For those who've played TRPGs, how much "acting" is usually part of the experience?

[Hagashager]

It's a group by group basis, but generally speaking acting should be kept to an amount fit for flavor, not gameplay. I've been in and spectated enough games to know, with empiracle evidence, the more players act out their characters, the more unhinged, weird and ideological they are as people.

Generally I don't use too crazy an accent and I usually declare my PC's feelings before acting them out, rather than having fellow players determine for themselves what I'm getting at. An example of me might be:

*Playing a 5e Ranger with a Southern Drawl*
We come upon a magic forest. I say, out loud:
"[Character name] looks at the magic forest, strokes his beard and says, 'I do declare, these here trees ain't normal, gentlemen. I be thinkin' we camp out in this here clearin' tonight.' I then go a few paces, unroll my sleeping bag and prepare a fire."

GM: "Yeah cool, okay, so [Character Name]'s doing that. What're you all doing?"

I don't take it any further than this. I'm not here to debate the finer points of my PC's ethics in-character with a southern drawl.

 

[Alex]

I always roleplay (or at least try to) my characters. By roleplaying, I don't mean making funny voices, I mean considering his motives, reasons and frame of mind. I did use a funny "voice" in an IRC game I played, writing everything as trying to give the idea of an accent similar to the peasant voice from Warcraft 2. It got to a point another player was annoyed because he was having trouble actually understanding what I was saying. So I asked him in character something like "what do you mean accent? Do you want me to talk funnly like you?". He said yes, I did a language skill roll and, as I succeeded, toned down maybe 80% of the fake accent. To be clear, the game was text only, so the accent was just writing things wrong to make it clear what vowels I was stressing or mistaking.

 

[Stella Brando]

 

[ColossusCimmerian]

Short answer: None. Cero.

You don't need to act.

You can find real gameplay on YouTube by people with theirs friends over Google Meets or similar tool. It's basically a group of friends talking and having fun.

No one acts or makes silly voices. Sure, sometimes during the game someone might get excited and start acting funny, everyone laughs and then continues playing normally. I guess it depends on the group and how close friends they are.

 

[Maxie]

I only do full voice acting if the character has a funny accent or speech impediment and it's part of his shtick.

the character is some generated schmuck whose whole ass personality is contained within a character sheet and expressed in numeric values
if there's any funny accent or speech impediment involved, it's yours, and you should be beaten up for it

 

[Caim]

Reminder that if you see a video of a group of people playing D&D and they have an entire set for them to play, complete with maps, props, miniatures and the like, the game is about as real and unscripted as professional wrestling.

 

[Stella Brando]

What, wrestling doesn't have scripts does it?

 

[FritzedProcess]

I only do full voice acting if the character has a funny accent or speech impediment and it's part of his shtick.

the character is some generated schmuck whose whole ass personality is contained within a character sheet and expressed in numeric values
if there's any funny accent or speech impediment involved, it's yours, and you should be beaten up for it

 

[Modron]

Zero.

 

[gooseman]

These videos are made to make money and for marketing the games. They are supposed to be "exciting" to the target audience, whoever that is. People doing it are either mentally ill imitators or the artistic kind. This will depend on who you play with, but you don't have to do it to play or enjoy the game, you can do whatever you want, which is the appeal of pen and paper games.

 

[Old One]

Despite the name "Role Playing Game" it's actually less like playing a role and more like you control all the characters attitudes and actions, more like the author of a play than an actor in a play.

 

[Berengar]

Voices are fine if it gels well with the feel of the group but if all your character is is the damn voice it's not gonna work out long term.

 

[Mangoose]

My gathering seems to be:
(1) There are an arbitrary variety of preferences, because tbh any group of friends has their own quirks and traditions (e.g. playing insult game with each other all the time).

(2) There is a limited demographic - to be specific, the introvert/small-group-of-friends-guy. That's way different from a public drama/theatre person because those people thrive in terms of CROWDS. That tends not to be a skill for someone who prefers and hangs out with small groups, outside of possible charismatic group leader (who even then is a nerd).

(Thus) So if you're going to do any "acting"... it has to be done for fun. You are going to suck at real acting because you don't have the experience that comes from the passion of constantly performing in front of people.. Simply because that's not your life preference.

Wait... One more...

Roleplaying "acting" is ad-libbed, not written, not directed. Which means what? Watch some Who's Line is it Anywhere?

My train of thought now leads to... wait... Who's Line Is it Anyway? Is a comedy. Ad-lib is often done by comedians.

Thus, again, it is "fun" you are looking for in terms of fun interaction between peoples. Because clearly comedians are doing things for fun. However you achieve said "fun" is up to you but, honestly, you never know, you might just end up with some hilarious and talented introverted nerds who can truly crack you up and bring you into the fold.

Thoughts on how to find such a group..
... A lot of trial and error. Yes, difficult for the socially anxious, I know first hand.
... Word of mouth from someone you trust (sufficiently).

 

[Mangoose]

It's a group by group basis, but generally speaking acting should be kept to an amount fit for flavor, not gameplay. I've been in and spectated enough games to know, with empiracle evidence, the more players act out their characters, the more unhinged, weird and ideological they are as people.

IMO that depends what you mean by "acting."

I mean.. are you talking the performance of acting versus the choice of how your character acts towards other characters.

The point of "role-playing" is to play the role of an individual - In other words, you must play someone with principles, beliefs, talents, flaws, quirks, etc. Your "acting" means the actions you choose based on the personality of the role you took.

Remember, characters are not skin-deep. Seriously, do you ever realize how much more stereotyped Elves or ANY race are in fantasy than any blacks or whatever race are stereotyped in reality? Now I'm not talking about morals - I was just using that as rhetorical effect - but the point is, you should be acting out your individual character.

That you should be acting by taking appropriate actions of all kinds, not just how you talk, not just how you walk, but also how you treat people, whether you decide to swindle someone or not, how kill-y you are, how you would solve a quest.

That is what it means to role play.

Edit: It's action, not acting, that defines who a character is.

Edit 2: And this goes for way more subjects than mere TRPG acting. I mean.. politicians lol.

 

[AdolfSatan]

As a player, only in a tongue-in-cheek manner; DMing occasionally to illustrate an NPCs gimmick, usually over-the-top. Not even in the nerdiest groups did I ever find someone acting seriously, but last time I played TT was like… 10? 15? years ago, so the panorama might have changed.

 

[That_Scumbag]

I don't do it, but I don't mind it if it is low key or the player is skillful at it. "Skillful" includes not overdoing it. That goes for me as a player. As a GM, I sometimes do accents or speech patterns if they fit the character, e.g. I will have slightly slurred speech when speaking as a drunkard mayor.