Dan & Paul discuss tips for embodying a character in body and voice when playing D&D at the table. When we compare ourselves to well-known D&D performers, what are simple simple tricks anyone can use, even if we aren't trained actors?
Acting involves a broad range of skills, including a well-developed imagination, emotional facility, physical expressivity, vocal projection, clarity of speech, and the ability to interpret drama. Acting also demands an ability to employ dialects, accents, improvisation, observation and emulation, mime, and stage combat. Many actors train at length in specialist programs or colleges to develop these skills. The vast majority of professional actors have undergone extensive training. Actors and actresses will often have many instructors and teachers for a full range of training involving singing, scene-work, audition techniques, and acting for camera.
One of the first known actors was an ancient Greek called Thespis of Icaria in Athens. Writing two centuries after the event, Aristotle in his Poetics (c. 335 BCE) suggests that Thespis stepped out of the dithyrambic chorus and addressed it as a separate character. Before Thespis, the chorus narrated (for example, "Dionysus did this, Dionysus said"). When Thespis stepped out from the chorus, he spoke as if he were the character (for example, "I am Dionysus, I did this"). To distinguish between these different modes of storytelling—enactment and narration—Aristotle uses the terms "mimesis" (via enactment) and "diegesis" (via narration). From Thespis' name derives the word "thespian".
This description uses material from the Wikipedia article "Acting", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
Jobs in D&D | Gainful Employment for Adventurers | Wandering DMs S06 E19
Skill Systems | Cunning à la Carte | Wandering DMs S06 E18
Rats! | …and Other Vermin in D&D | Wandering DMs S06 E17
Mothers in D&D | Moms in Myth | Wandering DMs S06 E16
Player Secrets in D&D | Achieving a Satisfying Dramatic Reveal | Wandering DMs S06 E15
Matt Finch | Swords & Wizardry Expanded! | Wandering DMs S06 E14
Michael Moorcock | Fantasy Master Chats | Wandering DMs S06 E13
Mistakes in Original D&D | Critiques & Corrections | Wandering DMs S06 E12
Our D&D House Con 2024 | Playtesting Our Dungeons | Wandering DMs S06 E11
Irish Myths in D&D | Feats and Faeries | Wandering DMs S06 E10
How to Run a D&D One Shot | Tips and Tricks for Single Session Play | Wandering DMs S06 E09
Love in D&D | Roleplaying Romance Respectfully | Wandering DMs S06 E07
Year of the Dragon | Dungeons & Dragons at 50 | Wandering DMs S06 E06
What Do You Need to Play Original D&D? | Recommended Equipment | Wandering DMs S06 E05
Anachronisms in D&D | Where Fantasy Meets History | Wandering DMs S06 E04
Ice Age Animals | Cold School D&D | Wandering DMs S06 E03
Original D&D Adventures | Jaquays Legacy | Wandering DMs S06 E02
RPG Form Factors | Examining the Shape of the Text | Wandering DMs S06 E01
5th Year Anniversary | 2023 Year in Review | Wandering DMs S05 E40
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Survival Horror Podcast
Classic Gaming Brothers
The Danger Club Podcast
Critical Role
Space Cats Peace Turtles