in which I babble about other people rolling dice

[ourtinymoments]

Oh hey, have I told you about my newest fannish obsession yet? This marvellous thing that I never expected to love as much as I do?

(The post, barely even one line old, gets interrupted by the exasperated/amused groaning of people who can attest that I have not, in fact, been able to shut up about it for weeks now.)

Sometime in June, in stumbled over a piece of fanart (which I had, as I found out many, many hours later, misinterpreted completely, but that's beside the point) for something that one of my friends had mentioned a few times already and finally decided to check out this little thing called Critical Role.

A question I asked myself was “What exactly is Critical Role?”

A question I did not ask myself, but which I probably should have: “Why are these episodes 3+ hours long? Why are there like sixty of them?!” Because that's really quite an unreasonable number of hours. And it's nowhere near finished. I'm caught up now though! Which should probably tell you... something. Maybe that it's addictive? That I had an unexpected amount of free time?

Now, the nice thing about this... show...? is that it gets summed up every week: “Welcome to tonight's episode of Critical Role, where a bunch of us nerdy-ass voice actors sit around, roll dice and play Dungeons & Dragons.”

And that's definitely an accurate description. Once upon a time, a bunch of friends who are also voice actors started playing D&D together, which isn't terribly noteworthy in and of itself, but then one day Felicia Day and her youtube channel approached them and asked if they wanted to play in front of an audience. “Only if we get to keep playing our game,” they said, and so (after they've finished converting the campaign from Pathfinder to D&D 5e) we start in medias res even in Episode 1, when the established adventuring group Vox Machina arrives in a new city at the start of a new adventure.

And who is Vox Machina? Because let's face it, as fun as the story arcs get (I say, conveniently forgetting the times I was literally on the edge of my seat to see how the dice would fall or what decision the players and their characters would make, or the times I totally did not cry into a glass of milk because of Feelings), I'm watching (playing, reading) most things for the characters. And I love these characters. They are lovely. So, in order of their seating arrangement as presented on video (and tiptoeing around major spoilers and character backstories), we have:
 

Vax'ildan, a half-elven rogue (played by Liam O'Brien) who has an entirely predictable knack for stealthiness and throwing daggers at his enemies and himself head-first into dangerous situations. He's also really good at walking away from his feelings. (There was an entire episode named after it! I'm not even kidding I promise!) When Vax isn't causing cliffhangers or going through an existential crisis, it is not unusual to see him engaged in a prank war, or tying a ridiculous number of little ribbons into his twin sister's bear's fur, or getting stuck in entirely non-metaphorical closets. (He is not exactly the straightest character in this party.)

Vex'ahlia, a half-elven ranger (played by Laura Bailey), the twin sister with the bear. Vex's haggling skills are the reason the party still has money, but no trinket is more precious to her than Trinket, her beloved animal companion. Her and Vax's sometimes teasing, sometimes serious but always loving sibling dynamic is the cutest (don't threaten her brother; she might roll consecutive Natural 20s just to spite you) and woe to everyone who stands between her and an opportunity to fly. Also not exactly the straightest character in this party.

Pike Trickfoot, a gnome cleric (played by Ashley Johnson) who is absent from Vox Machina's as often as not because Ashley has a tv show to film elsewhere but who manages to be the heart of the party all the same. But despite being the Team Mum and dedicated to Sarenrae, goddess of healing and second chances, Pike has a mischievous streak a mile wide and won't pass up the chance to engage in some ridiculousness with her best buddy and childhood friend, Grog. Wants to be a Monstaaah \o/

Grog Strongjaw, a goliath barbarian (played by Travis Willingham) who loves his buddy Pike, fighting, and more fighting. Also, ale. Funny how the character most eager to punch every problem in the face is also the one who, in his backstory, was exiled from his tribe for not being violent enough. (And speaking of that backstory, it takes the plot forever to get back to it but it's all worth it for highlighting character development I'd never expected.) Is probably the straightest character in this party.

Scanlan Shorthalt, a gnome bard (played by Sam Riegel) and master of impromptu song lyrics, preposterous ideas and poop jokes. Gives surprisingly solid live advice. Scanlan is another character I never expected to like as much as I do now; he went from being a character I found pretty annoying sometimes to one of my favourites. (Triceratopses were involved. Character development helped, and the aforementioned live advice sealed the deal.) Starts off with a rather pushy crush on Pike but eventually manages to apologize for putting her on a pedestal and all that.

Percival Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III (thankfully, we can call him Percy), a human gunslinger (played by Taliesin Jaffe) whose anachronistic weapon of choice is surrounded by entirely too many spoilers. He's an amiable fellow with a stealthy love of puns right up until the moment he isn't, and while he certainly has the capacity for both ridiculous pretentiousness and cruelty, he tries hard to be a better person and underestimates his own capacity for kindness pretty regularly.

Keyleth, a half-elven druid (played by Marisha Ray) on an Avatar-the-Last-Airbender-esque journey to visit the four Ashari tribes that guard their respective elements. (She herself is an Air Ashari.) Not the most graceful when it comes to social encounters and often anxious, Keyleth still makes sure that her opinions are heard. And while it took me forever and a day to warm up to her, mostly because I found her occasional judgementalness (born out of the pressure she finds herself under and an unhealthy dose of self-loathing, but still.) a lot less enjoyable than some of the other characters' flaws, in a pinch she's still a friend to have at your back for both her her off the wall ideas and her fierce loyalty.

And what would a tabletop RPG be without its dungeon master? So there's also Matthew Mercer, who spins the story, tells a tale, and, of course, plays every single NPC. And let me tell you, there are NPCs I love almost as much as I love the party. Vox Machina couldn't ask for a more versatile, more caring DM – or one who over-prepares half as much and then still manages to get taken by surprise every now and then.

(also starring: Tiberius Stormwind the dragonborn sorcerer, played by Orion Acaba, who leaves after about two dozen episodes and who certainly had his moments but whose player's play style clashed more and more with that of the rest of the party as time went on. After almost forty episodes without him, I'd be lying if I said I missed him, and I did like him in the beginning. Sorry, Tibs.)

And that's not going into the various NPCs or the guest party members who join for an episode or two and sometimes reappear when you least expect them and who also have a tendency to grow on you.

Critical Role is not without its flaws, but it also tends to be quite good at addressing them. Many, many episodes ago I would have old you that I was annoyed because the show's first queer NPC comes a bit too close to “camp gay comic relief” for comfort, for example, but many later scenes have rectified that to the point where I now love the character and his story pretty much without reservations. And this holds true for a whole bunch of other things as well.

Critical Role can be found at the Geek & Sundry website or via this youtube playlist.

I know, I know, that's a lot of episodes, and that's a truly unreasonable number of hours. If you really wanted to, I suppose you could skip the first arc, where Vox Machina journeys through the Underdark, since there isn't much there in the way of plot or NPC interaction (aside from one recurring NPC they meet there) and it's pretty light on the roleplay, and just start at episode 14/17, but that still leaves you with a lot of episodes. I've seen people suggest skipping the second arc, which is more a collection of smaller storylines, as well and start at episode 24 but I think there are too many good character moments, recurring side characters and plot elements in there to just skip it completely and at some point you got to wonder why you're even skipping so much when you still want to watch the show. I know, I know. We're all not made of free time.

Ssssso yeah. Lots of content (some of which is also good to listen to while you do other stuff; most episodes are not so dense that you can't afford losing a minute here or there, especially during combat), lots of things to love. D&D/tabletop knowledge not required.

And now that I've talked about it for so many words, I think I will rewatch a few of my favourite scenes with these ridiculous, heart-warming adventurers who have become family for one another.