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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Blue" data-source="post: 9785688" data-attributes="member: 20564">As a playerHow my character speaks and interacts is the heart of roleplay.  Voice acting is a facet of that, but only a facet.  Word choice/vocabulary is another, which can tie into voice acting or be done without it.  Attitudes and reaction will color how you speak, be it with your natural voice or a different one.  And of course beliefs, goals, loves and hatreds, will change what I speak.To expand out from voice acting to just acting, mannerisms and body language also comes into play.  It's why I am unsatisfied with voice-only only play.Like an actor, I do want to represent my character.  And for me I find that it's easier to chose different words, use different vocabulary, speak using a different sentence structure, if I am not speaking with my normal voice.  And since that can also add to it, I see it as a win-win.  As long as I can be consistent over a campaign, and it's a reasonable voice to do for all of the emotions and drama over a campaign, not some over-the-top that's better suited for humor.Mind you, this doesn't mean I push this on others.  It's what I do for how I represent my character.As a DMMany NPCs only show up for a scene, or even if recurring it's once every couple of sessions, so many scenes without them.  This gives a limited window to establish them and/or to remind the players who they are,  Voices are one of the tools in my toolbox for doing so, and since it's a tool I know how to use it makes no sense to forsake when it makes sense to use.  In addition, there are often more than one NPC in a scene with NPCs roleplaying, and it can work very well to let the players know which NPC is speaking.Just last night I was running Mothership, and there were three NPCs talking all over each other each trying to convince the PCs that their particular goal was the one that needed to be done right now, as time (minutes!) were of the essence.  Without having aurally distinct NPCs this would have been a much harder scene to run and much more confusing for my players.Unlike my summary as a player, I do urge GMs to learn at least the basics of this for the reasons I gave.  Like a GM doesn't need to know how to improv -- but it helps games.  A GM doesn't need to know all the rules -- but it helps games.  But in this case a GM doesn't need to know how to make their NPCs aurally memorable and distinct -- but it helps games.  There are plenty of tools in the toolbox of successful GMs, and the basics of this one can be picked up by most with some work, so why wouldn't you?  I'm fairly sure that even those who say "I'm not good at this" could do a half decent job portraying an old woman and her young grandson in such a way that the players can tell who is speaking without the GM having to tell them.  I'm not saying we need to be Mattt Mercer.  I'm saying that making your NPCs distinct and memorable through what they say and how they speak -- which can include "voice acting" is a useful talent and can be done by most.</blockquote>

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