Long Descriptions
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I usually just do things that aren't shown in portrait or model, and would be stupid to emote. Or stuff like prominent clothing such as god icons and stuff.
It would be odd to emote His eyes are blue each time you encounter people.
"Well met!"
"Hail traveller." He is 6 foot tallHowever, I don't think this needs to be enforced.
(But is annoying to read the default NWN description….)
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Brief descriptions get read more. It's that simple
when you see a new character from you tend to try to assess them quickly, and so a brief description of physical characteristics as the first short to start is ideal in my eyes.
after that as much detail as you like works for when you dont need to get the instant info hit, but i hate having to read a huge amount to just get the basics.
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I hate seeing characters without any description at all.
If they've got low charisma and no description I'll usually add one for them without their knowledge and its never flattering.As for short or long descriptions I do like long descriptions, I find them entertaining when I find time to sit down and actually read the whole thing and tends to give me a good idea of who I'm dealing with. I like descriptions that seem like they could have been pulled from the pages of a novel.
When I see a description that just lists some physical things about a character like eye color, height and weight I don't really get any interesting information from that. Honestly I can't think of a single time that I've seen any characters height in their description and cared at all other than that one guy who was eight feet tall.
If you want a short paragraph-long description my advice is to skip the lame stuff like height, weight and toe length and put down the stuff that gives other players a sense of the character's personality; What he smells like (Fresh mulch? The leather couches in the library? Overly expensive perfume?), the quality of clothing he'd wear (Fashionable? Poor quality? Miss-matched socks and an inside out jacket he doesn't seem to notice?), how he walks or stands (An arrogant saunter? Meak mousish tip-toes?)
I feel like that sort of stuff is much more interesting and gives people (and perhaps you as the player of a character) a better idea of just who this character is and hints of what might be expected of him (FORSHADOWING IS A COOL LITERARY DEVICE!)
But if the description is eight pages long and includes a detailed account of his youth in Sembia I'll rarely ever find the time to sit down and read it so cut that shit out.
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I tend to not do descriptions. Unless I make a cool epic one that involves stuff, like making fun of PC elves that like to stick their behinds into piles of mud and grass because a tree is there and telling myself how ruggedly handsome I am. Then it is long and full of mightiness.
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My descriptions generally consist of two to three sentences. That’s how I do mine and that’s generally what I prefer, I don’t typically read the longer descriptions and certainly not the ones pertaining to background information such as the heartache and struggles of their early years.
Height – Build – Voice/Accent the big three. Then I might add in skin tone or nationality if evident, overt personality traits and perhaps favoured attire.
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I do like to see the immediately obvious basics easily readable at the top of a description, it especially allows to not emote looming over a 1m90 tall character.
Upon thinking again, I think adjectives are better suited than numbers for size and weight, because if, unlike O'louth, I have a rough idea of how tall 6' is, I'm still lost on pounds and stones. I just know pounds / 2 is not kilograms.
Anyway, reading "this is a tall beanpole of a lad, thin but not quite emaciated" tells much more than 1m87 / 75kg.Also, when writing descriptions, I'd suggest staying objective, i.e. not describe the -effect- the PC has on onlookers, and it's something that's pretty hard to do.
It's not like I've had a lot of practice at writing descriptions :) -
Frankly, long or short, in depth or simple. I think discriptions should almost be a requirement, as I said earlier a discription, even a simple one effects how I am going to interact with that character. Not putting a discription, gives me the impression you have spent 0 time thinking about the character. I know this might not be true, but it gives the impression that way.
For Eagleman/John, I literally spent a few days working out what exactly his discription should say.
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… reading "this is a tall beanpole of a lad, thin but not quite emaciated" tells much more than 1m87 / 75kg...
This is good.
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I have to say, I enjoy a long description. Now I'm not talking -2001, space Odessy- long, just something long enough to give me the physical quirks, his posture, behavior. Stuff that I can react off of, I mean if your a half-orc with ten charisma..it helps to have a decent description otherwise everyone will say you smell like a sewer and your slow and stupid..And re-re-re-re-emoting the same thing sucks, lets face it, it helps to have it in your description so people can figure it out without you tossing it at them all the time and I get a feeling of depth when I read a well done description.
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this was my favorate -
Wormald "taskmaster" Prunesquallor
Discription:
Fat
Balding
Sweaty
Bastard
Besides his picture it was short and to the point. Also I played him.
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this was my favorate -
Wormald "taskmaster" Prunesquallor
Discription:
Fat
Balding
Sweaty
Bastard
Besides this I agree with AWESOMEMAN.
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No discription at all is… Simply, anathema.
Seriously. I think all descriptions should include: Physical qualities that are easily noticed OR the fact that they are concealed. It is most annoying to try and descript a person to someone when the only thing you know is their model (especially if you are missing the portrait in question).
Long descriptions... Should include the important things on top.