Critical Role Is Critical Role Scripted (behind the scenes)

[Oofta]

One of the big differences they've mentioned is that because they are doing it for an audience now (as well as themselves), they have to be more focused the whole time than they were simply playing at home. And that has consequences ranging from being more involved with everyone else's character drama to fatigue that you can sometimes notice as their decision-making and focus deteriorate over long, stressful episodes. And you also notice this evolve over campaign 1 as they get more accustomed to the new play environment's requirements and expectations.

But that just means that they don't stop during the game to discuss the weather or whatever chit-chat comes up. If we all agree that we want to get through a lot in a session for whatever reason, we also have very little extraneous interruptions. I know when I'm at a game day or con where we have a 4 hour slot, once we get set up we stay focused on the game once we get going. It's no different.

So once again I see a difference in how but not what. It doesn't make it a performance any more than the fact that they're far better at acting. In our home game we are also acting as our PCs when we're role playing.

 

[Umbran]

But that just means that they don't stop during the game to discuss the weather or whatever chit-chat comes up.

Agreed. The primary difference I see between CR and many campaign tables is focus.

I see similar focus when I run one-shot games, in which the adventure is limited to 4 hours, and will never again be revisited. People in campaign sessions don't have a whole lot of time pressure to accomplish anything in particular in a given session, so they may "fart around", to use the colloquial term. Specifically, the CR players don't spend a lot of time waffling or arguing over plans of action, and their non-game asides are limited.

Also, in the CR I have watched* I noted a significant focus in the material presented. Mercer seems to avoid red herrings, and seems to make sure that his players always have actionable items in front of them. Many GMs I know will not assure that, and then their parties sit around trying to figure out what they want to do.



*Which isn't a lot, but enough - I watched a chunk at the start of the current campaign so I could have informed opinions. It was 2021 - the pandemic left me with spare time.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I think Critical Role looks a lot less mysterious when you see Dimension 20 during a season heavy on the improv folks from College Humor/Dropout, especially once the show gets a good budget.

Strong improv skills, an awareness that this is a performance rather than a home game, the knowledge that they're making 20+ hours of content for an average campaign, good DMs who have put in all sorts of work beforehand, as well as great lighting, great sound, great miniatures and battle maps, etc.

There's a reason these people are professional performers. If Critical Role and Dimension 20 didn't make a lot of it appear effortless, it would be shocking.

And yeah, anyone who's ever done any kind of performing knows that these large casts aren't memorizing hours of scripts for each episodes and executing them flawlessly. They just have a lot of advantages -- the product of a lot of hard work in their day jobs -- that most groups won't ever have.

 

[p_johnston]

According to them, their games play out much like they did before CR became a thing.
They stated in the video from the first post that this is still their home game.

So either they're lying or your "point" is just unfounded, and IMHO, unfair supposition.

I will say that their live shows in front of an audience feel different, I don't know how they couldn't be. But the normal streamed show? They're getting into their characters and playing a role with ad-hoc responses. Just like we do in our games. It's just turned up to 11.

So I will say that while I think that is...like 90% true they do make concessions towards it being a show produced for an audience that I am fairly certain wouldn't happen during an at home game. In a home game the number 1 priority is "make sure everyone at the table is having fun" with a secondary priority of "tell a good story" because that is a good way to make sure everyone has fun. For a live play podcast like CR those two are switched.

For example the start season 3 it took nearly 2 hours before the final character was introduced. While this made for a fun immersive start to the story for people watching in a non-streamed d&d game making a players just sit on their hands for that long until they get introduced would be a terrible idea. Same with the way the handle character death. When a character dies the player routinely ends up sitting out somewhere between 1 and 4 full episodes before a new character is introduced or the old one is revived. Imagine if during a casual game a player died and the DM had them sit there not doing anything for 3 full 4+ hour sessions before they got revived.

Now I'm not saying that the players aren't having fun (They appear to be having lots of fun) and I'm not saying the show is scripted (I genuinely think that the players get the surprises the same time as us). I'm not even saying that CR has a different list of priorities then what they would have if it was a home game. I'm just saying that the order of importance is definitely different, even if they aren't openly acknowledging it.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

For example the start season 3 it took nearly 2 hours before the final character was introduced. While this made for a fun immersive start to the story for people watching in a non-streamed d&d game making a players just sit on their hands for that long until they get introduced would be a terrible idea.

Worlds Beyond Number (DMed by Brennan Lee Mulligan, the primary Dimension 20 DM) has done this several times, and while it makes for a great show, yeah, I cannot imagine a home DM saying "OK, sit quietly for 40 minutes, saying nothing, while we tell a long story about one character before rotating to you next."

That said, I'm not sure I get how anyone could be confused which actual plays feature performers creating shows as entertainment and which are just groups of regular folks putting their regular games on camera/audio (there tends to be a lot more rules talk in the latter case, for one thing).

 

[Oofta]

So I will say that while I think that is...like 90% true they do make concessions towards it being a show produced for an audience that I am fairly certain wouldn't happen during an at home game. In a home game the number 1 priority is "make sure everyone at the table is having fun" with a secondary priority of "tell a good story" because that is a good way to make sure everyone has fun. For a live play podcast like CR those two are switched.

For example the start season 3 it took nearly 2 hours before the final character was introduced. While this made for a fun immersive start to the story for people watching in a non-streamed d&d game making a players just sit on their hands for that long until they get introduced would be a terrible idea. Same with the way the handle character death. When a character dies the player routinely ends up sitting out somewhere between 1 and 4 full episodes before a new character is introduced or the old one is revived. Imagine if during a casual game a player died and the DM had them sit there not doing anything for 3 full 4+ hour sessions before they got revived.

Now I'm not saying that the players aren't having fun (They appear to be having lots of fun) and I'm not saying the show is scripted (I genuinely think that the players get the surprises the same time as us). I'm not even saying that CR has a different list of priorities then what they would have if it was a home game. I'm just saying that the order of importance is definitely different, even if they aren't openly acknowledging it.

None of that has anything to do with whether the show is scripted or not. As far as introducing characters, I've been in games where someone had to sit on the sidelines for a while. It's not common but it does happen. When it's happened in games I ran it wasn't for 2 hours, but then again I don't play for 4 hours weekly. The main difference would be with guest characters, but again that has nothing to do with the thread topic.

You might as well say it's not like a home game because there's lights and a camera crew.

 

[p_johnston]

None of that has anything to do with whether the show is scripted or not. As far as introducing characters, I've been in games where someone had to sit on the sidelines for a while. It's not common but it does happen. When it's happened in games I ran it wasn't for 2 hours, but then again I don't play for 4 hours weekly. The main difference would be with guest characters, but again that has nothing to do with the thread topic.

You might as well say it's not like a home game because there's lights and a camera crew.

So my post was in reply to you stating that they have said their CR game is still like their home game (a topic you brought up). I was merely pointing out the ways in which that is obviously not true. I can understand why they want to pretend like it is (it's a lot easier to relate to just a bunch of nerdy friends playing d&d then a bunch of famous actors putting on a show) but pretending that CR would be the same whether or not it was a show is disingenuous.

But if you want to relate it more directly back to the thread title then that's easy enough. Part of the reason that some people feel CR is scripted is trying to parse the discrepancies between it and what they see in home games. Why were they able to reply so quickly? Why did Matt have that particular battlemap prepared? Why was this person sitting out for sessions rather then put right back in? Etc.

 

[Oofta]

So my post was in reply to you stating that they have said their CR game is still like their home game (a topic you brought up). I was merely pointing out the ways in which that is obviously not true. I can understand why they want to pretend like it is (it's a lot easier to relate to just a bunch of nerdy friends playing d&d then a bunch of famous actors putting on a show) but pretending that CR would be the same whether or not it was a show is disingenuous.

But if you want to relate it more directly back to the thread title then that's easy enough. Part of the reason that some people feel CR is scripted is trying to parse the discrepancies between it and what they see in home games. Why were they able to reply so quickly? Why did Matt have that particular battlemap prepared? Why was this person sitting out for sessions rather then put right back in? Etc.

They never said it's exactly the same, neither have I. Their game is different because there are cameras and they're in a studio. That doesn't materially change the gameplay.

My games occasionally have people on the sideline waiting for their PC to be introduced for one reason or another. You act like it's something that never happens, I can guarantee it does. Other times people can't make a session or are late and their PC isn't there.

But the other stuff? Huh? They're able to reply so quickly? Do your players not reply quickly in your game? Mine usually do. Why is Matt prepared for the gaming session? Why do people occasionally miss a session or three? How are any of these an issue?

Personally I'm not big on using big terrain set pieces because I've never found any I particularly like, it's too easy to block line of sight (something that comes up now and then on the show). But I'm also not sponsored by Dwarven Forge either. I just had someone last game sit out a session because something came up, it happens.

Yes, they have cool set pieces. My wife draws maps ahead of time even if I don't. I've played with people that used terrain. Sometimes people, especially guests, sit on the sidelines and wait until it makes sense to introduce them. Same as my home game.

If they say that without the extraneous fluff that doesn't affect their game except to add a little bling (i.e. Dwarven Forge terrain) then I see no reason to disbelieve them. I see no reason to call them liars ... umm .... "disingenuous".

 

[Theory of Games]

You don't get that in scripted shows because it's "Too much" of a tonal shift for television or movies that favor really subtle acting through microexpressions. Y'know?

Uh, NO. Great actors and great directors pull off "tonal shifts" all the time. It's what they do, just like their voice-acting peers. Tom Hanks has mastered the technique.

Whether it's CR or pro wrestling, they don't need to show me a script for me to know it's scripted. I can "see" it via the predominance of Story™.

 

[Steampunkette]

Uh, NO. Great actors and great directors pull off "tonal shifts" all the time. It's what they do, just like their voice-acting peers. Tom Hanks has mastered the technique.

Whether it's CR or pro wrestling, they don't need to show me a script for me to know it's scripted. I can "see" it via the predominance of Story™.

Ah. Yeah. See. Key phrase, there, being "Too Much". You seem to have skipped over that part.

As far as Wrestling: Loosely, yeah. They know who is going to win before they go in and the wrestlers communicate through the entire match as to what move they're going to do because otherwise someone is going to get hurt. They often also know exactly how long the match is going to take, and the Referee is there, physically, to tell them about any changes being mandated.

But CR isn't scripted. Not even to that degree. You can believe it in your heart of hearts, but with the dice in play, the players telling you it isn't scripted, the DM telling you it isn't scripted, and stuff like Orion Acaba's 27 episodes on the show with endless frustrations and apparent cheating and metagaming before he left..?

It ain't scripted.