Good descriptive words for DMing

[FuryOfMetal]

When I DM I like to be descriptive as it makes the game more immersive and it's more interesting to take part in. However after a while I start to run out of words to describe things. So could I get suggestions for atmospheric words for a variety of situations. Situations such as battle, forests, caves, dungeons, on the ocean, people and really anything else.

[Dr.Epic]

I don't really know how to help you? What do these places look like (also, I got to express the irony in you have to describe something so I can help you describe it).

Have you thought of visual images? If you have a laptop, just go over to google images and see if they can help elaborate.

[Urpriest]

Rugose. Non-Euclidean. Cyclopean. Squamous. Eldritch. Ranine.

[AslanCross]

Reading more in general might help you figure out which words you might want to use and which words not to use.

[SirLagsalot]

Invest in a thesaurus?

[Xefas]

"Decidedly Indistinct". It's a phase, but I figured it might help. "Absurdly Unequivocal", "Aggressively Boring", "Frantically Nondescript", and "Tumultuously Dull" are also rather effective descriptive phrases that you can throw in to liven up any scene.

And I generated them all using this website.

[Winter_Wolf]

Good description is fine and all that, but here's the thing: if you start tossing around all these fantastic and in some cases esoteric words, are your players going to know what the heck you're talking about? I might be simple, but if I have to have a dictionary and thesaurus on hand to be a player in a game, I'm going to have some issues with that. That said, browsing the Pathfinder collection at the localish bookstore, there was a full page of words you could use in a medieval fantasy RPG, about half of which I don't know that most modern people, RPGers included, really know what they mean.

[gdiddy]

The most useful descriptor I have ever used in a game was "Wet Manure".

[Hallavast]

I notice you're asking for nouns as descriptive words, but descriptive words are traditionally adjectives and adverbs. For example, "Terrifying" is an adjective. "Forest" is a noun. "Groingrabbingly" is an adverb. "The forest was groingrabbingly terrifying" is a brilliant bit of description.

Did that help?

"Absurd" is an adjective.

[valadil]

The most useful descriptor I have ever used in a game was "Wet Manure".

Mine was "used tacos."

I try not to overdo the description. More than three sentences along the lines of "as you crest the hill..." and the players zone out. Descriptions should be quick and to the point.

[Xuc Xac]

I notice you're asking for nouns as descriptive words, but descriptive words are traditionally adjectives and adverbs. For example, "Terrifying" is an adjective. "Forest" is a noun. "Groingrabbingly" is an adverb. "The forest was groingrabbingly terrifying" is a brilliant bit of description.

Actually, just stating "the forest is terrifying" is bad description. Bad description tells the audience what to feel. Good description provides sensory input so the audience can make up their own minds about what they should feel.

Try to use more than just sight in the descriptions; use other senses too. For example: "The forest is full of gnarled and stunted trees that crowd and choke each other and reach with desperate claws for the dim light above. They spare little light for the forest floor which is barren of anything green. The ground is a tangle of fallen rotten branches on a soft spongy carpet of brown pine needles and toadstools. The path is very indistinct and leafless branches snag and pull at your cloaks as you try to follow the narrow passage that the trees are attempting to reclaim. The air is damp and thick with the sour musk of mildew and wood rot; it's so heavy that no breath is fully satisfying, your lungs feel a little too small, and you can taste moldy bread with each breath. Picking your way through the dank brush is not difficult, but it's tedious and even the simple exertion raises a slick of cold sweat that plasters your clothes against your skin. If there are any birds or animals in this forest you haven't seen them and they don't dare to make a sound. The wet branches break with a dull crunch instead of a sharp snap, so even the sounds of your own passage are muted as if your ears were stuffed with moss."

You don't need to include all the senses all the time, but you should include something non-visual. Don't tell us how something sounds ("It roars a scary roar at you.") but tell us what exactly it is that we hear ("It roars with a deep rumbling scream that you can feel quivering in your belly as well as hear in your ears. It sounds like a cast iron statue being ripped limb from limb.")

[FuryOfMetal]

I notice you're asking for nouns as descriptive words, but descriptive words are traditionally adjectives and adverbs. For example, "Terrifying" is an adjective. "Forest" is a noun. "Groingrabbingly" is an adverb. "The forest was groingrabbingly terrifying" is a brilliant bit of description.

Did that help?

"Absurd" is an adjective.

No i meant words for those kinds of settings xD But thanks anyway, made me laugh as it does look like i meant that. I read alot of sci-fi fiction in the warhammer 40k universe actually and I always try to remember words i see so i can recycle them.

Valadil: Yeah that's what I'm looking for really. Nice adjectives to pepper those short descriptions with.

What i really want to concentrate on is the battle description. My players and i really love descriptive, flashy language for battle description. I don't describe every hit and blow and dodge etc. But I pick up on an attack or a miss every now and then giving a brief 2 sentence description. We find it really helps for battle immersion as otherwise we're just rolling dice.

[DeathsHands]

No i meant words for those kinds of settings xD But thanks anyway, made me laugh as it does look like i meant that. I read alot of sci-fi fiction in the warhammer 40k universe actually and I always try to remember words i see so i can recycle them.

I'd recommend reading some of the Dan Abnett materiale in that case; he's very descriptive and utilizes a very wide vocabulary in his books.

[FuryOfMetal]

That's all i read

[BRC]

"Churning Hellscape"

Use it at every opportunity.