Voice Acting in Your Tabletop RPGs: How Much/Little?

[atanakar]

This has nothing to do with Matt Mercer. I've been doing this way before he was on Youtube.

I do it for important NPCs but I'm not consistent. It depends of my level of fatigue. I find that when players voice act too, it motivates me. We don't do it all the time. We often use he says / she says when we want things to move forward faster. More so towards the end of the session.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

( 9 )
I have fun with it, though I can't do the vocal range that I used to. And while I can do a few realworld accents fairly well, I try to lean more toward invented "accents" that just involve a few vowel swaps or something plus a quirky idiom here and there. Of course, it also strongly depends on the character being acted: important NPCs or frequently encountered races/monsters get the most treatment, minor ones less.

While I enjoy doing voice acting, I've also found that less is more, imo. One or two linguistic tags is a lot easier to prep for and manage across sessions. And tbh, I think that's really enough for most players to key on.

(Also, as one of those stretchy-faced folk, I also rely a lot on facial expressions, especially for major NPCs or distinctive creature types.)

 

[ccs]

I would like to turn it all the way up.

But voice-acting is not one of my skills & none of my players have ever cared enough to even try.

So it's set to about zero.

 

[Eltab]

I replied to the other thread, so a recap here:
I gave Arauthator (in Tiamat) his own voice and everything else I could; fighting and defeating him was the high point of the campaign.
But usually I don't try; my acting skills might make do to ham up a Shakespeare monologue, but not for a sustained effort at characterization.

 

[GreyLord]

If they can do it, I love them to do so.

Most do not. But if they can, and enjoy it, I love them to go with it.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Most of players are improv and community theater actors, so my games always include voices and speaking first-person in character (both from myself and most of the players.) I voted 10 as well.

 

[Jacob Lewis]

"A GM is never wrong. He uses the exact number of voices and accents he desires and is comfortable with, and it is never too little or too much. It is precisely the right amount he means to use! Now let's meet in the tavern so we can get this adventure started!"

- Gandalf the Gray GM

 

[Shiroiken]

I like to do voices occasionally, and don't mind (for the most part) when my players do it. It helps make certain NPCs memorable, which I find useful with important NPCs. With player, I don't want it to overwhelm and distract from the game which it seldom does.

There is only one type of accent I despise with all the hate of the 9 Hells: dwarves are NOT Scottish!!!

 

[Aldarc]

1 to 3 for me.

 

[Jacob Lewis]

I wish one of the options was "I like a Scanlan amount" as the polar opposite to "I like a scant amount".

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