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I recently came across the idea of a psychological gesture from Justin Alexander of the Alexandrian. This is a technique created by Michael Chekhov where actors use a physical action to capture and express their character’s main emotional or psychological state (Alexander himself is a classically trained actor). I’ve been trying it out a bit, and it’s fun and really helps me get in character quickly.
I came up with 50 (almost) psychological gestures for a range of NPCs based on species, class, alignment, and profession. Between them, there’s probably something for almost every NPC you can come up with. But if you want to see more psychological gestures for tabaxi, warforged, vampires or what have you, say the word!
Full disclosure: I used Chat GPT to assist me with this, although the majority were my own ideas. (Chat GPT’s suggestions were frankly a bit of a mixed bag.)
Species
Dwarf: a clenched fist held over the heart.
Classes
Cleric: hold your hands together, then open upwards as if channeling divine light.
Alignments
Lawful Good: sit bolt upright, one hand over heart
NPCs
Acolyte: clasp your hands together in prayer and lower your eyes slightly.
This just a sample! For nearly 50 more gesture like this follow this link and subscribe.