Critical Role PSA: You are not Matt Mercer

[Seramus]

Sounds like my crew.

Hahaha. You have my condolences.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Hahaha. You have my condolences.

Actually I love gaming with these guys but they are mostly very casual about RPG games. 20-30 year friends as well. At this point it is what it is. The good thing is they will play any system I want to run and seem to be always coming back for more. Though admittedly at times I want to pull hair out but that is what scotch is for.

 

[prabe]

Actually I love gaming with these guys but they are mostly very casual about RPG games. 20-30 year friends as well. At this point it is what it is. The good thing is they will play any system I want to run and seem to be always coming back for more. Though admittedly at times I want to pull hair out but that is what scotch is for.

You use Scotch for pulling your hair out? You mean I'm doing it wrong? [looks sadly at bottle of Highland Park 16 on shelf]

 

[darjr]

I bet you're the kind of person who likes going to game conventions and playing at tables with lots of new people.

Guilty

 

[Oofta]

I bet you're the kind of person who likes going to game conventions and playing at tables with lots of new people.

Is it too soon to start talking about "The good old days" when we could gather in a large room with a bunch of strangers to play a game?

 

[prabe]

Is it too soon to start talking about "The good old days" when we could gather in a large room with a bunch of strangers to play a game?

Gawds, I hope not. I'm not a con person, but I miss gaming in person something fierce and I ran my most recent campaigns in game stores because a) my place was small and at best untidy and b) I wanted to game with new people.

 

[Seramus]

Actually I love gaming with these guys but they are mostly very casual about RPG games. 20-30 year friends as well. At this point it is what it is. The good thing is they will play any system I want to run and seem to be always coming back for more. Though admittedly at times I want to pull hair out but that is what scotch is for.

Oh yeah. I totally understand where you are coming from. The funny part is that Friends are often really bad at D&D, but we keep playing with them because they are our friends. So we just get used to their flaws and goofs. But man, there are lots of players I would love to say "Get better!"

My own players are pretty good about it these days. But that's because I started using a "If you forget about it, you don't get it" policy. I don't mean that maliciously, but if you don't remember your attack bonus or spell DC after about six months then it's ZERO.

"I rolled a 14 and... what's my attack bonus?"
"14 misses."

 

[CleverNickName]

I love Dungeons & Dragons (been playing it for the last 30+ years), Critical Role (been watching it since it first aired), and Matt Mercer (I think he's a great voice actor, writer, and human). But we shouldn't put equal-signs between all of these different names.

As much as I love Matt, he isn't the end-all, be-all for dungeon mastery. He's an excellent DM, maybe one of the best--but his style isn't everyone's cup of tea. He isn't the face of D&D, and it must be frustrating when people elevate him to such.

And as much as I love CR, there's no way I would want that play-style at my table. I have nothing but love for Talisen, Liam, Sam, Marisha, Travis, Laura, and Ashley, and I'll always visit them when they come to RCCC, but they would drive me up the wall if they were my players! (Maybe not Ashley. She's pretty chill.)

At the end of the day, we're all just a bunch of weirdos, hanging out and telling stories together, and that's D&D. My gaming group is all civil engineers; Matt's gaming group is all voice actors. We don't have much in common, and it would be weird if we did, but at least we agree on this much:

 

[Fauchard1520]

As much as I love Matt, he isn't the end-all, be-all for dungeon mastery. He's an excellent DM, maybe one of the best--but his style isn't everyone's cup of tea. He isn't the face of D&D, and it must be frustrating when people elevate him to such.

I should clarify: this is more or less where I come down. Nothing but respect for Mercer.

The problem for me is that, because D&D has been a micro-cultural thing for most of its history -- just you and your buddies figuring out what the game is like together -- having this iconic example of WHAT D&D IS SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE endangers the diversity of playstyles.

So yes: CR is a good thing for the community. It brings in a lot of new blood, and that makes me a happy gamer. But I'm less happy to hear about new players that want 'what I saw on CR' rather than discovering their own group's take on the hobby. Does that make sense?

 

[Blackmoor_Film]

I have no idea what anyone is saying. I play OD&D.

In my games inspiration isn't a die roll, it comes from caffeine.

Who is this Merc Marcer whipper snapper?

Where's my hearing aide?

Character Death is Good!