Hey guys so i am about to launch (for my first REAL time) a Dragons of Stormwreck Isle campaign and i want to use Voicemod to create unique voices for each character NPC my players talk to. Anyone use this and what voices do you use if so? Thanks
Okay, I'm going to say something that may be unpopular, but here goes: you don't need to 'do voices' to be able to give your players a great time at the table.
Voice changers, and other such things are more likely in my experience to distract from the experience than add to it. It ought not be about the voice. That's kinda missing the point. You can have a memorable NPC without an accent, or a funny pitch, or whatever. The heart of the issue though is that you want the players to focus not on how you're saying something but what you're saying.
If the NPC is: - Someone with a clue - Someone giving instructions - Someone with a lore or story drop
You never want a silly voice to get in the way of that stuff. Using something like Voicemod is (in addition to being exploitative and built on the infringement of performer's rights) a risk. Because the 'voices' that services like this offer are kinda already all around us, it tends to quickly become obvious and in the worst cases immersion breaking and distracting.
There was a tip I got early on when I was training as an actor - if the accent gets in the way of the words, then lose the accent. Again it's not how you say something, but what you say that will make the game sessions more memorable.
But okay, let's say you want to do voice anyway. If I'm dissing stuff like Voicemod, what would I suggest? Tone, Pace, Pitch, Volume.
It seems trivial perhaps but varying these few things can quickly give you a set of voices that will signify that it's not you as the GM speaking, but rather an NPC. Someone who's enthusiastic tends to be the easiest for me to get to. They're probably going to talk faster than I do. They might even get carried away and their volume will increase so they're finishing sentences twice as loud as when they started. Varying these elements of your natural voice is one of the best ways to begin. Although I will say, if you start to feel strain or ache in the voice try not to repeat...vocal damage is no fun.
Learning to do this stuff for yourself is far superior to using a tool to do it for you. As a bonus you get to develop a skill that can actually come in useful in other places from business presentations to reading stories with children.
To be as honest as I can though, when you run a D&D game (or any TTRPG) there's enough admin on you already as a GM. Don't add to it by using something that honestly is 100% unnecessary. If players complain you as DM 'don't do the voices' well they're the ones that are wrong.
There are two people in our group that have recently tried using voice changers. One for their character in our main campaign, and the other when he was DMing a One-Shot.
Now all of this was done via Discord as we play remote (4 different states), and we play VTT (obviously). I can't say how this would work in-person, but I would think if it was happening in-person, you would hear both the actual person talking AND the distorted voice which would be difficult to understand.
From my experience on the receiving end, it was horrible. Sometimes funny, but horrible. The voice would come through just fine, but would be so odd, that it was hard to understand the enunciation of what was being said. The whole group would ask them repeat themselves, and this happened so many times because we could not understand them, that they finally got frustrated, and stopped using the voice mod.
We all thought it was going to be a cool thing, then it just made the whole session grind to a halt for a few minutes, completely dismissing any momentum that the session had gained.
By sharing this info, I am not telling you not to try this, just giving honest feedback so you know how it worked (or didn't work) for one specific group's table.
Whatever you decide, I hope you have fun with your new DoSI campaign :)
Cheers!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Breathe, dragons; sing of the First World, forged out of chaos and painted with beauty. Sing of Bahamut, the Platinum, molding the shape of the mountains and rivers; Sing too of Chromatic Tiamat, painting all over the infinite canvas. Partnered, they woke in the darkness; partnered, they labored in acts of creation.
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Hey guys so i am about to launch (for my first REAL time) a Dragons of Stormwreck Isle campaign and i want to use Voicemod to create unique voices for each character NPC my players talk to. Anyone use this and what voices do you use if so? Thanks
Okay, I'm going to say something that may be unpopular, but here goes: you don't need to 'do voices' to be able to give your players a great time at the table.
Voice changers, and other such things are more likely in my experience to distract from the experience than add to it. It ought not be about the voice. That's kinda missing the point. You can have a memorable NPC without an accent, or a funny pitch, or whatever. The heart of the issue though is that you want the players to focus not on how you're saying something but what you're saying.
If the NPC is:
- Someone with a clue
- Someone giving instructions
- Someone with a lore or story drop
You never want a silly voice to get in the way of that stuff. Using something like Voicemod is (in addition to being exploitative and built on the infringement of performer's rights) a risk. Because the 'voices' that services like this offer are kinda already all around us, it tends to quickly become obvious and in the worst cases immersion breaking and distracting.
There was a tip I got early on when I was training as an actor - if the accent gets in the way of the words, then lose the accent. Again it's not how you say something, but what you say that will make the game sessions more memorable.
But okay, let's say you want to do voice anyway. If I'm dissing stuff like Voicemod, what would I suggest? Tone, Pace, Pitch, Volume.
It seems trivial perhaps but varying these few things can quickly give you a set of voices that will signify that it's not you as the GM speaking, but rather an NPC. Someone who's enthusiastic tends to be the easiest for me to get to. They're probably going to talk faster than I do. They might even get carried away and their volume will increase so they're finishing sentences twice as loud as when they started. Varying these elements of your natural voice is one of the best ways to begin. Although I will say, if you start to feel strain or ache in the voice try not to repeat...vocal damage is no fun.
Learning to do this stuff for yourself is far superior to using a tool to do it for you. As a bonus you get to develop a skill that can actually come in useful in other places from business presentations to reading stories with children.
To be as honest as I can though, when you run a D&D game (or any TTRPG) there's enough admin on you already as a GM. Don't add to it by using something that honestly is 100% unnecessary. If players complain you as DM 'don't do the voices' well they're the ones that are wrong.
DM session planning template - My version of maps for 'Lost Mine of Phandelver' - Send your party to The Circus - Other DM Resources - Maps, Tokens, Quests - 'Better' Player Character Injury Tables?
Actor, Writer, Director & Teacher by day - GM/DM in my off hours.
Greetings xSling0x,
There are two people in our group that have recently tried using voice changers. One for their character in our main campaign, and the other when he was DMing a One-Shot.
Now all of this was done via Discord as we play remote (4 different states), and we play VTT (obviously).
I can't say how this would work in-person, but I would think if it was happening in-person, you would hear both the actual person talking AND the distorted voice which would be difficult to understand.
From my experience on the receiving end, it was horrible. Sometimes funny, but horrible.
The voice would come through just fine, but would be so odd, that it was hard to understand the enunciation of what was being said.
The whole group would ask them repeat themselves, and this happened so many times because we could not understand them, that they finally got frustrated, and stopped using the voice mod.
We all thought it was going to be a cool thing, then it just made the whole session grind to a halt for a few minutes, completely dismissing any momentum that the session had gained.
By sharing this info, I am not telling you not to try this, just giving honest feedback so you know how it worked (or didn't work) for one specific group's table.
Whatever you decide, I hope you have fun with your new DoSI campaign :)
Cheers!
Breathe, dragons; sing of the First World, forged out of chaos and painted with beauty.
Sing of Bahamut, the Platinum, molding the shape of the mountains and rivers;
Sing too of Chromatic Tiamat, painting all over the infinite canvas.
Partnered, they woke in the darkness; partnered, they labored in acts of creation.