Creating Awesome NPC Dialogue on the Fly in D&D
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- Опубликовано: 8 июн 2024
- Most dungeon masters are not actors or theater majors. So what can they do to improve the dialogue of the NPCs in their D&D games? More importantly, what can a DM do to get better at speaking in character for an NPC on the fly in Dungeons & Dragons?
In this video, I discuss several different ways the dungeon masters can make their NPC dialogue much more interesting, fun, and realistic. And I'll discuss my technique for improvising NPC dialogue at my D&D games.
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What tips do you have for improving awesome NPC dialogue?
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A tip: always follow the NPC's personality. Once you stray from what they know of the NPC, it can only go downhill.
My #1 tip - not every NPC is male. D&D immersion really benefits from considering that usually the population of mythical worlds resembles distribution in our world - that is, roughly 50% are women. Reflecting that in your campaigns and NPCs is a significant step forward. Advanced GMs make it so some tavern waitstaff are male, and some business owners are women. Making NPCs have non-traditional gender roles can make them more memorable, and improve the quality of your gameplay.
One of the most embarrassing moments of my life happened last week while I sitting in the floor of my living room working on character voices with the models in my hands. As my wife came home early saying “I knew you played with those toys”.
I turned and looked her dead in the eye and said “please just walk away. This is important DM business going on here”. Then went back to doing the voices.
I find it easier to come up with the voices if I see the model/picture for the npc. It is like creating a whole new person.
Oh that's totally awesome, dude. Lmao. I might try holding my minis next time I work on voices. 😁
Did your wife pretend that never happened or does she tease you with it?
She teases me all the time “Honey just go play with your toys” is her new favorite thing to say when I’m annoying her
Lol. That's awesome.
Your response: Yes, dear.
*and promptly plays with dnd minis
😂
Such an amazing response, on par with saying go practice your cantrips in game
Yeah you play with the miniatures. You use them to play DnD. What is your wife's point? My problem is that she called your miniatures toys. If I had a wife and she called my miniatures toys, she would no doubt receive a long lecture about... Oh right, that's probably why I don't have a wife. Why did I write this?
The only issue with using voices for only the "important" npcs, is that the players will quickly clue into this and start to ignore any NPC that you don't voice. So if they go into that bar, and you simply tell them what the bartender says, they'll realize the bartender isn't important to the story, and pretty much skip the bartender and any other NPC till one actually talks to them.
Good point!
I actually do that on purpose: if the players fixate on someone that doesn't have anything important to tell them, it's a useful way to subtly clue them in that they're talking to an unimportant character. It helps if you sometimes swap between in- character voicing and descriptive narrative for the important characters, too; if the characters start prodding at the NPC for irrelevant, mundane information for an extended period of time and it's just distracting from the flow of the game, just start answering in descriptive narrative; it isn't as jarring as telling the players they're wasting time, but it generally gets the point across that the character doesn't have anything else of importance to say. Switching in-character and descriptive narration for important characters also helps to make it less of a "tell" when you don't use a voice for small NPCs; it makes your players think less that "if they don't have their own special voice they aren't important", and more that "this character might have something important to say, but they aren't a set-piece social encounter, so the DM just hasn't made a voice for every single villager".
Of course, if the NPC is of the right social standing or personality, the NPC can just walk out on the players or tell them to stuff it, but if it's a low-status, friendly, obsequious NPC, it's hard to break off the conversation in-character, so you need a tool to do it out of character, and switching to descriptive narrative discussion does the trick
I like to have the unimportant NPC's just repeat the same sentence over and over when prompted, like "The weather has certainly been awful lately".
In the beginning of the game I might have them say something like "See that wall over there? Did you know, if you roll a d20 and say you want to do an athletics check, you can climb it?"
When the rogue enters sneakmode I might throw in an "huh... must have been the wind."
You say that like it's necessarily a bad thing
One of my more embarrassing DM moments was the time I was monologuing as an NPC who was promoting their business. Halfway through I ran out of things to say and we just sat and stared in silence for a few minutes. And I mean it when I say minutes. It was horrible.
Ah that stinks. But we've all been there! In my groups we just laugh together when I screw something up. (We laugh a lot.)
This is my biggest room for improvement as a DM. Thank you for uploading!
You got it! Always happy to help. 😁 How long have you been DMing?
A few years now! It’s definitely turned into an obsession.
Oh yeah, I get that. I'm thinking about D&D most of the day. Lol
What's your favorite part about running the game?
I just wanna give you props toward your cinematography. Your use of lighting, color, and editing really put these videos a notch above the rest. Great job.
Thanks a lot! My goal is to make it a little better each time. 😁
I have found myself so stunned by my players sometimes during dialogue that I just bust out laughing at the ridiculous thing they say. I then have to take a moment, calm down, and say "they didn't laugh but he says..." I'm always worried that this is bad but my players don't seem to mind at all.
I do the same. Stuff is just funny. What are you gonna do? Lol
My former DM had 3 voices: Normal voice, dark yet raspy, and high-pitched near squeaky. There is no grey area, just those 3.
I really like your dnd videos!!! I just got into DMIng and they've been very helpful. There's usually a fun engaging skit in them to keep viewers entertained instead of things just dragging on and on, and the length is good and easy to get into!!! thanks
Thanks, glad you enjoy them! And welcome to DMing--easily some of the most fun I've ever had. 😁
This is extremely helpful, im glad i found your channel because i was looking for a specific solution and your titles make it easy to find. Keep it up mate! The dirty20 group thanks you
Awesome! Glad to be of service.
The Dirty20 is welcome to the Lair anytime. 😁
My d&d group is made up mostly of my high school acting class and voices is kinda manditory. It feels weird to think it's not the norm.
That sounds like fun!!!
the DM Lair really is, you haven’t lived till you’ve seen a Minotaur with a Brooklyn accent.
Same, I began playing with some of my theatre pals, and there has been about 1/2 people I’ve played with in my major campaigns that weren’t theatre folks, the creativity and the voices are great
Same when the shows start, the games stop
Yeah, I learned with a theater teacher as the DM, so I've been trying to mimic that
I do the talking to myself thing too. Lol.
Ahah, I'm not the only one, I have proof. IAMNOTCRAZYITSEVERYONEELSETHATSCRAZYYYYAHAHAHA!!! ... I also act it all out to.
My self convos tend to devolve into the "nuh uh" and "yuh huh" variety.
Awesome video! I have seen my players' enjoyment of the game, and especially my NPCs, skyrocket as I've started to introduce more voices and in-character talking after learning it from you. This video really helps take it deeper!
That's awesome. Glad to hear your players have been enjoying your games more. That's where it's at! 🍺😁
5:43 - Yoda offers some D&D advice lol
LOL - Completely unintentional Yoda voice. I should actually work on it and use it in a future video. Maybe an entire video from Yoda himself... lol
Thank you for editing your videos and making them have a lot of value.
Here's a little advice
Be consistent
Don't forget what voice you have a recurring characters, what personality they have, etc. It doesn't matter if you gave them a bad voice and you want to change it be consistent, not being consistent is worse because if you're consistent, you can invent why they're voice is bad why they sound that way, if a player insults the characters voice insult them back as that character.
Yes, consistency is very important. Honestly, it's probably the part I'm worst at. I make so many new voices up on the fly, I can't keep track of them. I make notes for main NPCs, but it's hard to do for all of them.
@@theDMLair Rather than just the notes (I used those too)... I might suggest sketching, or even full-on art for a new NPC as soon as possible to the point of whenever he/she was "coined"... especially "well received" NPC's.
The easiest ways I know to keep voices straight is to give the voice a "persona"... I have lots of cheesy Russian accents, BUT they all start with a base from General Morganzer, the most memorable of my earliest "on the fly" NPC's... I've known the guy for YEARS, and he repeats in games, AND my Players know him pretty well, except that they're never exactly sure if he's a "Good" or "Bad" guy per say in any specific game... because my personas... are like my personal cast... and can be recaste as something else in a different game...
Different characters might be the Russian Priest, or a Monk, who starts with some Morganzer in him, but completely lacks the proclivity for Obscenities in the middle of public affairs, while Morganzer will drop an F-bomb without hesitation... (swears like a trooper).
As you flesh out the memorable cast, you can shift the notes to be "Mostly a Morganzer, slight higher pitch, wouldn't say SH*T with a mouthful"... and you've got the character in mind, rather than have to draw EVERY one of your NPC's... ;o)
So don't be Jacksepticeye's Sans 😂😂😂😂😂😂
An easy cheat if you're not real good at impressions, is to fashion each voice after an actor or role in a movie, and write it down on the NPC sheet. Even if the players never clue into the character you're impersonating, the note will trigger your (good or bad) impression, and you'll remain consistent with it.
That's a great tip Patrick!
As a newish DM, I struggle with this part the most. Luckily my players are my wife and kids so they don't mind when I suck at NPC dialog. I assume I'll get better as we play more. Your videos are super helpful to us newbies.
Most players don't mind their DM sucking at this, they are glad that you want to run the game so you all can enjoy it.
I struggle so hard with this! Thanks for the tips. :)
You're very welcome! 😁
For consistency I'm also a fan of picking a film/tv character and attempting to impersonate their voice and mannerisms and then making a note of that character, but then also giving the character a totally different apparance so it's not so obvious people associate the npc withthe character you're impersonating.
Yep, that's a good idea. Definitely stealing that stuff. 😁
Another good tip; read fantasy novels out loud, whenever you get the chance, read each voice in a different voice or accent if you can, helps with both voices, and descriptions. (Also expands you’re vocabulary)
So a couple of tips I use. First you can get more range in your voices by using tempo. A high slow voice will sound different than a high fast speaking voice. Second, you can model an NPCs voice off an actor or character from tv or movies. Make a note of it to keep npc voices consistent. Remember you are modeling it after the source, not doing an impersonation. It doesn’t matter how close you get to original character, the name is to help you keep it consistent. If you make your tavern owner talk like al pachino but you cant do a good impression it will just sound like your tavern owner, no one will know if you dont tell them.
Don't be afraid of stereotypes... i.e. the fat, jolly innkeeper, the strong silent blacksmith, the always suspicious guardsmen.
I would say huge tip in the time of covid is if you're running virtual sessions, and we can't see you, it's the opposite of public speaking: If you're not done with your line, but are pausing to collect your next sentence, throw in a filler sound. for a shy character this might be an 'umm' or a stammer, in the case of a confident character this might be an 'err' or leaving his sentence slightly unfinished so the characters know he's not done speaking. I cannot tell you how many times my DM has said something, paused long enough that I began responding in character, at which point the NPC begins finishing their line, which leads to awkwardness and really takes you out of the scene. part of this is due to the lag. it may only be a few hundred milliseconds, but its enough that you may begin speaking before you hear me, and I may begin speaking before I hear you.
I had a Grung NPC scout that was leading the party through a swamp who understood common but couldn't speak it... mouth was the wrong shape... so all he could say was "Glarp"! You would be amazed at not only how funny it was for everyone but how much the PC's guessed and intuited... sometimes correctly and sometimes not... haha!
Thank you, today I am the dm.
I think it is fun and can be beneficial to make your own accents or blend of Earth accents for different races. Or, when approaching accents, you don't have to try for a stereotype of a certain accent. Just make a voice that sounds right, you don't have to figure out if it's more Australian or British.
I'm DMing my first full campaign, Lost mines of Phandelver. There are a good number of important NPCs as well as interesting but minor NPCs as well. I made a bunch of flash cards with images of the NPCs with short dialogue descriptions and information printed on the back. While I did take time to study the module, it really does help a lot not to forget certain information. I try to do simple voice changes but I hold up the flash cards for my party members to see when they are speaking.
I also try to add stuff like when Toblin Stonehill was talking about food on the menu, that his wife makes the best beef pot pies. Then I said his wife Trilena who was preparing food turns and smiles at her husband.
I love off the cuff dialogue. one of my favourite scenes in my current campaign had a Leonin barbarian trying to get a local weapon smith to make him an great battle axe out of dragon parts we had harvested. a battle axe the likes of which our world had never seen, and this was just the smith to do it, one of the best in the land. they had discussed how the axe would look and how much it would cost, and make with the timid but firm gnome smith, when our warlock, who had cast Disguise self on himself to look exactly like our leonin barbarian (can't actually remember if he used disguise self or a different spell, but either way, this happened), walked in, feigned shock, and in a bad impression of the barb yelled "Imposter". the barb said he looked the spitting image of himself up and down trying to figure out what was going on, and our DM had him and the gnome roll an insight check against a deception check he had the warlock make. the barb passed, but the smith failed. The DM told the barb "you are able to determine that this man is not you" which cracked up everyone at the table. not as much though as when the gnome, a passifist who was very timmid said, in the shakiest voice "hold on, I have a solution... instead of a great axe, I could make two hand axes, one for each of you.... that way we know the real person actually gets something"
I am going to try do do this in my next game thanks for the help and practice makes perfect thank you!
You're very welcome! Yes, I've definitely found that practice is the key. (And that's probably true for most things in life I want to get better at. )
Just saw your videos, you've earned another sub. I've been a DM for a quite a while myself. I'm looking forward to the content you'll be putting out.
so glad i was in theater and drama in school makes voices some what ezer
The other reason to get into an NPC's headspace is to somewhat standardize how a person of those motivations and feelings would talk, so that next time the PC's come to visit... the NPC is speaking to them in the same voice. Basically, don't random table your NPC voices.
Great advice as always. THANKS!
i would like to see the video of you practicing NPC on NPC conversations with you cats...just whenever you have time, no rush. :)
Great job. Good to see respect for the old ways to make a campaign matter. Rare these days
Common props are a great way to handle NPC dialogue. Having a plastic cup and dish cloth behind the screen for the bartender to perpetually clean a mug is a great indicator of whom you're talking to. NPCs with specific habits, catchphrases, ticks or props can help a DM who either struggles with or would rather not do voices. Just a change in cadence in speech can make all the difference. Data from TNG does not have an accent...in fact, his LACK of accent, as well as monotone or stilted sentence structure IS his "accent".
Simply changing where pauses happen in a sentence turns you from everyday person, to Christopher Walken, and finally into William Shatner.
I really liked your point about it sometimes not being worth the *time to switch over to 1st person direct RP. I've never thought of it like that before, but you're definitely right!
Yeah especially for mundane things like buying and selling stuff. Just bogs the game down. It's better to RP the interesting stuff; use table time for that you know.
thank you for the tips!
You are very welcome! 😁👊
I make an NPC call Grindel, he is a blacksmith and a shopkeeper, he's eccentric and goofy all around, he play a main role in the campaign because he used to work for the bad guy, he and his older brother Grendal. he will offer discount if the PC help him from time to time, i remember voicing him is like doing my best impression of a mad scientist
Luke: "you and i both know that being a dungeon master is far more complicated that being a player."
"Dungeon Mastering 101 - Running D&D" playlist: *Fades into reality with 159 videos*
loved that timing
of course that was obviously the intent
My timing is always perfect. I am the dungeon master.:-)
If you are good with voices, in this case I count this as just being able to change your voice to many voices you like, you have the capacity to do something incredible with your NPC's.
When a gnome voice is being used by you, you are moving your voice, where it comes from, and changing little parts of how you speak. If you just adjust this in different ways, you can keep that gnomes voice, but make him angry, sad, or anything else. This applies to all voices, but requires practice to "hold" that npc's voice.
This is what helped me in my roleplay heavy campaign I've been running for 2 years now.
Hey! Another great video, Luke!
Red Hot emergency (or mid-game crisis) tip...
Sooner or later, as we grow and stretch past our various "comfort zones" in the performance and storytelling techniques, we invent a voice that... um... well, it's tough to keep up.
Sometimes, it's physically painful... BUT we don't want to disappoint the Players with a lackluster "Guys, I gotta quit, or I'm a mute by morning!"
SO... fade back from "In Character" line delivery, to explaining what he/she says... That's alright, too... JUST remember when you do that, you should pepper in some of the "In Character" performance stuff, just so the Players don't forget who they're dealing with...
Usually, my general rule on this is simple. Deliver the first couple lines "In Character" and then you can either just explain what's being said, descriptively, or in longer lines, you can fade it back to your own voice somewhere in the middle.
TRY to make sure you deliver KEY lines "In Character" as fully as possible... It's important between the dramatic tension, and the immersion we're all trying to keep up.
Obviously, in the ideal situation, you won't find a voice that seems like a great idea at first, only to find yourself going hoarse a few paragraphs in... BUT this is not always the Ideal setting, even with a high fantasy world of D&D. Lessons in practice sometimes come hard, so while we learn them, it's okay to let ourselves off the figurative hook once in a while.
A mute storyteller isn't much use either. ;o)
Extremely helpful
7:54 - "all of *the* sudden" caught me off guard :P
All of *a* sudden.
But is it the sudden to end all suddens? A "demi-sudden" or "arch-sudden", if you will...
Been watching you for a bit and just saw you have a grandcon shirt on. I'm from GR! Awesome!
That's awesome dude! I'll be at GrandCon this year again. (Haven't put my game up quite yet though.) You should come by and play some D&D with me! 😁
@@theDMLair Would love that. I'm not playing any games right now but DMing a campaign for two groups one game each per month. One for co-workers and another for my family. One of the co-workers is looking for some more opportunity so maybe we could work something out to meet up. He and I are going to GrandCon this year too. I don't want to publish my email on here so I'll look up your twitter and PM you.
Good video and some good tips.
I like to try to use different voices for the important NPCs as well.
Yes, it helps a lot! And is fun. 😁
Very informative and a very fun video
Thanks!
@@theDMLair The tips have come in handy along with picking up your adventures. My players loved playing through the one so far
My fill in space is “talking shit” about other in game factions. It gives background material expose and doesn’t bore them.
I have an unspoken rule amongst my players that if 'they' (The players) ask I will relay the information in 3rd person. If they ask in character. I will respond in the same way.
Sporting the grandcon shirt! Whoo
And excited to get another one this year! 😁
Those eyebrows doing work.
I want my players to roleplay more. They address NPCs descriptively, so I reply in character or act out the respons, but then they keep replying out-of-character and it makes it extremely hard to come up with more stuff to say. Like, you gotta give me something to work with, I'm not an actor LOL
How do you get over the feeling of looking ridiculous? That's my biggest issue.
You have to own it and embrass it. My mentality is that I set the definition of cool, and I don't care what others think of me. Besides, look at Critical Role. They are cleaning up and they are voice actors doing voices (among other things). It's increasingly become cool to do silly/funny/serious voices in D&D. Once you've done it a few times you start to feel more comfortable. Then it starts to feel like second nature and you don't feel timid at all about it. (And remember, everyone watching you do it is thinking the same thing: "I wish I had the courage to do that.")
One Thing I learned in my Schools acting club: Always go a bit further than you think is necessary, or the audience wont get it. Going a bit overboard is par for the Course for conveying emotions, so there is no Need to worry About Looking silly. Also, playing with Friends is the perfect Environment to Experiment. Trust me, they will appreciate the characters having Voices, no matter how bad. Personally, the most negative comment on my horrible Voices I got was, that my npcs Sound exactly like the ones from Video games (which is funny, since I barely ever Play those, so I doubt I picked it up from there), and said Player also told me to please continue doing those Voices. If you want to get over your nerves, try starting small. modulate the pitch between characters, have the massive barbarian speak with a lower voice than the noble Lady. Try doing subtle Accents and get more intense over time. You dont have to be extravagant to be effective.
I agree. I exaggerate all the time with my voices. I'm sure I DO look silly, but everyone loves it. 😂
From my dubious experience... I'd suggest you start with that mental dance between focusing on conveying the desired information... If you don't get your story told (in part or whole) then no matter how good the voices or actions are, you've not done the storytelling job...
AND focus on your Consistency in the voice... accent... pitch and tone variations... all of it.
Keeping just that much straight along with where you plan to send the Players as the Campaign moves forward, you don't have too much left to be sweating about "how silly you look"...
Next, along with the others in this thread, I'm going to point out how very much most of us Players like a good comic... If you haven't, pop in a search for George Carlin. The man was a genius at being entertaining and sounding informative (whether or not he was actually informative or just "stirring the pot")... AND he had a proclivity for looking silly at least from time to time... It's a blessing, NOT a curse.
...Take pride in your silly when you share it.
One of the most embarrassing moments in my formative years as a GM was the first time I pulled out "General Morganzer"... AND in very roughly broken English with a derisively CHEESE-BALL Pseudo-Russian accent, I shouted very spirited, "Is total fubar! Is IDIOT at wheel!"
AND the entire Table erupted in fits... from high tension to broken into laughter on the spot... BUT everyone loved that guy... They rushed right in to help (as only heroes would) and I managed (mismanaged?) a horrible catastrophe with an ease I hadn't found before... there was plenty of time for keeping up with the "book-work" while everyone was laughing... and all I had to do to buy a few more seconds (minutes... lolz) was shout something else from Morganzer's voice... usually something silly, insensitive, and cheaply broken to nearly jibberish... with the occasional obscenity just to fountain soda out of someone's nose at random.
Needless to say, the General has been a repeat for YEARS since... and I haven't shied away from lisps, speech impediments, or mangling the English language horribly ever since. As long as the Players can decipher it with a few seconds (or very rarely even a minute or two) of that "what the hell is he saying?" conversation... I dive right in with hopeless and reckless abandon...
F*** it! ;o)
4-6 people eagerly agreed to pretend they are fabled warriors fighting orcs and shit. Pretty sure cool police won’t be showing up to judge you :)
I like that you dont do accents. I cant do accents and havent had the courage to really do voices because of it. I try to lower and higher my voice but I feel like Im aweful at it. That doesnt stop me from attempting it but sometimes it feels distracting because I mess it up or start to think about it too much. So I use "voices" once in awhile. I feel like Im really good at responding with the right tone and my players know who they're talking to solely on that and my posture or mannerisms. However I would love to incorporate voices that feel more than the tonal emotion they're expressing or just higher or lower. Maybe its just an outside the comfort zone thing but I feel like theres something I'm missing. I will practice this knowledge you shared but if you have more on the actual act of speaking I would love to hear it. If I could recommend a video, it would be one showing a variety of voices you use and maybe a quick blurb on what youre actually doing to make the sound.
That's awesome that you practice and do voices even though it's a little uncomfotable at times. Many people won't even try.
That's a great suggestion for a video! I've added it to my backlog for a future sprint.
A quick tip is to vary CADENCE or rythym, too. Also try talking out of different parts of your mouth or throat, if that makes sense.
It's worth pointing out that Guy, over in "How to be a Great GM" (channel on YT) did a video or two on accents...
Just in case you're interested in something like you suggested between now and when DM's Lair gets it up... (might be good for DM's Lair to take a look-see and hear some of Guy's descriptions...just in case he reads this, too)
For the record, I've GM'ed and Played since I was ten... so about 32 years... give or take the occasional hiatus... AND for accents, practically NOBODY really cares if you're doing a "legitimate British" accent... That you've changed the tembre, tone, and speech profiles of your words consistently at all is an amazing addition...
Whether it's "Hollywood British" or "Atlantic Colonial"... nobody's going to call you out... Same for "Cheap-o German" or "Stereotypical Rusky" rather than a legitimate German or Russian accent on English terms.
BUT if we can recognize your "General Morganzer of Der Fift Luffenwierdz" every jump back into "him" you attempt, you've done it "as right as you'll need" for the Table.
Remember to breathe and relax... It's a gaming Table, where you're featuring a Fictional NPC from a Fictional Fantasy world... we're not looking for Shakespeare anymore than a Grammy or Oscar performance.
...and you can't get anywhere without that pesky "DOING" part. ;o)
This definitely help! I heard before about giving NPCs motivations but it wasn't until hearing your examples that I realized those motivations don't need to be grand or epic! Some people just want to have a normal life xD That's for the non-important NPCs at least
Awesome! Glad this helped. Yeah, the guard just wants to survive the day and go home to his family. 😁
@@theDMLair You have a great channel, man! Definitely gonna check your other videos, specially the DM tips!
My advice is posture. You don't have to put too much thought into it, just pick an emotional state, like confident, sad, tired, proud, nervous, happy, morose... Change your posture to reflect that. Slump your shoulders a bit or puff out your chest. You will find the tone of voice and facial expression come naturally with it. You speak softer, louder, hastily or with higher pitch by virtue of how you hold yourself. It is amazing how much life you can breathe into an NPC with only one sentence if the players can glean an emotion or characteristic from this. "What is that guy afraid of?" "So grumpy!" "She's hiding something!"
Another thing I like to do, if characters have a distinct voice and personaity, I use that with my friends outside of the game. For example, one of my characters has a habit of making lame dirty jokes, but he's so confident, he thinks all his jokes are gold. Additionally, he has a really silly voice. By now, whenever one of our group comes up with a lame joke, we say it in that boisterous high pitched voice and we all laugh our ass off. There's a whole roster of character voices I can adapt at random to make jokes and comments more fun and often my friends will respond in another character voice.
Making it an off table inside joke has taken much of the pressure off that doing voices is some kind of performance in front of an audience. It has made all of us supremely comfortable with and quick to fall into a role on the spot.
Yes! Posture helps a lot.
I should start practicing more with others. Just gotta get used to the weird looks. Lol
You forgot the most important tip of all: WATER. Constant quaffage is your friend. Drink it. Live it. Be it. (and for frak's sake, DO NOT DRINK SODA!)
I try changing my voice, but that is something I find really hard
Right? Sometimes I find it hard to know what to say, or how to act, when playing a character. It gets easier with practice, I think.
Ok ok, but what if I WANT to give accents and rl voices to some of my characters? What if I trust my voice skills enough to make an NPC talk like one of my favorite VAs?
I do that on public. Crazy is good!
Lol. Giddyup!
Even after 40 years of playing and Gm'ing, this is still a difficult area for me.
Use 3 out of the 5 senses to discribe their apperence. Also I find it helps to try and do an impsrsanation and right down that persons name beside the NPC name but write Voice: Christopher Walken, it doesnt matter if you do a good impsrsanation. If you suck at it juat keep doing it. By thinking of that person in your head when you do the voice it will always soind consistant. Trust me if you do a long campaign and tbere is a lot of time inbetween sessions it will help you remember. Know how did that guy spund again oh yeah Christopher Walken
Doing an impersonation is a great tip for later remembering how you did the voice. I've found myself forgetting, so notes in that regard are very helpful when several months later you are wondering what voice you use foe an NPC. Lol
Take a stool lmao, that can be interpreted on two different ways
I 've a problem in interpreting womans npcs, the randons its the hardest ones. Any tip?
I think that's probably always going to be a struggle for guys. I don't pretend to be good at it. I just lighten my voice up a little bit and roll with it.
Watch ALOT of movies. One time my dm had a king trying to persuade my bard to join him and i said "king? I didnt vote for you." -oppressed peasant from monty python and the holy grail. Everyone at the table loved it and my dm dying 🤣
I've found that just being entertaining works. So just make the characters ridiculous :P
You're totally right. An entertaining NPC that's a little bit out there an odd or or something like that is the type of thing that players gravitate toward and begin to develop endearment toward. NPCS with funny voices and things like that are going to usually do pretty well.
why would you buy someone's youngest son???
My players could think of lots of reasons...
Why not? how else will you know the depth of the towns well?
Dusty Miller Holy God, dude.
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Wait why were your players trying to buy that guys youngest son?
I’m the 428th person to like
most dms are not actors... Just because your an actor does not make it easy to come up with npc dialogue for situations you didnt expect...