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

[Charlaquin]

Agreed, I don't understand this notion that somehow this is a bad, unwanted thing. Critical Role is not a home game - it's a professional production. All of these characters have been vetted, all of the players know that their job is to entertain the viewers at home. If there were any problems, why would anyone think this wasn't hashed out behind the scenes?

This is another good point! In fact, after campaign 1, the idea that these games have been DMed by a single person has always been an illusion. Brennan specifically pointed it out in an interview prior to this campaign being released, he said something along the lines of “what you see as me DMing this campaign is actually the work of like a dozen people in a me-shaped trenchcoat.” (Not a direct quote, just a half-remembered paraphrase). But his point was, it’s a TV show. There’s an entire team involved in managing all the lore and story threads and logistics behind the scenes, and home DMs should not expect to be able to replicate the work of an entire team of people by themselves.

 

[Mort]

C2. Tal has a custom class, blood hunter. Marisha has custom subclass.

Both of which Mercer had created independently, not for them - they just chose to use them. So it wasn't unwanted extra work for Matt, it was clearly something he wanted to see tried and used.

 

[Mort]

This is another good point! In fact, after campaign 1, the idea that these games have been DMed by a single person has always been an illusion. Brennan specifically pointed it out in an interview prior to this campaign being released, he said something along the lines of “what you see as me DMing this campaign is actually the work of like a dozen people in a me-shaped trenchcoat.” (Not a direct quote, just a half-remembered paraphrase). But his point was, it’s a TV show. There’s an entire team involved in managing all the lore and story threads and logistics behind the scenes, and home DMs should not expect to be able to replicate the work of an entire team of people by themselves.

I actually worry that this might turn into a too many cooks in the kitchen situation. When running a campaign, it's not a TV show. Too many people putting forth their vision and input could get confusing and chaotic! But, hopefully, Brennan knows how to juggle it all and will just use all of that as background and support.

 

[TiQuinn]

Both of which Mercer had created independently, not for them - they just chose to use them. So it wasn't unwanted extra work for Matt, it was clearly something he wanted to see tried and used.

Mercer also released the Blood Hunter as a pay what you can class on DMsGuild well before Campaign 2 was even started. It was something he had already created.

 

[Charlaquin]

He’s literally the only one to do so. He’s the only one who has played a custom character in every campaign.

C1. Only custom character was Tal’s gunslinger fighter.
C2. Tal has a custom class, blood hunter. Marisha has custom subclass.
C3. Both Tal and Sam have custom subclasses

Sorry, I didn’t mean others have had homebrew characters in every campaign, just that others have had homebrew elements to their characters.

We’re four episodes in to C4. We don’t know enough about the PCs’ mechanics to say who all has custom stuff at this point.

Well, there’s no way Thimble isn’t homebrewed since she’s Tiny sized. Tyranny is explicitly a demon, not a tiefling. Cattigan has some sort of weird weapon and we’ve seen him cast a spell that’s at least 3rd party if not homebrewed. And Halandil is starting out with a magic weapon which is at least implied to be very powerful. And we know Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford are on the team specifically to help with integrating homebrew into the 2024 rules.

 

[overgeeked]

What Taliesin is, is goth. And I know a lot of DMs have a visceral aversion to anything they perceive as “edgy.” But just because his characters tend to have dramatic and dark elements doesn’t mean he actually takes up more spotlight than anyone else.

Yeah. Between Tal and Liam, Liam is the more dramatic and dark goth type. Tal seems to be more attention seeking and performative “look at me.” I wouldn’t describe either of them as spotlight hogs.

 

[TiQuinn]

Sorry, I didn’t mean others have had homebrew characters in every campaign, just that others have had homebrew elements to their characters.

Well, there’s no way Thimble isn’t homebrewed since she’s Tiny sized. Tyranny is explicitly a demon, not a tiefling. Cattigan has some sort of weird weapon and we’ve seen him cast a spell that’s at least 3rd party if not homebrewed. And Halandil is starting out with a magic weapon which is at least implied to be very powerful. And we know Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford are on the team specifically to help with integrating homebrew into the 2024 rules.

So that Clue spell that Kattigan cast came from Valda's Spire of Secrets which I saw was available as a 3PP on D&D Beyond.

I'm not sure if Tyranny is actually a demon, or a tiefling? I've assumed she is still just a tiefling but because this is a homebrew setting, the lore difference between tiefling and a full fledged demon may not be clear.

 

[overgeeked]

This is another good point! In fact, after campaign 1, the idea that these games have been DMed by a single person has always been an illusion. Brennan specifically pointed it out in an interview prior to this campaign being released, he said something along the lines of “what you see as me DMing this campaign is actually the work of like a dozen people in a me-shaped trenchcoat.” (Not a direct quote, just a half-remembered paraphrase). But his point was, it’s a TV show. There’s an entire team involved in managing all the lore and story threads and logistics behind the scenes, and home DMs should not expect to be able to replicate the work of an entire team of people by themselves.

This isn’t how I took that comment at all. It sounded far more like Brennan thanking the behind the camera people at D20 and CR for their hard work in making these TV shows possible. Camera operators, set design, lighting, makeup, etc. Not that other people were co-DMs.

 

[overgeeked]

Both of which Mercer had created independently, not for them - they just chose to use them. So it wasn't unwanted extra work for Matt, it was clearly something he wanted to see tried and used.

Do you have a source for that?

 

[Mort]

Do you have a source for that?

Sure,

The Blood Hunter was originally created for Vin Diesel by Mercer and then he expanded it from there.

The Way of the Kobalt Sout was originally created by Matt for his world, played my Marisha and tweaked during the campaign.

From numerous interviews and the like, It's clear Matt loves to homebrew and create original content.