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Critical Role: Voice Actors Playing D&D

I dropped the show around episode 30 or so. It was after Pike left and they had the guest stars. It felt like it lost a lot of steam around then. I know they did some vampire stuff after that. But what else have I missed? Highlights?
 

.JayZii

Banned
The moment with Keyleth and the lava literally had me in tears. It was gallows humor at that point because things were not looking good for anyone except Grog.
I think there was a time when Vax was supposed to have failed a third death saving throw but Matt said "That's two death saves?" and he just agreed.
I dropped the show around episode 30 or so. It was after Pike left and they had the guest stars. It felt like it lost a lot of steam around then. I know they did some vampire stuff after that. But what else have I missed? Highlights?
Orion left
thank god
, hordes of undead, vampires, a secret death cult, an inexplicable small black hole of anti-magic and death, family stuff, Dragon apocalypse, Sphinx riddles, super item treasure hunt, the Raven Queen gets a new champion, Grog's family reunion, killing dragons, a lark in the feywild, family stuff, dealings with dragons, summoning a demon lord, killing dragons, the City of Brass, "Let's be slaves!?", oh yeah still dragons.

Ashley/Pike is also still in about a third of the episodes.
 
I dropped the show around episode 30 or so. It was after Pike left and they had the guest stars. It felt like it lost a lot of steam around then. I know they did some vampire stuff after that. But what else have I missed? Highlights?

There's too much to really summarize. Or rather it's enough that it wouldn't really be a summary.

Ashley shows up as much as she can. The guests have all been awesome. Weakest was probably Patrick Rothfuss but only because his character is a bit wordy. Prone to long speeches n such.

Every character except Pike has had significant personal story progress and growth. Lots of epic fights, some really great Scanlan songs and limericks, and misadventures.

Some cool one shots thrown in here and there too, including a weird alt universe one shot run by Liam where the players were themselves in a world ending scenario.
 

Szeth

Member
I dropped the show around episode 30 or so. It was after Pike left and they had the guest stars. It felt like it lost a lot of steam around then. I know they did some vampire stuff after that. But what else have I missed? Highlights?

That's a shame. For me that's about when I was finally hooked hardcore after just kind of casually watching the first chunk of episodes. Grog vs Kern stuff really got me then the first Dragon fight with the guests solidified it. (I think the guests first appeared in the early 20s, Mary and Will actually end up becoming two of the best characters and it's just pure joy whenever they come on now).

Then Orion left (yay), the Briarwood (vampire) arc happened and it just kept elevating from there to what is now my favourite series (tv and movies included). Cannot stress enough how much I love this show.

Is it Thursday yet?
 
Fuuuck this is so good. Just started on ep 1 and I'm hooked. I really enjoyed watching Mike and Jerry from Penny Arcade's campaign and this is even better.
 
There's too much to really summarize. Or rather it's enough that it wouldn't really be a summary.

Ashley shows up as much as she can. The guests have all been awesome. Weakest was probably Patrick Rothfuss but only because his character is a bit wordy. Prone to long speeches n such.

Every character except Pike has had significant personal story progress and growth. Lots of epic fights, some really great Scanlan songs and limericks, and misadventures.

Some cool one shots thrown in here and there too, including a weird alt universe one shot run by Liam where the players were themselves in a world ending scenario.

Sorry for the double post but wanted to quickly reply to this. I disagree. Weakest so far has definitely been Hardwick. Rothfuss was good because he knew he wasn't the center of attention. Hardwick (like Orion) wanted to be the center of attention and it showed.
 
Sorry for the double post but wanted to quickly reply to this. I disagree. Weakest so far has definitely been Hardwick. Rothfuss was good because he knew he wasn't the center of attention. Hardwick (like Orion) wanted to be the center of attention and it showed.

Fair opinion. For me, I didn't mind Hardwick because his input always resulted in exchanges. Back and forth in actions and dialogue so even when things didn't necessarily move forward, it still felt as if things were happening. With Rothfuss, whenever it was focused on him he was so focused on not just what he was doing but how he was doing or saying it that everything seemed to slow down. He's like that in Acq Inc also (moreso actually) and it wasn't as bad as say, an Orion shopping trip in terms of slow down but it was noticable to me.

I want to be clear that this isn't necessarily a bad thing and everyone has their playstyle quirks but I enjoyed the parties interaction with Hardwick's character more than Rothfuss' because of this.
 

.JayZii

Banned
Does anyone understand what was going on with the dragon egg forcefield keycard situation? I felt like there were hints about what was going on with those things that I just wasn't understanding.
Frankly no one suffering perma-death during that fight was a big victory.
Those lair actions were wrecking everyone's day. If that Prismatic Spray hadn't been counterspelled, things would have gotten very ugly very quickly.
Sorry for the double post but wanted to quickly reply to this. I disagree. Weakest so far has definitely been Hardwick. Rothfuss was good because he knew he wasn't the center of attention. Hardwick (like Orion) wanted to be the center of attention and it showed.
I'm so glad that Vex just jacked that broom.
 

Ynnek7

Member
Does anyone understand what was going on with the dragon egg forcefield keycard situation? I felt like there were hints about what was going on with those things that I just wasn't understanding.

Those lair actions were wrecking everyone's day. If that Prismatic Spray hadn't been counterspelled, things would have gotten very ugly very quickly.

I'm so glad that Vex just jacked that broom.

I forget where I saw it, but someone said that there wasn't a puzzle there and that the force field simply dropped after Raishan teleported away.
 
I forget where I saw it, but someone said that there wasn't a puzzle there and that the force field simply dropped after Raishan teleported away.
Yeah, that was my guess. Grog just had dumb luck in his timing, and the spell had already dropped.
 

.JayZii

Banned
Oh right, I forgot that they saw a flash of light down the tunnel between the copper dragon trying to break the wall and then Grog chucking an egg through. That makes much more sense than whatever abstract arcana I was trying to concoct.
 

Grexeno

Member
Honestly, based on the discussion after the episode, if Jamon hadn't rolled a 3-2-1 on that series of attacks and had gotten his breath attack back that one time, Raishan might be dead.
 

.JayZii

Banned
That fight was what I was expecting from the first Thordak episode. Lot's of back and forth struggle to the point where I didn't know what was going to happen.

Regardless, there is definitely going to be a significantly buffed up green dragon the next time they meet.
 
This thread enticed me to watch an episode. I've never D&D'ed before, I've never watched others D&D before for any bulk length of time. But I love RPG's and I have to say I am (was) completely captivated. Matt's world building ability is fantastic.

I'm now on episode 25 (right at the start of the confrontation between
The Briarwoods
and the party)

Orion is such a poor sport and a blatant cheater. He constantly rolls several times while Matt is giving exposition, clearly trying to make insight/arcana/etc. checks. If its high enough, he'll stop everything and say "Hey! I rolled a 25 on arcana, whats going on". If not, he doesn't say anything for about 10 seconds and then asks Matt to make an arcana check and rolls again.

Then he huffs and puffs whenever the team doesn't do exactly what he wants, and then goes off and does it without any exposition to the team. Makes for poor immersion for viewers. The show was fantastic until right before/during the
Beholder
fight in the
Underdark
. While the fight was captivating, Orion's playing performance has steadily gone down. In one episode, he used Obelisk of Stone and a Fireball on rats... And then complained when the team didn't allow him to take an 8 hour rest. In this episode that i'm watching, Keyleth said to him away from the mic "I don't metagame, unlike others here". While I mostly enjoy Tiberius, I can't separate Orion and Tiberius, slightly because it seems like he himself can't either.

He is the absolute worst, and I don't know how they have been playing with him for 3 years. Friendship goes a long way it seems. I would have had boulders fall on his character 8 episodes ago. But knowing Orion, he would cheat on his dice-roll and convince the boulder to kill itself.

Is the show worth pushing on? Because I don't know if i can take anymore of Tiberius interrupting Matt randomly to cast 6th level fly on everyone when they all have horses and are simply going to the store.
 
Is the show worth pushing on? Because I don't know if i can take anymore of Tiberius interrupting Matt randomly to cast 6th level fly on everyone when they all have horses and are simply going to the store.

From where you are he's not on for much longer, I think episode 27 is Orion's last appearance.
 

Sheentak

Member
This thread enticed me to watch an episode. I've never D&D'ed before, I've never watched others D&D before for any bulk length of time. But I love RPG's and I have to say I am (was) completely captivated. Matt's world building ability is fantastic.

I'm now on episode 25 (right at the start of the confrontation between
The Briarwoods
and the party)

Orion is such a poor sport and a blatant cheater. He constantly rolls several times while Matt is giving exposition, clearly trying to make insight/arcana/etc. checks. If its high enough, he'll stop everything and say "Hey! I rolled a 25 on arcana, whats going on". If not, he doesn't say anything for about 10 seconds and then asks Matt to make an arcana check and rolls again.

Then he huffs and puffs whenever the team doesn't do exactly what he wants, and then goes off and does it without any exposition to the team. Makes for poor immersion for viewers. The show was fantastic until right before/during the
Beholder
fight in the
Underdark
. While the fight was captivating, Orion's playing performance has steadily gone down. In one episode, he used Obelisk of Stone and a Fireball on rats... And then complained when the team didn't allow him to take an 8 hour rest. In this episode that i'm watching, Keyleth said to him away from the mic "I don't metagame, unlike others here". While I mostly enjoy Tiberius, I can't separate Orion and Tiberius, slightly because it seems like he himself can't either.

He is the absolute worst, and I don't know how they have been playing with him for 3 years. Friendship goes a long way it seems. I would have had boulders fall on his character 8 episodes ago. But knowing Orion, he would cheat on his dice-roll and convince the boulder to kill itself.

Is the show worth pushing on? Because I don't know if i can take anymore of Tiberius interrupting Matt randomly to cast 6th level fly on everyone when they all have horses and are simply going to the store.

Good news is he leaves the show after episode 27.27 is rough watch you'll see Travis so angry with orion.
 

Szeth

Member
This thread enticed me to watch an episode. I've never D&D'ed before, I've never watched others D&D before for any bulk length of time. But I love RPG's and I have to say I am (was) completely captivated. Matt's world building ability is fantastic.

I'm now on episode 25 (right at the start of the confrontation between
The Briarwoods
and the party)

Orion is such a poor sport and a blatant cheater. He constantly rolls several times while Matt is giving exposition, clearly trying to make insight/arcana/etc. checks. If its high enough, he'll stop everything and say "Hey! I rolled a 25 on arcana, whats going on". If not, he doesn't say anything for about 10 seconds and then asks Matt to make an arcana check and rolls again.

Then he huffs and puffs whenever the team doesn't do exactly what he wants, and then goes off and does it without any exposition to the team. Makes for poor immersion for viewers. The show was fantastic until right before/during the
Beholder
fight in the
Underdark
. While the fight was captivating, Orion's playing performance has steadily gone down. In one episode, he used Obelisk of Stone and a Fireball on rats... And then complained when the team didn't allow him to take an 8 hour rest. In this episode that i'm watching, Keyleth said to him away from the mic "I don't metagame, unlike others here". While I mostly enjoy Tiberius, I can't separate Orion and Tiberius, slightly because it seems like he himself can't either.

He is the absolute worst, and I don't know how they have been playing with him for 3 years. Friendship goes a long way it seems. I would have had boulders fall on his character 8 episodes ago. But knowing Orion, he would cheat on his dice-roll and convince the boulder to kill itself.

Is the show worth pushing on? Because I don't know if i can take anymore of Tiberius interrupting Matt randomly to cast 6th level fly on everyone when they all have horses and are simply going to the store.

Orion's last episode is indeed 27. Keep going for sure, episode 28 has one of the best reveals I've ever seen, Matt is an evil genius.
 
Thanks all, that puts me at ease. I can gut out a couple more Tiberius episodes then.


edit: Yikes.. Episode 26 was rough with Keyleth, Vex and Vax all piling on Tiberius IC and OOC. Yep, there was no way they could continue. Pretty uncomfortable really.
 

.JayZii

Banned
This thread enticed me to watch an episode. I've never D&D'ed before, I've never watched others D&D before for any bulk length of time. But I love RPG's and I have to say I am (was) completely captivated. Matt's world building ability is fantastic.

I'm now on episode 25 (right at the start of the confrontation between
The Briarwoods
and the party)

Orion is such a poor sport and a blatant cheater. He constantly rolls several times while Matt is giving exposition, clearly trying to make insight/arcana/etc. checks. If its high enough, he'll stop everything and say "Hey! I rolled a 25 on arcana, whats going on". If not, he doesn't say anything for about 10 seconds and then asks Matt to make an arcana check and rolls again.

Then he huffs and puffs whenever the team doesn't do exactly what he wants, and then goes off and does it without any exposition to the team. Makes for poor immersion for viewers. The show was fantastic until right before/during the
Beholder
fight in the
Underdark
. While the fight was captivating, Orion's playing performance has steadily gone down. In one episode, he used Obelisk of Stone and a Fireball on rats... And then complained when the team didn't allow him to take an 8 hour rest. In this episode that i'm watching, Keyleth said to him away from the mic "I don't metagame, unlike others here". While I mostly enjoy Tiberius, I can't separate Orion and Tiberius, slightly because it seems like he himself can't either.

He is the absolute worst, and I don't know how they have been playing with him for 3 years. Friendship goes a long way it seems. I would have had boulders fall on his character 8 episodes ago. But knowing Orion, he would cheat on his dice-roll and convince the boulder to kill itself.

Is the show worth pushing on? Because I don't know if i can take anymore of Tiberius interrupting Matt randomly to cast 6th level fly on everyone when they all have horses and are simply going to the store.
He's a poor sport, a cheater, a glory hog and apparently really terrible at reading a room. So toxic to a group of friends trying to have fun playing a game, and just disrespectful in general.
Thanks all, that puts me at ease. I can gut out a couple more Tiberius episodes then.


edit: Yikes.. Episode 26 was rough with Keyleth, Vex and Vax all piling on Tiberius IC and OOC. Yep, there was no way they could continue. Pretty uncomfortable really.
It's absolutely for the best. The vibe of the group and the show overall gets so much better after he leaves. It was actually difficult for me to go back and rewatch the early episodes because the tension with Orion is so much more palpable when you see the show without him. The storytelling and player interaction gets much more rich and interesting starting with the Briarwood arc and the departure of Tiberius.
 
Yeah, I remember those Tiberius episodes being absolutely brutal to watch. I cringed basically every time he opened his mouth, because he had this air of taking the game too seriously in a way that was counter to how the rest was playing the game. And there was always this aggressive tension to the point where I just called it quits around episode 26 or something, and have only recently picked it up at episode 50.

By the way, have they given any hints as to how long they're planning on keeping this going? It seems pretty damn successful and popular, so I hope it'll be a long time, because it's a pretty good source of bulk-entertainment.
 
He's a poor sport, a cheater, a glory hog and apparently really terrible at reading a room. So toxic to a group of friends trying to have fun playing a game, and just disrespectful in general.

It's absolutely for the best. The vibe of the group and the show overall gets so much better after he leaves. It was actually difficult for me to go back and rewatch the early episodes because the tension with Orion is so much more palpable when you see the show without him. The storytelling and player interaction gets much more rich and interesting starting with the Briarwood arc and the departure of Tiberius.

Are they still friends with him? Itd suck if they broke up over this
 

.JayZii

Banned
Yeah, I remember those Tiberius episodes being absolutely brutal to watch. I cringed basically every time he opened his mouth, because he had this air of taking the game too seriously in a way that was counter to how the rest was playing the game. And there was always this aggressive tension to the point where I just called it quits around episode 26 or something, and have only recently picked it up at episode 50.

By the way, have they given any hints as to how long they're planning on keeping this going? It seems pretty damn successful and popular, so I hope it'll be a long time, because it's a pretty good source of bulk-entertainment.

I believe they've mentioned that after the overall storyline is finished/20th level, they are going to start a set new characters in the same world.

I think it would be great so that things don't get stale, and they could always revisit the Vox Machina for live show challenge dungeons or side stories.
Are they still friends with him? Itd suck if they broke up over this
I have no idea, but I imagine they at least needed some space from each other for a while. I think their home game sessions were much less regular, so the weekly interaction might have just escalated group dynamics that were already there. I have to imagine Orion wasn't as bad during the home game, because I can't imagine dealing with that for fun in my free time.
 

Maximo

Member
I believe they've mentioned that after the overall storyline is finished/20th level, they are going to start a set new characters in the same world.

I think it would be great so that things don't get stale, and they could always revisit the Vox Machina for live show challenge dungeons or side stories.

I mean shit where does it go from here, soon they will be tackling the circles of hell to fight the demon lords.
 

GavinUK86

Member
Yeah, I remember those Tiberius episodes being absolutely brutal to watch. I cringed basically every time he opened his mouth, because he had this air of taking the game too seriously in a way that was counter to how the rest was playing the game. And there was always this aggressive tension to the point where I just called it quits around episode 26 or something, and have only recently picked it up at episode 50.

I was in a similar boat. I stopped watching around 20 because Orion just became so goddamn annoying to watch. I actually missed all the hoopla around him leaving but when I heard I started watching again and I've stuck to it ever since.

The show is so much better now. Matt is a genius.
 

.JayZii

Banned
I think they're all around level 16.


Prepare for crushing disappointment when you catch up to the live episodes, Alpha Centauri. Having to wait a week(s) at a time is pretty rough after mainlining all of the episodes over a month or two.
 
Prepare for crushing disappointment when you catch up to the live episodes, Alpha Centauri. Having to wait a week(s) at a time is pretty rough after mainlining all of the episodes over a month or two.
I don't know, actually. I found it pretty exhausting to run through all of them in such a concentrated pace when I was catching up.
 

.JayZii

Banned
I mean, it's definitely a more healthy pace. There's just a kind of entertainment whiplash when you run out of the bounty of old stuff and have to wait.
 

Szeth

Member
By the way, have they given any hints as to how long they're planning on keeping this going? It seems pretty damn successful and popular, so I hope it'll be a long time, because it's a pretty good source of bulk-entertainment.

I think Matt said there's about a year left in this campaign. Then they'll start new stuff. Honestly hope they leave G&S and go independent or to another place once this is over. I think a patreon for this would be insanely high.
 

Sylas

Member
I think Matt said there's about a year left in this campaign. Then they'll start new stuff. Honestly hope they leave G&S and go independent or to another place once this is over. I think a patreon for this would be insanely high.

I think a big part of why they work with G&S still is because this is just something they do for fun. Turning it into anything like a business--on their, personal end--would probably result in something far less gripping. The fact that it's people with legitimate careers just goofing off allows for a lot of stress relief for them. Liam's talked about it fairly often.

Who else is excited for the Tal'Dorei campaign book? I don't plan on playing in Matt's world but he's pretty much my DM-Idol so I'd love to have more reference material from him.
 

.JayZii

Banned
I think I'm most excited for Travis to have a new character. He does really great work with Grog, but he clearly wants to be a smarter character who can plan and scheme.

As for Matt's source book, I think that's really cool for him. Considering all of the new people that Critical Role has probably brought to D&D, it would be crazy if there wasn't world material released by somebody.
 

Maximo

Member
I think I'm most excited for Travis to have a new character. He does really great work with Grog, but he clearly wants to be a smarter character who can plan and scheme.

As for Matt's source book, I think that's really cool for him. Considering all of the new people that Critical Role has probably brought to D&D, it would be crazy if there wasn't world material released by somebody.

Travis is probably my favorite dude clearly loves the story and world aspect more then anyone and often seems like one of the smartest people in the room but has to stick to being grog.
 

Szeth

Member
I think a big part of why they work with G&S still is because this is just something they do for fun. Turning it into anything like a business--on their, personal end--would probably result in something far less gripping. The fact that it's people with legitimate careers just goofing off allows for a lot of stress relief for them. Liam's talked about it fairly often.

I know they don't want to turn it into work, but they wouldn't really have to with a patreon. They could easily hire a few people that set up and run everything, it's already a small team of 3 or 4 anyway. Then buy the equipment (maybe do a kickstarter for this) and find a place to play the game. Nothing would really have to change except Matt or one of them managing the finances.

I dunno, it's just a nice possibility to think about with all the Legendary crap and people leaving. At least Matt was smart enough to keep the rights to everything.
 

.JayZii

Banned
Travis is probably my favorite dude clearly loves the story and world aspect more then anyone and often seems like one of the smartest people in the room but has to stick to being grog.
Agreed. He and Ashley have the best interactions, too. Super adorable.

I resent Blindspot for keeping her away from the show so often.
 

.JayZii

Banned
I resent Blindspot for mediocre writing and two dull as fuck lead characters with no chemistry.
I don't even watch it, so as far as I know it has no redeeming qualities whatsoever other than Ashley being on it in some capacity.

I hope there's a long break for her at least, if the show's not cancelled, before the Vox Machina arc is over on CR. I feel bad for her that she never really gets a chance develop Pike's character. Who's she in love with? If it wasn't Grog this whole time, we may never know.
 

Barrage

Member
Count me as another recent fan of the show thanks to this thread.

I'm mid-way through Episode 5, and all that I have read says that the show has a quantum shift in quality post-ep. 27 with the exit of a certain someone.

My question is-is there a website with detailed summaries of episodes? Im debating skipping ahead, I just feel like i'm super behind yet i dont have time to listen to more than 1.5-2 episodes a week.

P.S. Grog is dope and Matt is the shit.
 

Maximo

Member
Yeah Travis is really smart, I'd love for him to play a wizard or something,

Him in that deadlands one shot when he played the quiet *good British gentleman* who was secretly a murder was great.

Count me as another recent fan of the show thanks to this thread.

I'm mid-way through Episode 5, and all that I have read says that the show has a quantum shift in quality post-ep. 27 with the exit of a certain someone.

My question is-is there a website with detailed summaries of episodes? Im debating skipping ahead, I just feel like i'm super behind yet i dont have time to listen to more than 1.5-2 episodes a week.

P.S. Grog is dope and Matt is the shit.

Honestly don't skip Matt ties so much of the story together you will be left out hard, there are no characters that are just *one offs* someone or something always comes back.
 

.JayZii

Banned
The critical role wikia looks like it has pretty detailed episode recaps. I would just recommend watching the earlier episodes with your finger on the right arrow key to skip ahead in 5 second increments until Orion stops talking if he's bugging you. There's a lot of good stuff in the early episodes that I don't think would translate to a written synopsis. Especially the "Trial of the Take" episodes with Felicia Day and Mary Elizabeth Mcglynn.
 

Szeth

Member
Count me as another recent fan of the show thanks to this thread.

I'm mid-way through Episode 5, and all that I have read says that the show has a quantum shift in quality post-ep. 27 with the exit of a certain someone.

My question is-is there a website with detailed summaries of episodes? Im debating skipping ahead, I just feel like i'm super behind yet i dont have time to listen to more than 1.5-2 episodes a week.

P.S. Grog is dope and Matt is the shit.

The thing about being super behind with this show is even if you skip to episode 40 or whatever, you're still super behind, except you'll have missed a lot of amazing stuff. It's a huge commitment either way, might as well do it all.

I don't really see the benefit of being caught up. Just enjoy the ride.
 

Calcium

Banned
I don't really see the benefit of being caught up. Just enjoy the ride.

Wise words right here. Do not skip ahead, just enjoy the show at your own pace. The good thing about being behind is that you don't have to wait for new episodes. The waiting is painful sometimes.
 
Not only that but when they take breaks (like with burning man) you can watch all those episodes that are new to you while the rest of us that are caught up have to wait the 1 or more weeks till a new episode airs.

There are also a few one shots that they've done that you'd miss out on.
 
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