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Roleplaying is a game played through the mind's eye. The DM is responsible for creating a vivid, palpable world that the players inhabit, but that's easier said than done. How can you paint a scene with your words that is sharp, defined, rich and full of texture? Some DM's will go on forever, describing every little thing while their players fall asleep, while others will simply say refuse to describe anything more than to state its purpose. In today's article we'll take a look at how to find that sweet spot and describe the perfect scene, giving you concrete steps to follow so as to ensure you can do it right every time.
First, let's pick a random spot you could find yourself describing: a General Store in a small town. Every band of adventurers will enter one of these early on in their adventuring career to stock up on ropes, torches, food stuff. Now, most DM's would simply say, "You enter the General Store. It's small and a gnome stands behind the counter. What do you get?" Which...is functional. But what have you described? Not much. So let's see how we can spice this up just a little.
The best and easiest formula to follow is to quickly appeal to each of the five senses. Let's start with sight. When possible, try to ditch the '15 x 15' kind of description, and instead give approximations that the players can visualize, like 'twice the size of this room we're playing in' or 'the size of half a tennis court' or what have you. Then think light: gloomy, well lit with natural sunlight, a pool of light by the front desk, the rest of the store in shadow? Where is all the gear in this store located? Shelving that lines the walls? Free standing book cases? And how about a sample of gear that's on display? Coils of rope, tents, walking sticks, backpacks?
Sight is usually the longest one, and from there you can jump to smell. Just one line will do: does the General Store smell musty and full of strange spices? Does it smell like the owner has been burning some herbs like thyme to sweeten the air? Or like cured leather and grease?
Sound should come next. What would they hear upon entering the store? Perhaps you could describe how the sounds from the street fade away and become muffled as the big front door closes behind them, or the metallic singing of a little toy bird on the owner's counter, or the sound of an argument from the back where two dwarfs are debating whether to buy a mallet?
Taste and feel can usually be skipped unless they seem pertinent, such as if it's cold or warm, or the air feels greasy from smoke or they're swimming in freezing water.
So stringing it all together, you would go from, "You enter the General Store. It's small and a gnome stands behind the counter. What do you get?" to, "You enter the General Store, the sounds of the street fading as the front door closes behind you. The store is about twice the size of this room, gloomy except for where a pool of light illuminates the owner's counter. Shelving lines the walls, heaped with coils of rope, leather backpacks, tents and more. The air is thick with the smell of cured leather and grease, and the gnome at the front finishes winding up a little metallic bird which begins to sing a metallic song, and looks over at you curiously. What do you guys do?"
See how by simply running down the list of senses you not only provide a more complete scene, but also immerse the players into the scene? They'll be more likely now to RP with the gnome, to describe their characters walking around as opposed to simply speaking out of character and handing you a list of things they want. It doesn't take much time, creates a more real world, and helps keep the players in character and in the right kind of mood. Simple, and effective!
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