My group thinks my descriptions stink!!

[beldar1215]

Hello All,
I'm currently running the Age of Worms and have recently been asking for feedback from my group. The one thing they say is that my descriptions of room and such are not very good. Does anyone have any tips for me? I really need to work on this and any help would be great.

Beldar

 

[Stormborn]

Hello All,
I'm currently running the Age of Worms and have recently been asking for feedback from my group. The one thing they say is that my descriptions of room and such are not very good. Does anyone have any tips for me? I really need to work on this and any help would be great.

Beldar

First, what specifically is lacking in your descriptions? Detail? Accuracy? Interesting flavor?
All of these? Find that out.

Second, let's try a little experiment. Describe the room you are in or a room in your home as if you were describing it in a game for us and we will see how that goes.

 

[Crothian]

Hello All,
I'm currently running the Age of Worms and have recently been asking for feedback from my group. The one thing they say is that my descriptions of room and such are not very good. Does anyone have any tips for me? I really need to work on this and any help would be great.

Beldar

If its descriptions you need help with, there is a series of PDFs called Bits of...by Tabletop Games I think. They are filled with descriptions, one covers a city, one does caverns, one does forests....I really like them.

 

[Mystery Man]

If its descriptions you need help with, there is a series of PDFs called Bits of...by Tabletop Games I think. They are filled with descriptions, one covers a city, one does caverns, one does forests....I really like them.

I have the dungeon one, it's pretty handy and nice. Nice and handy.

 

[Oryan77]

Did they give you any examples on how your descriptions aren't helpful? Sometimes players just complain about things when they feel they should have performed better than they actually did. Rather than blame themselves, they like to blame the DM.

For example, I've always thought I gave very detailed descriptions for players surroundings. I got to the point where I wondered if the time I spent describing things took away too much of our game time. No one complained & they seemed to enjoy listening, so I kept being thorough. Then I got a new player, and within a couple sessions he starts complaining about not being able to visualize & understand his surroundings. Surprised the crap out of me. So I asked what else I could have said that would help him visualize my world better, and all I got was, "I guess I just need to see graphics like in a video game". That didn't help me at all and I soon realized that he complained about everything I did when no other players had those problems with me. I also assumed that when this player wasn't performing well during a session, he would complain about my lack of so-n-so as a DM and that's why he wasn't able to shine during combat or whatever. I realized it wasn't me being a bad DM, it was him being a lousy player.

There's only so much you can describe before it gets to be too much. It's an imaginary game and it's up to players to imagine the leftovers on their own. A DM can spice it up for them, but I don't need to know that there's pictures on the walls or a rug on the floor unless it's important. I also believe that if players feel they need more info from the DM, they should ask him more questions. Do your players ask you questions to fill in any lack of information about a room?

Basically all you need to do is say, "You enter a room, it's "this big", shaped like "this", there's a bed "here", a chest "here", no windows, and no other doors." Then describe any other important objects in the room like a dresser, desk, closet, people, or a painting on the wall that has a secret lever behind it in case they search. Otherwise, what else do they need you to describe? What the walls are made of? How fancy the bed is? Where the torches are hanging? If they care about that, they should ask you. If their imagination sucks and they can't imagine what the room looks like without you needing to describe the wall paper patterns, that's not your problem

 

[howandwhy99]

Here you go

Practice. Practice. Practice. (i'm not that good either)

I suggest joining a public speaking group like Toastmasters.

Notecards also work.

For ongoing conversations I do two things.

1. If I know a speech or lengthy description is going to come up and I want to do something important with it, I sketch it on a notecard and put in unique and/or obscure nouns and vowels to use. Long text blocks have never worked for me.

2. Also, I will hunt around for quotes, poems, bits of books and such that I remember and are similar to the feeling I'm try to convey. Sometimes it helps to have that little hook on hand to get me in the right frame of mind. This is just like what others might do for a favorite NPC.

EDIT: I think the thread above will probably help you the most. There are some wonderful room descriptions in it, even if they are not always explained. (like explaining a painting or poem) Maybe you could free write some descriptions based off of rooms you already have planned? Just don't lift the pen or slow down until finished. Then compare with the thread. Good luck.

 

[Andor]

It depends on what you're trying to describe.

If it's a tactical situation, for combat, describe edges. Walls, stairs, furniture. Players need to understand the space their characters will be moving through. Obviously if something in the room is important to the plot, or could effect their actions you should describe it. Frex your players would be justly ticked if they fireballed a lot of valuable tapestries because you forgot to describe them.

For noncombat situtations, don't be descriptive, be evocotive. Paint with colors and moods and let the players fill in their own details. Try to inculde one non-visual sense. Smells or sounds fer example.

 

[Qualidar]

I tend to draw it out on the battlemap (or paper map - whatever) then describe it from there. I think it's a good idea to paraphrase what's in the boxed text, rather than just read it aloud. Most people's eyes tend to gloss over at boxed text.

~Qualidar~

 

[farscapesg1]

I tend to draw it out on the battlemap (or paper map - whatever) then describe it from there. I think it's a good idea to paraphrase what's in the boxed text, rather than just read it aloud. Most people's eyes tend to gloss over at boxed text.

~Qualidar~

I have to agree with the "boxed text" statement. Too many times it just provides too much fluff. Not to mention if the DM can't pronounce the words right

 

[LostSoul]

I tihnk the trick is to get across how you want the room to "feel" to the players. Is it spooky, peaceful, serene, divine, full of evil, tense, etc.

Do that in as few words as possible.

Then, without reading anything, tell them what is where. Point at the map. "There's a desk here, a fireplace in this corner, and a rug on the floor. Oh, and a couch that has been overturned and hacked in half along this wall."