How much do you really Roleplay and Immerse yourself in your character ?

[ThoughtBubble]

I DM, so doing voices, changing postures, and making sure when two NPCs talk it's easy to ell who is saying what is par for the course. I'm not particularly fond of mono-dialoguing, as I feel that the whole point of the game is to get more people involved. Aside from that, all #1. And if you change my posture a little, and my speech pattern, the change in vocal tone happens naturally.

And I'm the in character guy. One of my characters can insult faster and with more ferocity than I can. Another time I got so into character that I started crying because of a set of events. As a player, I was like "cool" but as a character, the situation was too much. There have been a coule of situations where the DM asks if I'm ok, I suddenly change posture, grin, and say that I'm having fun. I think it scares them.

 

[dave_o]

I voted all the time. I love languages, so I rock the accents a lot.

Though, most of my playing is online, so I rarely get a chance.

 

[Anavel Gato]

i try to be me character when we play and often times that becomes dettrimental to the group. Recently, I was playing two characters a fighter/ranger-who is a witch hunter, his sole mission is to kill witches, so our group wanted to check out a disturbance in the woods, he said no and continued on his way to the witches' lair. Having done that i took possibly the toughest fighting character away from the group. The other character I was playing is a schizophrenic half-elf fighter/wizard/rogue. He is constantly talking to himself and will do things depending which persona his human or elven is in control...This character has caused some serious destruction amongst many groups...
I find that i like to roleplay different characters from myself...
One thing i don't do well is DM and roleplay my characters well at all, they become very bland and seem more like the backdrop of the adventure, than part of it. That's why i said i roleplay most of the time...

 

[Dakkareth]

I usually try to roleplay my character as well as possible, but I don't have that much training - hence I voted most of the time.

 

[Chronosome]

I love roleplaying a la option #1. Maybe it's because I've DMed for a long time and really got into roleplaying my varied NPCs.

I love challenging myself with new character personalities, etc... Just wondering "what would Feezus do?" in a given situation is a big part of D&D for me.

Good shtuff.

 

[ArielManx]

I voted for "All the time". In the main game I play in I have two characters, a male and a female (husband and wife). I never want the DM or any of the other players to wonder, "Is that Zorra talking, or Devin?" I use a stronger voice for Devin (speaking from the belly) and for Zorra I use my normal voice, but a little softer than I normally speak. This isn't hard for me as part of my job requires radio broadcasting, so I'm used to finding a strong voice at the drop of a hat, then going back to normal.

The characters also have very different personalities - Devin is outgoing and diplomatic, Zorra is shy and honest-to-a-fault - so I get into very different mindsets depending on who I am at the moment. It was a little difficult at first but after all this time I switch between the two without a moment's thought.

I think I'm helped a lot in my role-playing by the six years I spent on the stage in school. Obviously not everyone has that type of experience, so I guess the best tip I could give is not to think of your character as stats on a piece of paper - develop a background, determine how he got to where he is right now, what events shaped his life - work until that character is like a real person to your mind. That will make it much easier to react as your character would.

Ariel

 

[Hackenslash]

Could you please define what you mean by "mono-dialogueing"?

Big Thanks to everyone for their votes and posts up to now. Great response...Thank you.

What I meant by mono-dialogueing is being able to hold a long conversation or rendition in character when there is only your character involved at the time. Eg. maybe a cleric preeching to save the souls of his faithfull or a mercenary captain giving a stirring speech to his troops before battle. Some people do not like the spot light and others thrive in it. That is what I tried to mean by "mono-dialogueing"

Also this post is not just about doing voices but also about everyones approach to roleplaying and how far they go to get the most out of themselves and their characters. This may or may not included voices but the poll was not just about voices.

Hope thats cleared things up a little and thanks again for all your votes and comments. I have read them all and the poll results are very interesting. Thanks again and please keep voting and posting comments on roleplaying techniques and character immersion. Cheers All

 

[Hackenslash]

BUMP !!!

Hi all, any voters out there today that wouldn't mind sharing their roleplaying styles and techniques and their comments on character immersion. Thanks for Sharing

 

[Hackenslash]

I think I'm helped a lot in my role-playing by the six years I spent on the stage in school. Obviously not everyone has that type of experience, so I guess the best tip I could give is not to think of your character as stats on a piece of paper - develop a background, determine how he got to where he is right now, what events shaped his life - work until that character is like a real person to your mind. That will make it much easier to react as your character would.

Ariel

I would agree with you Ariel, that a background is a good start to get into your character and the more detailed it is the more you can bring elements of it into your gaming session. I have had characters with pages of background information and it can also help the DM flesh out a particular area, town, race or neighbourhood in the campaign world, plus give the DM ideas for bringing in some interesting NPC's from your background to either help or hinder you. All of this will in turn effect the way you will roleplay the character. The trouble is when you design a really cool background and even pluck up the courage to do a voice and maybe mannerisms too, during a gaming session and then have the character die afater only a couple of sessions. Then you have to start all over again. I think that this may be one of the reasons that people may not get too involved in a character for fear of loosing it too quickly. And also why people tend to want to try out new characters rather then getting them raised as they have not built up an attachment to the character and thus feel no reason to bother with it any further after it has been killed. Any further thoughts out there....Cheers !!!

 

[Mistress of Pain]

I selected "most of the time." I don't mind trying to stay in character as much as possible, but I don't obsess about it. I have too many other "hobbies" to obsess about.