There's a level of "read the room" necessary to pull that kind of thing off that a lot of players nowadays lack. If the rest of your group wants to run it like a drama skit with a few dice rolls tacked on then that's fine, but if everyone else isn't on board you're just going to be causing a bunch of wincing. Personally, I always interact in a "my character says, blah blah" as if I was reading a book.
I'm old, and have been playing since 81or 82. Watching modern players do voices and try to act is embarrassing, frankly. It also seems to be the same people who "act" think orcs and drow are black people. The game has been ruined.
Being a pedant, I gotta at least point out that "orcs are black people" isn't the actual argument. 😜 I don't buy the actual argument, but I think it's important to represent it accurately. The actual argument is that things that are said about Orcs (Savage, dumb brutes etc) reflect historically racist sentiments thrown at black people, and that it perpetuates racism. I agree on all of it except that it perpetuates racism. That seems like a Jack Thompson argument. I can get why some people wouldn't want to play with themes like that depending on what they've been through.
Definitely. Assuming any form of racism in a game = racism irl is just as embarrassing -- maybe there's a throughl-line of those players wanting to embody their character instead of just playing one.
Hard to say if these things perpetuate racism or not. Its a complex topic. I would agree however, that the current edition of DandD has some texts in the monster manual that read like they were written in the 30s. I have never met anyone who actually plays like that though. When my game features racism, I restrict this to racism of the inhabitants of the setting, never racism baked into the rules. The rules should be neutral, otherwise we start to railroad players away into the land of superficiality. I do make an exception for supernatural beings though.
She actually agreed with me on this one! It surprised the hell out of me. I'll have to do a video getting her take on it because I thought she was going to be like "SCREW YOU ITS FUN OKAY?!" lol
I think there's a false dichotomy in some circles where "playacting" is equal to "taking the game seriously". I think that's why there's constant arguments about social skills in ttrpgs. People are shown that you have to act to play a fulfilling game and of course, they do... but not everyone has that ability. So they feel that it's not fair. Then... they overcorrect into "rollplay".
Folks need to understand that role playing does not equal theatrics. Describing character actions is just as valid, and players are free to engage with the game in whatever way feels most comfortable at the time.
When I started playing D&D as a kid in the late 70's - early 80's we didn't act the game out, we rolled dice and our characters filled a 'role'. THAT'S what 'roleplay' meant. You played a 'role' on a team of adventurers. You explored, fought monsters, looted treasure and tried to get out alive. Also we understood our characters were not long for the world and were not heavily invested into a single character. Our favorites were the ones that survived or had a memorable death.
I can agree with many of these points. I actually have acting experience, but if I'm playing at a table with people who don't get into heavy role playing, I tone it down quite a bit. On the flip, if the players are all going deep, speaking as their character (1st person, not just accents), then I bring up my game. Basically, the game is more fun when everyone is kind of on the same page with the level of role playing and acting.
Hi Aaron, Great You Tube channel!! I'm hopeless with voices, pathetic thespian skills, and still manage to GM. Role-play is also about the decisions made, especially the tough ones, and not acting on all of your knowledge, only on that plausibly available to the PC/NPC, etc., and being willing to make the sacrifice (or betrayal if that is in their 'wheelhouse' - yup, I've had plenty of NPCs/Monster betray their group because they've struck a deal with the PCs or just reckon they are too strong for them to oppose - some even turn into henchmen of the PCs if treated decently). Having an open-ended campaign also helps - keep the railroads to a minimum, but sometimes all decisions/potential actions are bad ones. I now struggle to get through a fantasy novel, laughing at the decisions made, the confluence of events that the author has happen to get the story moving in the direction they want, most of them nonsensical (at worst) or implausible (at best). Shake my head and think 'my players would never let me get away with this crap [narrative device]' and struggle from there on when it happens for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th time. This is why 'at the table gaming' is so great, because of the instant feedback and course corrections the players provide - yup, there goes that plot hook (which I spent 8-12 hours of prep time rounding out, building stat blocks with motivations/fallback strategies, map/s, and the 'adventure' itself). Reading the players is also a great skill and very hard to do over the internet. I'm looking at purchasing a Fantasy Grounds license in next 6 months, but want to get a mix of AD&D (especially the old adventure modules), D&D 5E, and Pathfinder 1E content, then look at developing my own 'adventure modules', so that won't be cheap. Cheers!!
I can’t stand this wave of wanabe Marlon Brandos in the ttrpg scene. Live play streams are evil..... System doesn’t matter, decision making doesn’t matter...it is just an amateur theater workshop
Iv done voices. Sometimes. Its ok. Nothing wrong. Its just that thanks to cr its gone to far. Now iv played with actors and most if them play just like every one else
As with most things in life, there is a middle path and players and GMs that dip in and out of presenting characters in different ways is probably the norm. I don't mind the odd expression, gesture etc from players but to constantly speak in character and go full er... 'Tropic Thunder' is cringy and distracting. The GM that can give slightly different tones of voice, slightly raised or muted levels of expression is good, but even then shouldn't feel bound to speak in a certain way every time that NPC speaks. Flipping between descriptive narrative, relaying information and presenting a characteristic or personality here and there is all that is needed (at most). Magic moments come often by chance, usually players creating more out of some unimportant npc that then grows naturally into something fun and memorable. Don't force things and magic happens.
I think there might be something of a valley there, a bit of acting of any caliber is good for immersion, a middeling amount of acting is generally bad, I find it makes for an interrupted experience and everybody being a good actor is of cause great. I have a similar experience with maps and miniatures, Im fine imagining or working off markers on a sketch, miniatures and terrain are great, but ill-fitting miniatures and terrainpieces and proxying stuff but not other stuff take me right out. In the end, that is all personal preference of cause, and some games live off bad acting and theatrics, some villains just need to chew scenery for sustainance. But it needs to fit the game and group.
I have a trained actor in one of my games and he almost never speaks in his character’s voice. But he is very extremely descriptive and succinct with his actions and motivations.
Melodrama sucks in ttrpg 99.9% of the times, sorry. There is something called theater, a very decent and honorable (yet different) activity to play that.
I love you guys, "Ermagerd! You're playing it wrong!" Clearly you missed out on on the World of Darkness games with 200-ish horny goths in a room, acting out their terrible Anne Rice fantasies. :)
Every GM should bow down to the work of multiple personality Professional acting comedians such as Phil Hendrie and Robin Williams. Any of them that can deliver ridiculous performances of someone goofy should be the DM's Lords and Saviors.
I like to start the first couple of lines of dialogue with an accent, but that's it. I do fairly good voices, so I can throw it in for emphasis, but even really good voice acting is distracting and goofy when you're trying to play a game.
Humans manufacture our own deities. Worshiping famous people is the natural progression of the west as it continues to throw away previous culture -- from God to King to actor, pretty soon its going to be influencer.
@@DolliDaily a good performance as someone that you're not is a deceit that both actors and prostitutes have in common Hence why people used to view them as the same (and should still)
I love to RP as much as possible. My philosophy is roleplay > roll play. Been in the hobby 31 years now. Do what is fun or immersive and works for your table.
