Critical Role Slate feature on Matt Mercer

[Oligopsony]

To be clear, when I described recorded APs as “a different medium” from home games, I didn’t mean they were scripted. A recorded AP is also a different medium than a scripted radio play! (Or a CRPG, or solo journaling game, or whatever.)

 

[DEFCON 1]

Relating to each other with injokes, hamming it up, side chatter -- that's all part of the experience. We're all silly dorks playing pretend. And we shouldn't be running from that.

You are absolutely correct. As players and hobbyists, we all should keep that completely in mind, 100%.

But I will also say that Critical Role are in a position that most of us players have probably dreamt of in some form or fashion at some point in our lives... which is getting paid and earning a living playing D&D. So in that regard, many folks probably see the way the CR plays and assumes that if they were to ever get a chance to get paid to play D&D too... that the 'Critical Role' method would be the way they'd do it. And thus if they don't play in that way then there's no chance of them ever getting paid for it. So they think better to get themselves prepared for the potentiality by assuring themselves of playing "the right way" so then eventually can.

Now of course that way of thinking isn't really necessary at all, because if a table is going to ever get paid for playing D&D... how you play would be one of the last hurdles the table is going to have to worry about. There's so many things that would have to happen first that deliberately playing D&D in a method you don't particular enjoy just for the thought that "We need to make sure our game plays like Critical Role"... is very much putting the cart before the horse, LOL.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

When I got to the line, "Dungeons & Dragons is essentially an exercise in collaborative storytelling," I started cracking up. I could almost hear the howls of outrange coming from my ENWorld browser tab, where that very statement is hotly contested. Somehow.

I will say that I've never had a successful OSR game I've run where I didn't consider the "story" of how the game would go, even if it was an open-ended dungeon crawl.

I suspect most of the people who object to "story" in their roleplaying are using an extremely narrow definition, but probably mostly do think about how all the NPCs fit together, what the NPCs' motivations are, know what the villains will do if their plans aren't interfered with, etc., all of which are the exact kinds of things that traditional storytellers are also worried about.

It's all stories, baby!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Critical Role is a "home game" in the same sense that reality television is a fair and accurate representation of reality.

This is not a criticism, by the way. They are doing a great job with an entertainment product.

But they are entertainers. They have skills. There are hours of work put in by Mercer, alone, for every hour of work that you see (or hear). And every one of those talented performers is quite aware that they are bring recorded, and are making decisions not just for the game, and not just for the character, but for the audience as well.

Most home DMs don't have a crew worrying about lighting, sound, hair and make-up, painting miniatures, building sets, etc. They have definitely added all the entertainment industry infrastructure on that they can.

The most recent completed season of Dimension 20 talked about this stuff during their final episode, with the players marveling that a miniature of a summoned creature made up in play 24 hours earlier -- a topiary beast lion -- was available in the final battle, and Brennan and the players talked frankly about all of the crew that the audience doesn't see. And Brennan said explicitly that his home game uses beads and buttons instead of miniatures, because at home, he's just playing a game and not creating television.

 

[Reynard]

Most home DMs don't have a crew worrying about lighting, sound, hair and make-up, painting miniatures, building sets, etc. They have definitely added all the entertainment industry infrastructure on that they can.

The most recent completed season of Dimension 20 talked about this stuff during their final episode, with the players marveling that a miniature of a summoned creature made up in play 24 hours earlier -- a topiary beast lion -- was available in the final battle, and Brennan and the players talked frankly about all of the crew that the audience doesn't see. And Brennan said explicitly that his home game uses beads and buttons instead of miniatures, because at home, he's just playing a game and not creating television.

Can you recommend a episode or short stretch of episodes to give Dim20 a try. I keep meaning to but I don't know where to begin. At least with CR i can find the episodes that coincide with stuff in Vox Machina that I thought was cool.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

To get this back on topic, good for Matt Mercer and the Critical Role crew generally (minus one or two bad apples they have shown the door and seemingly rightly so). Just a few years ago, they were not meaningfully any different than any other gamers on this board -- we have people posting here who work in the entertainment industry, too, possibly including some CR people.

They did some very good videos near the dawn of the actual play era and, once they realized what they had, they have successfully managed what they've had in a way lots of people say they would, but few actually manage to successfully accomplish, all while apparently staying true to their values (setting up a charity foundation seems pretty pointless unless you really intend to help people or have more money than they do and want to launder it).

They're not so successful that I don't still hear the golden tones of Matt Mercer coming from NPCs in WoW, but they have transformed the lives of their families by doing what they love with their friends, while staying true to who they are. Good for them.

Now, if only they'd cut out all those damned shopping episodes ...

 

[Reynard]

Now, if only they'd cut out all those damned shopping episodes ...

Clearly this is the real purpose behind Daggerheart. It is obvious equipment is less important in that game.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Now, if only they'd cut out all those damned shopping episodes ...

Shopping-only campaign, let's go!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Can you recommend a episode or short stretch of episodes to give Dim20 a try. I keep meaning to but I don't know where to begin. At least with CR i can find the episodes that coincide with stuff in Vox Machina that I thought was cool.

• Dungeons & Drag Queens is only four episodes, but it's a pretty conventional D&D adventure (four heroes go into the Land of the Dead to seek out the goddess of death). I think only the first episode is on YouTube.
• Fantasy High is an idyllic 1950s small town Americana story -- with D&D races and characters. The first full season is on YouTube.
• Escape from the Bloodkeep is the lieutenants of a Sauron-like figure, moments after the Dark Lord is deposed, realizing the armies of good are about to storm the castle and execute them. Matt Mercer is in this season's cast. The full season is on YouTube.
• The Unsleeping City is contemporary New York City -- with some very NYC characters, including a firefighter and a Broadway diva -- but New York has a secret sixth borough, the realm of Faerie. The first full season is on YouTube.

I think any of these are worth checking out.

Dungeons & Dragon Queens shows off Brennan being a good DM for newbie players, but is basically just a very well done traditional D&D campaign.

I think Fantasy High and especially The Unsleeping City are really impressive worldbuilding and stretch D&D beyond the point I think most DMs would ever try. (The Unsleeping City is in the mundane world of New York City 75% or more of the time, but it's very much D&D the whole way through.)

But if you just want pure entertainment value, Escape the Bloodkeep is probably a high watermark, with very funny players all bouncing off each other as panicked supervillains trying to work out their issues before the armies of good put them all to the sword.

 

[Nightfly]

MAN, people on this message board will argue about ANYTHING

No we won't.