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I'm thinking about changing type of narration for my games.
What is most common way GM's go about describing scenes and environment in your group?
Do you keep it simple and show only what PC's can see around themselves (because it is their job to keep up with what's going around) or do you present scene as a whole, including that how players look in it (because of integrity of entire scene)?
Usually, I kept it simple and described stuff that only their characters could see or notice.
>Upon walking into an alley, you notice a dead body. It was only until moment later when squad of local guardsmen showed up, ordering you to lay down your arms.
However, nowadays I’m thinking about changing it to more narrator like presentation, leaving their PC's as parts of a scene rather than centers of it.
>As your group makes a turn for a nearby alley, they soon stumble upon a sight of fresh corpse laying on the road. Sounds of ruckus following behind you, revealed itself to be a squad of town guard, who didn't seem all too cheerful about what they were seeing. A group of bloodstained, tired adventurers, who recently cleared a den of goblins, now stood above a corpse. Guided by their training, they pointed weapons at you and ordered to lay down your arms.
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>>49678311
I don't think I ever get more than two sentences in before players start talking. Which is fine, I just make sure the important stuff is in the first sentence.
So more the first style I guess. If players are interested they'll ask/investigate.
If you want to write a novel do that.
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>>49678905
Point. Lengthy descriptions wouldn't work that well.
However, I thought about it being more focused on details, as to why NPC's see players the way they do.
>You are covered in blood and standing over a corpse. The guards do not like what they are seeing.
Hm, informing players about their status and possible causes of current circumstances would be helping or ruining the immersion?
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>>49678996
Depends. I usually give descriptions of the kind:
>You are covered in blood and standing over a corpse. The guards have locked their gazes on you, their hands gripping the handles of their seathed weapons.
It conveys the same meaning, but makes the scene more visual.
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>>49678905
I usually go with this approach aswell.
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>>49678311
>it-says-youre-a-chosen-undead.png
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>>49678311
I don't know if this is just a bad example, but it sounds far more railroaded then I'd ever like. Why aren't the players making perception checks to notice the body before they enter the alley? Why don't they have the opportunity to act before the guards show up?
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>>49678311
Depends on the emotional reaction I want to evoke, but I make sure to stop often, so people know they can act.
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>>49679306
>a bad example
It's exactly that. Don't dig too deep into it, anon.
My main question here, while badly worded, was that whenether I should be telling players of everything "seemingly" obvious that is affecting them at time or just let them figure it out themselves.
For example
>PC's travel for a few days and get into a fight
They likely end up bloodied, tired and not smelling that good.
I can mention it upon their arrivial to first village or just skip ahead and say that everyone at tavern is looking at them with mix of fear and disgust.
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>>49678905
Same. Sometimes I wish that I could get some time to go into descriptions of the smells, sounds, textures, etc. of the world. But hey, if the players are interested, that's always more fun for me and them. And if they ask about specific stuff in the scene, I can still go into detail and they're more likely to pay attention. Especially if they're making rolls to learn about the craftsdwarfship of the stone carvings, etc.
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>>49678311
Both. If it is a key location, like their first visit to town X, I describe it in more detail to flesh out the scene. If it isn't important, like a ransacked caravan at the side of the road, no need to give any details beyond: "a ransacked caravan at the side of the road"
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http://theangrygm.com/how-to-talk-to-players-the-art-of-narration/
I do basically this, it works.
Tl;dr: stick to the first version OP
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