Critical Role - Tabletop RPGs is serious business, man.

[Mayhem]

I have nothing much of value to add to this thread because I find this show painfully unfunny and completely unwatchable. I’ve done some time as a GM and played tabletop RPGs of varying types for years, and I do agree with quite a bit of what was said here in terms of how Critical Role’s wokeshit pandering is changing how some people want to play the game.

What I have noticed, as an outsider, is that Critical Role is becoming more corporatized, (wokely) sanitized, and consoomerist. All of my friends watch this shit. They then buy more branded shit, which they then bring to weekly game. And since I don’t watch this shit or buy this shit — since I find CR unwatchable, and would much rather spend almost four hours every week watching some great TV, or listening to an interesting podcast, crafting or reading, or even amongst the fine people in this farming community — I am increasingly left out of conversations with my buddies, and it makes me hella sad.

 

[Grant McClellan]

I have nothing much of value to add to this thread because I find this show painfully unfunny and completely unwatchable. I’ve done some time as a GM and played tabletop RPGs of varying types for years, and I do agree with quite a bit of what was said here in terms of how Critical Role’s wokeshit pandering is changing how some people want to play the game.

What I have noticed, as an outsider, is that Critical Role is becoming more corporatized, (wokely) sanitized, and consoomerist. All of my friends watch this shit. They then buy more branded shit, which they then bring to weekly game. And since I don’t watch this shit or buy this shit — since I find CR unwatchable, and would much rather spend almost four hours every week watching some great TV, or listening to an interesting podcast, crafting or reading, or even amongst the fine people in this farming community — I am increasingly left out of conversations with my buddies, and it makes me hella sad.

I'm suprised any of you Kiwi Farms cretins have any friends to begin with. Just goes to show your a minority of toxic pissbabies who buy into the whole "oh there's a gay person/multicoloured hair girl involved then its woke trash" mindset

 

[Shitassdeaddude]

I just can't be assed to keep up with four hours of uninterrupted tabletop every week. My eyes usually start to drift apart like a goddamn fish an hour or two in. They should get an editor to cut the streams up into smaller episodes or some shit. The fat chick's recaps don't count.

 

[Dr. Pasquale]

My real gripe with campaign three right now is the lack of Travis.
He had a great start bringing back Bertrand, immediately gets killed, and it took forever for his real character to show up only to get cockblocked by Robbie Daymonds characters backstory.

Travis is really the heart of this group and campaign 1 wouldn't have been watchable without him because everyone was so edgy and he played a retard.
Taliesin really stole campaign 2 with Caduceus by just being a rock of a character.

The start of yesterday's session was the best C3 has been so far and its all thanks to based racist gnome. Unfortunaly, it seems were sinking in C2's bad habbits again with them forgetting about the plot to sit in taverns for 2 and a half hours.

 

[Wingnut]

The start of yesterday's session was the best C3 has been so far and its all thanks to based racist gnome. Unfortunaly, it seems were sinking in C2's bad habbits again with them forgetting about the plot to sit in taverns for 2 and a half hours.
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I use the youtube videos and don't watch live, did they do the taliesen's retarded exposition dump game again? If you're going for TV show style storytelling why are you removing all the mystery of the characters by literally dumping their entire backstory at a bar because "oh, I rolled a 12 and you rolled a 15 so now I will tell you literally everything"?

 

[Dr. Pasquale]

I use the youtube videos and don't watch live, did they do the taliesen's retarded exposition dump game again? If you're going for TV show style storytelling why are you removing all the mystery of the characters by literally dumping their entire backstory at a bar because "oh, I rolled a 12 and you rolled a 15 so now I will tell you literally everything"?

I watch it live while shitposting. They 100% did it again, but this time only with Travis' character, who didnt have much to share besides "am carpenter, was looking for work, am after this guy that promised me work whos now missing". That part (the first hour or so) was pretty good mostly because of Travis' roleplaying and interactions with the other players, the moment it turned shit and Namek was when they spotted Dorian's brother following them around and then talked to him for about 1h30.

It acted as a massive backstory dump for Robbie and another fucking plot hook (granted, this one seems related to previous ones) that they'll forget about in 2-3 sessions. Despite having a 20k gp reward on his head, Dorian's brother is walking around willy nilly everywhere and they even let him go again at the end. The rest of the session was just them "investigating" for the 20th time, not finding anything really worthwhile and then stumbling into the plot. Theres a lot of mind reading/detect thoughts faggotry going around this campaign and it slows everything to a halt everytime. It ended on a lame cliffhanger cuz Ashley alerted 2 guards by accident and Matt clearly didnt plan for it to happen.

Its turning into Campaign 2 pretty fast with the amount of padding and scenes of them sitting around talking to people while getting absolutely nothing done.

 

[DicksOutForBurgers]

Laura and Travis Baily have both been voice actors for many years now (long before Critical Role started even)... And to be honest, they're both pretty damn good at it. Hell, honestly most of them were already independently famous before Critical Role ever took off. I get what you're saying, maybe they've gotten more roles since then, but I really do feel that it is disingenuous to say that people involved with CR *only* get famous because of CR...
I really do believe that the allure was that most of them were already famous before it even started.

Liam O' Brian in particular has been doing anime and games for over two decades. He was famous way before Critical Role. Same with Laura and Travis.

 

[Wingnut]

Theres a lot of mind reading/detect thoughts faggotry going around this campaign and it slows everything to a halt everytime. It ended on a lame cliffhanger cuz Ashley alerted 2 guards by accident and Matt clearly didnt plan for it to happen.

Its turning into Campaign 2 pretty fast with the amount of padding and scenes of them sitting around talking to people while getting absolutely nothing done.

I can't wait for them to get away with casting Guidance for every ability check ever this time around too. I also liked how they were actually having a difficult encounter, and then Robbie magically got a natural 20 right when they needed it and did just enough damage to instakill the monster that was about to wipe half the party. Not to say that can't happen normally, but with how the campaign's been so obviously scripted up to this point, and everyone consistently rolling high almost every check, I can't give them the benefit of the doubt.

Whether it was scripted or not, campaign 2 had the balls to kill off a PC early on, and campaign 1 had constant death in it (despite being relatively trivial since they were level 15+ PCs). I don't think the games are 100% scripted, but I'm convinced they have plot points mapped out that everyone knows, and it's just how they get there that is a bit more fluid.

 

[AuxPersonality]

I feel like a lot of this criticism is kind of unfair and just pure hate but I do agree with a lot of the core points people are making. But I think its not all an intentional scripted fuck fest and maybe the opposite. They are level 4 characters and the combo of their rolls and maybe being too true to their characters and less true to the spirit of a person who understands DnD they keep fucking missing the plot hooks.

So they end up doing the only thing they can think of, hanging out and chatting in a bar. Which for one episode is fine, sure why not, front load the campaign with back stories instead of episode 100. Yeah two episodes is a bit much.

I must be as dumb as the players because I don't even know what the main plot hook is they are meant to be searching for is (Before Episode 8), I mean it felt like they finally found their footing after the scripted death and fighting the evil dwarf. But that seemed to go cold, I'm not sure what threads Matt had put out for them to pull on but they didn't find any and kind of like burnt through "content" too fast and ended up like. Shit what now.

In campaign 2 there where a lot of episodes I didn't enjoy and kind of just hit up on the wiki as I caught up to what was live, there was I time I really hated Marisha for never using stunning strike as a monk. But in the end I had to remind myself, its their game, its a hybrid of their personal entertainment and a production show and they are doing what they think is best and its free. It's also -the- number 1 thing on twitch and shit ton of people love their shit. So statistically if you don't like it, your in the minority, which is fine. I mean shit some people don't like chocolate and that's fine.

I also see it as Baby's First DnD, if it brings people to the table and gets them interested in DnD great. It's like any popular hobby that gets attention and draws people in, its not what its like on TV but we are happy to have you come enjoy it with us, let us help introduce you into what its really like.

Also Travis is fucking amazing and yes I was upset he got way laid by the brother role play, but odds are when I watch the next episode I'll have forgotten about it and having a fun time watching Travis fuck people up.

 

[Jeff Gerstmann]

there was I time I really hated Marisha for never using stunning strike as a monk.

As someone who has played a monk a lot I assure you stunning strike starts being ass past early levels and isn't worth the ki points to do it when you could simply flurry of blows.

 

[AuxPersonality]

As someone who has played a monk a lot I assure you stunning strike starts being ass past early levels and isn't worth the ki points to do it when you could simply flurry of blows.

See and I don't even know what the fuck I'm talking about.

 

[Jeff Gerstmann]

See and I don't even know what the fuck I'm talking about.

iirc the DC for it never raises past a 14, which at later levels is trivial for most enemies to overcome. It's really nice when you can land it in a clutch moment but boy is it a risk.

 

[Pargon]

My real gripe with campaign three right now is the lack of Travis.
He had a great start bringing back Bertrand, immediately gets killed, and it took forever for his real character to show up only to get cockblocked by Robbie Daymonds characters backstory.

Travis is really the heart of this group and campaign 1 wouldn't have been watchable without him because everyone was so edgy and he played a retard.
Taliesin really stole campaign 2 with Caduceus by just being a rock of a character.

Travis has always been and always will be my favorite player just because he seems to be the only one willing to play his characters enough to type to stir shit up. I loved how he played Grog, who would get bored with everyone wanting to plan or shop and so would just Start Problems because he was a meathead who enjoyed violence and fucking whores. It was like the archetypal D&D character played by an intelligent person who wasn’t too far up his ass to screw around.

I want to say Sam is similar but his face is too fucking punchable for me to like him and he’s also the sponsorship spokesman so that alone makes me wish he’d spontaneously combust.

 

[UnKillFill]

Travis has always been and always will be my favorite player just because he seems to be the only one willing to play his characters enough to type to stir shit up. I loved how he played Grog, who would get bored with everyone wanting to plan or shop and so would just Start Problems because he was a meathead who enjoyed violence and fucking whores. It was like the archetypal D&D character played by an intelligent person who wasn’t too far up his ass to screw around.

I want to say Sam is similar but his face is too fucking punchable for me to like him and he’s also the sponsorship spokesman so that alone makes me wish he’d spontaneously combust.

Sam definitely is similar, even if you aren't really wrong about anything you said about him.
I still haven't seen much of C1, but apparently he purposely made his character there the most ridiculous combination he could think of. (IIRC a gnome bard.)

And in C2 the only time I remember him ever using Halfling Luck- it's technically a spoiler that he eventually had that ability if you didn't watch all of C2, because he started as a goblin was to try to keep a cursed dagger that could have easily killed him.

It seems to me like Sam is actually one of the better players, but yeah I still like Travis more.

 

[Jeff Gerstmann]

Sam definitely is similar, even if you aren't really wrong about anything you said about him.
I still haven't seen much of C1, but apparently he purposely made his character there the most ridiculous combination he could think of. (IIRC a gnome bard.)

And in C2 the only time I remember him ever using Halfling Luck- it's technically a spoiler that he eventually had that ability if you didn't watch all of C2, because he started as a goblin was to try to keep a cursed dagger that could have easily killed him.

It seems to me like Sam is actually one of the better players, but yeah I still like Travis more.

It's funny you should bring up Sam! Time for trivia!!

As far as players go Sam is the least knowledgeable about the game but he's a theatre kid so he loves it.

In C1 He just asked Liam to throw him together something that was 'the worst character to play' and thus Scalan was slowly born.

In C2, He once again asked Liam for help. He liked the idea of a cowardly rogue so Liam made Veth/Nott.

C3 comes around and from the bat, he knows what he wants to play and he made a promise the next character would be based on his friend Jack McBrayer. So Liam makes it for him resulting in Fresh Cut Grass.

 

[UnKillFill]

It's funny you should bring up Sam! Time for trivia!!

As far as players go Sam is the least knowledgeable about the game but he's a theatre kid so he loves it.

In C1 He just asked Liam to throw him together something that was 'the worst character to play' and thus Scalan was slowly born.

In C2, He once again asked Liam for help. He liked the idea of a cowardly rogue so Liam made Veth/Nott.

C3 comes around and from the bat, he knows what he wants to play and he made a promise the next character would be based on his friend Jack McBrayer. So Liam makes it for him resulting in Fresh Cut Grass.

It's funny you said all of that... But God Damn you, because you're going to make me defend Sam Riegel. [From what I've seen of him personally he seems like an idiotic SJW lite... But even I have to admit, he genuinely seems to a pretty decent actor.]

I didn't mention it before, because I thought it was common knowledge, but I've also heard that C1 of Critical Role was the first time that Sam had ever played D&D, (I've also heard that most of the other people in the group actually *had* played D&D before) If he really did ask for help creating the "worst" combination for his first character (and I totally believe that he did, although the story I heard was that he asked Mercer, not Liam. for it... again, no proof though.) So what? I actually find that kind of admirable. And no matter who actually steered him into playing a "worst character", well they weren't exactly wrong, were they? Seriously. who plays a gnome bard? I'm not enough of an expert about the mechanics of D&D to claim that's the worst *possible* combination, but I do know enough to know that it isn't optimal.

As for C2, Veth/Nott was one of the better characters as far as I'm concerned.
If he did actually ask Liam for help creating her, I again have to say, I think Liam did a good job. (Again, I've never heard that it was Liam, but I can't disprove that.)

No bullshit though, in C3, "Freshly Cut Grass" was my favorite character of the bunch (I don't know who Jack McBrayer is sorry... But Sam is pretty much using the same voice for FCG that he did for that character he played in Bugsnax) before Travis got reintroduced as Chetney. And yeah, Chetney is now the best.

I never heard that Liam created any of Sam's characters, but if that's true, I really have to say... Liam is clearly better at creating characters for other people than he is at creating his own characters, because his characters in CR really haven't been that great in my opinion.

 

[Jeff Gerstmann]

It's funny you said all of that... But God Damn you, because you're going to make me defend Sam Riegel. [From what I've seen of him personally he seems like an idiotic SJW lite... But even I have to admit, he genuinely seems to a pretty decent actor.]

I didn't mention it before, because I thought it was common knowledge, but I've also heard that C1 of Critical Role was the first time that Sam had ever played D&D, (I've also heard that most of the other people in the group actually *had* played D&D before) If he really did ask for help creating the "worst" combination for his first character (and I totally believe that he did, although the story I heard was that he asked Mercer, not Liam. for it... again, no proof though.) So what? I actually find that kind of admirable. And no matter who actually steered him into playing a "worst character", well they weren't exactly wrong, were they? Seriously. who plays a gnome bard? I'm not enough of an expert about the mechanics of D&D to claim that's the worst *possible* combination, but I do know enough to know that it isn't optimal.

As for C2, Veth/Nott was one of the better characters as far as I'm concerned.
If he did actually ask Liam for help creating her, I again have to say, I think Liam did a good job. (Again, I've never heard that it was Liam, but I can't disprove that.)

No bullshit though, in C3, "Freshly Cut Grass" was my favorite character of the bunch (I don't know who Jack McBrayer is sorry... But Sam is pretty much using the same voice for FCG that he did for that character he played in Bugsnax) before Travis got reintroduced as Chetney. And yeah, Chetney is now the best.

I never heard that Liam created any of Sam's characters, but if that's true, I really have to say... Liam is clearly better at creating characters for other people than he is at creating his own characters, because his characters in CR really haven't been that great in my opinion.

You are correct in that it was Sams first time playing D&D. Most of the other core cast has at least a cursory knowledge but the oneshot that evolved into C1 was Sams first go. If you've ever seen 30 Rock Jack McBrayer is the creepy permahappy receptionist. Liam is one of Sams oldest and best friends so he confides in him a lot and will defer to him if he's really unsure of something. The idea that a bard gnome is a bad combo comes from that gnomes don't get early passive buffs that are appealing as other races do. Bards are a great class but like druids they are slow starters. Scanlan unironically ended up became one of the most powerful PC's in C1 by the end tho.

 

[UnKillFill]

You are correct in that it was Sams first time playing D&D. Most of the other core cast has at least a cursory knowledge but the oneshot that evolved into C1 was Sams first go. If you've ever seen 30 Rock Jack McBrayer is the creepy permahappy receptionist. Liam is one of Sams oldest and best friends so he confides in him a lot and will defer to him if he's really unsure of something. The idea that a bard gnome is a bad combo comes from that gnomes don't get early passive buffs that are appealing as other races do. Bards are a great class but like druids they are slow starters. Scanlan unironically ended up became one of the most powerful PC's in C1 by the end tho.

I'm aware of what 30 rock is, but no I've never seen it.

So anyway, I've heard people claim that the players of CR cheat their dice rolls, and maybe some of them do.
If I'm being honest though, from what I've seen, I don't think that Sam of all the players cheats.... And if he did cheat, I really do think that he would "cheat" to make the story more interesting, even if it made things more difficult for himself. I actually respect him for that.

I haven't watched C1 in its entirety yet. Whether or not his character ended up being OP, from his personality, I really don't think that Sam was *intentionally* trying to be OP. Also I really do believe the story that he was trying to play the silliest combination possible

 

[Jeff Gerstmann]

I'm aware of what 30 rock is, but no I've never seen it.

So anyway, I've heard people claim that the players of CR cheat their dice rolls, and maybe some of them do.
If I'm being honest though, from what I've seen, I don't think that Sam of all the players cheats.... And if he did cheat, I really do think that he would "cheat" to make the story more interesting, even if it made things more difficult for himself. I actually respect him for that.

I haven't watched C1 in its entirety yet. Whether or not his character ended up being OP, from his personality, I really don't think that Sam was *intentionally* trying to be OP. Also I really do believe the story that he was trying to play the silliest combination possible

I think some players do cheat their rolls and others rely on the 'COCKED' thing. Which, if you've played any decent amount it's such a rarity but it happens multiple times a session for some of the CR players. The thing that makes Sam OP in the endgame of C1 is that he can use the Wish spell multiple times. Wish is busted as fuck but Sam never abused it to alter their game other than to make things funny.

 

[Wingnut]

The thing that makes Sam OP in the endgame of C1 is that he can use the Wish spell multiple times. Wish is busted as fuck but Sam never abused it to alter their game other than to make things funny.

Both Sam and Travis are by for the most consistent, and least metagamey, in playing their characters as straight as possible. I even remember multiple times in both previous campaigns Sam specifically calling out "Well I don't know that" when other players were trying metagame for him. They are more than willing to fuck up the story if it's in line with how their character would logically act in the situation.

The best example would probably be in C1 when Sam basically wrote off Scanlan at one point and started another character because in character he was sick and tired of being the group punching bag whilst simultaneously having to pull the majority of the group's weight on his own in many situations.