Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Realtalk111 Oct 27, 2014 12:31:53	Hey Guys,    I am new to Dm'ing and have been trying to put together good combat discriptions for my games. I'm in the middle of the Phandelver campaign and have run four adventures so far.  They have been awesome and the group is loving the adventure and the enphasis on story and discription.   The group I have really enjoys a colorful and discriptive combat as well as traveling discriptions. They told me before the start of the campaign that they would like more cenimatic scenes and game play rather than "hit with your sword" in previous dm styles we've all played in. I feel like i done a good job and they have all complimented me on it but i feel im running dry.     I'm Having a hard time keeping things fresh and having active every battle scenes without saying the general, "you exchange blows parrying each strike"  or "He swings his mase and barley misses" Ect.   Can you guys give me your favorite combat/traveling discriptions? I'de like to stock up. Thanks Y'all!
#2 iserith Oct 27, 2014 13:10:02	If players want more cinematic scenes and game play, they must first act more cinematically, offering good descriptions of what it is they want to do so that the DM can build on their descriptions to narrate the results of the adventurers' actions. If the players are not holding up their end, this pushes all the effort of improvisation onto the DM and that's not fair. So first things first: Your players need to step up their game if they are not already.   One habit to get into is summing up the scene before each player acts, then asking "What do you do?" with a sense of urgency. Like this:   Fighter: I want to slash the orc with my sword. DM: Okay, let's see an attack and damage roll. Fighter: *rolls* 18 to hit for 8 damage. DM: That's enough to kill the orc. What does that look like from your perspective? [Encouraging the player to add description.] Fighter: I lock up with him, sword and axe. Drawing on my reserve of strength, I push him back and throw him off balance then decapitate him! DM: Excellent! The head goes rolling toward the orc chieftain who stops it with his foot, then growls at you. [Rogue is up next, so I sum up the scene.] Rogue, as Cleric and Wizard move around to get away from the orcish onslaught, Fighter has just defenestrated a fierce warrior and drawn the ire of the chieftain. Two more are moving toward you from the flank. What do you do?
#3 Realtalk111 Oct 27, 2014 13:16:05	That helps alot actually.   I've been a little stressed about how to make it more vivid for each player but this really opens it up for me to react to what they invision there player doing.    Thanks!
#4 SterlingRat Oct 27, 2014 13:48:56	Thank you for asking that question - I am totally stealing Iserith's answer for my Sunday group. That's an awesome idea.
#5 bawylie Oct 27, 2014 17:00:26	"Describe your kill" is a good one.    "What's that look like?" also good.    Just keep in mind it's a conversation - back and forth. Escalate narrative. Treat movement as relative not absolute. And the same with attacks. Even damaging attacks can be defended or dodged.
#6 Rhenny Oct 27, 2014 17:08:21	Great advice!   When PCs fail you can also let them describe their failure.  My players like that sometimes more than describing their successes.
#7 sleypy Oct 29, 2014 14:34:36	I agree with everyone so far. Mixing it up with descriptions and building things off of other's actions. Another thing to add in the mix is focusing on how creatures react in a given situations.    Fighter: I want to kick in the door and hit the first bad guy I see. DM: Okay. The door slams open three orcs stare at you dumb-founded, surprised by your sudden arrival. Make your attack. You have advantage. Fighter: I will make an attack against two of them to finish them off quickly. I got a 19 AC /w advantage and a 8 /w advantage... DM: You manage to hit one of them. How much damage? Fighter I deal 11 sword type damage to the face. (... I play with children and adult children.) DM: The first orc collapses to the floor dead with the look of shock still on his face. The second orc seems to recover more quickly avoiding your attack as they fumble around drawing their weapon. ...