Wrangling an Unfocused Party - Vox Machina Ep. 1 | Critical Role Demystified

[@troikas3353]

Honestly the emergent misadventures the characters would go on while en route to "the plot" in C1 were often some of the best moments.

[@SupergeekMike]

There are definitely some highlights along the way that I can’t wait to relive.

[@Mega2chan]

shoutout to the flying cows episode

[@Lathlaer]

I think nothing screams "we forgot why we are here!" more than the fact that they were so ready to fight the person they were asked to bring safely for Allura over a freaking mind flayer xD

[@SupergeekMike]

Haha don’t worry, we’ll get there :)

[@spaceman9599]

Yeah, the whole 'mostly good party sides with Mind Flayer over Paladin' was a moment.

[@j.s.4778]

While their adventures in the Underdark got me hooked on the show, I was SCREAMING at how they treated Kima. The only thing that makes it okay is that later on they fully admit they bungled that entire encounter and its a miracle Kima even talks to them.

[@crafciak31]

@@j.s.4778 I believe they actually explained it well enough, but at the same time it's really weird, that they side with a creature literally sucking the brains out of people. Is there enough lawful characters, that wanted to keep the promise they gave to him?

[@AlexT7916]

@@crafciak31 the party was literally split 50/50 on who they wanted to support , 4 for Kima and 4 for Clarota

[@MrAllekzander]

To be honest, in the past from both sides of the screen, some of the most memorable sessions have come when the party has jumped of the rails for a bit. We had about a 4 hour chunk of a night where the party was just decompressing around a campfire in character. They had recently faced a few failures, and seen a lot of death around them. They talked about what could of been different, what they did wrong, and that conversation actually ended up affecting two of the players character paths. Even though it basically took up a whole session, it was one of the more important moments of the campaign. It was going to be just a "you sleep until morning" event, but one of the players started with "Hey do you guys have a minute?". It was amazing.

[@SupergeekMike]

I love scenes like that so much, they do make up some of my favorite moments on CR. I think later in the run, future versions of those scenes will be more deliberate as they have a better sense of the medium as they go. (Honestly, so much of the randomness in this episode could just be chocked up to nerves.)

[@indyjacob4597]

In one of my previous campaigns, we had a session like this after a dungeon. Up to the dungeon, most of the campaign had been lighthearted, dealing with problems around the village we started in, fighting wolves and orcs and such, and getting a few hints of some big stuff going down. This dungeon was hell, in-character. It tied together a lot of what we'd seen and provided motivation for several of us to go further on, and was generally way heavier tonally than anything prior. Our party and some NPCs set up camp to rest after almost meeting our end to a stealthy boss, and just talked. All we really did was speak our internal thoughts out loud, compare our theories and thoughts, and discuss the future. It's still one of our most memorable sessions. We had something similar later on after a similar point, after we'd gotten a glimpse of the BBEG for the first time and we got a new party member, which also was great and let us catch up the new PC in-character.

[@Just_Leo_kingofgods]

do you remember what ep this was ?

[@hawkname1234]

Dude. This is amazing. DM and player lessons learned from episodes of Critical Role is a GREAT idea. I also endorse including clips when the audio quality gets fixed. Subscribed.

[@SupergeekMike]

Thank you so much!

[@Pixel_Kitsune]

25 years of DMing and just got a new lesson. :) When you mentioned it as a possible negative for the DM to say "You actually remember ..." I do that a lot and always just saw it as being helpful and reminding the PC what they know. But your point makes a lot of sense.

[@wickedcrayon6022]

I think you overlooked something important in your analysis. Matt created the world of Exandria. He has a vision of what each place should be and its role in the world. If Kraghammer is a city in that vision Matt shouldn’t have to change that just to herd his players. Matt gave the players all the info they needed. What the players do or do not do is their responsibility. If the players want to wonder off instead focusing on the task at hand that is their choice. Matt already has to pull babysitting duty because no one seems to know the game/character mechanics. Something that is excusable at the start but less so as time goes on. Your analysis is a good one. Very detailed. Especially if your table focuses on efficiency. I personally prefer flavor over alacrity but that’s just a matter of taste.

[@TroySpartan247]

as a DM who's a out to run his first pure homebrew, this is very insightful to watch.

[@SupergeekMike]

I’m very glad!

[@toshomni9478]

I personally loved them wandering aimlessly around the city and wouldn't sacrifice them having to save Trinket for anything because it was so much fun. I think that's the first moment that I really became addicted to this show.

[@mayaenglish5424]

Good job! Tiberius isn't to bad at first. I actually liked him for a while until, ya know, later. I feel really bad for people who skip the first episodes of CR and just go straight to the Briarwood arc, they're missing out on a lot of fun, and Context for the rest of the Campaign, sure it's pretty rough compared to what comes after, but how can you skip Clarota!?! lol! (And people who skip C1 entirely are just crazy).

[@SupergeekMike]

Haha I feel much the same! I sympathize with people who want to skip Orion/skip the bad audio/skip to when the show “becomes” CR by focusing on a backstory and having excellent roleplaying, and for that reason I understand why people recommend starting there… but if I was just joining CR, I don’t know if I could do it. I’m too much of a completionist. Also, I agree, there will be some rough Tiberius moments we can learn from but I’ll also say plenty of nice things about him for the next several episodes. Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@Logan_Baron]

Yeah agree 100%. Even the rough Tiberius parts still have some great, or funny moments in between that make it worth going through, and honestly as bad as some Tiberius moments get, there are still some really great Tiberius moments that I still enjoy and don't think should be missed. I get a kick out of his "I walk away" after talking to Allura that results in him just getting up from the table in the middle of the feast, whether he intended that comic moment or not, and him introducing himself to a cow with the "I'm Tiberius Stormwind......" among others.

[@garrettcarter5622]

"I feel really bad for people who skip the first episodes of CR and just go straight to the Briarwood arc," I think that line of logic is slightly justified when the Critical Role cartoon show itself also decided to skip those arcs.

[@sillyking1991]

@@garrettcarter5622 well, IIRC, the legend of vox machina's original kickstarter pitch was a fairly short series that preceeded the campaign (i.e. the first 3 episodes of what became season 1). with *specifically* the briarwood arc being only a stretch goal. the reason the briarwood arc was chosen was due to its massive popularity among the fans. it had nothing to do with how the players feel about it. I imagine when they were storyboarding/planning the actual show, they decided to 'skip' the kraghammer arc simply because its not what the fans paid for. Its pretty clear that that arc set up much of the character development. it formed the impetus for their first trip to vasselheim, which led to their first meeting with the raksasha (which later returned), its where pikes holy symbol began to crack. and it spurred keyleths own self-doubt: particularly clarota's betrayal.

[@garrettcarter5622]

@@sillyking1991 irk, I certainly hope that they find ways to go back around to that stuff and not just discard it as irrelevant to the plot simply because they want to skirt around Tiberius.

[@MegaphoneMan0]

2:32 This is something that I noticed about my party / table when we started learning Blades in the Dark. BitD tells you REPEATEDLY to just skip to the action, whereas we were normally much more like VM. The fact that crossing the city didn't get actively narrated actually took my players quite a bit to get used to, but now that they are some of that "jump to the action" has started to leak in to our D&D games. It definitely depends on the table, but I think every table could be served by a BIT more abstraction of the small stuff. Oh god, I almost put another time code in and started typing out a whole other paragraph XD I will try to contain myself :P

[@captain_rewind]

Totally agree. When Trinket went into the fighting ring, that was the first time I really saw Vox Machina working together.

[@alexandragoff6609]

I really appreciate this analysis. It reminded me of the first time I tried to watch CR. Although they were well into C2, I wanted to start at the beginning. I lost interest before the first episode ended. Years later, again looking for dnd content I saw a video recommend CR, but they recommended starting with C2, so I did. It wasn’t until I went back to see C1 that I realized this was that weird campaign that I tried to start once that had a lot of pointless talking in a bar and then had a gun in the combat for some reason. On the second watch I was much more willing to push through (and start using CR wiki episode summaries to skip parts that didn’t interest me), but it’s really nice to see your analysis and how it clarifies the feeling I had when I first watched. I’ve since quite enjoyed both C1 and C2, and am keeping up with C3, though to this day I sometimes find dialogue with NPCs can be more uncomfortable than amusing. I think that’s mostly a me problem at this point, though, lol.

[@SupergeekMike]

Thank you! The fact that people so often bounce off of C1 is, like, half of the inspiration for this whole channel. My hope is that videos like this will help viewers who are in the position you were in!

[@billberndtson]

Tibsy gave me one of my 1st laughs on the show - NPC: "let's say she stepped on some toes." Tibs: "Oh! She's clumsy!" Shame it couldn't last. He's immortalized in song in "Vorugal" by The Cantata Pansophical.

[@Figgy5119]

Honestly I like being given the option to slow down going through the town. I have played campaigns with three different DMs and each DM takes the skip ahead approach. My coplayers and I have always expressed that we want to play out things. I know it's tough, but it's good if DMs can read the room. Don't autoskip without giving people a chance to say they want to play something. But of course if the players aren't into it, then skip. But if you've had a session zero and you know your players like RP, let them do it if they want!

[@strawberreez]

Feel like I'm at the start of something great. Wonderful video, really enjoyed it a lot! My only suggestion would be (and this would 100% be more work, so feel free to ignore) is that clips from the show that shows what you're talking about would be super helpful and dynamic.

[@SupergeekMike]

I definitely will include them for future episodes, it’s just that the sound quality is so bad for the first episode that it felt kind of cruel to include a clip. The next one also probably won’t include a clip for similar reasons, but I think episode 3 and going forward will include clips! Really glad you enjoyed the episode!

[@sarawarlestedt7242]

I’m just gonna post some stuff I think Matt did well as suggestions for later videos. Vexes ring. The one she has that keeps them hidden from vecnas scrying when they are inside the titan. It has a effect for 60 ft away from her. Forcing the party to stay together, not split up, and it makes Vax slow. It’s a great 3 in 1. Postpones the main fight, keeps them together, counter weight to Vaxs unbalanced magical items.

[@SupergeekMike]

That’s a great one!

[@caffeinedelusions]

I know others have beaten me to it, but... yeah, this is REALLY valuable narrative and gameplay dissection for growing DMs. Well done.

[@DeeplyBroken00]

a small recap AND lessons to learn! I think that's a great unique take on covering CR content. This is especially true for C1 as there is so much change/growth to be seen as they get started streaming that make for a lot to learn from generally speaking and for a refresher on the story for those of us who have struggled to go back for numerous reasons. I watched all your content so far and you have a great presentation. Looking forward to your future videos :)

[@SupergeekMike]

Thank you so much!!

[@galeburke4231]

I would LOVE to see more of this! I'm a fairly new player in a campaign with a first time DM and other brand new players. This video helped break down some of the custom possibilities within DnD. Our group has been having a LOT of trouble with focus and with our DM railroading the campaign super hard, leaving no room for the kind of talk I and some of the other players are interested in. This video really helps show the balance between focusing your group and raliroading your group too hard and I'll definitely be recommending this to our DM! Please make more!!

[@clockwork_mind]

I'm really happy to see someone execute on this format of analyzing Critical Role to learn lessons about D&D. It's actually something I've thought about doing myself, but lacked the motivation to do so. I look forward to more of it, and hope to see your channel grow!

[@clockwork_mind]

I do want to say that I disagree somewhat with your advice of "don't correct the players." Sure, don't *corral* your players and force them to your plot checkpoints, but you can give them information without corraling them. I think a DM can absolutely correct players who have forgotten some crucial detail or have some misunderstanding that their character would not have. I think it's absolutely possible to say, "You actually remember she said he would be down at the mines, but since you asked, his house is at [such and such]." This leaves the door open to go to his house if they have some creative shenanigans they're planning (as you suggested they might), but still throws them a rope if they're floundering under a confused objective and trying their best to move to the plot you set up (which I think is what they were *trying* to do when they asked for his address). If Matt was aware that they were trying to follow his thread, I think it was a huge mistake to not gently remind them of where they were told they could find him. The only thing the session would have lost is an hour of baggage. I can't read this as anything more than an oversight. I don't think Matt realized that they didn't know where to go, and that their tail-chasing was a result of a lack of information. So I don't think "Don't correct your players" is a good lesson to learn from this episode. This is something I think Matt Colville covered in his video on Information. Indeed, I think giving players a clear view of their objective, as well as direct consequences to their actions, is absolutely crucial to making the world feel real. And this is an area where I've seen Matt Mercer struggle a lot. Hell, I could write a whole video-essay about how his lack of clear communication made almost all of Keyleth's support spells into active hindrances, but that's not what this comment is about. If you've read all the way through my ramblings, thank you, I appreciate you taking the time to engage. I'm enjoying your videos.

[@Paper_Smith]

Currently binging all of your videos because your content is that good!! I feel like you’re telling it to me straight and I dig that! Keep up the great work dude! Easiest subscribe of my life 💚

[@SupergeekMike]

I’m so glad you enjoyed them! More on the way soon 😁

[@redherring1726]

I just found your channel and have started binge watching all of it! And I love that I found someone else who isn’t a “fan” of Tiberius either. Glad I’m not alone! Keep the shows coming! Your insight is great and love how you bring it altogether. Thanks for all the effort!

[@PyrotechNick77]

Thank you for doing this! I have been waiting for "critical Role reactions and analysis" to older episodes and I am glad your videos got recommended to me this past week. I also do wonder if Matt purposely tried to do the "montage style" because this was the first stream. Matt has stated in panels and interviews that he didn't think CR would be popular as it got; "who would watch someone else's dnd game for 4 hours? Online? Straight?" Matt most likely preemptively tried to streamline his game thinking that the chat and viewers would not want to watch the NPC conversations and just go into the adventure from the get go.

[@SupergeekMike]

You’re very welcome! I’m glad you liked it, I’ve got more on the way 😁

[@KayotoStarr]

This reminds me of a one shot my my friends and I had very spontaneously. Me and my friend rolled up new characters and our DM droped us into a world he was working on for another group. When looking for information on people we should know for our mission we kept hearing one name over and over and kept trying to find him until we ended up going right back to to the guy who sent us on the mission... We had already forgotten his last name and so we didn't realize we were the same person . We literally walked in a circle for like 15 minutes. Honestly probably one of my favourite things that happened it felt so real and authentic and we all had a laugh about how useless we were gonna be 😂

[@greeninferno1339]

Lol, the “for brevity’s sake” vs “well... I wanna see this” was a very recent thing I noticed in Campaign 3 for the spa trip: he tried a few times to fast forward some stuff, but the characters each had a little scene of activity at the spa. Which, is good/bad depending how you like it

[@hopemullinax6839]

I just wanted to thank you for this video. I had been trying to get through episode one a few times and was really struggling with that first hour because I really had no idea what was going on. After watching this, I figured out where I could skip to to pick up the plot and it's working so so much better for me. I think I'm going to make it a habit to watch your videos first to get the highlights before tackling the big episodes of Critical Role. This is fantastic, and thank you so much for your work.

[@SupergeekMike]

Thank you!!

[@Happy111Hardcore]

Moooooooore of this, I got into DnD and DM'ing because of Critical Role and its so nice being able to learn directly from examples i already know and love. Excellent work

[@SupergeekMike]

Thank you so much!

[@Feetareleghands]

It's nice to have a recap of this, and to see where parties can do right, and what makes a good game

[@OperaLover84]

Just started watching CR campaign 1 a few weeks ago -- and it's so great to see a resource like your videos being made currently and not years ago ;) Feels like I'm not so late to the party now. Thanks for making these!

[@caseycoker1051]

I'm glad I found my way here. I have been resistant to starting Critical Role for a long time (I struggle with the actual play format in general), but recently after watching Vox Machina on Prime I watched the first 5 episodes of Critical Role and am hoping to muddle through it over time. I really appreciate your insight, especially since you are doing so in an episode by episode format without spoiling upcoming events. Thanks for the content!

[@DevlinEdora]

Great video, really enjoyed! One point regarding the lack of urgency and how that might be a potential red flag that the party feels a little directionless: In many cases that may very well be the case, but in my personal anecdotal experience, I would actually really enjoy if these situations were to happen more often. I'm in 3 different games at the moment, and in each of them we go from "mission" to "mission" and everything usually feels pretty urgent and pressing. I would *love* if now and then we could spend some time sitting and RPing in a tavern, interacting with NPCs, and letting our hair down so-to-speak. I put a ton of thought into my character's personality and how they would react to different things and in different social situations, but sometimes I don't feel that I (or the other players) get too much of an opportunity to play that stuff out. I desperately want our characters to have more of a chance to get to know one another. The next thing we have to do always feels time-sensitive and it seems like if we just chill out for a second we're going to lose out on something. It's almost like there's too much urgency. Of course, every table is different and I'm sure other players would rather just continue moving the plot forward, but I just thought I would share my perspective as well! Thanks again for the awesome content!

[@SupergeekMike]

I agree; I think the cast later gets better about making sure they have time to decompress before their next big mission. Thanks for watching!

[@DanikaShoru]

This series is such a great idea. It both serves as a light recap of the events of the campaign while also being a useful resource for BOTH DMs and Players. I can’t wait to see more and I agree with John Pettus that including small clips would be appreciated.

[@SupergeekMike]

Thank you! I plan to start including clips around episode 3 - including clips from this episode would have been cruel, since the audio was SO bad.

[@ababblingbrooke3340]

This is a really insightful analysis of the episode! Great video, and excited for more!

[@SupergeekMike]

Thank you!

[@williamlittle3325]

In an interview with Matt Mercer, he had a possible npc for the mines at the wizard's house depending on the interactions

[@SupergeekMike]

It’s true, I made it seem like it was *only* a side quest available if Tiberius was curious, but that leaves out the fact that they could’ve recruited somebody to help if it hadn’t gone so poorly.

[@GregMcNeish]

Hi Mike. I came across your channel a couple months ago and saw that this was a series you were doing. I mentally bookmarked it knowing I'd want to come back and binge these videos. Today is the day I start going through them. I've become a big fan of your DMing videos, particularly how you approach everything from the basic question of "why? What does this accomplish, do or say about YOUR game?" Having just finished this breakdown of the first episode of Critical Role - a series I first encountered at the start of the pandemic and binged until I was fully caught up just in time for the beginning of campaign 3 - I'm ecstatic to see that your same attention to detail and overall approach carries on into these videos. I'm hooked.

[@SupergeekMike]

Thank you so much!

[@reubenrod8492]

I found you through the Tiberius video, but this is where you got my subscription. I was just thinking about going back through campaign 1 again. This perfectly scratched that itch.Please, please, please keep making this series!

[@Ouvii]

13:03 absolutely. I tried getting into campaign 1 and campaign 2 and only got a few episodes into either. Calamity was really good and it's the reason I found your videos in the first place.

[@yumega]

This kind of breakdown is fantastic. I think I can easily skip over some of the subtleties of DMing because I come from a fantasy novel writing background, and writing a campaign is very very different in ways I am still understanding. Watching this gave me some real insight into the subtle ways Matt helps his party along, while balancing that with protecting their agency. 100% loved this

[@Arbolist]

This is a channel that I wanted for a long time, but never knew existed until today. Thank you.

[@taejaskudva2543]

I literally stumbled across your channel today. Rekindled an intention to watch CR, which I've never done. The length of everything is daunting, and a series of recaps with analysis is so much faster.... Maybe I could get campaign 1 through your series and jump into campaign 2!

[@SupergeekMike]

That’s one of the goals of my series! Hope you enjoy them 😁

[@MsBeccaDavis]

Great video! As an aspiring DM, it's great to hear analysis on some mistakes and corrections an accomplished and well-respected DM can make! Looking forward to more!

[@SupergeekMike]

Thank you!

[@battlemapbrawl]

Awesome content! I like your deep dives and analyst.

[@SupergeekMike]

Thank you so much!

[@ariadne625]

I REALLY vibe with this. I'm about to run my second short-term game and looking for tips, and having tips pulled from real examples from my favorite show? Hell yeah. And thank you for your tone 🙏🏼 We can be critical of a show and still show them love and respect, while acknowledging what works for them vs what can work universally. And now I know that when players start making their own fun, that's a sign I can refocus them ♡

[@SupergeekMike]

I’m so glad you enjoyed this!

[@daviddaspit4166]

So listening to the comments to splitting the party like this reminds me of our last two games. We ended up splitting the party most everyone went off to do something and then the party split out even further. I made it clear to the DM that my character (who was back at the inn) was just chilling out and not doing anything and that I (as a player) was cool with sitting back to watch the chaos that ensued with the other characters/players and hoping that they had a lot of fun at the "table". I also knew that I would get a moment either in this session or in the next one.

[@Greaticus]

Super happy I've found your channel. Your presence is awesome and I love the work you've put towards this. Can't wait to dive down through your content. STAY AWESOME

[@SupergeekMike]

Thank you so much!

[@billpecoraro8421]

This is good. More please. As a not-so-new DM coming into their own style these advanced tips and observations, tied to a campaign I'm familiar with, are what I'm looking for. Thanks for the vid!

[@seaborgium919]

I really liked the one instance, where everyone rolled perception and Grog was the only one who rolled well. And I enjoyed how Matt used it, and used Grog, to describe what was going on.

[@FriidaK]

This is amazing, very entertaining and knowledgeable! I’ve only watched a few of your videos so far but have already learned a lot and will continue to binge this evening. Thank you! you have earned yourself a new enthusiastic subscriber😄

[@SupergeekMike]

Thank you so much!

[@jdmoralesp]

Funny I've just watched this right after last episode where they split the party and we can see matt's evolution about handling different scenes, moving the spotlight to each PC in every semi cliffhanger fashion

[@mdavies117]

This is a great breakdown! Super helpful for DMs looking to elevate their games and develop what aspects to apply to their own tables.

[@piecewise286]

Loved the Analysis! Definitely will be back for more

[@victorballard5298]

Great video! It's a helpful reminder sometimes to not chase every squirrel that cross your path, sometimes the village, town, region actually needs you to finish THIS quest... NOW.

[@drawnonwardfilms4589]

Would love to see more of these - as a new DM whose also watched CR for a long time, I appreciate the thorough breakdown and takeaways!

[@faithjones6202]

Just found your channel and I watched a few videos. I'm glad KZbin recommended you to me, I can tell I'm going to enjoy this series!

[@SupergeekMike]

Thank you so much!

[@MrAag68]

Just dropping a quick comment: I really enjoy your videos and I'm actively looking forward to the next episode of this series! (and standalone videos as well) This video has a very good script and flow and you delievered a very good product. Subscribed and liked, keep them coming!

[@SupergeekMike]

Thank you so much!

[@nicholasromero238]

This is some really helpful analysis, as someone with a couple players that tend to get lost in the weeds on occasion. I'm only on my second vid from this channel, but I look forward to seeing more of this channel!

[@benjaminpotter7448]

Great video Mike, hope you keep it up!

[@SupergeekMike]

Thank you!!

[@Alister222222]

Amazing video, dude! I have just started watching Critical Role, and I felt a lot of what you are talking about here. In contrast, having just watched all of the Dungeon Dudes' Drakkenheim series, which is so clean and focused, I was kind of put off by the fact that the Critical Role players didn't seem to either know or care about the narrative threads of the story they were playing. After like 2 hours of it going nowhere, I was like 'my god'. I have been sticking with it so I have something to listen to when I am biking, and they are definitely improving, but I have hundreds of episodes to go. Matt is definitely a good DM, but I can really see why the Dungeon Dudes have a much smaller group size.

[@kieranobrien4247]

My goodness, this is an amazing lesson in DMing and playing... Lessons we can learn from streamed D&D games is amazing! Subbed!

[@SupergeekMike]

Thank you!

[@d1morto]

This is awesome. Thanks for making it!

[@pazz]

You've got a new subscriber! On my third video in a row, I love your insights! I find it funny how the argument for splitting the party is often "it'll save time!". Yeah sure, it'll save fictional time in the fantasy world, but it doesn't save real-world time in the slightest, in fact it takes up way more time.

[@SupergeekMike]

Thank you for subscribing!

[@cloud13Wizard]

Fantastic dissection, wonderful content.

[@nathanrodic6294]

Super cool series idea. I never sub after one video but I'm too keen for this idea. Subbed

[@karensprague8857]

I'm a new DM (I've played for years but this is my first time running a full campaign) and I found this very useful! I will definitely use that trick as a way or coralling players who are in circular arguments or who've gotten disconnected from the action. I imagine it doesn't even have to be combat, it could be any kind of complication that needs to be addressed immediately.

[@unpopular_onion]

Sir, you do deserve the support just for watching painful Tiberius gameplay. Bless your soul.

[@marsmech]

I like the idea of Analysis paralysis can be stopped by a "random encounter" oh while you guys were arguing in the woods a piglet rushes through the bushes through your camp in panic. while distracted by that make a perception check, any one that gets above a 13 see the large terror bird emerge from the same bushes the piglet does. It stops and eyes you and lets out a shriek, roll initiative.

[@foximoron499]

Hi Mike! I've watched every video of yours and I really like what you do, hope that you keep going :)

[@SupergeekMike]

Thank you so much!! (Terrific username, BTW 😁)

[@foximoron499]

@@SupergeekMike Thanks!😄

[@chipsalom]

"The pacing". Its really interesting how often this is asserted as one of the weaknesses of CR and Matt's DMing, but imho is one of the primary aspects that sets it and general long form, streamed content that seems to be setting itself apart from other creators doing a similar thing, but experiencing less popularity. A lot of what creates the entire story arc of the campaigns are seeds that get planted by Matt's careful attention to the "time wasting" the players spend role playing rather than getting straight on task, haha. It was definitely less polished early on, bur for me really started to shine in late C2. There are so many critical moments, plot points and long payoffs that are my peak moments that come from how this has been done by Matt and the group. Throwaway comments and interactions? Not so fast, my friends :). It took a while for the players to catch on, but now they are definitely leaning into it, too.

[@ColinNP]

This is fantastic content. I got here right after your video about Tiberius himself.

[@SupergeekMike]

Thank you!

[@timburbagereads]

This is a very clever analysis told in a way that is very easy to understand. Super impressed with all your content. Keep going!

[@hartssquire9386]

Splitting the party is like playing two games of chess at the same time for DMs

[@magnusmadsen3813]

I loved it! Its fun to go back and relive some of the moments from early C1, I barely remember anything at this point. Would love to see more!

[@stanbunn1329]

I love the Colville reference, I use it my games as well, but mine is Suddenly Bears.

[@SightedPencil21]

Thanks for making this! I’m fairly new to D&D and I kept hearing that Critical Role was essential viewing for prospective Dungeon Masters; however, this first episode, while fun and entertaining, just didn’t leave me wanting to continue. It’s been a momentum killer on the three separate times I’ve tried to get into the show. Your analysis here is great and I also appreciate your other video that gives advice on where to start with the series.

[@octo448]

I really enjoyed this. It's been ages since I watched C1 and the review plus lessons learned are invaluable. Thank you, subbed and updoodled!

[@SupergeekMike]

Thank you!

[@Nastyn1nja808]

This was a fun Flashback!

[@SupergeekMike]

Thank you!

[@actuallyerik1623]

Absolutely a valid analysis, though my own interpretation of the episode is a bit different. I feel like Matt didn't necessarily set the mission up to be specifically urgent. Kima had gone of on her quest and had not returned so Vox Machina was sent to Kraghammer to investigate. Matt also sets up that Kraghammer is a bit closed off and Allura gets them access, so them just sprinting to the mines expecting to be let in without any information about the city could very well lead nowhere. Also I don't think they had any idea that dungeon would be a 10 episode cavern dive when they rented the rooms. The had played for 2 years prior to stream start and i think they all had a pretty good idea how each other play the game, except for some small adjustments for being live on stage, playing a new version of the game. Also yes the entire Thunderbrand thing was very much Orion's side quest which takes up a lot of space because he can be very one track minded but you also have to take into account that his backstory was literally seeking out magical artifacts around the land and the Thunderbrands where very clearly a prepped NPC's with magical knowledge. Anyway ill see what you have to say about the next one, but I do hope we keep the tone around Orion civil. Everyone can have their own opinion on the guy of course but as per the casts request i just like to remind people talking about him to keep a respectful tone :)

[@SupergeekMike]

These are good points - honestly it’s a tough mission to fully break down (at least for this first episode) because we missed the inciting incident, so we don’t know what they heard and what they reacted to, and because it meant a radical shift in format for the group. And I agree; I’ve mostly said what I have to say about Orion in a separate video, and future comments will generally be about specific behavior that we can learn from. But the short version of that video is that he ultimately exhibited behavior that didn’t suit the shifting play style of the table (and perhaps wouldn’t be a good fit for most tables, but not all), and he was the person who suffered the most. I hope he has found his peace and that he is in a better place in his life.

[@actuallyerik1623]

@@SupergeekMike just watched your Tiberius video and I love it, very factual and gameplay focused compared to many other that just want to retroactively call him all sorts of things based on rumors that might or might not be true. Great content.

[@valentinegodek4681]

This was super cool! Some of my favorite KZbin D&D content is Matt Colville’s campaign diaries, and this feels very similar! Looking forward to more installments!

[@SupergeekMike]

Thank you so much!

[@NeoMav88]

Fantastic observations about how players interact with the world!

[@АлександрИВанов-ж5н4ь]

Perfect timing! Just as I have decided to watch the first campaign

[@ruidusbunny]

Thank you so much for starting this series! I applaud all the effort.

[@SupergeekMike]

Thank you!

[@Speedy-vy4kq]

Enjoyable analysis. New into Critical Role, so helpful.

[@SupergeekMike]

I’m very glad it helped!

[@mrlucius57]

gonna watch this whole series, good stuff!

[@AuntLoopy123]

I want to see more of these! Thanks!

[@awkwardsilence82]

Love your approach to finding some key takeaways for DMs and players. Consider me subscribed. Well done! Looking forward to more.

[@SupergeekMike]

Thank you!

[@Evil_Monologues]

Oh my god more of this PLEASE

[@hopefullyhopless]

Enjoying these look back lessons

[@SupergeekMike]

Thanks!

[@DragonElixion]

This is an awesome video. DMing has definitely taught me the value of Yes-And but I didn't think about a couple of the indicators that you pointed out here. Please do more :)

[@scottreigle1756]

I definitely appreciate and enjoy these videos. Thank you!

[@BryGoose]

I just talked to my brother today and found out that he also watches your show. We haven't brought it up before, it just turned out that we both watch your series.

[@SupergeekMike]

That’s awesome! Thanks to you both for watching ☺️

[@fredthewaterboy]

Tiberius shade at the end there

[@EmethMatthew]

Honestly, i end up splitting my party BECAUSE it helps SAVE time as frequently my individual players take extra time deciding on what they're doing on their turns or puzzle to figure out or what to buy from the store, and i can present them each with something to consider for a minute or two while i shift the spotlight.

[@creativeeveryday11]

Cool idea for a video series!

[@SupergeekMike]

Thank you!

[@mkang8782]

Some really spot on analysis.

[@Becclabee]

I'm just a beginner dm in D&D and this is super helpful. I can't wait for the next one.

[@benjaminhilsdon2238]

I only finished the first campaign for the first time a couple weeks ago. Really looking forward to this series.

[@TakeWalker]

oh man, this is exactly the kind of series I need, I never could get into campaign 1 because it's just so huge :D

[@orionspero560]

.The cut scene effect you're talking about is what a noise me so terribly by a lot of modern games. In my mind that rushing ahead cuts out the fun of rpgs

[@Crensler]

I love the commentary and the lesson to take away from this episode. I also am reminded when I tried to watch this first episode and how the pointless dicking around really threw me off when they had a concrete objective. This won't be the last time pointless dickery happens, as I came to C1 fresh off of C2's content at the time and had seen it there, but this seemed so much worse xD

[@SupergeekMike]

I think the fact that they dick around would be less of an issue for new viewers if it wasn’t the first episode - because of that, plus some technical issues, a lot of people bounced off of the show early on.

[@Crensler]

@@SupergeekMike I think you may be right. If it hadn't been on the first episode of the series, maybe it wouldn't have been so off putting.

[@mahorosan1]

This is a good lesson for a first time DM, seriously.