As a Brit, I was nervous for you when you said this was going to be UK accents, but you knocked it out of the park, clearly know what you're talking about. Also, great shout on Taskmaster, Cats does Countdown & Would I Lie To You! Didn't realise anyone outside of our little country watched them!

@beladan

2 жыл бұрын

QI would be added to my list!

@Taking20

2 жыл бұрын

QI is great too.

@fakjbf3129

2 жыл бұрын

I'm American and I watch QI and WILTY all the time. I'll occasionally watch clips from Cats does Countdown but I've not watched any full episodes, and I haven't really seen much from Taskmaster but have been meaning to give it a shot.

@es1135

2 жыл бұрын

Taskmaster is AMAZING!

For those who don’t want to try accents, remember that a simple change in pitch/tone can massively set one character apart from another!

@Merlewhitefire

2 жыл бұрын

His last video was about that, you should check it out.

@idiom4037

2 жыл бұрын

Not true. They will still complain.

@spencerchristensen7695

2 жыл бұрын

@@idiom4037 sorry your groups ass kekw

@Luzarioth

2 жыл бұрын

Also speach patterns. Having one NPC speak fast and another with slower (Orly style), one with who pauses halfway through a sentence and one with a bunch of filling words can make them feel really different even with the same voice used.

4 years of AP and Honors English and high school, and they never even broke down language as much as you have. This is great!

German & American English native speaker here. A few tips if you want to do a German inspired accent in English: - "w" at the beginning of a word is pronounced more like a soft "v" as in valley - a soft "G" as in "German" sounds like "ch" as in chair - glottal "G" are formed a bit further back in the throat than in English, but not so far that it becomes a "k" sound. -"th" is similar to "z" as in zoo -"r" is usually rolled, as seen in the video If you want to get a good feel for it, listen to Christoph Waltz in many of his English speaking roles.

@Vinkhol

29 күн бұрын

Years later, this is a great description of the physical movements and helps me a lot thank you!

My group challenged me to try a New Zealand accent with my rogue. It's been challenging and fun, but I find I slip into slightly British about halfway through sessions. It works though, and it's been a lot of fun with my group!

@travisterry2200

2 жыл бұрын

As a dm, I had a character with a Russian accent another with more Romanian. I found I couldn't swap between them. I could only do 1 of them a day.

@MrHikitori

2 жыл бұрын

That's understandable, but super awesome that you can do both! I am a bit worried about keeping up with accents if I ever play in more than 1 game, or work up the courage to try to dm.

@vickieden1973

2 жыл бұрын

Speaking as a New Zealander, the trick is to shorten and mute your vowel sounds! :) "Richard Smith spilled the milk" becomes "Ruchud Smuth spelt the mulk". Also, everything is "-as" (not as in "ass" but as in "as in"). "Thet sweet-as sound is Kiwi-as, bro." ;)

@MrHikitori

2 жыл бұрын

@@vickieden1973 Thank you for the tips! I'll practice them while we are taking a short break, and hopefully surprise everyone when we get back together.

@wrath-2187

5 ай бұрын

to my knowledge it doesnt need to be perfect, i did a german accent in a space pirate episodic campaign (wild episodic one shots, allowing our DM to write a fantastical story about anything, with continuity and nuance, its fun!) and although it was quite heavy at times, i did it confidently and made it sound non-mocking of the german language, atleast i think so, one of my friends were less impressed with it but it was fun and lighthearted.

I tend to pick up some accents simply by hearing them for long enough. Watching excellent Netflix programs like Derry Girls will develop the Northern Ireland accent, whereas Shetland refined how I do a Scottish (Edinburgh) accent. I also watch Scotland History Tours on KZread, and Bruce is a great resource for not only picking up the accent, but TEACHING you the accent. Hell, my wife will say things like "You've only been watching this for 30 minutes and you're already naturalized. WTF?" Also, I mix and match cultures. For instance, giving my Hobgoblins the West Africa (Kenyan) accent, while making their nomenclature Chinese presents a unique blend of what you say and how you say it. I also over-accentuated how consonants were pronounced. Ts, Ks, Rs and so on were never skipped. Everything was spoken with a very open-mouth way, like you were trying to intentionally be lip-read. This had the dramatic effect of giving the Khanate a very serious attitude and approach. You know that if they said anything, they meant it. There was zero subtlety. When I played a Drow, I used a middle-eastern/Isreali accent blended with mixing my verb tense. I felt that Undercommon would switch sentence structure like how we compare French and English. (Adjective then Noun in English, Noun then Adjective in French) This translated, in my head, to mixing up tenses. Zmey would not say "Have you eaten lunch?". He would say "You are eating done, yes?" His verbs were always present tense. "I am being angry. You are provoking The Dragon, which is being foolish, cur." Most accents in real life are a lot more subtle than how many try to portray them too. Consider "pulling back" a little when trying them out. Practice saying common things you see in a new accent. Describe what your eating or what's in the fridge. Not everyone needs to go full ham and develop a new language (Which I did. I have my own Orc dialect. Let's face it, I have a problem), but if you do, consider the mouth structure of the speaker. Do they have tusks, fangs, pointed teeth, large noses (or none at all) or any other factor that may affect pronunciation. Do they go back and forth between languages? (Like perhaps a Half Elf saying some words in Elvish and the rest in Common. I do this with my Half-Orcs, speaking in a blend of Common and Orc.) Lastly, does a culture accompany language with body language/gestures? We saw this The Mandolorian/Boba Fett when they were talking with Tuskens. This comes from indigenous cultures, and is an excellent example of how to make conversations more than a simple exchange of words. I can totally see Wood Elf cultures having a sign-language all their own to aid in quiet hunting, or Gnolls using hand signs to plan ambushes. Sea Elves, Sahaughin, and other aquatic cultures likely have a similar method for communicating where words cannot be heard. EDIT: I forgot one more thing. Consider if a particular culture doesn't have a word in their language. Or a word that has no equivalent in Common. For instance, my Red Sun Khanate Hobgoblins have no word for "love". Therefore, when one of my PCs married into the Khanate, their vow to each other was "I belong to you" instead of "I love you". They wear no wedding rings. Their palms are tied together around a dagger and the blade is drawn, cutting both palms. Showing your scarred palm like you were saying "stop" is a way to display your marital status and proclaim that "you belong".

@tedm3081

2 жыл бұрын

My favorite npc voice to date was based on Uncle Colm, the playera loved it!

Dude this breakdown is pure gold. Breaking down specific letter use is so helpful.

I do try accents, but they always end up somewhere around Somerset or Devon. When I ran a Call of Cthulhu, I skipped a step and just set it up around the West Country.

These voice videos have been absolutely great, and as a Texican, you speak Spanish at least as good as I do (I forget ladder and neighbor all the time). Your insight is great, and your attitude has been getting me hyped for games since your Starfinder coverage; thanks for the great content and work!

There's also the flatness of vowels - contrast northern English 'tasskmasster' with RP 'tarskmarster'.

I'm looking forward to being the DM going into a town for the 1st time this coming Wed. I really appreciate these 2 videos. You have been a HUGE help. Thank you.

That opening was really clear and helpful, and the principal can apply anywhere. I know a lot of impressionists and people who do different accents use key phrases to get into the groove

Fantastic video and I really appreciate you sort of defining your target audience. It helps immensely the way you've broken things down for a newbie like me, assuming a similar foundation/starting point (American).

Literally the best RPG accent guide I've seen, great job!

Absolutely fascinating breakdown, I love this stuff

Loved these two videos. Please do more like these.

one of your best videos yet. thank you

This was awesome. I love doing voices. I have several accents and characters that I do and I use all the tricks you've talked about even though I didn't know it lol. Great video. Love the channel.

I have been trying to broaden my repertoire of accents in my games (mainly using Eastern European/Russian, Southern American, Creole American, and Mid-western American accents) and this video has had me repeating these phrases in every accent imaginable for the last hour. Thank you for another brilliant video series!

Very good! I study speech and language in college, and you did a really great job of explaining the process without getting too complex! Glottal stops and flaps (Ts sounding like fast D's) are pretty common in a lot of accents. Fanatic.

Thank you for making this, Cody! I've gotten pretty good at an Irish accent already (mostly reserved for Samuel Saegrell (high pitch, fast, gruff), owner of Sorcerous Steelcraft, the magic shop that has a storefront in every major city) and I can't wait to use these tips and tricks to make the NPCs in my campaign feel more unique!

I had a wild magic sorcerer in one game, and at the start of it I tried to give her a german accent. It varied SO MUCH that I decided that it was an aspect of her wild magic origins and gave her a different voice almost every time she talked. It seemed to work well enough and I really enjoyed playing as her during that campaign.

Spending that much time stressing to be respectful earned my like.

Very well done! Thank you for what you do.

"You knoow nuthin', Jon Snoow" - Hull/Yorkshire Accent (Northern) Good video, and a thumbs up from a Brit! Happy to see the focus on the gameplay and what an accent can bring, and useful techniques on getting those differences and key letters/phrases to get into it.

This video was a pleasure to watch!

I'm from Alabama. One of my favorite characters was a knowledge domain cleric with a Minnesota accent. I had to practice for 20 minutes before each session to get into character. Loved it.

YOU are awesome! thank you so, so much for those two videos!!

Awesome video! Thanks, Cody!

I think you handled that really well, informative and helpful, and I also appreciate that you're bringing awareness of how accents and stereotypes can be used to mock and harm, but I agree on your assessment. It's really nice to see the game expanding and also setting up frameworks that will let everyone feel comfortable at more tables, it does make a difference; I remember what it felt like trying to get into D&D about 15 years ago and it was... not welcoming.

Lovely, lovely video. Thank you for being you :) you're killing it out here

Another awesome video Cody, thank you very much for these! I'm going to start up a Spy Game campaign shortly that will take the party to various parts of the current world so I will certainly use the last two videos as training for the localized accents/dialects!

Just started dm'ing my first campaign. This is perfect timing

This was very enlightening. Ty

One of the associate pastors at my church was born and raised in Liverpool - it's been very helpful to figure out how people talk in the Liverpool/northern English accent by hearing him talk!

As a Londoner living in the middle of Essex, I can honestly say that you nailed some of these accents! Essex people do really sound like that at times 😂 To add to the point you made about mixing up accents: people with blended accents do exist in real life! I personally have a mostly RP accent with a hint of East London/Essex, and I remember an old friend of mine who: - was born in Wales - grew up in Scotland - spent most of his adult life in Cockney-speaking East London and - married a Yorkshire Woman and moved in with her up north … and he ended up with an accent that was an unholy concoction of all of those accents! To most ears he was cockney through and through, but if you listened closely you could pick out elements of each accent. So yeah, if your accent goes a few places in-game, don’t worry about it :3

@Taking20

2 жыл бұрын

Hahaha thanks for the reassurance

@alexperkins6405

2 жыл бұрын

I almost spit out my drink reading this.

Your Essex accent is too good! Love it

Great job! I appreciated that you started a little nervous! I'm currently working on an Aussie accent. It's haa-da than I thought it would be. I keep slipping into the other accents I'm already comfortable with. Anyway, your Scottish accent is a real treasure!! Thank you for the ideas and encouragement.

I love this advice! I just wanted to clarify the rhotic /r/ omission though. In RP, the rhotic /r/ is dropped in syllable final environments, but not syllable initial environments. So the /r/ in car and mother is dropped, but not the /r/ in rose or regal.

While I definitely understand the performance anxiety that comes with using accents like this for the first time, I've got to say yours are great for an admitted non-expert! As a linguist, I think the one thing I would add would be a suggestion to anyone who wants to get deeper into accents. That suggestion would be to start by learning the basics of phonetics, in particular how speech sounds are classified. It's very difficult to figure out how to pronounce a sound that doesn't occur in your native language. Native English speakers struggle with the French r for this reason - it's a type of sound we just don't produce. You can listen to examples for hours and hours and still come up empty. But once you know it's a uvular fricative, and once you know what that means, it can be like cracking a code. Very briefly, consonants are primarily defined by two things: manner of articulation and place of articulation. Manner of articulation describes what happens to the airflow as you produce the sound - does it get blocked entirely like with p, t, k? Or does it just get restricted, like with sh or f? Place of articulation is all about where the constriction of the airflow occurs, like behind the teeth (t) or at the lips (p). For instance, both d and sh have the same place of articulation (for most speakers), but different manners of articulation. Vowels have their own descriptions too! I can't cover it all here, but knowing a bit of the basics of articulatory phonetics helps a lot in figuring out how to use your mouth to produce a specific sound.

Adding physicality can really help deliver lines. It obviously helps the most when you can actually be seen, but even if it's just to help you get in the right headspace it can be very valuable. Leaning aggressively/defensively, fidgeting as you're delivering a nervous line, moving your hands rapidly (IE, talking with your hands) when you're excited (positively or not), looking visually uncomfortable during a moment, etc.. It's a very simple act, but it can bring a lot of life to a character and scene.

I'm starting a campaign this week and I'm hoping to really immerse my players with some regional accents, which is something I didn't do very much in previous games. This video and the previous one couldn't have come at a better time!

Well done. This took some guts. :D I went to the theater several times in high school as part of the AP English curriculum. I never understood the first 15-30 minutes of any Shakespeare play, but you’re totally right: a switch flipped and I started understanding. Completely weird.

Just as an additional resource for anyone curious, look into the IDEA archives, a repository of examples of accents throughout the world for the express purpose of practicing accents. It has recordings of people with those accents reading a story curated to display the different mouth shapes and sounds you’ll hear in English so you have examples of how that accent sounds doing pretty much anything. Just something I didn’t see mentioned in the video that is a godsend for linguist nerds

Fantastic and unique video. More like these!

I just like going REAL big and as far over the top as possible. Lets really ham it up, thats the real fun of this game.

Great video!

Thanks Cody!

Wow, what a great video! Thanks!

Great video! Even as a Brit, I'm terrible at most British accents but I never let that stop me unleashing them at the table as a DM. I think if you acknowledge in advance that an accent you're using is terrible then you can laugh at yourself along with your players, and everyone has a better time for it. I find it also helps if you have an actor in mind whose accent you can immitate, as it gives you a starting point.

Love this video, thank you

This video has great advice for adopting accents. You can approximate any accent by finding a small number (3-5) of letters (or more accurately phonemes) that are pronounced differently to your own accent. The more common the sound, or the more pronounced the difference, the more mileage you will get from the change, so focus on the obvious differences.

Lessee... in game accents I use a lot in the current campaign: - party are currently on an Eastern European-flavoured steppe, so the tribesmen they talk to have Russian/Eastern European accents - party's home town is a very cosmopolitan fantasy Venice - they've learned to spot the genuine locals by the Italian accent - two of the party are from the nearby desert - one player does a very good Middle Eastern accent - still trying to figure out an accent for the big empire to the West :D

@lucaslawrence761

2 жыл бұрын

Big empire in the west? Definitely a southern accent.

@kaiceecrane3884

2 жыл бұрын

@@lucaslawrence761 ?

YES TASKMASTER!!! Thanks for this video, truly helpful

I was fortunate being born with a good ear for accents and it has served me well onstage AND at the table. I have the usual go-to accents (a few British accents, Scottish, Irish, French German) but ones that I love but don't use too often (unless I'm playing something like Gangbusters) is my East Coast and Midwest accents like New York (aka Noo Yawk), Boston, Minnesota, Texas, Southern, etc. Also, I try to use any excuse to do a Cajun accent as it's hard and I really want to get it down (mixing French and Southern is not easy).

Listening to the accent is a great tip. I listen to a Scottish futbol podcast to help with my kobold artificer. I also always use a trigger phrase to help get me into character. A sentence I can speak near perfectly with an accent

@hawktalon7890

7 күн бұрын

Yep, trigger/touchstone words or phrases are always helpful.

Nice breakdown I like using accents in my games

As someone with a Geordie accent, the best tip I can give you is to lean into your vowels HARD. The Geordie nation has fully embraced Y as a vowel too. This word doesn't have a Y in it? It does now.

Nice job!

As a semiprofessional voice actor and forever-DM, yes to all of this. As a multilingual, I also pepper this with French-, Slavic-, Indian-, and African-inspired voices. I particularly enjoy mixing accents (Frussianch is a recurring favorite), and my players seem to enjoy trying to guess what I had in mind! Keep it light and fun, would be my advice.

I want to do accents so bad but I struggle so much thanks for this video

@Taking20

2 жыл бұрын

Just keep working on them. Talk to yourself when driving.

This is a criminally underviewed video - you did a fantastic job with those UK accents for a non-native! I've seen professional actors, including some rather big names, do FAR worse! One thing I'd throw in here than can be fun is picking a character from film or TV and taking their mannerisms to throw in alongside an accent - 'the beadle' from Sweeney Todd (the judge's minion) is a great one for a slimy, smarmy Londoner character with a twist, especially if you start using the way he moves and smiles... Also, if you want a fun show for received pronunciation and ripping mannerisms like I said above - try Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister. Its brilliant and has some fantastic 'posh' characters :)

im following your advice but ill be back for part 2

@JesseCuoi

2 жыл бұрын

okay im back. Jesus christ its a masterclass man, thank you so much for your autism.

Great tips.

This was excellent. I'd play in one of these games anytime

Coming from a background of amateur voice work. I'm so fortunate to have a variety of friends in Europe and other places so I get exposed regularly to their particular dialects and accents (and I speak three languages myself, all with very different pronunciations of particular sounds). I'm starting a new campaign in a couple weeks, and I'm so excited to bring out some creative NPC voices and really bring them to life and get my players in the game.

I'm from the UK & I love hearing Americans do UK accents, it's hilarious in a good way. Well done. I also think you've done an excellent job technically as well and I shall be using your techniques to do other accents (I have a comedy "medium-posh" British accent)

I have a friend who played an old retired sea captain tortle with a George Takei kind of voice. It was freeking EPIC!!

As a man who drifts between Cockney and Queens English, I appreciated this video. Look to Yorkshire, Liverpool, and Birmingham if you'd like more of a challenge with accents.

4:24 you also hear the lack of 't' in some NY accents. My friend Thomas says "bu'en" instead of "button" 11:50 Lucky the Leprechaun! 12:35 One axiom of the voice acting world is that an imperfect impression is its own character. It doesn't matter if you can't master an accent! As long as your characters are memorable for the players, you have succeeded. 13:10 One of the tips I give about catchphrases, is they don't even need to be full phrases. Think of Billy bob Thornton - his catchphrases was basically "mmhmmm." Meanwhile Squiggy's catchphrase was "hello" said in that certain unique way.

I'm from Philly and we have a very interesting accent according to people not from the area but I play a mercy monk with a Mediterranean accent. I at first was nervous but as I do it more my group loves it

Quick tip as someone who takes dialect classes in school, placement placement placement!!! Even just keeping your placement consistent can really help with your dialect. Placement is where your teeth and tongue are as you speak. For RT or High British or just a posh accent, make sure to pucker your lips at first while you practice because it gets you used to the placement. Of course vowel and consonant sounds are important, but without correct placement you’re kind of screwed because it just won’t sounds right. Also please please please over annunciate. It might seem stupid but for some accents like high British where every character who speaks it is posh and fancy, you want to annunciate those consonant sounds as much as possible to sound pretentious.

Miss you!

Welp... time to add this video to my playlist of voice acting tips. I am terrible at any accent from the British Isles. After listening to this I was actually able to pull off a decent Scottish-type accent that didn't slip straight into Texan.

"Work on your volume control" ADHD: **nO**

As an englishman this is very impressive

Ok I haven't watched roll20 for a while and coming back like. He looks like a dad omg

I tried learning rolled rs for a middle eastern accent once and I suck so hard at them, so jealous of your ability to lmao

This is an amazing video and your spanish pronounciation was way better than you give it credit for. The scottish accent helped alot. Thank you for this video :)

@johnplaysgames3120

Жыл бұрын

If you still find you're struggling at all with doing a Scottish accent, try watching the sketch comedy show "Burnistoun." I originally binge-watched it randomly on Netflix one weekend and, by the end of my binge-watching session, I had trouble NOT speaking with a Scottish accent. I think they removed at least the first series from Netflix but you can find series 1-3 on YT now and, man, talk about immersing yourself in the accent! Plus you'll pick up a lot of fun slang for your characters to use.

@flareinc7413

Жыл бұрын

@@johnplaysgames3120 Thanks for the tip. Will definitely check it out :)

I would absolutely love to see you do a Yorkshire accent

I think one of the most important things to remember is that real world accents are INSPIRATION for an accent in a fantasy world. My Dragonborn character has an accent inspired by a fusion of French and Israeli accents. That's how Dragonborn from his area sound. There is no France or Israel in his world, so he literally can't have either of those accents.

Not a D&D player or DM, but I have been working on a LARP type character. I'm developing her look, both feminine and more adventurous, I created her name. I'm working on developing her background story and her voice/accent. I will watch this again and take notes. As for my go-to accent, I attempt Scottish, but I don't know if it's any good. My great great grandma was a Douglas from Scotland.

Might I suggest looking into the Northerner accent of English? When it comes to T you drop the stuff around it eg: "go to the farm" becomes "go ta farm"

I totally get the French and German thing! I've basically figured out French (no surprise, R is a major component) but every time I try to do German accents I'll accidentally throw in some kind of vaguely French pronunciation and Woops! I'm French now. I did the same with Irish and Scottish accents for a bit, so I'm hopeful it'll get better with practice. Best of luck in your pursuits of western Europe!

I can literally see Essex from where I live, and you do a better Essex accent than me lol

wooooooow as a Brit I'm impressed - some good accents in there, certainly better than the "A spota tea" I tend to hear like an old lady from the 1800s. But... those were the easy british accents tbh - now do liverpudlian brummie and scouse XD (I even struggle with them hahaha) Good job though, and I actually learnt something too about my own accent and how to do other british accents better so thanks (never gna learn to roll my rs though, it's impossible).

As a native Brit, and one from the West Country in particular, this video was really well done and your breakdown of the accents was spot on! Always good when Americans can name areas of the UK that aren't London and Scotland 😛

12:17 Taliesin Jaffe must feel so called out by that statement

Good video as usual, Cody. I'm honestly curious if anyone but (native) anglophones do this accent thing while playing. For me ,as a Brazilian, it would make absolutely no sense to imitate other accents from other parts of Brazil or from other lusophone countries. Not at all.

I'm playing in an online game with some lads from Scotland (I'm from the Midwest USA), and the accents are wild. One is doing an Irish accent, one is doing Jamaican, one is doing Cockney, and I'm trying my best Gilbert Gottfried :)

God i mix up voices so much haha. I usually sort it out by the end but i've had sessions where I was in the position to have a 3-way conversation with the players and all 3 people had different accents. go go big, diverse city. lol

When you say Liverpool, I think The Beatles. Showing my age, I know. Good, comprehensive video. Thank you.

I stole my tiefling rogue's accent directly from Alex Kingston as River Song. Works perfectly with her.

A little bit I would add is something I took from an interview about the first Highlander movie. Part of the reason they hired Christopher Lambert for the role of Connor MacLeod and Sean Connery for Ramirez is because they *didn't* belong to the cultures they were supposed to originate from, with the intent behind it being that their accents made them stand out, as if they're speaking in an older manner, more removed from modern times. Connery's accent didn't sound anything like a Spaniard or Egyptian, and stood out in the day in which he was killed. Lambert's accent didn't sound anything like the modern Scottish accent by the present day scenes of the movie. It was a simple and quick audio clue that these men did not fit in. Inspired by that, I have an NPC who is a centuries old human(due to magic shenanigans) that I intentionally have speak in a strange mixing of accents to exaggerate that he's a man out of time.

I with I knew which dialect of great Britain I fall back on mostly. French is one I lean into (I try to do German but it bleeds to french)

Me, a Wisconsinite who also knows a little bit of spanish, understood at least two of those (the first I didn't quite hear, and I'm too lazy to rewind to work it out in my brainy head)

The only thing i would add to the last bit is to remember that not all vocal acting is in the words! I had a bitch of a character (think of the worse kind of strict teacher) and she natually developed this quiet teeth sucking click thing that she would do when she was letting an argument go, but was still *pissed*/thought you were stupid. It was a great thing to add in that took very little effort or attention away from the other characters and yet it often got, at least, a quiet "oh. Shit" from someone else every time.

I laughed when you said to "look at your player's camera boxes." I and my players are still in college, so we meet in person; I thought you were talking about people's heads.

Oof, I'm scared of doing accents! I mainly use tones of voice and speaking cadence, and word choice. So I can have a quick-speaking character who uses words like "I guess" and "Sorta" or I can have a slow-speaking character who says "I suppose" and "Somewhat". As a player, I had a character who used a lot of filler words, and another who spoke purposefully and with a lot of thought. Watching your video, though, has me considering injecting some accents into the game I DM. All my players do it, so I should be brave and do it too!

for West Country watch Doc Martin on Tubi.