Vocal processing of non-human characters portrayed by game masters (GMs) in tabletop role playing games (TTRPGs) : What physical attributes of a creature can be perceived in different processing?

Sammanfattning: Voices reveal information about the speaker, such as their age, what they are feeling and how they look. Vocal modulation is sometimes used by role-players, mostly game masters, in a tabletop role-playing context, to portray non-playable characters. This study investigated whether signal processing software could be used to enhance the vocal qualities of the speaker so that they represent different creatures with certain attributes. A listening test was conducted in which 24 participants evaluated different processings for physical attributes related to Dungeons & Dragons depiction of the creatures orc and elf with the purpose of finding design approaches for a vocal modulation software. The results showed that none of the processings were perceived to be very much like the suggested creature, but it was found that some processings were more effective than others to create desirable attributes. It was also shown that the same processings does not work equally well for different voice inputs.