The Legend of Vox Machina 1x3 Reaction | Feast of Realms

[@BlunderMunchkin]

The Briarwoods are frequently cited among Critters as representatives of the trope "If hot, why evil?"

[@suntiger745]

I thought they were more "Don't judge a book by its cover"? Just because they're very attractive doesn't mean they are not evil. :)

[@lordfoul6259]

Is it true that the VA of Delilah is the same VA of Azula from Avatar The Last Airbender

[@suntiger745]

@@lordfoul6259 Yup. Grey DeLisle/Griffin.

[@lordfoul6259]

@@suntiger745 I thought so it took another reactor to point that out to me I had no idea it was her when I was watching the first season which made me kinda disappointed in myself being a big fan of Azula but it was the British accent that threw me off lol

[@HelloThere.GeneralKenobi]

You have now gotten a glimpse of "No mercy, Percy!!" "Now your soul is forfeit!!"

[@johnwoodworth9127]

I love how they included some of the most memorable lines from the stream into the cartoon like "Now your soul is Forfeit!" or some other lines I don't want to mention due to spoilers.

[@ThePoopsmith-12345]

Epic quote unfortunately they left out him killing the granny.

[@riolkin]

@@ThePoopsmith-12345 Tiberius killed the old woman, not Percy. Killed her with his spiral blade thing he made

[@ThePoopsmith-12345]

@@riolkin I think you are right! I forgot.

[@benjaminlindemuth615]

Just to clarify, knowledge of Critical Role / D&D will mean you catch more Easter eggs, but the show adapted so that everyone can enjoy it. Also, us Critters tend to overshare information when given the smallest opportunity, don't get too overwhelmed by the massive comments some people are leaving.

[@testfire3000]

Overshare = Understatement. lol. As a Critter myself I can testify this to be true.

[@Vhytto]

In the last Episode Grogg screamed "I would like to rage" It was basically the Player saying that he would like to use the Barbarians Rage ability. I like this one little detail a lot.

[@Ozgarthefighter]

And it was a callback to what Travis would say everytime he raged during the live game. I hope they find way to sneak in Grog declaring his rage more often.

[@queenannsrevenge100]

I’m glad that they didn’t overuse it, but I was glad to see that one little fan service, it made me laugh.

[@LeeCarlson]

You may not have noticed but when Sylas and Delilah are on their way to the room after dinner, they pass a reflective glass and Delilah is the only reflection that you see.

[@saiyasha848]

He said "Dude". "Bruh". But in old person speak This had me rolling on the floor🤣

[@amrosoronar1853]

Angela: "I hope that they are not the bad guys." Briarwoods: ' Hold My Beer."

[@codybarnes1531]

Or blood in their case.

[@엘제-k9u]

@@codybarnes1531 Residium maybe?

[@jonathaneverson3673]

@@엘제-k9u Both

[@meravl7615]

Oh, they're too refined for that. "Hold my pinot." or maybe "Hold my blood", but...

[@ALJ9000]

More like “hang my bodies”

[@hawkthorn33]

Buckle up, cause here we go! As for Grog, the "I would like to rage" is actually a game mechanic. In rage mode for his class, takes less damage, and has the ability to do more.

[@Logan_Baron]

The kickstarter goal being hit and surpassed so fast was the biggest but not the first shock of how supported the Critical Role group is. It's an amazing fandom. We're called Critters by the way, if you didn't know already. Early on, some fans sent them food delivered while they were streaming and that alone shocked them. They weren't aware that people already liked them enough to send them pizza. Later they decided that they would take a chance at selling some merch. They had some t-shirts made and at the beginning of the show advertised them with a "We're not sure if this is something you would like, but if you would go ahead and check out this link......." and right when they finished making the spiel Sam announced that they had already sold out during the time they were talking. Their minds were blown. When they were first approached about streaming their home game, they were excited to do it, but they weren't really sure it would be popular. Now it has a huge and growing fandom.

[@buddhabatman]

You're on the right path concerning Grog's "Rage" moment. "Rage" is actually an ability for barbarians (Grog's class) in DND. It increases the damage of barbarian's rolls, allows the barbarian to roll two d20s and pick the highest (commonly called advantage in DND) for strength checks and saving rolls, and halves most physical damage. Travis Willingham commonly used the rage ability for Grog during fights on Critical Role and would almost always enthusiastically yell "I would like to RAGE!!!!!" to signal to Matt Mercer that he was using Rage. Thus, the "I would like to RAGE!!!!" in the dragon fight was some major critter fan service and it was awesome!

[@descendfromgrace1]

I cannot even imagine the pressure you must feel when reacting to stuff that folks hold so near and dear to their hearts. Rest assured the bulk of Critters (critical role fans) totally get that it is a lot to digest in such a short time. The rest of this Vox Machina season took about 55 hours of in game time. So as you go through this folks are likely going to recommend videos that the community has made that expand on things shown within this show without spoiling things. The fanbase sprung into action to help answer questions and elaborate without trying to make folks watch all 55 hours. Instead of all that I am here to say what it has been like being in the fandom since the early days, and to do that I will use an example of something everyone hates: standing in lines. Around the time this story was happening they made their first visit as Critical Role to New York City Comic Con. Outside of the convention they rented space at Forbidden Planet comic book shop to do a signing. They thought maybe 30 or 40 folks would show up. The line wrapped around the block and they had to re-up with the shop a few times to make sure everyone in the line got something signed and a chance to meet the cast. In this line while we waited there was crowdfunding going on to help fund fan sites and other projects. Not at the behest of the cast or organized in anyway, just folks going "I heard the person who runs site X needs more hard drive space." So folks went "Well I can throw some money at that. I like that site for fanart." So things got funded, fixed, people from across the country made friends with others and some of those friends I still talk to today. One of the guest stars and friend of the show stopped by to say hi and hung out talking to fans for an hour. It was a really fun day. Years later they are again going to be at NYCC. This time they were recording a live episode in a theater in Washington Heights. Fans were coming in from all over for it but the issue is many of them didn't know the city well. Fans on twitter who were more local and familiar setup a way to gather groups of folks who didn't know the area to make sure they got to where they needed to be on time. In the line itself there was more crowdfunding, fixing, and friend making but the fact that a lot of folks traveled in on this day was not lost on the locals. They brought foods from various shops like pizza (including vegan and gluten free) that was free to all. Folks were walking down the line to the venue offering food to anyone who was hungry. No questions asked. When pressed about paying a person back the one person (with particularly good pizza) said "Nah, not me but here are some of my favorite charities if you want to make a donation." I cannot properly explain how much this show has meant to some of us but please know that the vast majority of fans are just happy that folks are watching it. We don't care that you get a name wrong or miss a little detail. We point it out because we want to make sure you get the full enjoyment out of it. Also keep an eye out for cast members popping into your comments, the look on the guys from pReview'd faces when Travis Willingham (Grog) donated $100 during a livestream to tell them how much he enjoyed the reactions was priceless.

[@theanyktos]

I'm gonna second all of that. I've never been able to go to an irl Critter event (what with being on the wrong continent), but none of that surprises me. And yeah, please don't take us pointing things out as criticism, we're just super excited and want to show you all the tiny little things they did that made us so excited, so you can enjoy them as well.

[@richardyoung3462]

I caught up by listening to the audio podcasts, since I could do that while driving or even at work.

[@Dark__Thoughts]

Most roleplay / fantasy folks are super chill and friendly and just want to share their excitement for their hobby / passion.

[@TheJerbol]

The fact that you identify with Scanlan instantly means you're good people

[@funnylilgalreacts]

😂 I mean he’s pretty frickin awesome 🤩

[@PensandoRPG]

@@funnylilgalreacts i agree

[@cloudstone123]

@@funnylilgalreacts Funny story, the entire Critical Role franchise started as just a role playing session as a birthday gift for Liam O'Brien (Vax) to play D&D who played it when he was younger. So he invited Sam Riegel (Scanlan) to play with them. Sam never played before so asked Liam for tips on making a character. Sam asked for the 'worst' race, and gnome is a pretty weak race and then asked for the 'worst' class and bard was chosen. In terms of some kind of power level ranking system, gnome and bard would rank pretty low in D&D lore. Past D&D lore anyway. Sam really broke all that and took it to epic levels.

[@zippomage]

@@cloudstone123 5th ed really cracked the code on bards, and Sams' insane cunning really lent itself to the kinds of "Ah just a moment" one-upmanship that bards can get away with

[@chrism7395]

9:55 Matt Mercer has a cameo in every episode, in this episode he's the armoury guard, in the first episode he was the guard that Scanlan pees on outside the tavern. There's also apparently something shaped like a 20 sided dice in every episode too.

[@BlunderMunchkin]

The reward being a place to live wasn't random. It was Matt Mercer, the DM (Dungeon Master), laying groundwork for more stories for the group.

[@AnxietyRat]

Yeah, in the campaign, they helped Sovereign Uriel couple of times before they were gifted the castle. So it was because they had been consistently helpful to the king that they were then gifted with a permanent residence within the city... But due to time...they couldn't show them doing all those tasks and gaining his trust... So yeah, it wasn't a roll for that reward.

[@Wanttowrite]

@@AnxietyRat I would argue that it still makes sense on the show. They were the only group to both survive an encounter with the dragon and were able to slay him. Add that it was clearly part of a larger scheme against the kingdom, having the group that foiled it both nearby and sheltered. Remember, the reward was being offered to anyone that could defeat the unknown monster, Vox Machina just happened to be the ones to do it.

[@DnD_Guru]

Sylas does indeed have balls, but as a Vampire he is immune to most non-magical damage so a simple fist to the nuts just doesn't hurt.

[@MTG_Scribe]

The first two episodes are good, but starting here this show just jumps significantly in quality. It's a wild ride from here on out. What's going on with Percy is explored more as the season goes on. As for Scanlan, all of the music he does is original for the show. When they were doing the Live Play almost all of his music was parady of real life popular music, which they didn't want to use for the show.

[@wtimmins]

Yeah, I wasn't sure if I was going to like the show from episode 1&2; it was a bit too chaotic to me.

[@TheJerbol]

I'm a die-hard CR fan and kickstarter contributor; the first two episodes (the premiere especially) are really not great. I don't know why they decided to have an entire episode of vomiting and bad jokes. Those were certainly in the campaign but nowhere near the level that the show implies

[@MushyUndTingly]

@@TheJerbol I feel like if Ep 1&2 were more like... 3-5 episodes, I feel like they could have explained things a little more to make those episodes better.

[@corybishop3084]

@@TheJerbol I think the first two episodes, and the first especially, are sort of a trial by fire. You have to introduce the characters and the setting, while also striking the proper tone for the series. You don't want people starting to watch and not until 5 episodes in do you see Scanlan in all his raunchy glory. You need to establish that straight away, so episode 1 is a bit over the top in terms of gore and vulgarity. It does tone down from there, without ever going away. Introductory episodes are tricky.

[@theanyktos]

@@TheJerbol Tbh I think they did that as an extra layer of warning for people. The rating says "not for kids" and the vomiting and the nudity and the swears in episode 1 say "no really, _not for kids_ ". So that when they got to the juicy stuff later on, people wouldn't be too caught off guard.

[@zakkus]

Probably best not to think about the dice rolls too much. The character developments are real, both in the show and in their dnd live stream. In the game, the rolls determine the outcomes of actions, but its up to the player to rationalize why things happen (and since the critrole players are all very good actors, they do an excellent job of this). They still make all their own decisions (like trying to shoot a kid). Keylith for example is just very unsure of herself as a character, and you will see that reflect a lot in the story (dice or no). In general they were willing to change things up to make for a better tv show. There is some game stuff that it would be helpful (but not required) to know. Like Pike not being able to heal the kids after healing grog is because she can cast limited spells per day. Grogs "i would like to rage" is more an easter egg for people who watched the stream, and is what travis (the actor) would say whenever he turned on berserker mode for his barbarian

[@Deeplight32]

Dice rolls are for things that involve chance. They don't dictate player actions or motivations. Think of the card game "Go Fish" The players decide who to take cards from, but the card they take is random. Choosing the player to ask for a card is under player control, but the card taken at random would be a dice roll. Keyleth being afraid of the dragon roll wasn't because the dice roll decided how Keyleth should play or act. The dragon had a fear effect, which everyone who was affected by it had to roll a dice to see if they could resist the Dragon's fear, and Keyleth failed. Again, dice don't affect player choices, they determine effects of chance. Vax's belt is a magic item which can turn into a snake. It's an item he had that doesn't involve a roll. It was a piece of loot he got in a previous adventure.

[@descendfromgrace1]

I think that the dice roll was referring to the failed roll against the fear effect. For folks that don't play the details can be hard to grasp so saying "She rolled bad so couldn't do anything" is much more easy to understand than trying to explain status effects etc. If we were in a D&D forum I would be the first to point to the PHB with a page number but for folks that don't play (yet lol) just giving them enough to make sense of it is plenty.

[@Deeplight32]

@@descendfromgrace1 my point is that she seems to think that actions and decisions are dictated by the dice. I'm just trying to clear that up for hey

[@TheJerbol]

Go fish is an extremely strange and probably more confusing analogy lol

[@Deeplight32]

@@TheJerbol true, I explained it better in the next video

[@taly_slayer]

Yes, all of this is important. Please, don't take what one person say in the comments as absolute truth. This show works exactly the same as any other show and character motivations are written as part of the story. I repeat what Kyle said: dice does not dictate how Keyleth feels or acts in this show. Dice determined the outcomes of certain decisions, and that was used by Marisha to develop Keyleth in game, which then was adapted BY WRITERS for this show.

[@kevinhammond3691]

You can't roll for beads, you just have to have a Sam Riegel. He plays Scanlan, and voices him in the animation. Scanlan is a Bard (think magic through entertainment) and Sam could improv some INSANE songs for Scanlan to sing.

[@alftuvik3820]

I mean... I'd imagine it being a strength roll to tug? :X

[@ravenlunatic3006]

Vaxs belt is magical and can turn into a snake that can move up to a 100' radius around him. His name is "Simon" (The one eyed trouser snake) aka "Snake Pliskin" on stealth missions. Get ready for a wild ride! ^.~

[@theanyktos]

5:52 we all adore Gilmore. Matt (the DM, who plays him) does too. Initially the Critters (me included) were very hopeful that he was going to voice him, but what with the somewhat sticky issue of him playing a POC while not being one they decided on having someone else voice him and Sunil Mahotra did an excellent job, I was not disappointed.

[@GameMasterToolbox]

Keileth was indeed terrified. Dragons have an ability called Frightful Presences and everyone but Keileth's player made the roll to fight off the effect. Keileth then gained the Frightened condition which means she won't try to get closer to the creature, and has to roll twice then pick the lowest number on certain rolls as the long as the source of the fear is still within a certain range.

[@lordorion5776]

your reaction to "no mercy Percy" was priceless

[@Xhalph]

Poor Scanlan. He's clearly a Ball Tag aficionado, familiar with all of the intricate rules. But nobody will play with him on account of his unfair height advantage.

[@funnylilgalreacts]

😂😂 didn’t think of that

[@neonom1024]

I love that "Pull My Beads Of Love" is now a Grammy-nominated song.

[@funnylilgalreacts]

WAIT WHAT?!

[@briandalke5946]

Say hello to No Mercy Percy

[@funnylilgalreacts]

I LIKE

[@theanyktos]

21:35 oh the players were too, believe me. Liam (who plays Vax) did a whole monologue about what Vax was thinking about as he fell unconscious after jumping out of that window, because he thought his character was gonna die. Luckily the rest of VM managed to get to him in time, but yeah. Death is very much on the table in DnD (less so in higher level parties, because there is resurrection magic in the game, but if your friends don't have access to that... you're shit out of luck).

[@acwolf92]

No mercy Percy has entered the campaign. His mission is simple... VEANGENCE!

[@yetibeardson1168]

His side quest, SPELLING!

[@michaelmartin5623]

Grog’s “leveling up” is a part of his character class as a barbarian. As a barbarian you can go into a rage and inflict more damage when he attacks.😊 “I would like to rage!!” is what Grog (played and voiced so well by Travis Willingham) would say before going into his rage mode.

[@christophercorbin9387]

Vax's belt was a magic item that turned into a snake. It has one eye, so its his one eye trouser snake. The dice don't decide what to try, they just decide on success or failure. On occasion there will be a random roll to see what you run into, but the characters get to decide what they want to try or what they want to use. I run D&D games every week. :)

[@Logan_Baron]

The belt turning into a snake isn't due to a roll of the dice. The snake belt is a magical item that Vax owns. Though it could possibly have been a random roll of the dice that chose that particular treasure during a previous adventure. And Liam decided on his own (without rolling dice) to use it as a distraction at that moment.

[@suntiger745]

Indeed. I assume for that situation Vax would roll a stealth check to remain hidden when he activated Simon, and Matt would probably roll Perception checks for the guards to see if they would get suspicious of a sudden snake in the palace, or remain oblivious and chase after it. :)

[@bryanmacklem2654]

And so few people got the joke of Simon being a one eyed trouser snake. 😂😂😂

[@Dark__Thoughts]

The guards falling for the distraction of it should be a dice roll though, no?

[@Logan_Baron]

Potentially it could be a dice roll to check for distraction, or a DM might choose to add a bonus to his stealth check because of the likely distraction. Or give them an advantage roll due to it. As a DM I would go for one of the later 2, as I would figure they'd definitely see the snake, so it would be a distraction from him, and the stealth check would see if it were enough of a distraction.

[@nyghtmoon]

In a lot of episodes, the animators put an animated Matt Mercer as an NPC. In this episode he was the weapon check guy. As others noted, the dice determine many things but not what the characters do. The dice determine if the characters succeed at what they are trying to do. Yep Silas is a vampire while Delilah is a necromancer.

[@BryceLK]

I think early on in the stream, Matt, the DM, explained to a guest when rolls might be needed to try and help them understand the kind of things they could use their turn for by saying something along the lines of... you roll to determine what happens when what you want to happen and what the gods want to happen may disagree. Things like aiming, trying to build something, trying to remember a piece of knowledge you may have learned in school as a child, the effect of a healing spell, or if you're jumping a hole it could be the difference between landing and doing a somersault or landing and twisting your ankle, causing you to have a much harder time fighting or sneaking around for a while. Things like the belt turning into a snake is because Vax has a magical item that's a belt, enchanted so that it can also become a snake. (He might say it's a snake that he wears as a belt. Who are we?) He may have to roll on behalf of the snake for it to escape the soldiers or something, but rolls will always come from some kind of agency. Just clarifying that it's probably never going to be a situation that any player or character isn't also actively participating in the story. It won't really come down to, "Wow, I don't know how we get out of this one. (Roll.) Oh no, now we're on the spaaaaace staaaaatiooooon!" 😂

[@TheJerbol]

Yay the REAL plot has begun

[@shade419]

Matt is the patron saint of attractive villains!

[@momqabt]

Find him playing Strahd. It's dnd gold.

[@TomElliottJackson]

"Oh no, they're hot!" - Every Critter Ever...

[@BlunderMunchkin]

You can only explain Scanlan by explaining Sam Riegel.

[@tycol322]

And one can not explain Sam Riegel. He must simply be experienced... endured..

[@alto1MO]

The great thing about Legend of Vox Machina is that you can enjoy it whether or not you know anything about D&D or not. There are some fun details and easter eggs that you can pick up on if you know D&D or the Critical Role campaign really well, but you won't be missing out on any vital information if you aren't familiar with those things. I'm looking forward to watching you experience the rest of the first season, and I can't wait until season 2 comes out. January is almost here!

[@geak78]

15:15 Liam really thought Vax was dead. He had a super heartbreaking goodbye to everyone in his last thoughts.

[@codybarnes1531]

Vex or Vax? Cause liam plays Vax and he was the one in danger. Laura plays Vex.

[@geak78]

@@codybarnes1531 Doh. You are correct. I fixed it. Thank you!

[@leonielson7138]

Marisha Rey plays her characters to explore a different aspect of her personality - for Keyleth she was exploring her sense of being a fish out of water. Yes, her character had a bad initiative role, and therefore went after the dragon, but it was also Marisha thinking, "How would Keyleth react to this?" and the answer was, 'She'd freeze.'

[@mkohlhorst]

Their DND beyond advertisement was really what sparked everything into motion. Sam Riegel made a '80s style song jingle, just doing what he does, and sang it during one of their games. They then just jokingly it would be awesome animated... and then it happened, the people behind D&D Beyond animated it and made it even more '80s. If you search Critical Role DnDBeyond advertisement saga there's a video combining everything into a seven minute video. When they seen that fully realized it sparked the idea of Vox Machina as an animated one off... and the kick starter blew up massively and it became a full show.

[@purplelikefire]

I think my favourite part was you rolling that insight on why Critical role is called Critical role at the end. :D But in all seriousness, I have yet to see someone pick up Scanlan's jokes so fast. This is a great review, and its a pleasure watching you find out more and more about the world we love so much!

[@bennersftw2644]

Love the show, love hanging out watching, appreciate the mental health break after work! Thanks pal - all the best!

[@Sowde38]

On the kickstarter for vox machina The Kickstarter launched March 4, and within 40 minutes, the community gave them $1 million. By 5 p.m., the community smashed through the original stretch-goals, giving the project $3 million. And that was only the first stay by the last day of the Kickstarter, a month later they got a total of $11.3 million.

[@HereBeDragonsYT]

Not everything is a die roll. Usually, a die roll is used when the outcome or effectiveness of an act is in question. Grog is a Barbarian, who have an ability called "Rage". It makes him very tough and extra strong for a short time. Travis always said "I would like to Rage". That's what you saw during Grog's power up. Dragons have an ability to cause fear. Keylith DID fail that roll. Vax didn't "roll" anything for the snake. His belt is a magical item that can just do that.

[@Logan_Baron]

Yeah, that's the thing. In so many good shows, you know that they aren't above killing off characters. But with this being based on actual gameplay, you also know that enough bad dice rolls could kill someone off. So they aren't even protected by "It wouldn't be a great story arc to kill them at this time".

[@doug3691]

Loved the reaction. As so many have already told you about dice rolls, I'll volunteer something different: in the game you use 6 different types of dice, though the 20-sided die is used most often. They are: 4-sided (pyramid) 6-sided (cube) 8-sided (like a diamond, perhaps) 10-sided 12-sided 20-sided. At the start of the game, six Ability Scores are rolled up, for Strenth, Intelligence, VVisdom, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma. Each number can be from 3 to 18, as though you rolled 3 6-sided dice. But as you're an exceptional Adventurer type, supposedly, a method is used to give you a chance to start having above average ability scores, like using 4 dice for each of 6 rolls and only counting the top 3 dice for each total. Then you choose the type of adventurer you're going to be -- there's a book for that. Etc.

[@cacklebarnacle15]

Sylas and Delilah Briarwood are kind of couple goals, but evil. The character design in the animated show is based on the halloween cosplay Laura (Vex) and Travis (Grog) did 2016.

[@leonielson7138]

For the longest time Liam O'Brian wasn't aware that Travis Willingham's character, Grog, had a rivalry with his character, Vax'Uldan, and thought that the attempts to trip Vax were just friendly. Simon (the snake belt) has a backstory in a prequel book, also the eyepatch was a reference to Solid Snake, from the Metal Gear Solid series of games.

[@theanyktos]

If you're interested in the mechanics behind the things on the show, 1) we'll be happy to explain stuff in the comments as they come up and 2) you could check out the DnD for beginners explainer videos Critical Role did a while back. There's a playlist on their channel called Handbooker Helper. Yes, that'a a play on Hamburger Helper (which I'm told is a US thing) and the Player's Handbook (which is _the_ basic DnD Rulebook, along with the Dungeon Master's guide), because they always love a good pun over at Critical Role.

[@momqabt]

Well the only class that isn't in the phb is Percy's gunslinger so yeah.

[@phoenixdzk]

Critical Role has the best and most wholesome fanbase, so when there's someone new checking out the series it's pretty easy to catch up because everyone's eager to explain what's going on Scanlan is explained by knowing the legend who plays him. Sam Riegel used to spoof top 40s during the stream. All the songs for the show are originals by him. Most of the dialogue for the show's been somewhat filtered versions of what was said on the stream, but all the intense stuff that Percy says is almost verbatim to what his player, Taliesin, said during the live show

[@stygggian]

I'm glad you are enjoying the show, and I can't wait for you to see the rest.

[@TPBurrow]

Explain Scanlan, Wow I am not sure I can. He is an enigma, A bard like no other, as he can actually inspire himself. Also your synapses are perfectly fine. I often marvel at how astute your suppositions are, and therefore how delightful its going to be to see your future reactions.

[@magp1001]

I remember thinking during my 3rd episode of CR, "That guy has no clue how to play a bard. He's doing an awesome job!"

[@theanyktos]

18:04 Welcome to the Briarwood Arc. We have trauma, hot vampires and No-Mercy-Percy. We hope you enjoy your stay.

[@itilosi9929]

say hello to no mercy percy. you'll be seeing a lot more of him this season

[@Ozgarthefighter]

In regards to Keyleth, one of the character traits Marisha Ray consciously chose to portray is having extreme anxiety issues and imposter syndrome. Keyleth is the most naive and inexperienced of the group, though she is incredibly gifted and book smart, and that leads her to freeze up or make a poor decision during an encounter. Her freezing up with the dragon COULD have been a bad roll, but it was more likely an easy way to show how much of a fish out of water she is in these situations.

[@funnylilgalreacts]

I love that! Everyone is so confident, having her not be means there’s room for growth and improvement. And I think we’ve all been there so it’s incredibly relatable.

[@pardox28]

Episodes 1 & 2 were from their campaign pre-stream. So us talking about Keyleth failing a roll on being frightened by Brimsythe is us doing our best guesses. Episodes 3 onward are from streamed episodes of their campaign on Twitch. Scanlan on the stream was in the fight & he was the one that healed Vax because on the stream, Pike wasn’t at the dinner because her player, Ashley Johnson, was busy filming episodes for NBC’s “Blindspot.” The in-campaign reason was Pike was in a different city helping to restore a temple to her god. So in adapting the streamed episodes, they have gone a different route in explaining a certain future thing. Likewise, a character that was present at this dinner & fight has been written out of the show. They do a rather good job in balancing how they adapt things in spirit vs verbatim.

[@theanyktos]

3:40 oh, you watched the Kickstarter Q&A? Yeah, that's a great one. The first five minutes of them just sitting in stunned silence and giggling helplessly is my go-to video when I need a boost of serotonin. They initially asked for 750k over a 45 day period with their very highest stretch goal at 1,5 M I think. They blew through the 750k in 45 _minutes_ , had the first million in an hour and at the point where they did that Q&A livestream and reached 3,5 M the kickstarter had only been up for like, six hours. In the end they got 11,3 M in total from more than 88k people. It's such a great story, and I'm not even talking about the story of Vox Machina. Just the story of Critical Role is so amazing.

[@VegetaLF7]

The entire story of how this series came to be is just insane when you sit down and break it down. Even Critical Role itself has wild origins, it being the result of Liam asking Sam to join him in a D&D game for his birthday since the two are best friends and Liam used to play all the time as a kid and wanted to share his passion with his friend. Liam used his connections from work to get his other friend Matt to join in as the DM and between them drew in the others as they were all co-workers as voice actors and convinced them to play what was supposed to be a one-shot birthday game for Liam. The whole bunch had such a blast that they decided to come back again and again for years, turning it into a proper campaign for about two years until one day at a party Ashley Johnson got talking with Felicia Day about their D&D game's shenanigans and Felicia recognized the gold that they had, asking if the group would be willing to bring their game to the livestream as she had been looking into getting a D&D stream up and running for her Geek and Sundry youtube channel. They agreed and thus Critical Role was born. Flash forward across years of streams, live shows, panels, comics, fan art, spin offs, and more and suddenly a historic kickstarter was created and filled out by the fans of a bunch of nerdy-ass voice actors who decided to sit down and play Dungeons and Dragons one night and accidentally created a pillar of the D&D community.

[@Linerunner99]

Grog is a barbarian. Which is a class you can play as. He has the ability to "rage" a limited number of times per day. Think of it like Julie's sister clicking her teeth. Only with a lot more swearing and blood. ;)

[@judeloire1522]

Angela roll a D20 for a perception check so the DM can tell you what you see. Angela rolls a 5 DM: "Yeah it's a fun show, great characters and what not." Comment community: "BUT THIS IS WHAT YOU MISSED! ..."

[@BryceLK]

The first 2 episodes are a lot of fan service. "I would like to rage" is exactly how Travis Willingham, the man sitting at the table, would tell Matthew Mercer, the Dungeon/Game Master sitting across the table, that he wanted to use his ability. It's a great moment for a bunch of people to get nerd boners and point at their Critical Role merch t-shirt and go "WOOOAAAAHHH!" but episodes 1 & 2 definitely felt different for me than 3-12 as someone who'd never watched the stream. It's my understanding that these episodes may have been added on as more of a thank-you to the fans for their insane support of the Kickstarter campaign (plus, grumble grumble...) but the original intent once the Kickstarter exploded was the arc that begins now, which is quite a tonal shift. I may be off on some details - I didn't binge the stream until after watching this series because I needed to know what happened next.

[@testfire3000]

I remember watching them play these episodes, it was amazing! Glad to see you are having fun with it.

[@DougCoughler]

If you go back to the scene where Delilah and Silas are walking back to their room, they pass by a mirror and Silas has no reflection.

[@thane9]

Don't be so hard on yourself. I learned about dragons causing fear over 40 years ago as a little geek reading the 1st edition D&D Monster Manual. You can't be expected to know all those things about the game these are based on. As usual it's been really fun watching along with you.

[@suntiger745]

If you want a good rundown on the basics of dnd, Mark Hulmes "How to play Dungeons & Dragons - a beginner's guide to D&D" gives a good overview, and Critical Role's "Handbooker Helper" series goes over specific mechanics and rolls in smaller bite-sized chunks. Both are available here on KZbin. None of them will spoil anything for the Vox Machina show, but would likely give you some hints to when a significant success of failure happens in the show. :) Scanlan singing "Pull my beads of Love" to the other guests would be a Performance check, using his Charisma stat, and adding his proficiency in performance tasks from being a bard. The roll would use a 20-sided die (a d20), and adding his modifiers from his Charisma and Performance (proficient) scores. His final score when adding those three numbers up would determine how well he did. Higher numbers are better.

[@bryanmacklem2654]

One thing I'll recommend is there are some creators who have done some side by side comparisons of scenes in the animated series and the original game episodes. There's a pretty big one coming up with the sun tree you'll see shortly. It's definitely interesting to see them side by side to see the origins.

[@nmcnea771]

Once combat starts you roll dice to hit, to save from a spell against you (sometimes), and to do something difficult (climbing, parkour type jumping, lift heavy thing, etc). Outside of combat a lot of it is taken from players talking and rolls are typically reserved for things like persuading, intimidating, performing (song), and such. Outside of combat this group doesn't roll much typically. Percy's mask is part of his story and in game he informs the DM when he puts it on, the why will make sense later. D&D basically compiled all mythological and fantasy creatures and invented a few on their own to fill out the monsters in the world. Yes there are vampires and you should check the mirror when sylas and Delilah are walking down the hall talking about Percy. Those are all the questions I can remember in the outro. Super excited to see you react to this one. The behind the scenes production videos do have some spoilers but nothing major that I can remember. My favorite is the casting video, and you should also watch the stretch goal (10M) video of Travis (grog) going through a haunted house

[@terrydaigle3184]

The genius of Matt Mercer (the DM) is that the only thing Talisen (Percy) told him about his backstory was that Percy is a noble of whitestone, orphaned because the Briarwoods killed his family. thats it. The whole rest of season one is what Matt (who plays all the non-player characters) came up with. And the rules of ball tag are as complicated as they are beautiful. A Critical role is rolling a 20 on a 20 sided die (5% chance) for extra damage. Conversely a 1 is a crit fail. A running gag is Vox Machinas greatest enemy is doors. Lots of failed lockpicking rolls in game. The troll dick was in their bag of holding from the home game before they started streaming. In fact the 1st 2 episodes of this are kinda a catch up on the home game, as the didn't kill the blue dragon in the stream. Percys arc is from about ep 35-48 of season one of the stream. Loving your commentary, you are so insightful and clever. Love that they got Dr Who to play the dragon. No mercy Percy comes from when he shot the fingers off the driver. In game the flirting between Gilmore (Mercer) and Vax (Liam) is hilarious. Marisha (Keyleth) is a big fan of the Last Air Bender so made her character an "air ashari" and her personal quest is to visit the other tribes (fire, water, earth) like in the last air biscuit.

[@wildbronco038]

The "ball tag" had no effect on Silas because he's a vampire (therefore technically dead/undead) so he doesn't really have blood flow or feeling "down there." (Also, in game terms, this would be a situation where Grog failed his Attack roll)

[@HowManyTimes234]

17:21 "Poor Desmond!" Every Critter: **awkward cough and a knowing wince** "Yeah, give it a sec..."

[@christopherkowalczyk4405]

Not a roll of the dice. A magical belt that turns into a snake with an eye patch. A one eye trouser snake that is.

[@jordanpeterson5140]

Or a Solild Snake. Also a Snake Plissken.

[@ddienst]

In DND players have skills and abilities that slowly increase throughout the game. DM plays the enemies and sets the world and what the characters see and experience the players then tell the DM what they your character wants to do the DM will tell them how that affects the world they see or call for a roll against a particular skill to see how successful what they’re trying to do is. The interactions between the players and the DM is what shapes the story. The snake belt is a magical item that he used as a distraction. Scanlan is a bard and his magic is based in his voice/music. some monsters have a fear affect that the players have to roll to see if they save against it. The battles are done in turns in which the order is determined by an initiative roll. Each player and monster will have a turn in the fight. The implementation of the TV show is not always 1 to 1 what happened in a particular battle but covers the gist of what happened.

[@TheRubberDuck77]

Fun Fact: Every episode has at least 1 "Matt" character, on the first few they were guards, in this one he was the guy checking in the weapons at the party

[@Lucieen]

I'm loving the Vox Machina reactions. I can't wait for the next episode.

[@MrPyschonoob]

Most of the story is improvised and everyone knows their characters which each do their own thing. Including Matt who is the DM knows his NPC's motivations and plays them very well. The rolling happens when there's chance of success or failure. Like hitting someone else with an axe or spell or persuading someone. Something like the snake belt would just be an item he can use, which he probably found as loot somewhere in their adventures.

[@TenebrousFilms]

They couldn't use Jenga, of course. The original dinner went a little differently, they truncated it well enough, but skipping the earrings that let them talk to each other is something I wouldn't have skipped. Mercer, the DM, voices a random character in every episode, but he also voices Sylas. As a bard, Scanlan usually has to sing to enact his spells. He'd usually parody well known songs, there's probably more than one compilation around here; but for the show, Sam got to write his own songs, and it shows. He reminds me of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, from Blackadder II: "I am a collosal pervert. No form of sexual depravity is too low for me. Animal, vegetable or mineral; 'll *do* anthing *to* anything." Scanlan in a nutshell.

[@happyslapsgiving5421]

The magic earrings were cut because they were made by Tiberius, and they chose to avoid any reference to Orion Acaba for well known reasons. I do agree that they should have shown at least some kind of magic effect going on around Vex's head, if they still wanted that to work the same. It's kinda weird that Vax whispers the safeword in the garden and Vex just hears it in the dinner hall.

[@AnxietyRat]

The reason in the walkie-talkie earrings aren't in the show is because they were created by a character that isn't in the show. Tiberius made those earrings for the group.

[@Antenox]

Scanlan would roll a Performance check for the anal beads song 😂 But Scanlan’s character class in the game is a Bard, so he would have a high bonus to succeed! That doesn’t guarantee success, but it does make it more likely That said: anything where characters attempt to change something in their favor would be a dice roll. Vax sneaking past the guards, Keyleth seeing Sylas hypnotize Uriel (which everyone else missed), every attack, almost every spell, etc. Even things like trying to sweet-talk or charm people into helping them would be a dice roll, like when Vax tried to negotiate with Gilmore. And sometimes, the least expected dice rolls become the funniest. No spoilers, but watch out for DOORS.

[@tlaragihai5953]

you can`t miss The Door Moment x)

[@endearinglyconfused3589]

The Briarwoods are truly peak "If villain, why hot?" Frankly 90% of people out of Whitestone in this show end up somewhere on that spectrum. The other 10% end up like poor, poor, 50-hours-at-less-than-minimum-wage looking Desmond

[@timidwolf]

Generally if an action has a chance of failure, that'll be a die roll, e.g. Percy: 'I decide to shoot Desmond's hand', Matt Mercer: 'Roll to hit!'. Character decisions and the majority of the story as a whole is created by the players. the main thread of Percy's history for example (his family, what happened to them and who did it) was Taliesin Jaffe's creation and Matt Mercer used that to create and expand on who (and what) those are.

[@saiyasha848]

I think that you are already doing a really good job of understanding the show and also, If you have any DnD groups around you, I think you might have a blast with that game

[@darrenl3289]

Scanlan's story/character arc is incredible. You have no idea where this is going to end up but you will enjoy the ride.

[@michaelmartin5623]

Hey there Angie. Just a quick bit of D&D game mechanics that not everything is determined by the roll of a dice or dice. Usually when you want to do an action (swing a sword, shoot a gun or cast a spell on someone or something for examples) you would roll a dice to see if you succeed or not. Or if you want to avoid a magical or other kind of effect. Somethings, like Percy’s mask are a part of the character usually done for character flavor. It’s something that the player creates to make their character stand out and Percy’s mask is that sort of thing. Many times a player will work with the Dungeon Master (who is the one who runs the adventure or campaign) and they will find ways to incorporate a character trait that the player comes up with into the campaign.

[@axisjack7]

As a Critter myself, it makes me so happy when I'm watching a reaction and the creator comments on how awesome the community is. It's nice to be part of a fan base that(by and large) isn't toxic. Love the reactions to LoVM! Can't wait to watch season 2 when it debuts. Keep up the awesome work. Much love!❤

[@TroubleSturm]

Most character decisions are actually decided by the players, and a lot of the creative moments came from their minds. How well they do the things they decide to do is due to dice rolls. Scanlon decided to perform music as a distraction. He rolled a performance check, and he has bonuses added to his performance rolls, from being a bard, having a high charisma attribute, and possibly having proficiency with either the instrument he plays, or with singing. The dice roll technically tells not what Scanlon chose to sing, but how well he sang it, and how well it worked as a distraction. He obviously rolled well. All rolls have DC (Difficulty Class) number associated with them, and that target can be higher or lower based on how likely the Dungeon Master thinks the plan is to succeed. Sam would then roll a 20-sided die, and add his bonuses to the number he rolled. If he had advantage on the roll, either because he has help, or a really good plan, then he would roll two 20-sided dice, and use the larger of the numbers he rolled. In this scene, you can assume that he rolled really well. Maybe even a natural 20 (which is when the die value is 20 before the bonuses are added). The players decide what they do. The Dice decide how successful it was. When Keyleth froze in fear, the dragon was probably using his frightful presence action, which makes his opponents have to roll a Wisdom saving throw, and if they don't roll high enough, they become frightened, and can't really do anything useful until they succeed in a wisdom saving throw. They have the opportunity to roll that saving throw every turn until they shake the frightened condition, by rolling above the DC of 16 using their wisdom modifier to add to, or subtract from the number rolled on the 20-sided dice. High wisdom attributes add to the roll, and low wisdom attributes subtract from it.

[@LordNokturne]

Stories play on expectation all the time. Either random ideas from a writer or events cast by the dice, both outcomes will play on your expectations.

[@AL-ch5cz]

18:18 No mercy Percy is just so badass!

[@calebtoles3819]

No spoilers, but if you go back in for a rewatch pay attention to Percy’s shadow when he stands over the kid after the Briarwoods get away. But this is your first introduction to the fan dubbed “No Mercy Percy” haha

[@piggybubbles775]

Glad to see you're enjoying the show 😁

[@mattmorris1775]

Not everything is based on rolls of the dice. Characters have powers and abilities that they acquire over time. They also develop quirks the player enjoys having them do hence Scanlan and his music. Add all this together and you see Characters doing epic feats or epic failures, but it's just so much fun to do with a group of friends. Imagine not just the characters but the players behind them.

[@Luzarioth]

Yes Silas is a Vampire. There is even a scene after the Dinner where both Briarwoods walk by a mirror but only she can be seen. Also I have to point out: The Sword of Silas gets bigger by getting more blood... it's a Penis ;P

[@corybishop3084]

The best way to envision what happens at the table (apart from actually watching some of their actual play) is that a scene is described by Matt Mercer, the DM (Dungeon Master), or GM (Game Master), and the players declare how their characters will interact/react with the situation. If they decide their character gets angry, they get angry. The dice come into play when the players want their characters to something that has a chance of success or failure, or where the degree of success or failure could vary. Want to leap from one galloping horse to another? Make a roll. Want to order a sandwich from the deli? Well, that's just going to be assumed you won't fail. Unless maybe that deli owner is a demon in disguise who's been spying on you, and the DM wants to see if you can notice anything is amiss. Also, Scanlan is truly something else. Glad you're vibing with him. And the Briarwoods are hot af. You're not alone in that assessment by a country mile.

[@gerbie42]

Alright, here's how D&D works in short. The setup: - Each Players plays a character that has certain abilities and statistics which imply what they're good at (magic, sneaking around, being strong... singing), these stats modify the result of the dice (you get a bonus if you're good at something) - The Dungeon Master (DM) runs the world they play in, they basically make up a rough outline of a story, throw things at the players and see how they handle them to decide what story hook they'll throw at them next. The execution: - Dungeon Master sets up the scene. - A Player decides to do something and if it calls for a dice roll, the DM will ask them for it. The result of the dice will determine if the action succeeds. - Depending on if it succeeds or fails, the DM will tell them what happens. So it's not like EVERYTHING is decided by dice rolls, since you can try to do about anything, but the dice rolls determine the result. The snake for example. Vax's belt is a magic item that can turn into a snake, so that's something he can just do, no dice roll required. So at the table it'd most likely go something like. Vax: "I turn my belt into a snake and have it distract the guards." Followed by the DM having Vax roll for something to see how well it works and then the DM himself rolling for the guards to see if they're distracted. And the whole Scanland Beads thing is most likely just a single Performance roll that went really well.

[@hellothere2464]

cannot believe scanlan wrote the song of the century while vox machina was busy losing against the briarwoods

[@thehikingviking2049]

To make it as straightforward as possible, you use dice to determine outcomes of choices, not the choices themselves. The dice are there to decide if you succeed or fail, and to what extent you succeed or fail. Generally speaking, most things are determined by the roll of a 20 sided die, and the roll is modified by how good you are at the thing you are attempting. So Scanlan trying to distract a room full of people with a song would roll a 20 sided die, modified by his Charisma score (up to +5), and whether he is Proficient in the Performance skill (between +2 and +6, depending on level), or an Expert in the Performance skill (doubling the Proficiency Bonus). At this level, his modifier could be as high as +13, meaning the lowest he could ever roll is a 14 on a Natural 1. As an aside, when you hear "Natural", it describes the roll on the die, discounting modifiers. Often a Natural 1 is an automatic failure, and a Natural 20 is a critical success. Likewise, there are things characters are particularly bad at. Grog has an Intelligence modifier of -3, so if he attempts to solve a puzzle or recall some obscure piece of information, the highest he can ever roll is a 17. The Dungeon Master's job is to determine how difficult the thing you're attempting is. They set what is called the Difficulty Class or DC, the number that you have to roll above in order to succeed. Scanlan distracting a room full of drunk partiers? DC 15; he only fails if he rolls spectacularly badly. Scanlan distracting a room full of guards at their post? DC 25. Possible, but not a certainty. Scanlan distracting a fucking dragon? DC 35. Good luck, bud.

[@theanyktos]

7:09 oh goodie. I'm not gonna start here, Imma wait til you're almost done with the season, but boy do I have recommendations for what CR content to watch next.

[@charleshiatt4058]

Silas does have balls, but Delilah has them. 😂 This group likes to hit you in all the feelings. Strap in and enjoy the heart ache and joys.

[@magp1001]

I was always saying that he's a vampire...his body is dead...so he has balls, they just don't work anymore. Someone said in another comment that Mercer said that his bodily functions did work.

[@t3hsilarn]

I wouldn't worry too much about whether or not something was based on a dice roll. Usually those rolls have more to do with whether or not something happens, not what happens - though the what does occasionally come into play. For example, dragons have a fearsome presence and characters that fail to 'save' against it (via a roll) have their actions somewhat restricted until they shake it off (via another dice roll). This is likely what was being shown with Keyleth in episode 1, but it's also equally explained from a story perspective in that she's relatively young and doubts her own abilities - and this is the first dragon most of them have seen much less tried to fight. While the dice rolls can and do influence the direction of the story, keep in mind that this is an adaptation and the nitty-gritty game mechanics have been largely smoothed away in favor of a tighter storyline. Yes, parts of the story, and particularly some of the more unexpected things that happen, have to do with the fact that it was originally a roleplaying game with randomness and improv as part of the storytelling. While people familiar with CR or tabletop games in general may pick up on some nods to dicerolls and the more gamey aspects of the source material (their difficulty with doors, for example), it's absolutely not necessary to enjoy the show.

[@bandi138138]

13:56 Percy doesn’t speak out about the Briarwoods because in the past when he did so, no one would believe him. It’s like if some random stranger came up and said “The Norwegian king killed my family!” A lot of people are gonna look at them and go “oh, great, a madman crashed the party. Call security.”

[@Fairburne69]

Rolls of the dice can and do determine things for sure. But I would like to add that Keyleth does struggle with self confidence.

[@CountryMusicMann]

24:55 Dexterity/Sleight of Hand to tug on the beads, and then Scanlan rolls Constitution to endure it.

[@codewordbw3340]

Btw, just to let you know. Not everything is based on a dice roll. Dice rolls are only made when chance is involved, like when trying to hit someone with an attack, or trying to perform some feat. Things like character motivations, how they feel, and backstory are all completely at the Player's choice, not the dice. And basically anything that people outside the party do is completely up to the DM, not based on a roll at all. Like the reward at the end of last episode was just the King giving them that reward for exactly what he said, they want their protectors close so they're giving them a home, no dice rolls, that's just what the character did.