D&D General Acting and DMing -- is acting an impediment to fun?

[Prakriti]

Full disclaimer: I'm an acting DM. I go all-out with the voices and quirky mannerisms. But I've noticed something strange: I don't like watching or playing with other DMs like myself. Whenever I turn on a live-stream and see a DM doing funny voices, I turn it off. It's just not my thing.

Meanwhile, I love DMs who can't or don't act. In fact, I was watching a live-stream the other day with a DM like this. He can't act and doesn't do any voices, and yet he's a popular DM on YouTube/Twitch. Also, I was instantly drawn into his world. So were his players. Why would that be?

Something else I've noticed after countless hours of live-play viewing: players seem to enjoy a dryer DM. It's almost as if acting smothers the players -- after a certain point, the DM becomes the star of his own show, and the players are just along for the ride. Whereas a DM who steps back and leaves the roleplay to the players tends to have happier players who are more invested in the world.

Has anyone else noticed this? Is it just me? Anyway, what is your opinion on acting and DMing? Do you prefer a DM who does a lot of acting, or a DM who leaves the acting to the players?

 

[Fenris-77]

I tend to subdued voice acting at best with the occasional exception. Usually I'll play up or down to match the players, mostly coming in at a hair under their engagement level for the reasons outlined in the post above. When it comes to description I usually go with more or less the same voice i read aloud in. A little inflection, a little pace management, some well placed pauses, that sort of thing.

 

[Jacob Lewis]

There's this thing called Charisma...

Some folk ain't got none.

 

[iserith]

When I'm watching a stream and the DM acts in the manner you describe, I go into full cringe and can't exit out fast enough. In an actual game, I'm not bothered by it, but generally prefer a DM who is sparing in this regard. Chiefly that's because if the DM is spending a lot of time on funny voices and quirky NPCs, my experience has been that the rest of the game tends to be lacking and it's really the rest of the game that I'm interested in pursuing. So it's nice if the DM is performing his or her role well and this acting is sprinkled on top, but it is no substitute in my view for executing solidly on the rest of the game.

There's probably also something to be said about the DM overshadowing the players with acting chops. The game is a conversation and if one party to that conversation is way too animated and dominating things, the conversation tends to suffer in my view.

 

[Panda-s1]

Something else I've noticed after countless hours of live-play viewing: players seem to enjoy a dryer DM.

I mean, the rise of actual-play streams and podcasts says otherwise (and the most popular ones are popular because everyone involved really leans into it, voices and all imo).

as far as acting goes, I think I prefer no acting over bad acting personally. I've also known of a DM who basically had 2 voices: his own voice, and weird Mediterranean accent for everyone that needed an accent, except his game was still popular so idk.

 

[Fenris-77]

I think you need to lean into your strengths as a DM. Not everyone can do accents, and those who can't probably shouldn't. The entry level here is pitching your voice up and down a little depending on the speaker. Volume is a easy knob to fiddle with too - the old mage speaks very quietly, while the blowhard fighter doesn't have an indoor voice. Perhaps in additional to that you might change registers, so the NPC mage talks like a college professor while the Town Guard talks more like a stereotypical car mechanic. None of that adds up to acting per se, and shouldn't be cringy, but it does allow you to differentiate the NPCs somewhat.

Honestly, I learned more about this reading to my class than I have running D&D, but I sue it my D&D games now and it works well.

 

[Shiroiken]

Acting is best utilized to give the players an idea about a specific NPC or regional dialect. When the party enters a new area, I'll often act the 1st NPC they encounter to give them an idea of the accent and mannerisms of the locals. Important (or just interesting) NPCs also get a bit of acting as well. Trying to act for every NPC slows the game as the DM tries to give a different feel for each NPC.

 

[Prakriti]

When I'm watching a stream and the DM acts in the manner you describe, I go into full cringe and can't exit out fast enough.

I was trying to be nice, but yeah, that's basically my reaction as well. I've watched games where the DM was going all-out on the acting, and the players just sat there and watched. They weren't really engaged in the game. They seemed to forget that they were even playing characters. It was like the DM was putting on a show for them and they were just along for the ride. Whereas at other times, like with the successful DM I mentioned in my original post, I've seen DMs fumble their way through interactions, obviously struggling to come up with something for an NPC to say, and yet the players were completely engaged and into their characters. The conclusion I draw is that acting stifles players and their engagement in the game.

 

[CleverNickName]

I use voices, acting, and sometimes even props. My players seem to enjoy it a lot, and participate as well. They recently started recording the gaming sessions so that they can re-listen to them between gaming sessions. One of our players wears a set of horns at the gaming table (she's playing a tiefling), another player has a wolf baseball cap that he dons and doffs periodically (he's playing a werewolf).

To each their own, I guess.

 

[Salthorae]

I love DM's who make their NPC's more memorable by embodying them as much as possible.