Video Game Voice Acting Script · Blacksmith NPC voice lines
Mind the Sparks (Blacksmith NPC)
Blacksmith NPC voice lines for video game voice acting practice: a gruff village smith with greeting, repair, upgrade, refusal, idle, and goodbye barks.
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Length
- 158 words · ~1 min 3 sec
- Skills
- character voice, deadpan delivery, bark variety
- License
- CC BY 4.0
The script
(greeting)Mind the sparks. What have you broken this time?
(first meeting, inspecting the player's sword)New face. Let's see that blade. Hm. Notched at the tip, rust at the guard. You've been using this to open crates, haven't you?
(repair)Leave it with me. A few good strikes and it'll sing again.
(upgrade complete)There. Folded steel, tempered twice. Go swing that at something you don't like.
(not enough materials)I can't make iron out of good intentions. Bring me three ingots and a strip of tanned hide.
(not enough gold)Coin first, friend. The anvil doesn't work for free, and neither do I.
(idle)Forty years at this anvil. She's never once complained. Can't say the same for my back.
(idle)Hear that ring? That's a good weld. A bad one thuds. Remember that, and you'll never get cheated by a smith.
(if the player lingers)You can watch, but stand back. Last apprentice who leaned in lost his eyebrows. They grew back. Mostly.
(goodbye)Go on, then. Bring it back in one piece. Or at least in two.
Script by SceneDub (scenedub.com), CC BY 4.0. Original script drafted with AI assistance and edited by SceneDub; any resemblance to existing characters is coincidental.
Practise it now
The teleprompter scrolls at the speed you set in words per minute. Tick "Record audio while reading" to capture a take; the audio stays in your browser until you download it.
Coaching notes
- Marta doesn't waste words, so neither should you. Land 'Mind the sparks' and 'Coin first, friend' with short, flat downward endings, like a hammer hitting the anvil.
- 'You've been using this to open crates, haven't you?' is a scolding with a twinkle. Let a little amusement in under the gruffness.
- The jokes ('Mostly.' and 'Or at least in two.') work best completely deadpan. Take a beat before each one and don't sell it.
Try it three more ways
- Play Marta as an elderly dwarf smith, slower and gravelly, with a laugh like rocks in a bucket.
- Play her as a young, cocky blacksmith who has just taken over the forge from her mother.
- Play every line as if she's shouting over the roar of the furnace from across the room.
Take it further
More scripts to practise
Frequently asked questions
How long is the "Mind the Sparks (Blacksmith NPC)" script?
158 spoken words, about 1 min 3 sec at a conversational 150 words per minute and 1 min 13 sec at a slower 130 wpm. Your take will vary with pauses and character choices.
Can I use this script in my voice acting demo reel?
Yes. SceneDub's original scripts are licensed CC BY 4.0. You can perform, record, edit, and publish them, including in demo reels, classes, and auditions, as long as you credit "Script by SceneDub (scenedub.com), CC BY 4.0" where you share the recording or the text.
How should I practise this script?
Read it silently once, then perform it with the direction above: gruff, dry, secretly fond of the player, unhurried, ~135 words per minute. Record a take with the teleprompter, listen back, and try one of the alternate reads to stretch your range.