Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 7408570" data-attributes="member: 29398">I have to say, this absolutely boggles my mind: that the mechanics of a game system limit what the DM can describe in a scene!Now in fairness these particular scenes you reference might not need much more to get the point across.  That said, "Chill Winds" doesn't tell me if it's snowing (reduced visibility?), or bright sunshine (snow blindness?), or what...which means I'd have to ask.  "Narrow Defile..." needs a direction, which when coupled with the time of day (particularly if it's sunny) would tell me whether the defile is well-lit or is in deep shadow at the moment.  Little things like this - if you describe them up front players don't have to ask about them; and yes I'm saying it's usually better to describe in too much detail rather than too little.Though any of this could have (and likely would have) been done without the Formalized Mechanical scene descriptors, simply as part of the run of play.I'll give it this much: 4e does terrain well.But, let's try an example.  The party enters a study in a castle; they're here looking for a map and have decided that if the castle has a study that's the first place they'll look...and so they either explore until they get there or are framed straight there (no difference for these purposes).  In either case, were I to go into detail my narration of the place might go something like:"You've found what appears to be - or have been - a study.  It's a small room - maybe 15' on a side - with stone walls, rug-covered floor and plastered-over ceiling; there are no other obvious exits other than the door you are in, and no obvious occupants.  A leaded-glass window across the room from you looks out north across the lawn toward the gate house, and allows enough light in that vision here is not really a problem; the room is otherwise unlit. The place clearly isn't used often - dusty gray sheets cover most of the furniture, some of the shapes hinting at two chairs and a table beneath - and everything is covered with a thick layer of dust, slightly stirred up by your arrival.  There are but two pieces of furniture not covered by sheets: an overstuffed armchair beneath the window whose sheet - on the floor nexxt to it - has clearly fallen off at some point, and a solid-looking wooden desk just to the right of the door.  On this desk are a small box of some sort, an inkwell with what's left of a quill sticking out of it, an empty wine glass, and what might be some papers - it's hard to tell under the dust.  The desk also has a couple of closed wide shallow drawers just below its top.  A large tall sheet-covered piece of furniture against the west wall might be a bookshelf or a shallow wardrobe - again, hard to tell.  What do you do?So, no mechanics here, just a description in enough detail to forestall some obvious questions and provide lots of things to interact with.  Would Cortex+ Heroic allow this, in this wording?That's my (1).  In (2) the player, while still having the hope, also has the meta-knowledge that a good roll guarantees success; which the player in (1) - just like the PC in the fiction - doesn't have.Lanefan</blockquote>

Verification