amount of detail in settings [Archive] - Wizards Community

amount of detail in settings [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
killedquickly
10-16-03, 01:35 AM A while ago i posted a question on making outdoors setting realistic. Someone recommended making a flow chart and i thought it was a good idea. So, now i have a flow chart in front of me with 48 little circles. My question is do i have to have something unique and interesting in each circle? I have to do this 4 more times which means a grand total of 240 circles!! If i have to have unique idea for each one of these I think my head will explode. Anyway... any tips on how much detail is the right amount of detail and any specific outdoor setting ideas ,ie a cool tree or something, would be very helpful.
Thanks
Old_One
10-16-03, 07:13 AM could you just post a link to the original thread for refrence?
Fixxxer
10-16-03, 03:00 PM I've never used a flow chart in my games, though I've been curious. More than one person on these forums has used them to great effect. Could someone who uses a flowchart scan one in, please? I would love to get a better idea of exactly how this tool could work for me.
VirgilCaine
10-16-03, 04:14 PM Here is a URL for a website with a large amount of outdoor encounters--inanimate objects, etc.

http://www.freeplayers.co.uk/print/printencounters.html

Saturating an area with "unique" things is a bad idea.

Just describe a certain scene--here is the clearing where the dryads dance on full moons, here is a big weird stone, here is a ruined ranger/trapper's house, here is a plain old ordinary cave.

You don't need to have 240 different things, just have a few neat things, maybe a few things for the PCs to explore or whatever.
Nephet
10-16-03, 07:27 PM Some of your events can also be weather related or just plain mundane or comical - You wiped with that plant? That's poison ivy! A local witch (adept) has the cure - for the right price of course.
imayb1
10-17-03, 12:34 PM First, I want to say that I would be extremely careful about putting a lot of extra work into Unique, random things... If you do this, your players will up the ante, so to speak. You will be expected to provide/know an insane amount of detail about *everything*.

Also, your players may get hung up on these incidental things. EG: "A purple plant with four leaves? And the ranger and the druid have never seen anything like it?" 20 min. later... "Okay, it's not magical, not poisonous, no one around here knows what it's called or what it could be used for. Who planted it, or how did it get here?? We've got to figure this out...!" :rolleyes: I have had this happen. Sometimes players think there Must be a reason for everything.

Lastly; Dragon #259 printed a very nice article called, "Miscellaneous Mishaps: The Great Outdoors." It has a random encounter chart and three sub-charts: "Common Annoyances", "Odd Finds I", and "Odd Finds II". I think these are just the sort of things you're looking for... from an "ill mount" to "a bear skeleton in a steel trap." Happy Gaming.
Kalidor
10-17-03, 01:22 PM This phenomenon in our group has come to be known as "The Four Trees".

All the way back in 1992, when I was still new at DM'ing I said "Its an empty field, except for 4 trees spaced evenly apart in the middle" (Basing it off of a field I saw on the way to a boating trip and I thought it looked neat).

So they investigated the trees, measured the exact distance between each tree. Wanted to know what kind of trees they were, how old they were. If they were hollow, if there were creatures in them, whatever.

Now, when a peice of a discriptive text gets blown out of hand and too much time as being wasted, someone will say "Alright guys, The Four Trees..." and then move on.
Mike the DM
10-17-03, 10:05 PM Originally posted by VirgilCaine
Just describe a certain scene--here is the clearing where the dryads dance on full moons, here is a big weird stone, here is a ruined ranger/trapper's house, here is a plain old ordinary cave.

You don't need to have 240 different things, just have a few neat things, maybe a few things for the PCs to explore or whatever.

I take the same approach - figure out what the various vignettes will be, then create encounters associated with some of them.

From these encounters, I develop my "random monsters" tables - these contain critters that may wander through the forest, valley, or wha-have-you and things that the critters associated with the various encounters would do in the area. For example, an unkindness of giant ravens may fly over the forest enroute between mountain ranges, and a patrol of goblins may be dispatched from the cave complex at the center of the forest - the former is truly random and influenced by events off-stage, while the latter is tied directly to the encounter areas.

If you have a forgotten graveyard, then add some ghouls to your wandering monster list. If there's a druid's circle, then druids and their animal companions are likely to be in the woods. A rock shelter is home to a mountain lion and her cubs - she's in the shelter by day and out hunting at night. Et cetera, et cetera et cetera...

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
killedquickly 10-16-03, 01:35 AM	A while ago i posted a question on making outdoors setting realistic. Someone recommended making a flow chart and i thought it was a good idea. So, now i have a flow chart in front of me with 48 little circles. My question is do i have to have something unique and interesting in each circle? I have to do this 4 more times which means a grand total of 240 circles!! If i have to have unique idea for each one of these I think my head will explode. Anyway... any tips on how much detail is the right amount of detail and any specific outdoor setting ideas ,ie a cool tree or something, would be very helpful. Thanks
Old_One 10-16-03, 07:13 AM	could you just post a link to the original thread for refrence?
Fixxxer 10-16-03, 03:00 PM	I've never used a flow chart in my games, though I've been curious. More than one person on these forums has used them to great effect. Could someone who uses a flowchart scan one in, please? I would love to get a better idea of exactly how this tool could work for me.
VirgilCaine 10-16-03, 04:14 PM	Here is a URL for a website with a large amount of outdoor encounters--inanimate objects, etc. http://www.freeplayers.co.uk/print/printencounters.html Saturating an area with "unique" things is a bad idea. Just describe a certain scene--here is the clearing where the dryads dance on full moons, here is a big weird stone, here is a ruined ranger/trapper's house, here is a plain old ordinary cave. You don't need to have 240 different things, just have a few neat things, maybe a few things for the PCs to explore or whatever.
Nephet 10-16-03, 07:27 PM	Some of your events can also be weather related or just plain mundane or comical - You wiped with that plant? That's poison ivy! A local witch (adept) has the cure - for the right price of course.
imayb1 10-17-03, 12:34 PM	First, I want to say that I would be extremely careful about putting a lot of extra work into Unique, random things... If you do this, your players will up the ante, so to speak. You will be expected to provide/know an insane amount of detail about everything. Also, your players may get hung up on these incidental things. EG: "A purple plant with four leaves? And the ranger and the druid have never seen anything like it?" 20 min. later... "Okay, it's not magical, not poisonous, no one around here knows what it's called or what it could be used for. Who planted it, or how did it get here?? We've got to figure this out...!" :rolleyes: I have had this happen. Sometimes players think there Must be a reason for everything. Lastly; Dragon #259 printed a very nice article called, "Miscellaneous Mishaps: The Great Outdoors." It has a random encounter chart and three sub-charts: "Common Annoyances", "Odd Finds I", and "Odd Finds II". I think these are just the sort of things you're looking for... from an "ill mount" to "a bear skeleton in a steel trap." Happy Gaming.
Kalidor 10-17-03, 01:22 PM	This phenomenon in our group has come to be known as "The Four Trees". All the way back in 1992, when I was still new at DM'ing I said "Its an empty field, except for 4 trees spaced evenly apart in the middle" (Basing it off of a field I saw on the way to a boating trip and I thought it looked neat). So they investigated the trees, measured the exact distance between each tree. Wanted to know what kind of trees they were, how old they were. If they were hollow, if there were creatures in them, whatever. Now, when a peice of a discriptive text gets blown out of hand and too much time as being wasted, someone will say "Alright guys, The Four Trees..." and then move on.
Mike the DM 10-17-03, 10:05 PM	Originally posted by VirgilCaine Just describe a certain scene--here is the clearing where the dryads dance on full moons, here is a big weird stone, here is a ruined ranger/trapper's house, here is a plain old ordinary cave. You don't need to have 240 different things, just have a few neat things, maybe a few things for the PCs to explore or whatever. I take the same approach - figure out what the various vignettes will be, then create encounters associated with some of them. From these encounters, I develop my "random monsters" tables - these contain critters that may wander through the forest, valley, or wha-have-you and things that the critters associated with the various encounters would do in the area. For example, an unkindness of giant ravens may fly over the forest enroute between mountain ranges, and a patrol of goblins may be dispatched from the cave complex at the center of the forest - the former is truly random and influenced by events off-stage, while the latter is tied directly to the encounter areas. If you have a forgotten graveyard, then add some ghouls to your wandering monster list. If there's a druid's circle, then druids and their animal companions are likely to be in the woods. A rock shelter is home to a mountain lion and her cubs - she's in the shelter by day and out hunting at night. Et cetera, et cetera et cetera...