The Legend of Vox Machina - Episode 4 Reaction!

[@lagggoat7170]

Ashley Johnson (Pike) had to work as an Actress on Blindspot in New York - Critical Role is LA based, so she was missing for quite some episodes.

[@PristineTX]

Adding some details to what others said: Just after Critical Role started streaming, Ashley auditioned for Blindspot, a prime-time network TV show. She ended up getting the part and having to film the show in New York. And TV filming schedules often have notoriously early “call times,” when actors are expected to be on set. Combine this with Critical Role’s late-night shooting schedule (with Critical Role’s livestream episodes from LA usually going well past 1:00 AM, New York time,) and Ashley had a real hard time playing D&D with her friends during the roughly seven months out of the year when she was shooting in NYC or even abroad. Ashley would Skype in to play when she could, but it was hard. She was mainly relegated to playing during the hiatus time between filming periods. Blindspot ended up doing 100 episodes, and Ashley’s part on the show kept getting bigger, so while it was undoubtedly a feather in her cap for her career as an actress, it was certainly a double-edged sword.

[@ShadowyFox_86]

I love that there is even a Blindspot reference to her Critical Role character of Pike.

[@KingsBard]

The black ichor is how they're portraying "Necrotic Damage", in d&d some undead enemies can inflict Necrotic Damage which decreases your TOTAL HP so you aren't able to heal completely until you're out of combat. You're totally right about Pike and her Player, Ashley Johnson had a role on Blindspot so she wasn't able to show up for a while. Also if you're curious the creatures were Wraiths.

[@xaetaminvaela9830]

Necrotic damage doesn't always reduce your hit point total but it is a common side effect of necrotic attacks. Necrotic damage is specifically associated with death and decay and is inflicted most often with necromantic magic. Notably, a vampire's bite attack deals a small amount of piercing damage and a larger amount of necrotic damage to symbolize that they're draining your blood.

[@benjaminc924]

In Percy's flashback, he and Cassandra have no fingernails, due to said weeks of torture ripping them out

[@bookwormwithwings]

One of the sayings of Critical Role is "the dice know the story". There have been moments of incredible moments of success and failure from the rolls and its one of the most rewarding and stressful parts of watching the show, knowing even the DM doesn't know how thr story will go.

[@ShadowyFox_86]

This whole story arc was SO many crazy moments of success and failure via dice. And the beginning of a certain architectural curse. 😏

[@ticozayas6430]

To give a relatively simple explanation as to why the guards died so quick and vox machina surviving the attacks is that these wraiths steal hp and if they get u to zero u die, in dnd a typical guard npc has 10 hp now compared to the party that are leveled characters that have anywhere between around 60-100 hp at this point in the story... they survive the attacks simply bc they have a much larger health pool

[@TimpanistMoth_AyKayEll]

Yes, Grog is absolutely an archetype! His player, Travis Willingham, was completely new to D&D when the home game started, and wanted to be able to have fun without worrying about remembering lore or too many abilities or list of spells. So he made a "big dumb brute" with a simple name, simple desires, and initially extremely limited backstory. Of course, these people being who they are, that didn't stop Travis and Matt (the DM) from gradually adding backstory and nuance and relationships with other PCs and NPCs until Grog became the fully fleshed-out version we meet in the show. Conversely, the player with the most prior TTRPG experience was Taliesin Jaffe, which is why he found it an interesting challenge to try out a class that was new to him, the Gunslinger. (In Pathfinder, originally, and then ported over to 5e when they started streaming.) He also happened to have an old script lying around - as you do, in Hollywood - in which he'd wanted to explore the psychology of someone who would do terrible things for the sake of revenge. Taliesin is also the cast member most thoroughly steeped in Japanese pop culture from the early 90's onward, so it is in no way, shape or form a coincidence that the animation leans into Percy being The Most Anime Boi. XD

[@ShadowyFox_86]

I definitely get some influence from Taliesin's time as voice director for Hellsing Ultimate in his portrayal of Percy's darker moments.

[@roboticd]

And they mean steeped. Tal attempted the first English dub of Neon Genesis Evangelion in highschool, even getting family friend Roddy McDowall(original Planet of the Apes) to do a voice.

[@kholtonthebarbarian2590]

Just like with the dragons cave crumbling, the “way the magic/powers works”, and “how are they still alive?” can both be explained by the mechanics, as the powers/magic are, with a few small exceptions maybe, just the way they work in dnd, and the way they survived the sludge when the guards died instantly is just that they had more hp.

[@ArtistAtPlay]

That's the thing though. The guards didn't die instantly either. The first one didn't die until the wraith crushed his head into the wall.

[@randomcourier]

@@ArtistAtPlay it could be translated in the form of 3 different types of damage. piercing(the claws digging into the guards chest) Necrotic( the side effect from the wraiths) and the last one would be bludgeoning (being forced into the wall)

[@MrKrory]

Your comments about introducing RNG into shows actually somewhat mirror David Tennant's (General Krieg) thoughts on how Critical Role just started as a bunch of nerdy friends playing a game in their living room: "I think it's fantastic. I think this is how all shows should be pitched. They should all start in somebody's front room and end up on television. Why not?"

[@flawlix]

So Pike is Ashley Johnson’s character, and when Campaign One was streaming, she had a role on Blindspot (live action show that was filming in a different state). She was gone most of the time starting at the beginning of this arc, but would be able to play sometimes. In the original campaign, when Blindspot started filming, Pike stayed behind at a temple. Though for different reasons than the ones given on the show; they’re trying to make it tie in better here so it doesn’t seem totally out of left field. We didn’t see much of Pike’s story while Ashley was gone, but they do show us some of it here. Also, they found a way for her to play when she was able to, but I don’t want to spoil a really cool moment that’s several episodes away now.

[@magp1001]

In game statistics, Vox Machina and Cpt. Jarrett have more hit points than the red-shirted guards. In character, they're just more experienced and tougher than the sleepy guards so they're harder to kill.

[@thomasdahlberg5920]

12:00 the forbidden seasonings.

[@hazelmurdoch6529]

Those enemies (wraiths) don't only cause necrotic damage, they also deplete your maximum Hit Points. When those HP reach zero, you're dead. That made Jarret and VM be able to survive each blow longer, because most generic guards are usually Level 1.

[@ddienst]

Fun fact in the show blind spot there is a scene where she references playing a cleric in her dnd group.

[@Aivri]

6:51 Actually Scanlan is probably one of the better suited people from the party to try his hand at translating the book, as he is a college of lore bard proficient in such things. Thoroughly enjoying your reactions to TLoVM. Keep up the good work.

[@noraaltemeier8364]

Pike dipping out is a reference to Ashley Johnson having to bounce in and out, completing her Blindspot contract. In case you were wondering! 💕🥰

[@TimpanistMoth_AyKayEll]

"Can't say I've never been on a date in a graveyard." Ah, see, now it makes total sense that Taliesin's character is your favorite.

[@PristineTX]

To answer your question at the end: In the Critical Role livestream, Pike’s goddess was rather obscure for the mainstream citizens of Tal’dorei. It was a religion that was almost forgotten, but just being rediscovered. When a temple to her goddess was uncovered in some ruins in another city, Pike stayed behind to help rehabilitate the temple. That’s how he absence was explained in the series. Pike had previously also had a crisis with her D&D alignment, which is more similar to the situation here, but that was pre-stream, so fans only got to hear about it in Q&As and such. This adaptation kind of bridges the two stories. I think this was a good change by the writing team that came on for the adaptation to the animated show.

[@m.jasondoty9062]

No, we saw the fracturing of her connection with the Everlight on stream; it happened during their Underdark adventure. And Pike's Goddess was obscure to in Issylra, not Tal'dorei; the temple Pike helped reclaim for the Everlight was in Vasselheim.

[@K1ttyGam3r]

I love the juxtaposition of the Bros’ reactions to the gore, with Lucas cheering and being generally impressed and Alec getting traumatized

[@jxcefxce]

I think this show has a unique feel because of the way it was conceived and developed. Most shows have writers that write with a goal and with a plot, and also write the characters that fit that plot. Because of the nature of D&D, this show had a "writer" (each player) for each character that focused completely just on that character's backstory and development. Which is what I think helps with each character feeling a bit more authentic and fleshed out vs some other shows.

[@kristencabrera7489]

Love watching this with you all as I’m not sure how a D&D campaign translates to a animated story but I’m so fascinated and very excited to watch and see how this all plays out. I’m right there with you guys making wild guesses what was happening irl to have the show unfold like it is now!

[@inkpenavengerYT]

The monsters are called wraiths, and their main attack is called Life Drain. The sunlight made them solid so they couldn't get out and could be hurt.

[@Phi1618033]

Ashley Johnson, who plays Pike was off filming Blind Spot during this, which is why her character left the party during the game. But story-wise it also works because it raises the stakes. Clerics are so OP against undead that having her leave creates a significant handi-cap for the group. So it worked out in that sense.

[@carlotaperes1031]

Loving the clothes The retrospective comments in the beginning are hilarious Loved the reaction!

[@testfire3000]

"Forget about metrics or algorithms... I'm just having such a good time". Best thing I have heard a KZbinr say about this series. Here is a Subscription, hoping you will watch season 2 which comes out on Jan 20th!

[@xelyd7989]

In reality, one should treat this show like any other animated series. Like Castlevania for example. While the story is heavily pulled from the actual DnD campaign, and some things are "up to the dice" as it were, the entire story and its moments are still a proper narrative written by writers to form a story, with the story at its core, not the DnD-ness of the show itself. And while its nice to know that it is pulled from dnd, the show still works as a stand alone animated series.

[@siribrown_writer]

22:31 This is actually something I want to play with as an author. Maybe not having the story be as diverse driven but maybe during fight scenes, moments of deception or charisma. Rolling dice so see what the outcome of there action would be.

[@RIVERCITYShow]

Hey Hester Bros… love the reactions! Would love to get River City on here for your take. Thanks guys and keep it up! 💪

[@marveludus]

Alec being so scared is making it really difficult to draw him lol

[@Reina_Terra]

One bro just freaking out the other havin a time, love it yo

[@dehro]

the script does indeed reflect many a moment of the campaign where dice rolls would not go the way the players hoped, or sometimes even the DM... that said, this is a completed campaign, so they do have a linear plot to follow and they do have an entire body of work to translate in a new medium... but they still managed, purely by sticking to the campaign events as closely as possible, to portray the feel of randomness and unpredictability.

[@kittypetro6621]

I havent been this fond of Grey Griffin's work since her Azula days, woman really knows how to play the crazy ones XD

[@chalupa5777]

I love these reactions!!! And honestly the fact that you guys are enjoying it so much makes is so much more fun to watch!!

[@ShivShrike]

The undead are more than likely Wights or wraiths as they can phase through physical objects and are vulnerable to light

[@m.jasondoty9062]

Wraiths. Wights are corporeal; without the light, these guys were, obviously, not.

[@richardhealy]

I thought they might be shadows. Non corporeal. Strength sapphire and can hide in dim light.

[@belrevan1986]

Ashley Johnson the voice of Pike had to miss a few sessions to film Blind Spot (She was an actress in the show). They had to temporarily had to write Pike out of the campaign so she can go to her show.

[@dhamon45]

Grey Griffin really kills it as Delilah

[@TriXJester]

You never build a D&D character to counter someone else's, all characters fulfil a role that is needed for a successful (and living) party. Barbarians and Monks for straight damage, Rogues and Rangers for stealth and traps, Paladins and Clerics for healing, etc etc. Everyone gets their own niche, and everyone gets to be useful at something, and some characters just from their stats alone will inherently be better at things than others. Vax'ildan can stealth so hard that not even gods know where he is, meanwhile Pike stealths so badly that its like sending a crate full of metal cans down a set of stairs. How you build your character is how you want to contribute to the group and what role/niche you want to fill.

[@icefang111]

bit behind when this was posted but so you know, a lot of what's been covered is actually fairly on par with how dnd normally operates. From monsters (dragon and wraiths fairly by the book) to spells (daylight in this episode, call lightning, cure wounds and so on) it's all straight from official sources. They've done really well visualizing different things and making them suitably epic I think! The only exceptions so far and what really caught my attention on first watch (never seen the original show, only the cartoon) was the things I could immediately pick out as homebrew. Percy clearly has his own class "gunslinger" which doesn't exist in raw, the sword Sylas has, and particularly, the GODS. That was my main tip off that though some of the more common creatures work the same, the underlying lore of the world must be wildly different if it has it's own pantheon! Honestly everything they do to explore that really fascinated me. I'm also pretty critical and was gonna drop the show after the first two episodes, but my friends swore it would get better on 3rd as it hit an arc that was really good and I have to agree! though personally while this arc is good, I feel the show didn't truly hit it's stride till the last 4-2 episodes. So I really hope it gets a second season!

[@clownzzz4837]

Ashley played the geeky lab tech on the TV show (Blind Spot) and there were references to her character staying up late playing DnD. Also, things such as her coffee cup seen in her lab were actual merchandise you could buy on Critical Role's website. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong but: In DnD, it's all about hitpoints. Higher level characters have higher hit points. Some characters, such as Grog, get even more hitpoints because of their class. Some get less. If your character gets attacked and it drops your HP to zero, you lose consciousness. You then have to roll 'death saves' each turn. If you get three bad rolls before you get three good rolls, then you die. If someone can heal you during that time, even one HP, then death saves stop and reset.. I believe the exception to this is if you get hit with extreme damage (more than your maximum HPs in a single attack), you die instantly.

[@m.jasondoty9062]

You are correct, but the other thing is that standard guards have significantly less HP than most adventurers at VM's level (11 at this point: Bigby's Hand [5th level spell] is minimum level 9; Percy has three attacks a round which happens at 11). Vox Machina can take a lot more damage than the guards. Add that shadows and wraiths (I'm guessing the monsters were wraiths) have abilities that will kill you outright (with shadows, they can lower your strength to 0, which kills you; with wraiths, they can lower your max HP to 0, which kills you), and it's understandable that the guards were dispatched with relative ease as Vox Machina was able to endure.

[@darrinkleyla1587]

Ashley Johnson, the voice of Pike, was in New York working on her show BLINDSPOT during most of Campaign One. SPOILERS!!!! You'll see, in later episodes, how it was resolved when she played via Skype.

[@dacomputernerd4096]

Bit late, but some details. The enemies are wraiths, and as you can see, they're nasty. The black stuff was showing the ability of the wraith to curse you and drain your max hp

[@canadian__ninja]

There's a lot less dice rolling than they think there is in D&D.

[@christopherjunkins]

"anyone named chris" why thank you.

[@sleepyheadgaming.]

May I ask what happened to the arcane reaction?

[@171QA]

Great video.

[@christopherjunkins]

Why do heros put bloody swords back into sheaths n such? EWWW , just clean it first, yeash