|
I frequently use the trick with telling small stories or legends in the room descs. Or giving info about the country and the people in it. It definitely adds some flavour and depth to the zone in my opinion, even though it may not be totally orthodox.
Some builders claim that you should only describe what you see in a room. But this would make the descriptions very boring in large zones where many rooms are of similar type, for instance a large forest, or a long road. After all, there are only a limited number of ways in which you could describe a forest or a road. But add a bit of ecology, economy, history, myth etc. to those descs and the zone gets a lot more interesting.
Below are some examples from a zone I am working on right now, set in Ancient Greece. It's a very large grid zone, about 600 rooms, and there is a main road in it, that's about 100 rooms long. So, for that road I mix traditional descs about the surroundings with anecdotes and myths.
"Greek women are strong, tough and enduring. They are used to walking long distances, carrying heavy burdens on their heads, and to working long hours in stony fields. They have to, because Greek men prefer to spend most of the day in the cafe, drinking ouzo and bragging about their own strength."
"The pale dusty track threads the hillsides, and down below is the sea, deep blue and green, washing the feet of the dark crags. Silver leafed olive trees grow on the terraced slopes along the road. Under the gnarled old trees animals graze and rest in the dappled shadow."
"If you should meet a Greek man and woman on the road, you can be sure that the woman is carrying the burden. If you should meet a Greek man and woman with a donkey on the road, you can be sure that the woman is the one on foot. Most likely she'll be carrying the burden too."
|