Critical Role PSA: You are not Matt Mercer

[Doug McCrae]

It's a game, not a competitive sport.

Gygaxian D&D was highly competitive (I recall reading somewhere that playing was quite a stressful and intense experience), probably rather like being in a very successful WoW raiding guild, though I'm not sure if anyone plays it that way any more. Even the posters on ENWorld who run 1e or B/X seem to have a more relaxed approach afaict.

 

[S'mon]

Have any of you guys met with this issue out in the wilds? How do you deal with it when it shows up at your table?

I see a lot of posts from new players looking to play a D&D game in the style of Critical Role, and a smaller number of GMs offering such a game. I haven't had any complaints at my own table, but I am a bit more thespy than some GMs - I like talking in character, and I really enjoy a Bard player who has a go playing the part. And I build worlds; I even like (organically emergent) dramatic arcs. I guess I'm sufficiently Mercer-ish!

Edit: Typical play session account from one of my games! VOJack is a professional voice actor.

 

[Morrus]

Gygaxian D&D was highly competitive

Not in the sense we’re talking about. Different topic.

 

[billd91]

It's not even that. Diving, or basketball, or whatever, is a competive sport backed by large corporations and international competitions - the goal is to get "good" at it, and then in some cases get rich from being good at it.

D&D's goal isn't to get "good" at it. It's to have fun with your friends on a Thursday night. There's no competitive element to it.

I don’t think bringing up competition is even relevant. All I’m talking about is expectation of one’s performance. There’s definitely an expertise to gaming just as their is in diving. Nobody’s gonna start out as good as Matt Mercer any more than they will as good as Greg Louganis in their respective events.

 

[Charlaquin]

It's not even that. Diving, or basketball, or whatever, is a competive sport backed by large corporations and international competitions - the goal is to get "good" at it, and then in some cases get rich from being good at it.

D&D's goal isn't to get "good" at it. It's to have fun with your friends on a Thursday night. There's no competitive element to it.

I mean, getting good at DMing is certainly a goal of mine. I’ll agree there’s no competitive element to it though, beyond self-competition.

 

[Eltab]

I have not watched CR; fair warning, full disclosure, and all that.

IME most people can come up with a good one-liner or two during a session, but expecting them to act all the way through is more than they can achieve. If somebody does 'get in character' for a while, it is memorable.

When I DM'ed Tiamat, I gave Arauthator (ice dragon) his own voice, he knew secrets about the characters, he was a tactical master. I had a month beforehand to think about it, as the PCs worked their way through his lair over several sessions. Fighting (and defeating) him was a high point in the campaign.
For one-and-done cannonfodder foes, no such work went into them. They had a bit part and left the stage, not really noticed. They were part of 'the world is going crazy and some hero needs help to get a grip on things again'.

 

[3catcircus]

I dunno. I'll just say that critical role is professional voice actors engaged in a serial "radio" show disguised as D&D. No one should give a hoot about trying to be them - be yourselves. Whatever level of 1st person/3rd person roleplay you are comfortable with is fine.

 

[Oofta]

As much as people claim it's all a performance ... they claim that it is not. It started as a home game (non-broadcast) as a pathfinder campaign.

 

[3catcircus]

As much as people claim it's all a performance ... they claim that it is not. It started as a home game (non-broadcast) as a pathfinder campaign.

A home game played by professional voice actors is a performance, even if unintentional. That's like saying Michael Jordan and Scotty Pippen playing a pickup game in the park isn't the same as as an NBA game. It's still a performance...

 

[HJFudge]

I think of it like a game show. They are playing a game, sure, but its a show. And I do not doubt they find it fun.

But most games are not shows. Adding the show bit...well, it just naturally changes how things work and the best practices.

 

[Charlaquin]

As much as people claim it's all a performance ... they claim that it is not. It started as a home game (non-broadcast) as a pathfinder campaign.

Of course they would claim that it’s not a performance. They might even believe it. But that’s not how people work. You always behave differently when you know you’re being observed, whether you realize it or not.

Also, yes, it did start out as a Pathfinder campaign. There are a few clips of them playing during that time, recording a memorable moment or whatever on their phones, and in what little footage there is, the dynamic is quite different than that of the current show.

I don’t doubt that they try to keep the performance as authentic as possible, but at the end of the day they are producing something for an audience, which is naturally going to lead to different behavior than if they were just playing privately,

 

[Oofta]

A home game played by professional voice actors is a performance, even if unintentional. That's like saying Michael Jordan and Scotty Pippen playing a pickup game in the park is still a performance...

According to the group what it is not is "a serial radio show disguised as D&D". It is not scripted. Matt does not discuss plot developments or the adventure ahead of time. It's all improvised, people are following the rules of the game, they are playing their character. Obviously they know they are being watched, that doesn't mean much. Heck I act when I DM, it's part of the game.

Lacking any evidence whatsoever to the contrary I choose to believe them.

 

[Morrus]

I think of it like a game show. They are playing a game, sure, but its a show. And I do not doubt they find it fun.

But most games are not shows. Adding the show bit...well, it just naturally changes how things work and the best practices.

Meh. A football game is a football game whether you point a camera at it or not. This is very gatekeepy.

 

[3catcircus]

Meh. A football game is a football game whether you point a camera at it or not. This is very gatekeepy.

How is it gatekeepy to make the assertion that people who voice act for a living are going to be better at playing a role than people who don't?

Or - to stick with your example of football. A guy who plays in the premier league (regardless of whether or not a TV camera is broadcasting it) plays football, practices football and breathes football will be better at it than the average guy who plays in a pick-up game on a Saturday morning.

 

[Argyle King]

After 5 pages, I'm assuming I'm in the minority here, but I have to ask:

How is Matt Mercer related to DMing?
After a search, I see that he's a voice actor.

 

[Morrus]

How is it gatekeepy to make the assertion that people who voice act for a living are going to be better at playing a role than people who don't?

I wouldn‘t know. I’ll let you know if I ever say such a thing.

 

[FlyingChihuahua]

After 5 pages, I'm assuming I'm in the minority here, but I have to ask:

How is Matt Mercer related to DMing?
After a search, I see that he's a voice actor.

He's the DM in a D&D liveplay called Critical Role.

 

[Morrus]

After 5 pages, I'm assuming I'm in the minority here, but I have to ask:

How is Matt Mercer related to DMing?
After a search, I see that he's a voice actor.

Matt Mercer is the DM on Critical Role, the most popular live-streamed D&D game in the world, and has been for several years.The latest hardcover D&D book from WotC (who are the publishers of D&D) is the setting book for that world. It’s called Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount. Critical Role is watched by millions of people and is often credited with driving the massive growth of the hobby we’re seeing in recent years. Critical Role is so popular that it’s Kickstarter last year raised $11M, and Amazon have picked them up for a TV show. He’s pretty much the face of D&D these days.

 

[Dire Bare]

After 5 pages, I'm assuming I'm in the minority here, but I have to ask:

How is Matt Mercer related to DMing?
After a search, I see that he's a voice actor.

Matt Mercer is the Dungeon Master for a live-play, streaming D&D game called "Critical Role". Mercer, and all of the players, are all professional voice actors. CR isn't the first live-play or streaming D&D game, but it is one of the earlier ones and is definitely the most popular one.

Critical Role has become very successful and has played an important role in the upswing in popularity D&D is enjoying right now. There are CR licensed comics, D&D gamebooks, and an upcoming animated series.

In ages past (5 years? ish?) Mercer convinced a group of his voice-actor friends to start playing D&D. Later, he connected with the Geek & Sundry folks (a web-based "TV channel") and they started streaming Mercer's game and it just blew up in popularity and success and has been running full steam ever since.

 

[Charlaquin]

According to the group what it is not is "a serial radio show disguised as D&D". It is not scripted. Matt does not discuss plot developments or the adventure ahead of time. It's all improvised, people are following the rules of the game, they are playing their character.

Well of course it’s not scripted or pre-planned. Did someone claim it was? (Asking honestly, not rhetorically.)

Obviously they know they are being watched, that doesn't mean much. Heck I act when I DM, it's part of the game.

No, that definitely means a lot. As someone mentioned a bit up thread, when their group tried recording their session, they noticed the players (probably unconsciously) hamming it up for the camera. People play differently when it’s for an audience, that’s just a fact. The Critical Role folks are certainly playing D&D, not just pretending to do so. But they are playing it like it’s meant as entertainment for outside observers (because it is.)

Lacking any evidence whatsoever to the contrary I choose to believe them.

I believe that they are genuinely playing the game, and I believe they are genuinely enjoying doing so. That doesn’t mean it wouldn’t look different if it wasn’t being done for an audience.