Speaking in "faux old English" [Poll]

[Ringan]

Do you do dialogue for your PCs/NPCS in that faux old English style (thee/thou, archaic-ish verb forms like "putteth", etc.)?

It seems like a bad habit in some ways, but I have to admit it changes the tone of a story somewhat.

Thoughts?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Nope. They might talk more formally in general, depending on their social class, though. Of course, they're just as likely to talk like rednecks (the dwarves especially).

EDIT: See how I play Arak in the Pyrhric Legacy Shackled City pbp here on ENWorld for my preference. Arak Oathsworn is a minor nobleman and a paladin and is very pleased with himself in general, so he speaks in more formal language than the commoners he is currently working with, but no one should have a hard time understanding him and his manner of speaking wouldn't be seen as particularly unusual in the modern world.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I need an option between "sometimes" and "never." Something along the order of "Once in a blue moon, perhaps for a single NPC out of half a dozen campaigns."

 

[GVDammerung]

Not Ye Olde Englishe. But lots of accents and mangled pronunciation/syntax.

 

[sjmiller]

I do not have to use faux Old English because I actually know how to speak in Elizabethan English. It comes in handy for performing at Renaissance Festivals (which I do) or Shakespeare plays (which I don't). I can also read Middle English (Chauser) but that takes some work to translate.

 

[BryonD]

I need an option between "sometimes" and "never." Something along the order of "Once in a blue moon, perhaps for a single NPC out of half a dozen campaigns."

Me too.

I'll certainly use it if something about it clicks with the tone of an npc. But I can't recall any specific cases of that off hand.

 

[lukelightning]

I said "sometimes" but I never really do it in speech, only on written stuff that I hand out. Often it's not so much "olde Englishe" but rather a creative approach to spelling.

 

[Mallak]

I do accents and things (which does make my PbP NPCs a bit difficult to understand!), but I don't use old English contructs.

 

[demiurge1138]

Nope. I do my best to avoid modern slang and especially anachronistic words, but aside from that... not even a little.

Demiurge be out.

 

[Fishbone]

No, just look at the way the alignments are treated, the religion of the default world, the technological level of the default world etc. It seems pretty Mesopatamian to me, though the cultural trappings are different. Secondly, I just don't see why everybody would talk like that. Even within a certain nation like America there is a huge variance in accents and culture, so why assume everything is medieval and talks all "tea and crumpets"? Because its easy?