Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="CleverNickName" data-source="post: 9720924" data-attributes="member: 50987">What a great topic for a thread!I try not to put any lit torches or lanterns in truly abandoned places because it's too distracting.  One single torch can change the entire vibe of the adventure, change the whole course of the story.  Like, imagine that you--the actual person here in the real world, the person looking at the screen right now--you are a teenager again, and you are exploring an abandoned building on the outskirts of your hometown:You and a couple of friends are bored one evening and decide to check out the old schoolhouse.  You ignore the "Warning: Condemned Building" sign on the front gate as you climb the fence, you pry the boards off of a back window with Jake's crowbar, and you crawl inside to find the floor littered with trash and mouse droppings.  On an abandoned table you find a yellowed newspaper from 1955 and rusty Lone Ranger lunch box.  It's eerie and exciting, your adrenaline is pumping--what other artifacts from the past will you find here?   You explore a little further, and find a staircase heading down to the sub-basement.  You descend below the old schoolhouse, and at the bottom of the steps you freeze:  there's light down here.  An old red lantern hangs from a twisted piece of exposed electrical wire above the old furnace.That simple old lantern changes the entire experience.  In an instant, the building is no longer abandoned, you and your friends are not alone, your evening just went from "fun little distraction" to "we are in mortal danger," and last night's news story about an escaped inmate from the state penitentiary just leapt to the front of your mind.  It's just a lantern, but it is suddenly the most important and terrifying thing in this whole building.  For years to come, you and your buddies will talk about that lantern in hushed voices.If I need the place to be truly abandoned but also well-lit, I'll put a few "natural" light sources in there.  Fire beetles are my favorites, but I've also used bioluminescent mushrooms, glowing slimes, and glow worms.  But open flames, or items that have limited durations?  Those aren't just light sources, they are clues and warning signs.</blockquote>

Verification