Registered Member #1029
Joined: 11:45:04 am GMT 04/18/07
Posts: 732
Squidget wrote ... I read them. I find they usually give a good idea of the player's writing style. Descriptions that are four paragraphs about a character's haunting blue eyes and flawless skin also make an excellent warning label.
I'm with Squidget on this. My favorite ones are those about flawless skin and haunting eyes on a character with charisma as the dump stat.
I understand that these descriptions can now be changed in game? That would be quite useful as often I find the attitudes and manners of a character have changed over time and it would be nice to be able to rewrite them to reflect this.
Also, is there any way of viewing your own characters' descriptions?
Registered Member #17
Joined: 1:33:47 am GMT 02/25/04
Posts: 1364
You can bind the "examine" action from the radial "Assign Other Actions" menu to a quickslot. This can be used to examine your own character and read the description.
Tempting as it was, I decided not to go round hitting people with a crowbar. Registered Member #650
Joined: 1:17:12 pm GMT 11/20/05
Posts: 8758
I always read them and I'm also to blame for a very long description. Though it does just state what you see on her physicly 99% of the time, it's just lots of trinkets.
Registered Member #1244
Joined: 2:10:27 am GMT 01/23/08
Posts: 1028
I read 'em, but like everyone else, I ignore the perfect skin, flawless profile and perfect figure comments.
I also hate the ones that don't follow the old writer's rule of show me, don't tell me, when applied to RP'd information.
Don't tell me that my character will find your character charming, or that there's something "about" your character that keeps drawing people back to him or her.
Don't tell me how to RP my char around yours. RP your character appropriately and my character will react, equally appropriately.
If you want your character to be charming and suave, play them as such. Don't just write it in the description.
Registered Member #1083
Joined: 7:29:11 pm GMT 06/25/07
Posts: 1519
Fortunately, the few descriptions I've found that have the "flawless skin" syndrome belong to PCs I know OOCly have high charisma and that are portrayed as beautiful.
Raphael diSanto wrote ...
Don't tell me that my character will find your character charming, or that there's something "about" your character that keeps drawing people back to him or her.
Yeah, I agree. I'll admit one of my PCs has in their description something along the lines of "has a charming aura", because, honestly, I didn't know how to portray that with other words.
Registered Member #1099
Joined: 5:26:33 pm GMT 07/11/07
Posts: 933
i read them if it takes less than one round to do so
it gives me something to approach / avoid, and in the first interaction i like to play off something in the description, if it's possible to.
when it comes to what i'd call "subjective" descriptions, i'm likely to ignore them (but not always) until they're RP'd - or the dice roll and i can see that stacked CHA for myself..
i find i like a simple physical description (including non-mechanical things like eye colour, height, voice, smell etc) with any distinguishing features. neutral descriptions like "even-faced", "pleasant demeanour", "large eyes" or "open, friendly smile" give me an idea without actually telling me how to react (though like almost everyone here, i prefer to see it RP'd as well..) similarly "missing teeth" or "covered in scars".
i'm always disappointed when it's the default NwN description. for me, even blank is better than those. and if i see any kind of backstory in the description, i tend to walk away. sorry but that's how it is
Registered Member #1244
Joined: 2:10:27 am GMT 01/23/08
Posts: 1028
Cleric of Mystra wrote ... Fortunately, the few descriptions I've found that have the "flawless skin" syndrome belong to PCs I know OOCly have high charisma and that are portrayed as beautiful.
Raphael diSanto wrote ...
Don't tell me that my character will find your character charming, or that there's something "about" your character that keeps drawing people back to him or her.
Yeah, I agree. I'll admit one of my PCs has in their description something along the lines of "has a charming aura", because, honestly, I didn't know how to portray that with other words.
Well, it's a fine line, no?
I mean, Cal's original description had the line: "an almost permanent half-smile gives his mid-30's lightly lined face an generally approachable air of affability"
I could probably justifiably be accused of the same thing.
That said, Cal generally is:
a) affable: being pleasant and at ease in talking to others
and
b) approachable: easy to meet or deal with
.. So in this situation, I feel like I'm describing more how -he- reacts to people (in general terms), not how your character needs to react to him. Should it go in the desc? Dunno. I think I RP him as generally friendly and approachable, so it matches the desc anyway.
[ The Island of Thain ]
[poll] Do you read character descriptions?
