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The idea of accents is a tricky one, because even while a character might successfully adopt an accept that impacts their speech patterns, most other people will not. So while the dwarf from city X might talk in a completely bizarre manner, every other dwarf speaks normally. Then it becomes a question of *explaining* that accent ICly, and you can't just say, "I'm from City X" because every other dwarf from there isn't using that accent.
Hardcoding it is an option, so some regional accents could be setup, and making it a variable could prove interesting. I think this opens up a can of worms as far as accents go, and all the possibilities surrounding them and languages, but it definitely would be an interesting approach and lead to interesting discussions on how to do this with the code.
Overall the way I look at it now, is to let players do what they want with accents. They can add an enjoyable flair to specific characters, and I think if you can get to the point where people know who you are by the way you speak, that's a solid RP accomplishment.
Another thing related to this is the choice of vocabulary. So instead of speaking oddly and making the sentences appear jumbled or funky to others, consider the words that your character would use. Does your character have a big vocabulary? Simple one? Also think about sentence structure and how "talkative" the character is -- does he speak in short, blunt sentences? does he go on and on with long, flowing sentences? does he like to hear himself talk?
With a few of my characters, I always have standard, repetitive responses to things. So instead of saying, "Yes" one character might always say, "Indeed". It's a simple thing, but can be extrapolated to other words and vocabulary. Think about this for entire sentences as well -- like greetings: ("Hello!" "A pleasure to meet you." "Greetings fellow traveler")
Just some random ideas as *I* tend to ramble on... *smile*
Pleos.
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