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Critical Role |OT| Is It Thursday Yet?
- Thread starter Dream Machine
- Start date
- Video/Streaming OT
Even before Oban died, Matt stated this past episode that he was no longer fiend. So the previous rules no longer applied even before his punished form.
Nah theres no way hes coming back after being turned into that, wouldnt be much a punishment.
That only holds true to the hierachy of the hells, which tharizdun sure aint a part of.
It's straight out of the Uk'otoa school of management. Punish the underling who has done the most for you the second they stop moving forward.
Dude probably don't care he literally just wants all existence to end.
Haha, yeah I don't understand that. Uk'otoa waited 500-900+ years to get out of prison and finally one of his "followers" removes 2 out of 3 seals in like 2-3 weeks. Yet he can't even wait a little bit of time for any possible future progression and immediately burns his asset.
Well with Obann we have no idea how many times he has failed the Chained Oblivion. Apparently it was one too many....
Obann has to have failed at least once before when he first lost Yasha. It still feels like a bit of an overreaction, but who knows how far this cult extends. Maybe in the end Obann was more a pawn then anything else. Obann didn't even seem to know that the Angel was a front, so he might have been low on the pecking order. I have to imagine the cultists who know exactly who they're serving will be much scarier.
I sincerely doubt that Obann is Tharizdun's only piece in the game. Also, Obann had all the tools. Imagine having a team of 4 immortals and still fucking up. I'd get rid of him too.
I don't know, I still think the immortals weren't strong enough to really properly represent the lore of what they were supposed to be. The End has a good gimmick, but they're all fairly weak that they could be trounced twice by level 10 heroes.
I get what you mean. For being immortal champions that had to be hidden away they seem a little underpowered. I do like that in the end they were just wanted for their immortality though. It is the only thing that made them unique. They were just strong enough to get to the ritual rooms, and they could be used over and over again. As boss fights they were fun, but not the most intimidating things we've seen on the show. Though the Laughing Hand was pretty cool when he first came out, the party just never fought him again until he was weakened.
I wonder if the Inevitable End, if she is free, will try and seek out her Betrayer God? Even if she helps the M9 kill Eldritch Obann, she still is an evil assassin who could cause a lot of chaos if she killed someone like the Bright Queen.
Most of the soldiers/militia/etc aren't level 10+ characters with awesome stats + magical items galore, and part of their biggest threat is their immortality although we have no idea how long it takes for them to regen. Plus, the laughing hand got stronger the more it was sliced. So yeah, these creatures aren't major threats against Vox Machina level adventuring parties, but the problem was that they couldn't be killed so they just had to be sealed. The Inevitable End did seemed underpowered compared to the Laughing Hand, though, but we never really got a good fight with the Laughing Hand fully powered up (party ran or charmed). However, both creatures really should have had at least legendary resistances, although I imagine they didn't have legendary combat actions or they could have killed multiple party members per round...
Yes. I believe Friday will be Twitch and subscriber VOD, and this? Sunday for YouTube.
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Funnn always love the cast getting to play some new characters, and in the world of Exandria! Maybe M9 will get to meet a couple of them in the future.
I feel like the general expectation is that they'll all, except Terry, die horrible deaths within the session. I think that's been Sam's running joke about the situation since early on in this campaign.
I imagine this takes place sometime after their last VM one-shot, though it'll be funny if this is the 3rd or fourth Darrington Brigade, with Sam screaming "Not again!" as they start falling apart.
Despite the one bit crossover, I'm still doubting the streams will cross in the campaign. It seems like Matt dipped into that well in order to bolster the spirits of the players, and now that they're in a better place that door is closed again until they make a real push to force it.
Oh you're right I think that was the concept. That's a shame, I wonder if Sam will be using the new Artificer or stick with his old character sheet.
I still think crossover to C1 is inevitable, and not something that they should shy away from. I don't expect any members of VM to just show up randomly but if they go to the specific locations then they should definitely encounter them. C1 took them all across Exandria and I don't see why C2 wouldn't do the same. Narratively, Vecna was a pretty bad egg, but the Chained Oblivion being unleashed unto the world would be magnitudes worse and having all of VM just not appear would be incredibly strange.
I imagine something must be going down in Tal'Dorei as well. After all, Gatshadow is where Tharizdun fell/was banished, and there must be some tie there with the place still fairly cursed. It may have even gotten worse, like the Savalier Wood, since VM was there.
But again, I think that'll depend on if Matt has a path already staked out there or if the players push to cross that line or not. They ignored Whitestone and didn't travel with Allura to report to the council, who is a running bit for them currently.
With Ashley, and through her Yasha, back though, maybe they'll feel more comfortable making those big moves.
But again, I think that'll depend on if Matt has a path already staked out there or if the players push to cross that line or not. They ignored Whitestone and didn't travel with Allura to report to the council, who is a running bit for them currently.
With Ashley, and through her Yasha, back though, maybe they'll feel more comfortable making those big moves.
I'm curious what the situation will be when the group finally makes it out of the church. The Dynasty was launching a pretty major attack on the capitol, so I doubt that will be resolved in the short time they've been off the streets. Pumat's fight might even have drawn some attention, so they might come out surrounded by Imperial soldiers. Depending on how the city battle goes, and how they explain themselves the M9 might be caught in Imperial politics for a while, plus there is always Travelercon.
The Cardinal lady did mention Vasselheim. I think they were going to steal something from there, or had allies there. Either way, it could be a plot hook for them to go there sometime in the near future. 20 years is a long time, but plenty of C1 characters who aren't VM could be there. I could see that being a major point of intersection for both campaigns.
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made up spoilers for the live show:
Travis will play a joke character who's somehow bluffing about his identity and Liam will play someone edgelordy
It was last night I think. It will air VOD on Friday this week.
Just found a channel that makes dope music interspliced with CR quotes and a general character's theme, it's so good! I've only listened to Fjord's so far, but its fantastic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3_qzIKgoas
I've seen all of these individual clips before but the compilation was needed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ez7v1H-QXTI
send help i'm crying
incl. the all-time classic "not from her perspective"
send help i'm crying
incl. the all-time classic "not from her perspective"
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This was really cool. Some of those Fjord tracks were great. Hope they do some for all the cast.
Laura is great, and her sense of humor will ruin any mine based dungeons Matt ever comes up with.
It was a really good Talks tonight. Lots of interesting insights into Obann and Yasha's dynamic, and what she is feeling at the moment. Seems like there is going to be a lot to unpack for her, and I'm excited to see how it all plays out on in the show. Matt also said what would have happened if Obann got four people to stand in the circles at once, and it really would have been pretty cool.
Also, last week's Pubd Draw was great. I forget that Travis is actually pretty good at drawing, his Fjord came out really well. One of these days I am going to take some time and see if I can draw anything more than some misshapen stick figures.
Also, last week's Pubd Draw was great. I forget that Travis is actually pretty good at drawing, his Fjord came out really well. One of these days I am going to take some time and see if I can draw anything more than some misshapen stick figures.
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Gotta agree timedesk. The Obann / Yasha dynamic they thought through behind the scenes had more depth than I figured they would care to give. I thought Ashley's response to what she would have done if she had actually killed Beau was really interesting.
I'm one of the people here that didn't think she could really come back well, but after to listening to Talks last night I'm intrigued as to how this will play out. Might suck, but at least there's a lot there to play with.
Would have Yasha committed suicide on the spot.
I'm one of the people here that didn't think she could really come back well, but after to listening to Talks last night I'm intrigued as to how this will play out. Might suck, but at least there's a lot there to play with.
Hey guys, another small update from me! I finished watching Episode 21 (aka The One with Mark Hulmes as a Guest Star) of Campaign 2.
I know this is probably far back in the past for most of you, so I'll sort of apologize in advance for commenting on a tiny little thing from over 60 episodes, but... this episode was the one with the infamous (?) "bowlgate". Of course the internet has the tendency to blow some things out of proportion and this is no exception. My two cents: Caleb was in the right. I don't know why the rest of the group (esp. Beau) ganged up on him for being cautious about giving a powerful artifact that could summon a literal evil deity to a black-scaled descendant of a black dragon that belonged to a cult that wanted to find said artifact, and who literally moments ago showed hints of a violent split personality.
What could possibly go wrong, right? And it's not like he was being unreasonable with the demands. I'd be fucking paranoid about such an artifact, too.
But nooooo, Beau had to go all "YOU'RE A DICK DON'T BRING YOUR PAST ISSUES HERE IT'S NOT OUR PROBLEM GIVE IT BACK", which I think it's a bit of a regression from where her character was -I felt- going, to the earlier "not our problem? don't care then" Beau. Whatever. The scene didn't sit right with me but I know it was all for THE DRAMA, just them flexing their acting muscles and stuff. Though I guess Marisha felt the need to make that clear to Liam at the end of the episode, 'cause she literally hugged him and said "aw, I love you!" as if to mend the metaphorical bridge. Maybe she felt she went too far?
Anyway, on a lighter note - RIP Febron, lol. We hardly knew you. Also, great callback from Taliesin ("Salty Pete"... man I loved the Vox Moronica one shots) and Kiri's incredibly adorable. Fucking Matt and his memorable NPCs.
As usual, I'll only be responding to posts that quote this one to minimize the risks of getting spoiled on up-to-date C2 events. Still got a long long way to go :)
I know this is probably far back in the past for most of you, so I'll sort of apologize in advance for commenting on a tiny little thing from over 60 episodes, but... this episode was the one with the infamous (?) "bowlgate". Of course the internet has the tendency to blow some things out of proportion and this is no exception. My two cents: Caleb was in the right. I don't know why the rest of the group (esp. Beau) ganged up on him for being cautious about giving a powerful artifact that could summon a literal evil deity to a black-scaled descendant of a black dragon that belonged to a cult that wanted to find said artifact, and who literally moments ago showed hints of a violent split personality.
What could possibly go wrong, right? And it's not like he was being unreasonable with the demands. I'd be fucking paranoid about such an artifact, too.
But nooooo, Beau had to go all "YOU'RE A DICK DON'T BRING YOUR PAST ISSUES HERE IT'S NOT OUR PROBLEM GIVE IT BACK", which I think it's a bit of a regression from where her character was -I felt- going, to the earlier "not our problem? don't care then" Beau. Whatever. The scene didn't sit right with me but I know it was all for THE DRAMA, just them flexing their acting muscles and stuff. Though I guess Marisha felt the need to make that clear to Liam at the end of the episode, 'cause she literally hugged him and said "aw, I love you!" as if to mend the metaphorical bridge. Maybe she felt she went too far?
Anyway, on a lighter note - RIP Febron, lol. We hardly knew you. Also, great callback from Taliesin ("Salty Pete"... man I loved the Vox Moronica one shots) and Kiri's incredibly adorable. Fucking Matt and his memorable NPCs.
As usual, I'll only be responding to posts that quote this one to minimize the risks of getting spoiled on up-to-date C2 events. Still got a long long way to go :)
I felt both Beau and Fjord made some really stupid arguments against Caleb early in the campaign. Like when they were burgled in Zadash, they had already left huge traces of their breakin so what did it matter if scrolls were taken too. And then bowlgate was really stupid, yeah let's hand over an item that could cause major trouble to a person they literally knew nothing about aside from the fact that they were being played by a guest. Really odd considering what Laura did to a guest character in campaign 1 without repercussion (stole a powerful magic item directly from the guest) but because it was Laura Bailey she got a pass. Maybe they remembered all the fan reddit / Twitter hate from that incident and overreacted to the bowl situation.
Beau really annoyed me early in the campaign with her misguided arguments / attitude but has become my favorite character in the party by far, minor pseudo spoiler - she is going to have some great character development. Fjord has a forgetfulness problem (Travis forgets things all the time) so that is one of the reasons his arguments often make no sense lol. Although I wonder if he sometimes "forgets" things as a running joke.
Some reactions were definitely played up early on as the group was playing around with having these discordant people coming together and learning to cooperate while dealing with all their baggage. Thankfully, most of the time they do well in addressing those conflicts after.
One thing that's been common is a lot of regression from whatever lofty lines they throw out from time to time. So many 'do better', 'be honest', whatever speeches that see them the next week pull the same or even worse BS. All I'll say though is keep sticking through it, and that's it's likely them just getting stuck in a mode and forgetting their intentions from the week+ from last session.
I'm on 29 now on my catch up to my 35 entry, which was through podcast form so I'll have a number of episodes even after that of watching visually for the first time. Been quite a ride seeing all these referenced events and NPCs, as well as the early days of these characters.
cheers for the replies, guys :)
I can totally see why they wouldn't be that consistent week-to-week (esp. because they literally have loads of real life shit to worry about most of the time) but I thought the bowlgate incident was more of "sticking out like a sore thumb" kind of situation, where they acted a bit OoC just because the NPC was played by a guest. Had it been Matt voicing Cali, I think they would've been more receptive to Caleb's misgivings about the situation. Again, it's a random character that they've known for hours at most, that has shown impulsive/violent moments and that descends from a goddamn black dragon - trying to do a Zone of Truth interrogation wouldn't have been an assholish move at all, IMHO.
But anyway, it's really not THAT big of a deal. It bothered me enough to write a couple of posts in a forum, but not enough as to go fighting with other critters or go pester the cast about it. It's a minor thing, really. And I'll take the awkward and growing pains and all that, because I know the character development these guys can reach is fucking stellar. Hell, I got hooked with the low-production-value-and-horrible-audio first episodes of C1 and have never looked back! Stuff like "bowlgate" are dramatic scenes that I can live with, even if I don't really "agree" with them.
And LOL @ Fjord's forgetfulness thing. Hasn't really come up yet (not that I remember... duh :P) but I'll keep an eye on that.
I don't want to re-litigate bowlgate, but that happened when the group was much more chaotic neutral. The concept of unleashing darkness or whatever wasn't really something they were concerned about. And they didn't really have any moral highground considering they were currently working a job for a crime boss.
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I think we learned from the beginning of this campaign that having everyone in the group wanting to be the chaotic neutral loner with a mysterious past makes for a weird dynamic. Even if they did it again next time around, I feel like they would open up sooner.
It definitely felt like everyone went in the hard opposite direction of their VM characters. Everyone went a little too complex for their own good. Which is why Deuce felt like such a breath of fresh air when he came in.
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Last Talks was good. It's rare to get interesting character insight these days because all the players want stuff to play out in game. It just made me more excited for the group dynamic going forward.
I wish Oban had gotten four people into the magic circles, though. Matt's idea for what would have happened would have been super intense.
I wish Oban had gotten four people into the magic circles, though. Matt's idea for what would have happened would have been super intense.
Talks that feature Matt (and usually Ashley) are generally top of the pile. Matt's on point in knowing what he does and doesn't want to divulge without leaving people completely dry, while Ashley never gets enough time in game to where she has to spill some insight. It also helps that Ashley seems to be usually paired with the less rambunctious cast members and is chill enough to keep Travis and Laura from going too chaotic.
Looking forward to seeing what was cooked up for the Darrington Brigade.
Looking forward to seeing what was cooked up for the Darrington Brigade.
Sorry if it's been asked a hundred times but are there any other recommended podcasts / shows I should check out if I'm a huge Critical Role fan?
I've heard good things about High Rollers and Glass Cannon for "traditional" games and Not Another D&D podcast and Adventure Zone for things more on the humourous end of the spectrum.
I've heard good things about High Rollers and Glass Cannon for "traditional" games and Not Another D&D podcast and Adventure Zone for things more on the humourous end of the spectrum.
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The Dungeon Run is another good one in the style of Critical Role. It's a bit different because the conceit is that the group has a magic object that produces random effects which are actually audience participation. People pay to give the players advantage/disadvantage on rolls, as well as a bunch of random positive and negative effects, sort of like the sorcerer's wild magic table. I wasn't sure about it at first, but the DM and cast grew on me over time. There's also a sassy mindflayer puppet that introduces the show and interacts with the audience over the break.
The MCDM game The Chain run by Matthew Colville has an interesting world, but is very much more in the "just watching a regular table of people play D&D" school rather than the more actor and RP focused games like Critical Role and the Dungeon Run. The players have moments of cool rp and some kind of funny moments, but it's not exactly jerking tears or busting guts. I feel like Colville himself has a love or hate personality and affect—I personally run really hot and cold on him just depending on the day—so I'd just recommend watching an episode and seeing what you think.
Colville has session recaps on his youtube where he explains everything that happened in the previous session, and explains his thoughts for how it went from a DM point of view, so that still might be worth it if it seems interesting but the show itself is too slow paced. He also has a youtube channel about "Running the Game" that is pretty interesting a helpful in its own right if you are looking to learn more about the game or getting into playing yourself.
critical role is far and away the best one to me
None of the others give you the dopamine hit like CR. i tried getting into other shows but theyre always lacking in some way. The characters will be cool but the production value will suck, or the production value will be good and the characters suck, or the production value will be good and the characters will be good but the players themselves are grating
CR has it all and nothing compares. Everything else is unfulfilling
None of the others give you the dopamine hit like CR. i tried getting into other shows but theyre always lacking in some way. The characters will be cool but the production value will suck, or the production value will be good and the characters suck, or the production value will be good and the characters will be good but the players themselves are grating
CR has it all and nothing compares. Everything else is unfulfilling
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I personally like Acquisitions Incorporated, too, in addition to the above.
A friend of mine who is obsessed with Critical Role also loves one called Life of the Party. I haven't watched any myself but it's apparently heavy on LGBTQIA+ rep which sounds nice!
A TPK at a live show would kind of be amazing. I kind of want it to happen. I think the only other TPK they've ever had was Liam's Clasp one shot.
Technically every battle royale one-shot is a near-TPK! :D