| From: | Luke Kendall <luke@********.CANON.OZ.AU> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Repost: Re: GM's And Storytelling |
| Date: | Tue, 1 Nov 1994 10:01:11 +1100 |
> For a Shadowrun Question now, I need some input from all of those GM's
> listening out there. How do you deal with being descriptive without giving
> away what is important... An example. "You walk into the bar, and everything
> seems to be normal nightlife, EXCEPT this one guy sitting in the corner
> booth.. " Gee, I wonder who I should talk to for this run? <wink,wink>
The way our GM does it, I believe, is to do it subtly.
First, you tailor your descriptions to the players attention spans.
Typically, this means keep it reasonably brief. :-)
Then, within those constraints, you give enough details to set the
atmosphere and clue in those observant enough to pick up on the odd
or suggestive detail.
By the way, it would be rare to give a description that includes the
phrase `everything seems normal except'. As a concrete example, I'd
reword the above example like this:
"You walk into the bar. Marty's behind the counter serving a gorgeous
redhead, real slowly. There's a bunch of people round the `Exterminator
3000' machine; a guy in the corner booth at the back, just watching
everything; another guy in a trenchcoat, his seat back against the wall
watching you check him out. Plenty of people in here tonight, you may
find trouble getting a table."
The basic idea is, flesh out the scene in your own mind. What's
probably tending to trip you up is your knowledge that in the bar
tonight, everything's normal except for the guy in the corner booth.
So your description focusses on him.
De-focus. Look around.
Hope this helps,
luke
