Do you use accents/"funny voices" when playing your PC?

[Ranger REG]

Yeah, I do funny voices. Mainly haoles.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Sometimes. Only when doing NPC's though. I tried doing a raspy, Vicious-esque voice for an evil cleric I was playing, but it was hell on my throat so I quit. I haven't done it since.

Heh.

My party ended up in Freeport briefly. They struck up a conversation with a pirate captain in a bar - I did the stereotypical pirate voice for him (much like Rush's Barbosa in PotC).

And they just wouldn't stop talking to him! My throat was wrecked by the end of the session

I think the last time it felt that bad was when I read The Belgariad aloud to a girlfriend. Normally, there wasn't a problem there, but there was one chapter where Belgarath, Beldin, and Barak had a long conversation, and the combination of those three voices over an extended period screwed up my throat for a while as well

I tend to do voices for certain PCs (though not all), and almost all NPCs.

We had a PC a couple of campaigns back - male player, ditzy blonde female elf PC. He did an annoying falsetto for her... but the worst part was that it was addictive. We'd frequently have four or five players all speaking in her voice...

Also had an amusing situation in a one-shot recently. One player who normally plays a fairly cultured PC was instead playing a low Cha, low-to-moderate Int half-giant. And through circumstance, ended up doing some Gather Informationing. He kept forgetting himself, and slipping from his dull-Cockney yob into his words-of-more-than-one-syllable, intelligent-person persona. We'd just look at him until he realised, and rephrased...

-Hyp.

 

[Scarbonac]

Hell yeah I do voices! That's half the fun!

I ran the old "Dancing Hut" module from Dragon and did an impression of Vikki Lawrence's Old Gypsy Lady for Baba Yaga; I have a whole raft of Gaelic-esque PCs (for whom I do bad Scottish/Irish accents -- though if I'm not careful with it and get sloppy I can sound like The Croc Huntah); I do a bad impression of Christian Slater doing his impression of Jack Nocholson for another PC, a 90s toon Wolverine for a ranger, a cave bear mount for one of my players, and a kajillion other (bad to middling) accents and vocalizations.

 

[Kid Socrates]

Voted sometimes: I do when I'm running a game, and oftentimes it's not too silly a voice, I just change my inflection or tone so my players can tell who it is. Adds to the distinctiveness of a recurring villain, if done right. When I'm playing, not so much, because it'd be exhausting if it were a difficult voice.

 

[Bran Blackbyrd]

I vote a qualified "yes". Heavy accents are difficult to do reqularly and consistently. But I do try to vary my basic vocal tones and word choices for various characters. I try not to make them sound comical, unless the characteris supposed to be comical.

Ditto this when I'm DMing.
Not so much when I'm playing...

 

[Starglim]

Not funny voices, but I use different patterns of speech and vocab a lot.

 

[Gez]

No. I try to come up with a few favored curses and sayings, and to define the kind of vocabulary and sentence structure they use; but I won't try to mimick accent or fake voices. I'd be bad at that.

 

[Gorilla726]

I do a good portion of the time. I like playing reasonably funny characters. It's fun.

Gorilla

 

[Iced Tea]

I tend to do voices depending on the mood im in. I would have to agree that my voices would probably be detrimental to the whole game in general, however it boosted up the amusement factor for the group (especially me) in whole. the main voice i would use would be "gay" mainly to mess with some of my friends who played with me. All i can say, when you are doing a "San Fransisco" accent (thanks Ant >.<) It is best not to have a flaming sword whose commands words are "flame on" I dont know when that joke will get old...

 

[Templetroll]

Do actors use accents for effect? Do writers use descriptions of accents or various ways of speaking to delineate characters?

I started a new campaign for my wife and daughter. They are playing odd characters - a pseudodragon and a kinda mystical hyena. They first meet up with a druid, who has no problem talking to them but when they rescue the wizard, a human female, the druid begins to stutter. There's a reason for it and they picked up on the change right away. The wizard thinks the druid stutters, because that is all she has heard. The players think it is cute and the hyena wants to help him out.

Any alteration of the voice can be used to help the characterization along and help build the story in the game you are running. Hasn't everyone used a whisper for a nasty villian?

I play a dwarf and I use a gruff, slightly deeper voice when speaking. When the dwarf is getting annoyed he raises one brow and squints with the other eye; I do the same so the players know that is what is happening without my having to describe it. The players find it humorous and it adds to the character. I can make some of the players crack up just by raising my brow while the DM describes things; I can also let them know the dwarf thinks something is wrong by doing the same thing as an NPC talks to us or we hear a description. voices and expressions are useful!

I once had an NPC, an old woman who ran a barge up and down the river with her half-ogre son. I used a voice inspired by the "Holy Grail" movie of the prince in the tower. It fit an old woman, actually.

Another time a ranger fought a group of ogres and later found one of them tending its wounds. The ranger took pity on it and tried to teach it civilized behavior. It got as far as the ogre, named Hombug, would say, "skyooz me" when ever it farted or belched. I said it in a funny voice and it developed into a cool NPC that was great to have defending the castle so long as you didn't invite it to the throne room or a party.

Funny voices, it's a good thing.