy with parents, a lover, and at least some interests that matched their own... They still took the loot and skedaddled, but there wasn't nearly as much crowing about the kill.

As to detail in violence, a lot depends on the group. I tend to avoid it in convention games, both because of the tight time limit and because I've found the most frequent reaction is one of two things: either it creeps the players out and they start looking at me funny and backing away... or they revel in it ("Yeah! I rip the guts out of his bleeding corpse and throw them in the face of the next guy!"), which causes *me* to look at *them* funny and start backing away...

With our usual group, it largely depends on the importance of the opponent. More important opponent, the more descriptive the death. E.g., a PC has just dropped a female wolfen (like gnolls, but wolf- rather than hyena-based) to negative HP with a sword blow:
Nameless mook:
"You hack the wolfen in the neck. She gurgles and collapses."
Minor named NPC:
"You slash the wolfen's throat from ear to ear. She drops her spear, clutches her neck, and falls to the ground, where she gurgles and thrashes in her death throes."
Major NPC:
"Dodging the wolfen's spear thrust, you lunge forwad and slice open her throat from ear to ear. Dropping her spear, she coughs and clutches at her throat with both hands, blood spraying between her fingers. Eyes wide with shock, she drops to her knees, then flops over on her back, kicking convulsively and making horrible gargling noises." A round or two later I might mention that she's *still* kicking and gurgling, and do they want to put her out of her misery or heal her for interrogation?

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

We're fairly graphic in my games, but the focus is more on realism and vivid depiction than on gore. I tend to describe any hit that does a good amount of damage, and any killing blow-- but most of the injuries are broken bones and internal damage, which doesn't produce splatterpunk-like displays. There's a lot of people "collapsing in wet, broken heaps".

I describe a lot of screams and gurgles. Our party's Psion is fond of Inflict Pain, so a lot of people die without leaving much of a mess except for a nosebleed.