Speaking in "faux old English" [Poll]

[JohnSnow]

Basically, I assume that common is basically "modern english" and adjust accordingly. I don't usually bother with the "thee" & "thou" or "sitteth" & "goest." I will use them for individual characters if they fit my conception of the person.

For instance, Ed Greenwood has Elminster speak in an archaic English to reflect the fact that he's OLD and learned common a while ago. I might do something similar.

I also work at Renaissance Faires and so the accent is not hard for me to summon up in the slightest. I'll use a peasanty Elizabethan accent when portraying rustic NPCs, just 'cuz it sounds cool, and I find it a lot less jarring for peasants to sound like they're from 16th-century England than to sound like they're from Georgia. I do use a little early modern English ("Shakespearean" English or "EME") at times, but the sentence construction can be pretty strange (kinda "Yoda-esque"), so I largely avoid it. However, since I work Faire, sometimes things seep in by accident. For example, a character saying "Aye" or "Yea" or "Nay" is pretty standard. On the other hand, after a weekend at faire, I've been known to answer a telephone "Good Morrow." And since I work at faires about 13 weekends a year, it's getting into my regular speech too.

There's a profound meaning in Ren Faire circuits attached to the following phrase: "The beer is in the pickup truck."

Much more than accents (although I use a LOT of accents, just not always EME) or sentence structure (which I steer clear of), I find myself drawing on semi-archaic vocabulary as a way of establishing atmosphere and mood. For example, I tend to use:

"ale" not "beer"
"tavern" not "bar"
"inn" not "hotel"
"Good Morrow" > "Good Morning"
"Hail" > "Hello"
"Well Met" > "Nice to meet'cha"
"Fellow" > "Dude"

And so forth. Basically, it's mostly modern English with a few peculiarities where appropriate. And when narrating, I always narrate in my normal voice.

 

[Shemeska]

Absolutely not.

The only slang I'll use is a bit of Sigilian cant, but only for characters raised in or living in Sigil itself, not anywhere else on the planes.

 

[Shemeska]

If only you knew what a similarly-sounding word means in Russian...

*snicker*

 

[InVinoVeritas]

I voted "Other."

I don't use "thee" or "yon" or what have you. I have used "aye" a couple times, and "an it please you" once, years ago.

I do, however, use a lot of fake accents. Southern US, Russian, Scottish, Indian, what have you, they've shown up in my games. So, yeah, I'm guilty of some level of offensiveness.

 

[Patlin]

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."

That sounds about right.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Heh, I have used Middle English (Canterbury Tales), Elizabethean English (Shakespear, more or less), and Scotts dialect. (Ye maun ha' an ear te ken me aught.) In all cases to portray a character that the PCs are supposed to have trouble understanding.

Mummerset is also handy betimes. (Pseudo North Country English accent, used on the stage.)

The Auld Grump
*EDIT* And I was beaten out by a player who used Cockney rhyming slang... now there's a torturous dialect!

 

[Thunderfoot]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but thee/thou/thine, etc... is MODERN English. Olde English is what Beowulf was originally written in (try to find an unabridged copy written in the non-translated text). I had to read it through 4 times before I understood what the heck they were blabbering on about. Meanwhile, I can read the 14 C. texts of copy with relative ease (once I get past the goofy spelling).

That being said, no, thee etc is more of a formal vernacular and is used on in those special cases (proclomations, pronouncements, etc.) kind of like the D&D equilvelant of "legalize" (the party of the first part pursuiant to the document.....)

Currently the four accents and cultures being plagerized in my campaign are German, Russian, Arabic and Scottish.

 

[Moon-Lancer]

One of my fellow players (I think it was in character) asked why I was speaking in a British accident. This guy goes to ren-fairs and likes lord of the rings and even wares a renaissance shirt to d&d like me. I wanted to smack him for such a silly question.

1 it identifies me from my character, so everyone can tell what I say in-character

2 it gives the game a fantasy feel

3 it helps me role-play

ect....

Speaking in old dialects and accents is only embracing when one is not comfortable with ones self.

 

[Agemegos]

Thoughts?

1) These forms are archaic Modern English, dating from about the 16th Century. They aren't Middle English and they certainly aren't Old English. So they aren't (or are barely) mediaeval anyway.

2) Characters in my fantasy worlds don't speak Archaic Modern English, but their own languages: Jehannese, Ramastaarni, Faironic, Elusian….

3) Most characters in my games don't speak archaic versions of their own languages, but versions proper and usual to their times.

4) I wouldn't expect players to speak in Attic Greek if i were playing a game set in ancient Athens, nor Latin for a game set in ancient Rome.

5) Nearly everyone I know makes a horrid mess of archaic forms anyway, confusing -edst, -est, and -eth, confusing 'thou' and 'thee' (and using both in plurals)

 

[GrumpyOldMan]

Not for common, everyday use for anyone not in the navy or marines. In the context of message boards like these, it's almost always used as a faux-old english way of saying "yes."

EDIT: I take that back. I'm speaking from an American viewpoint. What cultures still use "aye" for yes in common, everyday usage? The Scots and/or the Irish, perhaps? If so, then that's a dumb oversight on my part.

Scots, yes, plus a good part of Northern England, certainly Yorkshire & North