The first episode of Age of Umbra begins in 30 mins.

https://www.twitch.tv/criticalrole

>it's another Matt tries to push high stakes into his table of pussies campaign episode

Are you fucking serious is this shit still going

>>95758867
They were too big to fall that fast.

>>95758875
Fuck this looks dogshit

The fuck is this?

Hard to believe anybody could ever die with these mechanics

>>95758853 (OP)
ayyy we doing daggerheart now. cool

>>95758980
PC deaths are bad and hurt the audience's feelings

Travis playing a black character, so brave

>>95759007
I can't believe some many people were upset with Molly dying. Gayest fucking shit.

>>95759130

>>95759236
Damn, that looks great. Wouldn't have imagined a Clank to go that route.

>>95759252
Ashley can design great characters, she just can't play them.

So I ain't watching this shit, did it go anywhere?

Neat character art. Would work better in a real system.

>Critical Role thread
>For the first episode of a new campaign
>In a new system
>With new characters
>Episode began at 10pm
>Only posts that even acknowledge the episode are bland character sheets

>17 posts total
It's really fun watching something's popularity fade in real time. Critical Role could've fostered their lightning in a bottle into something real, but look at 'em now.

>>95759252
>>95759254
>>95760684
>Grungy Faun
>Black Viking
>Orc Knight
>Grungy Victorian Rogue
>Weeping Angel
How are any of these "great?" They're serviceable, but that's about it.

>>95760747
Normies still kind of care about it. Less and less over time, but you can expect anyone with a computer to have at least heard of it in passing. That's good name recognition, if nothing else.
They're just not capitalizing on it, for whatever reason.

>>95759159
what is it with modern american liberals making orcish paladins/ european knights? I swear i have seen a fuckton of orc paladin art out there. Whats the appeal of this subversion?

I was thinking of watching critical role but idk where to start and what to avoid. Any suggestions?

>>95767809
Just don't.
Watch Dimension 20 or NaddPod instead.

>>95767809
Season 1 was serviceable and felt like they just were playing for fun. The rest feels super overproduced and like there are no real stakes.

>>95767636
To make everything good and beautiful as ugly and twisted as themselves. It's easier than fixing their own fucked up life.

>>95759035
Would

>>95767636
It's either they make the paladin a black or an orc, though of course for them they are interchangeable.

>>95767809
> idk where to start
How about episode 1 of campaign 1? Like, you know, at the start?

>>95767636
Orcs (and blacks) are stereotyped as big and strong, knights and paladins are big and strong. Sure, regular fighters and barbarians would fit too, but fighters are boring and with barbarians it'd be racist since barbarians are supposed to be retards rather than Conan types now.

>>95767636
The desire to COLONIZE a savage woman so hard that she embraces your culture and becomes a paragon of your moral system.

Guys I feel bad for Matt
>"I'm gonna make a grim setting inspired by Dark Souls and Berserk"
>Sam can't stop cracking jokes. Between playing a soppish coward (which is his go-to)
>Ashley basically plays a cross between FCG and her Faun
>Talesin plays the edgiest character imaginable ("I have a living GIANT MOTH sewn into my back for wings")
>Constant jokes
>Asking Ashley's statue character if she shits pebbles

These people seem completely incapable of finding a different tone beyond marvel-tier quip humor and a sort of delirious incompetence. Daggerheart actually lets players contribute to the worldbuilding as part of the mechanics and yet they need Mercer to continuously reel them in. This is nearly as bad as Brendan Mulligan's constant obsession with tying every "major plot" antagonist to capitalism or organized religion.

Only Travis can roleplay worth a fucking damn. This is depressing to watch. I can't believe i actually thought they could pull of Berskerk/Dark Souls tone.

well, guess that's something for a premiere of their new fangled system.

So how badly did the little premiere go? Couple thousand viewers?

>>95769738
its only out for paypigs right now, normal people can watch it on monday

>>95759252
The fuck is a clank?

>>95770006
legally distinct automaton/ mecha guy/ warforged or whatever you want to call machine people. You know, like clanker. Because they are machine-people made of metal

>>95767809
This >>95767862, as it went on it became more and more of a production and as a result lost the soul of it being done for fun. Frankly if you want to watch it, just watch the animated show. it will deliver the same.

>>95770519
The animated show is gayer than their original campaign.

>>95758853 (OP)
Destroy DnD as a hobby by attracting the rainbow sex cult to TRPGs move on with their own game. God I hate them

>>95758853 (OP)
I knew it was ill-fated from the moment I heard about it. Mercer is a very solid DM, he has good prep and improvisation, he can do the voices and the characterization, but mechanical game design is not his strong suit. All of his 5e homebrew made that apparent. Trying for a "Berserk / Dark Souls" theme is pretty impotent if the system makes death a near-impossibility.

>>95773219
The fact Matt thought he could pull off a Berserk/Dark Souls themed game shows how deluded Matt has become with this system, his players and even his own style of GMing.

>>95774255
I think Matt could do it and, even the system could do it. I think the players can't maintain the tone.

>>95773219
It's easier to die in Daggerheart than 5e.

>>95759035
What's the difference between Agility and Finesse precisely?

>>95768440
I'm with you. I think they're used to having Matt do the serious stuff, and then they can be unserious 90% of the time and interrupt his narration every other second since he has endless patience, and it works out for them, so when it's time to invite them into the worldbuilding they can't take it seriously for one second since they think Matt will reel it in, not realizing they're part of the worldbuilding.
Matt probably should have forced them to play humans as well, since all the freakshit characters didn't exactly set the tone for the grimdark stuff either.

I started watching Exu:Divergence and it was really refreshing to not have quips every other second, while still having the people with great charisma to make it entertaining.

>>95767823
>Watch Dimension 20
Brennan is god-tier, but doesn't he just run meme-settings like highschool stuff? If ran his own medieval fantasy world I'd watch it.

>>95767636
Same reason Drizzy got popular, as well as Hannibal lector eventually becoming the good guy, or Anti-heroes becoming a thing.
People get bored playing it straight.
It's not like this cycle didn't continue with other IPs bringing back how savage orcs are or how evil Drow are, etc.

>>95768440
Pic related
Have you never had this experience?
Honest question, because I'm a GM so this is my usual experience.
Even my WoD vampire groups can only be morbid for so long.

>>95768440
Matt makes zero demands on his players though. He just said that it's like a dark berserk/dark souls-inspired world, and then at the end of their session 0 asked how deadly they wanted it to be.

If you've been playing with Sam for 10+ years, surely you'd impress upon him that the tone is meant to be a bit more serious, so while cracking jokes is fine, aim to keep it a bit more on the down low.

>>95778459
>Have you never had this experience?
I have, but I also realized running dark shit that I'm a fag who cringes and gets embarassed if the rp gets too dark and while I thought i loved grimdark settings, actually running them puts me in a bit of a bad mood, even if outside of ttrpgs I consume nearly exclusively dark fantasy shit, and the players seem to all fall into some edgy anti-hero archetypes that feel samey and lack humanity when I do it that way.
For this reason I run more classic generic fantasy now that's closer in tone to something like Baldur's gate 2, which while grim with gore and sinister shit happening, is also kind of lighthearted and just runs with the pervasive magic instead of trying to fight the system by having "in this setting magic is rare and actually banned you guys" while nearly every other character has magic.
tl;dr yes, and I'd probably run a different system if I wanted real dark fantasy shit again.

>>95776987
It is basically Dexterity in games where there is both Agility and Dexterity. Agility is for wide fast movements while Finesse is for careful subtle movements.

>>95775302
>It's easier to die in Daggerheart than 5e.
You can burn a hope slot for a guarantee survival or you can die but gain instant critical.

>>95778419
>freakshit is bad in dark souls
>dark souls
>the series known for weird races

>>95779233
Apart from the dragon people who in all games are in pretty obscure hidden locations, you basically just meet humans. bigger humans if they're important (like demigods) and monsters. Shit like the slender people in Irithyll are late-game rare shit. So reasonably if the're aping dark souls, they should have made the PCs and settlements 90% human and have a few freakshits and then meet more freakshit in esoteric places to make it feel more special and grounded.

>>95778502
So then what are you surprised about?
Some of these people are grown ass men and women with kids and shit. You think they want to act out some edgy grim dark shit for hours on end while streaming?
It's one thing to do it in a sound booth, recording for some VA job, it's another thing to do it while people are looking at you.
Hell, I loved Matt Mercer as Leon Kennedy back when I played RE4 on the gamecube, but I'd know I'd be cringing if I had to say the same lines in front of people.

In terms of the system, you know he's gotta run Daggerheart. It's his fucking game, he'd be retarded not to feature it.

But I'll be fair to you, and if you as a viewer/customer wanted a bunch of professionals to act out a grim dark setting, then yeah they should stop joking around so much.

>>95778459
>Hannibal lector eventually becoming the good guy
In what fucking universe? He was a horrific monster even in the TV show.

>>95779361
The trick is to make the freakshit actually freaky and weird. They're gross, or malformed.

>>95779233
In my personal opinion, and you're free to disagree, something characteristic of and appealing about grimdark as a genre is that the protagonists (human or human-adjacent) are forced to navigate and survive in a world full of freakshit. Inspirations cited like Dark Souls and Berserk; yes, Dark Souls is full of weirdobeasts, but you don't play as them. You play as a human trying to survive the freakshit and complete your mission. The same is the case for Guts, the Hunter of Bloodborne, the protagonists of Fear & Hunger, and the Imperial Guardsmen & to a lesser extent the Space Marines of 40K. Playing as monsters can absolutely be fun, but if you're going specifically for a "Berserk / Dark Souls" inspired experience, it diminishes the crucial horror aspect of it when you play as the monsters that make the setting grimdark; you're on equal footing as them and have no humanity to preserve. Berserk and Dark Souls are all about the humanity overcoming adversity and avoiding transforming into monsters.

>>95758853 (OP)
All I know of this is the animated series, which is apparently getting the second campaign despite the first not being finished

>>95779807
Well the problem too is that the kind of people involved with critical role would violently refuse to consider monsters as an "other", as something that isn't the exact same as a human. This goes for both the cast, and their fans who might be more literal with the violence.

>>95779807
Based post. But Laura would romance the chosen undead or any of the other varieties of that affliction, like she did with Laudna, so it's null and void in cr-land

>>95779860
True enough, and a shame. I miss a time when culture war shit didn't poison all of my hobbies. I won't suggest that the Critical Role cast don't have their niche. They're clearly far richer and more successful than I'll ever be. But this series seems ill-conceived and I don't see it being long-standing and successful like their 5e campaigns.

>>95779860
dark souls has some pretty tragic sympathetic monsters though, so it wouldn't be out of place for them to learn of their tragic backstory and take pity on them, while slaying others mercilessly

>>95779888
>far richer and more successful
The amount of debt they must have taken on has got to be absurd. If it was pure profit, they'd not even bother being voice actors anymore.
>>95779892
True, though they aren't the norm. Whereas in modern nu-D&D there's a tieflings on every street corner. And there's never anything wrong with them physically either.

>>95779892
gay sympathy shit is why we've gotten to where we are. The ugly smelly person who lives alone lives alone for a reason.

how do so many people already know how good or bad Age of Umbra is if only paypigs can watch it as of now.

Either you all give them money to watch this early or you get mad at a show that isnt even out yet.

>>95778459
>It's not like this cycle didn't continue with other IPs bringing back how savage orcs are or how evil Drow are, etc.
What IPs brought back savage orcs and evil Drow?

>>95780144
It streamed for free on Twitch on Thursday.

>>95775302
>I think Matt could do it
I dont. He has lost his spine for that sort game long ago with his collaborative storytelling shit.
>The system could do it
Possibly, not looked at the system properly but from what ive seen it just looks like a game made for drama kids/streamers.
>I think the players can't maintain the tone.
I think some could but again this is the issue when your entire social circle is made up of California based actors.

>>95778440
No he isnt. All he can do is short, very heavily scripted campaigns.

>>95776987
Agility- Sprint, Leap, Maneuver
Finesse- Control (horse/cart, etc), Hide, Tinker

>>95778440
>Brennan is god-tier
>all of his BBEGs are capitalists or hyper-religious
>his only quotable moments are pre-planned monologues
>he constantly forces re-rolls to get "le epic nat 20"
He's good at voices. He's good when he's planned things out in advance. He's good at witty banter. That's about it.

>>95778419
>since all the freakshit characters didn't exactly set the tone for the grimdark stuff either.
Agree with everything you say except freakshit totally works as LONG as it's not just played as "human with aesthetic skin". If freak races actually felt alien, I'd be on board.
I'll check out Exu:Divergence

>>95779004
A few things- hit points typically cap out around 12 for most classes and it's not uncommon for an attack to deal 3 hitpoints of damage. Armor and certain disciplines (abilities) can reduce that damage, but these are not the hitpoint sponges of 5e.

Losing a Hope slot is pretty huge. It weakens nearly all of your abilities (which can be "empowered" by spending hope), at a certain point (<3 hope slots) you lose the ability to use your class features, and you are supposed to roleplay significant physical scaring, phobias, or PTSD.

"Blaze of glory" is a pretty great death mechanic that I've used in games prior to this.

>>95783255
>for that sort game long ago with his collaborative storytelling shit.
The way I look at it, the only interesting stuff that happens is what Matt contributes. I get why he's embracing a mechanic that forces players to actually engage with the world. He's going to be sorely disappointed with their "worldbuilding". Even so, he doesn't nearly prompt the players to worldbuild as much as the system suggests GMs should (I, too, will be minimizing any player input when I test out the system).
>I think some could
I think probably only Travis and Liam. Talesin could, but he's also cringe as fuck and tries too hard to edgelord every time he plays (which, is saying a lot considering Liam is included in this list).

>>95786177
>BLM
He is a reasonable GM but I find him to be such an insufferable midwit. He acts like he is the smartest man in the room while having the most milquetoast takes. I remember watching a video where he was doing the post-hoc virtue signal on how harry potter has terrible world building by bringing up points that have been brought up for 20 years or so and acting like he had some great insight.
>the only interesting stuff that happens is what Matt contributes.
Im more talking about him not having the balls to follow through with running a grimdark setting. He cant pull anything truly edgy and he definitely wont punish his players for acting like retards.

>>95786177
Mercer has been doing this for almost 10 years, you'd think he'd have gotten over the naming scheme that's become his calling card. You know the naming scheme, we've all seen it.
>The Chroma Conclave
>The Menagerie Coast
>The Halycon Domain
>The Superfluous Deep
>The Loquacious Lord
>The Age of Umbra
He's like a middle schooler that discovered a thesaurus. "The [Adjective] [Noun]" should be used very sparingly and only for major entities, not every fucking landmass and organization. It really gives his works the sort of, "Fantasy McDonald's" that he's become famous for. No, not even McDonald's, because McDonald's is the crackwhore of fast food. This is like, the Barbeque of Fantasy. The kind of place you spend $30 for three soggy ribs and a slice of bread, but because the waiter had tattoos and there was a trans lives matter flag it's "clean" and the drinks came in mason jars so it's "folksy."

>>95788076
Fucking this.
It would be better if he just used latin already.

>>95788076
Ironically one of the major criticisms I have of Mercer's work is his naming convention. It's all over Daggerheart as well. Every background is a "borne". "Loreborne, Orderborne... Slyborne (lmao)" Items like the "Flickerfly blade" and "Finehair bow"

>>95792236
>Every background is a "borne". "Loreborne, Orderborne... Slyborne (lmao)"

>Slyborne
What the fuck.

The premiere of D20 new season was today, what did we think of it?

>>95786177
>all of his BBEGs are capitalists or hyper-religious
I've only watched him dm the exu stuff and it hasn't been true in either of those. In fact, his Asmodeus portrayal was so good, it made me think that this guy is great at villains, so now I'm both dreading looking up D20, while simultaneously thinking you guys are just bitter and full of shit, and it probably won't be like you say at all.

dead thread. Is there no cheating or creepiness going on? On that note, what do you think is going on with picrel?

Can anyone tell yet if AoU has the PC plot armor/scripted death and rigged outcomes like their campaigns?

>>95807050
we're just on ep2
it's streaming now on twitch btw
sam's character is dying but probably will survive you know how it is

>>95807050
Spoiler for new episode Two PCs just rolled 50% chance to die and and Matt said if they die, they're not coming back as new PCs on this new.

>it's a Players make a choice and spend resources to keep npc from following them into the dungeon, but Matt had planned for her to be critical to the plot and for her to follow them to achieve this pre-planned big event , so she just shows up anyway so she can fulfil the pre-planned plot
I love the guy, but his railroad-style got so bad in C3 and it just seems to be continuing. And no, it being a limited series isn't an excuse not to allow for meaningful choices. I've run plenty of oneshots and even there you can have meaningful choice and follow along with what the players do.

>>95794825
They probably thought saying "lowborn" was offensive.

>>95799971
Only halfway through the session (I got shit to do), but kinda interested in the setting, since it seems to be leaning into the cowboy/wildwest aspect of Steampunk.

Hoping it can avoid a heavy handed anti-colonialism message, but considering the "Capitalism BAD" we got in the first NPC conversation, I doubt it.

>>95809224
"Slyborne' sounds like an antisemetic slur.

>>95807648
It's strange how Matt has only dug more into his theater and video game background, and away from real, unscripted ttrpg. Critical Role was always going to be fake though with the "consensual death" they had even before they started streaming. I rolled my eyes when they kept giving Vax an upgrade instead of a (character sheet is torn up) real death. I could tell early in C1 that Liam (the one who supposedly played D&D the most) couldn't handle an honest game. Travis always seemed like he'd like a true game the most, but even he and Matt scripted a PC death together in C3. All Mercer and cast have done (and are still doing) is show every bad GM/player trope, and turn ttrpg into playwriting for control freaks.

thoughts on the combat from last episode?

>>95809263
I wonder if this isn't a bigger factor for their drop off in numbers than just it being because of covid being over as people claim. I think the actual play medium's strength is that it's a ttrpg with rules, so you have to stay within a certain framework, but you can also do whatever and it will shape the story, and that's the excitement of it. If it's on rails then you may as well read a book or watch a movie.

The parasocial aspect of just watching charismatic people can carry it for a while, but after a while people will just get that parasocial content from other streamers. and likely in a medium where there isn't a huge timesink and where half of it is a combat slog with players who never learn the system with zero graphic ui additions to make it more comprehensive.

>>95811199
They keep talking about hope and fear and Matt has this big abacus to showcase it, but I never get when it's supposed to lead to some oh-shit moment.

>>95809263
he always says that what he enjoys the most is being surprised by the player's choices and how they take it in a completely unexpected direction, and when the players ask him how things could have played out differently he always comes up with some hypothetical scenario how it could have been different. I always assumed he was a genuine dude telling the truth, but with how things play out vs what he says I can't help but feel that he's become less truthful over time and just does the whole toxic positivity thing while railroading to what he wants, because he doesn't care and his players will go along no matter what he does.