How much of a Ham-GM are you?

Weru · April 13, 2013, 08:32:46 AM

Not at all. Don't like it. My idea of RPG Hell would be a group that are all members of the local Amateur Dramatics Society, or Theater Majors (as you USasians might say). Which isn't to say I'm a hack and slashmiester, or a "Roll" Player or a Gameist (or whatever Forgites call that style these days). I just prefer a third person rather than a first person approach to things. I think it was Zak S who wrote a great blog post about detached irony and that gels well with how I like to play too. As do the descriptions of how Mike Mornard/Old Geezer plays his games.

KenHR · April 13, 2013, 09:54:33 AM

Not very. I usually describe events in third-person like Weru mentions. I'll do a voice here and there (people say I'm good at them, I don't know), but I'm not great at extemporizing crackling dialogue.

I really don't like amateur theater hour, either. I've never seen a group that indulges in "acting" that was as good at it as they thought they were.

Imperator · April 13, 2013, 11:46:41 AM

Quite quite hammy. Acting it out is one of the funniest parts of GMing for me, so there it goes.

If it's good, bad or terrible, you should ask my players

Prophetsteve · April 13, 2013, 11:51:57 AM

Generally very hammy, as playing NPC's as a Gamemaster is one of the reasons I enjoying running games. I envision running of my games are run as if Joss Whedon wrote it*, serious sitatuions but often comedic and over-the-top reactions to those situations.

*only in my mind. I am no Joss Whedon.

LibraryLass · April 13, 2013, 02:56:27 PM

Quote from: RPGPundit;645409No, we're not talking "swine" here, we're talking acting. How much do you act out (or over-act, as the case may be) your NPCs? How much do your players stand it?

RPGPundit

Positively Shatnerian. When I do Castle Ravenloft there are silly Dracula accents from sea to shining sea.

TristramEvans · April 13, 2013, 04:18:43 PM

full-on Monty Python

BillionSix · April 13, 2013, 10:51:31 PM

Quote from: Weru;645529Not at all. Don't like it. My idea of RPG Hell would be a group that are all members of the local Amateur Dramatics Society, or Theater Majors (as you USasians might say). Which isn't to say I'm a hack and slashmiester, or a "Roll" Player or a Gameist (or whatever Forgites call that style these days). I just prefer a third person rather than a first person approach to things. I think it was Zak S who wrote a great blog post about detached irony and that gels well with how I like to play too. As do the descriptions of how Mike Mornard/Old Geezer plays his games.

I agree that post on irony and detachment in games is fantastic. But if you've ever seen Zak S. run a game, in the video series I Hit It With My Axe, you will notice that he throws in a lot of funny accents and voices. He's pretty good at it.

Brian

S'mon · April 14, 2013, 07:34:07 AM

I generally try to ham it up as much as possible, at least for sympathetic and neutral NPCs. I've learned that villains are best toned down, though, to avoid the pantomine effect. And for female NPCs to be taken seriously they need to be played in a more subdued manner. I had a GM recently who played his female NPCs with falsetto voices, which turned it into a comedy game when I'd have preferred something more serious.
But when I get an NPC who can legitimately be hammed up, I go to town. Brian Blessed is a model of course; so is Steven Fry's General Melchett in Blackadder Goes Forth. Players love that stuff.

Weru · April 15, 2013, 05:45:26 PM

Quote from: BillionSix;645627I agree that post on irony and detachment in games is fantastic. But if you've ever seen Zak S. run a game, in the video series I Hit It With My Axe, you will notice that he throws in a lot of funny accents and voices. He's pretty good at it.

Brian

Yeah, I particularly liked his Ringo Star voice for a giant beetle of some sort. It's not black and white, I'll do the odd voice especially if it's a beer and pretzels night, running T&T or the like. I just don't enjoy the style where everyone is going for the serious Thesp stuff and the idea that the RP part is the most important part of RPGs.

Chugosh · April 15, 2013, 06:16:46 PM

I love to ham it up in a game I'm running or playing. I'm not a great actor as anyone can see here, but I do like doing it.

I also hold an amatuer radio liscence.

daniel_ream · April 15, 2013, 06:52:56 PM

I have done professional voice acting (i.e I got paid significantly above scale for it) and I am BRIAN BLESSED on PGH levels of ham when I GM.

For heaven's sake, this hobby isn't the Royal National.

BillionSix · April 15, 2013, 10:37:28 PM

Quote from: Weru;646147Yeah, I particularly liked his Ringo Star voice for a giant beetle of some sort. It's not black and white, I'll do the odd voice especially if it's a beer and pretzels night, running T&T or the like. I just don't enjoy the style where everyone is going for the serious Thesp stuff and the idea that the RP part is the most important part of RPGs.

heh. Yeah. It was obvious really. They got four beetles to ride and named them John, Paul, George and Ringo.

flyingcircus · April 16, 2013, 08:08:46 AM

Any way you slice it...hehehe (get it, you slice ham).

Rincewind1 · April 16, 2013, 08:46:44 AM

Quote from: flyingcircus;646330Any way you slice it...hehehe (get it, you slice ham).

Quote(get it, you slice ham).

Quoteget it

Erstwhile · April 16, 2013, 04:59:26 PM

Much as it pains the method actor in our group, I don't ham it up when I GM, just as I don't ham it up when I play. I use third person far more often than I use first, and I never demand that the players speak in-character (though some will do it unprompted, and that's fine). I get frustrated with groups where the GM insists that everyone speak in-character and actually find that less immersive than when folks use third person.

EDIT: I also initially read the title as "How much of a Harn-GM are you?" and was all set to talk about a campaign I ran in southern Kaldor.

How much of a Ham-GM are you?

TristramEvans