Critical Role Critical Role Campaign 4 Episode 4 is a High-Octane Rollercoaster

[OB1]

Well, now that I watched the second half of the episode!


I’m just stunned by how good this has been so far. Matt Mercer’s character is not only a badass, but also such a magnificent bastard! The Bolaire reveal, that Portent roll, just some incredible fantasy storytelling going on here.

As someone who only liked (and didn't love) BLeeMs three mini-runs in C3, I've been loving almost everything about C4. The only thing I'm really bouncing off hard is Matt's character. I would have much rather seen him do something more whimsical like The Traveler. Luis' character I'm still on the fence about.

 

[Charlaquin]

As someone who only liked (and didn't love) BLeeMs three mini-runs in C3, I've been loving almost everything about C4. The only thing I'm really bouncing off hard is Matt's character. I would have much rather seen him do something more whimsical like The Traveler. Luis' character I'm still on the fence about.

Yeah, Matt’s character so far has been such a red flag to me… he’s like a walking example of how not to make a character for a collaborative game. I’m hoping it goes somewhere worthwhile.

Luis’ character… I quite like him, and I’m not really sure why? He’s exactly the sort of generic hero dude I normally find incredibly boring, but for some reason Azune just works for me. He’s just got that ja ne sais qua. And I especially love seeing him interact with Murray. They play off each other in a really amusing way, and I love how flustered and vaguely confused Azune gets.

 

[overgeeked]

Yeah, Matt’s character so far has been such a red flag to me… he’s like a walking example of how not to make a character for a collaborative game. I’m hoping it goes somewhere worthwhile.

Luis’ character… I quite like him, and I’m not really sure why? He’s exactly the sort of generic hero dude I normally find incredibly boring, but for some reason Azune just works for me. He’s just got that ja ne sais qua. And I especially love seeing him interact with Murray. They play off each other in a really amusing way, and I love how flustered and vaguely confused Azune gets.

Matt's doing the typical edge lord stuff. It's as common as dice. Bothersome and annoying but not game breaking or groan-worthy. I do agree and hope he's doing it with intent rather than just finally getting a chance to be a jerk so is.

For me it's Taliesin's character who's the glaring red flag. I really hate the whole OC thing where everyone has to be so utterly painfully unique and special. Four campaigns and it's only gotten worse over time. Now he's a sentient mask that was designed as a weapon to fight gods. Groan.

 

[OB1]

Matt's doing the typical edge lord stuff. It's as common as dice. Bothersome and annoying but not game breaking or groan-worthy. I do agree and hope he's doing it with intent rather than just finally getting a chance to be a jerk so is.

For me it's Taliesin's character who's the glaring red flag. I really hate the whole OC thing where everyone has to be so utterly painfully unique and special. Four campaigns and it's only gotten worse over time. Now he's a sentient mask that was designed as a weapon to fight gods. Groan.

For me the issue with Matt is that he's capable of so much more that what seems to be going on with Sir Davios, but maybe he'll surprise me as the campaign unfolds. But for now it just feels too Lanister son for me.

Bolaire won me over in Ep4. I was thinking along the same lines as you, but now I just feel like Tal is playing the character he always wanted to and was born to play and his enjoyment is bleeding over into mine. I hope someday I find that perfect PC for me.

 

[TiQuinn]

As someone who only liked (and didn't love) BLeeMs three mini-runs in C3, I've been loving almost everything about C4. The only thing I'm really bouncing off hard is Matt's character. I would have much rather seen him do something more whimsical like The Traveler. Luis' character I'm still on the fence about.

I like that Matt is playing the odd man out in the group. He’s really leaning into being a jackass, which actually brings a nice bit of tension to the table. Luis’ character just hasn’t had a moment for me to really get into his character but there’s just so much going on, I figure he’s got plenty of time.

 

[TiQuinn]

Yeah, Matt’s character so far has been such a red flag to me… he’s like a walking example of how not to make a character for a collaborative game. I’m hoping it goes somewhere worthwhile.

Luis’ character… I quite like him, and I’m not really sure why? He’s exactly the sort of generic hero dude I normally find incredibly boring, but for some reason Azune just works for me. He’s just got that ja ne sais qua. And I especially love seeing him interact with Murray. They play off each other in a really amusing way, and I love how flustered and vaguely confused Azune gets.

The thing I like about Azune (and Hal) is that they’re grounded characters thus far. There are some crazy personalities out there with Murray, Wic, Bolaire and Tyranny that you kind of need someone to balance that out a bit. It was another knock that I had on Campaign 3, tbh.

Julien’s pretty straightforward so far to me - like, I can see the arc for him being about gaining the party’s trust and friendship even though he’s unlikable in the beginning. And given these guys all know what they’re doing, I’m sure Matt know when to ease off.

 

[Charlaquin]

Matt's doing the typical edge lord stuff. It's as common as dice. Bothersome and annoying but not game breaking or groan-worthy. I do agree and hope he's doing it with intent rather than just finally getting a chance to be a jerk so is.

For me it's Taliesin's character who's the glaring red flag. I really hate the whole OC thing where everyone has to be so utterly painfully unique and special. Four campaigns and it's only gotten worse over time. Now he's a sentient mask that was designed as a weapon to fight gods. Groan.

Haha I adore Taliesin’s character

 

[overgeeked]

Haha I adore Taliesin’s character

To each their own. I think it's an interesting premise for an anime; terrible as a D&D character. Would be great in any other system that could actually accommodate something like that easily. It feels like he'd rather be playing some other game but can't, so he's importing the character. Or it's an anime script he's written but can't get made, so he's importing the character. I wouldn't be surprised if his extended backstory included being an isekai and was hit by truck-kun.

 

[Charlaquin]

To each their own. I think it's an interesting premise for an anime; terrible as a D&D character. Would be great in any other system that could actually accommodate something like that easily. It feels like he'd rather be playing some other game but can't, so he's importing the character. Or it's an anime script he's written but can't get made, so he's importing the character. I wouldn't be surprised if his extended backstory included being an isekai and was hit by truck-kun.

I don’t see any reason it can’t work in D&D. He said in the cooldown that he got the idea from Travis’ characters in past campaigns wielding sentient weapons. He thought, if that weapon is sentient, it’s functionally a person. What must that person’s experience be like when it isn’t being actively wielded by someone else?

Granted, you need to do some homebrewing to handle how that works mechanically. But, I don’t see any problem with that. Homebrew is the beating heart of the hobby.