Haunting mist amongst gnarly trees in a forest early in the morning.
In January of this year, I decided to give Professional Dungeon Mastering a try (Currently running a Monday & Friday Game)
I’ve played Dungeons & Dragons on and off for 35 years, published my first Adventure Module for it in 2019, and have been working on the 2nd Book since
And I’m a Writer/Filmmaker
The reality is, I’m a Storyteller & I love it, what an amazing place/way to immerse in a world & a character
On that note, I’m beginning two 1 to 3 session games/adventures… The first will be on Thursdays 12-3pm, PST… And the 2nd on Saturdays, also at 12-3pm PST
By running these shorter Campaigns (Like I say, 1 to 3 sessions), it can give people an opportunity to check out Dungeons & Dragons, without committing to a long term weekly game
Though they may want to after playing, cuz D & D is great, lol
Anyway, if you’d like to give it a shot, you can sign up here;
I started watching Critical Role on and off in 2017
I didn’t super click with the characters, but I loved Grog & Travis Willingham, and Matt was a tremendous Dungeon Master (Which is my thing)
I will say, the group’s friendships were what were most awesome to me, so rare to have a group of friends that are that close, at least that has been true for me
I was super excited for Season 2, caught it from the beginning, and pretty much watched the whole thing
Loved Jester (Laura Baily), Fjord (A Paladin/Warlock Half-Orc with 2 accents, come on), and the tragedy turned legend of Mollymauk (Taliesin has great concepts for characters)
The Kickstarter Project & Future Animated Series
I was not surprised at all about Critical Role’s Kickstarter success, I believe they’d done one for a D & D Mini which shot over a million, surely one for an Animated Special would blow that away, and it did
The Legend Of Vox Machina
I admit, though I didn’t really click with the original Critical Role Season 1 Characters (Save Grog, who I loved), I was still very excited to see the animated series
Like I say, the friendships of the group, coupled with Matt’s world, coupled with all of their immense Voice Acting talent, coupled with Titmouse (Who seemed awesome and inspired), seemed like they’d churn out at least a decent show…
…but it’s much more than that
The Story
(SPOILERS)
For me, the Briarwoods were my absolute favorite part of either of their first two D & D Campaigns, and I also love Vampires, so I loved them
Starting with the Dragon Mystery (I also love Dragons) also worked
The Main Characters
Scanlan, Scanlan, Scanlan… His character was absolutely hilarious, and Sam Riegal’s songs were just awesome, executed with a subtleness, never going over the top, hilarious and enjoyable
Pike such heart… Ashley Johnson just created such a compassionate, hearty, deep character, and I love her in this
Grog I admit I loved him so much in the Critical Role Season 1 actual play, it would be difficult to match Travis’s body of work portraying him, but in the series he is absolutely hilarious, not just dumb, he’s intuitive and has a giant heart
Keyleth was/is just great… I really didn’t connect with her in the in person Campaign, though I know many did, but in the series she’s not just powerful, she is bright eyed, and full of light… Marisha does a really subtle/strong job with her
Vax I actually really struggled with Vax in the live Campaign, but in the series, Liam just voices him with such subtlety (That word again)
He’s probably my favorite character in the series
Vex was tough in the live play, because I grew up with a really not nice sister, so I just don’t have a lot of tolerance for not niceness, lol. But in the series, on first watch, she didn’t really stand out to me… But after watching it many more times, she has some really great moments/comments/one liners, and left me wanting to know/hear more from her in the future
Percy Once again, an amazing concept, Taliesin does not disappoint… And I admit, the first hand full of episodes, I really dug Percy’s ‘Batman-esq-ness’… But by the end, he felt a bit much for me at least… I’m sure I’ll get a lot of slack for feeling this way, as I know by watching a lot of React Videos on YouTube, he’s most people’s favorite character… That said, Taliesin’s voice work in The Legend Of Vox Machina is exceptional
Final Verdict
Great Villains, amusing and full of heart Heroes, awesome Animation, great Music by Neal Acree (And songs by Sam etc.), great heavily Matt influenced Story, cool/interesting animation, The Legend Of Vox Machina is a blast, can’t wait for next Season!
The Written Word 