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Thrawn4
2010-07-29, 10:52 AM
Hi.

More often than not, a DM has to present new characters. This can be especially difficult if there are several of them, as players may have a hard time to tell them apart from each other, which is a huge problem at adventures focusing on interaction or if you want remarkable characters for the sake of the atmosphere.

So, I would like everyone to share their knowledge about creating and especially PRESENTING unique characters. This may involve things like
- appearance
- habits of the NPC
but should focus on (as it is the most difficult part) the way you present characters, e. g.
- your own voice / intonation
- your mimics and gestures
- any other trick regarding your performance as a DM

Examples would also be nice (How do you represent a bartender, the other bartender, lich, disgusting person,whatever?)
--------------------------------

I tend to change my position in the seat when I speak for another character, which is helpful when there are several involved. Another thing is that I change my voice and gestures if there is a significant difference between the characters.
In order to create disgust, it might be helpful to pretend that I'm picking my nose (by putting my forefinger beneath my nose and twisting it) or pretending to scratch myself beneath the armpit (for hardcore mode: smell at your hand afterwards or scrutinize the imaginery bogey).
An undead's voice is probably really hoarse, so the players will have to shut up in order to actually understand it.
Screaming characters are a difficult thing. It's more shocking if I actually scream, but also annoying after a while, so mostly I just contend by using a higher tone and more emphasized words in order to indicate screaming.


tl;dr: How do you ACTUALLY act out a character (voice,mimics,gestures...)?

Whammydill
2010-07-29, 10:57 AM
I always change the pitch and timbre of my voice and use facial expressions and gestures for each character. I try to get in character for each so I determine ahead of time what thats going to be. If the person is random Jibober_032 then I make it up on the fly and write it down incase i need to reference it later.

extra points if you get that reference in there.

Oracle_Hunter
2010-07-29, 11:03 AM
(1) What does "NSC" stand for and what system is it from?

(2) I find that a change in word choice and speech patterns works better for me - but that's just because I'm bad at faking accents. That said, speech patterns are more effective than character descriptions: a player hears a lot of descriptive text over the course of a game, so it's easy for it all to get jumbled together. But having an aural clue can be enough to jog a player's memory.

WarKitty
2010-07-29, 11:05 AM
I also find having clothing, NPC appearance, etc. written out helps. In part because my characters remember the guy that wears black leather armor under his robes quite well.

Kurald Galain
2010-07-29, 11:05 AM
(1) What does "NSC" stand for and what system is it from?

Non-Slayer Character from the Buffy RPG?

Oracle_Hunter
2010-07-29, 11:20 AM
Non-Slayer Character from the Buffy RPG?
Huh.

Well, to expand on my previous post: people remember things by using all their senses - if you want your players to remember something, give them as many hooks as possible.

The easiest is sound - using different voices, different patterns of speech, etc. If you want to get fancy, giving important NPCs "theme music" is a very effective: a short piece of music (30 seconds at the most) whenever you introduce them into a scene does wonders. Heck, it works in movies, right? :smalltongue:

Next, use visuals - anything from body language to a portrait you stand up in front of you when the PCs are dealing with a particular NPC. Bits of costume (hats, eyepatches, etc.) are commonly advocated by RPG books but I've always felt them to be a bit silly; still, if you have a costume collection, go for it!

The other senses are less commonly used, but can work OK. Touch works well in a more mobile setting - the one NPC who has a habit of slapping people on the back for emphasis will be hard to forget. Scent is great for setting atmosphere in general but can become messy quickly. Taste is by far the most eccentric, but I've heard of at least one DM that served his Players particular foods whenever the PCs were in a given location.

Thrawn4
2010-07-29, 01:28 PM
(1) What does "NSC" stand for and what system is it from?


Sorry, that's a typo. It was suppossed to be NPC, which should ring a bell ;-)

valadil
2010-07-29, 01:35 PM
tl;dr: How do you ACTUALLY act out a character (voice,mimics,gestures...)?

I don't. It's something I've identified as a big weakness when I GM. I don't do accents - they take too much brain power and then I forget what the NPC is supposed to accomplish. Speech patterns work, but they're a lot more subtle and the players don't always pick up on them. I don't gesticulate in real life, so my characters aren't likely to do it either.

My litmus test for NPC acting is this. If I start speaking without an introduction, can the players figure out who I am? This only applies to major NPCs. The barmaid from 3 sessions ago doesn't deserve this much attention. I've only ever had 2 or 3 NPCs that were identifiable in this way, so this is something I really need to work on.

I tried to improve it this game, but spent so much time on it that it detracted from the rest of the game.

Here's what I tried: I made cards for each NPC. Name, race, and class up top. 3 mannerisms and 3 appearance traits for each NPC. If needed I'd add stats on the back.

This took a lot more writing time than I'd expected. I can only put so many NPCs in "fancy noble clothes" before I get bored of the phrase and seek something else. The end result was weird and outlandish NPCs that took up spotlight time just to show off their unique mannerisms. As soon as I stopped doing that, the game got better.

I think the problem was that I went overboard with it. Tracking each NPC in this way wasn't a bad idea, but it was overwhelming. I dropped way too much useless info on each first impression. If I had to redo it (and my game is still running, so I do get to redo it each time they go to a new city), I'd limit myself to one mannerism per NPC. Each time the players meet the NPC they might gain a new one. This would let me flesh out NPCs as needed instead of dumping way too much energy into what turns into a throwaway NPC.

What I'm doing right now is a little different though. So, the reason I think I'm bad at NPCs is that I'm a method actor. I like to wrap myself up in a character's head and then let traits emerge. This works great in longer games, but it takes a while for me to find my character. Even when I've found a character, switching between them is slow. This is why I was trying to focus on caricature traits in the cards above. I figured I could just play up those.

Anyway, my current method is to play a DMPC. Don't look at me that way! By a DMPC I mean I pick an NPC and focus on him for the next session. I have two weeks between games to get into that character's head. When it's time for a game session I'm already in character and able to act him out correctly. Hopefully I'll be able to recall an NPC already used. Historically I've been able to do that with former PCs of mine who have been made NPCs, so maybe it'll work. I think of this technique as the Lost method. Each episode focuses on a new character. It gives you insight into that character and their background. Maybe it means another NPC is out of the spotlight for a while, but it works out since they'll all get a turn.

This has worked so far. But I haven't been doing it for very long. The NPCs I've focused on with it have all been major NPCs who could be full characters in another game. It has improved my game, but I don't know if it's sustainable. Will comment more on it later. If it doesn't work, I'll probably go back to the fix for the index card idea I already mentioned.

Maho-Tsukai
2010-07-29, 01:37 PM
I'm known for both my evil voices and comical voices. Unfortunitly I play via online chatrooms more then RL, so I am far more used to usiung the written word to portray my characters rather then the spoken one. However, in the old games I usually tried to have a distinct voice for certain characters. I did not give every NPC a special voice though, simply because there are some voices I can't replicate well, mainly female voices. I don't know why but for some reason every time I try to make my voice sound female it just sounds like utter crap. Thus, I usually only give a special voice to the BBEG, and the other NPCs I portray via using creative use of the english language rather then voice overs. However, I can voice BBEGs very well, and I absolutly love to indulge in evil laughter when I get the chance. It's strangely addiciting and I can understand why supervillains love to do it so much.

(Note, still on the no spell check computer.)

WarKitty
2010-07-29, 01:41 PM
There's some ways to act out a character even without doing voice/accents etc. I've had good luck varying the vocabulary...little things like not using consonants on one character, or using ain't and y'all on another, can stand out. The speed at which they talk is another one, and how much pitch variance there is.

Trasilor
2010-07-29, 02:02 PM
I don't have any problem coming up with different accents/voices ( I have fairly decent voice control ), nor mannerisms for my NPC's. And, when I remember to write it down, it's even better (fortunately my PCs are very forgetful ). My problem is that if I pick an accent/mannerism for an NPC several of my PCs start to mimic me.

So if I toss out an "aye laddie", a "wot, wot", or a "goood eeevening" I find it coming back to me. It wouldn't be so bad if they just picked one accent and stuck with it. :smallsigh:

arrowhen
2010-07-29, 02:13 PM
For minor NPCs I don't even bother portraying them at all. I'll just summarize the interaction ("The surly, distracted barkeep rents you a room") and move on unless a player specifically chooses to stop and chat. It cuts way down on NPCs to remember.

Dairun Cates
2010-07-29, 02:20 PM
Gestures and small sound cues can go a LONG way. A lot of my characters are distinguishable by small gestures that they tend to do a lot. Threatening government officials tend to do things like fiddle with pens and click them loudly when appropriate to get the player's attentions. Not only does it portray attitude towards the players exceptionally well, but it also gives a good call-sign. Characters that are obsessed with appearance and health do kinetic things like small exercises while more humble characters might bow or give constant gestures of submission. It all adds up.

Sound cues... Well, they're slightly different from catchphrases and dialects. A sound cue is simply a sound that happens when a certain NPC enters the scene. One of my most infamous NPCs is completely recognizable by the fact that he generally enters a scene by coming out of stealth with a gun pointed at someone's head (Yes. This includes friends). The way I would portray this to my players is by making a Ka-klak sound to impress the idea of loading a clip or simply pulling the gun out of its holster. Needless to say, my players grew to fear that sound and would know what to say before I even indicated that the character had entered the room.

Of course, that won't work for everyone, but it's potent when it does. That's only the bottom of the barrel, but I thought I'd share those ones with you guys.

Honestly, I think the most important trick is to fool yourself into believing that you ARE the character. If you think like the character when you are the character, everything will typically come natural to you, even if its way outside your personality or gender.

DabblerWizard
2010-07-30, 03:48 AM
I love differentiating between important NPCs. It's quite entertaining for me, and my players haven't complained about it yet, either. :smalltongue:

Sometimes I use a bit of narration to let my players know that an important NPC is about to start speaking. --- "The city watch captain walks up to you. He appears to have bad news..."

I am not at all proficient at maintaining a consistent voice per a given NPC, even a recurring one, so voice alone doesn't necessarily help in my case. However, it's easy enough to differentiate between softer "female" voices, and harder "male" voices... between slow talking NPCs, and fast talking NPCs... between confident and sensible rulers, and erratic and spastic BBEGs.

When there are multiple speaking NPCs around including one important NPC, the no-name ones get my regular voice, differentiated with "and another one says..." for instance, and only special, named NPCs get a modification in my voice.

In the case of multiple named NPCs in the area, you could use some constant narration to differentiate between them ("now the king is speaking"), or, if these characters have some extended screen time, I've been thinking about allowing my players to take on one of these characters, and having them do some acting work.

Tyndmyr
2010-07-30, 06:28 AM
I use a different voice for NPCs. Unfortunately, I only have one voice for all NPCs. Im told it sounds a bit like a professor. *sigh*

Thrawn4
2010-07-30, 09:49 AM
I really like the idea of using different speech patterns and vocabulary, it can easily indicate the characters disposition without the need to focus on different voices (which can be difficult).
It might be interesting to have something like a guide for creating different voices or something. Does anyone have an idea?


if these characters have some extended screen time, I've been thinking about allowing my players to take on one of these characters, and having them do some acting work.
Don't know whether this is a good idea. Although the players might be busy, it bears the risk of destroying the atmosphere / fourth wall.

valadil
2010-07-30, 10:10 AM
I really like the idea of using different speech patterns and vocabulary, it can easily indicate the characters disposition without the need to focus on different voices (which can be difficult).
It might be interesting to have something like a guide for creating different voices or something. Does anyone have an idea?


The best I've been able to do here is to write out a couple speeches in advance. I try to shy away from this because the conversation ends up being a monologue if the players see me reading. But if you have a couple one sentence answers ready, it's easy to riff around those without breaking off the flow of the game. Anyway, when I'm writing in advance I can spend time making each NPC's style unique. If I do this long enough, I can start picking up on their speech patterns and eventually improvise them.

The speech patterns I play with are usually based on length. That can be word or sentence length. Some NPCs like complex words and structures, others avoid them. Try playing an NPC who only uses monosyllabic words.



Don't know whether this is a good idea. Although the players might be busy, it bears the risk of destroying the atmosphere / fourth wall.

I've done this but in reverse. I give other players cheap, throwaway NPCs. This is how I deal with social encounters where the party has split up. I don't want to cut short the RP for the players who are there, but I don't want to bore those that weren't needed at the scene. If the PCs are talking to a mob boss, give the other PCs his cronies. They don't need to know anything, just act a certain way. In theory I'd also let players run NPCs in combat if the group ever split up for that. But they don't, so I haven't.