Here are five of my favourite poetic Natural 20 moments from Critical Role. This is in no way a top five ranking.. that would be bloody impossible to pick.
@@wowguy1243 idk ive always thought nat 20's should guarantee a success, it feels like such shit to get a nat 20 only for you to still fail the check. imo, if you cant succeed a check even with a nat 20 there should not even be a check.
@@wowguy1243 That's totally up to the DM. I count a nat20 in ways of asking a certain roll as a safe success no matter what. If it's below that, they have to add their stuff together. Nat1 is always a fail in my campaign, nat20 always success. That way, I let my players on the loose when they earn themselves a proper finish of hard situations.
I always understood it to be a Nat 20 on an attack roll or a Death Save always succeeds, but not on ability checks. But then again, every table is different. DM's word above all.
@@theexpatriate Honestly... the excitement your players get out of moments like this mean that the DMs job is well and truly done, regardless of how it plays out!!!
As a DM, it's always one of the greatest pains, but also one of the greatest excitements when somebody breaks your encounters. Whether it be through sheer genius or just insane rolls like this.
Yeah Travis has some uncanny ability to roll either a Nat 1 or a Nat 20 at the perfect time for the narrative, to make either a super epic moment or a hilarious prat fall. For instance the 3 Nat 1s in a row at the festival in Zadash
I hold that the double Nat 20 in The Search for Grog is far and away the greatest moment in CR History for me. It is the perfect storm: + 4(ish) hours of no Grog, so this is his first real moment in the One Shot + Two back-to-back Nat 20 Rolls + 152 damage in two hits (with the added bonus that Grog literally 86'ed the guy at the end) + following on from the previous, the HDYWTDT + Live crowd reactions Just... 😚👌 Perfect
not only was it two back to back nat 20s, the first attack was not reckless meaning he straight rolled the first. The second 20 does lose impact since it was an advantage roll, but nonetheless, two nat 20 attacks in a row to finish the fight was simply epic
Grog’s two Nat 20s is arguably the greatest moment in VMs history. Grog, being such a dearly loved character...after making a poor decision as only he could (pulling that card from the DoMT)...having an entire episode dedicated to searching for him...getting the famous and satisfying HDYWTDT...and in front of a live audience. Incredible!
The first two in this serve a valuable lesson: anytime you need to roll nothing under a natural 20, have marisha sitting beside you, bonus points if she sees/reacts to your natural 20 a half-second before you call it
I came here to say this; Marisha 100% confirms the natural 20 a microsecond before anyone has a chance to react, and it 1 million % sells the roll to Matt (and the audience). :) Makes me smile like an idiot whenever the cast reacts like they do when another member of the cast excels at something, but never more so when a natural 20 changes the pace or tone of the evening and someone just *goes off* as a result (doubly so when it's Marisha). :chuckle:
Arguably Xavier Woods joining Acq Inc is when D&D and wrestling merged... if you haven't seen those sessions I highly recommend them, it turns out he is perfect for this sort of thing
i nominate scanlan geting shot in the neck cuz good god that moment is magical, gets me every time. That and Fjord 3 nat1 in a row (travis and dice man, its a thing)
These freak outs are the best part. My last campaign I had a player that kept detailed notes of each session, NPCs they talked/heard about, random lore, cool moments. Whenever someone rolled a nat 20 (even me as the DM) he wrote in big letters) if a fellow PC rolled one he'd hop around and get hyped. After we finished the campaign we sat back and went through his notes as a highlight of the many months of adventuring. also any time the players make the dm say "mother fker" you are heading into a good time.
@@nuru666 I've been playing for about 6 years, dming for about 5. That group was by far my favorite and made me realize just how much fun this hobby could be. Everyone had a good spirit, even if i messed with them. They were all super into their characters and the story. They'd evolve their character based on the story, not powergaming. This same player was a fighter that had sort of found religion, he beheaded a guy that the rest of the group didn't want to. So the entire rest of the campaign they'd throw that in his face and the player spent 4 sessions communing with his god, trying to find a way to help the family of the person he beheaded and feeling terrible. He eventually took a rank in paladin to "atone for his actions". Really miss that group. Real life sucks :(
I don't know what it is a about Travis but every time he rolls 1's or 20's there's some cinematic shenanigans going down. Or at least some abrupt hilarity. It's like his superpower.
He's got a strange passive skill, I'll admit. Critical Moment: Causes you to roll either a 1 or 20 at any moment that is deemed character critical, whether you realize it at the time or not!
@@srslyimnotaspy101 Even if she had she would have been stuck in Thar Amphala. By the time they figured out what the whole situation was and gone after Vecnards the first time like they did they would have run into an undead Kiki.
This is why you always give your players the POSSIBILITY of success. Just because you don't WANT it to happen, doesn't mean you should take away the CHANCE of it happening. You might end up with something like this where the results are way more epic (or otherwise ridiculously memorable) than you could have ever expected!!
@@OriginalCreatorSama PREACH My friend had recently started DMing and this is one of the lessons that I hope he picks up on. At one point we were trying to unlock the entrance to where a lich was sealed (long story, not worth explaining), and the cleric used guidance, the bard gave an inspiration, and our rogue had expertise in thieves' tools All factored in, he got a 29 but my friend stuck too close to what the DM screen's suggested DCs were (He set it to the 30 "impossible" DC) and said that we failed and couldn't retry. He's really good for a first time DM, but that really reminded me that he is still a new Dungeon Master
@@OriginalCreatorSama Whenever making someone roll, you must always account for a success. Otherwise, what's the point? If it's impossible, don't have them roll.
3:36 Look closely at Matt's face. That is the face of simultaneous Surprise, Defeat, and Pride. As a DM, whenever your players roll a Nat20 at a critical moment, you can't help but smile at your own ruin.
Actually... I'm pretty sure that's the look of disappointment. You're never supposed to grab the die after it's been rolled. You leave it so the DM can be assured it's actually what they say it is.
@@escobarisanoctopus I've never heard that about "grabbing the die," and I've played with folks who go all the way back to 2E. That sounds like a house rule when you don't trust all your players.
@David Zachary No shit. Otherwise you could just roll, say Nat 20 and scoop it up and move it to a 20 every time. The whole point is for the DM to verify it. Matt STILL leans over and checks the die and he's been DMing for them for how long now?
While this one was a lot less hype since it wasn't a climactic story moment, Ashly Burch in C2 rolling on a stealth check with disadvantage and getting 2 nat 20s...that was pretty dope.
Funfact: They fought the last creature on a tower, that if screamed into the winds around it every plane would here it. So in the last combat Grog literally declared to every plane in existence, that you infact DO NOT fuck with Vox Machina.
Wow, I just now realised that both battles where Grog went "Vox Machina, fuck shit up!" ended with him actually fucking shit up with a nat20 killing blow! When he really wants others to succeed is when he shines the most. His power truly comes from his friends
@@ivenkohn3404 Yeah, it was after the trial thing. Chapter 4. Matt had everyone leave the room except for Marisha for her personal session. Pretty interesting
Especially after a hard battle, like the one with Kevdak and how much hype everybody had after Matt asked Travis how he wanted to describe Grog finishing Kevdak off. XD Especially when thinking of Taliesin going "YES!! YES!!!", Marisha with "It worked!", then Liam and his epic "Poetic justice!!" on top of it!
First one, Matt: "holy shit, you would have needed to roll a 20." (passes pre-written paper to Liam) Talk about prep... I love how Travis turned 2 nat 20's in a live show into a full-blown WWE match.
@@Jacob-sb3su That was Avantika's journal, where she wrote about her plan after securing the relics of Uko'toa. But because it had been written in Avantika's personal script and style, it was made only so she could read it at leisure with no one able to discern the meaning. Hence why Liam asked if HE could given time and the ability to understand the syntax of language and stuff...and due to the uniqueness of said language/code, it was set at a rather difficult DC to beat.
After that second live show crit, you just see Matt thinking "he didn't need more than 20 damage to finish this guy off... This is beyond overkill...and I love and hate it"
The best part about that last one where Grog get's the back-to-back 20's is...on the next special one-shot where they have to find Bob and escape, he rolls another Nat 20 on his first roll of the session...meaning Grog technically hit THREE 20's in a row.
The first one cracks me up SO MUCH because Matt looks so damn smug when he says "Go ahead and make an intelligence check.", while also crossing his arms, so his reaction to the Nat 20 is even funnier. I love it.
8:19 when the rest of the party is worried about whether grog has enough hp to survive.... And he just waves them all off with his hands; as if saying "shhhhhh". Following it up with an "I don't care" because he is totally engrossed in this moment and u can see he has resigned himself to whatever fate has in store ........ I remember when I saw this the first time, Travis caused me to cease jumping up and down, and hold my breath for what was coming next! so much for compiling theit has caused me to relive so much of the joyI got from watching this show/game/family/movement/most epic thing 🙏
Reminds me of a fight my party was in recently. Undead Dragon, gets knocked down real low, but is still dealing considerable damage. My Tabaxi Ranger is only on 15 health, but if the dragon doesn't go out this turn, then it won't just be me going down. Zephyr Strike plus Feline Agility means that the distance is closed instantly but still leaves me open to a reaction attack (not opportunity attack, unfortunately) that whittles me down to 5 health. While it wasn't a nat20, my attack still strikes true, but the dragon dying causes a magical explosion that hits me for my remaining 5 health, and I fall unconscious. Fortunately, we had a healer so I was quickly tended to without needing death saves.
Honestly throughout critical role’s history the most hype I have ever been from a nat 20 will always be kevdak. Literally would have been the death of Grog if not for that hit being a nat 20. I remember running out of my room screaming into the living room of my very confused family, very very confused.
I love that this video is full of so much greatness that Matt's physical acting of the dragon in his final moments is just glossed over. Like. The way his face changes at the moment of the disguise drop, the heavy chuckle, and then just *thunk*.
If I had a nickel for every time Grog entered a fight late and immediately killed the boss in his first turn using a Nat 20, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice, right?
He didn't believe him the first time, but he did the 2nd. He just needed to see a historical moment of rolling Nat 20 a second time. There's a reason he made the cameraman catch that one.
The one from Exandria Unlimited Prime where Liam pretends to be Aimee’s 4 year old daughter Nancy, Aabrea makes her role for deception with disadvantage and then she gets 2 Nat 20s will not only forever be the most insane Nat 20 roll for me but also the funniest having Liam succeed in pretending to be her daughter.
amazing vid! i can't agree more that the nat20s for grog was the most cinematic bullshit i've ever seen done by this improv show. how poetic the dice can be to this day is so unbelievable lmao tbh
One Natural 20 moment I love has been when Laura rolled it when all of Vox Machina were trying to revive Percy in Episode 69, after Vex makes her confession and tells Percy her heart is his, landing it on a persuasion roll, surprising everyone, as Travis gestures to Matt to come and see with Matt going "I trust you." while Laura is super psyched at getting her natural 20.
Actually, I think that paper was for a necklace they scored earlier, since deciphering the journal as going to take all night, and Liam/Caleb wanted to Identify the necklace first before delving into the journal.
Percy's maintaining hex after being fire bombed is probably my second favorite one from C1, pokeball Grog is easily my favorite simply from Matt's reaction alone. Haven't started C2 yet so I don't have a favorite yet.
I’ve likened these natural 20 moments to when your favourite sports team does something spectacular in the most clutch/last min moments. It’s an incredible feeling.
The more I play D&D and watch Critical Role, the more I’ve come to realize that if you set a DC that requires a Natural 20 to succeed, the player is gonna succeed.
Im almost through for my first time cant wait for second campaign!! Felt like slight spoilers but seeing nat 20s in clutch situations is one of lifes greatest joys 😊😊
This video has my two favorite moments in CR history. Both of them are from Best Boy Grog. The best live moment and the most Hype moment has to be the double Nat 20s in the search for Grog. But even that awesomeness is topped by the final blow of the Kevdak fight. The Kevdak fight was like 5.5 hours long and it ended it the most poetic way I could possibly think of. It feels scripted but its not, the dice helped tell an amazing story that I will never forget. These moments will always help cement Grog as one of my favorite characters in CR history.
VOX MACHINA SPOILERS 6:57 this moment is now immortalized in animated form… it was FUCKING GLORIOUS!!! It was EXACTLY as it was described, HOLY FUCK! Edit: almost exactly. The metal music was SO HYPE!
This seems a good place to brag about the amazing nat 20 I got in my last session. I had no targets on the first round of combat so I cast Pass Without Trace and used my bonus action to hide. +11 to stealth, +10 from the spell, and 20 on the dice for a total of 41 to hide....I did not get found.
Dude, you flat out removed yourself from existence entirely lol. That's an absolutely insane roll. My players just did their first boss fight, a grand total of 12 nat 20's were rolled. Garog The Immortal was not ready for the ass whooping he received.
Seeing this made the memorable 2 nat 20 by Lionel followed by 2 nat 1 by grog (ep 100). That was *chefs kiss* perfection. And also made me realized i miss grog and pike dynamic.
the visual image of grog, confused to hell and back, just swinging at the first thing he sees is just stupidly funny. its not at all what happened but its such a hilarious concept.
The last clip in particular brings me so much joy. I’ve done theater. There’s something about the rush of a hyped audience that just…electrifies you, gets all that adrenaline and endorphin pumping and gives you a rush you can’t possibly describe. It also speaks as to just how mesmerizing CR is - that at its heart, it’s just a group of people engaged in group oral storytelling, sometimes with little miniatures. And yet there’s a sold-out crowd of fans as crazed as those watching a rock concert or a sporting event. They can SEE and FEEL the story alongside the actors. They get just as swept up in it as if it were played out in full, with life size monsters and dungeons. What CR’s done is so “lightning in a bottle”. They’ve tapped into this niche that hadn’t really been explored in mass media before. And it’s made them superstars.
First clip I had the exact same thing happen to me on my Tabaxi with my DM, it was my first ever fight in DnD (a test but it did start our campaign, we'd done the 'learn the basics' the week before so this was mt second time playing) and I rolled a nat 20 🤣 I just knew everything about our bad guy 😹 I don't think we were supposed to learn who it was yet and on our test run no less ☠️
I play dnd with grog in mind. If you play the character right the dice will roll what is deserved at the time. Things you mean to fail will, things you need to succeed will be spectacular
I love when moments like this happen. In our 2nd edition game years back, we had just collapsed the roof of a temple containing the BBEG (Boss after a year on this leg of the campaign) and the dragon's head rose from the rubble to see us on the roof. We had a house rule where if you rolled a nat 20, you rolled again. Another nat 20 gives quad damage. I managed this on the first attack of combat. I then rolled maximum damage on a 2h great axe. Total damage was 52 damage (bonkers in 2nd edition). Killed him in one blow. So the DM quickly drew up two more that "had been waiting beneath" and we had a hell of a fight. lol
The moment I was thinking about and will never forget was season 1 when grog came out rolled a nat 20 killed his uncle and vex rolled a nat 20 for intimidation that fight and that moment was just crazy in critical role history never be forgotten
I ENTIRELY agree with the first clip (Caleb deciphering Avantika's book) because it changed the tide of pretty much EVERYTHING that happened afterward. There would have been no meaningful evidence for Beau to present the Plank King, AAAH EVERYTHING COULD HAVE GONE SO WRONG IF IT WEREN'T FOR THAT FATEFUL DICE ROLL
