Region Description Writing
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Basics
The lord of a region can add a region description to his region, after he has been lord for a while (to prevent region descriptions of regions that are disputed to be changed all the time).
A region description has no in-game effect. It's purpose is to add atmosphere and roleplaying hooks. The best game-experience results if all region descriptions are good writing and follow the same guidelines. Here are a couple guidelines.
Guidelines
A good region description must be:
- Factually correct
- it should not mention geographical features that aren't present on the map
- it should not mention region features that the region doesn't have (buildings, bars, etc.)
- in short, statements about verifiable facts must "check out"
- Neutral and objective
- it is a description of the region, not a praise of its lord or the realm.
- it also should be written in an objective style (avoid "we" and "you")
- it does not assume actions on behalf of the reader - e.g. "as you walk through the city center looking for a tavern you notice..." will sound strange to an invasion force that came to loot the city to the ground. :-)
- Lasting
- it should focus on unchanging facts, not on short-term news.
- Stylish and fitting
- it should fit into the BM style (no tourism advertisement language)
- it should be long enough to create atmosphere, but not so long that it gets tiring.
- Informative
- it should contain new information, not repeat the information readily available on the region details page (e.g. population numbers, etc.)
- ideally, it explains those game facts instead of just repeating the numbers.
Hints and Ideas
Here are some ideas to flesh out the region description:
- Add some pure flavour info. Invent a local drink, folklore, custom or other things that add atmosphere
- Explain some of the oddities of the region - why does it border on region X? Why does the woodland region contain a slip of rural? Why does the city expand further than other regions? Why is it marked as a badlands type?
- Explain the origin of the region name -- does it mean something in the old tongue? Is it named after a local landmark or an ancient hero?
- What's the weather like? Does your desert region suffer from dust storms, is your coastal region humid?
Style
- Use adjectives to liven up the description. "The tall, white spires of..." is a much better description than "The fortress of ..."
- Don't overdo it with the adjectives :-) "tall, white spires" is good, "tall, white, bewildering, grey-marble spires" is almost certainly too much.