Psycho Streams D&D, Steals Content, Backfires Horribly

[@TheSkullivan12]

People who try to be Critical Role never seem to realize one crucial thing: Not even Critical Role was trying to be Critical Role. It was just a regular home game between close friends for years, until they were invited to try streaming it on Geek & Sundry. They never set out to have the kind of success they ended up achieving, it just wound up happening.

[@Anon-qp3kt]

Exactly. The people who want to be CR forgot that the CR cast didn't need the money to begin with. They already had real jobs that bring in good money and exposure even before CR

[@stingerjohnny9951]

@@Anon-qp3kt Yeah, it was just a hobby they had that they started streaming just cuz they thought it would be fun and entertaining, and it ended up being a media giant within D&D that has gone into the mainstream with the Legend of Vox Machina. If you are only doing something to top someone who is already famous for doing that thing, you are probably going to fail, especially without funding XD

[@nephicus339]

Also that the CR fam is still super humble about their position after seven friggin' years of doing this.

[@stingerjohnny9951]

@@nephicus339 More humble than some of their fanbase certainly…

[@nephicus339]

@@stingerjohnny9951 Admittedly guilty. :P

[@chuchupow]

Did people forget that critical role is comprised of PROFESSIONAL VOICE ACTORS?

[@TheOneWhoReportsForDuty]

Yea, pretty sure it’s hard to compare unless all of you are also professional voice actors

[@n0etic_f0x]

More importantly, do they forget they are playing for an audience? My games would not likely be nearly as fun to stream, there are a lot of inside jokes, we go on tangents so massive they can become the entire session. I have no idea how to set up cameras or microphones to film more than one angle. It is not going to work.

[@jgv4513]

Professional? I thought they were the “nerdy ass” variety 🤔

[@TheOneWhoReportsForDuty]

@@grelkie RPers really like it when people play into their characters and voice actors, thanks in part to the range of voices and history of doing a plethora of characters, could be seen as having a slight advantage

[@AdamEspersona]

@@TheOneWhoReportsForDuty Also, they have a very solid production team. And one of CR’s very own cast members, Marisha Ray, is the CREATIVE DIRECTOR of the group. Meaning that all the new programming, the new sets? Born from her creative process and her wolf pack of a team.

[@michaeldolan5792]

"Joey wanted to pay them in 'exposure'..." My late brother was a comic book artist, and he often said to would-be non-paying clients that "Exposure is what people die from when they can't afford food and shelter because you expect them to work for free."

[@daviddobarganes9115]

Brilliant response

[@theunkownbanana1823]

Exposure can also be a crime.

[@FaolanHart]

Exposure is one of those things where if it comes from a platform that would actually be beneficial, they make enough money to not be cheap & actually pay the talent. Its either worthless or worth less than the money.

[@noone3216]

I usually say "I appreciate it, but I can't pay rent with 'exposure'."

[@thecaptain7755]

@@daviddobarganes9115 hbbbhb

[@realdragon]

First step to be "next critical role" would be making everyone have fun

[@ORRYT07]

They should just trying being original. Given with anything popular there's always going to be someone trying to profit or get popularity from it. But I personally find it much easier to be a trendsetter and gain popularity from there. Will it be hard? Yes. But it will only be worth it in the end.

[@unaihmg9352]

JRWI has that so that's at least one

[@cheesedemon88]

I thought first step to be the next CR, was to already be incredibly popular within the nerd sphere, so that you can get away with 50 episodes of atrocious sound quality.

[@jokermun]

Step 3. Profit!!

[@danielfincher8439]

Oh I can "make you have fun" alright.

[@NWolfsson]

Joey: I want to be the new Critical Role! Joey's _mind_ : I want to be the new Critical Role as they are at the start of Season 2 without any of the work that lead to that.

[@ArDeeMee]

Or money. ^^

[@FlorenceFox]

@@ArDeeMee Or connections. These are professional voice actors intimately familiar with "the biz", and with friends throughout the industry.

[@ArDeeMee]

If people work for you they deserve to be paid. Critical Role started out as friends hanging out together, just to see what would happen. But that was years ago. I‘m not sure when they became an actual business, but they are right now, with enough income to support themselves, a tech crew, staff, editors, ads. The technical stuff alone costs a lot to buy, then there‘s upkeep. The set, rent, costumes, lighting, rigging, just so, so many things that can only be noticed if they are absent. Sure, they can do many things themselves - but „sharing the burden“ makes life easier and more enjoyable for everyone involved, in turn leading to a better on-set performance.

[@CaptainDCap]

@@ArDeeMee CR has a gross income of nearly 10 million dollars a month. No clue why this college kid thought he could compare, let alone compete.

[@ArDeeMee]

@@CaptainDCap Wow. Now THAT‘s a stable income. ^^

[@hoovy2319]

Having the mindset of “I’m gonna be the next *BLANK*” isn’t the greatest of mindsets When I was younger, I went to Jackcepticeyes live show world tour I was fortunate enough to be able to ask him some questions. At the time, I was really big into the idea of becoming a KZbinr and I always said “I’m gonna be the next Markiplier” or “I’m gonna be the next Jackcepticeye” or that sort of shit Naturally, I asked if he could give me pointers on how to be just like him, what advice he could give me so I could be the next jackcepticeye (which is very rude looking back on it but I was a dumb kid then) and he gave me a piece of advice that I’ll always remember “Don’t be the next me, be the first you.” Dreaming of being like Critical Role or Jackcepticeye is great and all, but it’s unrealistic. Instead, find what you’re good at, work hard with it and make a name for yourself so one day, someone can look at it and say “I wanna be the next you”

[@z0is0i]

and then you can tell them to be the first them firstception

[@tcrpgfan]

Wow, that was awesome of him to say.

[@4mobius280]

Amen to that

[@kp-legacy-5477]

I hope jack sees this

[@DeathbyPixels]

That's a really good response from him, wow :0 I will be taking that into my own consideration lol

[@callumn2111]

I once heard someone say that Critical Role is to D&D what porn is to sex. I like Critical Role well enough but I agree I hate it when people try so hard to be the next Critical Role rather than trying to do their own thing.

[@Forslimjims]

Basically this, Critical Role is fun but it's an unrealistic representation of the average game and players who think their DM should be Matt Mercer and DMs who think they need to be Matt Mercer aren't playing for the right reasons. Lot of other DnD streams out there that do a much better job of making the game feel accessible.

[@Nyghtking]

I've never watched critical roll, it falls into the category of: I would rather be participating in it then listening to it, as simply listening is kind of like one step below radio since radio has sound effects.

[@duhstydncg]

@@Nyghtking Confirmed; he's never watched critical role. Matt Mercer himself is basically a soundboard and a room full of different people if you are only listening to the show.

[@nyxnightmare3542]

To be fair, if more men tried to be like Owen Gray then we'd have a lot of better men in the world, so porn is actually extremely good for your sex life if you're using it to heighten your partner's pleasure. But if you're using it to heighten YOUR pleasure only when in a relationship? That's called being a dick. Which is what Joey was doing. Instead of wanting to be the next CR because he wanted the world to have more fun D&D entertainment, he wanted to be the next CR so he could make money.

[@Konpekikaminari]

@@Forslimjims not to mention, the people with these expectations always seem to notice the most critical (pun intended) part of CR: the players, their interactions, and their dynamic

[@ozpin8329]

Matt has made it very, *very* clear that while he's the DM, he sees it as a responsibility and not a right or a position that people should automatically kowtow to. He is also very vocal about how lucky he and the rest of the crew are to be supported by the community, the fandom, and the people behind the scenes. He has never once tried to pretend it's not a huge effort by a lot of people, and that they put in a lot of work to make a polished finished project.

[@AdamEspersona]

@Random Platypus with Internet Even Matt Mercer hates the “Matt Mercer Effect”. Thus why he keeps encouraging folks to just run their games their way, and not to feel like he needs to be emulated.

[@finnmchugh99]

Also Matt dedicates some or alot of episodes for charities... I respect the Heck out of the CR crew both the players and DM and the crew behind-the-scenes.

[@NathanielTavington]

Clearly a lot of DM tyrants don't understand that Matt takes each of them aside to talk about where their characters are going to end up. He didn't steamroll any of them, and when a character dies, he works with the player to achieve closure and the best way to make the death feel like a part of the story rather than just a bad roll. It's not one guy writing the story and the others just have to go with it, they ALL are writing the story together. That's why they work so well together.

[@ihaveaplan.ijustneedmoney.9777]

As a game, I always considered the DM as another player on the table. You are there to experience the game as much as the PCs, you're just interacting with the "rules" differently.

[@MikaeruDaiTenshi]

@@AdamEspersona What I hate about the "Matt Mercer Effect" is that most people only see the negative about it. The "Matt Mercer Effect" is, at least in my opinion a two-sided medaillon. Side A is the exposer of DnD to the world, which led to a lot of people starting playing DnD and/or other TTRPGs which is great. Side B is that a part of those new players expect their DM and TTRPG to be like Matt and Critical Role. - While I can understand the aspiration to get there, it's ridiculous to believe that this is the norm and expected from DMs and other players.

[@cyggygremiln]

The harem of cat girls made me cackle. Honestly as a joke character this is gold but the fact that he's dead serious.....

[@pixelman6193]

Character idea crazy cat lady but it's a bunch of cat dudes

[@christopherhammond5142]

@@pixelman6193 And instead of being a harem the cat chads/girls openly loath the PC. Maybe the PC doesn't even notice their dislike?

[@christopherhammond5142]

@@pixelman6193 The more I think about it, it could be pretty funny if the crazy cat lady doesn't even notice that they're all six foot four and built like brick shit houses. She just treats them like cute little kittens. That's some really good thinking, I'm writing that one down, nice work.

[@pixelman6193]

@@christopherhammond5142 YES EXACTLY

[@christopherhammond5142]

@@pixelman6193 I can't believe we just had a civil and collaborative exchange in the KZbin comment section and no-one was told to commit suicide. The world's gone crazy! Thanks for the fantastic idea, mate.

[@jayjonesrgaming]

As an artist there's nothing more spine chillingly terrifying to hear than getting "paid in exPoSuRE" 😰

[@Dramoklos]

I think you mean rage inducing

[@unamed1142]

@@morinomajou Tbh that's how most payments in 'exposure' work lmao

[@commandercaptain4664]

Artists everywhere: I CAN'T EAT EXPOSURE, NUMNUTZ! Joey just wanted to be the next Thomas Edison.

[@jacobc8036]

I can think of some “block chain” and “NFT”

[@oz_jones]

I will exposure myself alright.

[@ZorotheGallade]

Imagine you're sitting at the corner of the store with a friend, doing a TikTok where you open your fresh MtG card packs, and Joey stomps up to you going "This video is now my property, Streaming Monopoly dude"

[@mikedethlefs6326]

And that's when you hit him with "I saw no documentation saying I automatically give permission for my video to be shown, and I certainly do not give you permission to video me or use my image or voice for your purposes. Persist, and I'll have you served with a C&D letter."

[@atraxisdarkstar]

@@mikedethlefs6326 "Hi there, Joey. I'm Dr. Klepper. Now, how exactly did you get a webcam shoved up there?" "Well, you see..."

[@nephicus339]

If someone walked up to my streaming setup with that phrase, the only response I would have would be, "Is that so? My lawyer will be in touch. Good day."

[@ClearPearlProductions]

Speaking as a streamer named Joey who also likes to GM, I started having nervous sweats at the beginning of this video lol

[@TheFiReLoRd777]

Bruh this story IS about you 🤣

[@oddabandon]

XD

[@commandercaptain4664]

That other Joey is more like a Britta, as in he Joey'd his group to death.

[@dimsum3329]

*I'm sorry Joey, but you must repent for your sins*

[@ThundarrTheBarbarian1]

There is no comparison to critical role. all those people are professional and already had fans. Along with tons of experience within the industry which gives them a huge advantage over all the other amateurs like myself who have podcast streams and whatnot.

[@bezerkoid]

And they had Geek and Sundry as a launchpad.

[@er4din903]

Well that’s a smooth plug if I’ve ever seen on hahaha

[@commandercaptain4664]

@@er4din903 Caught that, too.

[@connoryarborough1490]

What's your podcast tho? I'm always looking for more DnD content!

[@nukiradio]

They were also trying to be themselves. Instead of the next ______

[@yumiigrape]

Playing in an isekai world sounds like the perfect opportunity to bring out that purposely over edgy/cringey character and just have fun.

[@navarog378]

Ok, hear me out: warforged, cleric of purity

[@thejkittymews9045]

Only if it's not "He looks at you with his doll like eyes and says nothing" bad then it's fine.

[@tomasapud8240]

@@thejkittymews9045 a true classic

[@NoESanity]

if a DM runs an isekai world and doesn't deep rp the harem of every PC, they do not deserve their dmscreen.

[@lucky6961]

the ideal thing is having everyone with the same idea on mind, take seriously or be goofy, everyone having fun is the best always

[@legomaniac213]

Calling your show "The Next Critical Role" reminds me of all the MMOs back in the day who all marketed themselves as "The WoW killer" that all flopped. Ironically, WoW itself would wind up being the true "WoW Killer."

[@RRVCrinale]

Oh, please, this nonsense started in the tabletop hobby. Ever hear of a heartbreaker?

[@surrealbrain4227]

Or those games that tried to be "the Pokemon killer" or "the Zelda killer." Or really, any "popular thing killer." Usually, if something DOES manage to dethrone the popular thing, it's by accident, by someone who wasn't out to kill the current popular thing; they just wanted their own work out there, and dethroning the popular thing was simply a side-effect of that.

[@danielwilson8604]

@@RRVCrinale actually on that note, you remember the ol satanic panic movements? they banned dnd because they thought it was too 'satanic' even though the early editions didn't even let you fight angels. but they ONLY banned dnd, which lead to people discovering games like world of darkness and call of cthulu.

[@Missingno_Miner]

@@surrealbrain4227 Granted, most "Pokemon killers" are labeled as such by media sources for clickbait. One was even another Nintendo franchise, why would Nintendo want to kill its own franchise?

[@Former_Halo_Fan]

@@surrealbrain4227 And just as often the popular thing dethrones itself by turning away from what made it popular to begin with.

[@AdamEspersona]

Lesson to learn: don’t be like Joey and try to copy CR. Just do it your way. Hell, I think the CR cast and so many Critters (like me) would say the same thing. Hell, even Matt Mercer is not fond of the “Matt Mercer Effect” and thus he urges us to just play it however we want. Also… PLAN FOR EVERYTHING BEFOREHAND, and don’t rush into streaming right away. Even Critical Role started off as a home game for three years before they were approached by Geek and Sundry in 2015. They wanted to take a chance and have their game streamed, and from there the rest is history. If they hadn’t had G&S supporting them, CR wouldn’t have been able to be streamed in the first place. So to reiterate: don’t be like Joey.

[@NWolfsson]

Critical Role: Home game => Part of a channel specialized in nerdy stuff => Their own company => branching out because they were lucky that it became popular. Joey: I want to go straight to that third part, maybe even the fourth. "prep work"? Don't start making up words!

[@animeotaku307]

Honestly, I’ve thought about streaming a Changeling: The Lost game since it’s mainly DnD getting streamed.

[@ottokarl5427]

You can stream DnD super-easy these days. Just don't expect to make any money out of it. And definetly don't think you can become the next CR.

[@Marcusianery]

Mercer is probably happy for the money he gets. Im not to keen on the effects his Critical Role had on roleplaying.

[@commandercaptain4664]

@@NWolfsson You forgot "Home game of professional voice actors > part of a channel with industry connections that can negotiate with voice actor agents and their schedules, but only after they kick out their problem child".

[@marquisealexander1371]

“So Joey’s World was as original as Sonichu.” OH SHIT; THE BURN.

[@thesnep4757]

Can someone tell me what Sonichu is? I have no idea what that is. By it's name, it sounds like something to do with Sonic and Pikachu, but I could be very wrong.

[@marquisealexander1371]

@@thesnep4757 look it up on KZbin.

[@justingreek6428]

@@thesnep4757 it was a creation from a very deranged individual who would go on to be arrested for sleeping with his dementia ridden mother. There's an ongoing series called the Comprehensive History of Chris Chan if you want to spend 40 hours losing faith in humanity.

[@thejkittymews9045]

@@marquisealexander1371 @TheSnep DON'T DO IT!!! IT'S A TRAP!!!!

[@takedown205productions6]

@TheSnep It was a character made by a notoriously unstable person, who dubbed himself as "Chris Chan." He also raped his dementia-ridden mother, and bragged about it to the internet. Pretty sure he's incarcerated now, which is why the comparison between Joey's World and Sonichu, carries a heavy weight. Lol

[@ehlonna86]

"He wants to pay them...in exposure!" Me: *hisses*

[@cheshirenevande4701]

You know I'm running a campaign...and I think that I need to work that in there somewhere...

[@stingerjohnny9951]

@@cheshirenevande4701 If you want your party to be on the run for brutalizing a cheapskate king, then go for it! 🤣

[@J-manli]

"Usually exposure is what gets people killed" - Survivalist, Chemist, and or Nuclear Physicist.

[@wargrizzero5158]

What everyone of the people in these D&D streaming horror stories don’t seem to get. CRITICAL ROLE STARTED AS A HOME GAME BETWEEN FRIENDS! No one went out and found a bunch of random voice actors and got one of them to start a D&D campaign.

[@PandoraLockhart]

Acquisitions incorporated started out as a collaboration between Penny arcade and wizards of the Coast to promote the players handbook and the monster manual as a podcast. People forget about the humble origins of things And don't want to do in the proper word to get themselves up to massive proportions.

[@ccggenius]

@@PandoraLockhart Wait, really? I thought it'd just started as a D&D campaign they ran during PAX, and it grew out from there.

[@PandoraLockhart]

@@ccggenius The earliest podcast they have is 2008.

[@ottokarl5427]

@@ccggenius I think it started in Matts and Marishas home, as a birthday gift to Liam (or rather a birthday party). It was supposed to be a one-shot. Sam for example admitted that he didn't take it seriously at all and had no idea about DnD, so he just asked Liam what the whackiest class and the weakest race was and created the name via name generator.

[@psysch96]

@@ottokarl5427 I love how Scanlan characters was originally was supposed to be joke and Travis had no clue about dnd and now he runs CR

[@Necroxion]

"This Joey character is a terrible author if he needs a whole team of other writers only to axe them from the credits" This is the entire Ghostwriting industry in one sentence

[@s.dalner7245]

At least ghostwriters get paid.

[@Necroxion]

@@s.dalner7245 hahaha ...not everyone

[@s.dalner7245]

@@Necroxion That just sounds like a bad way of using your time, then

[@Wolfeur]

There is a different though between an author and a writer. You can have great worldbuilding ideas but no prose prowess. Joey is not simply a bad writer, he's a bad _author_ and that's the problem.

[@therealakiyama]

Most ghostwriter authors are fake aliases too, not an actual person. *most.*

[@yotarol6534]

Imagine streaming D&D, could not think of a Crab that should definitely do that... nope, not a one.

[@360entertainment2]

I’ve known tons of players in my life who were entertaining, engaging, and presentable in my life but the only ones I’ve ever known who tried to stream were the complete opposite.

[@luciendelaney8975]

Critcrab could, dummy

[@360entertainment2]

@Random Platypus with Internet that’s a very valid point. A lot do the ones I knew only ever really cut loose in our group and I definitely understand that!

[@ArDeeMee]

No one would give a crab. =P

[@oddabandon]

Lolz, I'd stream, but only bc Twitch saves the vids, and my memory is bad. I'm glad no one would check out my streams, that'd be hella cringe. XD I delete all the vids as soon as I save them onto my drive. ... x.x I've been looking for a video capture software but all of them typically automatically stop recording around an hour and a half ;-; I'm not so cringe as to think I'd emulate Critical Role, tho. That's like... Gross XD

[@midnightflare9879]

When i heard "cat girl harem" I died laughing. "Cat girl harem" is a running joke as a signature trait of neckbeards, I can't believe somebody actually made this with a serious face

[@ignacioperez5479]

indeed. i mean, we all know fox girls are much better

[@joshuacouture479]

@@ignacioperez5479 a man of culture, inspired from a certain KZbinr I see

[@aquaabouttogetfunky]

No no no, it's bear girls. Those need more love 💖

[@davidkoudelka10]

You are all wrong! It is actually Hyena Girls lol😉😂 This is just going to be a thing in this particular comment section, isn't it?🤣

[@Thecolorgreen]

Yo, tardigrade girls, though.

[@alleosussquirt8041]

"A streaming monopoly" My machinima PTSD is kicking in again, I remember they trapped my brother in a 5 year contract because back then, it was a great deal to be partnered AT ALL. It wasn't.

[@oz_jones]

Ah, Machinima. May they forever rest in piss

[@CritCrab]

THE COUNCIL HAS DECIDED! After some crabful deliberation, I have decided that I am officially going to start an actual play D&D show! Just know that this won't be your average D&D show... (laughs in sinister crab) (More info come mid February)

[@johngowanjr5303]

All crab party, let's go!

[@DoctorLuny]

Sounds dope

[@shepherdbrooks7609]

YESSSS LET'S GOOOO 🦀❤🦀❤

[@1vandread]

Will the characters be crabs or various other crustaceans?

[@miguelinileugim]

Your tiny crabs will be getting credit right? Right? RIGHT???

[@Cyb3rM1nd]

Critical Role was successful because all the players were professional voices actors who also worked in other creative roles like voice or scene directing (Sam, Liam, Taliesin) or creative direction and productions and marketing (Marisha) , and have decades of experience each in these fields. They also had partners with creative experience like photography and cinematography (Sam's wife) or writing (Ashley's fiancée, cabbage man himself, Brian W Foster). They all experience in theatre and some like Ashley, Travis, Laura, Taliesin and maybe others I don't know about, also have acting in front of camera experience in TV shows and movies. Matt has been a DM for 20+ years. All these experiences in so many avenues is what allows them to create stories so well and bring their characters to life and create impactful "scenes" through improv. Now throw in a production company created and run by close friends (Geek & Sundry) who were willing invest in them and create that platform with an already existing targeted community. All of this while also being a great bunch of people is what made Critical Role so special. It's going to be incredibly unlikely you'll ever become the next Critical Role. That doesn't mean you can't be successful and you certainly should give it your best (especially if you enjoy it). But thinking you will be the next Critical Role is probably an unhealthy expectation you're setting yourself.

[@TredecimMusic]

Underrated comment right here!

[@MrSeals1000]

^^ This ^^

[@Former_Halo_Fan]

Also, even if you do have all the things Critical Role had... you still won't be the next Critical Role because Critical Role still exists, and unless it stops doing what it is doing, you're never going to become as popular as them just by copying them. Because at that point people will just go: "Well why don't I just watch Critical Role?" The only way to become as popular as Critical Role is to do something better than them, basically. And if you do mange to do something better than them, then that still doesn't make you the "next" Critical Role - it makes you your own thing.

[@NoESanity]

you're forgetting the biggest part. it was started, funded, and ran by one of the largest media companies in the world. G&S put just as much money into advertising for CR as they did to pay the employees both behind and in front of the camera. even shows that are objectively dog shit will pull in good ratings with that kind of marketing team, and CR is actually a decent show.

[@Cyb3rM1nd]

@@NoESanity I mentioned G&S, although they were not "one of the largest media companies in the world" - not even remotely close. By 2018 (CR left in 2019) they pulled in profits of about 225k a year. Most big media companies make millions, Amazon Prime made billions. It's actually why CR left - because CR was becoming too big for G&S. So, yes G&S was very helpful in starting CR on the path to success and I do mention that. But the idea G&S was one of the largest media companies in the world is laughable. Don't get me wrong, I liked G&S - Sagas of Sundry, Relics & Rarities, Callisto 6, LA By Night - they had some great shows. - great shows that were given the same amount of adveritising as CR but never took off as big. But let's be real, here. They helped - certainly, but a lot of CR';s success was due to CR.

[@i.j.dragonfly3123]

Any time you begin a project with the mentality of recreating another successful project, you've already set yourself up for failure. Let Critical Role be Critical Role. Let The Adventure Zone be The Adventure Zone. Let Dimension 20 be Dimension 20. And so on and so forth. Just play the game that will let you and your friends have the most fun. Make the game your own.

[@commandercaptain4664]

Even Crit Role got beat to the cartoon punch by Harmonquest years ago. Granted, Crit's show is better animated, but the point stands.

[@koyagami932]

Mind saying that again for the kids in the back. I don't think the MMO industry heard you, their still trying to copy WoW.

[@idkdontask7142]

Moba games prove otherwise unfortunately

[@bruceelder208]

This man is literally basing his business plan on an illegal practice. There's a reason the only 'monopoly' that exists is a board game.

[@OriginalCreatorSama]

dude clearly wasn't around/hasn't heard about when at&t got sued into oblivion over being a monopoly

[@TheBones1188]

There are things near enough to monopolies. Like Disney as long as you stay away from essentials people are more lenient

[@commandercaptain4664]

And even that game isn't much of a game.

[@NoESanity]

how much competition does your isp have? monopolies are not illegal, if they pay enough in taxes.

[@g80gzt]

>The only monopoly is a board game bish have you seen america in the last few decades?

[@eriadorranger2196]

Joey: We were going to be the next Critical Role and it was all ruined by this one player leaving! Critical Role: *literally kicked a player out of the game for being a problem player and personal issues*

[@bluefan898]

And tried to handle it with class and give the problem player a chance to save face.

[@talgoam]

who?

[@epicchk4319]

@@talgoam Orion Acaba who played Tiberius Stormwind in the first Campaign

[@alleosussquirt8041]

Honestly I hate when DMs livestream the games, it puts people in an awkward position where they don't want to go full out due to fear of embarrassment, hence why people see DnD as therapeutic.

[@tcrpgfan]

And you gotta remember... EVERYONE involved in Critical Role is a voice actor, so they saw little difference between their work outside of Critical Role and the show itself.

[@oddabandon]

Lolz my friends don't mind. They know it's only for saving vids to take notes and stuff. Also... no one comes to my streams. :D Also I asked if they're all okay with it and stuff, obviously

[@bonusactionheroes]

We started streaming our various games not so long ago we had to get 100% agreement from every player to go ahead. That's why 2 of our games aren't streamed but 3 others are. Anyone streams without everyone's agreement needs to take a long hard look at themselves. We mostly stream them so we can watch them back later, surprised us that others have been watching them.

[@oddabandon]

@@bonusactionheroes Lolz, congrats! I'm glad you do it ethically. x.x a lot of ppl are uncaring bastards nowadays, aha

[@MrCurbinator]

Yeah no way would I ever agree to letting the world see me play DnD. Feel like that might show up in a job interview some day.

[@Adraeth]

To be honest, even just the "They would get paid in exposure" part is enough to make this horror story worthy. Any creative person has nightmare about those words.

[@TheRawrnstuff]

No-one who promises payment in exposure pays even in exposure. Excluding friends and such, how many creators do you know who work for exposure? Do you know who designed the menu at your local restaurant? Do you know who designed that neon sign? Even if you know the company that did, do you know the workers? The exposure is a lie. I'm saying this as a small-time producer based in EU, with a small team of creators under him. "Exposure" is what kills people.

[@commandercaptain4664]

@@TheRawrnstuff It's not even like every Crit Role show has a list of credits. Pelor knows they have the stream time to show it at the end along with all the fanart that does get credited.

[@TheBomberman122]

@@TheRawrnstuff I wouldn't say its completely a lie. There are two sides to exposure and sadly most people are familiar with the snake oil version. Being paid in exposure can help you in dividends, from personal experience I've seen what it can do for someone, putting the right eyes in front of the right product. But unfortunately like I said most of the time it's just a trap for upcoming artist and a way to con people for free work, not all the time but most.

[@TheRawrnstuff]

@@TheBomberman122 And winning the lottery is a valid reason to retire. Doesn't mean anyone should rely on that for a living.

[@TheBomberman122]

@@TheRawrnstuff never said you should rely on it, all I said is that it does have its benefits.

[@MaytayMaya]

"Joey wanted to pay people in exposure" Ah yes, classic exposurebucks with no conversion rate to US Dollars

[@thesnep4757]

Or any other currency for that matter.

[@stingerjohnny9951]

He paid them in his D&D themed NFTs XD

[@adrianj2666]

He paid them with in-game articacts xD

[@DoctorLuny]

Gotta love the Crab's vids, never been this early tho so i just wanted to say these are great. Keep it up!

[@CritCrab]

Thanks! Will do!

[@LordSeal7]

Ur hay

[@ScottB1775]

The "Streaming Monoply"? He might have well as called it, "My Evil Plans (Do not Steal)"

[@explodingtomahawks7589]

I'm imagining him with a rainbow journal with puffy clouds and unicorns on the front and written in marker are those exact words.

[@red_adept]

There's no such thing as a half tiefling. They "breed true," meaning if a tiefling and non-tiefling have a child, that child is a tiefling or not. They don't mix like half-orcs or half- elves.

[@WorldWalker128]

Stupid question: if a half-orc and another half-orc of the same species origin have kids, do you technically get another half-orc since they're a 'new' species genetically speaking, or do you get one or the other for a kid? Like a pure orc or a pure whatever-other-race their other parent was?

[@aurawilming6047]

@@WorldWalker128 The rule at my table is 50% chance of half orc, 25% chance of full orc, 25% chance of human-or other second species (based on very rudimentary biology lol)

[@darkmage102]

3.5/pathfinder does have the human like alternate racial trait for those who want the half tiefling experience more or less.

[@commandercaptain4664]

#no1way2play

[@sillyking1991]

Oh no...someone homebrewed lore on a homebrew campaign...how shocking

[@CharlesGriswold]

Hear me out. Character: "I'm a demon lord with a cat-girl harem! Fear my epic psionic magic!" Truth: He's a human who, in a previous life, did not exactly survive a particularly brutal Call of Cthulhu campaign. At least not with his mind intact. Getting ripped out of an asylum into a world where he was widely regarded as being powerful didn't help his very tenuous grasp on reality.

[@fmor2779]

People forget that to get to the level of CR you need to have conections and a resume in the world of entertainment. Imagine if this had been made by a bunch of nobodies. No offense to normal people but there is a big difference between how much attention is going get an actual voice actor with a good trayectory and many many fans behind him than a simple d&d player. And on top of that, the CR cast and crew are endearing people, as far as we know, that a lot of fans find relteable in some way. Of course you won't be the next CR. unless you have the resources and accept it's going to take time you won't make it. That and something that makes you different to offer to the market.

[@an1m8r]

Second DM, Worried Jellyfish, was excellent. After so many stories of people unable to say "no" to wangrods, it's a pleasure to see someone put their foot down in a clear and concise no. Worst thing that can happen, online at least, is the jerk spouts insults like that, and... well, if they do, it's a clear sign not to bother with them.

[@christopherhammond5142]

I've never heard 'wangrod' before, that's a good one, dude.

[@davidribeiro1064]

@@christopherhammond5142 You can thank that one to Matt Colville. He's been using it at least since 2003 and became famous after he used it in one of his videos.

[@thesnep4757]

Wangrod, I'm using that one. Expect to see official documentation soon that it's a word I own all of the creative rights to, of course making sure anyone that was credited with saying it originally is strictly removed from said documentation. As well as if anyone else says it, I own any evidence of them saying it. Thank you.

[@christopherhammond5142]

@@davidribeiro1064 Thanks Matt!

[@christopherhammond5142]

@@thesnep4757 Damn dude, don't be such a wangrod. Oh shit, I didn't mean it, I didn't say it, it was someone else, I promise...oh no...

[@actualteddybear891]

I feel like people who attempt to be "the next critical role" don't understand that the cast are all professional actors.

[@JadedJada]

"I've never heard of a more laughable concept than everybody who makes content owing their creative work to somebody else for free" Any former Channel Awesome fans in the audience tonight?

[@Inlelendri]

*raises hand* Yes...

[@Normaschthewanderer]

Amen!

[@haleywalker1640]

Yeah. And yet somehow this felt even more unprofessional than that.

[@crawler0095]

*cough*

[@unluckyone1655]

Ahem **shifts uncomfotably**

[@miles3101]

Bro watched "how not to summon a demon lord" and was like "I want some of that shit, catgirl included"

[@sydhamelin1265]

Aren't Tieflings and Aasimar hybrids to begin with? I thought they were half human, half celestial (or whatever it's called now), so to say a half Aasimar, half Tiefling, would actually be half human, 1/4 or the other two...like a mutt. "I'm a half half-orc and half half-elf"

[@DrFranklynAnderson]

8:04 WotC: “Write that down, write that down!”

[@ParticleBomb]

I generally don't mind the stealing bit. Heck, that part just sounds like a regular session for my campaign. I basically adapted the seven clans from L5R into my campaign thanks to Oriental Adventures, and my campaign has a mixture of deities from Greyhawk and a couple from Faerun. I even make references to other universes. The problem with Joey here, however, is that he also tried to get people to work for him for free. I may steal ideas but I'm also open where I get them from and only pass up my ideas as my own work.

[@Necroxion]

"I have never heard of anybody who creates content owing their work to somebody else for free" *Machinima has left the chat*

[@MrCrunchytime]

It's always nice to see stories where the DM bounces trouble at the door. Nearly all horror stories come back to the DM; if they're not the source of the problem, they're part of it, enabling it or disregarding it. There's nothing that can be done about a bad DM except to leave, but a good DM can shut trouble down early.

[@janschropfer439]

You can be "next critical role" BUT: 1) You have to make fun world 2) You need to have good players who can get into the game, you have to get rid off power levelers, rule lawyers and toxic players 3) You have to have good background of art (either profi artist PAID or being one yourself) 4) You have to have professional studio/equipment 5) You need to have SUPERB narrator 6) You need to be fun (I know, second time) I wouldn't try to pull it off. Me myself am rule and world builder, character creator. I DMed for 5 years. I now am building my own site with rulebook based on 5e DnD AND the "game room" page - basically I am trying to make self sufficient page for playing my version of DnD (again, base of it is based on 5e) with interactive page for making DMs life easy for playing online. For why I create something which exists already and just expanding on it basically? Part of my programmer portfolio.

[@talynhastime9343]

This one makes me a bit grumpier than usual, probably because of the NFT nonsense going around, of people with no talent trying to profit off others’ hard creative work for next to nothing in return.

[@shoopydoopy6062]

People will say “let’s be the next critical role” and forget to put proficiency into acting, improv, and being generally entertaining

[@Khaymen94]

can we submit stories, i dont care if it doesnt get an episode but my first dnd campagin was a total train wreck. i was a "That guy", our monk was a power gamer that tried to steal our loot and one time got so high she couldnt function during combat, our rogue actually stopped fighting to draw in his notebook and almost never showed up, and our dm railroaded us hard due to inexperience. only two people involed that were decent was our bladelock who just rolled with it, and the chillest barbarian on the planet

[@CritCrab]

Yup! r/CritCrab on reddit or my email in the channel about page!

[@vladimirlestrad3120]

The Crab Council (Probably): Write that down, write that down!

[@Khaymen94]

@@CritCrab cool, internet is out right now and i dont wanna type it all out on mobile but i'll definitely email it at some point

[@balazsszucs7055]

- Introduce your level 1 character! - I am a Demon Lord who nearly conquered the world!

[@artyomsaveli9681]

'Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.' A line that I usually use to describe the entirety of the Vigilante Gang in Hotline Miami 2, but it applies here for all the same reasons.

[@Dreadnaught1985]

CR was the unique gem that didn't start out with any pretence to gain fame. They were a home game for 2-3 years before Geek and Sundry even asked them "hey guys, how about you do a stream or 2 on our twitch channel, as something to pad our lineup." Because Marisha was a content director for G&S. All of the cast knew each other through voice acting for games and anime together.

[@coolie77]

A someone who just started a actual lets play series this month. It was never done with the intension of anything more then brining stories our group loves so near and dear to us to a open medium so everyone could experience it as well. I think anyone jumping into this with a mindset of "Next Critical Roll" is gonna be sorely disappointed.

[@TresTrefusis]

That's all Critical Role did, so you're on the right path :) Just be yourself and see what happens. Worst case you'll have fun and a few other people will have fun watching you.

[@UNSCMarine117]

*somebody tries to become the next critical role* Internet: "how many times do we have to teach you this lesion old man!?"

[@catboysephiroth560]

"Pay them in exposure" Bruh if I wrote or made another form of art for someone and they only "paid" me in exposure I'd expose their freaking insides.

[@TresTrefusis]

as a writer myself I also would have been screenshotting every single post on that discord before logging off so it wouldn't matter if he deleted it, then I screenshot that he deleted it. Then again I wouldn't work for "exposure" so I wouldn't have been in that mess to begin with lol

[@insufferableanarchist]

If I were the demon lord guy, I would start out as a human psionic and ask the dm if I could make my end goal for the character as BECOMING a demon lord. It provides a clear goal, as well as a way to set up a story for the character going forward.

[@XartiXV]

I feel bad for the "Power Gamer", despite that the OP has good reasons to not be in the same table as him. He saw the red flags early, had to quit and Joey blames him for everything that went wrong.

[@sillyking1991]

He didnt even bail. He found problems, brought then up. And in spite of everything even showed up for the first session (unlike everyone else)

[@XartiXV]

@@sillyking1991 Thanks.

[@jasonrustmann7535]

"I'm half angel and hald demon, look how special and unique I am!" Said every single player to want to play something special, while being to stupid to actually be creative with their character.

[@REDACTED_shenanigans]

"Posted 52 Seconds ago" Hell yeah the youtube mechanicus works for once

[@Blueoriontiger]

Was 7 minutes for me. :O

[@HumanBeing2137]

"I've never heard about more laughable concept, than people owing their own creative work to someone for free" 11 months later, this didn't age well, witg DnD, OGL and all

[@xblowsmokex]

WOTC trying to pull a Joey streaming monopoly with the OGL

[@timlin.]

This is where WotC got their idea for OGL 1.1 from

[@shadic971]

9:20 something about critcrab making a prediction about what's going to happen only to immediately tell you he knows what happens next is so funny to me

[@dgnightwing95]

No one should set out to be the next CR. Just play a fun game and if you happen to stream it amd it pops off then you made something truly enjoyable.

[@Beans113]

7:21 hello wizards of the coast

[@risw.3821]

It's confusing to me how people go into playing D&D that it'll be exactly like Critical Role, they are professional voice actors but they are also themselves. You can't just be the new Matt Mercer because he already is Matt Mercer. Just play D&D for fun, whatever your version may be. Like my friends and I record our few and far between sessions because I the DM suck at taking active notes. We keep them on a unlisted playlist on KZbin to keep track of it all. It's a system that works for us but we also have a lot of fun. That's what D&D is about imo.

[@hellhog7368]

op comparing Joey's world to sonichu was a awesome roast

[@blueplayer6197]

I am disappointed... I would have loved joey's story to end with him getting a laptop camera or something and going on twitch with his little show only to find out he had 0 viewers the entire time and then explode in rage. The fact that there wasn't even a single stream is just disappointing, it's like telling a joke reaching the punchline and just stopping without delivering it.

[@ArDeeMee]

Feels appropriate though…

[@RobotTanuki]

I think with stupid narcissistic people, they will not have that kind of real comeuppance resolution part of the story, because that requires them putting in actual work and effort to reach that stage. They will not publish a book thay fails to sell a single copy because they will give up after finding out how arduous the process is to make a book. They will not stream a failed channel with 0 audience because they will not have all the necessary equipment and art/media ready to do so (and speaking as an artist, yeah good luck paying people in 'exposure'). He will boss people around until people see his bullshit and leave, at which point, like on the story, he blames a singular reason (and never himself) on why the "awesome plan" failed.

[@rednassie1101]

How to be a good DM: - listen to your players - have at least a basic understanding of the rules - keep notes of what the players are doing and what they don't (just so you can have consequences later) - *listen to your players* - ask feedback, what they like and what they don't - just pretend you're babysitting a bunch of ADHD 5yo kids - but most importantly: LISTEN TO YOUR PLAYERS!!!!

[@nintendoboy3605]

Why did you think it was a good idea to make a list of things to do to be a good DM and ignore the number 1 advice Listen to your players

[@TheIsaacHour]

@@nintendoboy3605yeah it seems kinda dumb, this list needs to be revised

[@rekkwaffle7668]

Bruh. I wish I could title my campaign "dude, wow, uh" so badly. What a fantasticly wild way to start a campaign

[@Joey245]

"The DM was a guy named Joey" Aaaand just like that I can tell this story is going to be painful to listen to haha

[@Hephaestus_God]

Imagine trying to one-up a multi-million dollar company with professional paid crew/studio/equipment... the entire game itself is made out of professional voice actors who are all friends and work well together... the DM has one of the best range of voice/story telling who that helped write D&D books/stories... and already has a 7 year head start. All while you have a random group of people not even wanting to be in your group, you don't pay them, want them to do all the work, and you can't DM/create compelling worlds/characters. lmao

[@Meanlucario]

1st Story (I wish that Crit would name these at least): Joey should work in the video industry. He has the makings of a CEO. Jokes aside, it's one think to fail at an idea, it's another to try to take all the credit but than lay it at someone else's feet as soon as it starts to look bad. And rewarding bad behavior is just asking people to abuse your system. 2nd Story: That's what session zeroes are for. At least he didn't change his character after the session to "pull a sneaky" on the DM and other players.

[@picklewart5382]

"There won't be another critical role.." *names off other shows like critical role* Copying works, if it's interesting enough, there isn't too many other copies, and isn't an attempt at an exact mimicry. Most sheep are not creative enough to be interesting is the real takeaway.

[@lockwoan01]

To the guys trying to stop "Weird Furry Stuff", let's give a rundown - Dragonborn, Kenku, Lizardfolk, Tabaxi, Centaur, Loxodon, Minotaur, Shifter, Aarakocra, Tortle, Leonin, Satyr, Harengon, Owlin, Grung and Locathah ......... this is not including races that could easily stand in for others - Bugbear representing Bear and Gorilla type folk (along with other Goblinoids doing something similar), Tritons and Sea Elves representing aquatic folk, Winged Tiefling representing Batfolk, Custom Lineage representing anything Humanoid esque, not to mention other races doing something similar, and let's not get started on the Unearthed Arcana and Planeshift stuff that may or may not become official in the future.

[@nddragoon]

"the name of a french sci-fi comics series but one letter is changed" lemme guess, valerion?

[@metarmored]

"Dude, wow, uh" will be my new Catchphrase

[@nozzrik4472]

I paused at 11:15 to say something. This Joey guy makes my stomach turn. Its one thing to make big proclamations, its another thing to essentially steal other people's work promising "exposure" when ultimately you axe them from the content they are writing for you. Like, I love the idea of friends getting together and writing a campaign together to try and sell out of love for the hobby and each other but even that can be a very thin tightrope to walk to avoid screwing over friends. But he didn't even try and pretend.

[@zacharyscovel1017]

Creating a min max character to dominate the game 😑 Creating a min max character to be a big ol teddy bear that wants to keep their friends and family safe 😎

[@THEGRUMPTRUCK]

Random nobody GM: *I'M GOING TO BE THE NEXT CRITICAL ROLE!!!* Me, who has DMed for 15 years: Oh god do my players enjoy my game?

[@DerpyDaringDitzyDoo]

"Strict character creation rules to prevent weird furry stuff" Sounds like I'm playing a tabaxi warlock/bard! You can't stop me!

[@stingerjohnny9951]

Matt’s “Critical Roooole” face is so memeable, you could use it for just about every bullshit D&D nightmare story, as it’s just a perfect “WTF bro?” Expression XD

[@rjahn124]

The 2nd campaign idea actually sounds super fun and creative, I'm upset that someone legit had a chance to play an awesome character but instead wanted to be a dickwad about it

[@MajdYT]

As a new DM who just started my campaign a week ago, a player that keeps declining to discuss their character with you are just the hardest to deal with, my player has good intentions but I'm already preparing for session 2 and I still don't have a character ready for him since he keep declining my help and he keeps making a backstory that conflicts with my rules My rule is: you cannot change anything that already exists in the world (you can discuss with me to build a character so it fits what you want and also fits in the world) and also you don't have control over anything outside your character and close relatives in your backstory, and you cannot have full stories or full lore in the backstory as you will be playing the journey of your character I do this because the campaign can be hard especially with my new combat system (I'm taking 3.5e combat system and homebrew it so it fits 5e) and if your character die then if it's an early death then it's not gonna be the worst lose but if you make me 8 pages of backstory and then your character dies then I will feel really bad about it and I don't want to retcon anything so the players don't lose the immersion

[@euchiron]

I did world building like Joey once. I was a teenager. It has its place as a starting point, a test bed to make mistakes and learn from. Sounds like his maturity evolved just as much. 🙄

[@newestplayercharacter604]

4:30 I am under no illusion that my channel is the "next critical role" I love the show but I'm running a completely different concept. It might all crash and burn and I'm ok with that. It's low quality but high availability. If you're reading this comment you could join it. I'm not that fantastic at D&D but for free and available I hope my channel can grow to legitimate serve a niche in the community.

[@garrettgarner438]

It’s honestly pathetic for a person to get into a hobby for the sake of chasing clout and trying to turn it into some business venture/pyramid scheme so they can make a quick buck. Hobbies are meant to be enjoyed and shared with others who are interested. They’re not to be treated like some marketing technique.

[@TheJerbol]

The fact that your group survived despite coming this close to him just sticking cameras in your faces is incredible

[@IH8Usernam3s]

Critical Role is comprised of experienced actors and roleplayers. Do NOT hold your standards of a D&D campaign to go that smoothly.

[@Anon-qp3kt]

And that's before taking into account the production team and management team to make sure everything is up to scratch

[@alexmercer2743]

Every time I hear about a character that's half-tiefling or half-aasimar my eyes roll so far back in my head I can see my own brain. This woman was both.

[@skynyrdjesus]

I agree that there will never be anything to rival Critical Role while it exists, because that level of talent, production and chemistry is pretty much unreachable. But the market isn't nearly close to saturated, more DND content is always welcome

[@andrewjustice210]

0:18 HEY! It is cool seeing you do a colab with Den of the Drake! Or well,… at least using that photo of him at LARP summer camp last year

[@Thedragonlover95]

Second story, This is how you handle a session 0. And the DM here handled it well

[@danielgriff2659]

I think there is a HUGE NEED for another "streamed D&D experience". One with a DM more focused on combat encounters than soap-opera drama.

[@aquariandawn4750]

I wouldn't use actors if I don't want alot of the drama scenes. I enjoy Critical Role,but yes, they do enjoy their drama scenes.

[@s.dalner7245]

Critical Role's fantastic campaigns are possible due to a cast of tight-knit friends with years of experience playing together, on top of all being professional voice actors, meaning that imitating fictional characters is already something they are doing for a living. The set (at least as of Campaign 3) is professionally crafted with effects to simulate time of day and weather. Professional (and paid!) artists work behind the scenes to bring their worlds to life. To hold yourself and your players to these standards when you're just starting out a campaign (especially if you're young and studying) is a recipe for disaster. Critical Role is a fantastic show, that has done a lot of good for the exposure of D&D but they do not represent what an average game looks like. They are the best case scenario, and even then, plenty of people don't particularly prefer their style of playing, which is perfectly valid. What many fail to realize when they set out to be "the next Critical Role" is that CR's success today is built upon years of hard work, cultivating relationships and storytelling, with opportunities and new projects presenting themselves through organic and smooth growth. They started humble, and worked their way up. To think that you should try to match CR as they are today instead of what they were when they started out is ludicrous.

[@kurisu7885]

I remember a line from a movie. "Don't try to be the next me, try to be the first you." All the same if your goal is just to get famous or to make money, especially in a creative area, you're probably going to fail because it's not taking what is being made into account.

[@creepyangel5716]

I have a feeling this will good

[@TheOneWhoReportsForDuty]

Good to listen to, absolutely. Good to be apart of, I imagine not.

[@creepyangel5716]

@@TheOneWhoReportsForDuty sorry I can't see well and typing in English is hard . What I meant is I have a feeling this will get good

[@limitbreak2966]

Me too!! in here early hehe

[@limitbreak2966]

@@TheOneWhoReportsForDuty honestly a “guilty pleasure” of mine that I’ve wanted to come true, is being part of one of these absolutely horrid DnD games, just to experience the genuine absurdity in person. haha

[@limitbreak2966]

@@creepyangel5716 Nono ! Your English is fine! It’s very good actually!!

[@Jackstalkerfear]

This is literally the reason I once refused an invitation to a campaign. Guy said he hoped to be big like critical role once and had a whole ordeal about testing voices etc etc. all the alarm bells went off in my mind when I read it and just politely declined. I dont wanna say dont have hopes and dreams, but I do think its fair to curb your expectations sometimes.

[@kstalia]

I got hooked on DnD not because of Critical Role, but because of Dice, Camera, Action, which was amazing mainly because Chris Perkins was an amazing dm

[@ComXDude]

9:00 Now, I've been sitting on a character with a similar concept for a long time (ideally, they have the appearance and culture notes of a Tiefling, but is actually a Protector Aasimar, and is initially a Berserker Barbarian before later multiclassing into Twilight Cleric). I never played them long enough to properly flesh them out, but I still really liked their concept, so I adapted them into a comic book character, and she's easily my favorite of any that I've made. Basically, she's a distant descendant of a Devil Lord and the daughter of an angel. Both of her bloodlines manifested at once within her, and while her fiendish ancestry is diluted enough not to cause any personality changes (though still causes the fiendish physical alterations), her angelic descent still attempts to fight it, leading to emotional instabilities. She is reclusive, argumentative, and occasionally violent, but still wants to do good in the end, even if she can sometimes lose sight of this goal when under pressure. The only time that her opposing bloodlines align is during periods of intense emotion or when she is severely injured-in my comics, I dial this up to 11 with an ability known as a "blood rage", where she temporarily gains near-instant healing, a fiery aura and lashes of hellfire, and can fly on angelic wings, but loses control of herself in the process, attacking anyone and everyone around her. Whereas I'm putting a lot of effort into exploring their dualistic nature and the themes of their descent and redemption arc before I begin working on said comic, I guarantee that this guy just combined both races' abilities in an attempt to let his waifu have the strongest, coolest, most awesome character at the table. If my experience with "those guys" are any indication, their depth is only skin-deep-that is to say, they look cool on paper, but don't have any substance behind them. And are almost certainly an edgy asshole, if the class choice is any indication.