Your somatic and verbal style

[Sindal]

Hi everyone

So this one goes out to casters out there for today's character RP question.

-If you like to add the fluff: What is your character's verbal and somatic habits/style

Feel free to mention and share any characters you may have had, or any character you've seen played that you personally liked the flare of. I'd really love to hear how everyone does their casting.
...or if i'm just one of those extra people who add bells and whistles to casting. Even if your caster's style is casting 'perfectly, the exact same way they were taught' each time.

My go:
-Sindal's, my divine soul sorcerer tabaxi, somatic parts are typically start as if he's physically tearing the weave (as if it's cloth) wrapping the 'threads' around his claws and reweaving it between his fingers with little finger gestures before throwing or casting it out into a spell. If you've ever seen Symetra from Overwatch, imagine those kind of hand movements. Almost every cast he can make starts with a swiping motion, large sweeps or small flexing of his fingers.
-Sindal's verbal competent is based on Arabic. Just plain Arabic, which I imagine in dnd universe would be a strange sounding language .

Have fun yall!

[Raynor007]

Fluff is so important to characters; it's necessary to differentiate between the same or similar builds, and brings the characters to life. Much more important to role-playing than mechanics in my opinion.

My human War Cleric would mime the actions he was attempting to perform (throwing a spear for Spiritual Weapon, laying on hands for Cure Wounds, pointing his weapon at the targets for Bane and Bless, etc), and speak a close approximation to the effect of the spell in Dwarfish. He was themed as an uncreative ex-soldier, having picked up Dwarfish as a second language while on campaign, and it helped him differentiate between regular speaking and the verbal components of magic in his mind.

The character I'm currently playing is a Bard, and he is of the opinion that it takes too long when in combat to perform a song or music, which does a disservice to the music. Instead, he quotes lyrics or poetry that fit the style of the spell he is casting (I have several pages of quotes organized by theme that I keep alongside his character sheet). As a bonus, this allows me in-character to make quips and puns based on Shakespeare, classic-rock lyrics, etc. I expect many more hilarious moments from this character.

[Man_Over_Game]

Good thread!

My Arcane Trickster was pretty ambitious when it came to learning magic and treated it, just like traps or inventions, as just an alternate form of science.

The chanting he used sounded a bit like architectural or alchemical gibberish, saying distances and the channeled elements, finalized by the school of the spell to seal it all into a programmed spell.
His hands were drawing the required circles to form the needed aspects for the spell, while also counting with his fingers so he can focus on the thing in front of him.
While Concentrating, he had a tendency to zone out from getting distracted by something in the numbers crunch going on in his head.

He wasn't particularly GOOD at magic because of his refusal to accept the more "esoteric" aspects of it ('It HAS to Make Sense, Da**it!'), which kept him from being a full-fledged Wizard, but he was a master of the little that he knew (Mage Hand Legerdemain, Ritual Caster).

[sophontteks]

I flavored my bard a plucking notes on his sitar, which would be distinctly different from music. He's manipulating the weave, not playing a song.

Dissonate whispers would be a heavy, discordant chord. Spells without V wouldn't produce any sound.

[Imbalance]

Inward speech for vocal, with the name of the spell said backwards.

[PhoenixPhyre]

My bard/warlock (operatic-style) mainly TALKS WITH HER HANDS AND VOICE when she's casting spells. Very hammy. Grand flourishes and motions. She'll strum a harp (small version) when needed (as a focus), but generally it's sweeping gestures and sing-song words. Even her Eldritch Blast is vocalized as a set of rapid-fire discordant sounds.

[DarkKnightJin]

My Eldritch Knight hasn't a lot of fluff for most of his spells, but I'm working on that a bit. I did fluff his Sword Burst usage as him stabbing the ground with his sword to summon a burst of spectral blades from the ground around him, which I quite enjoy.

My Cleric is a bit more 'animated' in the somatics department. His Sacred Flame is a quick arrow he looses from a divine bow of light, Zelda style.
His Toll the Dead is him 'Force Choking' someone's soul. And his Guiding Bolt is him summoning a massive Dark Souls style Greatbow, and firing a massive bolt of energy from that.
His use of Vampiric Touch is mostly jamming his massive claw into the target's chest, trying to go full Temple of Doom on the poor victim.

I think that's most of the combat spells he's used. At least the ones that come to mind right now.

[SleepIncarnate]

My bard is a dispater tiefling, descended from a succubus/incubus. When she casts her spells, she's drawing on that infernal legacy, changing her from looking like a half elf into full on demon mode with horns, fangs, and spectral wings.

As for her gestures and the like, she was a street magician prior to being an adventurer, so she does all kinds of flashy hand gestures as she weaves magic into her words. Most of her words are outright insulting or threatening, even when not casting dissonant whispers or vicious mockery.

[Quietus]

Two that are on my mind right now - a Dwarven cleric of the Forge, who trained on Mechanus. When he's casting his magic, spectral gears appear around his hands/around him, and he manipulates them to create the effect he desires. Verbal components I haven't thought so much about (only played a single session), but I imagine them being less him making noise, and more a series of mechanical scraping sounds/electrical squeals as he manipulates those magic gears.

The other is a Half-Elven, dex based Paladin/Bard (2 Pal/X Bard) mix that I want to create for an AL game, haven't gotten the chance to even formally create them yet. They are very flashy, swashbuckling, Errol Flynn style - and between Warcaster and Swords Bard's level 3 ability, all of their somatic components are completed with their rapier. Think something like using their rapier as a conductor's wand, but in the heat of combat. Verbal components, if I'm quick enough mentally, will consist of verbal barbs and witty repartee.

[Sariel Vailo]

When i play my swords bard she cuts the weave and kicks it towards her targets. When i choose to use the somatic and verbal componets she dances, or sings,she even adds gestures.(vicious mockery =middle finger)

[Kadesh]

My Divine Soul Sorcerer is essentially Magneto, refluffing Spirit Guardians etc as telekinetically controlled swords, and Spiritual Weapon backs that up. He's a half elf, and as I'm learning Finnish as my wife speaks it, I've added it Verbals as finnish (which my DM has now adopted as how draconic sounds, something I'm the only the player in the group to know). The Somatics are essentially my character manipulating what he wills, whether it is Levitating an enemy into the air with an upraised palm, or Earth Tremor with a closing of my fist.

[DarkKnightJin]

My Divine Soul Sorcerer is essentially Magneto, refluffing Spirit Guardians etc as telekinetically controlled swords, and Spiritual Weapon backs that up. He's a half elf, and as I'm learning Finnish as my wife speaks it, I've added it Verbals as finnish (which my DM has now adopted as how draconic sounds, something I'm the only the player in the group to know). The Somatics are essentially my character manipulating what he wills, whether it is Levitating an enemy into the air with an upraised palm, or Earth Tremor with a closing of my fist.

I might steal some of these for my characters in the future. Magneto is a BAMF. I wish I could be half as awesome as he is.

[NecessaryWeevil]

My High Elf Wizard was entirely self-taught, being one of a vanishingly few wizards in the entire world for the last several centuries. He also tended to be very careful and meticulous personality wise. So I imagine that all of his verbal and somatic components were precise and minimalistic.

[Mjolnirbear]

I've had several:

* Magical Structures. He manipulates individual (invisible) constructs together to build the spell while verbally reciting each step (so he doesn't forget a step)

* It's All Me, Baby. Usually sorcerers or Bards. Nonsense fwirytail words that mean nothing, and random gestures. If he's in the mood he might make a rhyme or pun, but not, like, cause he *has* to or anything. He builds the power inside him and the verbal just a trigger.

* Dr Strange. Because COME ON ITS DR STRANGE.

* Prayer. Because faith can be fun. Variant: Reverence, for when you're repeating your Oath under your breath or muttering thanks to your Patron for the cheat sheet to reality.

* Listen To The Music. Ok. If I'm honest I'm not good enough with song titles to pull this off, but I'd love to have snapping out the perfect lyric or song title for each spell, hum a bar, because Music Makes The World go Round, and sometimes you need to be Lifted Up Where We Belong because otherwise the Sexual Healing becomes necessary and no one wants to Look At This Photograph.

[Lonely Tylenol]

Now it’s time to show you my forbidden technique! Sexy Mirror Image no Justu!

[Zaharra]

My bard doesn't play instruments or sing, she's a bit of an introvert and so her magic is small, she uses intricate hand gestures and softly spoken arcane words to cast her spells

Where as my fighter/rogue/sorceress has no training and casts her spells with crudely formed gestures and imprecise phrasing usually spoken through gritted teeth