EVERYONE IS HOT AND GROG DESRVES THE WORLD | Chronic DND Player Reacts to Vox Machina Episode 1 & 2

JUST A HEAD'S UP ABOUT THE AUDIO: The episode is like REALLY, REALLY LOUD. Its not too bad but I wanted to let yall know ahead of time. I'll upload the normal version as well as the full reaction on patreon.
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[@doctorcanonvo4647]

Out of everyone who commented on this video only a hand full of people don't understand why it's weird to have inherently "evil races" with only a hand full of "good ones" to choose from. I'm gonna go ahead and consider that a win.

[@theanyktos]

Yeah, that's something Critical Role goes into quite a bit in their second campaign. In Matt Mercer's world, there's no such thing as an evil race. So on average I think most critters (Critical Role fans) understand the concept.

[@BinnyKing]

There are no evil races. Only assholes that make a bad reputation, and the people that choose to see ONLY that reputation.

[@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself]

Sounds like a misunderstanding of how storytelling works.

[@Thurrak]

It's not that a race is "inherently evil", it's just their culture's history is full of problems and they see the world in a very different way.

[@Ghost-Mom]

The drow in this world are actually really fucking cool, don't really learn much about them until campaign 2, but they're easily my favorite part of Matt Mercer's world and you'd appreciate them I'm sure. As others have said Fince is a Pallid Elf/Moon Elf, a race unique to Matt's world.

[@demonic_myst4503]

Moons elfs are not unique to mercers world they debuted in second edition and have been in every edition ever since

[@purplelikefire]

"They are all hot" is a valid take away from this show :D. Tal (Percy) and Laura (Vex) both wanted that to be some of their characters defining traits so glad you are picking up what they are putting down. Its so cool that we got a D&D show made by the voice actors who came up with the characters directly. Glad you're enjoying it! Matt has a lot of feelings about Dark Elf society, there is a comic about their ruler (the bright queen) and its also in his Wildmount D&D book, its probably my favourite society to play with in this world too!

[@hakulives2613]

Yeah, when the character designer (for the campaign, not the series) was making Vex, Laura's one note to her was just "make her hot". THEY SUCCEEDED.

[@dahobdahob]

As a greying fat-beard, I love hearing that gaming is still doing for folks what it did for me back in the day. Rock on!

[@dehro]

did you catch all the DnD moments? like Percy crit failing most of his rolls in the tavern brawl, Keyleth failing wisdom save against frightful presence from the dragon, Scanlan's renamed Bigby's hand spell and so on? on a side note, you want to look at the cast list beyond the main cast... you are going to flip at some of the names.

[@magp1001]

Fince isn't a Drow -- he's a Moon Elf. The Drow were originally written to be "the bad guys" -- their society runs on slavery and the strong are expected to actively subjugate the weak. If you liked the first two episodes, you're golden for the rest of the show. They mellow out on the shock humor at this point.

[@demonic_myst4503]

Drow are bas3d on traditional dark elves of norse mythology Elves originate from norse myths they had two races light and dark Dark lives under ground whioe light lived on surface for some reason blue snd black skin tones to the norse meant underground in mythology

[@demonic_myst4503]

The more modernised elves actualy take some infulence from celtic fairies aswell they tend to mix norse elves and celt fairies which leads to the newer fantasy designs plus fantasy cultural evelution

[@Lngbrdninjamasta]

In the world setting that CR plays in. There is a huge kingdom of Drow (Kryn dynasty) who have cast off their evil spider goddess ways & r considered "good" of not "neutral" as a people

[@piperbird7193]

BTS - Grog's belch was actually a combination of Laura and Marisha. They all went into the booth to record burps, and the ladies did it best.

[@katienichole6905]

I saw a fanart if Percy and that's what got me into the show to begin with. He's a very Pretty Man.

[@BadNinjaStudios]

"Why is he so attractive!?!" Because he's a delightful, lovable himbo.

[@corybishop3084]

I was thinking to myself, "She's got a great voice for this: well spoken, clean enunciation. Oh, right, she said she was a voice actor." I know for some people this show can be a bit... much, at times. I think they dialed it up to 11 for the first episode so nobody could be shocked by touching on the gore or sexual nature in later episodes. I won't say it goes away, but they tone it down a bit. I would agree that having to produce a narrative within the confines of the D&D ruleset would be limiting. I think that's why it's a soft adherence to the rules. It allows them to have a bit more freedom in how to tell the story. But I don't know if there's a better show at balancing action, comedy, and drama. Maybe Firefly. It's right up there.

[@cschwally]

They simplified (limited the focus) of the character’s powers in the series. So, yes, both Keyleth and Scanlan would have healing. But it isn’t present at this point in the series.

[@DanielODea]

As would Vex'ahlia, albeit only 2/3 healing spells available in PHB/SRD . Yes Rangers cap out at 5th level spells but that even includes revivify.

[@spencerrizkallah7171]

What's so funny about the second you saw Percy is that was literally the eventual reaction of like half the party. With no spoilers, in their wrap-up the players found out that whether it came up in game or not like all but two of the characters they played were into Percy. To quote Sam (Scanlan) : "Everyone wants to band Percy! And he's the WORST!"

[@VegetaLF7]

Yup. Just like in C2 everyone was in love with Jester at some point.

[@patchwilliamson]

@@VegetaLF7 except for the guests. They were all lining up to hook up with Beau 😂

[@beansthebeans]

you're absolutely right about the cast of the d&d show being involved in the making of the cartoon, specifically, Sam Riegel (Scanlan's player) and Travis Willingham (grog's player) are credited as lead writers in a couple of the episodes, whereas the rest of the casts seemed to be more consultants on the details of the characters (at least that's what I understand from the Q&As they did for each of the episodes). also, I agree with the gore and grossness being a bit too much (i say this as someone who has wasted hours of sleep keeping up with the live episodes of this d&d game) also also, as an avid enjoyer of Percy and Vex, I'm glad you can appreciate how hot they are

[@Animaniac0451]

The story at the beginning I thought was gonna be "How I met Matt Mercer" but How I met my SO is even better =). I met my wife as she was running a game at local con. =)

[@westignor6855]

The 4 episode Exandria Unlimited: Calamity arc on CritRole is UNREAL... Couldn't recommend it more.

[@patchwilliamson]

"The drow are judged just because they look different" Oh, hon

[@rincaimo812]

Ah! ok so yes! the show was made VERY closely with the members of Critical Role. They were very involved with the process from start to finish. Also agreed, Vox Machina can be a little...gross. This was pretty early campaign and there will be more seasons! That's confirmed.

[@ChevaliersEmeraude]

I mean, anyone who watched a few episodes of their Critical Role campaign would know they have a naturally raunchy sense of humor to begin with! Kinda part of their charm really! Although I guess there's a difference between making jokes about it and literally showing stuff, not everyone can enjoy it! I still did though: IMO Vox Machina got to be an awesome show! :)

[@tea_time_t]

Bit late to this but it is amazing watching someone become a Percy fan in real(ish) time. Your analysis is fantastic.

[@kawaii33366]

Welp, I just found my new favorite person. I literally sat through your intro ENTHRALLED.

[@darkqueenfenrisulfr]

On TAZ vs CR , same i is casue 1) I started TAZ as i started dnd 2) i dont have 4 hours extra per week to keep on with CR, is mostly the 4 hours vs 1-2 hours

[@CarbonMage]

12:25 has me imagining you running a drow character whose initial reason for leaving their society was just "scared of spiders" 😆

[@omok2]

Well no Drow very much deserved their reputation lol but like with anything it's way more complicated than that. I recommend checking out the R.A. Salvatore novels they follow the life a drow elf. Fantastic books

[@elbruces]

The entire main cast of CR is a who's who of veteran VO actors from animation and video games. You probably know most or all of them, so they're definitely worth looking up. I won't list them here, but will mention that Krieg/Brimscythe was voiced by David Tennant and Finch hy Tony Hale (he was a moon elf, not drow BTW). These first two episodes are from before they started streaming the campaign, and serve as sort of an appetizer for the next ten. You'll be very happy with what they're digging into for the primary season 1 story arc. The lady in the coach is voiced by Grey DesLisle and her husband by Matt Mercer. Since the guest voices and the animation itself take over almost all of Matt's duties as DM, he kept one major NPC for himself. However, they also have a lot of "cabbage man" style cameos of not just Matt's voice but also his likeness throughout. In E1, Scanlan peed on his feet. In E2, he temporarily set down a barrel of ale in a public place then walked away, presumably to go get more. So keep an eye out for more Matts. Since this was almost entirely funded through Kickstarter, the main cast themselves retain full control over development and IP ownership - or at least the CR company does, which they jointly own. So their level of involvement in the show is that they're the bosses of it. I'm hoping this show has made enough of a mainstream impact that streaming services will start shopping around and throwing money at other live-stream campaigns to adapt them too. TAZ:Balance would be amazing to see as an animated series. So would just about anything by D20.

[@goldenr387]

Legitimacy love your personality. I will be looking forward too your reactions.

[@HannahBanina]

So Fun Fact: Vox Machina’s adventures had actually been going privately in Pathfinder for about two years before Felicia Day heard about it and suggested bringing the campaign to Twitch. The pre-stream events do get referenced every now and then, but the audience of course hadn’t actually seen them. These first two episodes are based on one of their pre-stream adventures; the rest of the show is based on events in the stream. Incidentally, these first two episodes as an OVA were originally all the players intended to have animated. But then the fanbase gave their Kickstarter 11 million dollars so they ended up doing a whole season that was received well enough they then got two more seasons to animate more of their campaign. I still don’t think they’ve actually gotten used to how much their fans love them. Love your reactions so far tho 😁

[@tlaragihai5953]

Loved your reaction and attitude, you seem like a very nice person :3 They`ve decreased gross things and shock value in the next episodes. I`m absolutely subscribed.

[@doctorcanonvo4647]

Welcome aboard!

[@misterjoshua5720]

Always plays Drow elves and doesnt like spiders in the house? Sounds like taking sensible precautions to me! :D

[@neintales1224]

I would straight up die of happiness if TAZ Balance got a quality animated show. Also Dimension 20's Unsleeping City arcs.

[@togroglog2457]

I have rewatched these reactions gotta be a dozen times now.

[@belrevan1986]

Drow are my favorite race lore wise. Especially the ones who broke away from Lolth's influence

[@tcpelletier6176]

This is my first time watching a video of yours and I subscribed instantly! I love your reactions to characters that I have also loved for a while now. I really hope you enjoy TLVM as much as we long-time fans do! I can't wait for you to review the full season!

[@cschwally]

Bidet! Welcome to the Critter community. Really enjoyed your reactions. Love that you found D&D and your partner that way.

[@AAAndrew]

The first two episodes were from the pre-stream game. Starting with the third episode they start the real story arc for the rest of the season. The story gets much better episode by episode from here on out. Hope you stick with it.

[@damian01061973]

I see Vox Machina Reaction I Sub.

[@Jdn33315]

Same

[@bandi138138]

BTW, General Krieg is voiced by David Tennant

[@MasterZeus94]

"Seis Manos" Ah, a person of culture! :D

[@ohheyitskmedia]

Honestly, as you told the opening story, I was sure you were talking about Matt Mercer of Critical Role until you said "boyfriend" and the pic came up LOL

[@dmperri]

Fun Fact, that epic Grog burp was actually voiced by the ladies of Vox Machina .. no lie! lol

[@carlotaperes1031]

I absolutely loved your reaction! I think if you enjoyed the first two episodes, you're set for the rest of the show (it picks up in episode 3 tbh). Also, keep in mind that comment you made about doors being the bane of dnd players' existence, because that could not be more real for this group Can't wait to see the rest of your reaction!

[@mgormley7530]

The first few episodes are very gross, I think it's mainly to scare away people who ignore the rating think this is a show for children because it is animated. That or I just got super used to it and stopped noticing. and yes, it IS super weird to have always evil races like Drow.Thankfully Matt agrees and Drow in CR are not like that. the Bright Queen even has her own comic series!

[@BinnyKing]

I wasn't sure how well you took to excessive blood or crude language before this series, but I do believe there is another you might enjoy (not even saying as a reaction I just feel like you'd get a kick out of it.) Partly because it comes across a lot like a D&D campaign with the chemistry between characters (even the villains). If nothing else I'd recommend you check out at least the first season of the Castlevania series. It's only about 4 episodes long but it does an amazing job of introducing you to the characters and the general world and premise of it all. Yes it's based on a game series but honestly it functions amazingly as a standalone show and I think you'd enjoy it a lot.

[@Infestedhobo1]

If you're a fan of the superhero genre, Invincible is another A+ animated show that's definitely NOT for kids.

[@jetvulcan2020]

I think of the different livestreams are like finding a dm and table you like playing with. you may not like them all you just got to find the one that fits you.

[@theanyktos]

16:14 XD you don't know how right you are in their case😅😂

[@warmmilk9480]

I'm sorry but... your story or meeting your boyfriend is adorable and I love it and envy it. D&D can go horribly, but it can go wonderfully and you can meet the BEST people.

[@KingsBard]

*Yu-Gi-Oh shirt* You don't have to sell me any further, I'm in

[@cynicallysalty4592]

Just discovered your channel - love your content queen!

[@doctorcanonvo4647]

Thank you so much 🤗

[@stevencavanagh7990]

This show had one of the most Evil women I've seen in a story for a while, glad you have done this, hoping you will have a great time watching it, and I look forward to seeing you reaction to the rest of the series.

[@PaulGuy]

TAZ is great, but it's definitely a different beast from CR or D20. They're all very different. TAZ is a very loose, rule-of-cool show, where as CR is much closer to the rules as written/intended. D20 sort of splits the difference, while also knowing it's a shorter campaign intentionally structured into episodes. They're all great, but in their own way.

[@theanyktos]

I think you would enjoy Critical Role's second campaign. Yes it takes a bit to get into it (give it a dozen episodes), but the later parts of the campaign are just gold. And they explore a lot of themes along the lines of "stereotypes are bullshit" and "the enemy is within" and such. Not the only themes, by far, but...

[@T-Law.]

“Gore isn’t my thing” oh….oh honey.

[@Jdn33315]

I love how much you love Grog!!!!

[@piperbird7193]

Another BTS - The children were voiced by Sam's and Liam's children.

[@Lngbrdninjamasta]

I hope u stay invested in the show

[@jordanhansen5934]

Grog 4 life!

[@rincaimo812]

Never clicked SO FAST

[@demonic_myst4503]

Lol my head when yiu started describe the guy describing white with a beard and the emphasis on that made me think it was going to turn out bad and be a racist neckbeard or somthing lol glad i was wrong

[@suntiger745]

Regarding the drow (and orcs), that was one thing that always struck me as weird when I learned about DnD. How can a whole race of people be evil (or good)? Didn't make sense to me, and it seems DnD has gradually moved away from the overly simplified and somewhat skeevy way of looking at races and not aim for something more nuanced. The group is a bit lower level in the animation compared to the home game and streamed game, so some spells you would expect a class to have do not appear, or only appear later. They also don't lean heavily on mechanics or spell them out explicitly, though you can recognize nods to them now and then. I suspect both to make it less confusing for non-DnD people to follow and because it lets them fit the spells and abilities better with the narrative. I hope you will enjoy the rest of season one. I think the animation succeeded very well in both telling a good story for both new fans and old CR critters, and show how to do an adaptation from a different medium well.

[@demonic_myst4503]

Yea i get it nit your thing but i feel amazons aproach to western animation qis a needed breath of modernisation For years it qwas just anime that brought animation to adukts now we git componies taking that chance may it be the adukt humour of rick and morty or the bloodyness of amazon shows It may nit last tho it may go like the avatar the last airbender era of cartoons went a fee shows revolutionised kids shows made them deeper then a decade later it was back to short quircky qand colorful with less deph I do hope this trend holds uo tho

[@Thundarr100]

I'm afraid that you are WOEFULLY misinformed on the drow race. Drow are considered to be evil because of their actions, not because of the colour of their skin. Typically when evil members of a race are considered to be the minority in D&D, the number of evil deities in that race's pantheon tends to reflect this. For every evil deity in the human pantheon, for example, you will find two or three good aligned deities. Out of the dozen or so deities in the drow pantheon, only ONE is of a good alignment. All of the others are of varying levels of evil. Not even a single neutral deity. Just 11 evil deities and one good one. When designing the drow, Gary Gygax designed them to be the polar opposite of their good aligned surface dwelling cousins in every possible way. Where surface elves are good, drow are evil. Where surface elves are kind, drow are cruel. Where surface elves typically have pale skin and black hair, drow have black skin and white hair. They are a dark mirror of their surface cousins (and not an allegory for African Americans as some wokier than thou noobs seem to think), plain and simple. Which is not to say that the drow cannot be redeemed, nor that they all HAVE to be evil. As with most intelligent races, they are a product of their environment. Unfortunately, their environment is pretty much DESIGNED to turn them all into villains. You should read the novels "Homeland", "Exile", and "Daughter Of The Drow" for a better idea of what drow society is like and why "all drow are considered evil".

[@schwarzertee7586]

Okay... can you help me understand something: Why is your dnd group being all black relevant to anything? See, I have no problem with your group beeing whatever they are and want to be because I don't really care about skin color, origin, sex, gender, whatever. I am just curious: Why does it matter enaugh for you to specifically point that out? Why do you make everything a race thing anyways? The thing witht he dark elf had nothing to do with his race but his suspicious behavior and his looks (unattractive and mean, not his skin color) Seriously... I do not get it. Do you want race to be invisible? As it should be, if you ask me? Then stop making everything about race. I watch a lot of videos and I never care about the creators skin color or whatever, you on the other hand force me to constantly aknowledge "oh right, yea, cuz she is black". Seriously, get your racism in check.

[@doctorcanonvo4647]

I'm not obligated to explain anything. I'm not forcing you or anyone to do anything. Saying you don't care about race then immediately saying that it should be invisible are contradictory statements. Race will never be invisible. As people, we should love and embrace our differences and different cultures instead of ignore them. I am proud to be who I am and I will talk about that whenever and however I want. I am free to talk about my passions and points of view and the cultural background and relating experiences that inspired them on my channel. If that is something you do not want, I encourage you to look for content elsewhere.

[@DonJoDaC]

Hey, nice video. Look for Record of Lodoss War, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Record_of_Lodoss_War.