D&D General Outrageous Accents

[prabe]

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.

This, pretty much. I've worked with voice actors, and I'm not one. I try to make it clear when I'm speaking as a character, as opposed to speaking as myself, but I don't bother even trying with accents.

 

[aco175]

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

Same here being from Massachusetts and people trying Boston accents. There was a Kennedy show a few years ago with Chandler from the Friends show playing Teddy Kennedy and it was terrible.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I think a big part of it is whether the character is the accent, or the character has an accent. If the character is just a collection of stereotypes topped by a bad (or even a good) accent, that's problematic.

Ultimately, if you would not be confident enough in your accent's quality and ability to pass (and I think most people are overconfident in that regard) in front of a person that actually has that accent, I feel that you probably shouldn't be using it. There are so many other different ways to bring a character to life other than a mediocre at best accent that you learned from movies and TV.

My opinion is tempered by an experience was such at a con that I grabbed a pregen due to liking the skillset and powers. The GM then tells me to look at the traits - one of which was "speaks in an Aussie accent." He then told me that three of the other players at the table were from Australia. I started to put the sheet back, only for those three to tell me that I had to play that character. They were good sports, and it was pretty funny, but also a mite bit embarrassing.

 

[Retreater]

I was playing an 1880s Call of Cthulhu "Old West" game, and other players had the stereotypical Chinese guy and Native American. It left a bad taste. I have always enjoyed character voices, but I try to not model them on any real world accents. For example, my current character is a human druid who was raised by goblins, so his accent is … odd. Some players say it is like Tim the Enchanter from "The Holy Grail."
Falling back on stereotypes can oftentimes be offensive, but it's almost always the sign of a lazy character concept.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

<cough> Scottish dwarf <cough>

Falling back on stereotypes can oftentimes be offensive, but it's almost always the sign of a lazy character concept.

 

[Charlaquin]

A lot of the associations we ascribe to accents hace classist and/or racist roots. It’s worth considering if, for example, all of your intelligent, sophisticated characters speak in RP English and all of your uneducated, crude characters speak in a deep American south accent, what kind of message that might be sending. Likewise if your heroes speak with neutral accents and your villains speak in heavy regional accents.

That said, context is also important. I wouldn’t be as bold with accents in, say an AL group full of people I’ve never played with before, versus at my home game with my close friends and family. For a number of reasons really, but not wanting to inadvertently offend someone is certainly among them.

 

[CleverNickName]

The best advice I have is "read the room." If you suspect the accent you are about to use might offend someone at your table, you are probably right. Follow that hunch and choose a different one.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

I have never seen an issue with silly accents based on the various typically white European accents in a game, like Scottish or French, even when done by a non-white player. Monty Python is gold, after all. But a white player trying to do an accent from a non-white race has always been cringy, if not done subtly, and that cringe goes back decades for me. It is not some recent revelation based on what is going on in the world.

 

[Morrus]

I have never seen an issue with silly accents based on the various typically white European accents in a game, like Scottish or French, even when done by a non-white player. Monty Python is gold, after all. But a white player trying to do an accent from a non-white race has always been cringy, if not done subtly, and that cringe goes back decades for me. It is not some recent revelation based on what is going on in the world.

I think that's basically the punching up/punching down. Stereotypically white Western accents are the least oppressed people in the world.

 

[Eltab]

For the vampire near the end of Hoard of the Dragon Queen I did a thick "movie Dracula" voice. I really wanted to use the encounter for a monologue (explain what the reason behind the plot is all about), not for another fight. It worked! - the PCs I met went back and summarized for their friends and said "Don't mess with the vampire, and it won't mess with us." I had not said anything about the NPC being a vampire.

A thick accent can convey information without using words - extra information. It is hard to control or craft the information it sends (I have exactly ONE example from decades of play) and easy to send information you did not intend / expect, especially information that diminishes the NPC in the players' eyes, or turns it into a cardboard cut-out of something else.