Voices

To do a voice or not? 

Should I have an accent? Talk in a particular way? Use particular words?

Voices can make a player feel very connected with the paper in front of them. Having them speak in a haughty tone could really drive home the arrogance. Consistent mispronouncing a word repeatedly could drive home age or mentality of a character just as much as it could show intelligence or lack of care. 

They can, however, be a two edged sword.

• Using a lisp, or lilt in your tone may show that your character has a disability, or particular vocal challenge. 
• Using a regional accent could show you are from the country, or city, or another nation all together.   
• Using masculine or feminine voice might remind the other players that your gender does not match the body or identity of your character.

Be careful with these. A person who has faced difficulties with speech in the past may not feel comfortable with someone mimicking that particular facet.
Using a regional accent could mean accidentally offending someone who identifies with that accent.
Using a voice of another gender should not embody gender roles. A Man shouldn't talk about how he is strong "I'm a man I'll protect you!" nor should a female talk about things in form of her weaknesses "Oh no! Somebody save me!" There may be exceptions to these, but carefully decide if you are saying what he or she would say, or if you are saying what you think society says they will say.

Any time you choose a voice to utilize, recognize that you could very easily become a caricature. If your customization marginalizes, generalizes, or demeans the population is belongs to, then you are probably doing it wrong. 

• Your character with a stutter, does the stutter suddenly disappear right when you would like to be right? Or does it foil you at critical moments? 
• Does your character with a country accent only care about his dog, ex-wife, and wagon? You probably aren't actually looking at the values, but at the media portrayal of these persons.
• Does your character with an urban accent have a deceptively high intelligence. Do you employ this accent to hide from being noticed? What motivation do you have for utilizing this accent?

Any time we roleplay, we grab a piece of another human being and try it out, like a shirt. However, just like skin color, there are parts of us that we can't change. 

Here are some tips:

• If someone in your group has that accent/ aspect/ tone, talk to them before using it.
• Stay vigilant. If someone looks at their phone, or frowns, or sighs often, talk to them.
• Talk to your DM about using voices at the table.
• Base your accent and topics of conversation, on a TV or Movie character.
• Encourage each other to try voices out.
• Research a voice if its from a culture you do not understand. Find a role model. 

Some voices are hard to get wrong. If you are trying to sound like a particular character, from a show everyone at the table knows, and are doing your best to deliver it, you should be fine. 

If you sound like Yoda and use grammar and other sounds to distinguish your voice, most will recognize it, and it is hard to offend. If you are basing it on a character that is a caricature (Like a Looney-Tune or Simpsons character) then you risk offending someone, even unintentionally. The reasoning here, is that these satirical characterizations of people spin their humanity in particularly deviating ways, making them clearly good or bad.

Voices add a lot of depth and memorable moments to campaigns. Include them! Just remember that the primary focus should be on collective story telling; someone who is hurt or distracted by your voice cannot fully focus on the fun.


Try these!

1. A character that cannot say "gold" without laughing, always pronounces it "Goal"
2. Cannot say words longer than three syllables without counting them on fingers
3. Cannot distinguish the difference between B and V and W (Spoken and heard); confuses words like weird and beard, Bird and Word, Veer and Beer, or Vial, Bile, and While.
4. Finds words tasty. When speaking long or beautiful words, draws them out for a long time."She was so Beeaaautifuuul that I lost my way as I stared at her haaaaair."
5. Says "Oi" instead of hi, and thinks all objects are male. "He's a strong lock isn't he!"
6. Pick an alien from a Science Fiction film, and talk like them.
7. Play a character who doesn't talk! (Challenging for most!)
8. Talk like a family member, write down actual quotes. (Don't let your grandma catch you!)
9. Use a foreign accent. Learn a dozen direct translations of their common idioms, and use them.