Just to weigh in on a different tack -
Just like HW consciously uses character steroetypes in the Cultural, Occupational and Magical Keywords, a useful thing for a Narrator to do is figure out Location Keywords, because that *is* what a lot of players are doing when they "invent" a chandelier.
Example, a tavern in a relatively sophisicated city - you can be sure that
when you say "So you go into the tavern" that your players will probably
think that they can find:
Tables and chairs or benches
Cutlery, dishes, mugs, bottles, food
straw/sawdust/rushes on the floor (Rancid with spilled beer, fresh, mixed
with blood or mixed with animal waste)
A nice big hearth with a spit of some meat on it roasting, fireplace
utensils like tongs and pokers
Beer in abundance, wine for the more discriminating, a bungstarter behind
the bar
A tavern keeper (jolly, burly, morose or heard-it-all)
A bouncer or two (Unfriendly, strong, etc.)
A serving wench/barmaid (easy, tired, insulted or slap-your-face)
Some means of lighting - a high ceiling will assume a chandelier-equivalent
(an old wagon whel with candles)
Windows
A bar
Doors to the kitchen/back room/storeroom
etc.
Now, you can individualize by culture/city ("In Heortling Geos Inns, there are no barmaids, only ex-adventurers, and you'll likely lose your hand if you pinch their bums"), but for the most part when you say "Tavern", most players will make the above assumptions and expect that you simply forgot to mention them. Same thing with "Castle" or "Stead" or "Ruined City". Perosnally, I find it freeing to use the "Location Keyword" style, and not have to say "The main room of the tavern is 20'x25', with three windows on the long wall, framing the door you came in by. There are three long trestle tables, and it looks like four booths in the back with privacy curtains. A Big hearth on the East wall has a spit of some meat on it, and a couple pots of what are probably soup..."
Using a Location Keyword doesn't mean that the heroes will always find the same things in the same types of locations, just like NPCs, locations can have very different attributes, but it saves the narrator time when he can simply say "A tavern" and everyone knows that unless he says differently, there *is* a pot of soup on the hearth. Don't let them get away with "I know that all taverns have a chandelier, so I swing from it", every once in a while say "no, there isn't one here, the ceiling is really low", but you can usually let them use (not "invent") typical items for that location.
RR
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