I recently joined a campaign where I will be playing a young orc who grew up in an orc clan. I have character story and everything figured out but I'm stuck on voice. I want to use an accent to show the difference between the way she speaks compared to others from higher society. After speaking with other players they keep telling me a southern or cockney accent. But, are there other potential accents that could fit?
I would go for a harsh tongue - she speaks plainly and doesn't embellish things. "We should go there", "This man does not speak plainly", and so on. I imagine that the way of speaking is more of an important thing than the accent itself - what sort of clan is it in this world - are they noble savages or just a normal village that's all orcs? Not having words for things which you wouldn't have need before would be a good way to cement the identity - calling carriages box-chariots or horse boxes, windows wall-crystals, all depending on what is and isn't the norm in your orc clan! Seeing a sorceror with a wand may make you say "He has a magic stick", if you see a Beholder you might call it an eye-ball, and so on.
Make sure to talk with your DM about it. Partly because, if you do an accent, then the DM will kind of have to do the same one if they ever meet your tribe.
But the best piece of advice I could give you is, pick one you are good at and can stick with, consistently. If you start Irish, and halfway through a sentence end up French, or revert back to your native accent, its just going to be distracting.
Or don't use an accent at all. You can show the difference between her and high society through word choice and grammar, without having to worry about how it sounds.
Or you could intentionally mishmash a few different accents. Like mixing French and German, wile using American redneck slang and sprinkling in some Chinese proverbs.
I caught a series where one Orc spoke Common like a British museum curator but his own language like he had something perpetually caught in his throat.
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Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
The problem with "fun with accents" is you're often leaning on some negative stereotypes of the accent to personify your character. Don't do that. Second the poster about talk to your DM. If Orcs in the game world have a accent, they'll let you know.
The tusk formation is a good recommendation. Rather than putting in prosthetic tusks just curl up your upper lip and keep it there while you talk. Or put some growls or snorts into your punctuation if you want to go that route. Or always talk with a couple of pieces of hard candy in your mouth (but be careful on that less you choke on your performance). On the other hand, look at Worf on Star Trek. He's pretty eloquent, of course he was raised by humans. But the other TNG Klingons weren't really outrageous in their accents either.
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
The voice is just one piece of the puzzle. For an orc raised by orcs any low, guttural, gravely, back of the throat voice will do fine. Just remember not to over-do it. Doing a gravely voice for several hours can make you quite hoarse the next day. Practice making a good grunt sound. Close your mouth and force a sharp thrust of air out through your nose, causing the back of your sinuses to resonate. You should feel your whole head vibrate if you do it correctly. Now practice varying the inflection of just that grunt to mean as many different things as you can. That's half of your dialogue right there.
But, aside from the voice itself, you'll also need to consider the tone and the timing.
Orcs are not known for eloquence, so you'll be terse and blunt, often to the point of offense. Orcs don't dance around issues, they don't embellish, they don't tell little white lies. They say what they mean and make the listeners just f***ing deal with it. The less you say, the more powerful your words will be. Your tone would probably be abrupt and a bit sarcastic. If there's a diplomatic character in the group, and the group reaches the dragon's lair to retrieve the McGuffin, you could turn to that character and say, "Maybe you should say 'please'."
Timing takes the most practice, I think. A single grunt can say anything you need it to say - if your timing is good. Silence is a powerful language of its own. I guess you could say you're aiming for some combination of Groot, Jayne Cobb, and Gunnery Sergeant Highway.
Russian. Orcs have Russian accents. And, like Russia, their names sound much more pretty when they say them than when other people do. (Russia in Russian is pronounced "roh-SEE-yah", which is much more pretty than "RUH-shuh". I do something similar with Orcs in my campaigns.)
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Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Russian. Orcs have Russian accents. And, like Russia, their names sound much more pretty when they say them than when other people do. (Russia in Russian is pronounced "roh-SEE-yah", which is much more pretty than "RUH-shuh". I do something similar with Orcs in my campaigns.)
Nope. They name their Country as the Glorious Mother RUSH-SHE-AH !!! Dabbai, bratan !!!
I recently joined a campaign where I will be playing a young orc who grew up in an orc clan. I have character story and everything figured out but I'm stuck on voice. I want to use an accent to show the difference between the way she speaks compared to others from higher society. After speaking with other players they keep telling me a southern or cockney accent. But, are there other potential accents that could fit?
I would go for a harsh tongue - she speaks plainly and doesn't embellish things. "We should go there", "This man does not speak plainly", and so on. I imagine that the way of speaking is more of an important thing than the accent itself - what sort of clan is it in this world - are they noble savages or just a normal village that's all orcs? Not having words for things which you wouldn't have need before would be a good way to cement the identity - calling carriages box-chariots or horse boxes, windows wall-crystals, all depending on what is and isn't the norm in your orc clan! Seeing a sorceror with a wand may make you say "He has a magic stick", if you see a Beholder you might call it an eye-ball, and so on.
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If/when I join another game I'm seriously considering playing a half orc druid who comes from a barbarian tribe who all have yinzer accents.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcBiLDAfmVA
Disclaimer: most of my family sound like this to varying degrees.
Think about how you would sound if you had big tusks taking up half your mouth. Then speak as if you had big tusks taking up half your mouth.
"Ignorance is bliss, and you look absolutely miserable."
Make sure to talk with your DM about it. Partly because, if you do an accent, then the DM will kind of have to do the same one if they ever meet your tribe.
But the best piece of advice I could give you is, pick one you are good at and can stick with, consistently. If you start Irish, and halfway through a sentence end up French, or revert back to your native accent, its just going to be distracting.
Or don't use an accent at all. You can show the difference between her and high society through word choice and grammar, without having to worry about how it sounds.
Or you could intentionally mishmash a few different accents. Like mixing French and German, wile using American redneck slang and sprinkling in some Chinese proverbs.
I caught a series where one Orc spoke Common like a British museum curator but his own language like he had something perpetually caught in his throat.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Texan.
Come participate in the Competition of the Finest Brews, Edition XXVIII?
My homebrew stuff:
Spells, Monsters, Magic Items, Feats, Subclasses.
I am an Archfey, but nobody seems to notice.
Extended Signature
The problem with "fun with accents" is you're often leaning on some negative stereotypes of the accent to personify your character. Don't do that. Second the poster about talk to your DM. If Orcs in the game world have a accent, they'll let you know.
The tusk formation is a good recommendation. Rather than putting in prosthetic tusks just curl up your upper lip and keep it there while you talk. Or put some growls or snorts into your punctuation if you want to go that route. Or always talk with a couple of pieces of hard candy in your mouth (but be careful on that less you choke on your performance). On the other hand, look at Worf on Star Trek. He's pretty eloquent, of course he was raised by humans. But the other TNG Klingons weren't really outrageous in their accents either.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
The voice is just one piece of the puzzle. For an orc raised by orcs any low, guttural, gravely, back of the throat voice will do fine. Just remember not to over-do it. Doing a gravely voice for several hours can make you quite hoarse the next day. Practice making a good grunt sound. Close your mouth and force a sharp thrust of air out through your nose, causing the back of your sinuses to resonate. You should feel your whole head vibrate if you do it correctly. Now practice varying the inflection of just that grunt to mean as many different things as you can. That's half of your dialogue right there.
But, aside from the voice itself, you'll also need to consider the tone and the timing.
Orcs are not known for eloquence, so you'll be terse and blunt, often to the point of offense. Orcs don't dance around issues, they don't embellish, they don't tell little white lies. They say what they mean and make the listeners just f***ing deal with it. The less you say, the more powerful your words will be. Your tone would probably be abrupt and a bit sarcastic. If there's a diplomatic character in the group, and the group reaches the dragon's lair to retrieve the McGuffin, you could turn to that character and say, "Maybe you should say 'please'."
Timing takes the most practice, I think. A single grunt can say anything you need it to say - if your timing is good. Silence is a powerful language of its own. I guess you could say you're aiming for some combination of Groot, Jayne Cobb, and Gunnery Sergeant Highway.
Just my 2 c.p.
Anzio Faro. Protector Aasimar light cleric. Lvl 18.
Viktor Gavriil. White dragonborn grave cleric. Lvl 20.
Ikram Sahir ibn-Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad. Brass dragonborn draconic sorcerer Lvl 9. Fire elemental devil.
Wrangler of cats.
Russian. Orcs have Russian accents. And, like Russia, their names sound much more pretty when they say them than when other people do. (Russia in Russian is pronounced "roh-SEE-yah", which is much more pretty than "RUH-shuh". I do something similar with Orcs in my campaigns.)
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Brooklyn.
They all sound like Brooklyn cab divers.
wtf !!!
You should hear how the germans sounds like..... they are nearer to be the strange mixture between a barking dog and an Orc.
My Ready-to-rock&roll chars:
Dertinus Tristany // Amilcar Barca // Vicenç Sacrarius // Oriol Deulofeu // Grovtuk
Nope. They name their Country as the Glorious Mother RUSH-SHE-AH !!!
Dabbai, bratan !!!
My Ready-to-rock&roll chars:
Dertinus Tristany // Amilcar Barca // Vicenç Sacrarius // Oriol Deulofeu // Grovtuk
Tell the important people in your life you love them, because life is short.
….but scream it at them in German, because life is also confusing and terrifying.