Jason Cordova and crew: Im terrible at dialogue as the monsters and the BBEG. How do I add that extra something to make combat more cinematic and fulfilling?
Jason Cordova and crew: Im terrible at dialogue as the monsters and the BBEG.
Jason Cordova and crew: Im terrible at dialogue as the monsters and the BBEG.
A few thoughts.
Think a little on the NPCs background. Are they going to have a particular way of talking?
Don’t worry about pausing to think when reacting to the players.
You can start with just describing what the NPC has said if exact language eludes you in the moment.
A few thoughts.
Think a little on the NPCs background. Are they going to have a particular way of talking?
Don’t worry about pausing to think when reacting to the players.
You can start with just describing what the NPC has said if exact language eludes you in the moment.
I played Jason Lutes funnels and totally blanked on any dialogue when they fought against this Dogman chieftain. But I realized that talking as the bad guy is my weakest skill.
I played Jason Lutes funnels and totally blanked on any dialogue when they fought against this Dogman chieftain. But I realized that talking as the bad guy is my weakest skill.
You’re putting too much pressure on yourself. Maybe a good way to start would be to imitate the bad guy speaking in a tongue other than common! 🙂 Have him point threateningly and stomp. Maybe speak slow and loud as if that will make it easier for the players to understand him. LOL.
You’re putting too much pressure on yourself. Maybe a good way to start would be to imitate the bad guy speaking in a tongue other than common! 🙂 Have him point threateningly and stomp. Maybe speak slow and loud as if that will make it easier for the players to understand him. LOL.
Hahahahaha Ray Otus again with the gold!
Hahahahaha Ray Otus again with the gold!
Very good advice Ray! I’m using that the next time in stumped.
Very good advice Ray! I’m using that the next time in stumped.
When I prep NPCs I want to have some personality in the game, I do a couple of things: 1) find a reference from pop culture I can lean on in terms of how I play them and 2) think about their motivations. Once I get to the table, I just kind of get into my zen GM space and just let things flow from there. I don’t think about it much beyond that.
I haven’t played with you yet, Andrew, so tell me if I’m wrong, but for most people, I think it’s less a problem of what to say and more a problem of giving yourself permission to be loose, unshackled and vulnerable in front of your players. I find good dialogue and good narration comes from kind of letting everything around you just fall away and being really present in the scene, if that makes sense.
When I prep NPCs I want to have some personality in the game, I do a couple of things: 1) find a reference from pop culture I can lean on in terms of how I play them and 2) think about their motivations. Once I get to the table, I just kind of get into my zen GM space and just let things flow from there. I don’t think about it much beyond that.
I haven’t played with you yet, Andrew, so tell me if I’m wrong, but for most people, I think it’s less a problem of what to say and more a problem of giving yourself permission to be loose, unshackled and vulnerable in front of your players. I find good dialogue and good narration comes from kind of letting everything around you just fall away and being really present in the scene, if that makes sense.
Here are some tricks that work for me:
Come up with the voice first. You don’t necessarily have to use the voice all the time, or at all, but having one in mind will give you a base to work from at the table.
Remember that Dungeon World (which I assume is what you’re GMing) is based on D&D, and D&D is goofy as all hell. You villains can be nuanced and frighteningly competent, and they should be… sometimes. However, you are absolutely playing within the spirit of the media D&D – and, by proxy, DW – was birthed from when you ham it up like crazy. Sometimes the evil wizard who wants to bond with the god-soul trapped in the Sword of Varkir doesn’t want to do that so he can resurrect his long-lost love. Sometimes he wants it because UNLIMITED POWAAAAAAH, and as long as you chew some scenery and kill some minions for failing you and whatnot, you’ll be just fine. When you’re stuck, just ask yourself, “What would Tim Curry do?”
On that same note, when you can’t think of anything better, use straight-up genre cliches. The players want a goodly portion of in-genre moments, so give it to them. If the PCs succeed at kicking down the door to the Lich Queen’s throne room, and you find yourself struggling with what to say, have her crook a bony finger at them and go, “GUARDS! SEIZE THOSE IMPUDENT FOOLS!”
If you need your bad guy to deliver certain lines, write them out prior to the session. If they stop being relevant, put them in your back pocket for later. You can always rewrite them to fit the situation.
Finally, remember that all you have to prep is what the villain wants right now. You can come up with the character’s ultimate motive later. As Vincent Baker says in Apocalypse World, the point of prep is to give you interesting stuff to say during a session. Don’t prep more than what you need right now.
EDIT: Oh, also? If you can’t think of the next thing to say, make long pauses a character trait.
Here are some tricks that work for me:
Come up with the voice first. You don’t necessarily have to use the voice all the time, or at all, but having one in mind will give you a base to work from at the table.
Remember that Dungeon World (which I assume is what you’re GMing) is based on D&D, and D&D is goofy as all hell. You villains can be nuanced and frighteningly competent, and they should be… sometimes. However, you are absolutely playing within the spirit of the media D&D – and, by proxy, DW – was birthed from when you ham it up like crazy. Sometimes the evil wizard who wants to bond with the god-soul trapped in the Sword of Varkir doesn’t want to do that so he can resurrect his long-lost love. Sometimes he wants it because UNLIMITED POWAAAAAAH, and as long as you chew some scenery and kill some minions for failing you and whatnot, you’ll be just fine. When you’re stuck, just ask yourself, “What would Tim Curry do?”
On that same note, when you can’t think of anything better, use straight-up genre cliches. The players want a goodly portion of in-genre moments, so give it to them. If the PCs succeed at kicking down the door to the Lich Queen’s throne room, and you find yourself struggling with what to say, have her crook a bony finger at them and go, “GUARDS! SEIZE THOSE IMPUDENT FOOLS!”
If you need your bad guy to deliver certain lines, write them out prior to the session. If they stop being relevant, put them in your back pocket for later. You can always rewrite them to fit the situation.
Finally, remember that all you have to prep is what the villain wants right now. You can come up with the character’s ultimate motive later. As Vincent Baker says in Apocalypse World, the point of prep is to give you interesting stuff to say during a session. Don’t prep more than what you need right now.
EDIT: Oh, also? If you can’t think of the next thing to say, make long pauses a character trait.
Here’s something that I say all the time when I’m running games: “But the character said it much cooler/scarier than I just did.”
Here’s something that I say all the time when I’m running games: “But the character said it much cooler/scarier than I just did.”
Sometimes I will have the monster oddly know something about the character’s past or family. It’s very unsettling to have a monster say something like, “I wonder how your sister Irene is doing since the wedding.” Or “I bet you were never this rude to the duke!” Then don’t give out any more info; let the players figure out how the hell the monster knows about them.
Sometimes I will have the monster oddly know something about the character’s past or family. It’s very unsettling to have a monster say something like, “I wonder how your sister Irene is doing since the wedding.” Or “I bet you were never this rude to the duke!” Then don’t give out any more info; let the players figure out how the hell the monster knows about them.
Jason Cordova thanks for the insight on your process.
I wouldn’t say that my problem comes from feeling silly or vulnerable. I think my problem with this area of GMing is two fold. After reading all these responses I think my first problem is that I haven’t prepped enough before by taking a second before sitting at the table and actually try to share my head space with the BBEG. I find that I can embody other NPCs just fine, but the second thing for me to work on is embodying the mean, cinical, conniving, or just confrontational nature of the bbeg. It may be though, exactly was Jason Cordova is saying, in that I am feeling too shackled to LET myself BE the bad guy.
Future plan:
1) write down 2-3 verbal moves or phrases for the BBEG to reference in the heat of battle/during his dying breath
2) prepare myself to embody potentially negative and confrontational emotions
What do you guys think?
Jason Cordova thanks for the insight on your process.
I wouldn’t say that my problem comes from feeling silly or vulnerable. I think my problem with this area of GMing is two fold. After reading all these responses I think my first problem is that I haven’t prepped enough before by taking a second before sitting at the table and actually try to share my head space with the BBEG. I find that I can embody other NPCs just fine, but the second thing for me to work on is embodying the mean, cinical, conniving, or just confrontational nature of the bbeg. It may be though, exactly was Jason Cordova is saying, in that I am feeling too shackled to LET myself BE the bad guy.
Future plan:
1) write down 2-3 verbal moves or phrases for the BBEG to reference in the heat of battle/during his dying breath
2) prepare myself to embody potentially negative and confrontational emotions
What do you guys think?
Definitly. And add a quirk or tick. Something outrageously blatant. It will give something memorable for the players to recall 7 sessions later.
Definitly. And add a quirk or tick. Something outrageously blatant. It will give something memorable for the players to recall 7 sessions later.
Wright Johnson great advice. Im making my WWTCD? bracelet right now.
Wright Johnson great advice. Im making my WWTCD? bracelet right now.
One of my favorite (and most memorable) recurring villains in a game was literally a ripoff. An orc named Bane who wore a metal collar around the lower half of his face to hide the torture scars from when he was a slave/gladiator. He talked like Bane from the Dark Knight Rises movie (I even had a plastic cup we dubbed “The Bane Cup”). Instead of venom making him stronger, he was the chosen of an orc god of rage, so he hulked out when he needed some extra power. He was a favorite of my players and even ended up helping them take down a greater evil by the end of the campaign.
So basically, like most have said, find a character from something you like (or even combine multiple characters) to create something you think you would enjoy playing. Then you will already be more likely to know what you want to say when the boss battle inevitably comes into play.
One of my favorite (and most memorable) recurring villains in a game was literally a ripoff. An orc named Bane who wore a metal collar around the lower half of his face to hide the torture scars from when he was a slave/gladiator. He talked like Bane from the Dark Knight Rises movie (I even had a plastic cup we dubbed “The Bane Cup”). Instead of venom making him stronger, he was the chosen of an orc god of rage, so he hulked out when he needed some extra power. He was a favorite of my players and even ended up helping them take down a greater evil by the end of the campaign.
So basically, like most have said, find a character from something you like (or even combine multiple characters) to create something you think you would enjoy playing. Then you will already be more likely to know what you want to say when the boss battle inevitably comes into play.