Firstly, this is the perfect tool for settling down any pre game chatter. Open the game session with a brief recap of where they left off last time and continue your description to include what they currently pick up with their senses and ask what comes next.
Don’t go too heavy on this but try to make it appealing and engaging. Try to use not just what they can see, but smell, taste, hear, feel in some way to add some depth. Sure you can just say “You went in that cave and you heard a creature approaching” which functionally serves as a reminder of where they are but it doesn’t invoke much in the way of feelings, mood or tone.
Instead you could opt for something a little more like this - I have highlighted the words and phrases relating to senses and feelings. As you transition from recap to current situation there will be a shift in tense, it is important to use tense correctly in this situation and be wary of when it changes.
“Following the narrow twisting passageway, you found yourselves in a much larger cavern. Immediately aware of a thick musky aroma hanging in the air, you pressed on eager to explore, coming to an abrupt stop as you heard an unsettling distant rumble. Now you all stand together, listening and waiting. The rumbling grows louder, bits of loose rock begin to vibrate on the ground as something is making its way towards you below the surface. The stone beneath you now shakes violently as the tremors become unbalancing, you hear a deafening series of cracks in stone as numerous rifts open just to the side of you as this unknown force begins to break through the surface of the cave floor. What do you do?”
This example is not too long-winded, will only take a minute or two to get through and makes use of referencing what they can see, hear and smell. You could add some descriptors in for other senses if you wanted to use them all but remember you don’t need to use every sense every time. The strange aroma could also be linked to a taste that lingers in the mouth and you can always add more descriptors for touch, the feeling of stone as they traverse the passageway for example.
You can easily increase or even double the amount of sensory words and descriptive language when you feel more comfortable to do so but the above example is a good place to aim for as a minimum.
If you like the sound of improving your descriptive abilities, as well as an array of other game related topics, check out my running the game course..