D&D General Outrageous Accents

[the Jester]

All the recent discussion about increasing awareness of the degree to which racist tropes and language pervade, or have pervaded, D&D has led me to thinking about Cyragnome de Bergerac.

If you don't know, he was a gnome pc ran by... I think Roger Moore, or maybe Kim Mohan?... in the early years of D&D. He was mentioned in several articles and/or editorials in early-ish Dragon Magazines. He was a gnome pc with an outrageous French accent.

Anyway, the discussion of late has provoked some thoughts. Outrageous accents are a thing I've always enjoyed, but are they another example of a way many of us have played into racism without even realizing it? If it's okay to have a character with an outrageous French accent, is it okay to have a character with an outrageous Japanese or Chinese accent? What about the kind of stereotypical accent attributed to black Americans in racist works of the past, like Minstrel plays? I'm pretty sure that last one is offensive, but where is the line? Does the intent of the player matter? I'm pretty sure there's a line somewhere, but am uncertain where it lies.

Thoughts?

 

[Morrus]

It's a 'punching up' and 'punching down' thing? Also mixed in with ethnicity. There isn't a rule, but I think most folks know it when they see it.

 

[Oofta]

There are certainly accents I'll avoid because they feel wrong. I could probably do a decent Jamaican accent but I've decided that channeling Jar Jar is just an accent too far, along with a few others.

But I don't really know where the line is other than "use your best judgement" and "encourage your players to say something if you cross a line".

On a related topic I use certain style of speaking if the PCs are talking to an ogre because, well, ogres are remarkably stupid unless they are the rare exception. I also play them as rude bullies who can intimidated with a show of force. Other times I'll do an old person voice (getting easier nowadays) or a little kid. Are any of those offensive? I hope not.

But back to accents. If you enjoy them and the group you're talking to is okay with it I don't see a major issue. I think open communication is a key. Try to be culturally sensitive, some accents are problematic and I'd probably avoid using my horrible cockney accent if I were visiting the UK.

 

[Morrus]

I think open communication is a key. Try to be culturally sensitive, some accents are problematic and I'd probably avoid using my horrible cockney accent if I were visiting the UK.

I mean — that’s not a cultural sensitivity thing so much. Cockney’s not an oppressed ethnicity (in fact plenty of people aspire to sound like that, thus the more common “Mockney”). But they might think you’re mocking them.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

I think the accent used in role-playing being a problem or not comes down to context and presentation.

Most folks won't find even a poor match of their own accent offensive if someone is using it in good faith rather than trying to say "this is how your people sound, and also it's stupid" or using a particular accent as an indicator (like if a GM gives a French accent to an NPC bad guy so regularly that the players realize there's a pattern).

 

[Oofta]

I mean — that’s not a cultural sensitivity thing so much. Cockney’s not an oppressed ethnicity (in fact plenty of people aspire to sound like that, thus the more common “Mockney”). But they might think you’re mocking them.

It's just really, really horrible accent-wise. It would be embarrassing to me when people wondered why I was trying to speak Klingon. Much in the same way that my psuedo-Scottish accent has to be clarified as a "dwarven" accent with no correlation to the real world.

 

[jgsugden]

I see two core rules:

There is a difference between acting and mocking. If you sound ridiculous, but you're trying to avoid mockery, you're trying to do it in an acceptable fashion. After all, you're not required to be a great actor. However, if you're doing it to be funny, you need to consider what type of humor you're trying to generate and make sure it is not belittling or otherwise offensive. Simulating a funny French comedian is a different thing than doing a caricature of a French person to get laughs.

You need to consider impact as well as intent. If you're attempting to act and it is coming off as offensive to someone, stop, even if you were just trying to act and had no intent to mock. You can talk to the offended party about it and see if they have suggestions on how to make what you are doing non-offensive to them, but until you manage to cross that threshold, just stop.

 

[Stormonu]

I'm from California, have lived in the Deep South for years, and still face-palm when Hollywood attempts to do a "Southern Accent".

Still, whenever I run a Ravenloft game, I can't help but slip into a mock Barovian accent. I've got several other bad/outrageous accents I use on occasion that invariably point to an NPC's continental origin. It isn't meant in a harmful way but to instead convey that this NPC is somehow different or out of place.

 

[Reynard]

In addition to punching up versus down and the context of specific accents, there is also the context of the specific table.

The short version is what is acceptable or even preferable at your kitchen table with your group that has been playing together for 30 years is not the same as what is acceptable when playing with strangers, or in a public space, or on a stream, or as part of an "official" event.

Not that I think people should be putting on a Minstrel Show at their table, but it IS their table. That said, folks should feel comfortable telling that friend of 30 years to maybe cut it out if it offends. Standards change over time and so do people.

I am only able to speak as a GenX cis het white guy but there's plenty of stuff from my younger days I would cringe at including in game these days and I'm okay calling my buddies -- and myself -- out for it.

 

[iserith]

If you take the position, as I do, that all put-on accents are cringe, then you don't have to worry about this. They are completely unnecessary.