They’ve usually realeased the trailer for the new seasons in december and the season released in January. If they follow the pattern of the past two seasons, we should be getting a trailer in about a week or two, and then the season early next month.
In the wake of Vox Machina, I really want you guys to watch EXU Calamity. It’s a mini series, only 4 episodes although they are dense. A great way to dip your toes into what an actual dnd game looks like, and it’s the best Critical Role content out there. Amazing storytelling, incredibly done. You’ll love it.
dimension 20 is a pretty good DND Campaign Line im currently watching it myself you can find it all on dropout.
also since you like One Piece, Rustages One Piece DND might be good for you Ruff i personally love it.
Honor among theives would be a great reaction. Also for a good fantasy video game released recently I’d check out Baldurs Gate 3. Not only is it a fantastic fantasy story but the game play is also adapted from the current edition of dungeons and dragons. It’s about as close as you can get to experiencing D&D without having to do the work of finding a DM and scheduling 4 to 5 people for hours at a time on a regular basis. It does have a bit of a steep learning curve though D&D is a complex game and having all the mechanics thrown at you without someone experienced to help you along could be overwhelming.
If you want to watch the live show, then I would say watch Campaign 2 of Critical Role. That group is called the Mighty Nein and it is all the same cast from Vox Machina, just playing as new characters. There is very little spoilers in the second campaign as they were trying to establish their world and didn’t want to relay on nostalgia for campaign 1 to keep their show going.
Campaign 3 on the other hand is chock full of spoilers as some of the characters they play have backstories that tie in with Vox Machina. So be careful there lol
As others have said, Baulders Gate 3 is the best DnD game we have gotten in a long time. Super fun and you can really do just about anything you want in that game.
I have super enjoyed watching yalls reaction and can’t wait to see more! I will always be down for more Critical Role stuff you watch as well! Thank you for keeping my boring Sundays entertaining. 😛 lol
Based on your curiosity about how the gameplay went during the live show I would definitely recommend watching the show comparisons. You can see how it happened in gameplay vs how they adapted it to the Vox Machina show. It’s pretty easy to find some examples on youtube if you’re interested.
I still think Critical Role’s “The Nightmare Before Critmas” would be a good non-spoilery one-shot that you guys could check out before investing in any longer mini-campaigns or full campaigns.
But later on down the line for Campaign 1, there was a one-shot that Grog was in called “Jocks Machina” and it has players Paul Wight (AKA Big Show), Joe Manganiello, Travis Willingham (Grog), and Ron Mathews. Don’t watch that one yet though because spoilers, but it was fun.
The new D&D movie is so good its baffling. Please react to that asap lol. I think you guys would enjoy playing Baldur Gates 3 which recently came out and is bonkers amazing, its essentially D&D the game
On a general D&D note, in 5th edition a lot of powerful enemies have a bunch of special abilities tied to their lair; it is VERY dangerous to attack such creatures there.
I am not deeply familiar with those rules or the CR campaign, but I believe the healing and a lot of the other things Umbrasyl does once in the mountain is based on this concept.
I’m using my first comment on this site to ask, please please please watch a video comparing the campaign to the show! It really shows how improv and genuine reactions of the players to events can elevate your understanding and love for the show. RP and improv are integral to DnD in general, it’s not just rolling dice for everything, it’s a group of people coming together to create a story together. Like another commenter suggested, I’d also like to suggest EXU Calamity to show what a general short campaign looks like (also with a lot of production and a general storyline structure, as it is a show), plus Brennan Lee Mulligan is an amazing DM and I gotta recommend D20 whenever I can lol
I should also mention that EXU Calamity is about 20 hours of content with the episode lengths being 4 hours, 4 1/2 hours, 5 1/2 hours, and 6 hours long give or take, but there are breaks in the middle from what I can remember (it’s been a hot minute since I’ve watched them), so y’all know what you’re getting into if you decide to react for content
For computer games locked in on this genre, Baldur’s Gate 3. It is both the most highly reviewed and universally loved game that I have probably ever recall.
The have had 3 campaigns (3rd one still ongoing). Think of a campaign as a multi year game of the same characters. In Critical Role, all campaigns take place in the same world, but at different periods of time. The first campaign was Vox Machina, which started as a home game of friends 2+ years before it was ever streamed on line. The stream, rather than starting over, picked up where they were but added some “catch up” exposition for the viewers. The first two episodes of the animated series tells a short story arc of their home game and then picks up with the Briarwoods, which was streamed.
They have changed the order of some events and where characters were (everyone was in the Fey Realm together in the live play), but the big story beats all happened in the actual campaign. The animated series is truly an adaptation, not a reimagining. Much of the dialog, and many of the best lines, are lifted straight from the live play and what the DM Matt Mercer and the players improv’d on the spot.
Nope. Kaylie’s character is from the campaign. All the characters are from the actual campaign. At least I can’t think of any character that was added just for the show.
I maybe totally wrong but I think you guys are under the impression that the tabletop DnD is all about battles and fighting monsters while the actual story is being more flesh out in the show. World and character building are just as much part of DnD as cool fights. Yes there are characters that get more screentime in the show but most of the story building comes directly from what happened in the campaign.
This episode had a bit of changes made to it from the campaign:
1- Here Scalan kills Umbraysal. In the campaign it was actually Grog who deals the killong blow
2- In the show Mythcarver is OP. It shot a hyperbeam and split a dragon in two. In the actual campaign mythcarver was by far the most useless vestige. I believe Scalan only uses it once in the whole campaign. It has good enough stats but it’s a very bad match for a Bard especially a College of Lore one like Scalan. There should be no scenario where a full spellcaster like a bard should be in melee range of an enemy.
If you want a safe watch, they did a prequel miniseries called EXU Calamity that fleshes out the world a bit, it’s not DMed by Matt Mercer, but the actors for Grog, Scanlan, and Keyleth are all in it! Highly recommend!
So basically how it works is that Sam would have told Matt the backstory of his character. Not necessarily him having a daughter and Matt built of that.
I laughed when one of you guys theorized that the Matron of Ravens would kill Vax and bring him back as undead. There is nothing the Matron of Ravens hates more than the undead. Those who refuse to move on to the next life.
the irony of Vax saying “there is no such thing as luck”, with his character having the feat “lucky” which lets you basically cheat 3 times a day by letting you reroll bad rolls
With Vax accepting the Matron of Raven’s he will soon multiclass and take his first level into Paladin class. Because Paladin’s are so special to me (first ever character that I played was a Paladin) I am going to do a bit of info dump on them.
You might have already heard of Paladin. The goody two shoes knights in shining armor who smite evil in the name of god. But that’s what they used to be. In the earlier editions you had to be a Lawful good character to play as Paladin (not even neutral or chaotic). But with the start of 5th edition (which is what the Vox Machina campaign is based on) DnD started moving away from the stringent character alignment. One of the classes that saw a huge thematic change because of this were Paladin. Previously Paladins powers of smite and healing used to come from the gods they worshipped. They take a Oath to a lawful good god who gave them their powers. That’s why they had to be Lawful Good themselves. Now their powers come from the Oath itself rather than the god. Their belief in their Oath is so strong it grants them powers. This allowed Paladins to be more than just Lawful good. For example you can have a Paladin who took the Oath of Conquest. This Oath is about conquering others for your kingdom. Not necessarily good, in fact it could even be evil but as long as you believed in your Oath and uphold it’s tenents you will have your powers. My first character was a Oath of Glory Paladin who actually despised gods and refused to follow anyone of them. She believed that she was destined for greatness and one day her actions and tales of valor would put her above any god.
Another example would be that if Hman took an Oath of Prudishness by which he would swear to slay anyone who dares make a dirty joke in his prescence. Again an Oath which doesn’t involve a god and is not really necessarily good.
Similarly Vex has taken an Oath to serve the Matron of Ravens and be her champion. Vanquish the dead and help them move onto the afterlife. This is what grants him his powers. If you are wondering what subclass he is, it’s Oath of Vengence Paladin who are willing to do anything to vanquish evil even if it means stooping to it’s level. It’s one of my favourite Paladin subclass.
Please do a reaction to Critical Roles’ moment comparison between their D&D session and their show. I would love to see how you process how works to then later be translated.
You guys should react to Slimecicle’s new Baldur’s Gate 3 video. It’s a DnD video game
They’ve usually realeased the trailer for the new seasons in december and the season released in January. If they follow the pattern of the past two seasons, we should be getting a trailer in about a week or two, and then the season early next month.
You guys should see how Scanlan’s plan happened in the original game
In the wake of Vox Machina, I really want you guys to watch EXU Calamity. It’s a mini series, only 4 episodes although they are dense. A great way to dip your toes into what an actual dnd game looks like, and it’s the best Critical Role content out there. Amazing storytelling, incredibly done. You’ll love it.
I love Vax’s conversation with the Matron. It’s really meaningful and important for the character.
dimension 20 is a pretty good DND Campaign Line im currently watching it myself you can find it all on dropout.
also since you like One Piece, Rustages One Piece DND might be good for you Ruff i personally love it.
Honor among theives would be a great reaction. Also for a good fantasy video game released recently I’d check out Baldurs Gate 3. Not only is it a fantastic fantasy story but the game play is also adapted from the current edition of dungeons and dragons. It’s about as close as you can get to experiencing D&D without having to do the work of finding a DM and scheduling 4 to 5 people for hours at a time on a regular basis. It does have a bit of a steep learning curve though D&D is a complex game and having all the mechanics thrown at you without someone experienced to help you along could be overwhelming.
If you want to watch the live show, then I would say watch Campaign 2 of Critical Role. That group is called the Mighty Nein and it is all the same cast from Vox Machina, just playing as new characters. There is very little spoilers in the second campaign as they were trying to establish their world and didn’t want to relay on nostalgia for campaign 1 to keep their show going.
Campaign 3 on the other hand is chock full of spoilers as some of the characters they play have backstories that tie in with Vox Machina. So be careful there lol
As others have said, Baulders Gate 3 is the best DnD game we have gotten in a long time. Super fun and you can really do just about anything you want in that game.
I have super enjoyed watching yalls reaction and can’t wait to see more! I will always be down for more Critical Role stuff you watch as well! Thank you for keeping my boring Sundays entertaining. 😛 lol
Based on your curiosity about how the gameplay went during the live show I would definitely recommend watching the show comparisons. You can see how it happened in gameplay vs how they adapted it to the Vox Machina show. It’s pretty easy to find some examples on youtube if you’re interested.
I still think Critical Role’s “The Nightmare Before Critmas” would be a good non-spoilery one-shot that you guys could check out before investing in any longer mini-campaigns or full campaigns.
But later on down the line for Campaign 1, there was a one-shot that Grog was in called “Jocks Machina” and it has players Paul Wight (AKA Big Show), Joe Manganiello, Travis Willingham (Grog), and Ron Mathews. Don’t watch that one yet though because spoilers, but it was fun.
The new D&D movie is so good its baffling. Please react to that asap lol. I think you guys would enjoy playing Baldur Gates 3 which recently came out and is bonkers amazing, its essentially D&D the game
D&D Honor among thieves was really good, totally a good watch for you guys.
The lack of news on season 3 might have to do with the strikes. I remember that a few of the cast were participating.
Definitely watch the Dungeons & Dragons movie! It was so good, it’s a damn shame practically no one went to see it in theaters T_T
On a general D&D note, in 5th edition a lot of powerful enemies have a bunch of special abilities tied to their lair; it is VERY dangerous to attack such creatures there.
I am not deeply familiar with those rules or the CR campaign, but I believe the healing and a lot of the other things Umbrasyl does once in the mountain is based on this concept.
I’m using my first comment on this site to ask, please please please watch a video comparing the campaign to the show! It really shows how improv and genuine reactions of the players to events can elevate your understanding and love for the show. RP and improv are integral to DnD in general, it’s not just rolling dice for everything, it’s a group of people coming together to create a story together. Like another commenter suggested, I’d also like to suggest EXU Calamity to show what a general short campaign looks like (also with a lot of production and a general storyline structure, as it is a show), plus Brennan Lee Mulligan is an amazing DM and I gotta recommend D20 whenever I can lol
I should also mention that EXU Calamity is about 20 hours of content with the episode lengths being 4 hours, 4 1/2 hours, 5 1/2 hours, and 6 hours long give or take, but there are breaks in the middle from what I can remember (it’s been a hot minute since I’ve watched them), so y’all know what you’re getting into if you decide to react for content
Calamity is the pinnacle of ttrpg content. Immaculate storytelling, wonderful characters. Humor and heart. It’s perfect.
I really hope they react to the campaign vs show comparisons
For computer games locked in on this genre, Baldur’s Gate 3. It is both the most highly reviewed and universally loved game that I have probably ever recall.
YES PLZ Watchthe dugeon and dragons movie it’s amazing
The have had 3 campaigns (3rd one still ongoing). Think of a campaign as a multi year game of the same characters. In Critical Role, all campaigns take place in the same world, but at different periods of time. The first campaign was Vox Machina, which started as a home game of friends 2+ years before it was ever streamed on line. The stream, rather than starting over, picked up where they were but added some “catch up” exposition for the viewers. The first two episodes of the animated series tells a short story arc of their home game and then picks up with the Briarwoods, which was streamed.
They have changed the order of some events and where characters were (everyone was in the Fey Realm together in the live play), but the big story beats all happened in the actual campaign. The animated series is truly an adaptation, not a reimagining. Much of the dialog, and many of the best lines, are lifted straight from the live play and what the DM Matt Mercer and the players improv’d on the spot.
While you wait for season 3 you guys should watch the dragon prince animated Netflix series its right up your alley.
Nope. Kaylie’s character is from the campaign. All the characters are from the actual campaign. At least I can’t think of any character that was added just for the show.
I maybe totally wrong but I think you guys are under the impression that the tabletop DnD is all about battles and fighting monsters while the actual story is being more flesh out in the show. World and character building are just as much part of DnD as cool fights. Yes there are characters that get more screentime in the show but most of the story building comes directly from what happened in the campaign.
You are in fact wrong
‘Does it even end after that.’
Nope. Thordak is small fry compared to what comes next.
Honestly the mvp of the fight was Keyleth. Without her utility spells they all would be dead.
This episode had a bit of changes made to it from the campaign:
1- Here Scalan kills Umbraysal. In the campaign it was actually Grog who deals the killong blow
2- In the show Mythcarver is OP. It shot a hyperbeam and split a dragon in two. In the actual campaign mythcarver was by far the most useless vestige. I believe Scalan only uses it once in the whole campaign. It has good enough stats but it’s a very bad match for a Bard especially a College of Lore one like Scalan. There should be no scenario where a full spellcaster like a bard should be in melee range of an enemy.
If you want a safe watch, they did a prequel miniseries called EXU Calamity that fleshes out the world a bit, it’s not DMed by Matt Mercer, but the actors for Grog, Scanlan, and Keyleth are all in it! Highly recommend!
And if you are wondering, yes in the actual campaign they did go into the Dragon’s…. hole
So basically how it works is that Sam would have told Matt the backstory of his character. Not necessarily him having a daughter and Matt built of that.
I laughed when one of you guys theorized that the Matron of Ravens would kill Vax and bring him back as undead. There is nothing the Matron of Ravens hates more than the undead. Those who refuse to move on to the next life.
Well…..I mean….damn, can’t say more.
the irony of Vax saying “there is no such thing as luck”, with his character having the feat “lucky” which lets you basically cheat 3 times a day by letting you reroll bad rolls
With Vax accepting the Matron of Raven’s he will soon multiclass and take his first level into Paladin class. Because Paladin’s are so special to me (first ever character that I played was a Paladin) I am going to do a bit of info dump on them.
You might have already heard of Paladin. The goody two shoes knights in shining armor who smite evil in the name of god. But that’s what they used to be. In the earlier editions you had to be a Lawful good character to play as Paladin (not even neutral or chaotic). But with the start of 5th edition (which is what the Vox Machina campaign is based on) DnD started moving away from the stringent character alignment. One of the classes that saw a huge thematic change because of this were Paladin. Previously Paladins powers of smite and healing used to come from the gods they worshipped. They take a Oath to a lawful good god who gave them their powers. That’s why they had to be Lawful Good themselves. Now their powers come from the Oath itself rather than the god. Their belief in their Oath is so strong it grants them powers. This allowed Paladins to be more than just Lawful good. For example you can have a Paladin who took the Oath of Conquest. This Oath is about conquering others for your kingdom. Not necessarily good, in fact it could even be evil but as long as you believed in your Oath and uphold it’s tenents you will have your powers. My first character was a Oath of Glory Paladin who actually despised gods and refused to follow anyone of them. She believed that she was destined for greatness and one day her actions and tales of valor would put her above any god.
Another example would be that if Hman took an Oath of Prudishness by which he would swear to slay anyone who dares make a dirty joke in his prescence. Again an Oath which doesn’t involve a god and is not really necessarily good.
Similarly Vex has taken an Oath to serve the Matron of Ravens and be her champion. Vanquish the dead and help them move onto the afterlife. This is what grants him his powers. If you are wondering what subclass he is, it’s Oath of Vengence Paladin who are willing to do anything to vanquish evil even if it means stooping to it’s level. It’s one of my favourite Paladin subclass.
Would love to watch your reactions to vox machina animation compared to the campaign
Please do a reaction to Critical Roles’ moment comparison between their D&D session and their show. I would love to see how you process how works to then later be translated.
I’d love to see you guys watch the Dungeons and Dragons movie! It’s super fun and has a similar feel to VM, if a little more comedic.