The Legend Of Vox Machina | 1x1 | The Terror of Tal'Dorei Part 1 | Reaction!

[@zachwillett5853]

Since you asked about caters, no, there's no arcane caster officially with Vox Machina. Grog/Travis Willingham - Barbarian He has an Intelligence of six. He knows what he's doing. Vax/Liam O'Brian - Rogue. Twin brother to Vex Vex/Laura Bailey - Ranger. Hates Dragons, loves bears. Keylith/Marisha Ray - Druid. Based loosely off The Last Airbender. Pike/Ashley Johnson - Cleric. Best buds with the big guy. Scanlan/Sam Riegel - Bard. There's not much you can't tell about the guy from this episode. Percy/Taliesin Jaffe - Gunslinger. He needed a gun in a world that had never heard of them. So he made one.

[@JnEricsonx]

There was one.

[@zachwillett5853]

@@JnEricsonxWell, yes.

[@VegetaLF7]

Emphasis on *was*@@JnEricsonx

[@Rezinstance]

Bards are arcane casters...

[@zachwillett5853]

​@@RezinstanceCrud. You're right. In my defense, they've taken almost ALL the casting OUT of Scanlan for this series. I had to really think about the character before I could remember that he even HAS a spell other than Scanlan's Hand.

[@georgerobins4110]

You’re kinda supposed to hate the party a little at the start lol I mean, Percy is a posh snob, Scanlan is a huge perv, Keyleth threw up in someone’s mouth, they all start out only in it for the money But getting to know the depths of these characters makes them so compelling. Like, Percy is a posh snob but he’s MY posh snob, y’know? XD

[@SebastianWeinberg]

In order to avoid entangling their creator-owned IP with licensed properties belonging to large corporations, everything that would be positively identifiable as "D&D" or "Pathfinder" had its serial numbers filed off and is never referred to by their D&D or Pathfinder names. Thus Pike's goddess Sarenrae (from _Pathfinder,_ the system they played at home, before they started streaming under the name _Critical Role)_ is always referred to as "The Everlight", and the same goes for Pelor ("The Dawnfather"), Ioun ("The Knowing Mistress"), and Vecna ("The Whispered One"). When Scanlan casts _Bigby's Hand,_ he calls out "Scanlan's Hand" instead, and when they get to the bit in the campaign where the party fought a Beholder (copyright Wizards of the Coast LLC.) it is replaced by a… _legally distinct_ monster that they internally called an "Observer", though that name doesn't appear in the show itself. If you get _Critical Role_ fans (or Critters) in your comments, don't be surprised to be greeted with "Bidet to you!" The reason for that doesn't appear in the animated show until season 2, episode 2.

[@avtolick]

10:32 "He said that he may be an... "a-hole", but he's not, and I quote, "100% a dick"."

[@OptionZero]

Pike, a Cleric and Scanlan, a Bard are full casters but significantly nerfed for story purposes. Keyleth at this stage doesn’t have full confidence or understanding of her abilities

[@CliffSedge-nu5fv]

Clerics and bards are never full casters. Clerics are ¾ casters at best and bards are barely ½ casters. Compare either one to a wizard and do the math.

[@pali1d]

@@CliffSedge-nu5fv A full caster is generally defined as someone who has full spell slot progression (gains slots at every level) and can eventually cast level 9 spells. Bards, clerics and druids all qualify in 5e.

[@jacobmech1]

​@@CliffSedge-nu5fv college of lore bards are definitely full casters which Scanlan definitely is.

[@CliffSedge-nu5fv]

@@jacobmech1 I don't jibe with any of that 5th edition nonsense.

[@AnxietyRat]

​@@CliffSedge-nu5fv then shut the fuk up.🤷‍♀️ This animated show is based off of a campaign that was 5th edition D&D. So it's running off of those rules. Therefore, people are going to use those rules to explain the shit that's happening in the show.

[@InkyPetrel]

YES! So excited to find a new reactor to this show! :D Despite watching a LOT of these KZbin STILL didn't put this on my feed until today, which is annoying for both of us. Catching up now. I've watched prettymuch every reaction on KZbin (look... people have fun reactions to it, and I love the show, what can I say? Other people have normal hobbies :p) so finding someone else starting this journey and meeting these characters for the first time is always a delight. You've probably already heard this, but do stick with the first 3 episodes, the tone shifts between 2-3. The first two are kind of representing the part of the campaign that happened before they started streaming the game, and also were written earlier, iirc, when they weren't sure if more funding was going to happen, so they're deliberately a bit over the top to make sure it was clear this wasn't a generic "kids fantasy cartoon". The dick jokes don't go away, but there's a little less unnecessary "ew" after things get really rolling. Which isn't to say I don't love the first two episodes, I do, because they contain so much glorious DnD. It begins in a tavern, the rogue starts a bar fight because someone shoved the druid, flirting goes poorly and immediately turns to brutal violence, and everyone is attacking everyone because the DM said "roll initiative" not "negotiate". Sounds like a lot of games I've been in, lol. But yes, as to the "it would be funnier if you've seen Critical Role" there was a small element of that. It was kind of a running thing that near the start of the streams, whenever they couldn't decide where to go next they tended to opt for the nearest drinking hole, and Keyleth was a lightweight. The show is meant to be enjoyed by everyone though, not just CR fans :) Can't wait to watch your reactions to the rest of the series! Enjoying your thoughts, and you spotted some little details that a lot of folks miss, like the ship's crystals (or at least I'm not sure I've seen them mentioned before). Grog has an intelligence of 6, he knows what he's doing :p (The player rolled real poorly during character creation, but then leant into it, and it's the best gift he could have given us, Grog is amazing.) I promise you're going to love ALL of these ridiculous chucklefucks by the end. Yes, even Scanlan. This series was condensed from Critical Role's first campaign, which runs over 100 episodes of between 4-6 hours each, not including one-shots and bonus stuff. The first season of this animated show covers maybe 20-ish? of those episodes, as well as some things that happened pre-streaming (but things are shifted around the timeline so it's not exact). The story is the same, it keeps important decisions players made, and a lot of the good or bad fortune the dice laid on the party (though obviously streamlined). Somehow they've managed to condense all of those hours into 25 minute episodes, while keeping the heart of the story and the depth of the characters intact. And speaking of characters, they are all voiced by the original players, who embodied them for years at the table! It's pretty unique. Sorry for the ramble, I just have a lot of love.

[@thomasdahlberg5920]

Scanlan, like many people (me included) uses humor and crassness as a defence mechanism. If youre always funny and making jokes, you dont have to be as emotionally vulnerable. Its not necessarily healthy, but it works for most things. Having a joke in your back pocket to pull out when things get tense is helpful to ease the tension most of the time. Its literally what bards do.

[@GameknightJ14]

I feel called out😂

[@HenryLouis21]

Having already watched the show, I am excited for the adventure and all the reactions you will have throughout this entire series.

[@canadian__ninja]

Can't wait for Scanlan to grow on you. It's not a matter of if, it's when. May not be in season 2, but it will be by the time the show fully ends.

[@passenthrualaska3293]

Hello! So... I confess, the following comment is a copy and paste of one I wrote quite a while back, have tweaked several times, and so now I fall back on it to give a Critical Role explanation. Yes, it's a bit longer than average, but... there's A LOT of stuff to cover, I summarized as best I could. Welcome to the world of Critters. Once upon a time, many years ago a talented voice actor was about to have a birthday, and to celebrate Matt Mercer, another well-established voice actor and talented GM (Game Master) offered to run a role-playing game for a group of friends... who also all happened to be voice actors. So, a group of nerdy ass voice actors sat around and played D & D. The group had so much fun they made it a regular thing, Felicia Day of 'Geek and Sundry' heard about this game and approached them with the idea of streaming it... and it became a hit in its field, eventually growing into its own company and channel known as Critical Role. Parting on good terms with their previous home, Felicia Day has a small role in the beginning of episode 2. Vox Machina was the group of characters they played in Campaign One, there has also been a Campaign Two, in which the cast plays a whole new group of adventurers. Both are set in the same world, but on different continents, and Campaign Two is set a few decades after the end of Campaign One. Each campaign ran for over a hundred episodes which are all over three hours long, and we are over 70 episodes into Campaign Three. They have also put out a bunch of other content, from talk shows to shorter games in other Role Playing worlds. They have played live shows to sold out theaters, become the number one channel on Twitch, have merch stores in multiple countries, have comics and actually published books of fan art (there are some talented as F*** Critters) they also started a nonprofit charity to... "Leave the World a Better Place." The whole cast would all tell you that they never expected any of this, that it has been a wild ride and they are just trying to hold on and be worthy of it. A few years ago they started looking into the possibility of an animation, but no one was buying, or at least not on their terms, so they went to the Critters to try and raise upwards of $700,000.00 over the course of 45 days in order to make a two-part special for themselves and their fans.... The Critters laughed, and smashed through not just the goal amount, but also ALL of their stretch goals within an hour. By day 45 they had raised nearly 11 and a half million dollars, added a bunch more stretch goals, and the two-part special became a season. Amazon took note and basically funded a second season (3rd season was green lit just before season 2 dropped) to get the streaming rights, but the show is created by Critical Role. Those Nerdy Ass Voice actors are the producers and have full creative control. Most of the people they hired, from writers to artists and composers are also fans who love and know the story and its world. It is one of the truest examples of a project of love I have ever seen. During the production of season one of the animation they put out a series of videos to keep their fans in the loop of how things were going. Interviewing the people behind the scenes and giving non spoiler info about the production. It's a good watch and will really help you understand the devotion and love that went into this project, as well as introduce the cast, the people who created these characters and this amazing story. Personally, how the lead composer got the job is one of my fav stories. Here is that play list. kzbin.info/aero/PL1tiwbzkOjQwJdoNetaNJE1zZVOE7xi8u The latest big news is that Amazon has signed off on producing a season based on the Campaign Two group, known as The Mighty Nein! And no I did not misspell Nein. They have also reached a multi year agreement that Amazon gets the first look at any new shows OR movies Critical Role wants to produce. Many a fans ears perked up at the mention of possible movies given the popularity of a particular 4 episode and done Campaign, “Exandria Unlimited Calamity” It is a separate adventure set in the same world, but way, WAY, before Vox Machina's or The Mighty Nein's Time. Once again, welcome to this new world, hope you enjoy your visit and stay for a while... it's a devoted community with a lot of heart... and dicks... so many dicks... LoL. Let Chaos Reign!

[@invaderzam]

Funny that you mentioned the lack of a wizard. That was a big oversight for this group, not having a "librarian" type character like Giles and Willow from Buffy. Any challenges involving knowledge checks they would struggle with. What is funny is when we finally get to the second campaign (which is also going to be animated) that group overcorrected. Not only did they have the wizardiest wizard you can imagine, but almost everyone had a decent INT stat. It made sense for some members to have a good INT score but for others, it straight up made their character weaker.

[@JnEricsonx]

Um......originally they had one but....yeah....look that up.

[@ToTheKneeProductions]

​​@@JnEricsonxhe was a sorcerer btw not wizard, assuming you're talking about the dragonborn guy

[@JnEricsonx]

@@ToTheKneeProductions Correct. I just more mean to refer as that type of spellcaster I mean.

[@JnEricsonx]

Hell, then you get to Campaign 3. A druid, a Bard, a Sorc, a Warlock/sorc.

[@corystanish]

I gotta be honest though, sometimes it makes things more fun and interesting to not have all your bases covered. It's especially good if you're angling for comedy to not have anybody too smart in the group! I'm in a group now that has no INT-based characters and our DM gets a lot of entertainment out watching us fumble around trying to figure stuff out before resorting to our fallback bull-in-a-china-shop tactics.

[@AAAndrew]

Scanlan got a high persuasion roll with the king to convince them to hire them. There are a lot of moments where you will see the rolls that actually happened in the game. One thing that this show does really well is integrate the comedic slap-dickery you often get around the DnD table with some real heroic highs as well as tragic lows. And it constantly surprises. Subscribed to make sure I catch all of your other reactions to this show.

[@parkersaunders5698]

Ahhh I’ve waited many millennia to witness The Grand Grizzled wizard finally set off on his long awaited journey with the legendary Vox Machina!! Now to see how our courageous companion fairs in this climatically catastrophic chronicle!!

[@jonathaneverson3673]

Keyleth also was frightened in the Dragon fight because in D&D, Dragons have a Fear effect just from being near them. She failed the save.

[@terryandjoe]

Dude!! Thanks for reacting to this!

[@09spidy]

Can't wait for you to slowly fall in love with these characters.

[@billberndtson]

I'm happy to see people are still finding this show! I'm looking forward to you reacting through season 2!

[@mandzmagpie8886]

I didn't know this channel existed!! I have so much to catch up on!!

[@davidphilpott2487]

Pike's a cleric and Scanlan's a bard. Both are casters. Vex is a Ranger, so she is a half-caster too.

[@tristanmilner9511]

And just like WoW Hunters, which are so based off of the Ranger class, she's a loot hoarder.

[@tristanmilner9511]

To be fair, most groups of people that are out drinking are at their best or even likeable. To sum up Grog, by his own words: "I have an intelligence of 6 guys, I know what I'm doing." oh, fun fact: these first two episodes are from Critical Role's pre-stream campaign. They had so much fun playing taht at one point Marisha, Keyleth's VA, said "We're all nerdy voice actors, why aren't we streaming this?" Then they talked to Felicia Day for some pointers about setting up streaming and 8 years later, streaming the campaign was the right call. Also, Vax, Vex, Grog, and Scanlan have voiced Star Wars characters in various games and shows.

[@nosliwec]

Actually, I think Felicia Day came to them because she knew Ashley Johnson and Ashley had mentioned their home game to her. Felicia Day at the time had a company, Geek and Sundry, and asked Matt Mercer and the rest if they would want to stream their series.

[@AnxietyRat]

​@@nosliwec yeah, Felicia and Ashley talked at a party one night and that's how the ball started rolling for them to start streaming on Felicia's KZbin/Twitch.... Critical Role wouldn't be a thing without Ashley Johnson. That's a sure thing. It's just such a shame that she was gone for pretty much all of campaign one and a huge chunk of campaign two due to filming obligations. Cuz yeah, she set EVERYTHING in motion.

[@Titankilla]

so glad your picking this up, cant wait to follow your reaction journey

[@commander515]

YES. I was hoping you'd eventually start watching my favorite animated show ever (no pressure 😁). It may start off a bit rough, admittedly, but I think you're going to enjoy the rest. The next ten episodes will be a fun ride.

[@jasonmarbach]

So glad you’re posting this one bud! I already watched on patreon but you better believe I’m watching again here 🤣

[@kereminde]

Okay, I have been watching your Star Wars content on and off for a while now and had no idea you'd started this channel up. Going to need to keep an eye out here too!

[@davidphilpott2487]

Also, they become more likable over time.

[@SamuelGrahamDoesTCGs]

This makes me happy that you're doing it, looking forward to your series thoughts overall!

[@misteryman526]

While she seemed affected by the destruction of the trees, I believe in the actual campaign Keylith failed her roll against Dragon Fear

[@AutumnWoodham]

"Who throws up on the floor of a bar" If the party is fun enough, everyone.

[@Shelma32Reactions]

YES! I am so happy and excited that you are reacting to this! Love Critical Role.

[@InkyPetrel]

I know this name! :D I loved your reactions! I think we're in the same boat, "Help, I've run out, send more reactors" :p

[@Shelma32Reactions]

@@InkyPetrel Omg, thankyou so much :) I always love seeing more reactions to this show!

[@brianewing5778]

I had no idea you were reacting to this show!!! Buckle up!!! Its a WILD RIDE!!!

[@vanessaaves3271]

Long time Critter and also fan of your other channel, I love this show!

[@alexkramerblogs]

Hell yes! Stoked for this series reaction!

[@nicholasmaddocks7545]

Well.... that was something....

[@thomasdahlberg5920]

8:15 yes. No Wizard anywhere to be seen in the party. Never was. Definitely not.

[@user-jt1js5mr3f]

Literally never has, the person you're referencing was a sorcerer.

[@zaincassis2612]

Love it. Anyone who reacts to this show always gets a like from me.

[@ThatGuy-zh3vu]

I absolutely love this show, Ive watched and rewatched, lol. I'll be checking in on the reactions.

[@TheRubberDuck77]

I like how then interpret Vex's ranger ability to sense her favored enemy, to do it as like a headache type thing. it does bum me out a little tho that they couldn't use the original name for some things due to copyright, lik the god names, or spell names... bigsby's hand as Scanlan's hand tho I don't mind... Speaking of which, this whole thing was oringinally just supposed to be a one shot for Liam Obrien's birthday(the Vax player/voice he also does among many other things, the voice of Illidan from wow), he hand't played dnd in a long time so Matt (the dm and voices several character in the animation) got some of their voice actor buddies together to do a session. Liam and Sam (scanlan's player and voice) are very good friends and Sam had never played so he asked Liam what the worst class to play is, and he said probably a bard, and Sam asked what the worst race to play was, and Liam said a gnome, so Sam looked up on a Fantasy name generator to get the name and thus Scanlan Shorthalt was born.... in the campaign Sam would actually sing all his spells, and depending on how good he did sometimes he would get advantage on rolls lol Thats also why Scanlan started off so one dimensional, it wasn't even supposed to be a whole campaign, they just all had so much fun. They played it for 2 years before even starting the live stream. So the first 2 episodes are from the pre-stream era. Scanlan does have a wonderful story arc tho, they all really do.... and even tho he was created to be the worst, imho he ends up being the MVP of the group. and I love his line at the end of this, when Scanlan, the jokster says "Just trying to figure out what rhymes with dead dragon, cuz I guess we're killing one" in such a serious and menacing tone

[@CaptainJoteda]

I'm supposed to be going to bed but I'm way to excited, lets go!

[@SteveRabbit]

Yes so excited for you,i cant believe how fast im attached to this characters 😍😍😍

[@JnEricsonx]

Hell, I met like 5 of the cast over the weekend!

[@SultanOfAwesomeness]

Oh definitely stick with this one. After the first few episodes, everything just skyrockets in quality.

[@adam1third]

Yesss! This show is so good!

[@blackandwhitethinking]

Fave reactor watching my fave show!!!!!! I will stay alive for a few months then okay 👍

[@SebastianWeinberg]

8:54 - *“It's the same one. The same exact dragon.”* Which changed from a red, fire-breathing one to a blue lightning thrower, in the intervening years? Nah, we don't get to meet the one that burned their house down until later… when he burns _everybody's_ houses down.

[@user-jt1js5mr3f]

shh, don't do that.

[@NightSterling]

Welcome to the critter rabbit hole

[@AL-cc3mj]

all the characters def grow on you lol 😂

[@MsSneekyNinja]

"I hate these characters." Fans just grinning. Yeah they are jerks but they're our jerks.

[@franceschirincones2286]

Excelente video 😃

[@Lucos546]

Hype!

[@DanFDTR]

YEEEEEEEEEEEES

[@beriliumsphere107]

Just an FYI. You are MUCH louder than what you are watching

[@AnxietyRat]

This is something that is VERY often done to avoid copyright strikes. They keep the audio of what they are reacting to very low... So it's potentially an intentional choice bc of copyright.

[@warmmilk9480]

I've never seen someone voice so many complaints with this show in 3 minutes. Although... I'm guessing you probably change your opinions by the end of the episode considering only 12 dislikes. Only person I've seen side with Agar though.

[@warmmilk9480]

Okay, I guess you... partially changed your mind.

[@milagrojimenez359]

Como

[@zendalexander]

Most people say Keyleth is the strongest character in vox machina I disagree is mostly her class & sub class doing all the work.

[@elixirlite9447]

But the class and sub class is a large part of what makes a character strong. Like that is where her power comes from lol

[@zendalexander]

@@elixirlite9447 ok let me say this then. Another of our characters (excluding grog) is the same class/subclass do you think they would be better or worse?

[@elixirlite9447]

@@zendalexander entirely depends as each character is different and would this act differently. While I think most of the party at this time in the series may be able to make better use of her powers (as they’d be fair less doubtful of themselves), but later on I believe that she’d surpass most of them if not all. Anyway I find it silly to make a comparison like this as yes, it’s the class and subclass that make up much of her power, thus making her one of the strongest characters, especially much later in the series and campaign, but that doesn’t take away from that fact, nor should it be used as rebuttal to why she isn’t the strongest or one of the strongest

[@zendalexander]

@@elixirlite9447 I'm not saying she's not a well thought out character or anything. I do enjoy everyone of them just that especially Keyleth is more dependent on her subclass more so then the melee classes in the party and for a majority of the time they do better than her.

[@user-jt1js5mr3f]

@@zendalexander druids traditionally get insane as they hit higher levels, and if she ever feels weaker it's because Marisha leaned into her being insecure and inexperienced. As that confidence and power grows, boy does she power up. Seems like a weird thing to be miffed over her class and subclass being a source of that power, that's...just literally how it works. SPOILERS: Once they're level 20, laura makes a comment how Keyleth is basically a demi-god and Vex can barely pick handcuffs underwater. Unlimited wildshapes? That's just unlimited meat shields, she can just outlive everyone else in a fight. Yeah it's the class, but again...that's the point. Any of them could get an edge in the right circumstances, but overall she would probably take the most fights, especially as she grows.

[@Rage_Harder_Then_Relax]

I love your haircut!