D&D General Accents
- Thread starter Morrus
- Start date
Can do? none of them well
Do do
? irascible Irish, salty Scot, terrible Transylvanian, wise Wakandan, crazy Cockney, and a host of odd animals sounds and improvised creatures.
I use cliched voices to convey stereotypes about non-important NPCs to make the archetype obvious, both for race and role - a gruff, deep voice for a dwarvern blacksmith; a high, wistful one for an elf sage. I find this helps the players keep immersion and they are less distracted about that NPC (this is better when doing plain shopping or picking people out on a street)
When I do plan out a specific NPC or have encounters that I want to encourage players to explore, or if they do start to interact more in depth with an NPC, then I will add odd mannerisms or different inflections. This tends to make them ask a bit more about the NPC and his/her/their/its background and motivations
Do do
? irascible Irish, salty Scot, terrible Transylvanian, wise Wakandan, crazy Cockney, and a host of odd animals sounds and improvised creatures.I use cliched voices to convey stereotypes about non-important NPCs to make the archetype obvious, both for race and role - a gruff, deep voice for a dwarvern blacksmith; a high, wistful one for an elf sage. I find this helps the players keep immersion and they are less distracted about that NPC (this is better when doing plain shopping or picking people out on a street)
When I do plan out a specific NPC or have encounters that I want to encourage players to explore, or if they do start to interact more in depth with an NPC, then I will add odd mannerisms or different inflections. This tends to make them ask a bit more about the NPC and his/her/their/its background and motivations
I (try) to do numerous accents. Practice makes ... well not perfect but not horrible either.
There's also some that are more mannerisms than accents. Gnomes talk really fast and tend to babble. Halflings are bubbly and optimistic. Orcs use simple words and use poor grammar, similar to barbarians that talk of themselves in third person. All my druids end up talking like stoner/hippies for some reason.
- British (London-esque?)
- Cockney
- Irish
- Scottish
- Russian
- American
- Southern
- Appalachian
- John Wayne (technically Texan/Southwest I suppose)
- Minnesotan (you betch'a)
- Hippy (okay, more of a style of speaking than an actual accent).
- Aristocratic/pompous. If you've ever heard anyone who believes they attended a "premiere" university you know what I'm talking about.
- French. Sort of. Really more Pepe Le Pew than anything resembling actual French accent.
There's also some that are more mannerisms than accents. Gnomes talk really fast and tend to babble. Halflings are bubbly and optimistic. Orcs use simple words and use poor grammar, similar to barbarians that talk of themselves in third person. All my druids end up talking like stoner/hippies for some reason.
The ones I know
- NYC
- Professional
- New Brooklyn
- Old Brooklyn
- NY AAVE
- NYLE
- Bronx Female
- Southern US
- Georgia
- Atlanta
- West Indian
- Jamaican
- Trinidadian
- Haitian
- Lesser Antilles
- UK
- RP
- Scouse
- Yorkshire
- Nigerian American
- Russian American
- Ukrainian American
- Mexican American
American: Standard, New York (outer boroughs - rarely used for D&D), Southeast (Georgia), Southwest (Texas)
UK: RP, Cockney
Irish: Northern
Scottish
Russian
German
Eastern European pastiche (used for most characters in Barovia)
Goblin voice (sounds like Andy Serkis's Gollum)
UK: RP, Cockney
Irish: Northern
Scottish
Russian
German
Eastern European pastiche (used for most characters in Barovia)
Goblin voice (sounds like Andy Serkis's Gollum)
Charlaquin
Goblin Queen (She/Her/Hers)
I do historical re-enactment as part of my job, so I have picked up a lot of accents through that. Basically, any accent I need/want to pick up, I find and listen to recordings of native speakers and I can usually imitate them pretty convincingly. Someone who knows what to listen for would be able to tell, but most people don’t. And I am pretty regularly mistaken for an actual Brit by actual Brits.
That said, I usually employ a pretty small subset of my repertoire for D&D. Mostly neutral American, RP or cockney English, Irish, and Scottish, plus various cartoony monster voices. Generic Skyrimesque “Norse” for dwarves. The usual.
That said, I usually employ a pretty small subset of my repertoire for D&D. Mostly neutral American, RP or cockney English, Irish, and Scottish, plus various cartoony monster voices. Generic Skyrimesque “Norse” for dwarves. The usual.
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RangerWickett
Legend
I had a GM run a pirate ship where every member of the 20-person crew had a distinct speech pattern or accent. There even were three distinct 'pirate' accents: one high pitched and snarling, one a bit deeper and breathy, and one with a jocular lilt.
That man impressed me. He should be a voice actor.
That man impressed me. He should be a voice actor.
Don't tell them, but Scotland and Northern Ireland are still part of the UK - at least for now!
toucanbuzz
No rule is inviolate
None.
I stink at them and my players would tease me about it. Instead, I replaced my poor attempts at accents with a 1-page list of 3 traits:
(1) visual, what you first notice upon seeing the NPC like bow legged or a big moustache,
(2) auditory, something you first notice about their voice, like high pitched or nasally, and
(3) mannerism, something the person does like unconsciously pick their nose or scratch the back of their head when thinking.
I stink at them and my players would tease me about it. Instead, I replaced my poor attempts at accents with a 1-page list of 3 traits:
(1) visual, what you first notice upon seeing the NPC like bow legged or a big moustache,
(2) auditory, something you first notice about their voice, like high pitched or nasally, and
(3) mannerism, something the person does like unconsciously pick their nose or scratch the back of their head when thinking.
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