How to keep track of voices?

[thundershot]

I've been DMing for a long time (15 years) and I've always run into the problem of not remembering what voice an NPC had. With so many NPCs, it's almost impossible to get the same voice for some of the less memorable ones. And when it comes time to use them again, I'll wing it, and the players will sometimes say "Hey, that's not what he sounded like last time. He's got a different accent!" or something akin to that. I know a lot of DM's just describe what the NPC tells the PC's, but as an aspiring voice actor, I'd feel silly if I didn't voice my NPC's. Ah, many a townsfolk has succumbed to my "Old Geezer" voice. I want my players to enjoy variety, but it's hard to keep track!

Anyone else have this problem? Hell, how many people "speak" the roles of their NPCs rather than getting to the point?



Thanks
Chris

 

[Kyramus]

personally, non-notable npcs just get my regular voice. Notable npcs have their own stats and write up so i jot down the actor i portray the npc as. Like i had an arcane merchant named Kasim who has the voice of joe pesci in Lethal Weapon. You know the guy that plays Leo Getz. And after that almost all of the Arcanes have the same accent and inflection of Joe pesci making it the default arcane voice.

I've used jack nicholson's "You can't handle the trut" character from A Few GOod Men. used it for a general and after that a few tweaks or inflections or speech habits the general changes with different names. One general has a habit of sipping a drink between sentences. Another has a habit of making the V's strong. So whenever he says the letter V he inflects it stronger. etc.

Hope this gets some ideas for you.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Keep notes.

Or, if your game world is set up with only a few regions to keep track of, you could simply adopt one accent for each region. That could help.

Failing that you might want to bite the bullet and drop the accents. If you can't remember them -- and I certinaly couldn't keep track of that kind of thing -- then you aren't helping the players suspend their disbelief or immerse themselves in the world when you get the accent wrong.

Good luck!

 

[Hand of Evil]

I also note 'voice that NPC sounds like' on my NPC cards along with catch phases they may use.

 

[Dreeble]

Heya:

This thread seems to be a good spot to ask a question that's been bugging me a bit. A while back PirateCat posted a WAV file (or whatever) of him voicing some ghoul NPC. Very cool. My question for people who have heard him speak: Was he exaggerating the NON-ghoul part for comedic effect or was that his normal speaking voice?

Thanks,
Dreeble

 

[Bendris Noulg]

I also note 'voice that NPC sounds like' on my NPC cards along with catch phases they may use.

Ditto, as well as with the Regional Accents idea that Biggus suggests, so the NPC note might say, "Fast Talker, Khosian Slang", with Khosian noted elsewhere as "Complex language that sounds like they are speaking quickly due to heavy sylable enunciation".

Generally, though, I use accents only to give an impression concerning the culture or the NPC; Once the players have gained the impression, my use of the accent drops considerably in favor of my normal voice (unless, of course, a humerous application occurs to me in play, akin to Checkov asking where the "New-Clear Wessels" are).

 

[Henry]

Heya:

This thread seems to be a good spot to ask a question that's been bugging me a bit. A while back PirateCat posted a WAV file (or whatever) of him voicing some ghoul NPC. Very cool. My question for people who have heard him speak: Was he exaggerating the NON-ghoul part for comedic effect or was that his normal speaking voice?

Thanks,
Dreeble

If I'm recalling the wav file correctly, as well as our chats at Gencon, the narrative bits were pretty close to his normal speaking voice.


For my part, when I DM I write down the "voice characteristics" in one or two words in the NPC matrix so I'll remember that info. Anything from "high-pitched/whiny" to "rolls his rr's" (which I never do since I SUCK at it), to "like Mushmouth from Fat Albert".

Speaking of which: I used a Bishop of the god Rao in one Greyhawk game, who spoke like Mushmouth - the players almost lost their minds trying to understand him/me, except for one player who could figure it out. He said it scared him MORE that he understood than if he hadn't.

 

[thundershot]

*takes notes* Hm... I guess I could do that.. Taking notes on what voices should work, except when I make up my own ("Typical Old Geezer") etc..


Chris

 

[Hypersmurf]

Notable npcs have their own stats and write up so i jot down the actor i portray the npc as.

Absolutely. I just gave the saem advice in another thread - I almost always relate my NPCs to a person, actor, or character I know well enough to imitate.

It doesn't have to be a good imitation of that person. In some cases, if people had to guess who I was using as my base, they might never even come close, and would be rather confused when they tried to match my performance to the source material.

What's important is that every time I attempt that same imitation, it comes out the same way. So two years from now, the NPC with the note "Ray Winstone as Will Scarlett" sounds the same as he did six months ago. Which may or may not actually sound anything like "Ray Winstone as Will Scarlett".

-Hyp.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

A simple cheat I have used is make a note of what actor would be likely to play the character if the game were a movie. For some actors I also ascribe a particular character that the have played.

The Auld Grump, for example Jack Nicholson as a Star Fleet captain...