Comments on: Illustrations vs. Descriptions: And the winner is . . . http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/illustrations-vs-descriptions-and-the-winner-is The Game Mastering Blog Sat, 20 Mar 2010 07:37:53 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: ligedog http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/illustrations-vs-descriptions-and-the-winner-is/comment-page-1#comment-149 ligedog Tue, 13 May 2008 20:33:08 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=38#comment-149 I like to draw little vignette sketches of complicated areas as Matthew mentioned above its a great way of giving clues without totally telegraphing it. I've also made little sketches of monsters and special items occasionally as well. It seems to work pretty good and I don't end up confusing the players with the descriptions.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('149','ligedog'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> I like to draw little vignette sketches of complicated areas as Matthew mentioned above its a great way of giving clues without totally telegraphing it. I’ve also made little sketches of monsters and special items occasionally as well. It seems to work pretty good and I don’t end up confusing the players with the descriptions.
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]]> By: Kurt "Telas" Schneider http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/illustrations-vs-descriptions-and-the-winner-is/comment-page-1#comment-109 Kurt "Telas" Schneider Tue, 13 May 2008 04:07:37 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=38#comment-109 Props are <i>always</i> awesome, but time can become an issue. I did a bit of this when I had more prep-time, and it worked beautifully. One of the things I like about the "Adventure Path" series was the illustrations, some of which could be downloaded or cut out. GMing off a laptop lets you flip it wide open and show the players what you're talking about, but you can't exactly leave it that way... :-\<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('109','Kurt \"Telas\" Schneider'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> Props are always awesome, but time can become an issue. I did a bit of this when I had more prep-time, and it worked beautifully. One of the things I like about the “Adventure Path” series was the illustrations, some of which could be downloaded or cut out.

GMing off a laptop lets you flip it wide open and show the players what you’re talking about, but you can’t exactly leave it that way… :-\

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]]> By: John Arcadian http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/illustrations-vs-descriptions-and-the-winner-is/comment-page-1#comment-102 John Arcadian Tue, 13 May 2008 01:58:14 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=38#comment-102 I'm with you on that Martin. Till I got back into D&D recently I usually went trolling for pictures of different creatures that were more unique than "dragon". I always wanted something with a unique element. Something I could focus my descriptions on. Matthew, you are definitely right. There are times I don't want to point out that the creatures prominent feature is its large claws. If I show the picture then the players don't hone in on the claws as being the "BIG THING" about the creature. The claws might be prominent in the picture, but players get to make their first impressions.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('102','John Arcadian'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> I’m with you on that Martin. Till I got back into D&D recently I usually went trolling for pictures of different creatures that were more unique than “dragon”. I always wanted something with a unique element. Something I could focus my descriptions on.

Matthew, you are definitely right. There are times I don’t want to point out that the creatures prominent feature is its large claws. If I show the picture then the players don’t hone in on the claws as being the “BIG THING” about the creature. The claws might be prominent in the picture, but players get to make their first impressions.

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]]> By: Martin Ralya http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/illustrations-vs-descriptions-and-the-winner-is/comment-page-1#comment-77 Martin Ralya Mon, 12 May 2008 17:13:26 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=38#comment-77 I like using pictures whenever possible, but I usually don't just use what's in the books -- I have no idea why. Monsters are really the only exception, as I do like showing those, but I'd never considered emphasizing and evoking one aspect of the illustration to more firmly wed the image and the description in my players' minds. That's a really good suggestion!<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('77','Martin Ralya'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> I like using pictures whenever possible, but I usually don’t just use what’s in the books — I have no idea why.

Monsters are really the only exception, as I do like showing those, but I’d never considered emphasizing and evoking one aspect of the illustration to more firmly wed the image and the description in my players’ minds. That’s a really good suggestion!

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]]> By: Matthew J. Neagley http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/illustrations-vs-descriptions-and-the-winner-is/comment-page-1#comment-69 Matthew J. Neagley Mon, 12 May 2008 16:29:10 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=38#comment-69 Pictures also serve to help with the age-old "If I detail the clue too much it's obvious it's the clue" issue. While we COULD just describe the entire adventure in detail, that gets tiresome after a while, and even just "spot placement" of detail alerts the players that "There's something important here..." Thus, the occassional picture becomes a good way to hide clues.<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('69','Matthew J. Neagley'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> Pictures also serve to help with the age-old “If I detail the clue too much it’s obvious it’s the clue” issue. While we COULD just describe the entire adventure in detail, that gets tiresome after a while, and even just “spot placement” of detail alerts the players that “There’s something important here…” Thus, the occassional picture becomes a good way to hide clues.
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]]> By: » Ding, The Stew is Ready, Hope You Like Gnomes. http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/illustrations-vs-descriptions-and-the-winner-is/comment-page-1#comment-42 » Ding, The Stew is Ready, Hope You Like Gnomes. Mon, 12 May 2008 14:53:38 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=38#comment-42 [...] John Arcadian (yay!) [...]<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('42','» Ding, The Stew is Ready, Hope You Like Gnomes.'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> [...] John Arcadian (yay!) [...]
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]]> By: PaPeRoTTo http://www.gnomestew.com/gming-advice/illustrations-vs-descriptions-and-the-winner-is/comment-page-1#comment-16 PaPeRoTTo Mon, 12 May 2008 11:24:58 +0000 http://www.gnomestew.com/?p=38#comment-16 first :D kek ^^ always wanted to say it :P i've always tried to describe deeply what i was thinking the object/person/etc. was.. but i found very very immediate to give them a picture after 7-8 seconds of verbal description as an intro :) it gives a bit of suspence before the "gift" of the image :D<div class="comment-remix-meta"><a href="#" class="replyto" onclick="replyto('16','PaPeRoTTo'); return false;">Reply</a> </div> first :D kek ^^ always wanted to say it :P

i’ve always tried to describe deeply what i was thinking the object/person/etc. was.. but i found very very immediate to give them a picture after 7-8 seconds of verbal description as an intro :)

it gives a bit of suspence before the “gift” of the image :D

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