Many of us here (do not) listen to the Order 66 Podcast. In fact, I daresay that it’s probably what brought most of us to the fold. A feeling of friends and belonging. Many of us probably still listen to podcasts to learn more about our favorite systems, games, and methods of play.
But there is another type of game media out there that seems to attract a lot of divided opinions – some love it, and some hate it. We’re of course looking at Actual Plays.
And we may as well admit it — there are some big ones out there like Dimension 20 and (of course) Critical Role, that have millions of views, and even 2 seasons of tv shows. But that isn’t what we’ll be looking at here. No, we’ll be looking at something else.
First — and full disclosure here — I used to think that watching Actual Plays was a waste of time, and it was only really when COVID hit and lockdowns began that I turned to them. Mostly out of boredom. And it was while watching Critical Role (Campaign 2 if anyone is interested) one day that it hit me that there are things to learn from this.
So what are the lessons that we can take away?
Well, we can’t all do the funny or interesting voices that professional voice actors can. But what we CAN do, is learn from their techniques. So let’s take an example, from Critical Role – one of their most memorable NPCs, but not one that receives much attention in the Legend of Vox Machina even though the character appeared a few times in the Actual Play of Vox Machina: Victor the Black Powder Merchant.
When Matt takes on the character of Victor his voice is squeaky and goes up and down at unpredictable moments. But just as important are the MANNERISMS that he uses when taking on that role. Just have a look here at how he introduced himself when he was in a Halloween Episode and dressed as the character:
Contrast that with how he picks up the character here (this is a supercut of it):
Again, while the voice is memorable, the character is just as much in the mannerisms, and that is something we can all take on. A deliberate twitch, a head turn, a slooooooow way of moving when talking (hello Pumat Sol), or just a word that gets repeated a bit too often. We all know people like this in real life.
Having watched Matt do this (who is of course a master, due to his voice-acting training and experience) has improved my own NPCs to make them more memorable. But there’s more to be learned, from any Actual Play. Each GM has things they do that are particular to them, and which you might consider picking up.
Another one that I stole is the “How do you want to do this?” – I used to be a GM that described the action for the players, rather than letting them dictate what happens on an exceptional success or failure — obviously this applies mainly to the less-narrative-style games (FFG’s Star Wars is good for involving players in the direction of the action due to the dice system) — but drawing your players into the action like this both involves and engages them, and it saves you mental energy. And that is never a bad thing, is it? 🙂
So get out there, learn, and listen (and watch). 🙂
Until next time. 🙂
Kim Frandsen
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