Do you use "voice acting" when you play?

[Professor Murder]

Except very quietly, right near her ear, when she's asleep at night ...

Sir, my wife is a nurse. Why would I endanger my own life in such a way?

 

[Sacrosanct]

I had an evil grandma/gangster/Deep one voice that my wife proptly banned me from ever using again after the game.

Same. I can do a slightly deeper gravely version of what is kinda a mix between the bad guy from the Wishmaster movie and the bad guy from the Inspector Gadget cartoon lol. My wife has banned me doing it

 

[Moving Pictures]

I try as often as feasible. Key NPCs gain affectations, mannerisms.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Why? I know that a couple other posters commented this as well and I never asked but for some reason I'm gonna ask you...and anyone else that reads this...

Why does it annoy you, or why don't you like it?

You know how some people say that certain choices by other players "breaks their immersion"? It's that. We're all sitting around, talking normally, typically narrating in first person, and all of the sudden somebody talks funny. It's jarring.

I mean, I can see someone not wanting to do it themselves, or not feeling comfortable, or even being unable somehow...but the idea that someone else doing it being annoying makes me wonder...

Makes you wonder what? The meaning of life? What Cheetos would taste like on pizza? If you left the iron on?

Oh...or was that throwing shade? The thing you were wondering was something disparaging, and you wanted to make that implication without actually breaking ToS by putting it into words?

EDIT: Additional question!

Without the "funny voice" or prefacing everything the PC says with "PC says" how do you keep OOC speech and IC speech distinct without regular moments of confusion about which is which?

I'm curious about this cause I have watched a few more AP videos I really really do find the groups that don't regularly use "funny voice" can be really hard to follow at times cause I routinely find myself unable to discern between OOC narration and things PCs say IC.

I never encounter that problem. Maybe because my groups tend to narrate rather than act. In other words, instead of saying "Where is the McGuffin?" we might say, "I ask, 'Where is the McGuffin?" or even "I ask him where the McGuffin is."

That said, longer back and forths might occasionally slip into a more conversational style.

I suppose if it were really an issue, if somebody said something that would have important impact on the game if it were IC, but it wasn't clear whether it was, then the GM would probably ask the player which it was.

 

[zarionofarabel]

You know how some people say that certain choices by other players "breaks their immersion"? It's that. We're all sitting around, talking normally, typically narrating in first person, and all of the sudden somebody talks funny. It's jarring.

Okay, cool. Probably the same way I find the "box text" jarring when a GM switches from natural "ad lib" narration to a "set-piece" of narration that has a completely different cadence and tone and feel than the narration they delivered a moment before. I think, if you understand what I just said, then I understand exactly what you mean!

Makes you wonder what? The meaning of life? What Cheetos would taste like on pizza? If you left the iron on?

Hmm...42! What would Cheetos taste like on pizza? Iron?!?...what century/planet do you live in/on???...wrinkle free fabrics only my friend, also wool is not kind to my delicate skin so that makes that decision easier.

Oh...or was that throwing shade? The thing you were wondering was something disparaging, and you wanted to make that implication without actually breaking ToS by putting it into words?

Shady? Like the Slim kind? No, no, no...no disparaging meaning at all! I was just actually wondering as to what the "thing" was that was an uncomfortable rub. I don't like the "most famous AP run by the bestest ever DM ever hands down" because I find the quality of that particular narrator's "box text" is like nails on a chalkboard. Probably cause I don't enjoy flowery language when reading, or at least I think that's why now that I have watched other AP that didn't have a DM that was trying to be Tolkien. That, and I don't like Tolkien, or Martin, or Shakespeare, so...yeah. I still find the "box text' to be like a sudden immersion in an ice bath, but many GMs at least don't go all Shakespeare In The Park on my imagination.

I never encounter that problem. Maybe because my groups tend to narrate rather than act. In other words, instead of saying "Where is the McGuffin?" we might say, "I ask, 'Where is the McGuffin?" or even "I ask him where the McGuffin is."

Cool, that's kind of what I was thinking might have been the solution. Funnily enough after posting my inquiry I have watched an AP where pretty much the entire cast did it that way, and with enough consistency that I wasn't left confused about what was going on. As I alluded too in my post, as long as folks preface (or as you point out, phrase) it the right way it is either not confusing, or at least the confusion is minimized.

That said, longer back and forths might occasionally slip into a more conversational style.

I'm assuming in a normal voice? So like a sentence or two of framed speech followed by more speech that doesn't need to be framed as the participants have established there is a conversation going on? I saw that too more recently! Guess I should have just watched a few more AP before posting my question.

I suppose if it were really an issue, if somebody said something that would have important impact on the game if it were IC, but it wasn't clear whether it was, then the GM would probably ask the player which it was.

Which is generally what I see happening in AP where the partipants are unsure of what the speaker intended. Though, that interruption of narrative is also immersion breaking, though more akin to a die roll pause than a "M&M the DM box text" imagination drop kick.

A genuine thanks for the reply and clarification!

 

[DragonLancer]

I don't think that in all my years I have ever had a game where it wasn't obvious when the player was talking, describing their actions or talking as their character. When someone is describing what they are doing they start with either "I" or the name of their character. When they speak for their character, you can tell that's what they are doing.

@zarionofarabel when you say you find it jarring, I can understand what you mean, because I guess that how I feel when players talk in a voice/act as their character for any length of time.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Okay, cool. Probably the same way I find the "box text" jarring when a GM switches from natural "ad lib" narration to a "set-piece" of narration that has a completely different cadence and tone and feel than the narration they delivered a moment before. I think, if you understand what I just said, then I understand exactly what you mean!

Yes, this is exactly it.

On the other hand, if the GM read the boxed text for every area, and never added their own narration, the boxed text wouldn't be jarring. Likewise I suppose if everybody was voice acting that wouldn't be jarring, either.

And I think with both of those things together I've just described my own perfect Hell.

 

[aramis erak]

As a GM, yes, mostly to distinguish various NPCs in a scene with multiple.

As a player, accents and pacing changes in character, so long as no one complains.

 

[aramis erak]

At one point, I contemplated “doing voices” for AI/robotic/cybernetic/power armor etc. PCs & NPCs using some tech I had on hand from my guitar-playing hobby.

Namely, I have:

A TEAC microphone from the 1970s
A Korg Pandora Px4 or Px5 portable digital modeler
A battery operated desktop-sized Orange Amp

Pandoras are loaded with all kinds of guitar effects and a few amps, so I could have given my voice all kinds of unearthly sounds. Ring Modulation would have been very trippy, but Echo, Reverb, Tremolo or Rotary effects would have also been very appropriate. Especially since every one had parameters you could adjust.

But unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to do that.

Tempting me to dig out my axe and get an FX box... an inheritance from a friend's dad. (Friend in question is not musically inclined.)

 

[pawsplay]

I do. I enjoy it, I think other people enjoy it, but I've definitely annoyed some people over the years. I played in an Adventurer's League game at a game store where I gave my female human fighter would I would describe as Matthew McConaughey's accent by way of Holly Hunter. During the break, a couple of the guys tried to coach me on a proper character voice, such as a faux British accent, maybe something Scottish, appropriate for the Dalelands. Well, the Dalelands is full of good ol' country folk, so I was pretty comfortable with my choice.

It all came together when the DM described something "rustling in the bushes ahead." I knew this was my moment, and said, "Ssh! Rustlers!" At that point one of my dialect coaches just lost it. He laughed for several minutes before he could compose himself enough to continue playing. That's what I live for.

I've actually studied a little linguistics and love watching videos on Youtube about accents, which I like to imitate and practice. I do a Russian accent, a couple of Irish and Scottish ones, various things. For fantasy RPGs, sometimes I cobble together something on the spot from various pieces. I can also do quite a few American accents... I'm particularly proud of a New Jersey I do, also New Orleans, a general Nebraska accent, and various flavors of California and the Southwest. I do some celebrity impressions, not anything I could do on stage, I would say, but GREAT for RPGs when I need a voice, fast. I do Sean Connery, Christopher Walken, Ron Howard, Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews. I do Harley Quinn.

Funny story, I'm working on an RPG Maker video game, now and then, and I recorded a quick intro. I did a kind of Spanish accent with some George Takei in there. When I played it for my kids, they wanted to know who it was. LOL! In addition to doing bad celebrity impressions, I also have a lot of experience talking into a mic.