Please Tell the Dungeon Master Your Plans! Vox Machina, Ep. 54 | Critical Role Demystified

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Vox Machina prepares to face off against a black dragon, and their DM prepares for a high-level boss fight…
CW: Strong language
Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
04:03 - Lesson: How to Resolve a Tinkering Check (When You’re Not a Tinkering Expert)
10:00 - Lesson: How Matt Handles This High-Level(?) Wizard NPC
13:59 - Recap: Keyleth’s Relationship With the Gods
16:27 - Recap: The Final Preparations
21:23 - Lesson: Why a Single “Whoosh” Sent Matt’s Players Into a Panic
25:54 - Lesson: Should the Heroes Get a Surprise Round?
29:26 - Lesson: You Should Tell the GM Your Plans
33:00 - Lesson: Is Scanlan and Vax’s Plan Even Possible? (Sure, Why Not!)
36:08 - Lesson: Vox Machina’s NPC Allies
37:59 - Lesson: Be Consistent With Your Rulings (Or At Least Fake It)
39:49 - Lesson: Learning the Dragon’s Honorific… Out of Game?
43:31 - Recap: This Battle is Not Going Well…
48:14 - Lesson: Tell Your Players How To Do the Things They Want To Do
49:45 - Lesson: Creatures Flee When They’re Getting F***ed Up!
55:33 - Outro
You can watch the full episode here:
Episode 54 - In the Belly of the Beast
• In the Belly of the Be...
The Pyre Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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Simplex Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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Lithium Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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Crypto Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
Unlight Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
Volitile Reaction Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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18 май 2024

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Комментарии : 342

@SupergeekMike Месяц назад

What’s the wildest plan you’ve ever seen/taken part in during a D&D game?

@garrettcarter5622 Месяц назад

Keyleth: Being immortal doesn't make you infallible. 50 Episodes later Keyleth: We're Gods. *SPLAT*

@quinnsine1650 28 дней назад

It’s that Hubris that the ancient Greeks told us about

@jean-bastienjoly5962 23 дня назад

@@quinnsine1650 "Nooooo, My hubris!"

@RyanZibell Месяц назад

"I'm not going to do as big of a deep dive as I did for episode 52 because this video is already long enough and I've got a very young baby." he says during his longest video in over a year, which was the aforementioned Tiberius closing chat.

@OccidentalAvian Месяц назад

Genuinely shout out to Noja for not only deciding to show up for the ancient dragon fight as a LEVEL SIX wizard, but also surviving it.

@kjj26k Месяц назад

In spite of that character's whole schtick being to parish on that mountain! _XD_

@OccidentalAvian Месяц назад

@@kjj26k You're thinking of Shale in next episode, and she was a level 13 fighter.

@golbez1583 Месяц назад

*Reads the title* My mind when Brennan says: “Am I getting Ocean’s Eleven’d in my own f&$:/g show?!?!”

@TheOneNotTheOnly Месяц назад

Brennans players did it better. They communicated well and were just smart.

@PVS3 Месяц назад

@@TheOneNotTheOnly Agree - they figured out which parts of the plan were critical details, and OVER communicated those bits, even if they didn't put the whole puzzle together for the DM.

@AlexDelux2500 Месяц назад

To quote my favourite comment under any CR video: "There must be some way out of here, said the Joker to the Thief"

@SupergeekMike Месяц назад

Damn, that is actually a perfect parallel - I love it when lyrics or other references randomly sync up like that 😁

@internettevarolanadam Месяц назад

That comment is one of my top three as well. Cant listen to the song without imagining a dragon's insides anymore.

@Leandro_Montibeler Месяц назад

"Welcome to this majestic clusterfuck that is tonight" is my new opening when I DM my campaign.

@ellabartal4652 Месяц назад

I want that conversation about the canon vs. fanon version of Pike like yesterday, man. Also, congrats on being a dad! Welcome to the best years of your life.

@OccidentalAvian Месяц назад

It would need to be split into three parts, campaign canon, cartoon canon, and fanon. All three are different. Though I get the feeling that Pike's personality would've been more like she was in the cartoon if Ashley was able to be around for the whole campaign and didn't have to be away for Blindspot.

@aterribleperson9119 Месяц назад

@@OccidentalAvianYeah, the biggest thing that's always stuck out to me about the cartoon is hiw different Pike feels. Not so much that she isn't still Pike, but it does lean a lot more heavily into an aspect of her character that wasn't as prominent in the campaign.

@soulrecords857 Месяц назад

⁠@@aterribleperson9119when it comes to cartoon Pike, to me she’s feels more similar to how Ashley plays her in the VM oneshots (ex Dalen’s Closet) rather than the main campaign which might have to do with how Ashley’s views and approach to Pike have changed over the years. I do agree though that Pike does feel different depending on who is playing her (Matt tends to make her more calm and nurturing while Ashley isn’t afraid to show Pike’s more chaotic and “monster” side especially when you get further into the campaign and later incarnations)

@ultraman6644 24 дня назад

@@soulrecords857I feel like this is also a separation between the fanon, animation, Ashley, and the cr casts idea of what pike is. And I think this is largely the cr cast's "fault", not really a fault but can't think of a better word. The cast love Ashley and that is very clear with the way they treat Pike, and I think this is exacerbated by Blind side. They tend to make her perfect, while I think Ashley plays her more nuanced, which sadly doesn't really get across due to the amount of screen time.

@Trishata96 Месяц назад

SupergeekTyke is already a D&D player. Completely uprooting the Dm's plans

@tonysladky8925 Месяц назад

There's another reason I think Vax went along with Scanlan: If you get a chance to try and slay a dragon from the inside, *YOU DO IT!* Or at least that was my psychology ages ago when I was in a game and the enemy necromancer conjured a dragon skeleton to fly away from us to complete his ritual. No way in *HELL* was my Paladin going to *NOT* sprint over to that dragon, climb up its ribs, and smite it from the inside, and I refuse to believe every other player wouldn't do the same.

@tonysladky8925 Месяц назад

Also, two weeks inside a dragon? Dungeon Meshi has taught me that's no good...

@NotMe6044 Месяц назад

Not a dragon, but my 2e Ranger did something similar to a giant undead raven. It was using its entrails in a bombing run & I hitched a ride when it retracted them. I didn't kill it, but it did bring me to the necromancer controlling the horde, so it was still pretty badass

@phoenyx2782 Месяц назад

My goodness, 5 days of labor. Props to mama and congrats!! Its the most exhausting but joyous ride. Take as much time as you need, and we will be here whenever you can upload!

@timothyburbage Месяц назад

I think Matt was just playing catch up the whole session. They didnt share the plans so he was immediately on the back foot. You want to reward the players for a good plan, but you also dont want the big bad dragon to go down easily.

@christophersanders3252 Месяц назад

The Hope Devourer reminds me of my favorite villain my players met on their pirate ark. I had a pirate run at them and shout "Woe betide ye! It is I! Silas the Embowler!" Players: " You mean Disembowler?" Silas: "NOPE!" Thankfully they all decided to target him first, so we didn't have to find out why he was called that.

@mlpowers1991 Месяц назад

Okay, but you can't just say this and NOT tell us why he was called that!

@ilmari1452 Месяц назад

Also, please clarify, was it a pirate arc or a pirate ark? Or a pirate arc taking place upon a pirate's ark? (Sorry!) 😝

@christophersanders3252 Месяц назад

@@ilmari1452 Both Matey! But I did mean arc.

@BlahBlah-po3go Месяц назад

Congratulations to SuperGeekTyke

@leahwilton785 Месяц назад

A while ago, I dmed a heist. There was an entire session of planning where all I did was sit back and listen. Afterwards, one of my players who also DMs mentioned that those are always fun sessions for him. I agreed, saying I just took some notes and laughed with their jokes. Another player (who was very new to ttrpgs) said something to the effect of "great - I hope our plan isn't going to be harder now". I was very clear that no, it would just allow me to, for example, make sure I know how thick the walls are (because they wanted to try to dig through the wall into the vault). This player instinct is common and not at all malicious imo. Maybe it stems from the way "games" are often competitive. I'm not sure - but it do think it's useful to talk ourselves out of this instinct.

@sarahmarie441 Месяц назад

Congratulations on the birth of your baby! That's an incredible thing. Hope Mama's doing well. So glad you're back.

@SupergeekMike Месяц назад

FYI these subtitles are still processing, this was a long video uploaded very close to the deadline - but I'm hoping to have them finalized by the end of the day!

@Stephen-Fox Месяц назад

Hope you, SupergeekWife, and SupergeekTyke are doing well, particularly in the wake of a labour that long.

@keithwinget6521 Месяц назад

Congratz on SupergeekBebe. Happy birthday and best wishes!

@katharinameinzer6297 Месяц назад

Thanks for the warning, your work is appreciated! Bit take the time to take care of your family and yourself!

@MegaBendex Месяц назад

I love that you're touching on one of Matt's big weaknesses as a DM that is truly highlighted in this episode, that being his somewhat salty behaviour with his favourite villains. I don't think you're harsh enough on him, I tend to be harsher. He quickly gets defensive over his villains, which is juxtaposed against him being very lenient *before* the battles with ideas and planning on the player's part. The Vorugal fight might be a worst of the dragons for this, but it does get a little uncomfortable how mad he is by the end of this episode due to how much success they've had against his dragon.

@hem9483 Месяц назад

Psychologically, I think you hit the nail on the head with the "*his* dragon" comment. He definitely treats his BBEGs like they're HIS, and it can result in exactly what you've described here, where Matt is emotionally invested in a battle going a certain way. He definitely doesn't want to win every fight, but it seems like he's most frustrated when he doesn't get to "challenge" the players.

@MogoPrime Месяц назад

I don't see it as Salt so much as occasionally blindsided by an unusually high output from his players. But if it is some salt as well, I actually forgive Matt for it. These fights are the centerpiece of an arc, the main course of the meal, the culmination of all their struggles, worries, and planning. As a player and as a DM, I want the Big Bad to make the heroes feel like they cannot find an easy way through, victory must be earned, painfully, lessons should be learned, and the survivors should be exultant. When numbers go so out of your control that you're looking at death's door and all the heroes are still minty fresh, that feels like a loss. Like this is on the way to bring an easy and, dare I say it, a forgettable fight.

@pavfeira Месяц назад

@@MogoPrimeAdding onto this, the Kevdak fight was not that many episodes ago, where the barbarian enemy was stunned, metaphorically disarmed, literally disarmed... The players had a blast with the Kevdak fight and as Mike points out, it CAN feel rewarding if the heroes overprepare and stomp the BBEG. But I think it's completely reasonable for a GM (especially in 5e) to be worried if too many of their BBEG get nuked in a single round of combat. Mercer wants to reward his players' ingenuity but he also wants them to have a tense climax and payoff when the story calls for it.

@MegaBendex Месяц назад

I guess I call it salt because some of the methods he uses to weight the battle back in favour of his boss are pretty petty, when other more subtle and fairer options are available to him. Just for one example, Mike talks about a few times where Matt just back-peddles overtly one of the advantages (like surprise or the extra breath attack) mid fight. He's basically tipping his hand that his dragon is getting rocked and he has to correct that. Despite what I've said, I'm actually a huge proponent for giving your important, story-relevant bosses some help if the dice are really rogering them since invested players will actually find the fight pretty disappointing if the boss goes down to easily. But these last-minute and very verbal back-peddles are not the way to go! Increase the hp behind the scene, or even fudge some attack rolls to hit if they're on a missing streak. (You can always fudge back into player favour if the boss' luck turns around)

@Bodharas Месяц назад

I never got that he was mad. I think that's a reach.

@thunderflare59 Месяц назад

The look on Matt's face when Scantlin casts thunder wave. 😂

@rickdangerous1956 Месяц назад

I thought the 37 points of damage from the immovable rod was a bit pathetic. Have a look at how dejected poor Liam looks when he hears that (lol), and his questioning of Matt as to the damage. High/low dice rolls can make things a bit weird, but the rest of the party has generally been dealing greater amounts of damage just by attacking the outside of the dragon. So stepping back from the mechanics of rolling for damage for a moment, you can understand how something that starts inside one of the dragon's organs - and therefore has to rip a hole though at least one organ everything else in its path should have had more effect from a logical standpoint. From an action economy point of view, the rod plan didn't accomplish that much either - the dragon quickly escaped anyway at the cost of a very modest sum of damage, and the effort to get it deployed tied up two of the PCs for most of the session. So you can understand if the players involved felt a bit disappointed.

@pavfeira Месяц назад

I'm not sure how I would have handled this tbh. You have completely valid points about the low damage -- definitely lower than Vex with her applicable magic items, but even lower than resourceless attacks from Grog and Percy. And it cost removing them from the map, taking damage due to Scanlan's mistargeted teleport, and getting them kidnapped going into the next episode. If the players are left wondering if they'd be safer AND more effective if they'd just done normal attacks instead of "the cool plan", that's a clear feels-bad moment. On the other hand, this player group has a long history of aiming for eyes and other vital parts, and expecting strong results. It happened in this fight and with Kevdak, but plenty of prior fights too. If Matt rewards this strat with 100+ damage, then the players will absolutely use it on every remaining dragon, if not every remaining creature larger than Medium size. While I do think the damage should still have been a bit higher, I think rather than tons of raw damage, some manner of debuff would feel like a good compromise. Whether it's a penalty to movement speed, concentration, saving throws, maxHP in the event where the creature can recover HP, persistent damage every round... Some manner of boon(s) that attacking from the outside could not grant. Then the next time the party faces a dragon, they have a rough idea of what debuffs their "Dimension Door Immovable Rod Trick" can create, and they can weigh if the potential debuffs are worth the risk of being digested. EDIT: As another angle, while Vax was technically optional, the plan strictly required a 4th level spell from Scanlan. Looking through other 4th level spells (maybe 5th, due to the high personal risk) for possible substituted damage amounts and conditions, might be a good way to handle the balancing.

@gh0std3lta84 Месяц назад

But like he said dimension door would not have even been able to get them inside anyway but Matt allowed it. If the rod was enough to wipe the dragon they would just dimension door into the remaining dragons and do the same.

@Lurklen Месяц назад

Some kind of injury with an added effect, like a reduction of speed, less attacks, bleeding damage, any of those would have made this have more impact at the table, but not totally scupper the encounter. (I use a critical injury system at my table, and this would for sure qualify.)

@TwilitbeingReboot 14 дней назад

It can be tricky to find a balance between rewarding the present instance of creative thinking and incentivizing future creativity. No crazy plan will ever be as cool and fun as the first time it gets pulled off, so you want to make sure the same trick isn't going to keep working every time - or at least, doesn't work better than trying something else crazy.

@ElijahKRichmond Месяц назад

4:16 might be the first official dad joke...

@TTHBLOX_ Месяц назад

Dungeons and dads has begon

@ElijahKRichmond Месяц назад

@@TTHBLOX_ Google dungeons and daddies.

@coolgreenbug7551 Месяц назад

Dungeons and DADgons

@seamusc1339 Месяц назад

I think the reveal of Umbrasyl’s title, akin to Brennan and Abria’s peak behind the curtain reveals, is a show of understanding of the fact that players are the ones enjoying the game, not the characters. It’s definitely something that I’ve come to appreciate an intentional occasional use of in my own games when DMing

@NotMe6044 Месяц назад

And he is now SuperdadMike. Congrats & happy birthday!

@cjputasso Месяц назад

don't stress about vídeos, enjoy fatherhood! Congratulations brother 🎉

@Elaan021 Месяц назад

43:08 At my table, we approach meta as if we're in the writer's room of a drama series and/or the audience seeing a scene the characters aren't. It's led to some really great character moments because we can "engineer" certain situations. For example, if we have two PCs who are arguing/at odds, we'll talk OOC how they could reconcile rather than forcing the players to guess. The party spends a shit ton more time with each other than we do at the table, they likely have a better read on each other.

@whiskeyii4515 Месяц назад

As a fellow preemie, very happy to hear baby and mama are doing well! We'll see you on the other side of whenever you’ve gotten the hang of navigating (or maybe just learned to tread) the new waters of parenthood! o7

@misteradam3112 Месяц назад

Congratulations on the newest player to your table!

@shadowscall7758 Месяц назад

I was so disappointed they had no Grog into Giant Eagle moment in the animated series.

@sarahmarie441 Месяц назад

Not only did Matt sometimes not listen or make rulings not in the party's favor, this often happens in relation to something Marisha does, which I consider to be at least a small part of why the fans continued to bash her for 'not being a good player'. More of her choices would have been praised if Matt had given her the benefit of the doubt or awarded her for her creativity more often. I love Matt, but I've always felt like he (unintentionally) was the cause of a lot of the hate Marisha received early on.

@SupergeekMike Месяц назад

He was definitely more strict with her, probably hoping it would counteract accusations of favoritism because she was his girlfriend. It didn’t work, and as you pointed out, it created a whole new, worse perception.

@MaraWynne Месяц назад

100%. I think the stereotype of the DM's girlfriend getting away with everything was weighing on him a lot and by trying to defend himself against accusations of favoritism he accidently gave credence to many of the criticisms leveled at Marisha. He literally gave them more ammunition to use against her. Having said that, she seems like the more confident of the two, and the more protective, so I think she would have been ok with that, but still doesn't mean she should have had to be.

@UnkillableMrStake Месяц назад

I love that you're addressing Talisen's haggling with Matt this episode it's been a great point of discussion over on Megaphone Man's streams and I do think it borders on problematic player behavior on his part.

@charlesbryant5897 Месяц назад

I've never heard of Megaphone Man, but I'll check them out; I'm also glad to see this pointed out. Tal was my Day 1 least favorite player because of his constant insistence on playing Matt instead of playing the game as their character, but I understand from my own friends and players of 35-plus years that that familiarity breeds an understanding of what one can and cannot get away with.

@UnkillableMrStake Месяц назад

@@charlesbryant5897 Mega is great he's watching through campaign 1 live for the first time ever and all the vods are up on his RU-vid channel. He's got a couple of very unique takes but I've really been enjoying watching. Glad I'm not the only one who felt that Way about Tal as well initially.

@SummerOtaku Месяц назад

Oh man I feel compelled to jump in to defend Taliesin but I know it’s gotta be coming 60% from a fangirling place. I will say I think all the players have one rough edge that occasionally rubs against Matt to nearly problem behavior territory. I definitely think Taliesins comes from the mindset of a long time player/DM knowing what he would allow and has seen allowed and making his case to Matt. I am glad he pushes the limit against Matt even when he’s unsuccessful because it shows the newer players what can be feasible if not to Matt now, potentially to others in the future and it’s alright to question and not be successful.

@hadesblackplays Месяц назад

@@SummerOtaku and everyone else here has made excellent points, i just wanted to add that this keeps happening even in C3. i wouldnt say what happened last episode but i was like "man, you're streching your case a little too much". But hey, if the GM and the rest of the players dont have a problem (they will never have a problem about haggling with the GM if it benefits the whole party, specially in a plan) then it isnt so much of a deal. except for some viewers every once in a while.

@gsfjohndoe Месяц назад

As a DM I actually prefer when my players don't tell me their plans. I do think its smart for players to check with a DM if they're doing something truly unusual (like building giant wooden dragon catching contraptions, or trying to dimension door into a dragon). In those cases players should check if this is possible and realistic according to the DM. But beyond unusual situations like that I prefer not to know. Why? 1) Even though I don't want to metagame, I think its impossible not to think about what kind of counters the npcs have against the tactics the players tell you they have and 2) I want to be surprised! A TTRPG is still a Game, and I like the tactics and challenge of coming up with clever moves on the fly. This is more fun when the players surprise me with their own tactics.

@jessepigram1039 21 день назад

I can totally get behind point two, it's pretty cool to be surprised by some clever stratagem, but I don't totally agree with point one. Some light metagaming of sorts is a handy tool for when the DM is playing the brain of a creature smarter or simpler better at fighting than they are. Knowing the plan before hand lets the DM come up with a few plans that the monster might use in such situations, to account for the massive difference in mental acuity. Of course, if the monster is a dumb brute type, the plan being hidden is totally fine barring the potential for things to go wrong as they did in this episode

@MorningDusk7734 Месяц назад

I once annoyed my DM by seeing an enemy Druid use Tree Stride to try and escape from across the map, and proceeded to use my movement, dash action, and action surge to jump into the spell after him, causing the party to split.

@justinrandall9550 Месяц назад

That sounds epic as hell! How did it turn out?

@MorningDusk7734 Месяц назад

@@justinrandall9550 Well, our rogue hopped through with me, and the two of us basically went solo for half a session, while the rest of the party got captured. We killed 2 enemies, swapped clothes with them, and walked into camp, pretending to have caught the last of the group, only to spring the rest of our party from the jail and continuing the adventure.

@storysmith5626 Месяц назад

I sure you child is absolutely precious

@BoredomEntertain Месяц назад

Excited for Fatherhood demystified in the coming years.

@braydenchadwick9836 Месяц назад

Loved the Calvin ball reference, you’ll make a great dad Mike

@kmbehrens14 Месяц назад

I’ve adopted the phrase Calvin ball as a result of The Adventure Zone and the McElroys. It’s quite useful!

@Dani_77709 Месяц назад

Congrats! Also happy birthday Mike!

@TheDisplacerBeast Месяц назад

Dude, you hearted my congrats comment in 12 seconds. Wtf, thats crazy. I was gonna edit it to add happy bithday!

@SupergeekMike Месяц назад

I’m in line at the pharmacy so I’m just reading comments lol

@kjj26k Месяц назад

So glad to hear mom and baby are ok, and very happy to have this nearly hour long episode on what has been a challenging, but rewarding day.

@cameroncrouch5843 Месяц назад

Very happy to hear things went well with the delivery. Take your time dude. Being a dad takes priority

@dwdillydally Месяц назад

CONGRATULATIONS SUPERGEEK FAMILY! And happy birthday, Mike. Speaking from experience, it's a blast having a kid's and parent's birthday close in date.

@davidmusic5883 Месяц назад

Sometimes you feel the pressure as a DM, often when you miscalculated the parties dps, it can lead to more shotgun decision making in terms of ruling

@markwaddington5185 Месяц назад

Congrats, dude, to both of you! Enjoy the thrills of dad jokes and no sleep.

@Ragnay977 Месяц назад

Congratulations and Happy Birthday. Thanks for the content as always.

@SupergeekMike Месяц назад

Thank you!

@DanielM7979 Месяц назад

CONGRATS!!!

@manueltorresart2345 Месяц назад

Once again, congrats on the baby Mike. We were blessed having two real funny and incredible fights practically consecutive. Ok, now I see some of the errors from Matt that I wasn't able before, but still this fight is kickass.

@hadesblackplays Месяц назад

I've revisit this fight a couple of times and while i think that yeah, the dm/gm and the players can go for different directions about ruling (specially if you come from a similar but different system) when a character is trying to do something, i do honestly feel like Matt thought they wouldnt deal as much damage as they did and that on itself would be a challenge to overcome, but his players outsmart him. So your boss fight not being as hard as you thought it would be + seven players + a fuckton of npc's aiding in the battle + stream difficulties outside your control + your players coming with a creative idea, but there isnt a mechanic for that, it doesnt exist in the game and come out with a clever a rule in less than a second... as a GM/DM any of that could make you nervous and trying to rebalance the game mid-fight will result in misunderstanding your players. P.S: Liam has always been the player that goes hard for rules as written and Matt always chooses "how can i apply that and make the most narrative sense for it".

@claudiamcfie1265 Месяц назад

I use maps a lot, even when I'm not anticipating combat. My party is used to me sketching on the whiteboard as I'm describing the layout of the location, or using poster maps etc. It makes exploration mode a lot easier in my opinion

@michaelrussell1672 Месяц назад

I was the 100th like!! Congrats again on the beautiful baby. Glad to see you back.

@seanfulldark Месяц назад

When Matt's heard about that Thunder blast I'm going like ohh scallon is doing the most damage and he doesn't know it yet!

@welcometothetroyiverse8864 Месяц назад

Happy Bornday Mike and congratulations again on the new arrival to the family.

@Shibamanda Месяц назад

Happy Birthday Mike!

@TalicZealot Месяц назад

Congratulations dude!

@AmmyxOkami Месяц назад

Congrats! I'm glad mom and baby are doing well. and I'm super excited to see where the channel is heading.

@cloudeon3468 Месяц назад

Wow I wasn't expecting this for another week or two

@llillian4055 Месяц назад

Congrats!

@Poocas22 Месяц назад

Congrats Mike! and Happy birthday!

@Enn- Месяц назад

I appreciate you review and perspective. Thank you for taking the time to share with us.

@bekkimcgrath Месяц назад

Congratulations!!!🎉🎉

@billberndtson Месяц назад

Mike! It's been a while! I was starting to worry lol. 😁

@psycoticbug1 Месяц назад

Congratulations!!!

@sarahcoleman8479 Месяц назад

Congratulations and happy birthday!

@TTHBLOX_ Месяц назад

Glad to see you again! And good luck and congratulations with the kid!!

@therealbigwall Месяц назад

Congratulations!

@gibbousmoon35 Месяц назад

Congratulations! 🙂

@aimingforstars1125 Месяц назад

Congrats on the new baby!! I'm really happy for your family and wish you guys the best

@Jatsuyo Месяц назад

Congratulations!!! Also, welcome back!

@braddalrymple8615 Месяц назад

So happy for you ❤❤❤❤

@lDanielHolm Месяц назад

Congratulations, Mike. Happy birthday.

@wendelyn912 Месяц назад

YAY!!!! Congratulations! 🍾🥂 And happy birthday!!! So much good stuff for you! Wonderful!! Congrats!

@eclectic_nerd Месяц назад

Congratulations!! Glad you're all doing well ❤

@impactthegamer7550 Месяц назад

Well congrats on the baby! I hope everything goes just perfect

@TheMineyist Месяц назад

LETS GO! Thank you for the hour long episodes, even with your new child!

@luisfranco1592 Месяц назад

Congratulations on the baby! Hope everything is well and wish all the good to you and your family!

@Onesmartcookie78429 Месяц назад

Congratulations, Mike! Glad everyone is doing well! Now to watch this while I cook dinner...

@Innverno Месяц назад

Congratulations for your first child!

@TheZymby Месяц назад

Congratulations on the baby! I'm glad to hear that you're back and you're wife and baby are in good health! Love to see the content continue!

@alalessia Месяц назад

Wonderful episode, thank you so much - your insights are as always, very interesting and helpful for a newbie like me :)

@pieisgood390 Месяц назад

Congratulations to you and the mama on the baby! Love your videos.

@pieisgood390 Месяц назад

Also, because others have commented it in the past, this is my first episode where I am further in my watch than your episode of demystified Halfway there 🏄‍♂️

@taejaskudva2543 Месяц назад

Congrats on Supergeek Tyke! Being a parent isn't usually hard, but it is relentless. Don't let yourself feel old. Doing the same thing in my 40s was much more fatiguing than I remembered.

@Flip4Crypt Месяц назад

Holy hell, congrats on becoming a father, happy birthday, and congratulations to another year of the channel. This next year will be exhausting but fucking incredible! Thank you so much for putting anything out there

@GregMcNeish Месяц назад

Congratulations, Mike! Welcome to the world, SupergeekBaby!

@Gnarlf Месяц назад

Your upload schedule be damned. Congratiulations! 🥳

@richardpoteat4661 Месяц назад

Congratulations on the new edition to your family!

@nadirku Месяц назад

I thought this when I first watched this Critical Role episode, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the miniature for Umbrasyl seems to be the same model as one of two "Gargantuan Dragon" miniatures I own that I should have purchased sometime around 2008 to 2010.

@BigKlingy Месяц назад

Agreed on setting DCs for difficulty based on how powerful something would be vs real-life plausibility. Maintaining some amount of plausibility in a fantasy setting is important, but it's also FANTASY. Best to prioritize what's cool over what's viable. That said, the "death-ray" could have made for a unique situation in anything other than a character-driven revenge arc, in a very "only this specific artefact can defeat the villain, so you need to protect it and use it wisely" way. (Hmm... this might be the premise of this campaign's final battle...) I wonder if your "really unnecessary" example involves a certain "deck" later on? I always felt Matt "walking back" an earlier result there felt unnecessary and jarring, even if he did technically get it wrong. Grog and Pike's sibling dynamic is so wholesome, I love little moments like this. Curious about the "fanon version" of Pike because I'm not sure where that comes from, I do feel like Animated Series Pike is a bit different from Actual Play Pike though. A favourite moment from this fight not mentioned here: Laura debating whether or not she should use her Dragon-Slayer Arrow against AN ANCIENT DRAGON. To quote Liam: "It's not a Kobold, lay into it!" To me, the reveal of Umbrasyl's title is fine because I love videogames and this feels like "boss subtitles". I can just picture the dragon showing up and "UMBRASYL: The Hope Devourer" appearing on-screen. Fun fact: at the time I first started watching Critical Role, this was the most recent episode that'd aired! I remember reading about this cliffhanger, though I didn't start watching live until Campaign 2.

@redknight808 Месяц назад

Congratulations! ...and Happy Birthday!

@paulsavas2394 Месяц назад

Thanks for using the word paramour! And congrats on the addition to your family!

@bristowski Месяц назад

This is a good channel. This is a good series. I like Mike.

@josh--el Месяц назад

I also think Matt's use of the name reveal in that moment helped ease the tension of losing a chunk of allies all at once, especially when he leaned into the "married into it" angle. That helped diffuse the moment and give a bit of levity in a heavy situation

@stephendonovan5056 Месяц назад

Congratulations on the new arrival, Mike

@oggblomskulk Месяц назад

Its kinda funny that pike gets to stay on the pillar after the tail hit because of the reasons why, then in C2 Beauregard gets baseballed off a dragons backwith a loud ping by Gellidon, both really good moments 😊

@cabalarcana6996 Месяц назад

Happy Birthday, Mike!

@zippomage Месяц назад

i started following because of the vox machina vids, but I stayed excited because of the non-vox videos, honestly. Love me some Crit Role, but you have a seriously interesting perspective that I think i could learn alot from.

@TheLordofMetroids Месяц назад

Congrats on your new child. Niw the hard part starts. Hopefully it goes well. Thanks for taking the time to still do these even in the most stressful part of your life man.

@Touyagirl Месяц назад

Congratulations on the new baby!!

@blakumablak6217 Месяц назад

Congratulations Mike you got this

@hammrshark9881 Месяц назад

Congrats on being a new papa and welcome back!

@aidanmoore4214 Месяц назад

7:46 perfectly said. I Run a super tinker focused West Marches campaign and this is the most important thing to know about crafting. Balance in a long term campaign is extremely important to allow the DM to still create tension. Know the plan, satisfy the fantasy and players, but still keep the challenge difficult