D&D General Critical Role Ending

[jgsugden]

What, you don't think episodes where the characters participated in guided meditation or hired domestic staff was a good use of their time?

I think a lot of the show's "issues" are a misalignment of audience expectations and what the performers are interested in. D&D is obviously the biggest game in town, by far, but as seen by one-shots when they play Monsterhearts and the like, the actors seem most comfortable just doing improv with a ruleset that really puts the focus on that.

I suspect, if they could pick any ruleset to use, it would be something closer to Dungeon World or Fellowship than D&D. You can still flub the rules there, of course, but both of those games are much closer to just free-form improv with some guard rails to help adjudicate things.

You speak like they're not massively successful, or like people do not listen to the shopping/meditation/date night episodes.

Role playing game. Characters play a role in a story. Story is more than combat.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

You speak like they're not massively successful, or like people do not listen to the shopping/meditation/date night episodes.

No one is attacking Critical Role. You can stop bursting through the wall like Kool-Aid Man to defend them.

 

[jgsugden]

No one is attacking Critical Role. You can stop bursting through the wall like Kool-Aid Man to defend them.

Dude. You said it wasn't a good use of their time to have guided meditation and hiring staff in episodes. A lot of people like those episodes. It is like you're not even aware of what you're saying.

 

[billd91]

What, you don't think episodes where the characters participated in guided meditation or hired domestic staff was a good use of their time?

I think a lot of the show's "issues" are a misalignment of audience expectations and what the performers are interested in. D&D is obviously the biggest game in town, by far, but as seen by one-shots when they play Monsterhearts and the like, the actors seem most comfortable just doing improv with a ruleset that really puts the focus on that.

I suspect, if they could pick any ruleset to use, it would be something closer to Dungeon World or Fellowship than D&D. You can still flub the rules there, of course, but both of those games are much closer to just free-form improv with some guard rails to help adjudicate things.

An interesting thought, but now that I've started watching the first campaign from the beginning (since I've caught up on Campaign 2), I'm seeing that their fidelity to the rules is a lot higher in Campaign 2 than it was with their first episodes of Campaign 1. Granted, they're coming over from Pathfinder 1, and you can clearly see elements of that in their play, so some allowances for transition have to be made. But, wow, it's a considerably tighter game now than it was, and that's even with the extended improv.

 

[robus]

I agree that there are a lot of plot threads out there that could still be followed... but the group chose one to follow after TravellerCon (taking up Vess DeRogna's job offer to go to Eiselcross) which lead them towards Lucien and the Eyes of Nine becoming the high-level finale.

I do think this is one of Matt’s great talents. He is always offering juicy hooks to the players.

 

[Iry]

An interesting thought, but now that I've started watching the first campaign from the beginning (since I've caught up on Campaign 2), I'm seeing that their fidelity to the rules is a lot higher in Campaign 2 than it was with their first episodes of Campaign 1. Granted, they're coming over from Pathfinder 1, and you can clearly see elements of that in their play, so some allowances for transition have to be made. But, wow, it's a considerably tighter game now than it was, and that's even with the extended improv.

This is definitely true! Campaign 2 is a strong attempt by Matt to run the game as close to 5E as possible (moment to moment rulings not withstanding). I don't know if that was just a personal choice, or if discussions of a WotC affiliated campaign book were in talks at that point.

 

[imagineGod]

So much money was raised on Kickstarter, it cannot just end without another season.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I don’t think that they would switch to a more free form game, necessarily, if their audience didn’t care about the system.

One thing that I’ve noticed in actual play games is that D&D engenders a certain kind of improvisation that isn’t as present when the same people play other games.

I’m not sure how to describe the difference, but the audience notices the difference, and I think it’s a big part of why The Adventure Zone has gone back to D&D.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I’m not sure how to describe the difference, but the audience notices the difference, and I think it’s a big part of why The Adventure Zone has gone back to D&D.

Boy, that's a crew that really struggles with games rules. The TAZ crew made a mess of Monster of the Week, trying to shoehorn it into being a high-prep D&D game.

I do think that much of the audience wants to hear D&D, even if it's not necessarily going to result in better shows.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Boy, that's a crew that really struggles with games rules. The TAZ crew made a mess of Monster of the Week, trying to shoehorn it into being a high-prep D&D game.

I do think that much of the audience wants to hear D&D, even if it's not necessarily going to result in better shows.

Or, the audience just prefers the type of gameplay engendered by D&D.