Describe Me

I think one of the things I love most about the old RPGs are the items you get while travelling. Staffs, swords, potions... Small items that give you a sense of reward.

Now that games are far more complex, there seems to be a massive amount of items a player can buy or find throughout a game. And two things determine how much of a reward these items are: what they do and how they're described.

For example, would you rather have:

Olympus Sword: A polished sword. Offense: +10

or

Olympus Sword: An elegant sword with a marble handle, made from the stones of Mount Olympus. Offence +10

Your prompt-- if you choose to accept it-- is to take the 4 following items and describe them:

1- Tiger Sword

2- Charm Bracelet

3- Fire Ruby

4- Mage's Cloak

Tips for Description:

--> In a game, a description for an item can't be too long. So figure on a trait or two that stands out about it and focus on that, instead of trying to do a generalized description.

--> Potions and some armor don't need a whole lot of description. Healing Potions heal. We get that. If you want to go more into detail, go for it, but again, keep it short.

--> Descriptions should match the tone of the game. Serious games don't describe something as "An awesome sword built for ownage." A comical game, however, does. Games rated "E" have simpler explinations then those rated "M." Keep these things in mind.

--> Write more then one draft. Always. For everything.

Let me know what you guys come up with!

Photo: (C) Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town