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

[overgeeked]

Oh, it absolutely was set up to produce a specific story outcome. Some may find that distasteful - I certainly would, in the context of a home game. In a show that’s effectively a semi-improvised audio drama, I’m alright with it. Especially because it is still part of the overture. But, yeah, I do think this likely signals they’re leaning more towards curated viewer experience than organic player experience.

I find it distasteful even in this context. I hate railroading with a passion.

If it were curated in the sense of the players being in on it, then he wouldn't have removed the stone at the end. But it could also be read as the NPCs simply having a goal and pursuing it regardless. Or it could have been Brennan improvising something to let Octis survive but it went sideways.

 

[overgeeked]

That can happen when you have multiple players wanting to be the broody, stoic badass with a secret heart of gold. I do hope that if they are at the same table, they don’t make a habit of getting into Big Damn Hero contests.

Oh gods. Yeah, that'll be tedious as hell if they are. Here's to hoping they're not at the same table going forward.

 

[Charlaquin]

I find it distasteful even in this context. I hate railroading with a passion.

Eh, nobody is bothered by, like, House of the Dragon being a railroad. At the end of the day, Critical Role is a show. If it’s entertaining to watch, I’m not worried about how much agency the actors have. I remember when it was a hot button discussion topic to speculate on if Critical Role is secretly scripted. It definitely isn’t, but personally I wouldn’t really care if it was.

I do think what we’re probably seeing is Brennan’s experience as an improvisational comedian. Improv comedy involves working from unexpected prompts to find your way to material that, while not scripted or rehearsed, is at least within your familiar wheelhouse. I suspect he has some story beats in mind, and is using the players’ and dice’s inputs as his improv prompts from which to find a way to those beats.

If it were curated in the sense of the players being in on it, then he wouldn't have removed the stone at the end. But it could also be read as the NPCs simply having a goal and pursuing it regardless. Or it could have been Brennan improvising something to let Octis survive but it went sideways.

Spoilers for the very end of the episode, so beware anyone who’s only partway through:
I honestly don’t think Brennan anticipated Octis being resurrected at the end. The way he said “we won’t be seeing Octis again” when his soul unraveled felt very final in the moment, and he set the DC to remove the stone of nightsong high enough it would have required rolling within two points of the maximum on all three dice. It was only because of the natural 20 on the Portent roll that it worked out.

I am really interested to see this week’s cooldown. I’m definitely going to at least be starting the 7-day free trial of Beacon to see if that discussion sheds any more light on if there was a plan going into this episode. Would have done so last night, but it was already past midnight in my time zone by the time the episode was over. So, tonight it shall be.

 

[nyvinter]

From the cooldown:

Spoiler: Cooldown C4e004: characters

Brennan explained it "Alex pitched 'I want to play a necromancer Hollowed One, and what if he was killed by his own family?'" To which Brennan went "amazing. How about we get to see that?"

So it was going to happen but they hadn't decided when during play. it could have been now, and it could have been in a few months.

Alex: "I did not have any input in how scary my family is, that's all Brennan."

 

[Charlaquin]

From the cooldown:

Spoiler: Cooldown C4e004: characters

Brennan explained it "Alex pitched 'I want to play a necromancer Hollowed One, and what if he was killed by his own family?'" To which Brennan went "amazing. How about we get to see that?"

So it was going to happen but they hadn't decided when during play. it could have been now, and it could have been in a few months.

Alex: "I did not have any input in how scary my family is, that's all Brennan."

Ok, that explains so much! Thank you for that insight.

 

[Clint_L]

Eh, nobody is bothered by, like, House of the Dragon being a railroad. At the end of the day, Critical Role is a show.

House of the Dragon is scripted. Each episode is about an hour. Each season is, what, 8 episodes? Ten?

In the entire amount of time that House of the Dragon spent on a full season, Campaign 4 got through little more than a funeral. Campaign 4 is already almost as long as all of HotD.

If someone goes into CR expecting a show comparable to a TV series, they are going to be badly disappointed. And the more it tries to be one, the less interested I get. I like when it's a bunch of friends playing D&D, snacks and all.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

If someone goes into CR expecting a show comparable to a TV series, they are going to be badly disappointed.

Unless their biggest complaint about House of the Dragon is there aren't enough shopping episodes.

 

[Charlaquin]

House of the Dragon is scripted. Each episode is about an hour. Each season is, what, 8 episodes? Ten?

In the entire amount of time that House of the Dragon spent on a full season, Campaign 4 got through little more than a funeral. Campaign 4 is already almost as long as all of HotD.

I guess, but like… isn’t the lack of content in modern streaming series generally considered a negative? I dunno, maybe I’m an old woman yelling at clouds, but I liked it when shows used to go for dozens of seasons that were scores of episodes long.

If someone goes into CR expecting a show comparable to a TV series, they are going to be badly disappointed. And the more it tries to be one, the less interested I get. I like when it's a bunch of friends playing D&D, snacks and all.

I get that. And I do empathize with those of you who watched it for that. It sucks to see something you used to enjoy change to the point where what you liked about it is gone from it. Personally, this campaign has been much more my speed.

 

[TiQuinn]

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.