Players Corner: A Brand New Resource for D&D Players

Players Corner is a resource for the players at the table, where you can chime in to the Nerdarchy community. Players Corner is a collaborative article to discuss matters affecting players of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. Many D&D products and resources are targeted towards Dungeon Masters, often created by DMs. I will be approaching topics from the player’s perspective to talk about player content, character options and go over what kind of things players can get up to in their downtime to keep the progress of their characters moving forward.

Whether you’re the Game Master or a player, play more games! [Art by Olie Boldador – Click image for more of his work]

Welcome to Players Corner 

Q: What are some tools D&D players are using to keep connected?

Keeping connected to a number of other players and DMs to derive inspiration from or to bounce ideas off of and discuss things related to playing D&D is what players are doing and what better way to do that than with Nerdarchy? Please be sure to check out Nerdarchy across all social media platforms like our not-so-secret Facebook group and try our Discord channel with several features that give great access for all of you folks to mingle and share Ideas as well as find games if you are looking to for a new group.

Q: Do you call upon a mix of inspirations to flesh out your character other than what is in the D&D Players Handbook?

Books

Reading a book is surprisingly similar to playing D&D. While doing both, evocative ideas are put forward leaving our minds to run away with thought. We are able to imagine and craft intricate worlds out of words. These memories are perfect to plunder and take what you will when crafting a character concept.

Films

Fantasy and adventure genres are the obvious choice, full of strong visual cues and heroes facing daunting odds. Dramas provide a glimpse at more troubled roles with deep personal issues. Implementing these can be a powerful tool. Showing humanism behind your character makes them that much more realistic and is useful in the creation of their background and as fodder for the DM. Comedies are as important as tragedy. The dark and gloom that often goes along with the game leaves a calling for moments of levity, you can count on at least one member in the party who is able to ease people’s worries and bring about laughter.

Images

Not an artist? Not a problem. Creating your own character art is awesome and something I enjoy with a passion and will be discussing on a future installment of Players Corner. Today all you need to know is there is plenty of concept art out there and if you are patient and creative in your searches you will be able to find something to suit your needs. Having a clear portrayal of your character in mind makes it that much simpler to role play them. Note that if you have the time and interest try going a step further and think about ,“What equipment does my character have and what does it look like?” It does not take long to get a nice folder worked up on your character for reference and to keep adding to.

Q: What are some resources D&D players draw on to influence choices in bringing a character to life?

Speech Patterns and Accents

The easiest and the hardest way to bring your character to life can be these two aspects of speech. Speech patterns are easy and everyone has one; it includes your cadence, dictation, annunciation, and delivery including the use of pauses. Altering these can be all it takes to set the character’s voice apart from your own. You may also want to play with the volume or pitch of your voice. Your speed of speech or the amount of air you use — all of these things you can try to do with your own voice without employing any accents. You will see how many different results you can achieve merely by changing a few of these.

Accents can be difficult to master and are not for everyone. I assure you they are fun. Do not be afraid to try one and do not be worried if it does not go well the first time; it can be helpful to practice first ahead of time. Think of one that stands out to you and fits with the character you are trying to portray, you will find your instinct pays off. Other players will end up commenting about how much they like your character and how they stick out. [NERDITOR’S NOTE: Check out the International Dialects of English website for a huge resource of accents. IDEA’s archives has audio clips of hundreds of accents from around the world and is used by professional actors.]

Accents have to do with adopting sounds that differ from your own voice. Practice ones that stand out in your memory. It deals with the placement of your tongue and mouth and the pronunciation of certain syllables as well as back again to the cadence and delivery of the voice. You can find several voice instructors on YouTube who have videos on how to adopt many different regional and national accents.

Mixing all of these techniques together and mashing up different sounds can allow you to make an accent of your own that does not copy, but borrows from anything. This can make for a voice that is perfectly suited for a fantasy setting and impossible to pin down.

Research and historical accounts

Taking real world concepts from different cultures and periods of time and adopting certain aspects and altering others can give an unconventional spin on a character of your own design whose roots are tied to appropriate and plausible connections. This is easily done by drawing on work that has already been done for you: the world’s history. 

Songs

A song lyric is a wonderful place to start building a character. Songs contain verbal statements not found in everyday conversation. Next time listening to a song, classic rock works well, or any kind of music you enjoy. Listen closely to the words. Are there any statements that are otherworldly or something that not the average person would say or claim? Take a note of that, it may be just the building block you needed for your character.

Please comment below with any topics you would like to discuss in the future. I hope you enjoyed reading the first installment of Players Corner. Look forward to next time when we will tackle more subjects from the player’s perspective. Give us at Nerdarchy some of your very own answers and replies to the questions and comments above. Keep the discussion gong and don’t forget to sign up for Nerdarchy the News Letter to get even more great gaming tips as well as learn how to game with Nerdarchy.

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