When watching other people DM games of Dungeons & Dragons on video, like Rhykker of Dungeons & Drogans, or Chris Perkins on YouTube, I can't help but notice that these DM do something I don't: Voice acting. They make NPCs come alive by speaking in different voices, or with funny accents. And I'm wondering how important that is for a role-playing game.

I simply can't do accents. That is for the simple reason that my current D&D campaign is in French, and French is my third language. I'm far from perfect in French, and the only heavy accent I speak it in is my own. I'd be happy if I was able to speak French without accent, never mind in an assumed one. For similar reasons I don't want to bother with funny voices. So the only thing I do for NPCs is have certain mannerisms, like one guy frequently saying "excellent, excellent!". I also have NPC portraits I put in a little photo holder in front of the DM screen so the players remember who they are talking with.

If you played pen & paper roleplaying games as a DM or player, was voice acting used at the table? How important do you think it is to characterize NPCs?