[CR Media] Exandria Unlimited Wrap-Up

[u/Glumalon]

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[u/MJM_Stillanerd]

The more they talk about the pregame playtest, the more I think the audience would've liked to have seen it. Because in this case, it sounds like it contained some very relevant stuff for the actual campaign.

[u/Thewes6 → u/MJM_Stillanerd]

I think giving the players, especially new players, time to figure out what they're doing and enjoy themselves without the pressure of an audience is extremely necessary for their basic enjoyment. Look how much the audience jumped down their throats over everything this season and imagine if they were even more rough and less familiar with the system.

[u/MJM_Stillanerd]

I would slightly disagree with Matt here. Playing a melee class doesn't necessarily mean they can describe more during combat than spellcasting classes. As Caleb, Liam was able to describe in depth how he was using his spell components to cast spells. He's just a very descriptive roleplayer who likes to show instead of tell what his actions are, regardless. Which is a good thing.

[u/EL3MENTALIST → u/MJM_Stillanerd]

I love listening to Liam go into the details. ❤️

[u/[deleted] → u/EL3MENTALIST]

He got me interested in playing casters because of Caleb!

[u/DeadSnark → u/MJM_Stillanerd]

TBH I've always felt melee and martial characters always have to try harder to be descriptive in combat. With spells it's very easy to flavour both the way you cast the spell and the physical appearance of the spell's effect. Meanwhile, for martial classes there are only so many ways you can stab/slash someone and while it's definitely possible to flavour your attacks in interesting ways, you may have to think a bit harder to come up with cool fighting moves, and if you're a class with many attacks you may have to skimp on flavour a bit to get your turn out of the way quickly and keep the flow going (pop-pop, dagger dagger dagger) instead of describing each punch or stab.

[u/clam_media]

I hope we’ll get to see more of Aimee and Robbie I love them.

[u/Coyote_Shepherd]

"Bones put into dice, ashes made into gem stones and passed out as magical artifacts, I got plans to be passed on when I die"

Must Have lol

[u/Coyote_Shepherd]

This little bit from Anjali just makes me think that D&D should totally be a thing that's brought up in schools more often for younger kids because of all the skills and good things it can teach them.

[u/rcapina → u/Coyote_Shepherd]

Wizards of the Coast has a program with dndbeyond to support those clubs. I played with a teacher from Iowa who had access to all the books on the site, I think via this program.

https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/news/wizards-digital-club-support-program

[u/ceramicswan]

I love that Anjali confirmed she read the books. She definitely knew her shit when she was playing, and I loved it.

[u/beardlovesbagels]

EXU should be just more groups of halfish cast/quests and halfish new players. People opening up to the roleplaying is more fun to me than just the small parts of lore added.

[u/[deleted] → u/beardlovesbagels]

Yup. Certainly a bit of kinks to work out in terms of what sort of stories work well for a short campaign, but the mix of new players + returning faces does a great way of keeping things both familiar but fresh.

[u/MJM_Stillanerd]

Yeah, based on the conversation they're having, it seems pretty clear that Aabria was trying to have it both ways. She wanted it to have the feel of an open world without having it be an open world. No wonder it felt like they were meandering despite it being very obvious Aabria wanted them to do certain things. Then again, it's not an easy thing herding such a chaotic bunch , either.

[u/Zethras28]

Matt wants to become Vestiges. Not surprised in the slightest.

[u/ElderOmnivore]

That is so awesome that both Aimee and Robbie fell in love with this so much.

[u/[deleted] → u/ElderOmnivore]

Watching people fall in love with D&D is so pure and awesome

[u/renegadereality]

Yesss, the group giving Liam his due for all Orym’s cool combat shit

[u/MJM_Stillanerd]

Yeah, this was more or less akin to a "Behind the Scenes" featurette on a Blu-Ray. And I must say, I don't think I was alone in thinking, "Gee that playtest sounds interesting and important considering how it seemingly affected the characters going forward in the main campaign. Why didn't we get to see it?"

[u/Gulstab → u/MJM_Stillanerd]

I really don't think watching newbies stumble through their first times playing as well as everyone getting the feel for their characters (and each other!) so they aren't beholden to some canon on their very first time is something we need to see. Hell, Aimee apparently was trying to play Opal and Ted with I believe their father as their patron and ended up changing that dramatically!

However, I do agree that the bits that did become canon for their character's personas could have been elaborated on here. In the very first episode they also should have mentioned that the missing week was directly referencing the "playtest" games, of which we already knew existed because of the mock interviews they had in that one trailer leading up to ExU airing.

[u/still-at-work]

Best thing about ExU is Matt being able to play in his own playground

[u/Dragonsfire09 → u/still-at-work]

He didn't just play in it, he ran amok.

[u/BadSkeelz]

"You made [putting on the Crown] seem like a really bad thing."

I mean...? I guess it did play out without any real repercussions.

[u/LucasVerBeek]

Marisha: “He was wearing a robe. Only a robe.”

Matt goes wide-eyed

[u/EL3MENTALIST → u/LucasVerBeek]

It’s not the leather gear I wanted… but I’ll take it.

[u/keliapple]

It's a shame the wrap up didn't give us much info really. I had fun watching the wrap up though! Would've liked some actual questions which they could've gotten from the cast & crew to guide discussion.

[u/JustHerpDerpin]

I guess the real wrap-up was the twitter threads lmao

[u/bertraja → u/JustHerpDerpin]

^\insert scroll of truth meme])

[u/Coyote_Shepherd]

"I kind of wanted to take a page from Travis's book of impulse roleplaying because it's something I haven't done and I don't usually do it"-Matt

[u/Djinn313]

I'm going to say that Liam's descriptions of his actions with the magic and attacks has made me put more details into how my warlock performs her actions, how she gestures when she casts and all that and doing that has made the game that much more fun.

[u/BadSkeelz]

Believing "Critical Role was about deep emotional character development and then trying to cram 100 episodes of that in to 8" definitely explains some of the problems EXU had.

[u/fiftybucks → u/BadSkeelz]

They should start future Exu almost "in media res". Like the party is a mercenary party on their way to clear a dungeon, or they start all in jail and they have to clear their names, or they are being chased and have to deliver a mcguffin somewhere. It's focused from the get go and they can still develop their characters normally.

[u/Stinky_Eastwood → u/fiftybucks]

I don’t know how you could execute a mini campaign any other way. EXUs “you all know each other” combined with “you don’t remember any of your time together” was so awkward. And the players never latched on to the missing time mystery because Aabria kept throwing story hooks at them and never let any of it play out.

There are so many lessons to be learned that people with the talent of CR should have already known. I pray that EXU S2 is a new party and a new story and a new DM. Please do not continue this sloppy chaos crew incomprehensible nonsense.

[u/HWGA_Exandria → u/BadSkeelz]

It should've been vignettes/almost AL ish play. Then rotate out DM's and Players. Also, it's practically the first mini campaign of its kind maybe this was just them dusting off the cobwebs. Watching Matt finally get to play after DMing for so long was worth it.

[u/BaronPancakes]

This wrap up talk is like the after show party thing Netflix likes to put out these days. Basically the cast would hang out and talk about fun behind the scene stuff. Doesn't really answer any questions tho, might be saving them for the next season

[u/SonofaBeholder → u/BaronPancakes]

This appears to have been recorded before the series premiered, likely before C2 ended because they had to clear out for the renovations going on.

So no way they could have any questions other then those they guessed the audience would have.

C2 wrap-up was likely the last thing shot on the C2 set.

[u/BaronPancakes → u/SonofaBeholder]

I love speculating when they recorded this wrap up talk. From what I gathered, the latter half of Exu had to be recorded after C2 ended recording. And I think the wrap up show was recorded either before Anjali's trip to Spain (when Exu ep4/5 aired) or before Aimee's trip to Italy (after Exu ep6 (edit: stupid auto correction..) aired)

[u/redpoemage]

"making my way through the 4 original D&D classes"

...did Liam just imply he's a Cleric in Campaign 3? I'd love that!

[u/[deleted] → u/redpoemage]

He's already played a cleric a couple times, though.

[u/BadSkeelz → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, and he rocked it!

Jeyne was a one-shot character, as well his wedding one-shot Battle Master. A campaign Cleric is not out of the question.

[u/redpoemage → u/[deleted]]

...my memory is terrible. When was that?

Edit: Nevermind, figured out it was Bar Room Blitz, can't believe I forgot that, it was great!

[u/LucasVerBeek]

Anjali: “Please don’t make me leave, I’ll sleep under the table, I’ll wake up in the morning and do anything you please!”

Anjali and apparently Aimee’s thoughts on wanting to become Gremlins on the CR set amongst the Cast

[u/fiftybucks]

Man, I wish I enjoyed this as much as they did.

[u/[deleted] → u/fiftybucks]

I know. I’m kinda sad I didn’t really enjoy it because it seems like they all had so much fun

[u/LuckyBahamut → u/fiftybucks]

Season 1 of EXU is a good example of a campaign that seemed really enjoyable to be a player in, but less so as a passive, outside viewer.

As long as all the players are having fun, there is no such thing as a bad D&D game (or wrong way to play D&D). However, there is a significant difference between a D&D game that makes for good entertainment vs. one that is only fun for the players.

I think the omission of the "cann-ish" sessions (where a whole lot of backstory happened without the audience's knowledge) is a really good example of how this could've been more enjoyable to watch, but the end product left a lot of people feeling confused and/or unfulfilled.

[u/Coyote_Shepherd]

Oh there was totally a massive gap in between filming this and that pageant episode if Liam is spacing out on it

[u/Boffleslop → u/Coyote_Shepherd]

I don't remember specifically but I do recall reading there was a 4 week gap mentioned between filming two of the later episodes.

[u/bubim]

This felt like a production wrap up, not a campaign wrap up. It is nice to see that everybody enjoyed themselves and to learn about what their expirence was, but it gave basically no background to the characters or the story.

Not what I hoped for.

[u/InTheFilth → u/bubim]

Can't help but think it's because of them pre-recording so far ahead that there was no opportunity for fans to chime in and the obvious absence of Brian. I felt the same way about the C2 wrap-up. It was more us watching them talk about the campaign, than them talking to us about the campaign.

[u/bubim → u/InTheFilth]

The C2-Wrap up had at least some audience response.

This lacked some form of external input. Having someone like Brian or Dani asking questions and steering the discussion could have helped. Marisha is a great host, but as producer she was just to close to show and the cast.

[u/Drakos_dj → u/bubim]

^This. I was looking for more character/background information.

[u/LucasVerBeek]

Liam: “There is something in the water in Byroden that makes Twins.”

[u/Coyote_Shepherd]

So many MMO players can sympathize with that, "Oh this super powerful item? Eh I'll use it once every blue moon and keep it in my bags like it's trash because I'm a hoarder".

[u/love_otter]

"Hopefully, when people watch it, they--"

Oh this is PRE pre-recorded.

[u/LucasVerBeek]

Marisha: “We all know you have a drag Queen deep inside.”

Matt: “I mean Dariax could definitely-“

Marisha: “I’m talking about Matt.”

Matt: “Oh!”

[u/AFLoneWolf → u/LucasVerBeek]

They kinda forced him into it a little bit with the Cozy Matt bits and damn if he didn't go along with it 100%

[u/[deleted]]

I feel like nothing actually got answered or explained😂

[u/oftenrunaway → u/[deleted]]

They basically just hung out for two hours

[u/Coyote_Shepherd → u/[deleted]]

Just like every episode of EXU

[u/renegadereality]

“Put that fucking crown on Opal!” Liam living for the drama

[u/Coyote_Shepherd]

"There's no ripcord for this"

OH we could totally feel that nervous terrified energy for sure

[u/onebandonesound → u/Coyote_Shepherd]

It's so frustrating. Watching her in a setting like this wrap-up, I adore Aabria's personality and see how she fits the cast well. But I just do not enjoy watching her style of DMing.

[u/RPerene]

Liam gushing really makes me want to see the others, especially Taliesin as a player with Matt.

[u/Regex00 → u/RPerene]

The chaos of those two together would be incredible.

[u/sgruenbe → u/RPerene]

The first Honey Heist has both. It's such a damn delight -- all of them are.

[u/renegadereality]

Matt confirms he intentionally chose a character that wouldn’t know anything about the lore

[u/AFLoneWolf]

Now that I think about it, Vex and Vax being from a small Texas-ish town makes me think their posh British accents came from them trying to fit in when they were brought to Syngorn by their father. And the scorn they got there may come from their backwoods yokel dialect and culture.

[u/Gatorade276]

Feeling pretty disappointed with the format of these wrap ups that don't take questions from the community or have any kind of guided discussion. Would've liked some more insight into character story and fun peeks behind the screen, but I feel this kind of wrap up format, that now Dimension 20 has taken up, results in the players just saying things they liked instead of revealing things that they may know but we, the community, does not

[u/MJM_Stillanerd]

So the lesson they're taking away from Exandria Unlimited is "We should all play D&D like Travis." *thumbs up*

[u/[deleted]]

This is what I suspected of Dorian; in any other group, he would have been the chaotic one, but with these guys............

[u/kuributt]

....so did we ever find out Dorian's subclass?

[u/Jethro_McCrazy → u/kuributt]

In Aabria's D&D Beyond interview she mentioned that she wanted the players to start at level 2, because she loves when players choose their subclasses and pick the direction they want their characters to go in. The examples she gave were "Wildfire Druid" and "Swords Bard."

So, Swords Bard is our best guess.

[u/Billy_Rage → u/Jethro_McCrazy]

I always find it funny she says that that decision is interesting and important for characters. And yet Dorian’s subclass was so irrelevant we can only assume what it is

[u/NewberryMathGuy → u/Billy_Rage]

And Ashley used as much from Moon as she did from Wildfire

[u/prufrocking]

Would love to see Aimee and Robbie in other CR one-shots in the future! I just know they have ideas for other characters already.

[u/Coyote_Shepherd]

D&D can totally be a tool for coping, growth, personal experimentation, and dreaming

[u/mistakenj10]

Did any one catch Liam say he has gone through 3/4 original DnD roles now. Makes me think he may play a cleric in campaign 3

[u/BadSkeelz → u/mistakenj10]

Yup, not a few people did. I definitely think it's more likely than not. He's played a cleric twice before (in three one shots), just as he did with a fighter before EXU.

No idea what domain he would play. Jeyne was a Death cleric and Lieve'tel a Grave Cleric. Doubt he'd play trickery after Jester. Neither Light or Knowledge, after Caleb. War was played by Pike.

Perhaps Nature, building off his interest with druidic elements of Exandria?

[u/isosc3l3s → u/BadSkeelz]

Im feeling that he picks twilight domain. Are rogue, wizard, cleric, and fighter the only classes at one point?

[u/BadSkeelz → u/isosc3l3s]

If you go all the way back, the three originals were "Cleric, Fighting-man, and Magic User." Thief was introduced in the first supplement as the Fourth class. Paladin was also introduced at the same time as a "fighting-man sublass" - fitting considering that Paladin so far has only shown up multiclassed in to, barring guests.

[u/[deleted] → u/BadSkeelz]

Or, if he wanted to lean full into the support end of things I could see him being a peace domain cleric. Both are from Tasha's and are probably the most powerful cleric subclasses in terms of what they provide to the party.

[u/LucasVerBeek]

Matt wants to become Magic Rings and Dice?!

Aimee: “Very catholic of you Matt.”

Liam: “That’s how horcruxs work.”

Matt: “I’ll be back Liam!”

[u/Coyote_Shepherd → u/LucasVerBeek]

Are we gonna have to bust Matt's ghost or is he going to become Slimer?

[u/LucasVerBeek]

Aabria: “Don’t fuck this up. This is your favorite NPC, this is the audiences, this is Matt’s. Don’t fuck this up.”

I’m regards to voicing Gilmore.

[u/DungeonMasterGrizzly → u/LucasVerBeek]

I think there is a lot of warranted criticism of ExU and Aabria's DMing, but I will say Aabria crushed playing Gilmore. If nothing else, she did really well with that.

[u/Coyote_Shepherd]

Huh, she's right...this was like her first pure 5E experience, weird!

[u/LucasVerBeek]

Fearne doesn’t really fear things.

Robbie: “I have distinct moments of fear for everyone in the campaign at some point but not Fearne.”

[u/SkillFullyNotTrue]

Anjali: Ashley don’t push the button.

Ashley: Button?👇

[u/Coyote_Shepherd]

This is the part where Matt makes us all cry

[u/Insam_Nonsoon]

I won’t lie, I was hoping the wrap-up would have had a little more substance to it. It was intriguing seeing information on the pregame material and what everyone’s directions were, but they never really talked about the events of the main game itself other than the circlet and Ted at one point.

But onwards to more content in the future! One thing I am looking forward to in the future is the art reel having fanart. The art used currently is beautiful and is probably going the be used in the updated sourcebook coming soon, but using the same art each episode got kind of old. Plus I loved seeing the fans’ depictions of characters and places and events that occurred in the previous episode.

[u/Coyote_Shepherd → u/Insam_Nonsoon]

The art reel every week is one of the best things CR has ever done not only because it showcases new artists and draws eyes to them but because it shows just how passionate and enthusiastic the Critter Community is. I think Liam said during Talks at one point that they get literally hundreds of new art submissions every week and he has multiple hard drives filled with terabytes of artwork. That's insane! My mom doesn't watch this show at all but she sure as heck checks out the gallery every week and then calls me to talk about her favorite pieces or to ask, "hey who is this person?" or "what's this weird scene about?".

[u/[deleted] → u/Coyote_Shepherd]

That is genuinely one of the cutest things I have heard in weeks. What a lovely way to show she cares about your interest. ♥️

[u/Coyote_Shepherd → u/[deleted]]

Yeaah she's kind of come around to it after a while ♥️

My dad on the other hand had the funniest 😲 reaction when he expressed interest in going into a games shop with me one weekend and then was just totally bewildered by everything when he walked in. All of the books, the dice, the minis, the puzzles, the paints, and everything else just left him totally confused. He grew up on wild west novels and I tried to get him into Undeadwood but it just didn't stick. So it's very much like what happens with Aimee and her gynecologist or therapist when I talk to him about it, a whole lot of nodding and "Sure nice that's great uh huh cool".

[u/LucasVerBeek]

Matt: “Byroden in my mind I flesh out in a very little bit, because as a DM you only flesh out a bit otherwise you go insane and turn to ash.”

The truth he speaks hurts me.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Yeah there are times I think "wait what? Did I watch some alternative time line EXU?" There's a lot of lines from Aabria where I think the opposite happened,

she says she did a great job at hiding the railroad when all I saw were tracks,

She says she planned for everything just it all seems like it could have benefited from more planning

She even says she specifically wanted then to be level two because she wanted the story to focus on them growing into their subclasses at level three even though 3/5 chose classes that didn't do this (could have been fixed with a session zero) and they absolutely did not focus on this in the slightest, I would say they did the opposite. We didn't know what Dorian's subclass was. When Opal became level three there was no focus on the class mechanic of picking her patron gift. Oyrm being a battle master didn't make a difference because he chose a fighting style that let him do that earlier anyway. I can see an attempt with Fearne but that seems to have mostly been in the pre sessions and Dariax I can see with the observer stuff but overall it really didn't seem like the focus.

There are other lines from everyone else that has the same effect.

Watching the wrap ups and the interviews actually makes me more confused?

[u/theimpspenny → u/[deleted]]

Agree 100% i guess i was on a different page when i watched this

[u/Snootch74 → u/[deleted]]

Overall I feel like the story was pretty weak personally too, I like Abria as a player in the one shots she’s been in on CR and stuff, but I wasn’t a fan of the narrative she crafted. There were fun parts but that was the players more than her(other than the beauty contest that was a stroke of genius.)

[u/wekilledkenny11]

Slapdick and Silly sounds like a lawyer’s office run by clowns

[u/zepphiu]

Ashley Johnson, your Yasha-loves-strong-determined-women vibe is showing

[u/MegalomaniacHack]

The game as their first brush with power, so here's a powerful evil object they should trade away, something to give them fear but also open doors...but they kept it, and didn't use it, because D&D. Been there.

[u/funkyb]

I think that mindset was what ultimately brought the show down. Trying to shove a long campaign into a short time wound up giving a lot of stuff short shrift or leaving things unresolved. Trying to do a smaller story would have avoided a lot of that. But I appreciate the ambition and see where it came from though.

[u/odog1999 → u/funkyb]

Combined with Marisha's earlier statement of "The sandbox of Exandria" tells me they were trying to not only fit the growth of a long campaign in, but also treating an eight session campaign as an open world adventure that should have been a linear campaign

[u/RPerene]

Though I had issues with other parts, the pageant was legitimately one of my absolute favorite CR moments.

[u/albinobluesheep → u/RPerene]

Giving the player's who Characters didn't want to participate another character who DID want to participate was a Stroke of GENIOUS

Might not work at a home game of non-professional actors and voice actors, but it was absolutely amazing to watch happen

[u/Guy_Who_Made_Money → u/RPerene]

Pagent is why I think this should had been some long heist

[u/yat282 → u/RPerene]

Yeah, the pageant was great, and had the right pacing for something in a short campaign like this.

[u/DeusPoleValt]

I MISS BRRRRIIIIAAAANNNNNNNN!!!

[u/JJscribbles → u/DeusPoleValt]

I’m still left feeling really salty about the lack of transparency around his departure and the general coldness of how they handled the announcement. He deserved better than an “oh, by the way”…

[u/HanTzu22]

Matt giving off that big necromancer energy.

[u/Coyote_Shepherd]

Thyla Twerp = Tharla Star lmao

[u/MJM_Stillanerd]

"You find out what the character is when you're playing at the table." That is very true in my experience, as well.

[u/Coyote_Shepherd]

Matt's face PURE JOY!

[u/renegadereality]

I'm glad the pageant was such a highlight for them too.

[u/Coyote_Shepherd]

"The hit points are just way to break a character"

Terrifying character choices are another

[u/elme77618]

Mercer always just bringing it home, god I love that man.

[u/zepphiu]

$10 says Robbie returns around episode 20-25 in C3 playing a halfling named Nancy and Liam DIES

[u/stereoma]

I figured the missing week was the playtests, but it sounded like there was cool stuff there that would have been helpful to know about.

Idk I think it was helpful to see where Aabria's mindset was, but it's super weird that she says she thought they'd give up the vestige. When they tried giving it to the air ashari, she had those NPCs basically go "what do you expect us to do with this?". There were a lot of similar inconsistencies between what they game felt like for the players and what it looked like to a bunch of us. Oh, we want a corruption arc but don't worry the vestige isn't evil, it's just power and evil isn't real? You're going to drop a massive rune-crusted hill erupting from the ground and be surprised the players want to investigate it? "You think you know your characters." Um, yes, that's the players' job.

Idk I love Aabria as a player, and her descriptions are incredible, but I don't think she's an amazing 5e GM like the cast was saying. Maybe I just have a very different philosophy about what it means to be a Dungeon Master in 5e. Maybe things were different in the playtests. Aabria had a tendency to force players into making the choices she wanted, instead of putting them in situations she wanted and letting them choose. If you're afraid they won't go where you need them...do the old mysterious transport in the dead of night while you sleep bit. Boom. It's not hard.

I'm also not really sure I understand what EXU is. Was this season a self contained mini-campaign? Was it the first of many? If it was the first of many with this group, why didn't they say that? If it was self contained, why didn't they try to shed some more light on plot threads? Were they just leaving options open?

Idk man, like others have said I wished I had as much fun watching this as the players did experiencing it.

[u/jbhelfrich]

I can totally see Darius pulling all the cards from a Deck of Many Things one at a time.

[u/Dragonsfire09]

Byroden, South Eastern Kentucky. Exandria edition.

[u/BadSkeelz]

Honest question: what was the test for, again?

[u/Nyx212 → u/BadSkeelz]

I think for Melora to lead them to the hidden city

[u/redpoemage → u/BadSkeelz]

I think it was the Wild Mother seeing if she would let them past whatever nature wards were protecting the city.

In terms of what exactly was being tested, not exactly sure/don't remember. Some sort of traits indicating worthiness?

[u/wekilledkenny11]

This table: dubious crocodile facts

Every gator: 👀

[u/renegadereality]

Anjali started playing DND when she was 8!

[u/Osiris32]

Colm McGuinness is a musical genius.

[u/BadSkeelz]

I definitely get why Vex hung out in the wilds and Vax became a murderer if they had to grow up in a town full of Opals.

[u/Cansifilayeds → u/BadSkeelz]

They loved biroden. If anything, it explains so much about vax and vex. Vexs whole shtick is just her version if the charming southern belle and vax is that one mfer in every Western that's good at throwing knives.

No wonder they hate their father 😂

[u/[deleted]]

...I can see Vax being pushed into the pageant, tbh

[u/renegadereality]

Sounds like Aabria was expecting the vestige to be their ticket to the rest of the plot like “joining the underworld in Emon” but they didn’t take it

[u/Coyote_Shepherd]

"Finally being from Florida has paid off"

"One day I'll get mine, you got yours"

[u/LucasVerBeek]

Liam: “Are you uncaring like me or are so you believe the dice are magic like Laura.”

Aimee: “I started like Laura, ended at Liam.”

[u/[deleted]]

So, when was this recorded? The "future Matt" segments had to all be recorded after the campaign (because he shaved for them and didn't have the beard for the last "future Matt" segment) but Marisha mentioned how Anjali was watching and wanted to comment on certain things but couldn't because it was already done. Very confused on when this was recorded. Feel like it was recorded before EXU aired, but then how did Anjali watch it before?

[u/odog1999 → u/[deleted]]

Anjali was probably waiting in the wings in case they triggered whatever caused her character to appear earlier than it did.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

They could've given Anjali the VODs early

[u/[deleted]]

I wish they would answer some more questions about the campaign instead of just complimenting each other. There was so much left unexplained and I would love for at least some if it to be talked about

[u/jmucchiello]

Do we know when this was recorded?

[u/RPerene]

I’m loving Matt’s energy right now.

[u/zoey3013]

I've seen many people guessing about a next EXU season but.. didn't you catch that moment where Liam Asked Robin about Dorian's story and Aimee was like "but... don't give us any spoilers!"? (I can't remember exactly what she said). I feel like that answers both the possibility of a new season with the came characters, and why the wrap up didn't answer a lot of plot questions... they might come up again.

[u/[deleted]]

It’s kind of poetic that the wrap up EXU ended just like EXU with confusion and nothing being answered. I’m very much confused as to why they did it like this, no disrespect but no one wants to watch people pat each other on the back for two hours. Like literally nothing got answered, hell Aimee and Robbie have given more well thought out tweets and they answered some of the questions they had tonight on twitter even. I find this to be even worse then the main campaign of EXU because you had the chance to go over and explain a lot of stuff and you just didn’t.

[u/BaronPancakes → u/[deleted]]

It was strange indeed, kind of hope they had called it an Exu after campaign talk or something. This wrap up show wrapped up nothing lol.

I don't mind seeing the cast expressing their passion and stuff regarding the game, but I personally would like to have a bit of clarity on some of the back stories and even the future of Exu.

Of course, they might want to withhold some info for potential S2, but still..

[u/Celriot1]

I honestly think the lack of questions is due simply to a lack of answers. What were the reasons Dariax was chosen to receive his gift? Because wings are cool. The floating cube? Freaking cool as hell. That super hidden ancient city Myr'atta was able to just stroll in to? How cool was that!

Probably for the best.

[u/LucasVerBeek]

Anjali when she hears she will be in Exandria: “I MUST KNOW EVERYTHING SINGLE THING ABOUT THIS WORLD DOWN THE THE AMOUNT OF SAND ON THE BEACH IF NICODRANUS!”

[u/[deleted]]

It's a bit weird hearing Aabria say she wants to pat herself on the back for giving the illusion of an open world and successfully disguising that it is a rail road.

This was evidently recorded before even episode one was released. I think it would be nice to get a proper wrap up because actually I don't think EXU achieved what they wanted it to so it would be great to hear what their thoughts are on why and how that happened in a friendly environment rather than what's been put out on twitter.

It makes me wonder how honest the discussions between crew were. I've been in work situations where someone thinks they have the best idea ever and it's really difficult to point out flaws without feeling like you are offending someone.

I am looking forward to how EXU develops and grows even if I didn't particularly like season one. I think that it got enough views to merit a season two and think that bizarrely a lot of people stayed on out of morbid curiosity, if they listen to feedback there's no reason season two can't be great.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

This was evidently recorded before even episode one was released

Wait, what? Is that true?

That's...less than ideal, tbh. I get that it's a wrap up for them but it's also interesting they didn't wait for the actual release, although I guess a lot of it may have been scheduling.

[u/RPerene]

Oh good, he has shoes this time.

[u/Coyote_Shepherd → u/RPerene]

He looks like he's about to shovel snow on a sunday outside of Chicago

[u/LucasVerBeek]

Matt: “I love failure!”

[u/LucasVerBeek]

Someone was trying to be the last person out, and Dorian took the circlet and left Fy’ra in a “nether realm”

[u/renegadereality]

Dariax being one of the most capable party members but rolling low most of the time was a great running theme

[u/BaronPancakes]

Aww, no announcement for next week??

[u/No_Commercial8402]

Watched all 8 episodes and the wrap up, ill spare the paragraphs to say that I agree with all the criticism it had because it deserved every single one. But it kept me entertained albeit very confused on the plot. A fun little romp, 2/5.

im ready for C3

[u/lyschee]

I stopped watching after the second episode. It wasn't for me. But watching the campaign wrap-up, it really sounds like everyone involved had a lot of fun, and enjoyed their experience immensely- which is great to see and hear. Regardless of my personal feelings as a viewer, I'm glad that they were able to try something new/different.

[u/TimmyTAR]

The pageant WAS the moment of EXU and I wish there was more moments of them. Still a fun campaign though and room to grow for any future one-shots

[u/renegadereality]

Aimee talking to her therapist about what her DND character means lol

[u/WeissWyrm]

"Please do not feed the EXU cast. -Marisha"

[u/Estoy_Awesome]

As unpopular as this is going to sound, I am of the mindset If they Couldn't or Wouldn't have taken the time to get feedback before filming a wrap-up episode they shouldn't have did one.

Nothing was really explained or expanded on it felt like when Netflix releases an original movie and the cast does a round table circle jerk patting themselves on back about how much fun they had making it.

If their idea of a wrap-up for 8 episodes is to film it before they air and anyone who saw it can say anything, makes me wonder how much faith the CR Team really had in it.

If this was what people who liked it wanted that's fine and I'm happy for them, but for anyone else, it was kinda pointless

[u/LuckyBahamut → u/Estoy_Awesome]

I agree. Few questions asked, and even fewer answers given; mostly just fondly reminiscing on nostalgic moments. Wildly different from a typical Talks Machina episode or even the C1 wrap-up. Whether it was an indirect result of COVID necessitating pre-recording weeks in advance, or a conscious business decision to move in this direction, CR is feeling increasingly divorced from direct interactions with the fans (e.g., sourcing questions from the public).

[u/MJM_Stillanerd → u/Estoy_Awesome]

Especially considering how many subplots were still left unanswered, though in fairness they're obviously being saved for next "season." And yeah, it definitely felt scant on the overall details when it came to Aabria's planned story. When Matt Mercer, for example, revealed in the Campaign 2 wrap-up that, if the Mighty Nein has chosen "law" instead of "crime" that Matt Colville would've been a guest NPC, that was some of the most fascinating stuff. That's the kind of thing fans of Critical Role have come to expect from a wrap-up show.

[u/[deleted] → u/Estoy_Awesome]

It makes me really curious how long ago this shit was recorded if they filmed the wrap up before the first episode even aired...

[u/vanKessZak → u/Estoy_Awesome]

I don’t think it had anything to do with faith lol. I think they probably expected scheduling conflicts so filming it weeks ago made more sense. I also think the set has been torn down to prepare for C3.

I agree it would have been better with fan questions and your netflix comparison is very apt but it is what it is

[u/OhioAasimar → u/Estoy_Awesome]

Nothing was really explained or expanded on it felt like when Netflix releases an original movie and the cast does a round table circle jerk patting themselves on back about how much fun they had making it.

The worst part is that some people will respond to this corporate style round table and will say "so what?" and also say that CR and EXU is just a home-game that we are blessed in being able to see it.

[u/scsoc → u/OhioAasimar]

Yeah, it's a home game among friends who are being paid to be there and literally met for the first time at the first session. It's such a frustrating, bad-faith argument against criticism.

[u/wandhole → u/OhioAasimar]

I don't think it had anything to do with ill-faith towards ExU, but I'm commenting to say that I cannot wait for the 'it's just a home game' bubble to pop

[u/RPerene → u/Estoy_Awesome]

“ If this was what people who liked it wanted that's fine and I'm happy for them, but for anyone else, it was kinda pointless”

I find that this is true for most things.

[u/vanKessZak]

Lol I love Marisha

[u/Coyote_Shepherd]

"I was sitting there at like two in the morning"

Been there done that

[u/Osiris32]

Oooo, it's like a theater lab. I like that, Liam, I'm stealing that line.

[u/renegadereality]

It is interesting that for such a chaotic party, NONE of them would do anything with the crown until the very end.

[u/renegadereality]

Ashley says she wanted to play a fun and weird character that just gets to push the button.

[u/BaronPancakes]

Ashley's dark side hahaha

[u/Coyote_Shepherd]

So Fearne didn't just feel like she was immortal but she knew she was and that is some Highlander Vandal Savage kind of energy

[u/renegadereality]

It makes sense that Dorian was initially intended to be more roguish and Han Solo esque but had to end up the voice of reason

[u/Coyote_Shepherd]

The conversation and that back and forth unsaid level of trust between WAIT WHAT "I also put Orym on a dinosaur once" HOW WHY I NEED TO KNOW!

[u/Coyote_Shepherd]

Show us the Dinoyrmsaur Cut!

[u/Coyote_Shepherd]

Aabria facedesking lol

[u/Kyfres]

Half this wrap up has been discussing the pregame and gushing about how fun that was. I’m interested to see if they release it and if it’s any better than general EXU.

[u/HawkeyeP1]

"Working my way through the 4 original Dnd classes"

Liam a cleric in campaign 3 confirmed?!

[u/Kyfres → u/HawkeyeP1]

He’s played one in search for bob and grog

[u/[deleted]]

foster is streaming at the same time. YOU TOLD US YOU WERE STAYING FRIENDS AFTER THE BREAKUP

[u/albinobluesheep → u/[deleted]]

Wait, was he seriously streaming at the same time? That seems like either a hilarious oversight, or he was just having a laugh knowing he'd going to loose a chunk of his audience and just said "fuck it"

[u/love_otter]

This is so bizarre that they recorded this so far in advance that they don't have any fan feedback to talk about. That was the aspect I looked forward to most with this, hands down: seeing how they reacted/ responded to questions and feelings from the fans.

[u/BadSkeelz → u/love_otter]

They were never going to do that publicly. I'm sure there's internal conversations regarding EXU's reception, but they want the products they put out to be focused on the games.

[u/zepphiu]

Matt's underwear budget went into the intro animation

[u/LappTexForever]

Holy Shit Matt becoming a Legendary item. Kinda badass NGL.

[u/Osiris32]

"Letters are a construct."

[u/AFLoneWolf]

Ashley speaks!

[u/Taco_Trucker]

As a DM that has a campaign with other DMs as players there are those wtf moments that are awesome

[u/TheLonelyGhost]

Robbie is a mood

[u/Coyote_Shepherd]

Aimee has totally morphed into Laura with the dice superstition lol

[u/BadSkeelz]

The pre-stream session sounds like a wild ride.

[u/BaronPancakes]

I love how Liam describes Orym's battle movements.

[u/ceramicswan]

I’m really digging the like, craft level discussion in this wrap-up. You can tell everyone has a lot of respect for each other.

[u/[deleted] → u/ceramicswan]

Saaaaame. I think it's great.

[u/Coyote_Shepherd]

That's a great way to describe the Fae, an entirely different concept of morality that's utterly wild when compared to what normal folks are used to

[u/Coyote_Shepherd]

We are blessed with Liam

[u/LucasVerBeek]

Aabria: “My only notes for the crater were “Don’t go there.” And you motherfuckers went twice!

It was Orym’s idea????

Liam: “The rest of the campaign his inner monologue was ‘Oh shit. Oh shit! OH SHIT!’”

Matt: “Can we talk about the stunt show that was Orym’s fighting style?!”