Ran across this on Reddit....

Quote from: RedditorRoleplaying does not require acting. TTRPGs do require roleplaying (e.g. "What does your character do?"), but acting is merely one way of achieving that end (narrating your characters actions is totally acceptable). Some people prefer acting, and for some people it enhances the experience. Even some people who think they will not enjoy acting out their character's words will enjoy it if they give it a shot.

But some people are not that way, and cannot and will never enjoy acting (at least, in the performative sense). This should not bar them from the hobby, and they should not be told it will.

This seems pretty obvious to a lot of us, but which do you prefer and which do your players prefer? Do you prefer acting to role-playing when you game? Do your fellow players prefer to act or role-play when they game?

For me, I'm an amateur thespian and I love to act, usually doing that. When I am just role-playing, then it means that I have low energy (just woke up, hung over, don't have a particular hook for a PC or NPC,  etc..).

So what about you?

Personally, I dislike cringe-worthy ham acting at the table. It sets my teeth on edge and is a detriment to immersion. YMMV but accents and funny voices can get old real quick, so I use them very sparingly. I tend to show how NPCs are different through a few lines of chosen description and through their actions rather than hammy Am-Dram. As for the players, it's their game too, so they are free to role-play as they wish.:cool:

One thing I do NOT do is tell people how they have to "act" in character.

I like players to speak in-character when talking to NPCs, unless we're abstracting it because it's a boring shopping trip etc. I certainly don't require accents or ham acting, I don't normally use accents for my NPCs and I really hate falsetto voices for female N/PCs. But I want more than "I roll Diplomacy", too. I find it necessary for the game to be enjoyable for me.

Agreed, absolutely no "I roll for [add misnomer here]".

You can play your character as you wish, as far as I am concerned. Having said that, players can and should convey their character also through their actions and choices.

We had our game of Beyond the Wall last night and we were using a great little scenario called The Stygian Garden of Arbelia Prem and it is based in an abandoned manor house.

Spoiler

The female dwarf  (played by my wife) in the 4 member party has a low wisdom, immune to fear and is Chaotic in alignment (but not evil- just greedy and selfish). Anyway, as they were considering entering the foyer with some trepidation (and probably a bit of metagaming), she decided to shout "Anybody home?"

I rolled an encounter and they got their answer as a spider the size of a pony squeezed out of the front door amd attacked. Not the best stategy but I awarded 100xp for sheer roleplaying. The character is aggressive, fearless (quite literally) and always impatient an unpredictable. There are no Malkfish antics, I hasten to add, and as it happens, the group was alerted to the presence of giant spiders that were lying in wait to ambush them.

In my games, usually people speak in first person to describe their PCs' actions (because saying "I" is faster than "My character" or "Ironaxe the dwarf"), but there's not much acting to it at all. Occasionally the referee might do a goofy NPC voice, but it's cartoony and would probably be unwanted in one of the acting-focused style games ("You're not taking this seriously enough").

Anyway, yeah, telling me what your fighter’s doing in a battle or how your thief’s inspecting a trap qualifies as roleplaying a fighter and thief, respectively. You don’t need to act out a voice, personality, etc etc etc.

We've always been quite happy with a mix of both but primarily it's more descriptive than acting.

I think you should roleplay how you wish. Act away, you thespians. Just try not to make it teeth-gratingly cheesy and hammy. Know your limits or go and take lessons.

Bad acting is almost as awful as bad hygiene.

Quote from: Mike the Mage;1040933Bad acting is almost as awful as bad hygiene.

Come on, who doesn't like waiting around while someone spends ten real life minutes using his best fake English accent talking to the apple cart guy about the weather???

LOL

What is it with orcs and shitty cockney accents. Were they all spawned by Guy Ritchie?

I'm not actually sure what we do at the table, we just get on with it. There is certainly no acting, though their might be the occasional attempt at an accent from time to time.

Quote from: Mike the Mage;1040891Personally, I dislike cringe-worthy ham acting at the table. It sets my teeth on edge and is a detriment to immersion. YMMV but accents and funny voices can get old real quick, so I use them very sparingly.

I like the concept of "playing in character" but I agree that bad acting and silly voices gets really old in a hurry. One guy at my local store has a phone ap with funky sound effects for every spell he casts, which was cool for a while but eventually just seems to slow the game down. Several guys at the store seem to enjoy playing female characters and talking in high squeaky voices, which seems to offend most of the women at the table but they do it anyway. (Yeah, that's just what our hobby needs -- fewer women. :mad:)

I try not to tell folks how to play, but some of the cheap theatrics get old in a hurry.

Quote from: Mike the Mage;1040933I think you should roleplay how you wish. Act away, you thespians. Just try not to make it teeth-gratingly cheesy and hammy. Know your limits or go and take lessons.

Bad acting is almost as awful as bad hygiene.

Amusingly, I did take lessons and was a member of the Pacific Conservatory for the Performing Arts.

I let the players do as they may and do not enforce or encourage any particular style.

Over the many years though in myriad groups I have seen that something like 75% or more of the players will say things like "I swing my sword at the orc." or "I cast detect magic on the treasure." and either talking directly to the NPC like "How much is this sword worth?" or indirectly but still in character like "I ask the farmer for directions to the local tavern." Many even alternate between those two approaches depending on the situation. And often an interaction will start with "I talk to the NPC" and thereafter rolls into direct conversation with the NPC. I do that fairly often too.

Oddly I have rarely seen players go too over the top. One of my players will with certain characters and not with others. DMs on the other hand will sometimes switch voices. But I have never seen it consistently used.

Quote from: jeff37923;1040943Amusingly, I did take lessons and was a member of the Pacific Conservatory for the Performing Arts.

I imagine that makes you even less symapthetic to hammy acting at the gaming table.:eek:

Quote from: Omega;1040944I let the players do as they may and do not enforce or encourage any particular style.

Me neither, and my current fellow players do as you described. I did play with one guy who loved his Raisltin inspired mage and just had to do the raspy voice.

It was quite impressive at first but, like Bale's Batman, after a while it sucked balls