I adore live theater. I love roleplaying games. I’ve been doing this for 24 years.
But I’m a Writer. Verbal Improv still intimidates me.
I’m in a group of amazing roleplayers on Tuesdays. They all DM, think quick on their feet, and most of them are outgoing and confident enough to even give their characters accents and stick with it the entire campaign. A feat I have not managed. I occasionally manage to maintain a Way of speaking as my character. I tried to practice voices with a Kenku this game, but mostly I just mimic words not voices.
So, that is what I’m going to try with my campaign. I mentioned a Voices section in my last post. I saw a YouTube video on how to create a hundred voices without putting on any accents, just by changing the way you speak. So, I’m going to try that. The video focuses on Rudolf Laban Efforts such as weight, timing, and focus. He goes on to other things, as well, but that’s the part I started with. Poking, flicking, gliding, floating, pressing, thrusting, wringing, and slashing voices. I assigned my characters each one of the types of voices as a place to start.
Then, I started doing more work, and adding more characters, and with only these eight ways of talking, I decided I needed more ways to distinguish them. Sustainable ways, because I’m still not convinced accents are in my wheelhouse. I thought about props and body posture and movement.
The first NPC the group talks to is a small rogue-ish sort, so I might hold a little dagger while embodying him. The next NPC is a big brute, so I might sit back and up and cross my arms and scowl. The third is a stern motherly cleric, so I might hold her holy symbol. This seemed to be going alright, but props for everyone might get a bit much. With the OGAS I mentioned in the first post, I had their attitude, so I could try and embody that physically.
I kept watching videos on DMing and Improv.
One pointed out that everything you do in life is made up, and it’s true. The whole point of roleplaying is to be inside the character’s head so that you Know how they will react to things, just as naturally as you do yourself. That’s the point of OGAS or the more traditional Traits, Ideal, Bond and Flaw system. But as a DM, I will have to be in So Many NPCs’ Heads. One right after another.
I kept watching, and came across one about assigning the character a random animal, occupation, or actor. Well, I’ve already assigned them occupations, and I’m not good at impressions, but perhaps animals will help differentiate two ‘poking’ voices from one another. I had already been thinking props, but what if they are just props in my mind, instead. My big bouncer NPC, I might imagine as a gorilla with a club, speaks slowly but is quick to smash. A gnome warrior might be a stalking housecat. A younger guard might be a bouncing puppy.
Recently, I also began adding quirks to all my NPCs. Things like: chews on a toothpick/bone, doesn’t look you in the eye, taps on things constantly, speaks in the third person. Just to add that extra bit of distinction between the characters.
I have a set of tools now, but only time and practice will tell how I manage to use them. Suggestions welcome.