Roleplaying accents?

[Moon-Lancer]

Kae'Yoss, is high German the equivalent of what an American might view as an old British accent, only for Germans?

or is it more like high elven for normal elves... sorry i geeked out.

 

[WhatGravitas]

Kae'Yoss, is high German the equivalent of what an American might view as an old British accent, only for Germans?

or is it more like high elven for normal elves... sorry i geeked out.

Na, if he means "Hochdeutsch" by High German, it is the language he should speak!

Or rather: It's "accent-less" German, as you'll here it in the news, meaning Kae'Yoss usually speaks with a local accent.

(and concerning Germans failing to speak English: You don't know his extend of rage, if he turns on the TV, because nowadays TV shows are full of angelicisms... *bleh*)

 

[Phlebas]

Anybody who's watched 'allo 'allo on tv (UK) will know how effective it is to use 'accent as language' - and also how easy it is to get silly effects as a result ("leesten verrry carefullee, I weel, say thees only once")

I try to create unique mannerisms for any important NPC's but its difficult to keep wierd accents straight - I tend to stick to phrases and tones - apart from Glaswegian dwarves, but thats just obvious

(Aside - I have mildly annoyed the rest of a group by speaking in german to the DM to represent the fact i was speaking a language none of the rest of the group knew. (None of the rest of the group spoke any german). It would have been a lot more effective if either of us were fluent...)

 

[maddman75]

I can only do accents badly, therefore I only do them for characters I don't intend for the players to take completely serously. Lucky for me, I almost never want them to take a character completely seriously.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Na, if he means "Hochdeutsch" by High German, it is the language he should speak!

Yes, I mean Hochdeutsch. I'm always hard-pressed to speak it. It's a real effort. Speaking English is almost easier for me.

And I'd say that Saarlännisch is almost its own distinct language. I've had other Germans who couldn't understand my any more than they could understand a Dutchman.

(and concerning Germans failing to speak English: You don't know his extend of rage, if he turns on the TV, because nowadays TV shows are full of angelicisms... *bleh*)

Don't get me started about that. If they'd at least use the proper English words... I avoid this faux English crap like the plague.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Kae'Yoss, is high German the equivalent of what an American might view as an old British accent, only for Germans?

or is it more like high elven for normal elves... sorry i geeked out.

Like Lord Tirian said, it's the official Language here. But as usual, everyone speaks his dialect, and some of those are as different compared to German as German is to some of our Neighbour's Languages.

It's alway useful to know an extreme accent like Saarlännisch - if you meet someone from further away, all you have to do is talk quickly, and he doesn't understand a word (and make sure to use some of those words that are particular to a single village or two).

 

[Desdichado]

Not really, no. It's a lot of trouble, and what's the accent of someone from some fantasy kingdom in some fantasy world, anyway?

I'm more likely to use it in a modern game, where "real" accents make a little bit of sense, at least. I'm also more likely to use one as a DM instead of a player, because it's not such a constant thing. It can be tiring doing an accent all the time.

I do do a little tiny bit of less extreme "method actor" techniques on occasion though.

 

[Morrus]

I am awful at accents... whatever accent I try to do always ends up sound the same: Russ' "accent voice". It's a talent I'd love to have.

 

[krissbeth]

One of my DMs is pretty brilliant with the NPC voices. Don't know if he realizes it but it's wholly entertaining.

 

[takyris]

I do, both when I DM and when I play.

It's fun, it's amusing, and it differentiates what I'm saying from what my character is saying.

In the D&D game I play in, my character has some kind of Irish/Scottish hybrid accent. (It's slightly to the left of Ewan Macgregor in Trainspotting, and not really very accurate, but people laugh, so what are you going to do?)

In the M&M game I run, I try to give the villains notable accents to make them recognizable. I believe I actually got a blush out of one of my players when she tossed out an insult to my trickster demon, and I responded (in a decent Ricardo Montalbon impersonation), "Ahhh, (heroname)... your acid tongue is the perfect complement to your beauty, like the hint of dryness in a glass of fine wine."

(I should also note that when I say "I do accents", what I actually mean is "I do bad-to-decent impersonations of notable celebrities who HAVE accents". I can't do Castillian or Scottish or German. I can do Ricardo Montalbon or Sean Connery or 'Stereotypical Overblown Nazi in old WW2 movie', though. Not well, but recognizably.)

Also, the leader of the assassin's guild in my big D&D campaign talked like Jimmy James from Newsradio. That was kinda fun. I just had to start doing the accent, and people knew who they'd encountered.