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[Badger_Beard]

I have a hard time describing things in great detail. Granted I know this is a big part of being a DM. I was hoping to find suggestions to make this process easier for me. I'm sorry if this isn't the right place to post my question.

[ciarannihill]

I have a hard time describing things in great detail. Granted I know this is a big part of being a DM. I was hoping to find suggestions to make this process easier for me. I'm sorry if this isn't the right place to post my question.

This isn't mine originally, but I think it's good advice (from Matt Mercer):

Put a little list behind your DM screen, tape it over a section you rarely use or use a post-it note or something, that lists specific descriptors to mention when your players enter a new place: Visuals, lighting, smells, ambient sounds, etc. Basically to remind you about these descriptors until they become a second nature part of describing environments.

I've adopted it as a thing, and while I don't use the reminder as much as I used to I still have it stuck to my DM screen just in case I need inspiration for describing something.

[Orc_Lord]

I had the exact same issue. Sometimes when I get excited I forget to describe things still.

For combat descriptions I made a list for the types of damage my NPCs could cause. So let's say my next fight had my NPC have a spear, I would write some descriptions of how that would look like if the PCs got hit at full health, medium health or close to death.

Then I would do the same for my NPC getting hurt. I would have one description per body part. Maybe his jaw would break, maybe it was a spiderso one of it's legs would get cut off, maybe a mandinle would get sliced, with fur you can do things like it gets singed or burned.

You can do the same for not getting hit. The fur is thick and it seems to deflect your attack. Stuff like that.

Now you have a good list of things combat wise.

I did that for three sessions, then combat descriptions bece easier, I could re use se of my stuff, or maoe something on the fly since I got used to thinking about how combat would look like.

Another thing that applies in general for me. I read about it and made a lot of sense.

As a GM you tend to look at a session on a 100ft view, you see the encounters mentally as a whole from a holistic approach.

Don't do that, instead look at it from the ground, be in your world and look at it as a PC, you are in the ground looking around.

Do you see the spiders' mouth drooling poison, does mouth feel dry due to anticipation? Do you feel the searing burning pain of poison as it spreads in your body, your heart palpitating as you try to resist it?

[JoeJ]

During your prep time draw pictures of things & characters you expect the party to encounter. You don't need to show your drawings to the players (although you certainly can), so don't worry about making them artistic; the point is to help you think about what the subject looks like, and particularly to identify the obvious things that a viewer would notice first. For example, it's impossible to draw "generic" hair; in a picture hair always has some particular length, color, and style. The same goes for clothes, body shape, facial features, skin and eye color. For objects, the drawing must show a particular size, shape, and color. In short, once you've drawn something you know exactly what it looks like, and it will probably be a lot easier for you to describe verbally. (Or just show the players your drawing, if you want. Chances are, they'll be too interested in finding every detail that might mean life or death to their characters to notice any flaws in your artistry.)

[Badger_Beard]

Thanks for all the suggestions I think I will be able to better my story telling.