D&D General Critical Role Ending

[darjr]

 

[jgsugden]

1.) Exandria is CR/Mercer's IP, and everything CR does to expand the influence of it is money in their pocket. Letting it go fallow is killing one of their golden geese. Campaign 3 will be in Exandria. My guess is either Issylra, starting in Vasselheim so that they can name check the events of the end of campaign 1, or the Underdark. I would not be surprised by a return to Tal'Dorei with a focus on Tz'arm (as the Curse of Strife may be something Matt wishes to revisit and end in his setting).
2.) They have financial arrangements with D&DBeyond, WotC, etc... They'll stick to D&D.
3.) The lack of rule knowledge by the players is a factor of who those players are, not disdain for the game. If you play long enough, you'll play with a lot of people that ask every week which die to roll for initiative. It doesn't mean they're not having fun or hate the rule set ... some people are just that way.
4.) I believe we'll see them revisit the Might Nein in a few years when it is time to end the cartoon Legend of Vox Machina and begin Legend of the Mighty Nein. They'll run a high level campaign to take them to 20. I believe this 'early end' is a combination of natural story progression, and business opportunity.

 

[Iry]

That’s kinda weird. The only one who consistently seems to forget is Ashley. The others have a better time remembering. Travis, Marisha, and Liam seem mostly on top of things. Laura has moments of utter brilliance with her spells. Sam and Taliesin seem a bit in between.

I want to preface this by saying I respect all of them. For being a great example of friends getting together and playing RPGs, for consistently standing by their morals and sponsoring charities, for showcasing frustrations many of us have to deal with in our lives, etc. They have done a tremendous amount for the community, for the future of the hobby, and just for general acceptance of "nerds" compared to the 80s and 90s.

So, with that out of the way. I honestly think most of them perform at a lower mechanical level than they should be at this point (certainly lower than my own players). Ashley has the most issues - it's a good day when she remembers to reckless attack, a great day when she remembers her Aasimar form deals bonus damage, and she promptly forgot the whole tutorial Matt ran for her about deathless frenzy. I'm honestly not sure why she has so much trouble, when she's clearly a really bright person (and funny as heck).

Liam has really improved! He used to struggle to remember how sneak attack worked, but since he started running 5E games for his family, he's really done a great job learning the rules and being the kind of player I would want at my own table.

Sam has gone the opposite way. He actually knew his stuff when he was playing Scanlan. He didn't know much about non-bard things, but that was fine, because he knew bards. Rogues? Not so much. He has to be reminded about sneak attack almost as much as Vax did, and he barely remembers he's wearing an Elven Cloak, gets advantage on spells when he hides, etc.

Marisha was famously bad as Keyleth, but feels much more at home playing a class like Monk. Enough options that she can get creative with them and do a good job, while avoiding the craziness of another primary caster. I would like to see her play another caster long-term to see how much she has improved, but I'm also wary because I wouldn't want to get stuck with another Keyleth.

Travis and Laura are not at Liam's level, but they do decent. They forget often enough that it's frustrating to listen to, but not as much as some of the biggest offenders. I would expect players with their level of experience to be performing at Liam's level at this point, though. All of them have pulled off some glorious moments regardless.

The biggest thing they struggle with is Analysis Paralysis. They struggled with it in Campaign 1, but Campaign 2 took it to a whole new level. I look forward to seeing if Campaign 3 takes any steps to mitigate this the way they mitigated shopping episodes in Campaign 2.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

Actually they changed from Pathfinder to 5e D&D because Pathfinder was too crunchy for live play. As you do say further down, they've only got limited attention to pay to both the rules and the role-play; some handle this better than others.

I've been directed by some googling to episode 4 of the original campaign where he has a Q&A in which he says what you say, but also that D&D has better name recognition, which is "important when you are doing a show". I may have got the order of priority wrong, but the popularity of the game was totally a factor. These days, now that many more viewers are accustomed to watching people play tabletop games as a means of entertainment, picking games people are less familiar with is doubtlessly more viable, but back in 2015 the show needed all the help it could get.

 

[overgeeked]

I think it would be hilarious if Sam played a Fairy Wild Magic Barbarian.

 

[overgeeked]

I want to preface this by saying I respect all of them. For being a great example of friends getting together and playing RPGs, for consistently standing by their morals and sponsoring charities, for showcasing frustrations many of us have to deal with in our lives, etc. They have done a tremendous amount for the community, for the future of the hobby, and just for general acceptance of "nerds" compared to the 80s and 90s.

So, with that out of the way. I honestly think most of them perform at a lower mechanical level than they should be at this point (certainly lower than my own players). Ashley has the most issues - it's a good day when she remembers to reckless attack, a great day when she remembers her Aasimar form deals bonus damage, and she promptly forgot the whole tutorial Matt ran for her about deathless frenzy. I'm honestly not sure why she has so much trouble, when she's clearly a really bright person (and funny as heck).

Liam has really improved! He used to struggle to remember how sneak attack worked, but since he started running 5E games for his family, he's really done a great job learning the rules and being the kind of player I would want at my own table.

Sam has gone the opposite way. He actually knew his stuff when he was playing Scanlan. He didn't know much about non-bard things, but that was fine, because he knew bards. Rogues? Not so much. He has to be reminded about sneak attack almost as much as Vax did, and he barely remembers he's wearing an Elven Cloak, gets advantage on spells when he hides, etc.

Marisha was famously bad as Keyleth, but feels much more at home playing a class like Monk. Enough options that she can get creative with them and do a good job, while avoiding the craziness of another primary caster. I would like to see her play another caster long-term to see how much she has improved, but I'm also wary because I wouldn't want to get stuck with another Keyleth.

Travis and Laura are not at Liam's level, but they do decent. They forget often enough that it's frustrating to listen to, but not as much as some of the biggest offenders. I would expect players with their level of experience to be performing at Liam's level at this point, though. All of them have pulled off some glorious moments regardless.

The biggest thing they struggle with is Analysis Paralysis. They struggled with it in Campaign 1, but Campaign 2 took it to a whole new level. I look forward to seeing if Campaign 3 takes any steps to mitigate this the way they mitigated shopping episodes in Campaign 2.

They play for the story, not the mechanics. It’s honestly a lot more fun and interesting that way, both to watch and play. It’s one of the many reasons they’re the top live play stream in the world.

 

[Oofta]

Another thing to consider is that while they seem to have a lot of fun playing, these are very busy people. They have lives outside of the game, even if those activities nowadays probably include promoting and supporting CR. I admit I find it a bit annoying at times myself, but in some ways it makes them and the game more approachable. They don't worry about being "professional" D&D players, they're just getting into their PCs and the story.

 

[jgsugden]

I am flabbergasted that people find their lack of detailed rule understanding surprising. I rarely play with people that know the rules incredibly well. I'm in games with nearly 20 people right now ... and very few of them understand the invisibility rules. Few of them know what their spells do by heart. Few of them remember the fine details on their abilities, especially when they're conditionally relevant.

I find the group to be pretty typical of their rule mastery. Two with great knowledge (Matt an Liam), a few pretty good (Taliesin, Laura, Travia, Marisha (now)), and a couple that rely upon others (Sam and Ashley).

 

[robus]

The other bonus to sticking with 5e is it allows guest players to easily join, as everyone (it seems) knows how to play 5e. I’m sure they’re looking forward to that aspect too as C3 gets rolling. Some of their guests have been absolutely incredible and the group seems to really enjoy the change.

 

[robus]

I assume they'll switch continents again... Matt Mercer clearly LOVES worldbuilding (there's a great chat on YouTube where he talks worldbuilding tips with Brennan Lee Mulligan), and I think it's just better for a new campaign to start in a new mostly-unconnected space where the new PCs can explore new things, new organizations, cities and enemies. It's more exciting for the players, DM, and viewers when everything is NEW.

Absolutely, and why WotC‘s endless noodling around Faerûn is so uninspiring. There’s a whole world to explore (apparently) and they’re content with the Sword Coast and environs. (Random M:tG and Ravenloft one-offs notwithstanding )