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Critical Role: Voice Actors Playing D&D

Well they've had more members before.

Always temp party members who are usually limited (npcs) or fairly inexperienced. It's part of the reason why
Rothfuss was never in an encounter, McGlynn and Freidle were seperated for the final dragon fight, and Perkins was both limited in strength and tried to intentionally get his character killed in that fight.

I'm not saying it's impossible. Just that it's a pain in the ass to prep.


Sweet! Thanks for this.
 

.JayZii

Banned
I agree Trinket needs something to make him a part of the show again. He's basically Vex's Nausicca animal companion, if he even shows up at all these days. He needs to be sent off to train somewhere, and then they can justify him getting some stat bumps.

Or Pike should just always ride him and get mounted combat or something so she has some more mobility. A bear mounted War Cleric is also pretty badass.
 

.JayZii

Banned
Bumping for Talks Machina. It was interesting to hear what Sam is thinking with Scanlan's current behavior. I'm excited to see where that goes. Does anyone know what the deal is with the note from Vax? It feels like they're referencing something they discussed off stream with the "You were right" note, but I might have just missed something.

The Crit Role Stats guy seemed nice enough, but I think he may actually be insane.
 

Ynnek7

Member
Bumping for Talks Machina. It was interesting to hear what Sam is thinking with Scanlan's current behavior. I'm excited to see where that goes. Does anyone know what the deal is with the note from Vax? It feels like they're referencing something they discussed off stream with the "You were right" note, but I might have just missed something.

The Crit Role Stats guy seemed nice enough, but I think he may actually be insane.

There was that one conversation Vax and Scanlan had where Vax wanted to know how he always managed to have a positive outlook on things. His answer was pretty much that life sucked before they all met, and life was better with the group (paraphrasing, as I can't remember the episode number). Probably the note is Vax telling Scanlan that he was right about life being better because of everyone else?
 

.JayZii

Banned
There was that one conversation Vax and Scanlan had where Vax wanted to know how he always managed to have a positive outlook on things. His answer was pretty much that life sucked before they all met, and life was better with the group (paraphrasing, as I can't remember the episode number). Probably the note is Vax telling Scanlan that he was right about life being better because of everyone else?
Hmm, maybe? It just didn't seem to line up with what was going on and what Scanlan was chastising him about. It wouldn't be the first time the Vax side of a conversation was a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing, though.
 

Calcium

Banned
There was that one conversation Vax and Scanlan had where Vax wanted to know how he always managed to have a positive outlook on things. His answer was pretty much that life sucked before they all met, and life was better with the group (paraphrasing, as I can't remember the episode number). Probably the note is Vax telling Scanlan that he was right about life being better because of everyone else?

That's what I assumed the note was about. I can't think of any other interaction they've had recently that would make more sense.
 
I caught episode 81 before I went back to catching up on the series. Probably a mistake, because I'm legit scared.
Scanlan is going somewhere dark extremely quick. Scanlan almost died and they shrugged it off like it was nothing. Seems like some of the characters don't fear death anymore and I think Matt needs to capitalize on that. One of them needs to die permanently
.

Regardless, I'm excited to see where Sam is taking his character
and it will be a great test to see how the team conquers his depression, if they do at all.
 

.JayZii

Banned
I caught episode 81 before I went back to catching up on the series. Probably a mistake, because I'm legit scared.
Scanlan is going somewhere dark extremely quick. Scanlan almost died and they shrugged it off like it was nothing. Seems like some of the characters don't fear death anymore and I think Matt needs to capitalize on that. One of them needs to die permanently
.

Regardless, I'm excited to see where Sam is taking his character
and it will be a great test to see how the team conquers his depression, if they do at all.
I mentioned it earlier, but Matt tweeted about how resurrection spells DC gets harder and harder the more the characters die.
Sam and Laura replied with "WHAAAT!?", so I think he's put the fear of death into the players, if not the characters. I have a feeling Raishan could be taking some members down with her if she's really prepped for them. I feel like tomorrow nights episode is going to be very tense.

The bolded is why I was asking about the note and Vax exchange with Scanlan.
Scanlan's like, "Hey, I literally just died (so did your sister who is apparently so dear to you), you need to work on your bad habit of rushing into danger and just expecting the rest of us to catch up with you and clean up your mess." And then Vax gets all huffy and throws a note in his face that says "you were right".
Okay? I don't really get what Liam/Vax were going for with that reaction. Vax as a character has a kind of defensive and bipolar quality that makes him feel a bit toxic to relationships with other party members. Not to mention his Madonna complex with putting all of the female party members on ridiculously high pedestals. Not that I'm slagging on Liam or anything, I think he's realistically playing that kind of depressed friend who you have to walk on eggshells around.

I'm excited to see where the Scanlan character is going too, and I hope
he has a team that's up to helping him through it. Can you imagine if he just OD'ed or purposefully offed himself so he doesn't have to deal with all of this responsibility? They mentioned it on Talks Machina, but it's hard for the other characters to even confront him or talk to him frankly unless he wants them to, because he can bluff/lie/charm/Modify Memory his way out of pretty much anything unless he rolls super low successively.
 
So Matt just clarified his rule on deaths. It's a work in progress but it is indeed a *new* addition. So it's hard to guess how it applies to VM in terms of what the base is and where they each stand.
 

.JayZii

Banned
I was hoping for some dungeon-ass dungeons and puzzles and this week really delivered. Well done to Matt. That ravine was horrifying and cool. Although,
the whole time I was thinking, "Everyone should just climb onto the underside of the bridge and run across". But overly elaborate plans going tits up is part of the fun.
This episode was so long that the whole cast just looked physically and emotionally drained by the last hour or so. Marisha also seemed like she was trashed after the break.
Damn it, is he on again?!
This week and next, from the sound of it.
 

.JayZii

Banned
3 weeks in a row!? What did I do to deserve this?!
I don't know, but at least now I can vent my frustration at you. Why did you cause this!?

He's not that bad, I just don't like how slowly he does everything. Whether it's speaking, role playing, rolling dice,
or finishing that third book
, it's snailsville and everything kind of grinds to a halt around him.
 

Calcium

Banned
I don't know, but at least now I can vent my frustration at you. Why did you cause this!?

He's not that bad, I just don't like how slowly he does everything. Whether it's speaking, role playing, rolling dice,
or finishing that third book
, it's snailsville and everything kind of grinds to a halt around him.

Agreed. He isn't a bad guest or anything, but he is so damn long winded that I just get exhausted listening to him. You can tell he is a writer because of how deliberate and painstakingly slow he chooses his words. Vox Machina are really good at improv and are capable of firing off dialogue at impressive speeds so it feel disjointed with Rothfuss there. I also feel he plays as if he is central to the campaign where the other guests are content with letting Vox Machina steer the ship. I might actually enjoy that if it weren't for how boring he is most of the time.
 

Maximo

Member
Agreed. He isn't a bad guest or anything, but he is so damn long winded that I just get exhausted listening to him. You can tell he is a writer because of how deliberate and painstakingly slow he chooses his words. Vox Machina are really good at improv and are capable of firing off dialogue at impressive speeds so it feel disjointed with Rothfuss there. I also feel he plays as if he is central to the campaign where the other guests are content with letting Vox Machina steer the ship. I might actually enjoy that if it weren't for how boring he is most of the time.

Yeah thanks I was trying to muster my own words to describe him but you nailed it, its like hes trying to set up a story out of character everytime he talks, its like man just talk and go with the flow fuck it.
 

.JayZii

Banned
Yeah thanks I was trying to muster my own words to describe him but you nailed it, its like hes trying to set up a story out of character everytime he talks, its like man just talk and go with the flow fuck it.
Yep. He wants to do the third person narration of his character for context and then follow it up with the dialogue. It doesn't mesh well with the group dynamic.

We already have a narrator who's very quick and improvisational. Two is just cumbersome.
 
Episode 68-69 spoilers: Percy's fight with
Ripley was so well done. Seeing her outsmart him and goad him into an attack before the bomb blew was beautiful. I straight up was rooting for her to get away because she is such a cool villain. That she got the killing blow on him was so poetic if his death was final there. His death letter was awesome. I think Taliesin believed he should have died too, he seemed a bit sad that he came back to life.

Spoiler for episode 70.
Yo... Keyleth was flirting with a TPK and destruction of Whitestone talking to Raishan like that in the war room. Their glass cannon was super weak (percy), they had like 2 potions left. No chance for sneak attacks, surprise rounds, and you know she was prepared if talks went awry. KiKi needs to use that 22+ wisdom to take a deep breath and learn to fight another day. All that big talk, I was waiting for Matt to say "Roll for Initiative". Percy the MVP for holding dignity while defusing what would have certainly been their death.
 

.JayZii

Banned
Episode 68-69 spoilers: Percy's fight with
Ripley was so well done. Seeing her outsmart him and goad him into an attack before the bomb blew was beautiful. I straight up was rooting for her to get away because she is such a cool villain. That she got the killing blow on him was so poetic if his death was final there. His death letter was awesome. I think Taliesin believed he should have died too, he seemed a bit sad that he came back to life.
I was expecting and hoping that would stick as well. I really enjoyed the confrontation. I agree that he seemed a bit sad about it.

Spoiler for episode 70.
Yo... Keyleth was flirting with a TPK and destruction of Whitestone talking to Raishan like that in the war room. Their glass cannon was super weak (percy), they had like 2 potions left. No chance for sneak attacks, surprise rounds, and you know she was prepared if talks went awry. KiKi needs to use that 22+ wisdom to take a deep breath and learn to fight another day. All that big talk, I was waiting for Matt to say "Roll for Initiative". Percy the MVP for holding dignity while defusing what would have certainly been their death.
That scene was reminiscent of her out of fucking nowhere confrontation with Lady Kima in the Underdark. Like, what are you even doing, oh wise druid? I have to imagine that Keyleth's wisdom is supposed to be represented by her connection to nature and control of the elements because going by her social interactions I would put her charisma and wisdom about on the level of Grog's intelligence.
 

.JayZii

Banned
Oh yeah, forgot all about that. What was her problem with Kima anyway?
She had a beef with gods, I guess? Seemed kind of strange considering Pike is running around healing them all day thanks to her goddess. It might have been hinted at pre-stream, but it felt very sudden, and I remember the other players being like "What the fuck are you doing?". Especially considering this was them on a rescue mission to pick her up, and this was a good friend of their friend Allura.

It just seems weird to have that kind of atheist attitude in a world where there is tangible proof of gods intervening or bestowing power onto people. I thought it was a druid thing at first, like druids in this world worship nature and forgo the gods, but then we find out that the Ashari worship a nature goddess, Melora, and Keyleth's staff is also called "Melora's Breath". I guess she was mad that the gods are powerful but don't deign to help out that much. Maybe just going through an angsty phase?
 
She had a beef with gods, I guess? Seemed kind of strange considering Pike is running around healing them all day thanks to her goddess. It might have been hinted at pre-stream, but it felt very sudden, and I remember the other players being like "What the fuck are you doing?". Especially considering this was them on a rescue mission to pick her up, and this was a good friend of their friend Allura.

It just seems weird to have that kind of atheist attitude in a world where there is tangible proof of gods intervening or bestowing power onto people. I thought it was a druid thing at first, like druids in this world worship nature and forgo the gods, but then we find out that the Ashari worship a nature goddess, Melora, and Keyleth's staff is also called "Melora's Breath". I guess she was mad that the gods are powerful but don't deign to help out that much. Maybe just going through an angsty phase?

I don't at all remember it having a feeling of being anti-gods. If it was about gods at all it may have been Kima's god specifically. I think there was some pre-stream history there more than anything. Amd Keyleth may have thought the whole thing was a trap. Remember that that mission was pretty closely on the heels of a powerful member of the city turning out to be a crazy lich-type thing that was sucking the life out of children.
 

sharbhund

Member
I don't at all remember it having a feeling of being anti-gods. If it was about gods at all it may have been Kima's god specifically. I think there was some pre-stream history there more than anything. Amd Keyleth may have thought the whole thing was a trap. Remember that that mission was pretty closely on the heels of a powerful member of the city turning out to be a crazy lich-type thing that was sucking the life out of children.

Wasn't Keyleth also having a breakdown because they had been in the Underdark and hadn't seen the moon in so long?
 
I don't at all remember it having a feeling of being anti-gods. If it was about gods at all it may have been Kima's god specifically. I think there was some pre-stream history there more than anything. Amd Keyleth may have thought the whole thing was a trap. Remember that that mission was pretty closely on the heels of a powerful member of the city turning out to be a crazy lich-type thing that was sucking the life out of children.

It felt like an anti-God thing. She has asked no less than 5 times to a combo of kima, pike, kerrek, and even Vax (with the Raven Queen) about the belief in Gods and how can you put your trust in them. Bahumut is a lawful good diety which the party knew beforehand. She has an innate sense of distrust against the religious I believe. , but man did Vax call her out in episode 70 when they were talking to Kima. She Reminded her that while the rest of them trusted Kima the Paladin over Clarota the Illithid she was super distrustful of her in particular for no other reason.

I mean its ok to roleplay as the hippie Atheist. From her POV It's not a matter of if they exist, but if they are a benefit for mortals. It does seem hypocritical that all of them have been ressurected with the power of Sarenrae (and one time with Kashaw's evil Goddess), but still acts the same. If it wasn't for the gods, Percy, Pike, Vex, and Grog would all be dead.

I think her interactions with Kerrak were supposed to provide opportunity for growth in acceptance, but it takes the player-character to actually want to grow the character in that way. It's clearly a flaw but I don't think its necessarily a bad thing for the narrative (except that it gets stale when it seems like a retread). Sometimes, people just can't grow out of things.

edit: The breakdown in the Underdark seemed to be because a combo of high-stakes, the party trusting Kima (broke down crying she didn't trust her and they needed to stop her), and being around so much evil and death.
 
You know, the Underdark would have had a much different tone if Scanlon had the mansion back then.

Ain't that the truth. The whole atmosphere was sooo dreary. Finite amount of food, uncomfortable sleeping arrangements, and having to worry each night if they would be swarmed and killed by Duragar or worse. That night where they were camped out behind a wall of stone and the dwarves almost find them... I was on the edge of my seat!
 
I only started following Critical Role fairly recently so I am making my way through the old episodes. and so the Keyleth/Kima conflict was relatively recent for me. The impression I got at the time was Keyleth was holding onto a piece of hidden information (either about the Orcus Horn or Kimas order) which was causing her to be super untrusting of Kima in general. In fact Vax even did an insight check on Keyleth and Matt whispered a piece of information to him which further suggested their was knowledge that wasn't freely circling the group. At the time it seemed like their was this kinda mortal breakdown in the group but since then they have left the underdark, gone on an airship and are currently bumbling around with the Slayer Take without bringing it up again at all, which makes the character moment feel a little odd in retrospective.
 

.JayZii

Banned
I get the feeling whatever Vecna stuff is through the looking glass
(read: ball of death under Whitestone)
is going to make the Underdark dreariness look like nothing.
 
The impression I got at the time was Keyleth was holding onto a piece of hidden information (either about the Orcus Horn or Kimas order) which was causing her to be super untrusting of Kima in general. In fact Vax even did an insight check on Keyleth and Matt whispered a piece of information to him which further suggested their was knowledge that wasn't freely circling the group.

I've noticed that Matt will obfuscate by whispering if an insight check isn't high enough. Particularly, when the PC isn't trusting Matt's cues and push forward on a narrative they want to be true, he will kinda roll with it a bit.

If I could guess, he is probably saying that "from what you can tell, she isn't trustworthy", which just further solidifies something that the PC has been saying. Vax who basically believes Keyleth no matter what, roles insight and Matt does the same whisper. Right after the insight whispers, Vax goes over to Keyleth and says "everything you said is true" which I translate to "I believe you are right that Kima is evil". Turns out, they both were wrong, Kima is good like she and everyone else (including Allura) said she was, and Keyleth drops it and tries to act like they were best buds for the next 80 episodes.

With that in mind, the whisper had to have been a fake out.

-------

I am so close to being caught up. It's gonna be the hugest sigh of relief. Soon, I will be able to play video games once again and allocate time wisely lol. For all intents and purposes, I've been a recluse for the last month while watching this show (a bit sad unfortunately... but its been worth it!)
 
The problem with Whispers being a fake out is it makes whispers worthless. The players would no longer value the effect of the whisper.

Fake whispers really only work if they are done to hype the audience but Matt's been doing them since nefore the stream. No reason he would change their function now. And if Matt were to use Whispers to intentionally deceive a player with a lie, that's a level of manipulation that specifically puts him at odds with the players, which is not supposed to be the goal of a DM and doesn't match with Matt's usual DM style.

I think a genuinely low insight check should result in a player getting no read. A minimum threshold insight check probably gives just a vague impression. A high/nat 20 gives a certainty or specifically informative read.
 
Matt posted an official write-up of his Resurrection rules based on feedback. DC only goes up by 1 with each past Res, so they're not totally screwed. It also clarifies rules for action res versus the slower rituals. If the action one fails in combat there's still a chance to res them after with a longer spell.

C2-g5C3UkAAK_NC.jpg
 

.JayZii

Banned
I think he defanged his rule a bit too much. Then again, I don't think VM will have to worry about them too much longer anyway since I think both Keyleth and Pike get True Resurrection soon.

However, I'm interested to see how these rules will affect their next campaign after Vox Machina when there's a bunch of scrappy level 1 characters running around.
 
Yeah, when Matt mentioned during a recent cast that he was still working on the rule, he specifically said he's working on it for the campaign book. So it makes sense that he softened it as early levels are rough business in 5e.
 
The problem with Whispers being a fake out is it makes whispers worthless. The players would no longer value the effect of the whisper.

I think a genuinely low insight check should result in a player getting no read. A minimum threshold insight check probably gives just a vague impression. A high/nat 20 gives a certainty or specifically informative read.

If fakeouts are done sparingly and only when the PC continually insists, I think it would be ok because they want to believe it. They insight checked her like 4 or 5 times in short succession. One time they rolled 20+ (iirc, i could be wrong) and he said she seems earnest and truthful. Within 10 minutes keyleth did the insight again and thats when we had the moment.

But all-in-all the more I think on it, you're probably right. Maybe there was something she was hiding, but it was benign in the grand scheme.
 

.JayZii

Banned
I think the whispers are worded in a way that still sound like the characters' own insight into the situation, and as such can be a bit vague and interpreted different ways. I highly doubt Matt deliberately lies to anybody, but he may tell the player about visual ticks they are noticing about a person or something peculiar about their body language and then it is up to the player to draw their own conclusions based on that extra information. A higher roll would get more clues/information about the situation to piece together.

He's certainly not going over there to just whisper, "They're lying", even if the player rolls really well.
Keyleth casts Air Puff on Miffed Poodle

Roll a D1
I can't wait for them to be getting crits for 5 damage against some schmuck goblins.
 

BrightLightLava

Unconfirmed Member
I'm still playing catch up. Just got to the live episode (first live episode? I'm not sure if there are more). It was a bit awkward at first, but you can tell how much they get off of the vibes from the crowd. I sort of with it wasn't a quest specific episode so they could have a bit more fun with it.
 
I'm still playing catch up. Just got to the live episode (first live episode? I'm not sure if there are more). It was a bit awkward at first, but you can tell how much they get off of the vibes from the crowd. I sort of with it wasn't a quest specific episode so they could have a bit more fun with it.
There's a second live episode a few weeks later that they did in Indianapolis while there for Gen Con.
 

NewGame

Banned
Patrick is bugging me this episode.

Yeah, these people who know what their abilities do and don't take 40 minutes deliberating 1 round of action; no place on Critical Role.

Scanlan supplanting his sex with drugs is a pretty amazing self-destructive spin, can't wait to see where this leads.

Sadly at this point of the game characters can't be killed because there's too much investment. Percy should of died on that island, the guy playing him was totally ready to make a new character but lo and behold they prioritize resurrecting him. Same with Grog, he played with fire and got burned- but didn't suffer any repercussions. This is what happens when you let players go through 100 sessions without a taste of death, they become dependant and clingy.

The only way to resolve this is to finish this campaign and start anew with more grounded mechanics, the players really aren't coping with high level play anyway as we can see with high level spell interpretation and "what do I roll?" questions still popping up.

Mathew seems to be holding up well. I wonder if this is his first time playing with this level of players.
 

.JayZii

Banned
Yeah, these people who know what their abilities do and don't take 40 minutes deliberating 1 round of action; no place on Critical Role.
There was some discussion about my comment on Patrick in the group––in this very thread––and it had nothing to do with him knowing how his abilities work or how quickly he acted in a round of combat. You might have missed that, though.

I don't watch Critical Role in order to watch people who are really "good at" D&D, or who are extremely well-versed in the rules. I watch for the specific group of players and their dynamic. This is still the first campaign the majority of these players have ever done, they've also revamped the game system a few times, and they're doing an excellent job overall. Occasionally forgetting which die to roll isn't really a big deal. I'm sure you can find some actual play podcasts or videos with groups who are much more experienced players, if that's what you're looking for.
Scanlan supplanting his sex with drugs is a pretty amazing self-destructive spin, can't wait to see where this leads.

Sadly at this point of the game characters can't be killed because there's too much investment. Percy should of died on that island, the guy playing him was totally ready to make a new character but lo and behold they prioritize resurrecting him. Same with Grog, he played with fire and got burned- but didn't suffer any repercussions. This is what happens when you let players go through 100 sessions without a taste of death, they become dependant and clingy.

The only way to resolve this is to finish this campaign and start anew with more grounded mechanics, the players really aren't coping with high level play anyway as we can see with high level spell interpretation and "what do I roll?" questions still popping up.

Mathew seems to be holding up well. I wonder if this is his first time playing with this level of players.
I'm also most interested in Scanlan's future plans out of everything that is going on. I didn't see it coming, but it really works well for his character as the class clown who's dying on the inside while everyone else is none the wiser.

I agree about the Percy/Taliesin thing. I'd like to see how the group handles a permanent party member death (which seems entirely possible in the coming episode), but as far as death goes, I'm not sure what they should be doing differently. Matt already has house rules that make resurrection more difficult than RAW. It would be weird in and out of character if the party didn't try to help their friends when they are capable of it.
I'm still playing catch up. Just got to the live episode (first live episode? I'm not sure if there are more). It was a bit awkward at first, but you can tell how much they get off of the vibes from the crowd. I sort of with it wasn't a quest specific episode so they could have a bit more fun with it.
The two live episodes turned out much better than I expected, but I still vastly prefer the regular setup. That's my feeling on live show versions of any podcasts or shows, though.
 
Watching 83 live. Big spoilers don't click unless caught up

First thing: They should have brought Kash instead of Pike, and called in more help (maybe put a bounty for the slayers take). They are going to get Ashley's character killed and she isn't even playing. They constantly underestimated Raishan (remember a few episodes how they laughed at how scrawny she was, and how she was the weakest of the dragons). Yeah... about that.

Second thing: RIP Scanlan... Again. If he somehow is revived, there is no other logical conclusion except that he retires. I don't know how they are going to get through this. They are looking REALLY rough. Allura coming through with a clutch dispel magic though.

Holy Shit. Keyleth did something fucking useful. Could very well be MVP. If they live
RIP Percy. I think they are going to squeak out of this, but good grief they are so weak
FUCKING KERREK!!!!! lvl 7 taking down Raishan!!!

OK. That was Ripley tier fight encounter. Extremely satisfying.
 
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