Critical Role Season 2
Maker bless these nerdy-ass voice actors. Season 2 is off to a fantastic start... well, after some technical difficulties that kept the Alpha stream down for a little bit.
Although even before that, I thought that I might miss it given that the weather is bad here and we went without internet for a few different hours earlier in the evening. But, it came back on and stayed on for the entirety of the new episode. I switched back and forth between YouTube and twitch to watch a steady stream until the Alpha stream was back up. Alpha has people's names and character portraits and they were slowly being updated throughout the evening as we learned who was playing what.
Here's the biggest thing I enjoyed about tonight. And it's one of the things I like about Matt's storytelling, about the way Critical Role began in general and one of the things I like most about new games I DM. There was no extended discussion at the forefront of who was playing what and which classes they were or what their abilities would be. There was no awkward discussion introducing each individual. We got these characters as if we were picking up with new friends. As observers we're coming across the characters in medias res. As players, they've talked to the DM, they've talked to one or two other people in the group and they have things already in place.
It's like a new television show. You get contextual clues about characters as the first episode progresses. Most shows do not sit you down like an episode of the fucking Bachelor and give you every person's backstory. It's one of the things I think SO MANY actual play shows and podcasts get wrong. [The Adventure Zone's Balance arc did this really well. The boys didn't know what they were doing the first time around and their first episode gave us brief intros and then they just jumped into the first adventure at Phandalin. I feel like in these more subsequent stories where they've spend a whole episode on character introductions, I've enjoyed those less.]
And as I mentioned, it's one of the things I like as a DM also. I want characters that come to me sort of half-formed. I want players (and observers) to come to the story with little expectations. Learning through play is one of the best and most exciting things. You don't know how a character (including your own most times) will react to certain situations until you come across them. So while you might plan to play a trickster (and be still my heart about Vex's new character, Jester) until you get to stretch your legs with that character you still don't know how they're react in each situation.
As an aside about RP characters in general -- this is why as a DM (and a player) I highly advocate for rolled stats and randomization tables upon creation. As a player, if I can completely randomize character creation, I will. I love rolling up a character that might not make much sense and then having to play and find out what I can do with them, and what they might grow up to be. I've played some really interesting characters through the years as a result.
When the first season launched, we got the characters and the game sort of already in progress just by fact that there was already a game happening. They just moved it in front of the cameras and stuck to a schedule. But they didn't spend the first episode just explaining anything... Matt just jumped them right into the game with a minimal recap. I really appreciate that they kept that mystery for Season 2. The slow reveals of what people were playing, how they would speak, what they'd be good at and what exactly their roles would be, were fantastic. It wasn't forced and it wasn't over-explained. Over what might be another 100 episodes, we'll figure these characters out pretty thoroughly, if experience with Season 1 has taught us anything.
I've got more specific character thoughts I want to put down, but I'll save those for another post.
Although even before that, I thought that I might miss it given that the weather is bad here and we went without internet for a few different hours earlier in the evening. But, it came back on and stayed on for the entirety of the new episode. I switched back and forth between YouTube and twitch to watch a steady stream until the Alpha stream was back up. Alpha has people's names and character portraits and they were slowly being updated throughout the evening as we learned who was playing what.
Here's the biggest thing I enjoyed about tonight. And it's one of the things I like about Matt's storytelling, about the way Critical Role began in general and one of the things I like most about new games I DM. There was no extended discussion at the forefront of who was playing what and which classes they were or what their abilities would be. There was no awkward discussion introducing each individual. We got these characters as if we were picking up with new friends. As observers we're coming across the characters in medias res. As players, they've talked to the DM, they've talked to one or two other people in the group and they have things already in place.
It's like a new television show. You get contextual clues about characters as the first episode progresses. Most shows do not sit you down like an episode of the fucking Bachelor and give you every person's backstory. It's one of the things I think SO MANY actual play shows and podcasts get wrong. [The Adventure Zone's Balance arc did this really well. The boys didn't know what they were doing the first time around and their first episode gave us brief intros and then they just jumped into the first adventure at Phandalin. I feel like in these more subsequent stories where they've spend a whole episode on character introductions, I've enjoyed those less.]
And as I mentioned, it's one of the things I like as a DM also. I want characters that come to me sort of half-formed. I want players (and observers) to come to the story with little expectations. Learning through play is one of the best and most exciting things. You don't know how a character (including your own most times) will react to certain situations until you come across them. So while you might plan to play a trickster (and be still my heart about Vex's new character, Jester) until you get to stretch your legs with that character you still don't know how they're react in each situation.
As an aside about RP characters in general -- this is why as a DM (and a player) I highly advocate for rolled stats and randomization tables upon creation. As a player, if I can completely randomize character creation, I will. I love rolling up a character that might not make much sense and then having to play and find out what I can do with them, and what they might grow up to be. I've played some really interesting characters through the years as a result.
When the first season launched, we got the characters and the game sort of already in progress just by fact that there was already a game happening. They just moved it in front of the cameras and stuck to a schedule. But they didn't spend the first episode just explaining anything... Matt just jumped them right into the game with a minimal recap. I really appreciate that they kept that mystery for Season 2. The slow reveals of what people were playing, how they would speak, what they'd be good at and what exactly their roles would be, were fantastic. It wasn't forced and it wasn't over-explained. Over what might be another 100 episodes, we'll figure these characters out pretty thoroughly, if experience with Season 1 has taught us anything.
I've got more specific character thoughts I want to put down, but I'll save those for another post.
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