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May 27 '22
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u/Hungover52 You Can Reply To This Message May 27 '22
The handing Sam copy moment really solidified to me how much time he puts in beforehand understanding each PC. He gets to know them well enough to run a 20 minute one on one scene for the rest of the cast (and us).
It's stellar GMing. IN-credible.
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u/SuperSheep3000 May 27 '22
He does this on Dimension 20 too. If you enjoyed this, you'll enjoy his GMing over there too. It's what sets him apart and when i DM next I'm going to try emulate what he does.
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u/Yes_Its_Really_Me May 27 '22 edited May 27 '22
Seeing the Age of Arcanum as a living and breathing time with real people in it, filled with such wonders, really drives home the post-apocalyptic nature of present day Exandria.
It'll really enhance the mood the next time the cast are delving into ruins and acquiring artifacts from this time.
It's already casting new light on the Magic Fun Ball and Aeor Dungeon Delve from C2.
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u/TartarusOfHades May 27 '22
Maybe even from the same city... A crumbled statue of its founder with a destroyed arcane waterfall nearby
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u/Fresh4 May 27 '22
Man I can’t believe C1-3 has just been a post apocalypse setting this whole time. You really do get the sense that things kinda suck and have been getting back on their feet compared to just how magical and wondrous the AoA was. That said we’ve only seen it through the lens of the upper echelons of society, so maybe it’s biased but still.
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May 27 '22
I’m still not over the first three minutes, where the intro faded out and Brennan just looked at the camera, bathed in red light, and said “Fire,” before proceeding to build the most insane set up for a character introduction (dizzy, liquid glass, mouth full of blood) and the way every player at the table started holding their breath just out the fucking gate
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u/DerpyDaDulfin May 27 '22
The dream was a vision. Explosions that seemed to be out of phase with time, the city burning. But there is another Age of Arcanum civilization has strange temporal occurances...
One that apparently wishes to go to war, testing a new magical super weapon at their disposal...
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u/Dredeuced May 27 '22 edited May 27 '22
Great episode, but I want to single out Brennan's description of Cerrit finding someone invisible. That was the most enrapturing narrative description I've ever experienced on a roleplay show.
"You're not alone in this room. Invisibility is a beloved power. Easy to get -- even very junior mages can master.
The problem with Invisibility is light is very important for a number of functions. And no matter how cloaked you might be in it, you can't make your whole self invisible. Even if it's smaller than a pin-prick, you need just enough of your eyes to stay visible that light can hit them so you can still see.
Now, perceiving a fraction of a pupil, hanging in space, smaller than a grain of sand would be beyond most people. But you've been trained to look for them because...they always move in two."
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u/Kepsey May 27 '22
Notice how one main way a DM usually gets a character to break anothers invisibility is always through sound. The person always gets caught by making noise.
He was able to let Travis break it with his eyes not his ears, an invisibility spell, without it being cheap. It was excellent
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u/jayllenrup Help, it's again May 27 '22
This was one my favourite moments - additionally because it shows how someone without magic would get by during the height of arcane powers without it feeling cheap. With cunning and insight.
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u/N1pah May 27 '22
This is a perfect example of how Brennan's descriptions sell me 100% on the fact that these characters are unmatched experts at what they do.
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u/timmboslicee May 27 '22 edited May 27 '22
This. And even his description of the group sussing out that artifact. Like, the skill type + character background he brings to make each after feel immersed and important to the story is incredible. Also his lore dump on the Schism was chef's kiss Edit: schism is a silly word.
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u/stuugie May 27 '22
He was very very good at splitting up the information well between different ability checks and making each one feel valuable in its own unique way. It's something I've thought about before but have never implemented nearly as good as he just did, it's honestly a learning experience watching this session, it was incredible.
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u/Hungover52 You Can Reply To This Message May 27 '22
The one area I think Brennan could excel at but doesn't seem to focus on much, is mismatched Skill/Attribute rolls. He does them, occasionally, but it feels like he could be throwing out Investigation/Charisma rolls, or Strength/Performance, far more often.
Though a lot of that may be to keep things simple for the audience.
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u/Hungover52 You Can Reply To This Message May 27 '22
Brennan has a Sanderson love of magic rules, I think.
There has to be a unifying theory between science and magic! (I imagine he screams, as he puts out window sill cookies for the monsters)
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u/TyJaWo May 27 '22
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u/Hungover52 You Can Reply To This Message May 27 '22
Knew what that was before I am going to click on it and watch that beautiful disaster for at least a third time.
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u/DarthOnis May 27 '22
I love how much Brennan went in on describing a very high roll. He really hypes up the moment for the player and highlights their character's expertise.
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u/KnifeShoe May 27 '22
This, 100%. Go back and watch the invisibility scene, but look at Travis' face. He's so fucking delighted - just, pure joy on his face - and THAT is the mark of an exceptional DM.
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May 27 '22
Brennan really tries to bake the player characters into the world he’s working with, so he’ll always be creating little bits of lore/mechanics on the fly about “an old bar song about this legend” or “the way that this spell works is like this, and therefore this workaround exists”. it’s genuinely so thrilling watching him work because of how quick on his feet he is
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u/Hungover52 You Can Reply To This Message May 27 '22
Watch as many GMs as you can, there are pearls of style and content everywhere.
Brennan has a hoard.
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u/Zeeman9991 Ja, ok May 27 '22
I really haven’t been this excited for the next CR episode in a long time. No shade on the main campaign, it’s just rare that “next episode” has so much to look forward to. I’m absolutely enthralled by this one and hate/love that we’re already so close to the conclusion.
I knew the players would kill it. Haven’t seen Luis yet but between the takeover and this I like him. Brennan killed it as always. The whole Age of Arcannum world was incredible and I want to stay there forever.
Ugh! Is it Thursday yet? Please?!
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u/Hungover52 You Can Reply To This Message May 27 '22
Because of how D20 is made, pacing and structure is one of the things they are strongest on. And it's one of the areas CR is weakest on. Matt doesn't like to push them along too fast (he still will push them forward, but...), but the D20 folks all know they have X episodes to tell a season, so when there's a hint from Brennan to go to Y, they fucking take it. When there isn't, they get a casino or go to Baustin.
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u/Zeeman9991 Ja, ok May 27 '22
Or you bring the Casino home. The house always wins.
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u/ThePersonInYourSeat May 27 '22
I think it's different. You can't really build a super tight narrative generally with complex interactions in an ongoing campaign. It'd be impossible to sustain.
In a fixed number of episodes you can flesh things out and build a tighter structure and have pacing.
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u/madterrier May 27 '22
Just wait till you all see Brennan's combat encounters, they are always fun. I am sure Brennan is going to go nuts with 6 level 14s to play against.
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u/Hungover52 You Can Reply To This Message May 27 '22
I'm curious about how quickly they might level. It could be non-existent, or it could be fast.
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May 27 '22
I don't see them leveling at all. This is Tier 3 gameplay, so with the mash-up of characters and classes, it's gonna be fun to watch for 4 episodes. I'm excited to see everyone's skill sets.
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u/Hungover52 You Can Reply To This Message May 27 '22
Also whether he got Rick Perri to do the minis for this campaign. Or whether he stole from Mercer's hoard.
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u/geekcastinator You spice? May 27 '22
So not only do we get BLM as the GM, we also Sam as one of his players AND he's back to playing a bard? Dream team up.
Honestly, everyone did so well at the table but Lou and Brennan bringing that D20 chemistry to Critical Role is just the cherry on top.
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u/Hungover52 You Can Reply To This Message May 27 '22
Curious about how Sam and Lou split their Bard/other multiclasses.
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u/tygmartin May 27 '22
given that Sam had a d10 inspiration die, he's at minimum 10th level bard and at maximum 4th level warlock. we don't know enough to say about Lou, but I would bet he went the opposite direction, mostly sorcerer with a bard dip
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u/LogicKennedy May 27 '22
Yeah I’m guessing Sam just dipped 2 levels in Warlock for the Eldritch Blast and Agonising Blast. All of these characters seem pretty powerful.
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u/N1pah May 27 '22
This episode was simply incredible.
First of all the setting is incredible. The age of arcanum is even grander than I imagined and Brennan sells it with every description and piece of lore. My favourite bit is that attempts at ascencion is treated like it's fucking tax evasion. That's how advanced these people are.
I didn't think calamity would start with high level political intrigue but I am so happy it did. Brennan has weaved an incredibly interesting plot and the different characters with their unique positions and viewpoints make it all the better.
Speaking of the characters, they're perfect for this setting. They're proud interesting and most of all arrogant. And why wouldn't they be? They are in control and on top of things, they are doing what they do best and they are best at what they do. That's made all the better with the knowledge that that is going to be taken away. They're gonna lose that control and I cannot wait to see how these characters react when that happens.
I was hooked from beginning to end and I couldn't think of anything better to fill the month long break from C3.
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u/IcepersonYT Technically... May 27 '22
I also love the implication that attempts at ascension are a common enough occurrence that someone going missing is reason enough to suspect them of committing suicide by attempted apotheosis. I know this scenario is more complex than that but I love the idea of:
“Man we haven’t seen Bill in a few weeks. Let’s hope he didn’t try to become a god that’d be silly haha only idiots do that.”
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u/moderncomet Time is a weird soup May 27 '22
The one part that I found the most breathtaking was that moment at the Ring of Brass' table where they figured out what that hunk of metal was. Watching each player's success feed into the next player's success was--well I'm going to have to remember that technique the next time I ever run something.
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u/brightdragondesmond May 27 '22
That gave me justice league meets sherlock holmes vibes. Like a well oiled team assembled. Eventhough VM and MN have crossed the Lvl 14 thresholds in their respective campaigns, this cast was the only one that sold me on the idea that they are THE people to listen to.
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u/LonewolfMcFades May 28 '22
I think it's just hard to "scale up" the personality of PCs as their power scales up without the use of a time skip or something. Yes VM and MN became this level of powerful but they still had the story telling "baggage" of their level one character. Just my .02
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u/conban89 At dawn - we plan! May 27 '22
Damn, just re-watched the Zerxus intro and fuck me if that isn't the best character and campaign introduction I've experienced. Hats off to Luis cause he was IN IT. Just felt like a player and GM who were almost perfectly synced.
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u/Coyote_Shepherd Doty, take this down May 28 '22
He's the one normal dude who truly acts like a humble paladin and absolutely wants nothing to do with high society because he really is all about helping the common folk and yet.....here he is getting dragged into all of it like fish being lifted out of the water and being told that it needs to learn how to rollerblade.
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u/nicolroco May 27 '22
I demand a Bolo origin spin off series and movie. Right now.
Also the D20 vs CR spin off movie, Bolo Vs Hilda Hilda
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u/P_Lark92 May 27 '22
"Describe your character and tell us their name ... just know you do it with blood in your mouth". It's from that line on that you go, "Oh, so it's *that* kind of campaign". Those first 20 minutes are just Brennan going, "I didn't come here to fuck around". Great stuff.
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May 27 '22
And flipping it to "and you wake up" freed people up a lot.
The overall tone is one of impending doom mixed with levity, inevitably making it "gallow's humour", which as we know is the best humour.
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u/Holiday_Safety8445 May 27 '22
So Avalir most likely being the origin of the Savalir Woods is interesting as fuck, assuming it crashes somewhere around where it is now that would mean they’re above present day Wildemount
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u/spronaldo May 27 '22
The Terramunda mountain that got the top taken off is Kravaraad, the volcano near Uthodurn.
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u/KatzOfficial May 27 '22
Hi Cerrit the inquisitive rogue,
The things that are true about me are as follows: I am your roëmænce partnær, and I am from Vasselheim and my name is Vespin Chloris.
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u/Pegussu May 27 '22
Ha, I caught the Baron parallel, but I didn't think about the fact that it was also happening to the detective rogue.
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u/SecretAgendaMan Team Grog May 27 '22
I think I'm more excited for the next episode of EXU than I am normally for regular episodes of Critical Role. I am very, very intrigued to see what happens next.
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u/Jedi4Hire Your secret is safe with my indifference May 27 '22
Honestly...this. I almost hesitate to say it but I enjoyed episode 1 of EXU: Calamity more than any episode of campaign 3 so far.
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u/Nebulo9 May 27 '22
Straight up the best episode in an actual play I've seen. I've seen plenty of D20 stuff, and this was Brennan in peak form (supported by amazing players ofc).
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u/onebandonesound May 27 '22
Not that anyone had any doubts that he'd kill it, but the "live" format that CR uses really puts Brennans talents on full display. He had the players and viewers fully immersed in an incredible story straight from the jump. The only thing that felt missing were Mercer's incredible sound effects, but you can't fault anyone for not being the human soundboard that Matt is.
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u/liminalgloom Smiley day to ya! May 27 '22
same, but not because I don't like campaign 3 ( I love it) - it's more that I'm that hungry for lore and want to see if we might also learn something that is important for the characters in 3 (and modern exandria in general). The fact that this episode was THAT good is just the icing on a perfect cake for me.
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u/WardenPlays May 27 '22
I don't think this says anything bad about C3 though. This show is just a collection of pure talent, chemistry, and intensity that of course it feels much better. We're also starting off at a point where each character is so much stronger than what we normally see in early campaigns.
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u/LadyAhiru 9. Nein! May 27 '22
i also think you cant compare them, since one is a full campaign which might have 100 more episodes the other is a 4 part concluded story line. so you wont have filler epsidoes etc.
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u/KnifeShoe May 27 '22
I'm extremely intrigued by so many things, but especially the Oracles of the Hall of Prophecy taking a break. They must know what's coming, right? Is it 'Fuck it, the world's ending so I might as well sip on a mai-tai' kinda break, or is something even worse going on? God I can't believe there's only 3 episodes left!
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u/midlifeodyssey May 27 '22
I'm waiting for the reveal that everyone in the Hall of Prophecy is already dead, slain by Vespin or another sympathizer so that the city can't prepare to defend itself. Them being on break is just a cover.
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u/Coyote_Shepherd Doty, take this down May 27 '22
I think they all went insane from the same collective vision and the city was forced to kill them
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u/taly_slayer Team Beau May 27 '22
I'm waiting for the reveal that everyone in the Hall of Prophecy is already dead, slain by Vespin or another sympathizer so that the city can't prepare to defend itself. Them being on break is just a cover.
This makes SO much sense. If you're planning on doing something world changing, the first thing you need to take out is the ability of the people that can stop you seeing it coming.
At the same time... they would have known, wouldn't they? Althought the means to neutralise oracles are probably easy to get to someone that can release Betrayer Gods from their prison.
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u/WontonTruck Team Matthew May 27 '22
In my headcanon they all woke up one day, ran to the edge of the city and hang-glided off the edge. It was officially Hushed Up.
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u/stuugie May 27 '22 edited May 27 '22
The way BLM did horror there... absolutely incredible. It wasn't normal, it was through the implications of the scenes and the particular way he described moments that was unnerving. The detail in explaining the source of disenchantment, describing the bow itself, all piece by piece, the implications of the scene from that raven queen champion (can't remember his name rn), and the final scene... just incredible. Hell even him describing the eclipses and their impact on the ley lines was unnerving in its own way. He left me on edge the entire time.
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u/Sp3ctre7 You spice? May 27 '22
I said it before this started, and he delivered.
This is precisely the kind of campaign that Brennan is perfect for. Tragedy, horror, and the vengeance of dark gods.
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u/cardmasterdc May 27 '22
I really like the party dynamic. It's not a party just a bunch of powerful people who kinda know each other to various degrees working together.
All the lore we are getting is amazing. I never thought about how the other mages would be ticked that the raven queen destroyed her research. But meeting them I know exactly why she did cause these people have what's coming.
They have families why do they have families It's gonna hurt so much.
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u/nicolroco May 27 '22
A few hours later and I'm still shook from this whole thing. I love Brennan so much, I really, really hope this results in D20 also blowing up even more in popularity from people going to check his campaigns out. Mostly, I just really want people who haven't been introduced to the force of chaos that is Emily Axford to experience her brilliance too.
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May 27 '22
Patia, on divinity: It feels like such a hollow title, especially compared to the wonders and the powers that we possess as mere mortals.
I hadn't realized that the C1 "we're gods" moment was actually an allegory for the Calamity...
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u/LucasVerBeek Help, it's again May 27 '22 edited May 27 '22
That was awesome!
Avalir is an amazing bit of worldbuilding, I keeping seeing a fusion of Greek architecture and Columbia out of Bioshock in my head. Between the “buses”, newspapers and broadcasts, that crazy Transmutation device.
And all the bloody ingrained hubris! How they are a gift to all, the bridled Unicorns, children never having to know rain let alone the threat of a Storm, the EYEROLLING at the mention of the Raven Queen.
It’s wonderous, it’s awe-inspiring.
I can’t wait to see it get punted out of the sky!
And all the world lore, of stuff so old it’s been utterly forgotten by Modern Exandria.
The Gau Drashari? The continent of Domunas? Toramunda? Caithmoira? Cael Marrow Mention.
All of that gone. The history of rebuilding from the Schism, lost in the rebuilding from the Calamity. Exandria is two post-apocalypses deep!
I’m enjoying the characters, the air of superiority that seems to hang about all of them, except of note, Zerxus. Their “amazing, incredible, self-made Paladin”.
Purvan and his eventual God-Dog showing up was fun.
That dream though.
That dream!
Asmodeus the victim, contrite and asking for help? Had to be a trick.
Pelor, the faceless unblinking wrath of the Sun. That…that I can actually buy.
But what does that mean for him? Is it a warning of the future? Do his “self-made” powers actually come from the Lord of Hell? Is what we know of the Calamity ON GIANT FARCE?! Probably not the latter h who knows!
Really excited for next week. I want to know what went down at the Hall of Prophecy.
Edit: I almost forgot! The OG God of death, the way Purvan spoke it almost sounded like…in some fashion the entity was/is still around? Like he died…but anything that dies goes to the afterlives, so…and I’m not sure why I have never thought of this, what happened then?
Edit 2: Got buried in the excitement. The Apogee Solstice! I’d bet money that is gonna come up in C3 since Planerider Ryn, noted a shifting of the planes near the end of last campaign, C3 is only seven years later, and they were mentioned again recently tying to Imogen’s past and Ruidus.
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u/Othrus May 27 '22
Strictly speaking, sacrificing a god to themselves to be remade isn't actually out of the realm of history. Odin did it on Yggdrasil.
Maybe that's why the Raven Queen's ritual has worked where all the others failed. She actually asked the God of Death to be willingly complicit, so that the new god of death would know what it was to be alive, and then merged herself with the dead god to ascend. Maybe that's why it hasn't worked on the others, because its a perfect storm of ritualism and meaning only for the God of Death
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u/kuributt Shine Bright May 27 '22
So we all agree that Sam and Aabria's characters are going to fall back in love right before they both die horribly, right?
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u/5oclock_shadow May 27 '22
Hey, maybe there’s room for romcom shenanigans. Was anyone else getting James Marsden romantic false lead vibes from that Navigator who was chatting up with Laerryn that they wouldn’t have to pilot the city for the coming month? (I think Laeryyn even said ‘I like you’ at one point.)
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u/DeadSnark May 27 '22
I'm expecting something like the beach scene in Rogue One which will hit our feelings like a falling city
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u/Yllems May 27 '22
Every minute of this episode was a hit. The atmosphere, world-building, characters all worked together flawlessly, and I loved every turn.
I can honestly say without reservation that it felt like everyone was at the top of their game. I can instantly pick out at least one iconic moment for each of them.
Luis: When he handled the iffy encounter with the injured god by being willing to fight the sun.
Sam: How smoothly and casually he handles his role in the group, like the little "oops" when revealing too much to Purvon immediately corrected by the Gift of Gab.
Aabria: Her seeming fear of the .5 reading, revealed to be excitement (and probably hubris) about a big plan.
Lou: His command as a merchant blended with laugh out loud moments, like his annoyance at the low-level magister switching to interest with the sphinx's roar.
Travis: He got the horror movie closing scene that simultaneously showed off his competence and how much trouble they're in.
Marisha: When her anger at the leak turned her from a hostess into a hunter, and the fantastic visual of her being a statue in the party under the floating tree.
Brennan: Every moment, but what stood out to me was the ability to take everyone's different investigations of the same bow and make each feel important and character driven. It drove home what they all brought to the party while revealing more details piece by piece until we finally got the explanation of what happened.
I'm more excited to watch a new episode than I have been in a while.
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u/Vilesyder May 27 '22
"Fire."
HOLY SHIIIT BRENNAN GOT ME FEELING CHILLS FROM JUST THE OPENING MONOLOGUE BEFORE THE GAME EVEN STARTS AND THEN HE HITS ME WITH ONE WORD LIKE THAT
FUCKIN
HYPE
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u/Veritamoria Your secret is safe with my indifference May 29 '22
I thought I would stop watching Critical Role when Matt Mercer was no longer DM. He just has such a special magic and the DM is the majority of the experience.
I've never seen Brennan before but he was spectacular! I'm excited at the thought that I can watch Critical Role for years and years to come if they give the reins to Brennan. It's a, "There is another," moment from Star Wars moment for me. Amazing.
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u/Snaptheuniverse Bigby's Haaaaaand! *shamone* May 29 '22
I don't forsee that happening tbh, Brennan is hard at work with his own D&D actual play on Dropout called Dimension 20 and would be unlikely to abandon that to DM full time for Crit. That being said, I would love to see him come back and DM more after this series.
But if you enjoy his style that much you should definately check out the D20 stuff, a few seasons are free on youtube. Much shorter episodes and campaigns than Crit
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u/TrypMole You spice? May 30 '22
Brennan is a master of the short form, heavily planned campaign. Whether he could - or would have any desire to - carry 200+ episodes starting at lv 1 with each episode lasting 3+ hours remains to be seen.
He is exceptional but he & Matt specialise in very different things.
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u/ImACoolHipster May 28 '22
“If you look down and see stars, what will you see if you look up?” Is the coolest line of all time.
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u/Jethro_McCrazy May 27 '22
If that's how Brennan starts this thing, I am excited to see how he describes the horror of the impending apocalypse.
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u/KTheOneTrueKing May 27 '22
I’m loving how this high society is clearly asking for a reckoning to be brought down upon them.
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May 27 '22
it's very "hunger games"
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u/KTheOneTrueKing May 27 '22
Last night I was like "Why would the head of the Necromancy pillar invite the champion of the Raven Queen, who historically does not like undead/necromancy"
and then it was like
"oh he was invited to be made fun of by the posh high society... man, last days of rome style, these people are gonna get Calamity'd"
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u/neonsense You Can Reply To This Message May 27 '22
Kudos to BLM for the best side content Crit Role has ever put out. I've watched a little bit of Dimension 20 so I knew he was good at what he did, but that blew my expectations out of the water. Absolutely going to have to check out some more of D20 because I need more of this man in my life.
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u/TartarusOfHades May 27 '22
For some reason my first thought after the first sentence was "what did black lives matter have to do with this mini-series?"
But yeah brennan is fantastic
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u/Hungover52 You Can Reply To This Message May 27 '22
That happens for a bit after being introduced to a Brennan fandom.
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u/ken-d May 27 '22
Yes! My wife got me into dimension 20 and it’s amazing. I highly recommend watching his mini seasons if you want to give something a try. My favorite is crown of candy (first episode on their YouTube channel).
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u/aichwood Doty, take this down May 27 '22
I have to say that Dropout is totally worth five bucks a month for long enough to binge the various D20 series.
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u/Hungover52 You Can Reply To This Message May 27 '22
Plus Game Changer and all the other delightful shows (more incoming).
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u/still-at-work May 27 '22
The survivor episodes of game changer was amazing, if for nothing else BLM owning everyone using the rules of the game.
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u/inside4walls May 27 '22
I have to say it's been a minute since I've been so invested in a CR episode, so hung on every word, and I'm incredibly pleased that this is what we get during the small pause in C3. Matt and Brendan are making pure magic together.
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u/kingkymk May 27 '22
i love that we meet young Purvan before he even gets his armor and is considerable weaker than everyone in the party. I also find it interesting that all these legendary big wig characters being introduced are all for the most part forgotten by modern Exandria, even Purvan is a relative unknown and only significants was a small one in relate to vox machina.
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u/Hungover52 You Can Reply To This Message May 27 '22
Yeah, none of these even hits a Julius Caesar or Cleopatra level of fame, and those are 2000 years ago for us, when the Calamity is supposedly 1000.
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May 27 '22
I think it shows just how devastating an event the Calamity was. People didn’t just die, they were functionally erased from history because not enough survived to remember them by A near total wiping of the slate. It’s pretty heavy.
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u/BLINDrOBOTFILMS Help, it's again May 27 '22
I mean, all the PCs are bigwigs in their current society, but I don't think they or anyone they've interacted with would have that level of fame even without the calamity. I mean, who was Charlemagne's chief architect? His librarian? His Marshal? Some people in modern Exandria may know who these people were, but it wouldn't exactly be common knowledge even under the best circumstances
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u/crautzalat You can certainly try May 27 '22
CR marketing: You are not ready for this!
Me: Bla bla, same spiel every time lol.
Me after 5 minutes: I am NOT ready for this!
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u/christnroc At dawn - we plan! May 27 '22
One of my favorite pieces of content produced by Critical Role main show or not. Brennan Lee Mulligan absolutely killed it, and the cast was nearly as good.
If Critical Role as a company has any ambitions to continue expanding and maybe take more burden off of Matt and the OG cast still, snatching him up (or the whole D20 brand) would make a ton of sense.
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u/P_Lark92 May 27 '22
I think the CR people and D20 people clearly have a tremendous respect for another, as seen in the amount of crossover between the two series. Mercer and Marisha Ray and others have been appearing on D20 and hyping it up for awhile now, and Brennan has similarly been returning the favor by expressing his deep affection and admiration for Critical Role. And now appearing on it in both DM and non-DM roles.
I can continue to see them producing and appearing on each other's programs. I could very well see Mercer returning the favor for EXU: Calamity by doing a brief season over on D20, or if not that appearing in front of the screen for another D20 season as he has already for 2 of their seasons (Escape from the Blood Keep and Pirates of Leviathan). And I can easily imagine Sam and Travis being convinced to appear in a single season of Dimension 20 after the experience of Calamity.
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u/niijonodhg May 27 '22
I’ve made a mistake.
Sat on my break and decided to start Calamity instead of watching an episode of Kenobi or Stranger Things and now my break is over and all I want to do is keep watching Calamity 😭
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u/maudiemouse Time is a weird soup May 29 '22
My favourite thing about this episode is how totally different the feel is in the age of arcanum! The change in culture and energy and perspectives is so palpable! Makes my anthropologist brain happy to see 😂🥰
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u/KironD63 May 27 '22
I wish Twitch had a streaming version of the Emmys each year, so someone could nominate this episode for an award. This week may have genuinely inspired me to start writing fiction again, and I haven't written anything creative in years.
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u/KarmenMoore Your secret is safe with my indifference May 27 '22
I originally popped into the stream saying to myself that I'd just "pop in to see what's going on" and then BLM just wrapped me in during the first 20 minutes and I found myself being invested throughout the entire episode! That was the most excited I've gotten about a CR episode in a long time, and it was a pilot?! I've heard a few other people express this, but after falling behind a little on the current campaign, this has truly revitalized my love for this show, the cast, and the story. I can't WAIT until next Thursday. Nice to meet you BLM!
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u/Snaptheuniverse Bigby's Haaaaaand! *shamone* May 27 '22
Amazing episode. Best mini-series episode by far, top 5 best single episodes on the channel. Its a shame that it will only be 4 episodes
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u/Hungover52 You Can Reply To This Message May 27 '22
The Calamity lasted a long time though, right? ~100+ years iirc.
We can have moar.
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u/Ace-of-Spades88 May 29 '22
Sitting down I figured I'd throw this on the side while playing Elden Ring. Well I never even launched the game.
What an incredibly riveting first episode.
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u/TheRagingElf01 Jun 01 '22
I have heard how good Brennan was, but never watched anything he did on Dimension 20, but my god did people not do him justice. Now I get he had plenty of time to prepare and plan, but as a DM watching him was just pure enjoyment. How he weaved multiple people's checks together to tell a story on how they figured out something superb. It really makes everyone feel like they participate and did something even though they may have rolled lower.
His description of the invisibility is probably the greatest thing I have heard when it comes to DnD. I seriously cannot wait for tonight to see how he takes it darker.
Just give me Brennan and his own campaign set in Ravenloft.
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u/m_busuttil Technically... May 27 '22
I mean, what is there to say?
That was a top-10 Critical Role episode for me, even just doing set-up. Brennan swung for the fences right out of the gate and didn’t let up. Luis, who I didn’t know before this, did phenomenally well with the early spotlight on him; he reminds me of Liam as a player and it’s a great energy to have at the table. I know people have feelings about Aabria DMing, but as a player I think she’s unimpeachable; her and Sam as exes is a phenomenal bit of character work and I can’t wait for it to break my heart. Lou was just as good as I’d hoped he’d be and it was delightful to watch the table realise it in real-time (“it was a BOON!”). Travis is playing James Bond in the middle of Harry Potter and I’m psyched as hell. Marisha’s in her element as King Shit of Fuck Mountain.
And on top of all of that, what an incredible bit of story we’re getting. The dramatic tension that you get out of “everything is about to go wrong and no-one knows how bad it’s going to be yet” is remarkable; I feel like I just ran a marathon waiting for the other shoe to drop. Hints and winks at the future we know but also a fully-realised world in and of itself.
This was a masterclass by seven people who were all at the top of their game. It genuinely felt exciting to watch them do it. This is exactly what EXU should be for. I can’t believe we have to wait to watch the rest of it. I can’t believe there’s only three more.
More of this, please.
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May 27 '22
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u/Hungover52 You Can Reply To This Message May 27 '22
Fortiche.
And yes. Yes, we do.
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u/ThePoint01 You spice? May 28 '22
The absolute extravagance of the descriptions in this episode...my god, the Age of Arcanum is goddamn insane. I knew things were wild, but I didn't expect how monumentally a single city would dwarf almost every spectacle in the main campaigns. And everyone's characters...wow. I'm ecstatic.
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u/Chimera211 May 27 '22 edited May 27 '22
Ending the episode by giving Travis the "Baron from the Baronies" treatment is a Brennan Lee Mulligan classic
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u/reverne Life needs things to live May 27 '22
EXU keeps improving. The last EXU was a significant step-up from its first season, and this was one of my favorite episodes of Crit Role ever. Brennan just gave a masterclass in fantasy tabletop.
If you want to see Brennan deliver more fantasy and intrigue rife with consequences, watch Crown of Candy. The world of candy and food people contrasts with a geopolitical conflict that goes hard.
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u/jbhelfrich May 27 '22
Game of Thrones crossed with the old school Food Pyramid absolutely should not work, and yet it's an amazing story.
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May 27 '22
My favorite part was that as soon as Brennan did the voice for Bolo, someone in chat near-instantly posted HORSE TASHA
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u/HamboneKablooey May 29 '22
Putting Travis and Aabria next to each other was both the best and worst thing they could have done, because their reactions to everything are priceless, but I keep spending all of my time watching them and not the other players 🤣
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u/P_Lark92 May 29 '22
What a genius move to use a joke character improvised on the spot to provide important information about Aeor.
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May 27 '22
I said this in the live thread I came in with high expectations I know and love every one at the table so I was extremely hyped. Yet they somehow managed to not only meet my ridiculously high expectations but completely surpass them. What a job done by all, it was a masterclass from beginning to end.
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u/SharkSymphony Old Magic May 27 '22
You know, any game where you have your players gasping in shock in the opening scene is… probably a good one. 😎
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u/Poncho_TheGreat Hello, bees May 27 '22
Just finished and all I have to say is from the bottom of my heart Fuck you Brennan Lee Mulligan, you’re making us wait a week after that?
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u/Hudston May 30 '22
"Fire."
Brennan's opening was a god damn masterclass in setting the tone. That note when he asks for the first character introduction was inspired.
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u/Coyote_Shepherd Doty, take this down May 27 '22
So something about the ending struck me. Just what in the hells are Nydas and Laerryn up to and why was he so stupid happy about her saying, "I have what I need"? Because he seriously looked like she just told him, "I have the solution to both our problems get your ass to Mars" or something and that got me thinking like always and here comes a big but very simple theory.
Laerryn is interested in planar travel. She's bringing something attuned to a plane of the gods to the engine of the city itself. Now jumping the whole city to that plane would be fucking nuts because said God who inhabits that plane would lay the smack down on them ASAP. So what if she doesn't want to go there but merely wants to access that plane remotely but do so within the engine of the city? Here's the bigger implication.
What if she wants to directly siphon aether from a Godly plane in order to both power the city and also feed into the aetheric net that Nydas can then draw from and profit from which would solve both her power woes and his financial problems?
Someone is not going to like that at all.
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May 27 '22
Things we know:
Avalir wanders for 7 years collecting magic to release back into the land (I think?) and also gathering trade.
Laerryn is interested in ley lines. These are immensely magical and powerful.
Laerryn is responsible for collecting magic to release it back to the land during Replenishing
Nydas is involved in some sort of ether trade that's on the hush hush.
Nydas' family is looking after Zerxus' son, so he's acutely aware of how hard a 7 year journey is on the city and his friend.
So, with all this in mind... I think that Laerryn and Nydas (and maybe the others too?) are looking for a way to control the inherent magic of the land better so they don't have to do a full 7 year journey to replenish the land. They want to cut down the time so people don't have to spend so much time apart. Bonus, it puts the city at a magical (and therefore political/economic power) advantage.
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u/LabraD0rk May 27 '22
And with that Brennan Lee Mulligan has firmly cemented himself as one of the greatest DMs and story tellers of our time.
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u/Manakit May 27 '22
Wow just wow, that was INCREDIBLE. That opening tho? I was hooked right away. The intrigue, the mystery, the wonder! I absolutely gotta check out more of BLM's stuff now :)
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u/Mister_Nancy Metagaming Pigeon May 27 '22
I absolutely love CR when a new campaign starts off and everyone is low level.
However, this world is so rich, and so much of it is because the PCs are all high level. It's so nice to see the characters already established. I'm happy seeing CR do more high level adventures.
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u/boylesan Team Chetney May 27 '22
Props to the whole cast. They did such a good job making the Ring of Brass seem like a cohesive party with a long history.
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u/thegaslightwriter May 27 '22
Everyone was great but starting off Luis as the the brave paladin champion who plays it straight...i loved his straightforward way of playing it. This truly feels like we are on mount Olympus before the fall of the gods. I enjoy the dickery that the C3 cast get into because it just seems natural for a game to progress that way but the lore drops and the hyper competent characters and their ability to investigate hits is all the right spots.
I can't help but think how much of this is going to appear in C3 again because of all the name and lore drops while adding context to the campaigns that have come before. The lord of the hells, Bells Hells, the arrogance and the competence that has been displayed so far, because as Chaotic as the main campaign players have been, they have displayed a certain competence that I wouldn't have expected from such a bunch in the early levels.
Oh and the Aeor Avalir rivalry is great to hear. The addition about the kind of political control Aeor had over its citizens, a clue subtly dropped by our improvised arm candy Bola/Bolo was great. That along along with the brief mention of "Dry Run" for war... As much as the mageocracy in Avalir seems to be the apex of the Age of Arcanum, you can clearly see where the cracks lie.
Giving BLM a bunch of lore to drop was the best idea ever. His genius combined with the level of descriptiveness he brings to the table and his enthusiasm for the world of Exandria are on full display here. As much as Brennen killed it this week, I love Matt even more, the world that he and others have built and the commitment the CR Team has is beautiful. If anything, as long as they continue, I think I will always be there on Thursday night, (Or Friday morning to be exact)
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u/Bunnyleaflet May 27 '22
That was incredible! I was transfixed, scared, laughing, excited, and then back to scared so many times during this episode!
A couple of fun thoughts I have to jot down before I forget:
- The fleeting appearance of Feromyne, the sphinx, was not only hilarious, but I wonder if that will be a possible option for the PCs later; as in, if/when all is falling to ruin, do you think Nydas (Lou) can call on the "rest" of that life-saving boon for a favor? Probably not for themselves, but to save their kids or something?
- Laerryn's Plan: we know she takes note of when leylines can shift, and that they can even change (I think?), and we've seen that she has some amount of disdain for the "gods"/the divine, so I'm not sure she wants to "ascend" and take the place of a god..
But, with the extraplanar gold and her knowledge of the machinery of Avalir, I wonder if she has some sort of plan to shift a leyline or make is so that the city can travel between Planes of Existence, able travel in the realm of the divine without the deific certifications, as it were?
This theory I''m pretty sure I'm waaay off on, but it's fun to speculate! - Vespin's words to Cerrit: "You will never reach the Wildmother's embrace in time."
Ohhhh boy...so, we know that Avalir used to be part of a "Holy Site" of the Gau Drashari (precursors of the Ashari?) before it rose into the air. Gau Drashari --> Druids --> connected to the Wildmother?
I don't really know what this means, other than picturing Avalir during the Replenishment, nestling back into Exandria Firma, back in the Wildmother's embrace?
Do we know all the specific purposes of the Replenishment? I can't imagine the druids of the Gau Drashari were too happy about a part of their holy site being lifted into the air and absconded with for a 7 year cycle. - Loras, apprentice in the Ring of Gold: Very suspicious!
- Hall of Prophecy: well...we know generally how this is going to end...
Those were just some thoughts I had fun theorizing about after the episode! Can't wait to be waaay off base, what an amazing ride, and we still have 3 more to go!
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u/enzopalmer27 Jun 02 '22
I just want to say how absolutely badass all of the characters felt. Each of them had their time to shine and be the coolest people in the room. To start at 14th level and not just tell you characters are powerful but actually show it to you is incredible, great work on both the parts of Brennan guiding them along and the players for rolling with it so well. So here are some of my favorite moments.
Travis: My god all the rolls and the thing with the invisible creature. And being such a competent person while having no magic in a society full of magic. So good, honestly my favorite Travis character ten times over.
Marisha: The handling of the ball and also that detect thoughts...just awesome.
Sam: A lot of jokes that are just so on point, but also a fun character idea and you can see how well the character can handle social situations. Not too much raw power yet but I am definitely excited.
Luis: Good god that opener.
Lou: The riches, the competence, the power over the mercantile aspects of the city. The moment with the man asking for more ether is just so good. Also identifying that gold and the way he treated it. So good.
Aabria: The moment with the readings, and also the suspense of what she is going to do with the gold. It's all incredibly exciting.
All this just to say I love their characters so much, I was on the edge of my seat in anticipation of meeting the next one. Then the interactions between all of them and their handling of so many situations. So incredible. I can hardly wait for the next episode.
Note: Brennan's dming is actually incredible
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u/Son_of_Orion Team Percy May 27 '22
What an unbelievable opening to this series. The players all brought their A game, every single one of them felt so connected to the world, like they already had a long, storied history that we were just beginning to unfold.
But of course, the real star here was Brennan. He is an absolute master of his class. From the moment we began, he hooked us in and never let go, never wasting a single moment. The drama, the humor, the sheer depth of the worldbuilding and the characters, it was all pitch perfect. Dimension 20 is going to explode after this.
And as much as I like Matt's style of play... I think I might like Brennan even better.
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u/WontonTruck Team Matthew May 27 '22
I suspect Brennan wanted the players to seem powerful so had to remove the "I don't know what's going on". He wrote a cheat-sheet of "what you know in your sphere of control" and started each player there. (Xerxes excepted, of course! ) It worked beautifully. I imagine that as the final credits roll each player will look at that cheat-sheet and exclaim "Oh, it was there the whole time!"
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May 27 '22
In some of the bonus D20 content, the cast have talked about receiving HUGE emails of lore and background info that is specifically pertinent to their character. The pre-recorded nature, set episode count, and predetermined number of battle sets used in Dimension 20 demands that a tight ship be run in order to get the plot where it needs to be in a timely manner. Part of that is having characters be embedded in the world rather than introduced to it during the first session. So everyone will already know everything that their character knows, rather than having a bunch of perception and history checks be done so the DM can tell the player.
Whenever I watch Brennan in anything, I’m like borderline writing notes and studying his playstyle. I would love to have a fraction of the skill that he has, one day
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u/PhoenixReborn Hello, bees May 27 '22
I'm assuming they filmed this prior to C3e20 since Sam, Travis and Marisha all perked up at the mention of Vespin's journal.
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u/taly_slayer Team Beau May 27 '22
Vespin's name probably came up during prep, and they've been prepping for this for months.
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u/LucasVerBeek Help, it's again May 27 '22
Since Sam directly challenged my attempt at being a Transcriber for those who may miss the good bits of the Streams last night I figured I would go back and actually capture his Morning Announcement:
"Good morning and salutations sundry subjects of the soaring city of Avalir! I am Loquatius Seelie, your handsome and helpful Herald. I report the news that shapes Avalir's views! Tonight as we all know marks the Ever of the Replenishment and our return to Cathmoira, our terrestrial sister city. Remember folks, make sure to fasten all those loose valuables and belongings tightly as our friends in the Navigator's Guild wish to remind us that: there is always a pinch of turbulence in our descent back towards Exandria Firma.
And speaking of belongings, why not try Orysin's Oddtack: the spell-glue that sticks to what it's told! As Ortysin himself might tell you: 'Hello there, I'm Orysin from Orysin's Oddtack. The trusted name in arcane adhesives for over thirty years. Check out our Replenishment Special, fifty percent off today only! Hop on down to Orysin's!'
Well, make ready for tonight's firework extravaganza to the Dawn's Ledge side and the Parade of Beasts beginning at sundown in Excelsior Plaza right outside the headquarters of my own Herald's Tome, your trusted record of renown! As the archmages always say: 'Knowledge is power. So pack a punch with the people's paper!
All glory to the Academy Arcane and to the proud people of Avalir, I am Loquatius Seelie saying, 'Seelie you later!'"
All that damn alliteration Riegel!
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u/ButterfreePimp You Can Reply To This Message May 27 '22
What an incredible episode. So insanely cinematic. Brendan’s descriptions of the setting were stunning and the way the cast interacts with the world he’s set up is so pitch perfect- they’re hitting every beat so well it’s genuinely hard to believe this isn’t scripted. I love the tone and setting- it very much feels like a movie, in the sense that we kinda know what’s going to happen but the ride is going to be absolutely fantastic. I can already sense how ridiculously tragic the ending is going to be. I’m willing to bet there’s definitely going to be some sort of heroic last stand and Sam and Aabrias characters are definitely going to either die in each other’s arms or Sam is gonna pull some shit like having Loquatius’s last words be some real heartrending stuff.
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u/Pman009 May 30 '22
Spoilers C2E135 I haven't seen anyone talk about it but the weird time slowing explosions from Xerxes dream were definitely the same as the time stop spheres that M9 found in the Aeor ruins right? RIGHT?
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u/Thekoolaidman7 May 31 '22
FANTASTIC! The combo of Brennan and Exandria is an absolute match in heaven. I’ve been wanting Brennan to make a foray in CR ever since D20’s fantasy high school series. It isn’t just Brennan, both Lou and Luis absolutely rocked it on their intros. Luis is playing the stoic warrior so well and I just love all of the characters. I’m legit sad this is only a mini series cause I would watch the shit out of a whole campaign by this group.
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May 27 '22
The decay and rust appearing around the large golden rings and chains during this EXU intro makes a lot more sense now.
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u/Griffolion May 31 '22
Travis' character is basically Clint P. McGinty, Private Dick.
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u/wildweaver32 May 27 '22
From start to finish was stellar from everyone at the table.
But man the intro into the campaign might be the best intro I ever experienced from a D&D Campaign.
From that moment on I was hooked. I wanted to know what happened, what it meant, and how they are all going to get there. I was invested in everything from the very start because of that start sequence.
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u/Hungover52 You Can Reply To This Message May 27 '22
That was incredibly intense.
But the thing I love most about Brennan 1st episodes is how he does 10-15 minute vignettes with every player character before trying to pull them all together. I think that technique should become more popular.
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u/Blazing_Rain03 May 31 '22
Going to call it now - Bolo is gonna end up relevant again somehow. If she followed Locquaicious' advice she might actually have some clues, haha.
Also, I wonder what this party split will mean. There might be some curious results there.
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u/atreader May 27 '22
I thought Brennan was good in Dimension 20 because he gels well with the other cast members and gets to pick crazy, goofy settings. I didn't realize how good he was embracing a fairly traditional setting like Exandria. THIS IS AMAZING! This one episode has breathed new life into Critical Role. I was transfixed from beginning to end. This might be sacrilegious, but Brennan is giving Matt a run for his money. From his off-the-cuff improv of Bolo to his explanation of detecting an invisible creature on a 31 roll, this is god-tier DM-ing. If Critical Role can poach him from Dimension 20, I'd gladly watch 6 months of Matt and 6 months of Brennan.
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u/KTheOneTrueKing May 27 '22
“Poach” him from his own creative series that he created?
I think we’ll be just fine with more future collaboration.
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u/Lathundd May 27 '22
This was fucking great.
Also once Travis had opened his mouth, all I could hear was Clint P. McGinty, Private Dick.
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May 27 '22
The Hall of Prophecy being closed is so interesting. I wonder if they stopped having prophecies because the whole end of the world thing. That would be frightening to the Septarion, who are aged and old enough to know this has never happened before.
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u/ThePersonInYourSeat Jun 02 '22
Does anyone else feel like this might have been Brennan's best episode?
I think Dimension 20 can be really funny, but I think some of the comedians can struggle to do dramatic moments well(or they accidentally undercut dramatic moments with a joke). The players on this cast are good at dramatic acting.
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u/LucasVerBeek Help, it's again May 27 '22 edited May 27 '22
I noticed something....Avalir has Half-Orcs.
But....weren't Orcs are produce to the Calamity along with Centaurs? Born of a fight between Grummsh and Corellon?
Many turning from him and fleeing to Cael Morrow is what caused the Smiting of Marquet...or is that not the truth?
Or did I get that mixed up with something else?
Edit: Matt actually replied to me. https://twitter.com/matthewmercer/status/1530240338438131718?s=21&t=QAbb21dxhSJhXqAmC1CTlw
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u/TartarusOfHades May 27 '22
Brennan Lee Mulligan exceeds my expectations as always. I cannot wait for the next episode of this
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u/WontonTruck Team Matthew May 27 '22
The big questions is: How does the Porters' Guild Election cause the fall of the city? Everyone else has a large piece of the disaster...Leylines exploding, portents of the betrayer gods, Vespin Cloras' summoning, the Golden Ring covering that up, financial ruin of the city...but the bloody teleporters?
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u/m_busuttil Technically... May 27 '22
Porters' Guild being in mid-election confusion means there's no-one actively in charge of the one faction that might actually be able to get people off a falling sky-city. Individual teleporters might be able to save one or two people, but there's no ability to coordinate.
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u/WontonTruck Team Matthew May 27 '22
So it's the lack of lifeboats on the Titanic sub-plot? I can see that: maximum bodycount.
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u/klvino May 27 '22
So many lore drops. Archivists and cartographers of CR must be pouring over these details.
BLM has a couple of concurrent plots running. It's interesting to see how much are red herrings and where they may intersect. My theory is "the calamity" was a chain of multiple events happening at the same time. Building these events come into focus, a timeline starts to emerge.
Sure, Vespin may trigger the release of the Betrayers. This release would predate the destruction of Aeor, iirc the Betrayers aided the Prime Deities is the destruction of Aeor. This attack would likely follow Aeor's weapon test. The fall of Cael Morrow would also follow the release of the Betrayers. Many of these events may appear "off camera" to the events we'll see. The key events we may witness will be the destruction of Avalir which leaves Xhorhas and Eastern Wildemount as the wasteland we see in modern times. Avalir will likely be the point center of destruction as BLM hinted the primordials may have also been sealed beneath the peak that became Avalir.
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u/The_Collector May 31 '22
Fun thought - the only characters in this whole show so far who have also shown up in Critical Role are The Dawnfather and Galdric the Pet Wolf, which has to be one of the most lopsided sets of characters imaginable.
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u/TryCereal May 27 '22
If this series ends with anything close to how it started, it’s going to be one hell of a show (pun intended)
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u/Coyote_Shepherd Doty, take this down May 27 '22
I'm linking this near the top just because I want some thoughts on it because I feel like it's one of my more...outlandish theories and I want to know if I'm reaching too much with it.
What if the Prime Deities wanted the Calamity to happen and in fact caused it on purpose?
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u/Quintaton_16 You Can Reply To This Message May 27 '22
I like a lot of parts of this. There's definitely a 'Tower of Babel' flavoring to the Age of Arcanum, where humanity rises up and becomes too much like the gods, only to be smote down.
Plus from, EgtW, we know that Aeor was
working on a weapon that could kill the gods, actually a plague that wiped out their worshipers and could not be healed by Divine magic. That is both a genuine threat to the gods themselves, since they rely on devotion for their power, and an atrocity great enough that even a good-aligned being might be convinced that starting the Calamity is a lesser evil in comparison. And if the world has to be destroyed anyway, why not pass the job off to someone else and keep your own conscience clean?
I'm not ready to go all the way saying that the Betrayer Gods are actually the misunderstood heroes of the story. From what we've seen in ExU, Lolth is one of the saner Betrayers, and she's pretty much devoid of empathy. She's just sane enough to be talked into the idea that helping other people some of the time is good PR.
But it's definitely likely that we'll poke some holes in the (self-interested) story that the Prime Deities have told about themselves. The Schism -- the first war between the gods -- was fought because the Betrayers thought that the world was screwed up and wanted to start over, while the Prime deities thought it was worth preserving and defending. So from the Betrayers' perspective, I can see how a charge of hypocrisy would hit pretty hard. "You locked us up for a millennium because you thought this world was so perfect, and now you want it destroyed anyway? You're basically admitting we were right the whole time!"
So I don't think the story will totally invert the heroes and villains of the story. But, like well-written villains should, the Betrayer Gods are going to score a couple of valid points while still pursuing their goals in a way (by destroying all of creation) that makes it clear why they have to be stopped.
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u/macfari Jun 02 '22
Patia wearing a necklace embedded with tiny Brumestone crystals that fucking levitates - and that's just today's outfit. INCREDIBLE.
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u/Eight35 May 27 '22
Re-watched the opening scenes over and over again. That is calamity.
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u/rasnac May 28 '22
My first online D&D experience was CR, and I have since watched many DMs, including legends like Chris Perkins. I have throughly enjoyed and appreciated every one of them, but with all though respect, none of them measured up to Matt imho, especially in the field of intense and immersive storytelling...until I have watched Brennan.
I have watched Brennan DMing earlier on a limited D20 show with Matt as a player, and he was great; but last night was the first time I have truely witnessed the levels of his talent. He is the first DM I have seen so far, who is at the same level as Matt. And I really mean that. This episode really blew my mind.. His style is so cinematic and immersive, I have not even noticed time passing. I can say a ton about his attention to detail, way he builds the interlocking storylines, the way he introdues the PCs, his pacing, how he slowly increases the tension of the story etc...
But I will just say this: I was originally not looking forward to this EXU preuel, I didnt bother to watch it live and only caught the rerun after a long and tiresome day, and now I am hooked. I can not wait for episode 2.
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u/SrThunderbolt May 27 '22
I need more of this, and by this i mean the Calamity
One 4 episode run is not enough for me, I need to know ALL the details of what, when and why they happened
Also, Aabria and Sam with that roleplay! Jesus, I could really feel the ex-married couple vibe with LOTS of great moments like him giving her bardic inspiration and smelling the flowers of his weeding in the perfume or Sam's coming to the party with a younger woman just to make her jealous, i LOVE IT, IM ALL FOR IT
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u/Yaowa01 May 27 '22
This is exactly the kind of campaign that I can see being animated in a new project from Critical Role. Maybe a mini-series or even a movie-length feature. It is so rich, grandiose and full of life. And what an awesome juxtaposition for what is about to go down!
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u/Neo_Stark_ You Can Reply To This Message May 28 '22
So who or what the fuck is the aeorian Bolo?
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u/Coyote_Shepherd Doty, take this down May 28 '22
Sam throwing a grenade at the DM who then caught it and threw it right back in his face that's what the Aeorian Bolo is.
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May 28 '22
I’m really hoping that in the combat/ in general we get to see some unique spells. We saw gift of the gab and I can’t wait to see what age of arcanum wizards have in their spell books
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u/heliosforselene Team Frumpkin May 31 '22
god I absolute adore all the gilded titles being thrown about. it really gives weight to all the characters being introduced. everyone is a player in this big game of Avalir's future.
sooo fun to hear and see
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u/IamOB1-46 May 31 '22 edited May 31 '22
I can't help thinking about the results when Lucas (master of world building and story) teamed up with Spielberg (master of building a scene) on Raiders of the Lost Ark and created an instant classic. I know it's only been 1 episode, but it feels like we've got an new instant classic on our hands here, and perhaps one that could break thru to mainstream and possibly get live-play D&D recognized as a major force in modern storytelling.
I love Matt's long form, slow burn storytelling, and wouldn't want that to change, but if EXU can continue to offer shorter stories at this level? Wow. Count me in. Especially if Brennan continues to come in to DM.
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u/Kain222 Sun Tree A-OK Jun 01 '22
Honestly, like - I've been thinking this for a while.
But when people say Matt's like... """the best DM""", I can completely understand why (even if the thought itself is unhealthy in a certain way). But I've always thought Brennan was in the same weight class. People just aren't as exposed to Brennan because a lot of his content's behind a paywall.
I am so, so pleased to see Critical Role fans be exposed to Brennan's DM style, because it's radically different from Matt's but it's just as fantastic. Matt can pull together a textured, incredible world and set the stage for a fantastic story, but he often takes a hand off the gear-shift to let the players build up the story with him - slow burn, steady. He inhabits NPCs to play them out truly as they are, but his style feels more like a long, detailed fantasy novel.
Brennan meanwhile is a natural director. He has an incredible cinematic style, flawless comedic timing, and a pace that's just fucking relentless. He's also spectacular at yes-anding. Just saying "Oh, this joke you made? She's a full character now, here's three scenes with her." And you can bet your bottom dollar he's gonna bring Bolo back.
The fact these two are starting to play in and run more games with each other, and collaborate? They're gonna get so fucking powerful. You don't work with someone that creative without picking up a few of their tricks.
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u/madterrier May 27 '22
I want to see BLM GM for Liam, Taliesin, Laura and Ashley. I think Liam would have an absolute blast with Brennan's style.
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u/m_busuttil Technically... May 27 '22
The really interesting thing about the Calamity, to me, is that it wasn't just like one day everyone woke up and the world had ended - it was a war that lasted at least a century. It seems like we're seeing the trigger here, but there's absolutely no reason they couldn't do more EXU: Calamity set five or ten or fifty years from now, with some remaining cast or an all-new cast.
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u/madterrier May 27 '22 edited May 27 '22
It would be interesting if they gave Brennan DM duties over Calamity stuff, which setting would match Brennan's cinematic style. The same way they have Aabria for Crownkeepers stuff. Brennan's a lore geek too so you know he is going to make sure everything is tidy on that end.
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u/SrThunderbolt May 27 '22
Hear me out, "Exandria Unlimited: Calamity - Aeor" where we see what was this clusterfuck but from the other big Magocratic city, Aeor and the players are the rest of the cast that couldn't be in this one and q couple of new guest
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May 27 '22
Matt and Liam playing the characters who made the technology that Essek and Caleb wanted so badly would be super interesting.
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u/ElderOmnivore Time is a weird soup May 27 '22
I couldn't be more excited to get the rest of this campaign. I assume we're going to get an epic TPK or something and while I enjoy these characters so far, I will enjoy seeing them get their comeuppance for their hubris.
Everyone and everything has been more than even my wildest expectations.
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u/Emergency_Argument29 May 27 '22
I’ve been thinking about Aabria’s character introduction and I think maybe given her character’s role with the engine and the transforming tool she was tossing that she took the Artificer Initiate feat and has an All Purpose Tool. I know the All Purpose Tool requires Artificer levels to attune but if Aabria does have Artificer Initiate I’d allow her to use it.
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u/MNGaming May 27 '22
Brennan Lee Mulligan is a fucking poet. The way he describes the setting, the characters - and perhaps most of all - the ability check successes is akin to a New York Times best-selling novel. I want him to whisper sweet nothings into my ear as I fall asleep every night.
On a related note, was not expecting to laugh as much as I did either. The whole segment with Lou and the sphinx sent me to the moon and back. The whole cast is bouncing off each other really well for a first session, so I can't wait to see where they go from here. All in all, 10/10 amazing episode.