Already a qualifying Patreon member? Refresh to access this content.
An interesting fact about the show that would be fun to go over, is that EVERY bit of magic you see in the show is a published DND spell. ‘Silence’, ‘Sunlight’, ‘Skywriting’, ‘Holy Weapon’- even Scanlon healing Keyleth I’m pretty sure was ‘Healing Word’? Or whatever the bard equivalent is, I forget. (They have a tiny bit of healing spells.)
But everything that happens in the show happened in the campaign- Keyleth ‘dying’ was an actual thing that happened. All the failed saves to be controlled by Sylas, the acid pit, the betrayal by Cassandra- all the BIG plot beats are canon to the campaign. For instance every time Percy’s gun fails to shoot, it’s a mechanic called a ‘misfire’ specific to his class, where he rolls too low and the gun has to spend time being fixed before he can try again.
Backstory to the show also: they originally started playing for Liam’s (Vax’s player) birthday, because they were all friends in the VA industry, and Liam requested Matt (the DM) to run a Pathfinders tabletop game for them! They ended up switching the campaign to DND5e instead somewhere around level 6 or so I think, and Matt made Percy’s class up from scratch since it didn’t exist in the DND 5e rulebook despite existing in the Pathfinder rulebook. Sometime after that they started streaming the campaign because people showed interest, and sometime after THAT they started posting to youtube. So there’s no “session one” recording as far as I know! The campaign recordings start some time when they’re in Emon, after like level 8 or 9 or something.
ALSO: I don’t think you guys would enjoy watching the campaign. It is VERY long and tedious, although a lot of people enjoy leaving it on in the background for noise while they work. I admit tt is VERY VERY cool to see the big plot points get hit in real time- for instance when the party is gathered in the grand Hall in episode one of the show, and the King of Emon and his council are discussing dignitaries, they mention the Briarwoods from Whitestone. NONE of the other players at the table knew about the Briarwoods or Percy’s backstory, but watching Taliesan’s (Percy’s player) reaction to the name drop is insane. The information he reveals to the rest of the party happens JUST like it does in the animated show, over the course of the dignitary dinner, and the traveling etc.
But the show is VERY long and tedious and I think it wouldn’t be practical for you guys to watch, and there’s a lot of filler discussion in between big plot beats that wouldn’t give you guys much to react to unless you’re big into tabletop mechanics.
INSTEAD, watch some comparison videos discussing the spells in the show, the class features the characters use, or comparing the IRL DND session to the plot beats that happen in the show. You will be ASTONISHED at how much is exactly identical to the show it’s insane. And you won’t get bogged down by the nitty gritty mechanics.
Generally speaking, everything that happens to a player character BEFORE the campaign starts is up to the player, as long as it’s approved by the DM, since that’s all backstory. Once the game starts though, it’s all up to the DM (though they might warn the player in advance to get consent from them if something really crazy might happen to their character).
Some DMs might involve the players with the world building as well from time to time, especially if it’s relevant to the character.
Fool’s Gold by Dingo Doodles on Youtube is another fun low-time-involvement D&D thing to look into- hers are animatics rather than full blown cartoons, but her stories- starting with how her character basically ended the world via karaoke- are very engaging nonetheless and another good look at how unhinged a D&D campaign can be (in a good way.)
I am so thankful for Critical Role getting me into Dungeons and Dragons. I got to meet with a group semi-regularly and while I appreciated my time with the D&D System, I much prefer to use the Pathfinder 2nd Edition System because many of our complaints and “Homebrew” fixes are found in Pathfinder. Homebrew simply means unofficial and usually made up by the host of the Game.
Glad Y’all got to experience the wonderful first season of the show so even if You don’t check out Pathfinder, D&D is still a good enough point. The Critical Role crew are even making their own system called Daggerheart.
You are pathetic for letting a little spoiler like a name or an opening stop you from watching the show or even considering it as an act that could happen for others it’s equal to reading a book and reading a chapter titled “the death of the king” the damn author wanted you to see it otherwise it wouldn’t have been made
So a theory but she doesn’t have to be a vampire think bigger stronger and older
So back when we first saw the dragon breath attack you saw the twin rivers meet then when Lady Briarwood attack at the capital she did a breath attack to “curse” pike and there was a twin river a necrotic magic meeting on her chocker possible meaning she’s a Draco litch which is THE if not THE strongest named monster a Draco litch who has like 8/14 breath attack plus like 1 or 2 he made not confirmed but going off of visuals which they had to re make and recontextualize magic and how it’s used by others
If you guys haven’t already you could check out castlevania on Netflix. They coming out with a new series which I think it’s a spin-off. Or you could check a series called fog hill of the five element. It’s a Chinese animated series and it just finished its second season.
so the origin books happen before the series to answer that, to answer what happened with ashley johnson, she was a main character on the show blind spot so her schedule was all over the place so she would skype in to be able to play with the group. If you wanna watch the original campaign you start on ep 24 – 38 of critical role C1. keep in mind each ep is 3-4 hours long so it is a time commitment, but in my opinion is well worth it.
There’s a bunch of good videos comparing the scenes in the show to the moments they’re referencing in game at their table! Others have mentioned it, but it’d be a good way to get a grasp on the comparison without watching hours upon hours of content.
I would love to see y’all react to the D&D movie 😀
I’m sure I’ve already said it like twenty times (sorry I’m just very excited) but I definitely can’t be the only one who wants to see y’all’s reactions to parts of the actual campaign as well if you check any out. I’d love to see if you’re still as hyped about it seeing the rolls and hearing the table talk vs just seeing that all condensed into a streamlined story
I am so happy that you guys are finally watching this. Just so you know, season 2 is even better if you can believe it. Here is a great video you guys can watch:
YOU SHOULD TOTALLY WATCH THE DND MOVIE!! Also, as a promotional thing, certain cinemas had fancy D20 Popcorn boxes as collectors items which were super cool! (I never got one ;-;)
You ABSOLUTELY should watch the Dungeons and Dragons movie.
It’s enjoyable at any level of D&D familiarity. My wife loved it, and she barely knows anything about D&D.
If you guys want to watch more cool DnD stuff I suggest the DnD: Honor Among Thieves movie. Its by no means a perfect DnD movie but its the best one out there (not that it was a high bar to clear).
Ok so the funny thing is that no one in Vox Machina knew that Orthox was still in the gun. But Sam Reigel being the genius he is cast Friend on Percy and asked him for his gun. Talisen Jaffe (Percy;s player) said that he would never in his right mind would give his gun to Scanlan. So Sam had to roll a persuasion check and he got a Natural 20.
The show Ashley (Pike) was filming was called Blind Spot, in the lovm show the character is actually there more than she ever was in the campaign which I love, and anytime she was there they framed it as Pike astral projecting from wherever she was at the time. And the origin books im pretty sure show how the group met. In the campaign they started live streaming it like in the middle of what used to be a home game, so they never showed how they met. And you don’t see how they met in the show either. There’s another set of orgin novels where it’s like their backstories or something so avoid those I guess. And they have books for the campaign 2 characters so I’d avoid that.
I’m so hyped! I also would love to see you guys react to the campaign podcast. They are awesome people and it’s awesome seeing it unfold. The Dnd movie would be dope too! Have a great day guys!
The end of episode 12 struck me cold… I felt that I had watched the scene in the campaign and wondered why it seemed familiar. Then just as Urel finished his announcement I remembered and instantly had flashbacks to what was coming….. then had to wait a year as that’s how it ended
As soon as they got called to hear Uriel’s speech, I started freaking out lol part of me knew they were gonna cliffhang on the dragons coming, but when it actually started happening I was like “oh God, oh God, oh no, it’s happening. Ahhhhhhhhh”
If you end up watching Campaign 1 of them playing at the table, you’ll need to get through some stuff… like old mics, 10years ago cameras/ ads, players that are no longer with the company… and so forth. Not to say it isn’t worth it, but there is a bridge you’ll need to cross. Someone more knowledgeable than I am probably can tell you better episodes to start, but I always just watch all of these kinds of things so I don’t miss anything minor.
I knew how S1 was going to end because I’d already caught up with the campaign and those dragons still left me breathless!
S2 is going to be soo fun to watch with you guys!
I can’t wait for S3 and Campaign 2 to finish as well! I started on Campaign 2 and cannot wait to see them animated!
The Critical Role team have been going to the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes. I think a few of them were literally at one last week?
If someone wants to skip entirely seeing Orion, the player who left, ep 27 is I believe where to start, when they are approaching Whitestone.
If someone wants to pick up after the Briarwood Arc in the campaign, ep 36 is the post-Briarwood celebration ep of funtimes.
I like the earlier episodes well enough for the most part, as noted the earliest are REALLY rough for sound, when I rewatch I tend to start at ep 16, “Enter Vasselheim” because there’s some guest characters soon after/in that arc that I am incredibly fond of.
I mean didn’t they raise the 2mill to make the show in a week and then took like 3-5 years makes sense they would drop then in chunks
Same as you knew how it ends gets me ever time but I started on c3 after seeing Scanlan player commit to a bit so hard it spaned years and campaigns also his drink gags with gas can also got me hooked
An interesting fact about the show that would be fun to go over, is that EVERY bit of magic you see in the show is a published DND spell. ‘Silence’, ‘Sunlight’, ‘Skywriting’, ‘Holy Weapon’- even Scanlon healing Keyleth I’m pretty sure was ‘Healing Word’? Or whatever the bard equivalent is, I forget. (They have a tiny bit of healing spells.)
But everything that happens in the show happened in the campaign- Keyleth ‘dying’ was an actual thing that happened. All the failed saves to be controlled by Sylas, the acid pit, the betrayal by Cassandra- all the BIG plot beats are canon to the campaign. For instance every time Percy’s gun fails to shoot, it’s a mechanic called a ‘misfire’ specific to his class, where he rolls too low and the gun has to spend time being fixed before he can try again.
Backstory to the show also: they originally started playing for Liam’s (Vax’s player) birthday, because they were all friends in the VA industry, and Liam requested Matt (the DM) to run a Pathfinders tabletop game for them! They ended up switching the campaign to DND5e instead somewhere around level 6 or so I think, and Matt made Percy’s class up from scratch since it didn’t exist in the DND 5e rulebook despite existing in the Pathfinder rulebook. Sometime after that they started streaming the campaign because people showed interest, and sometime after THAT they started posting to youtube. So there’s no “session one” recording as far as I know! The campaign recordings start some time when they’re in Emon, after like level 8 or 9 or something.
ALSO: I don’t think you guys would enjoy watching the campaign. It is VERY long and tedious, although a lot of people enjoy leaving it on in the background for noise while they work. I admit tt is VERY VERY cool to see the big plot points get hit in real time- for instance when the party is gathered in the grand Hall in episode one of the show, and the King of Emon and his council are discussing dignitaries, they mention the Briarwoods from Whitestone. NONE of the other players at the table knew about the Briarwoods or Percy’s backstory, but watching Taliesan’s (Percy’s player) reaction to the name drop is insane. The information he reveals to the rest of the party happens JUST like it does in the animated show, over the course of the dignitary dinner, and the traveling etc.
But the show is VERY long and tedious and I think it wouldn’t be practical for you guys to watch, and there’s a lot of filler discussion in between big plot beats that wouldn’t give you guys much to react to unless you’re big into tabletop mechanics.
INSTEAD, watch some comparison videos discussing the spells in the show, the class features the characters use, or comparing the IRL DND session to the plot beats that happen in the show. You will be ASTONISHED at how much is exactly identical to the show it’s insane. And you won’t get bogged down by the nitty gritty mechanics.
Generally speaking, everything that happens to a player character BEFORE the campaign starts is up to the player, as long as it’s approved by the DM, since that’s all backstory. Once the game starts though, it’s all up to the DM (though they might warn the player in advance to get consent from them if something really crazy might happen to their character).
Some DMs might involve the players with the world building as well from time to time, especially if it’s relevant to the character.
Fool’s Gold by Dingo Doodles on Youtube is another fun low-time-involvement D&D thing to look into- hers are animatics rather than full blown cartoons, but her stories- starting with how her character basically ended the world via karaoke- are very engaging nonetheless and another good look at how unhinged a D&D campaign can be (in a good way.)
After watching Vox Machina it makes me want to buy Balders Gate.
I think most of Ashley Johnson’s (Pike’s VA) absences are due to her role in Blindspot on NBC.
I am so thankful for Critical Role getting me into Dungeons and Dragons. I got to meet with a group semi-regularly and while I appreciated my time with the D&D System, I much prefer to use the Pathfinder 2nd Edition System because many of our complaints and “Homebrew” fixes are found in Pathfinder. Homebrew simply means unofficial and usually made up by the host of the Game.
Glad Y’all got to experience the wonderful first season of the show so even if You don’t check out Pathfinder, D&D is still a good enough point. The Critical Role crew are even making their own system called Daggerheart.
Glad you guys enjoyed this show. Hope we get season 2 quick
Like the amount of time and rewrites they had to do for this show for the lore nothing is a spoiler and nothing is done with out a reason
You are pathetic for letting a little spoiler like a name or an opening stop you from watching the show or even considering it as an act that could happen for others it’s equal to reading a book and reading a chapter titled “the death of the king” the damn author wanted you to see it otherwise it wouldn’t have been made
So a theory but she doesn’t have to be a vampire think bigger stronger and older
So back when we first saw the dragon breath attack you saw the twin rivers meet then when Lady Briarwood attack at the capital she did a breath attack to “curse” pike and there was a twin river a necrotic magic meeting on her chocker possible meaning she’s a Draco litch which is THE if not THE strongest named monster a Draco litch who has like 8/14 breath attack plus like 1 or 2 he made not confirmed but going off of visuals which they had to re make and recontextualize magic and how it’s used by others
Correct me if in wrong but Vox Machina supposed how How have 5 seasons or more?
Y’all should react to Smiling Friends its a quick watch 9 episode’s and also very fun show has that gumball different adventures feel
If you guys haven’t already you could check out castlevania on Netflix. They coming out with a new series which I think it’s a spin-off. Or you could check a series called fog hill of the five element. It’s a Chinese animated series and it just finished its second season.
so the origin books happen before the series to answer that, to answer what happened with ashley johnson, she was a main character on the show blind spot so her schedule was all over the place so she would skype in to be able to play with the group. If you wanna watch the original campaign you start on ep 24 – 38 of critical role C1. keep in mind each ep is 3-4 hours long so it is a time commitment, but in my opinion is well worth it.
There’s a bunch of good videos comparing the scenes in the show to the moments they’re referencing in game at their table! Others have mentioned it, but it’d be a good way to get a grasp on the comparison without watching hours upon hours of content.
I would love to see y’all react to the D&D movie 😀
I’m sure I’ve already said it like twenty times (sorry I’m just very excited) but I definitely can’t be the only one who wants to see y’all’s reactions to parts of the actual campaign as well if you check any out. I’d love to see if you’re still as hyped about it seeing the rolls and hearing the table talk vs just seeing that all condensed into a streamlined story
I am so happy that you guys are finally watching this. Just so you know, season 2 is even better if you can believe it. Here is a great video you guys can watch:
https://youtu.be/mHfXAXM4O3E?si=osLZT4UmuPM0Do3g
It’s the first Critical Role opening when they all cosplayed as their characters. No spoilers but a fun watch. Love you guys x
YOU SHOULD TOTALLY WATCH THE DND MOVIE!! Also, as a promotional thing, certain cinemas had fancy D20 Popcorn boxes as collectors items which were super cool! (I never got one ;-;)
all the books are before they started live stream. or the characters back story
You ABSOLUTELY should watch the Dungeons and Dragons movie.
It’s enjoyable at any level of D&D familiarity. My wife loved it, and she barely knows anything about D&D.
If you guys want to watch more cool DnD stuff I suggest the DnD: Honor Among Thieves movie. Its by no means a perfect DnD movie but its the best one out there (not that it was a high bar to clear).
Definitely a b movie or so bad it’s good like death note la
No way Boom called a Dragon small fry.
Grand scheme he’s right
He said something so controversial….
but yet… so true
Ideas you say? *glances towards She S3 and Castlevania*
So Matt actually confirmed that if Percy had killed Delilah another name would have just appeared on the gun. It would never stop.
Ok so the funny thing is that no one in Vox Machina knew that Orthox was still in the gun. But Sam Reigel being the genius he is cast Friend on Percy and asked him for his gun. Talisen Jaffe (Percy;s player) said that he would never in his right mind would give his gun to Scanlan. So Sam had to roll a persuasion check and he got a Natural 20.
In my head he gave him the gun because he’s like if I do this he’ll try and hit on my sister again when I’m not looking
The show Ashley (Pike) was filming was called Blind Spot, in the lovm show the character is actually there more than she ever was in the campaign which I love, and anytime she was there they framed it as Pike astral projecting from wherever she was at the time. And the origin books im pretty sure show how the group met. In the campaign they started live streaming it like in the middle of what used to be a home game, so they never showed how they met. And you don’t see how they met in the show either. There’s another set of orgin novels where it’s like their backstories or something so avoid those I guess. And they have books for the campaign 2 characters so I’d avoid that.
“I would never use a Mac” I hear, as I watch on my Mac laptop
I’m so hyped! I also would love to see you guys react to the campaign podcast. They are awesome people and it’s awesome seeing it unfold. The Dnd movie would be dope too! Have a great day guys!
yes yes yes! I would love to see them react to even just scene comparison vids or something! And the D&D movie as well
The end of episode 12 struck me cold… I felt that I had watched the scene in the campaign and wondered why it seemed familiar. Then just as Urel finished his announcement I remembered and instantly had flashbacks to what was coming….. then had to wait a year as that’s how it ended
As soon as they got called to hear Uriel’s speech, I started freaking out lol part of me knew they were gonna cliffhang on the dragons coming, but when it actually started happening I was like “oh God, oh God, oh no, it’s happening. Ahhhhhhhhh”
If you end up watching Campaign 1 of them playing at the table, you’ll need to get through some stuff… like old mics, 10years ago cameras/ ads, players that are no longer with the company… and so forth. Not to say it isn’t worth it, but there is a bridge you’ll need to cross. Someone more knowledgeable than I am probably can tell you better episodes to start, but I always just watch all of these kinds of things so I don’t miss anything minor.
I knew how S1 was going to end because I’d already caught up with the campaign and those dragons still left me breathless!
S2 is going to be soo fun to watch with you guys!
I can’t wait for S3 and Campaign 2 to finish as well! I started on Campaign 2 and cannot wait to see them animated!
The Critical Role team have been going to the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes. I think a few of them were literally at one last week?
If someone wants to skip entirely seeing Orion, the player who left, ep 27 is I believe where to start, when they are approaching Whitestone.
If someone wants to pick up after the Briarwood Arc in the campaign, ep 36 is the post-Briarwood celebration ep of funtimes.
I like the earlier episodes well enough for the most part, as noted the earliest are REALLY rough for sound, when I rewatch I tend to start at ep 16, “Enter Vasselheim” because there’s some guest characters soon after/in that arc that I am incredibly fond of.
Oh ALSO I think the episodes came out in 3 episode bunches, so at least it wasn’t one a week.
I mean didn’t they raise the 2mill to make the show in a week and then took like 3-5 years makes sense they would drop then in chunks
Same as you knew how it ends gets me ever time but I started on c3 after seeing Scanlan player commit to a bit so hard it spaned years and campaigns also his drink gags with gas can also got me hooked