TheRPGSite

Ran across this on Reddit....

Quote from: RedditorRoleplaying does not require acting. TTRPGs do require roleplaying (e.g. "What does your character do?"), but acting is merely one way of achieving that end (narrating your characters actions is totally acceptable). Some people prefer acting, and for some people it enhances the experience. Even some people who think they will not enjoy acting out their character's words will enjoy it if they give it a shot.

But some people are not that way, and cannot and will never enjoy acting (at least, in the performative sense). This should not bar them from the hobby, and they should not be told it will.

This seems pretty obvious to a lot of us, but which do you prefer and which do your players prefer? Do you prefer acting to role-playing when you game? Do your fellow players prefer to act or role-play when they game?

For me, I'm an amateur thespian and I love to act, usually doing that. When I am just role-playing, then it means that I have low energy (just woke up, hung over, don't have a particular hook for a PC or NPC,  etc..).

So what about you?

Personally, I dislike cringe-worthy ham acting at the table. It sets my teeth on edge and is a detriment to immersion. YMMV but accents and funny voices can get old real quick, so I use them very sparingly. I tend to show how NPCs are different through a few lines of chosen description and through their actions rather than hammy Am-Dram. As for the players, it's their game too, so they are free to role-play as they wish.:cool:

One thing I do NOT do is tell people how they have to "act" in character.

I like players to speak in-character when talking to NPCs, unless we're abstracting it because it's a boring shopping trip etc. I certainly don't require accents or ham acting, I don't normally use accents for my NPCs and I really hate falsetto voices for female N/PCs. But I want more than "I roll Diplomacy", too. I find it necessary for the game to be enjoyable for me.

Agreed, absolutely no "I roll for [add misnomer here]".

You can play your character as you wish, as far as I am concerned. Having said that, players can and should convey their character also through their actions and choices.

We had our game of Beyond the Wall last night and we were using a great little scenario called The Stygian Garden of Arbelia Prem and it is based in an abandoned manor house.

Spoiler

The female dwarf  (played by my wife) in the 4 member party has a low wisdom, immune to fear and is Chaotic in alignment (but not evil- just greedy and selfish). Anyway, as they were considering entering the foyer with some trepidation (and probably a bit of metagaming), she decided to shout "Anybody home?"

I rolled an encounter and they got their answer as a spider the size of a pony squeezed out of the front door amd attacked. Not the best stategy but I awarded 100xp for sheer roleplaying. The character is aggressive, fearless (quite literally) and always impatient an unpredictable. There are no Malkfish antics, I hasten to add, and as it happens, the group was alerted to the presence of giant spiders that were lying in wait to ambush them.

In my games, usually people speak in first person to describe their PCs' actions (because saying "I" is faster than "My character" or "Ironaxe the dwarf"), but there's not much acting to it at all. Occasionally the referee might do a goofy NPC voice, but it's cartoony and would probably be unwanted in one of the acting-focused style games ("You're not taking this seriously enough").

Anyway, yeah, telling me what your fighter’s doing in a battle or how your thief’s inspecting a trap qualifies as roleplaying a fighter and thief, respectively. You don’t need to act out a voice, personality, etc etc etc.

We've always been quite happy with a mix of both but primarily it's more descriptive than acting.

I think you should roleplay how you wish. Act away, you thespians. Just try not to make it teeth-gratingly cheesy and hammy. Know your limits or go and take lessons.

Bad acting is almost as awful as bad hygiene.

Quote from: Mike the Mage;1040933Bad acting is almost as awful as bad hygiene.

Come on, who doesn't like waiting around while someone spends ten real life minutes using his best fake English accent talking to the apple cart guy about the weather???

LOL :D

What is it with orcs and shitty cockney accents. Were they all spawned by Guy Ritchie?

I'm not actually sure what we do at the table, we just get on with it. There is certainly no acting, though their might be the occasional attempt at an accent from time to time.

Quote from: Mike the Mage;1040891Personally, I dislike cringe-worthy ham acting at the table. It sets my teeth on edge and is a detriment to immersion. YMMV but accents and funny voices can get old real quick, so I use them very sparingly.

I like the concept of "playing in character" but I agree that bad acting and silly voices gets really old in a hurry. One guy at my local store has a phone ap with funky sound effects for every spell he casts, which was cool for a while but eventually just seems to slow the game down. Several guys at the store seem to enjoy playing female characters and talking in high squeaky voices, which seems to offend most of the women at the table but they do it anyway. (Yeah, that's just what our hobby needs -- fewer women. :mad:)

I try not to tell folks how to play, but some of the cheap theatrics get old in a hurry. :(

Quote from: Mike the Mage;1040933I think you should roleplay how you wish. Act away, you thespians. Just try not to make it teeth-gratingly cheesy and hammy. Know your limits or go and take lessons.

Bad acting is almost as awful as bad hygiene.

Amusingly, I did take lessons and was a member of the Pacific Conservatory for the Performing Arts.

I let the players do as they may and do not enforce or encourage any particular style.

Over the many years though in myriad groups I have seen that something like 75% or more of the players will say things like "I swing my sword at the orc." or "I cast detect magic on the treasure." and either talking directly to the NPC like "How much is this sword worth?" or indirectly but still in character like "I ask the farmer for directions to the local tavern." Many even alternate between those two approaches depending on the situation. And often an interaction will start with "I talk to the NPC" and thereafter rolls into direct conversation with the NPC. I do that fairly often too.

Oddly I have rarely seen players go too over the top. One of my players will with certain characters and not with others. DMs on the other hand will sometimes switch voices. But I have never seen it consistently used.

Quote from: jeff37923;1040943Amusingly, I did take lessons and was a member of the Pacific Conservatory for the Performing Arts.

I imagine that makes you even less symapthetic to hammy acting at the gaming table.:eek::D

Quote from: Omega;1040944I let the players do as they may and do not enforce or encourage any particular style.

Me neither, and my current fellow players do as you described. I did play with one guy who loved his Raisltin inspired mage and just had to do the raspy voice.

It was quite impressive at first but, like Bale's Batman, after a while it sucked balls

Quote from: HorusArisen;1040930We've always been quite happy with a mix of both but primarily it's more descriptive than acting.

This is us.  Also, the mix is not consistent from moment to moment, and we like it that way.  When a particular scene or even moment in a scene inspires some acting, some of the players may go with that.  Another player may respond with description.  Occasionally, we'll even get acting in the form of body language responses.  All of that mixed with OOC comments at times, too.  That's how I handle NPCs--whatever gets the job done to convey the NPC's decisions and actions and moods.

Quote from: Mike the Mage;1040945I imagine that makes you even less symapthetic to hammy acting at the gaming table.:eek::D

Nah, as long as everyone is having fun I don't care how bad the acting is!

Ah, you're a better man than I. If I have to hear another Scottish-Welsh-Irish-Jamaican Dwarf I swear I will beat them over the head with a soft-toy Jar Jar Binks.

For role-play, players at least need to say where their character is and what their character is doing. Most players won't even do that. See crap role-players.

I like doing voices.  Actully I have started loving doing voices.

But its a new development for me.  It started in a game of Rouge Trader.  I don't take the setting seriously at all, I can't stand Grim Dark.  So I came up with a character and a VOICE I had the other players rollin, DM too.  

Lately I have a New Jersey hood on the Orient express.  And I had some success with a mid adlantic Accent.  By some success I mean I enjoyed it and it was recognizable.  It still jumps between sessions and wanders durring.  

I want to break out an African accent and I have been working on John Wayne.  John Wayne is terrible but I enjoy it.  

I do a voice if I have a voice.  If I don't or if the voice I want to do I can't pull off I don't do it.  Some of it might be Hammy.  Over the top is much easier to do than subtle.

Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;1040953For role-play, players at least need to say where their character is and what their character is doing. Most players won't even do that.

I have played with a lot of beginner players and even those could give their location and actions. "Most" you say?

Damn.

You have it rough.

Way back in high school, a friend of mine was uncomfortable doing anything in character. He kept everything third person and did everything in terms of "My character does this" and "My character tells the guy that." At the same time, he did have a clear concept of his character and he conveyed it just fine in his own reserved fashion. He was a net positive on the game, so I never had an issue with it. If I had tried to badger him into "playing his character properly", I suspect he would have stopped showing up.

I think its a little more fun will people are willing to talk as their character, but I am fine with letting people all play their own style as long as they are engaged in the game.

Quote from: Baulderstone;1040967Way back in high school, a friend of mine was uncomfortable doing anything in character. He kept everything third person and did everything in terms of "My character does this" and "My character tells the guy that." At the same time, he did have a clear concept of his character and he conveyed it just fine in his own reserved fashion. He was a net positive on the game, so I never had an issue with it. If I had tried to badger him into "playing his character properly", I suspect he would have stopped showing up.

I think its a little more fun will people are willing to talk as their character, but I am fine with letting people all play their own style as long as they are engaged in the game.

This is basically where I am at. I prefer my players to portray their IC activities in a certain way, for table cohesion, but more than that I want any individual player to be comfortable playing the game. As long as it is not too disruptive, I'll generally roll with it.

Do you let the "uncohesive" player know how dissapointed you are verbally or do you just sigh wearily?

I find LARPS are better venues for acting and theatrics than TTRPGs.

However, I expect players to showcase their character's actions and dialogue in some fashion. Even if its just the eagerness of first person which is great fun. I know some players consider first person (I do this, I do that) to be important for their immersion.

You don't need accents, but I expect speech patterns, catch phrases, dialogue that showcases a point of view outside of the player, or something the differentiates the player from their character. I find this comes easily to most players, most especially kids.

All of that can be done in 3rd person too.

Quote from: Baulderstone;1040967Way back in high school, a friend of mine was uncomfortable doing anything in character. He kept everything third person and did everything in terms of "My character does this" and "My character tells the guy that." At the same time, he did have a clear concept of his character and he conveyed it just fine in his own reserved fashion. He was a net positive on the game, so I never had an issue with it. If I had tried to badger him into "playing his character properly", I suspect he would have stopped showing up.

I think its a little more fun will people are willing to talk as their character, but I am fine with letting people all play their own style as long as they are engaged in the game.

This, basically. I can go up and down myself. It's more important to me that everyone in the group is mostly on the same page, or at least comfortable with any differences. I've been in groups where the guy above would have been right at home, and other groups where he'd have been horribly out of place. It just depends.

When I am running a game, I speak in character for the NPCs - and while I don't do a bunch of hammy accents (well, a little) I will try to capture the relevant tone with word choice. And I do think there's a place for 'my character does...' for explaining your actions or for mundane tasks. I think it isn't asking too much for players to say what their character is saying (sans accents) and holding them accountable or responsible for it.

What gets me are players that hate problem solving or role playing, and then want to solve all mysteries and puzzles by rolling some dice. A few weeks ago, I was playing in a very dice calc intensive game, and one player who created a very high intelligence character kept trying to 'roll away' not only finding but also interpreting clues and events. Same player struggles with the basic math of the game. In addition, he didn't seem to be enjoying it either.

Quote from: Mike the Mage;1040972Do you let the "uncohesive" player know how disappointed you are verbally or do you just sigh wearily?

It's a fair question!

Firstly, it's not that uncommon, especially when you play with as many different groups as I have over the years. "Bad acting" is just one of many things that an individual player can do that disrupt the game. A month ago it was someone who was non-stop rolling his dice (loudly).

As a GM I'm actually pretty thick-skinned at the table, and I've learned the hard way to be more observant about the dynamics between my players. If someone's dodgy accent (say) is annoying someone else, it's ultimately my responsibility as the GM whether to do something about it. If it's distracting everyone else, absolutely I should do something. (Most players won't challenge other players on that stuff, understandably so).

N.B. I'm not suggesting the bad actor (or dice roller) is trying to be disruptive, absolutely not, just unaware of the non-verbal signals coming from all around the table.

I've never had an issue communicating to the person that they need to tone it down (or whatever). I always try to keep it light, constructive, positive. And I have never had it taken badly, or ignored.

I have had an issue with not spotting the non-verbal signals myself, and that's entirely on me, always a work in progress.

Quote from: jeff37923;1040888Ran across this on Reddit....



This seems pretty obvious to a lot of us, but which do you prefer and which do your players prefer? Do you prefer acting to role-playing when you game? Do your fellow players prefer to act or role-play when they game?

For me, I'm an amateur thespian and I love to act, usually doing that. When I am just role-playing, then it means that I have low energy (just woke up, hung over, don't have a particular hook for a PC or NPC,  etc..).

So what about you?

My self I will say what my character says but I don't act (no voices, no accents, etc).

My experience is most can't really act all that well and, to me, it is usually distracting. Even some "pros" I've watched doing it (like Critical Role) seem hammy and distracting to me.

Tangentially related, I like to occasionally enforce the notion that players strategizing at the table equates to characters strategizing in the dungeon, particularly when conversational delay or being overheard might be relevant to the game scenario.

Quote from: ChainsawIn my games, usually people speak in first person to describe their PCs' actions (because saying "I" is faster than "My character" or "Ironaxe the dwarf")

I like this distinction between first-person narrative and third-person narrative. I wouldn't enforce a first-person narrative, but I might suggest it to a third-person style player who is having trouble immersing.

Quote from: Spinachcat;1041009I find LARPS are better venues for acting and theatrics than TTRPGs.

There used to be quite a few Vampire LARPers back in the day, though I don't think the police took well to edgy people in trenchcoats creeping around at night.

I've recently started doing "this is how they sound" accents OOC so that the players' theatre of mind is more in-sync with mine. I find I only need to say a short phrase and the players instantly get the kind of character it is, for some it's really helped them RP (I know I've done well when I get smiles and the players hit back with their own attempts to speak like their characters, w/ or w/o accent).

I have no problem doing a variety of accents but many of them fall apart outside of practised/oft-repeated phrases. And then dialects can make it harder (Northern Ireland is easy-peasy 'cause its got a drawl and my voice is very bass-y so it mixes but Southern Ireland is twee and quite light so it can hit my chords). There's a NYC mafia streak of NPCs (and a PC) right now so I have both the "Jersey/Sorprano" and the "old-school/Gotti" accents ready to fire. It's not just the accent itself, it's how you characterize -- how you express it. When I do my Generic West African accent, I keep my speech short and stoic. When I'm doing Generic Eastern European, I draw out the words and sprinkle "hmm"s and "yeass?" in there ("I give you good deal on Ka-lash-nee-coff", anyone?).

But the biggest thing for me of all is the expression of the character. That is it. Usually people fuck up because they don't put the energy in the right things. On top of that they usually do really crummy or corny lines or accents. I always advise my GMs that if in doubt to go larger-than-life. And also try to think like that character and actually say things that sound "authentic" and describe things that NPC is doing while they're talking to the PCs or other NPCs. Simple stuff like "he raps his fingers on his shotty" or "she talks to you through mirror while kissing her lips with the lipstick" -- don't just do "he crooks his eye sideways" or "she gives you a `what?` look".

I've had a few good players in my time who could really get in character, to the point that it actually kinda freaked some other players. We had one guy do a slowly degenerating knight, classic fallen paladin type. The PC had managed to hit Morality 4 and for several seshes he really embraced the character and really acted like a fucked-up Hunter:  increasing amorality, minor torture aplenty, "quirks", an all-around sociopath pretty much. He had his character torture a Ghoul and actually did stuff like laugh quietly and psychotically, cut her lightly, threaten her loudly with worse things. He got a metric shit-ton of bonus EXP from me because of his authentic portrayal. Honestly, it cemented to me again that I've managed to attract some of the best RPers in London to my games.

Pro tip: know your latin phrases. I had a player a few seshes back spout some latin that know he'd looked up to say just because "that's so cool" (it turned out to be a whole sentence that he Google translated , he admitted he didn't know what it meant) -- I hit back wicked-fast with "caveat emptor" and it sounded much more authentic because it actually fit the conversation and the NPC I was portraying (and, again, I knew I had done well because the other players tensed when they realised that this NPC wasn't fucking around just from that).

Quote from: Mike the Mage;1040956I have played with a lot of beginner players and even those could give their location and actions. "Most" you say?

Damn.

You have it rough.

I'd also be more of a contemptible prick if I had that situation, just being honest.

Quote from: Headless;1040955I like doing voices.  Actully I have started loving doing voices.

But its a new development for me.  It started in a game of Rouge Trader.  I don't take the setting seriously at all, I can't stand Grim Dark.  So I came up with a character and a VOICE I had the other players rollin, DM too.  

Lately I have a New Jersey hood on the Orient express.  And I had some success with a mid adlantic Accent.  By some success I mean I enjoyed it and it was recognizable.  It still jumps between sessions and wanders durring.  

I want to break out an African accent and I have been working on John Wayne.  John Wayne is terrible but I enjoy it.  

I do a voice if I have a voice.  If I don't or if the voice I want to do I can't pull off I don't do it.  Some of it might be Hammy.  Over the top is much easier to do than subtle.

Don't just "break out" an African accent. You'll just sound racist.

Black people (esp. Nigerians/Ghanains) know I am half-Black when I'm able to say "Jollof" or "Egu" or "Maate" or "Afuwete" in just that right way that they know I grew up around West Africans. And if you wanna go African-American, don't go all "Ebonics minor", it's about the swagger and it's about know how certain phrases, modes of speech are linked that make it sound authentic.

Quote from: Ras Algethi;1041091My self I will say what my character says but I don't act (no voices, no accents, etc).

My experience is most can't really act all that well and, to me, it is usually distracting. Even some "pros" I've watched doing it (like Critical Role) seem hammy and distracting to me.

Why do you think they're absolutely cheesing on their spot on the shows? Do you rate them enough for an Academy Award or Oscar? I'm not even being funny -- acting is fucking hard at the top-tier.

Quote from: PrometheanVigil;1041110Why do you think they're absolutely cheesing on their spot on the shows? Do you rate them enough for an Academy Award or Oscar? I'm not even being funny -- acting is fucking hard at the top-tier.

They have an audience that likes it. It's just not me. Not sure what your point was.

I've done some voice acting, so I do the funny voices but I have never required my players to do so.

Quote from: Ras Algethi;1041112They have an audience that likes it. It's just not me. Not sure what your point was.

These shows have a lot of people who didn't make it in the traditional acting/Hollywood game -- without these shows, they'd still be doing open mic nights and waiting at Red Lobster. Some of these guys are legit and have serious work under their belts OR I can see potential in a few if they can get a big break but other than that, errghh.

Somewhat tangentially but indirectly related, I want people to be their very best. Then again, I'm probably gonna be that perfectionist asshole ten years from now who's a rockstar at the game but end up being the CTO version of Anna Wintour.

[video=youtube;GEOEBrdnQq4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEOEBrdnQq4[/youtube]

Don't much care if a player "acts" or not, whatever the player wants to do to make it fun is fine.  Some are highly descriptive, some do the "I roll dexterity" thing, and I'll come up with something descriptive to help them along.

Voices and accents can be a little more of a thing - not everyone can do it well.  Done well, it adds to immersion.  Done poorly, it rubs the nerves raw.

Quote from: PrometheanVigil;1041110I've recently started doing "this is how they sound" accents OOC so that the players' theatre of mind is more in-sync with mine. I find I only need to say a short phrase and the players instantly get the kind of character it is, for some it's really helped them RP (I know I've done well when I get smiles and the players hit back with their own attempts to speak like their characters, w/ or w/o accent).

Yeah this is my approach.  Shitty attempts at funny voices/accents is actually less immersive than just saying "please consider this to sound like this."  I could try to do my Dresden Files version of Pan as Devito's rendition of Philoctetes and I could try to do all my native Chultans in the Black Panther accent but I will fail and my players will be totally taken out of the moment.  I'm the Joey Tribbiani of DMs.

Quote from: jeff37923;1040888Ran across this on Reddit....



This seems pretty obvious to a lot of us, but which do you prefer and which do your players prefer? Do you prefer acting to role-playing when you game? Do your fellow players prefer to act or role-play when they game?

For me, I'm an amateur thespian and I love to act, usually doing that. When I am just role-playing, then it means that I have low energy (just woke up, hung over, don't have a particular hook for a PC or NPC,  etc..).

So what about you?

I don't really go for it and have gotten annoyed when someone does. Maybe it's because most "acting" I've seen has taken the form of  a wanna-be Al Pacino getting into a pissing contest with an NPC or PC. Luckily my friends don't go for that crap either.

I'm not interested in including actors into my game groups.  My style of roleplaying is to make decisions as if you were there, but not to affect a distinct personage from yourself.  Very occasionally, when the moment and mood is right for it, someone at the table may seize a moment to embellish it with that sort of acting but no one is forcing it.

"Forcing it" is how most people who really like the acting and inject it at the slightest opening feel to me.

I don't mind a mix of acting and not-acting. It seems odd theoretically and we see many online discussions  about it but it never seems to cause major at-the-table problems. When I GM, I try to make each NPC sound a bit different from the others but only the most important NPCs get real effort. When I play a character I do "affect a different personality from" myself, as FOTB put it. Most people in our group do their dialogue in first person but, for some, that is all the acting that they do. And that's fine. I was in eleven plays, never went to an audition and didn't get a part, got paid to play Mercutio, and I like stretching those old muscles.

When I play, I "perform" my speaking in first person. I describe my actions. I initiate actions/make choices based on what I believe my character would do with a small caveat... "don't be a dick". So, I tend to make choices that align with what the group is doing, that won't jarringly screw over a fellow player, or ruin the situation.

I think acting is fine. I however do not appreciate people who purposefully ruin others' experience with the "it's what my character would do" excuse. You can play in character, and speak in character without "Painting the walls with your bullshit" (see the amazing talk by Henry Rollins).

First person roleplaying =/= Theatrical acting or voice-acting.  Those are separate things that can get added in to first person roleplaying, or not.

Cheese is important.

"Don't let yourself get too worried about all this talk about roleplaying [...] the ultimate object of all this is for everyone to have fun, not to recreate some form of high dramatic art." - Dungeoneer

Quote from: Kyle Aaron;1041252Cheese is important.

Stale cheese with cheap ham makes me barf.

What a bunch of communists. You lot probably wouldn't even appreciate Commando Ninja.

There's a reason rpg snacks are made of CHEESE.

[video=youtube;SQT05f3aDZs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQT05f3aDZs[/youtube]

Quote from: CRKrueger;1041239First person roleplaying =/= Theatrical acting or voice-acting.  Those are separate things that can get added in to first person roleplaying, or not.

It does kind of blend in when you have done voice acting and public speaking. Also handy for amusing or disturbing coworkers, especially my Pennywise. Both of him. :D But I do agree with you, it is not necessary to alter your pitch or try and do an impression. Talking in the first person works just fine when you speak in your normal voice, though perhaps with a different inflection. Audio books are a good example of this.

Quote from: Omega;1040944...players will say things like "I swing my sword at the orc." or "I cast detect magic on the treasure." and either talking directly to the NPC like "How much is this sword worth?" or indirectly but still in character like "I ask the farmer for directions to the local tavern." Many even alternate between those two approaches depending on the situation. And often an interaction will start with "I talk to the NPC" and thereafter rolls into direct conversation with the NPC.

In general this is what I've experienced.

A few players are able to create a clear voice for one or more of their characters. By voice I don't mean funny voices or accents, but a character who acts and speaks in a way that is recognizably different from the player themself and from the other players and their characters at the table and also different from other characters that the creator plays. I like when that happens.

I am as happy with "I attack the orc" as "My character attacks the orc" or even "I swing at the misshapen spawn of chaos". Simialrly, I am good if someone does everything in first person, or third person, or a mixture of the two.

As a GM, I have to do a certain amount of acting, but nothing over the top. When playing two NPCs, it is easier to say "Ralzakark tells you to go away but Harrek tells you to stay" that "Ralzakark: Go away and never come back! Harrek: No, stay".

As a player, if I am roleplaying a scene then there is a certain amount of acting, if I am in character and in dialogue. But, if my PC is going berserk, I don't jump up and flip the table over.

One DM I play with does it pretty well whereby everything is just "I attack, hit and do X damage."  But whenever we kill an opponent he asks us how we "want to do it" and then we proceed to describe our attack.  Sweet and simple.  At the other end was pretty much every Exalted game I ever played or ran in college.  

We have one player who does really good accents.

But for us, role playing is more about making choices the way your character makes them, rather than how you make them.

Quote from: Kyle Aaron;1041409There's a reason rpg snacks are made of CHEESE.

That explains why I've never seen Australian chocolate!

Quote from: Kyle Aaron;1041409What a bunch of communists.

You don't fool me, you AmDram luvie!
[video=youtube;pFIDvc01VK8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFIDvc01VK8[/youtube]

I don't know exactly what the quoted fragment from the OP is getting to, probably not what I'm saying here, but technically speaking he's right. Roleplaying and acting are slightly different things. You can roleplay without being a truly great actor.

However, the problem is that some assholes think that RPGs do not require Roleplaying, and that's utterly wrong.

I like in character first person roleplay. That is what makes the game flow smoothly and quickly. It greatly helps to keep things from bogging down. I tell players up front to make decisions quickly and keep discussions short because random encounters happen when there is indecisive deer in the headlights breaking of character. I don't like acting as it is non-immersive and completely separate from roleplay IMO. I don't like funny voices unless they are spontaneous and really fit the character. Under no circumstances is anyone to break out in a falsetto, unless the character is a eunuch. (it has happened)

@Prometianvigel

QuoteDon't just "break out" an African accent. You'll just sound racist.

Black people (esp. Nigerians/Ghanains) know I am half-Black when I'm able to say "Jollof" or "Egu" or "Maate" or "Afuwete" in just that right way that they know I grew up around West Africans. And if you wanna go African-American, don't go all "Ebonics minor", it's about the swagger and it's about know how certain phrases, modes of speech are linked that make it sound authentic.  

Yeah.  I get that.  Problem is you can't get any better unless you practice.  I practice the african accent a bit to my self.  I also really want to put a Chinese lady in my game.  She is really sweet we really like her and she has a very distinct way of speaking, both in the typical chinese immigrant accent and specific mannerisms and phrases she uses which would make her a really cool and memorable NPC.  

So here's the thing.  Trigger warning this might be going deep into SJW territory.  If I do non-white accents I don't have as much practice they may not sound good and may sound like a chaciture and racist.  

If I don't do them I have completely white washed my campaign.  There are no asian accents of african accents.  When I listened to critical role I noticed everyone was european, No asians, No africans, there weren't even any Americans, and there are some really cool american accents, Texas, Tennessee, New York, Montana.  Very different, cool, you can hang a personality on a couple words, and you can do them with out sounding racist.  Instead we get every fantasy world populated entirely from the British Isles.  


(I really wamt to make my ogres Norwegian.  With a nit of practice I could have my players pissing themselves.)

Quote from: RPGPundit;1042632However, the problem is that some assholes think that RPGs do not require Roleplaying, and that's utterly wrong.

The bigger problem is those who think role-playing themselves and not their character are the real problem.

Quote from: Headless;1043176(I really wamt to make my ogres Norwegian.  With a nit of practice I could have my players pissing themselves.)

Make them Swedish.  As in "The Swedish Chef."

I dare you.  I double dare you.

I double-dog dare you!

Quote from: Headless;1043176So here's the thing.  Trigger warning this might be going deep into SJW territory.  If I do non-white accents I don't have as much practice they may not sound good and may sound like a chaciture and racist.  

If I don't do them I have completely white washed my campaign.

As somebody who would probably qualify as SJW to many of the posters around here, I have to agree with you.  There are times I feel damned if I do and damned if I don't.

And don't forget, if your fantasy book is only white characters it's racist, but if it includes nonwhite characters you're guilty of cultural appropriation.

On topic -- I don't try accents.  Not even a little.  Except for comic ones.  My bugbears talk like Mongo from "Blazing Saddles."  "Necross the (Ha Ha Ha!) Mad" talks like Exidore from "Mork and Mindy."  The Patriarch of St. Cuthbert talks like the Godfather ("Some day.. and this day may never come... the Temple of Cuthboit will need a favor...").

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;1043220Make them Swedish.  As in "The Swedish Chef."

I dare you.  I double dare you.

I double-dog dare you!

"Bork bork, Bork bork!"

Despite having a lousy ear for accents in general, I will unconsciously mimic the accents of people in the room.  I do this all the time, not just gaming.  Most people do that to some extent, but with me it's rapid.

It's something that I need to watch constantly around people that don't know me well.  When I catch myself doing it in casual conversation, I'll just stop talking.  That's the worst of both worlds when it comes to accents in games--not only miss the accent I'm aiming for, but speak such that someone thinks I am mocking them.  My sister, who isn't a gamer, has it worse than I do.  She does the same mimic thing and has a good ear for accents.  It's probably a good thing mine is so bad.

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;1043220Make them Swedish.  As in "The Swedish Chef."

I dare you.  I double dare you.

I double-dog dare you!

There was a TV show in the UK in the eighties, Not the Nine o'Clock News, which had a sketch called "At the Swedish Chemist". A customer walks in and says, with a Swedish accent, "Hello, I'd like some deoderant please.", the chemist replies "Ball or Aerosol", to which the customer says "Neither, it's for my armpits".

I agree that Acting is not required but does usually bring something positive to the table. I think I have to draw the line at too much pantomime though because to me that gets annoying fast, especially when someone mimes eating.

One thing about accents is that I only make them silly with silly characters (which can just as easily only have a silly voice, or a silly dialect of english, or whatever). If you can't make a serious accent for a serious character you're better off not doing so at all.

I generally prefer to avoid accents, just as I avoid falsetto for female PCs. However you can make NPCs distinctive without an accent per se, just by altering the cadence. Perhaps they talk rapidly, or slow and deliberately. A slightly higher or lower pitch can work. This is as much to help the GM get into the character, the players may not consciously notice.

I will occasionally do a Scottish dwarf - I'm from Scotland so I think it's ok. I might do working class London, or posh southern English.  Maybe French. I probably wouldn't do a Welsh accent, they're a bit touchy. :) In all those cases it'd just be a line or two to establish character, then back to my own accent.

I use accents when it makes sense to bring ethnic flair (Russians, French, etc.).

For women, I often use a lighter and somewhat "clearer" tone.

Yeah, I don't really do falsetto for women either.

Quote from: RPGPundit;1046194Yeah, I don't really do falsetto for women either.

I save falsetto for the rare, very distinct, fussy characters.  It usually goes with sliding my glasses down my nose so that I can peer over them, as if they were reading glasses.  Since I then can't see the person I'm talking to except as a blob, my lack of focus also enhances the feeling of the NPC going into lecture mode, instead of paying attention to the player character as a person. If I'm really lucky, my lazy eye will kick in, and one eye will wonder off the person while I'm talking to them.  I've spooked more than one players with that. Even then, I only throw in a little falsetto for effect.  It's the mannerisms that carry the characterization, not the voice.

I do all sorts of things. Though whenever I tried to do Thanos, it ended up sounding like Shere Khan. I've played Elric many many times, and the last time I started reciting the song Black Blade as spoken word. It took the DM a minute to figure it out. :D

I'm pretty awful with accents and I tend to butcher them. Naturally, then, I attempt them far more often than I should. If a character or a given moment is intended to be serious, I tend to be very conservative about using them if I'm not certain of my ability to pull it off appropriately.

I've asked my players about this (and others at the table, when once in a blue moon I play instead of run), they each say that they enjoy them and that it adds something to the game (that "something" is never really successfully explained, however).

So, I'm never quite sure what to think about that. My instinct is always to tone down or remove them as far as my own use, but the table seems to enjoy when I ham it up.

But yes, I never demand acting or accents from players. Each person gets to play the game in their own way. I'm not running a theatre troupe; not that acting is unwelcome at all from those who enjoy doing it or someone who has a moment of inspiration or whatever. As long as it doesn't negatively impact the game for the people at the table, go nuts.

Edit: Regarding falsetto, absolutely not ever unless the character is some comedy relief caricature which I never really do anyway.

Falsetto for females is a big no-no for me when I'm DMing, it just sounds silly.

As somebody who mostly DM's Rogue Trader, I usually stay away from heavy dialects or such, and instead work with cadence, speed and just general vocabulary. The only type of NPC I "Ham it up" with are Orks, for obvious reasons.

Far as my players go, our Tech Priest uses a voice modulator to actually sound like a robot, which works fine. Since the group I'm playing with originally came into roleplaying via a World of Warcraft RP-Server (Go ahead and laugh!), we do actually "act" most interactions, short of the most basic ones. I did have cases where this was sort of awkward for newcomers, so I dont insist on it. Most players get into it as they become comfy with the group and setting.

I will also try to reward good RP efforts. For example, if the player actually comes up with a rousing speech, or a convincing argument, they will either just suceed or at the very least get a positive modifier on their roll.

Quote from: Steven Mitchell;1046232I save falsetto for the rare, very distinct, fussy characters.  It usually goes with sliding my glasses down my nose so that I can peer over them, as if they were reading glasses.  Since I then can't see the person I'm talking to except as a blob, my lack of focus also enhances the feeling of the NPC going into lecture mode, instead of paying attention to the player character as a person. If I'm really lucky, my lazy eye will kick in, and one eye will wonder off the person while I'm talking to them.  I've spooked more than one players with that. Even then, I only throw in a little falsetto for effect.  It's the mannerisms that carry the characterization, not the voice.

In my DCC campaign, one of the NPCs (Captain Harry) is a guy with a british accent and a really awfully annoying falsetto laugh. It's made him stand out as a character.