Having trouble with combat descriptions and NPC dialogue/voices - Help Wanted!

[Olaf the Stout]

Hi Guys,

I have just started DM'ing a 3.5E Freeport campaign having not had much experience in DM'ing before. So far the areas that I feel I am a little lacking in are my combat descriptions and my NPC dialogue/voices.

In combat I try to describe the results of the dice but after a while they just seem to become repetitive and start to sound like:

"You stab him with your sword. He's bleeding. He doesn't seem to be too happy about it."

Ok, so it's not quite that bad but it's not much better. I have encouraged the players to describe their actions based on the results of their dice rolls and a couple of players have started doing this. This is good because it involves the players more and helps to provide some variety. I'm sure that there are other things that I could be doing to make things sound a little more exciting and different.

Something I have been trying to do is to compare the dice roll with the AC of the person they were attempting to attack and see how close they were to actually doing some damage. If the result was less than the 10 it's just a miss. If they hit an AC higher than 10 but lower that the armour bonus the blow bounced off the armour. If they just miss by 1 or 2 points I might say that their opponent dodged out of the way at the last second (Dodge bonus) or if their opponent has some sort of protection spell such as Mage Armour active then I try and describe an invisible barrier turning the blow aside. Often though in the heat of combat I forget about doing these sort of things and resort back to "You hit, he misses" type descriptions.

The other area that I find myself lacking in is NPC dialogue/voices. We have nearly completed the Freeport adventure "Dead Man's Quest". In the adventure was a pirate captain. I tried to put on a bit of a pirate voice while I was talking as the captain but I felt like a bit of a tool doing it and overall I think that I did a pretty poor job of it. Apart from adding "Yaaarrrr!" at the end of each sentence I was kind of lacking an idea of how exactly to talk.

I also feel like all my NPC's, whether they are pirates, educated or common riff-raff and sound the same. Even if I try to differentiate them they all seem to drift back to my normal speaking voice the longer that I talk. Can anyone give me some advice on how I can improve in this area?

Well this post is kind of long so I'll just end it here I think. Thoughts/ideas?

Olaf the Stout

 

[LostSoul]

I'm not very good at this either.

Sometimes I can describe combat scenes well; it helps to have a vivid description of the scene in your head. The best combat I ran had two PCs fighting some Inquisition-types in a small courtyard while rain was pouring down from overhead. I could see every blow in my head. It was pretty cool.

What did I do? Um... When one of the PCs was hit, I'd say something like, "He stabs his sword at your unprotected side. You parry it at the last moment, and turn the lethal blow into a bloody cut." Then the PC attacks, and hits: "After you parry his sword, he's off-balance and you make a quick cut across his chest; he barely gets his sword up in time but is jarred by the force of your blow."

And I act out this stuff physically too. Nothing major, just arm motions.


I've found that portraying NPCs well helps if I write down a sentence or two about traits that I want to get across. Like, "Always talks with his hands behind his head and his chest puffed-out." Or, "Won't make eye-contact with the PCs unless he's really mad." That sort of thing helps me.

 

[engrishonly]

Combat descriptions... d20 can get bogged down in the dice, which is where I really liked reading the Exalted rules. It gets you a little bit past the dice.

I try to think about feelings, and about the tone of what is going on. Right now, I have the Iliad on the brain... and Homer does not spare his victims - it is unpleasant and brutal when someone is taken by the darkness, his blood spilling to the ground. Spears clang heavily off of breastplates when they don't pierce heroes above the pelvis, through their bladders, and their lives and futures are lost.

Maybe you want something cleaner, like Star Wars... more (poorly filmed?) close-ups of faces and less of actual action. Less about the chopping that dinks away at someone's hit points... the Jedi might be thrown backwards by the clash of blades, with a look of pain and desperation on his face.

Try to think about movies or books that you liked, and re-imagine the fight scenes in the context of your adventures. What flavor works for you? What theme are you trying to use as "seasoning" for your story?

I've found that portraying NPCs well helps if I write down a sentence or two about traits that I want to get across. Like, "Always talks with his hands behind his head and his chest puffed-out." Or, "Won't make eye-contact with the PCs unless he's really mad." That sort of thing helps me.

This is something I try to think about... almost like the Iliad, in the tradition of reciting the epics to an audience. Rosy-fingered dawn, Athena with her eyes flashing, Agamemnon - leader of men, that sort of thing.

It's also like remembering someone's name... in order for someone to be memorable, you need that one thing to hang your memory on.

Thinking of descriptions along the lines of the classics might also help give your adventure a more epic feel, if that is what you are after.

 

[LostSoul]

It's also like remembering someone's name... in order for someone to be memorable, you need that one thing to hang your memory on. It might also help give your adventure a more epic feel, if that is what you are after.

I think that if you take one memorable trait - something that sums up the "feel" you want to get across for this NPC - and always make sure that you're using it, the players will remember that NPC. Like one NPC who is a pushy bully - whenever you speak through that NPC, or describe that NPC, try to get that trait across.

Could this lead to one-dimensional NPCs? I hope not.

 

[devilbat]

I can't be much help with being descriptive in combat. I feel that there are just too many rounds in the average session to describe. Perhaps if you put the emphasis on describing the final blow, or perhaps only describing attacks that do more then ten points of damage.

As far as differentiating the voices of the many NPC's a group will interact with, try adding personality or physical quirks, rather then creating dozens of different accents and tones. For example, when describing a NPC that you want the players to remember, tell them that he looks at each character suspiciously, and then have him look over their and his own shoulder every few seconds. The players will be more interested in his obsession then his accent.

Also, get to know the terminology of the npc's that you are portraying. If dealing with pirates, as you mentioned, know the terms that they use. Then it's easy to differntiate them between all other NPC's and changing them up is only a matter of inflection of the voice.

 

[LostSoul]

Rumour has it that devilbat kicks ass when it comes to portraying NPCs, so I'd listen to him.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

For NPCs a quick way of getting started with voices and personae is to assign an actor to each one - someone that you have no difficulty bringing to mind (i.e. Sean Connery, not Johnny Depp - while both are good actors Sean tends to play, well, Sean).

Sometimes the choice can be a lot of fun, I once played a Starfleet captain as Jack Nicholson might portray him.

The Auld Grump

 

[babomb]

Sometimes the choice can be a lot of fun, I once played a Starfleet captain as Jack Nicholson might portray him.

"Actually, this hasn't happened to me for a long time."
"When was the last time?"
"Why?"
"It's an innocent question."
"In the Gamma Quadrant."
"What were you doing there?"
"Working for Starfleet."
"Doing what?"
"As little as possible."
"Starfleet gives its men advice like that?"
"They do in the Gamma Quadrant."

 

[devilbat]

Rumour has it that devilbat kicks ass when it comes to portraying NPCs, so I'd listen to him.

Why thank you Lost Soul. If you ever get to these parts, make sure you join us for a game to see for yourself.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I've had a quick look through the NPC Essentials PDF that I forgot I even had.

After reading through that and reading the comments here I think that I may try and improve on the visual and personality quirks of my NPC's. One thing that Johnn said was important was to show you players instead of just telling them. For example if an NPC is angry, speak in an angry voice, don't just say "Farmer A seems angry".

It will require a little bit of extra work on my part to make sure that I give the important NPC's one or two traits beforehand but hopefully it will be worth it.

Anyone else have anything to add about either combat descriptions or running NPC's?