Post by Cybermortis on Nov 24, 2015 16:07:30 GMT
[Caution; Links contain very strong language and should be considered PG-18]
The premise; A group of nerdy voice actors get together to play Dungeons and Dragons.
The reality; A group of nerdy voice actors playing Dungeons and Dragons.
Can be found; Geek&Sundry on Twitch (http://www.twitch.tv/geekandsundry) also on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/user/geekandsundry/playlists) and/or though Geek&Sundry's own site (http://geekandsundry.com/shows/critical-role/) (Note that the videos available from the G&S website are hosted on YouTube)
Rating; R/pg-18 rated. Plenty of very strong bad language, graphic descriptions of violence and gore and sexual references.
Aired/Updated; Airs live on twitch at 7pm Pacific standard time on Thursdays, with repeats of the most recent episode airing over the weekend along with all the other shows G&S hosts. Episodes are usually uploaded for general viewing the following Monday, with subscribers to the channel being able to rewatch episodes shortly after they finish airing live. (Note; There will be no episode on 26th November as this is American Thanksgiving)
Length; Varies, typically three to four hours which includes around 10-15 minutes of catch up and titles (an overview of the characters, although this was dropped in later episodes) plus a 10-15 minute break around halfway through. If this seems long consider that the pre-stream games could run for 8 hours or more....
Overview; On the face of things watching a group of people sitting around playing a table top RPG sounds rather dull. The reality however is that while individual episodes may be more interesting than others, all of them have their moments. This is because while the show itself has only been airing for less than a year, as of writing, the game being played is a lot older. Matt Mercer, who is the Dungeon Master, was running this game with this group for some two years before the idea of bringing what was a private game to G&S. As such this is a group of friends getting together each week, playing Dungeons and Dragons and calling it work.
All of the characters are well fleshed out, and being voice actors (and actual actors) they actually play their characters a lot of the time. There are also plenty of moments when someone says of does something unexpected that leaves everyone else in stitches...or the bad ass warriors get foiled by a wooden door...or the flying cows incident. It also helps because they will reference things they did prior to the stream and interact with NPC's they have history with. This gives the game world added depth, something that is the hardest and arguably most important element of any RPG.
An understanding of D&D isn't needed here, as things are clear enough not to need an understanding - and maybe ironically this is helped by the fact that the game switched from using a system called Pathfinder to Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition for the Stream. So the players themselves sometimes need to have aspects of the rule system explained or clarified to them.
If you have any interest in tabletop RPG's this is a show you should watch, if only to see Matt Mercer in action and see what a supreme DM is like. (One of the episodes, aired when half the cast were away, is well worth watching if you have any interest in DM'ing or know anyone who does. Matt gives a lot of very helpful tips for DM's)
Even if you don't like RPG's this may still be something worth checking out.
The first episode came be found here on YouTube;
The premise; A group of nerdy voice actors get together to play Dungeons and Dragons.
The reality; A group of nerdy voice actors playing Dungeons and Dragons.
Can be found; Geek&Sundry on Twitch (http://www.twitch.tv/geekandsundry) also on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/user/geekandsundry/playlists) and/or though Geek&Sundry's own site (http://geekandsundry.com/shows/critical-role/) (Note that the videos available from the G&S website are hosted on YouTube)
Rating; R/pg-18 rated. Plenty of very strong bad language, graphic descriptions of violence and gore and sexual references.
Aired/Updated; Airs live on twitch at 7pm Pacific standard time on Thursdays, with repeats of the most recent episode airing over the weekend along with all the other shows G&S hosts. Episodes are usually uploaded for general viewing the following Monday, with subscribers to the channel being able to rewatch episodes shortly after they finish airing live. (Note; There will be no episode on 26th November as this is American Thanksgiving)
Length; Varies, typically three to four hours which includes around 10-15 minutes of catch up and titles (an overview of the characters, although this was dropped in later episodes) plus a 10-15 minute break around halfway through. If this seems long consider that the pre-stream games could run for 8 hours or more....
Overview; On the face of things watching a group of people sitting around playing a table top RPG sounds rather dull. The reality however is that while individual episodes may be more interesting than others, all of them have their moments. This is because while the show itself has only been airing for less than a year, as of writing, the game being played is a lot older. Matt Mercer, who is the Dungeon Master, was running this game with this group for some two years before the idea of bringing what was a private game to G&S. As such this is a group of friends getting together each week, playing Dungeons and Dragons and calling it work.
All of the characters are well fleshed out, and being voice actors (and actual actors) they actually play their characters a lot of the time. There are also plenty of moments when someone says of does something unexpected that leaves everyone else in stitches...or the bad ass warriors get foiled by a wooden door...or the flying cows incident. It also helps because they will reference things they did prior to the stream and interact with NPC's they have history with. This gives the game world added depth, something that is the hardest and arguably most important element of any RPG.
An understanding of D&D isn't needed here, as things are clear enough not to need an understanding - and maybe ironically this is helped by the fact that the game switched from using a system called Pathfinder to Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition for the Stream. So the players themselves sometimes need to have aspects of the rule system explained or clarified to them.
If you have any interest in tabletop RPG's this is a show you should watch, if only to see Matt Mercer in action and see what a supreme DM is like. (One of the episodes, aired when half the cast were away, is well worth watching if you have any interest in DM'ing or know anyone who does. Matt gives a lot of very helpful tips for DM's)
Even if you don't like RPG's this may still be something worth checking out.
The first episode came be found here on YouTube;
