SPOILER WARNING! For both Campaign 1 and 2! We get a little sappy today, but this guy is cool and deserves it. PATREON: / xptolevel3 TWITTER: / xptolevel3 DISCORD: / discord
Step one: Watch this video Step two: make a unique character, that you will enjoy playing Step three: realise you'll always be the DM and cry yourself to sleep
step 4: make a rival band of NPCs made of the characters you'll never play. brownie points if they constantly one up the party on happenstance and keep kicking their tail.
If Percy represents dwelling on the past, and Molly represents trying to run from your past, does this make Caduceus the idea of living in the moment, of letting what happens happen?
Grave clerics embrace the nature of life not death they simply understand that death is part of the cycle for new things and people to be born the old must die or pass on
I've always built characters to survive, so that, when the story's over, they continue on, finding their way through the lands... But that doesn't create emotional impact. They may have great actions, but nobody will take a hard look at the things your character has done if you live forever, they'll just continue interacting in the now. My viewpoint is so much different, and what a perfect time. My group is starting again in a few weeks, and I now have a new way of looking at building a character
Birth is the first step towards death..however what’s wrong with living forever what’s wrong with beating the odds. I’m a relatively new player and I’m still using my first character. I like the struggle to beat the odds. Brute is his name and he’s everything you would think a 9ft Goliath barbarian path of the zealot (because i didn’t want to be unkillable just like to bounce out of my grave) we rolled for our stats and I got very average rolls except one I got a 5 and the best place to put that was my intelligence Brute couldn’t read or write for the entirety of the first adventure of our story. He went brain dead for awhile, turned to stone, has seen the gates more times than I can count, but he still rages on. And now we are on average all level 8 with me and two others at 9 (7person group) we had just finished the second adventure of our 5 part campaign and tbh I’ll admit being a normal melee character gets kinda boring so I’ve talked with my dm and he said if I can pull it off I can do something that I’ve never read or even seen a single post about on Reddit, during this downtime I’m going to attempt to invent a strength based magic so I have options in battle. (If you’ve made it this far thank you for listening to my story apologies for the miss punctuation I’m on my phone.) so I guess what I’m saying is be prepared for death but don’t just play your character as just a character make sure you Embody them, live them, and love them, if you don’t want to die don’t let it happen fight till the fight is done and don’t you dare think that your character is not worth it because they are a part of you. Have a nice night I’m going to go figure out how to pull of the impossible
TheScrambled It's not to say that all characters have to die - not at all. It is simply that characters will die, and I feel like most begginer players, myself included, never really prepare for that to be a possibility. Yes, your character can live to be immortal, or get a happy ever after. Yet even then, thinking about death in regards to them, their opinoun and reaction to them, and how they think and feel about their own demise, could certainly flesh out a character more. We're not making things to just throw away, as you said - so the hard questions are worth asking.
Percy was meant to be irredeemable and not a good person. But Vex changed that and made him want to be better. Now he makes clocks instead of weapons and is a family man. even if he's not the best now. he's not evil although he could have so easily been
I love the fact that Taliesin was fully prepared to burn the character to the ground in the epilogue, until he and Percy both had an epiphany. I think the way it happened was perhaps the only way a “good ending” to his arc was possible, and I am forever grateful that it happened.
I agree, Percy would have become one of the most intense and deeply rich villains of all time if it were not for Vox Machina and for Vex in particular.
It was rough man. Heck I cried on and off for maybe a week before the acceptance stage kicked in. Then quickly happy again the second Caduceus started talking.
Can I just point out how Mollymauk TEALEAF died And taliesin’s new character makes TEA from dead people?? Whether intentional or not, I love that connection
Mollymauk was also very nearly named Mollymauk Trickfoot. Taliesin originally wanted the carnival that took him in to be owned by a relative of Pike, but Matt didn't want such an overt reference to the first Campaign so soon in the Second...
(SPOILERS) As much as I adore Percy and Molly, Cadeceus instantly won my heart with a single line: "Wow, Jester, your mom knows the gentleman, that's so cool." Taliesin's delivery there had me literally fall out of my chair laughing when I watched it live for the first time.
Caduceus is just this innocent precious creature of pure light. It's not surprising, considering he's lived a very sheltered life in the temple and rarely left it to visit the outside world, but the way that Taliesin gives him this happy innocence while still being very somber and grounded when it comes to death. The others cringe when he speeds up the decomposition of fallen foes when what he does is actually something very beautiful. Like when they visited Molly's grave. Everyone got upset at what he did but his words after would have made me cry if I hadn't already been crying because of the entire scene. "The earth will remember him" or something like that. It was beautiful.
I am constantly fearing hearing Caduceus' tragic backstory. Considering Molly's backstory (My first memory is digging my way out of my own grave) and Percy's backstory (I literally made a deal with a demon to get revenge and I am scared of the demon taking over)
What's funny is that campaign 2 has darker characters than campaign 1, as the party is more grey than white like vox machina. Even jester has her moments of grayed morality. And then we have this peppy firbolg walking around being a ray of sunshine
We haven't entirely figured out how much of Molly is in Lucien and how much of Lucien was in Molly. And we probably won't know until the arc is finished, and even then it will probably be Matt explaining in talks when the inevitably kill all the tomb takers. (DnD villains typically only get one ending, and Jester read his fortune)
Not really… (Big spoilers ahead) . . . . . Molly was fighting Lucien all along. He helped the M9 defeat him by taking his legendary actions and ultimately sacrificed himself tearing Lucien apart when Jester handed the final blow on Lucien. The only reason Lucien didn’t kill the M9 when he had the chance (and he had MANY) was because of Molly. So no, he wasn’t evil.
it's almost as if matt made that stuff up when he wa in the last quarter of the campaign and needed character from the past in order to 'wow' the audience...
I am sorry for what I'm gonna ask, but how is it possible for you to cry at something like that ?? (honest question) I've cried watching dramatic moments in movies/series, I've cried a little while reading books, but for the life of me I cannot cry for Molly's death. I wasn't a fan of Molly and though I found the character interesting and his death meaningful, I didn't find it sad personally. Maybe because Molly accepted his death and probably didn't have many regrets, so from his perspective he wasn't sad to die. (it's either that or because the character didn't speak to me, which is totally why) Also if he saw the M9 now, he'd know it was meant to happen and that his death changed them for the better. If his spirit wasn't already at peace, it would be knowing that, which is not by any means sad. I admire Taliesin as a person and I very much like Caduceus, though. Wonder what I'll feel when he dies !
@@Nazinsky That might be the case, yes. Being a very empathetic person I usually see things in the perspective of the characters and I often manage to understand them or at least I think I do. As I understood Molly, he wasn't sad to die because he knew he already lived his life, died, and got a new one free of his memories which he knew was a bonus. Being mostly at peace with that, he accepted his end both as not a huge loss and also as an inevitability. He wasn't sad or angry, and merely treated his killer with contempt in his last breath. That's why I didn't find it sad, on the contrary. But I may not have fully undertood Molly and it's possible that it was more emotional for him than I thought. (also it's been 1-2 years since I watched the begining of M9, so I may not remember correctly) But yeah, I didn't connect with him and I personally was fine seeing a new character for Tal instead of Molly. So yeah, that may be the reason.
I didn't cry when Molly died, but Yasha being brought to his grave for the first time is what got me. You get so attached to the relationships these characters have, even though they're just fantasy. Critical Role sucks in that regard (and only that regard) because you get so invested into them, but the entire time you know that something is bound to happen due to the nature of D&D.
"Taliesin doesn't make his characters to become gods, he makes them immortal by transforming them into legends." DAMN that hit harder than I ever could've prepared for
Taliesin about to die: "This is adorable." Sam: "Why is this on me?" Taliesin still about to die: "Because it's funny that way." Sam: *rolls a 2* Taliesin dead: *Laughs*
I think the ultimate prize when playing a game like D&D is when you find that one group that lets you explore the character you and the other players create. It's not about loot or winning a fight, or seducing everything because you can, it's about telling a story, and when enough of those people get together in one place, real magic is possible.
Part of the problem is D&D wants you to interact through combat (Which is totally fine). Great stories can come from combat, the problem is only a very specific type of story can sustain itself around combat. Which means people who are more interested in the storytelling aspects of the genre can get frustrated with those limitations, and end up going sour on tabletop games on the whole. If you're someone who is more interested in that side of tabletop games, look for different games outside of D&D (I'd reccomend Powered By The Apocalypse systems, starting with Dungeon World) you'll find a whole variety of stories to tell and build preferences, you might even end up returning to D&D!
yeah thats so true and my regular group is not one of those groups they do 98% fights 2% interacting with the world 0% exploring characters or telling a story sadly that is the only group i have to play :(
Wow, well said! I have just taken a screenshot of your comment which I will now crop and paste in a dozen places as a visual quote. I will use this everytime I try to convince someone to play for the first time.
Taliesin doesn't have characters who jump out quite as much as some of the other cast members of CR. I've never found myself liking his characters that much in their first few episodes, especially not when placed alongside the shear charm and eccentricity of some of the other characters in CR, but they always end up being my favorites in the long term. He has a complexity to his characters that might not be immediately evident, but it definitely shows up over time.
Yeah, Percy was just this background character who occasionally did something really bad ass with his rolls or was able to do something clever. Then Whitestone arc kicks in and holy shit you realize just how good this guy is as acting and creativity. Having all these emotions that doesn't dip into the edge sphere. Molly was this as well, but more that he didn't dip into the 'demonic asshole' that you assume with his intro and first few sessions. His whole backstory about not remembering who he is but has no care to find out about his past almost feels like Talisesin is being self-aware of the amnesia trope, dangling it there, and then says 'nah fuck that lets take it in a different direction' and its just wonderful and oddly refreshing to see.
sonicspeedx13 My interpretation of Molly was that he was not indifferent towards, but genuinely _terrified_ of his past. Everything he learned about the person he used to be scared the shit out of him. I'm pretty sure Taliesin would have had an arrangement with Matt whereby Molly would have been forced to confront this dark past. Like Percy's vendetta against the Briarwoods, Taliesin was giving Matt a great plot hook to throw to the party when he felt the time was right. Sadly, we'll never get to see how that played out. The consolation prize for us Critters is of course Caduceus. Whereas Molly seemed more like a work in progress, Caduceus just seems much more natural. Taliesin has slipped into that character like a pair of old shoes.
Ezeckel Reichert We can certainly hope so. After all, the Nein are still tangled up with the Gentleman (moreso than ever now) and Cree still works for him.
One of the fundamental questions I ask when I make a character is "how will they subvert expectations?" The second fundamental I ask after that one is "How can I make that subversion make sense." A lot of people make their characters by creating a concept and then fleshing that concept out through play. When I hit the table I have been talking to the character for hours or even days in my head. Right now I am playing a gnome rogue who is a part of what I like to call an "Edge Lord Party" where everyone is a variation of neutral. So I made my rogue the only person in the party who is good aligned, but even more than that, he is the only one in the group that is a true Hero. When all the rest of the party was running off because they pissed off a red dragon and said wyrm was turning the town we called home into a BBQ, my character ran into the center of town and pulled out a short bow. He fought, and caused the rest of the party to come to his aid, causing them all to become heroes that day. When the smoke cleared and the dragon was run off (we didn't kill it because that dragon is the main villain of the campaign, at least we figure) my character denied he was the one to do the deed and it was, in fact, the fighter. When the fighter cornered my character and asked when he didn't take credit for saving the town, he simply replied "Doing the right thing for the wrong reason is no better than doing the wrong thing for the right reason. I am no hero. I'm just a Gnome. No bard has ever sang of a legendary Gnome Hero, and I will be damned if I subject myself to being the first. The townspeople can look up to you. When they see me, they expect silly. When they see you, they expect to follow you to the Nine Hells and back, because you are the kind of person who will get them back." After my character walked off, leaving the player stunned, he turned to the DM and said, "I think my character's alignment just changed." Ray Sunfoot is a rogue who wants to be a hero more than anything, but he knows that all anyone ever sees when they look at him is a small, shifty comic relief character because he is a Gnome. His voice is silly. His mannerisms from the point of view of the people at the table, and their characters, is silly. But deep down, he isn't silly at all. As one player told me after our last session, "he is Jar Jar Binks, if Jar Jar was a fully fleshed out and complex character." Honestly, I have never thought it possible to have a character referred to as a Jar Jar, and have it be a compliment.
I have no reasonable way to prove whether your comment is truthful or not, but I sincerely hope that it is. It's really easy to lie about these sorts of things, and if it turns out that you are, that'd be a damn shame...
OMG this is almost exactly what I try to do! Whenever I start a new campaign, I imagine myself sitting across a table from my new character, just me and them. I ask them questions, and come up with how they respond. It makes it much easier and more fun to start a campaign as a character you’ve spoken to
My characters have started with a concept, but I don't put that concept to paper until I've done some thinking and tried to meet the character as you said. Carl Blackjack, my human wizard, started as "tanky wizard for survivability (high CON, Tough feat at Level 1", which informed me that no, Divination was not the school to specialize in despite my initial plan, he's an Abjuration specialist who now has 31 HP at Level 3. His lower Charisma became justified through "He thinks Common is a clunky and BORING language, so he only speaks one word of it at once" - fleshing his appearance out with a couple of stray tiefling traits said "He far prefers conversing in Infernal". Start with the concept, then ask "why?". Goliath wizard? Why? His body is his spellbook, with spells tattooed onto him so he can appear to fit in with his herd. Min-maxed Bard with 20 CHA and 3 WIS at Level 1? She's a half-elf who has been locked in her room her whole life and lacks knowledge about the outside world including "when to stop talking" or "when to keep something a secret". That's another thing I love about Critical Role: the characters don't come to the table half-baked (not even Caduceus). They come with lots of details known, quirks ready to display, and enough room to have naturally-occurring reactions further define them (Caleb's initial smell, Jester's pastry addiction).
I try to do the same. I make a concept, then I find a way to make it interesting or "subvert" the common standards. for example: I think I want to make a fighter, I look at the races and go "ooo, Hobgoblin looks fun, ooooh I could go samurai then (lightbulb)" I decide to make a hobgoblin samurai who's blade is of elvish design, and furthermore speaks fluent elvish without difficulty and carries poetry written in sylvan that she will stare with a sad fondness. the whole concept I ended up basing on the story of the hyana demon, a woman who was turned into a monster. At first you see this brutish and hard boiled samurai monster you're not sure you trust. you are then subverted by girlish tendencies and an uncanny knowledge of elvish beliefs and languages. for another: A fallen Aasimar Warlock of (GOO) Nehkbet: forgotten goddess of Pestilence, plagues, protection, and vultures. He was originally a protector Aasimar who loved to fly more than anything else but in an argument gone horribly violent. he was stripped of his wings and exiled. Had this whole flashback where he would notice his necrotic features and would summon his now skeletal wings and just, scream. later he's found by this hag looking goddess who offers him a deal "slay the undead in my name, become my sword, and I shall grant you the ability to fly once more". He's a charlatan who gives placebo fortune telling's with a deck he made himself, he plays himself off as a human no-body follower of the raven queen, he's embittered by his experiences however chooses to do the right thing in the end. Changed his name, frequently scars himself on the arm that holds the brand of envy (despite the tattoo being untouched), and if he was ever confronted by fellow Aasimar he would spit in their face and vehemently refuse to work with them. He wants NOTHING to do with his past.
I think it's commendable that Taliesin's characters asked the question: "What makes a good person?" Percy was a "bad" person who acted against his instincts and did good things. Whenever he had these horrible ideas he knew they were bad. It reminds me of what Paarthurnax from Skyrim said: "What is better? To be born good or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?" Molly on the other hand was an unconventionally good person. He lied, he pretended, but in the end he did this with good intentions. His goal was good but the path towards this goal was not. Percy has been my favourite character of C1. And while Molly hasn't been my favourite thus far in C2, I acknowledged his importance. He was the moral core that kept the Nein from succumbing to dark influences. And his light seems to continue to shine on in the other characters (especially Beau and Nott). Caduceus is still a mystery to me. But I'm sure he will be just as outstanding as Taliesin's other characters.
Couldn't agree more. Which is why Taliesin has always been to me the ideal of what makes role-playing awesome. To face the grinning demons in our lives with integrity, humor, and an awareness that immortality isn't winning, leaving a legacy is.
I love in the Talks episodes when Tal mentions how he gets an idea, realizes that Cad would never even think that, and then tells Perxy to stop talking. Just years later and Tal still hears no mercy Percy while playing Cad who is great at this point.
My art of Molly appeared in this! I honestly couldn't be more honored--I've been watching this channel for a while, and Tal is my favorite player on CR... I'm really glad I feel like I got to be a part of this tribute even in a small way. You do such a good job with these player breakdowns, they warm my heart.
Well, in Welsh mythology, Taliesin is the name of one of the sons of the sorceress goddess, and he was a great bard, the best, in fact. Taliesin is also the name of a 6th century Welsh bard. Soooo, I think he's just making his rounds of Earth again.
"He finally made a character who supports life..." Caduceus Clay , a Grave Domain Cleric. It's not so much that he supports life, as it is that he respects the cycle of life and death. He's more like an anti-necromancer.
Mollymauk affected more than the Mighty Nein. All of us fans... one way or another were affected. And he has left his mark... On that night, Mollymauk became a god of playful trickery in my campaign setting. Long may he reign.
Its actually not true that he hasnt had an extensive acting career... his entire childhood was as an actor, his extended family is all actors and directors including his grandfather was George freaking Axelrod who wrote The Seven Year Itch starring marilyn monroe! Basically his entire existence has been encompassed by acting, writing, and producing. He even did independent anime overdubs in high school. He voice acted and directed long before many of the rest of the cast even began. So i would say his experience far exceeds the rest of the cast even if some of them have more recognizable or more roles in recent years.
He might not have as much credited _voice_ acting as the others (haven't checked), but his overall acting experience is pretty large and started way earlier than anyone else in the cast afaik.
Watching this, the conversation about Molly never being meant to be evil despite the pitch perfect set up, now that we know Lucien is absolutely fascinating because you're still right. He wasn't meant to be. He ended up falling into it, by losing himself. He literally recrafted himself into someone who was kind, given the blank slate.
Mollymauk's death has affected me more powerfully than any other character in any book I've read, movie or show that I've ever watched in my life. I've never yearned to hear the voice of a character more than his after he died. I may never meet Taliesin in my life, but if I could, I would give him a hug, and thank him for sharing his chaotic beauty with the world.
I was not expecting this beautiful love letter to Taliesin. I was less expecting to get all teary. This is a wonderful tribute to an awesome player and his awesome techniques.
Taliesin makes characters that appear one way and behave in a way opposite to what you'd expect. That is why Caduceus seems to be mismatched, he is, just like Percy and Molly. Perhaps the most important thing to consider after making a character, aside from the concept, are the flaws that character has. Percy was motivated by revenge and hatred. Molly would do whatever he felt like doing without concern for the consequences. Caduceus is passive when it comes to problems; he notices them and tells everyone else what he sees, but doesn't initiate action to fix them. -- Story time - A bunch of my friends started playing through Hoard of the Dragonqueen. Our cleric was the first player character to die, killed by the wizard's thunder wave while unconscious. No one was shocked or upset. We buried him and moved on. When my fighter died in the duel against Cyanwrath at the end of the first chapter, one of the players was shouting at me for not yielding the duel, the wizard was solemn for the first time, the rogue took up my rapier and named it "vengeance", and the dwarf warlock was glad the pretentious elf finally bit the dust. He had a good death that made (most of) our party dislike the villain. Why did the party have different reactions to these two different character deaths? I think it came down to one key difference: my fighter was active in roleplay. We did not have any time given to us by the DM to interact with each other in character, we were fighting all night as the module says we should. I saw the city burning down and told the rest of the party I was going in, and they were free to follow or leave. I talked to the other characters during combat, shouting orders and coordinating our actions. I approached others during a short rest and asked questions about them. Our cleric pretty much said nothing besides introducing himself and telling the DM what he did in combat. Whatever his character was going to be, none of us saw it realized.
Everyone has their own way of going about creating characters but I find that the best characters are ones that aren't perfect whether they try to be better or simply fall victim to their flaws. Its what makes them feel alive. I have a few characters that have gone through a major metamorphosis when I played them and it was an interesting experience for me as a player as I got to explore parts of my character I never thought much about. My first ever character was a half elf monk who wanted nothing more than to explore the world and learn what she couldn't learn from books. She was young, joyous, and a bit naive, and it showed as she had never experienced the hardships and tragedies that other people had. She realised the world was a lot more cold and cynical, and she slowly became that in order to survive. I have a goblin rogue who didn't live a luxurious life but also had food to eat and a roof over her head. But when her mother was assassinated, she realised that it doesn't matter who you are, people will go after you and you have to be able to defend yourself. So she spent a better part of a year making a name for herself, rising in power so no one could harm her and so she could avenge her mother's death. She is by no means a good person and will do what she must if it means catching whoever it is that murderd her mother. But that being said she has one code she lives by, dont kill anyone unless there is no other option. And finally I have a fire genasi cleric who was sweet and caring, until she was killed in the crossfire between the mafia and her father. She was brought back to life and realised her father had left her for dead in the rubble of their home. She was bitter towards the world and wanted people to know it, she wanted people to suffer like she did. She felt robbed of death and swore that so long as she lived only those she deemed worthy would die. Of course that went away when she made some friends, they made her realise that she was brought back for a reason and that maybe just maybe life was actually worth living. She became close to the person she used to be and got to a point where she would risk her life for her friends, not because they didn't deserve to die but because they deserved to live.
I have a human bard who appears to be happy on the outside but deep down he is drowning in his own thoughts. Most assume he is asexual due to any time a person would flirt with him he would pass it off and tell them no but in reality he wants someone he can't have . So he does everything in his power to stay single cause he knows that if he dated the person. Who flirted with him he wouldn't love them back. He would just see it as trying to fill the hole in his life. He doesn't care about the gold or the loot he just wants something to take his mind off the person he likes. And in his mind killing creatures and helping his party get what they want works for him. Even if he would get the chance he would pass it off saying " no thanks I'm fine give it to someone else . Cause all he wants is a distraction just something to remove said person from his mind for a while
Watching this I was not expecting it to have an impact on my life. Instead, this really got me to think about the character I want to create in my real life, not DnD. Like Jaffe asks himself what would Percy do, I am going to start asking myself what would I do? not asking just me, but the person I want to be. I just signed up for a triathlon and am going to go on my first run in weeks. If I ever complete an Iron man I will come back to this video to let y'all know!
Can we talk about how Caduceus is all about bringing out the best in other characters. Not only that, but encourages them to lead their own life? He gives small nudges, but lets them discover things on their own
Wow, this actually really helps, alot of my friends ask why Im so willing for my, our beloved characters to die, and I was never able to put it into words. Even though Im new to DnD, I’ve been doing alot of the same things and Im glade to realised Im not doing it wrong.
Can I ask you to maybe make one for Laura about bringing everyone out of their comfort zone at the beginning of a campaign. It was very obvious that she brought everyone out of their shells at the beginning of campaign 2 and apparently she did the same for the first campaign too Looking forward to maybe having one for every member of Critical Role of you're feeling up to it
Hey, so my Firbolg ranger just died and we're resurrecting her, so... When she wakes up, she will have no memory of what happened or who anyone is. She has to develop an entirely new personality and chooses to reflect what she sees in the world, thereby becoming violent, aggressive and borderline abusive. All she knows about herself comes from small flashbacks she has depicting things that she has done before she met the party. Before death, her motivation was to save the wilderness and would do anything to protect it (eg: murder). She remembers the murder bit, but not why she did it. She's attempting to distance herself from the party so they don't have to suffer from her presence any longer. Overall, she's scared and sad and just slowly being enveloped by her own flaws. Please, tell me what you think of this idea.
this may be a bit late, but having multiple runs with characters that try to not be friends it can be rough or downright annoying in the rp aspect when you can't interact with the group because your character is always avoiding them. I'd suggest giving her some kind of vulnerability or flaw that ties them to the group or that they can exploit in some way to get her to speak and interact with them, maybe a dependency on them because she wants to know why she did certain things, or maybe instead, a new emotional reaction to a character (Like being softer towards a character she butted heads with because she remembered doing something awful to them with no context). Or maybe she's trying to find something from her past that one of the characters in the group has, and is using that information to keep her from running away. Perhaps being resurrected in and of itself can act as that catalyst, perhaps she feels a debt to them or wants to learn why they bothered if she remembers herself doing things like murder for some goal that for some reason isn't important enough to remember even though the act is. Something at the very least. I know you posted that 4 weeks ago, so I hope it helps if you haven't already got a set development in mind Edit: Forgot to mention this part, I love the concept. Characters with flaws towards the group can be some of the most rewarding, they are often just difficult to roleplay properly. I like especially that she now has this history with the group that she doesn't remember but they all do, trying to reach out to her, even bringing her back from death to meet that end.
You know you made a powerful character if people can't watch videos about said character without crying,even if they never cry or already watched the episode with the character's death
"For all the death he brings to the table... he finally made a character who supports life, a person to heal the broken." Got chills, now more than ever.
This got unnecessarily deep and I felt all of it. I’m extra emotional during these times and it shows when I go through all the stages of grief in the duration of a video
"what is this?" "Its a blank piece of paper." I love how well spoken and quick witted his characters are no matter their dispositions and personalities
Im very satisfied how my two best characters died.... First one, a male elf rogue, later warlock, he died twice. First time he died our ranger had shot him down over a disagreement, but he ended up as a ghost in our rangers head until he made a deal with a fiend to regain his life by possessing one of that fiends followers and became a warlock. He had in his previous life been one of the last loyal royal guards to the old royal family before the coup, but having only been put in the guard due to nepothism he simply didnt have the fighting prowess to properly help his queen.... But this dark power and a promise from our employer of helping her gave him hope and he served loyally, until we were to assassinate a great warrior. We had trough magic and lots of manipulation set up gunpowder and alcohol to be blown up while that warrior was in the in,a horrible act but his loyalty was absolute and he would go trough with it. The warrior is about to leave.... so to keep him there and let the rest of the party out he sits down and has a conversation with him, awaiting the moment of their doom.... He actually almost survived too, our ranger who had murdered him the first time tried digging him out of the rubble but couldnt find him before he had succumbed to his injuries. Was he good? Arguably not, he took part in basicly a terrorist attack. Was he loyal? Definantly. My other one, a female dragonborn fighter, she was kind of the innoficial leader of the group, we were wanted dead or alive. But I was both preventing even our more evil members from doing evil actions unless it was absolutely nescesary, yet despite that I kept the group safe trough ruthless means. The one with the largest bounty and most well known I carved up the face off so he wouldnt be recognized, but I was the one who kept us safe, and came up with our plans. While also preventing as much needless evil as possible. Her motivation was to get revenge on her old friend who had left her to die over a magic sword they couldnt agree on who would get. We had heard rumors that a local bandit gang had been seen with this sword, so aproached their camp while most where out raiding. We ambushed the few guards there and slew them, then I devised a plan to take out the much larger bandit force that would return. (Essentially we dug pits filled with sharp objects and fires and would use methods to force the larger bandit force into it, managing to bury the bandit leader at the bottom of one, under horses and other bandits, all on fire.) During this battle I died trying to draw off some attackers from our unconcious party members, alas our rogue also died. She died for her obsession with finding the traitor, and for her unwillingness to let her companions die. That sword from her backstory? The DM found it such a cool idea he elevated it to much greater plot importance. My characters friends have occasionally showed up as allies. She was a lot of fun to play, a bit ruthless at times but she was definantly set on keeping thoose around her safe. Sorry for rambling, its late and just remiscising. XD
I'm kinda stunned by how few of my characters have permadied. I have ridden that line of "holy shit, I've got about a 50-50 shot of getting out of this alive if I'm lucky" _way_ more times than I should have gotten away with. That said, my favorite moments (both in and out of battle) have been in or around those near death experiences where even I, as a player, thought death was quite likely. There's something special that comes out when all the chips are down that I wouldn't ever trade away to bend plot to keep a character safe.
Yeah, I am somewhat bitter of character deaths (cause ive lost so many characters in so little time, mostly bad luck honestly though....) BUT both my most memorable characters are that in large part because of their deaths. So I definantly think that character deaths can lead to MUCH greater storytelling options for the rest of the party, even if it stings to have to be a newcomer to this party of longtime friends and adventurers... Kinda envy you for having such luck with not dying though not gonna lie.
You know a character had huge impact when you hear someone in a campaign you know nothing about say, "Molly said not to steal from happy people," and you almost cry
I would love to see this updated with Ashton and 4-Dive Episode 3 included where he actually talks about how he conceptualized these characters. It'd be a real cool video, if not quite a bit longer... maybe just a part 2 on it after Ashton has had more time to flesh out.
I feel ya man, went deep more than a couple of times there and I do agree. Sincerely hope that Taliesin gets to watch this and I know I'm bout to figure out a way to get this video in front of his face. Good job on this video's and all the ones I've watched on this channel already, thanks for providing grounded and good content regarding something you love.
I thought I related more to Liam when it came to DnD...but goddamn you just showed me that I am basically Taliesin...or at least as close as any mortal may get
Honestly, I've only seen 4 Taliesin characters: Molly, Cadeuceus, Tal's C3 PC, and finally, Percy. Thing is, I've not gotten to the end of C2 yet, so I don't know what will transpire. However, the character I identify with is Percy -- because I see myself a lot in him. He is intelligent, has a high creative capacity, knows full well what he is doing. He also, in the beginning of C1, was very much apathetic and aloof. I remember Tal's answer at the C1 Wrap-Up on Talks, where he talked about how Percy, when Scanlan threw his original pistol in the acid vat, was pissed off about it -- yet if Scanlan hadn't done that, he would have continued the cycle of violence and vengeance against those names the barrels showed him. Particularly against the Briarwoods, Percy was truly an angel of righteous vengeance. When he heard the Briarwoods' name, and then the fight in Emon, I really wanted Percy to get retribution. And in the end, he did get it -- and on his wedding day, no less. I damn near bawled when Percy died, because I wanted him to live both before his vengeance finished, and after. I wanted Percy to be with Vex, especially after realizing that the Raven Queen was taking Vax -- and if Percy had not survived, I think Vex'halia would have been broken, losing the two men she cared for the most. And in the end, Percy showed me just how much vengeance can cost someone -- especially if vengeance is your whole world? As the Bible verse says, "What good does it do for a man to gain the whole world, yet lose his soul?" And Percy showed me that cost, and also showed me how hard forgiving himself truly was. I dont think he could have, not without Vex or Vax. The point to this is, I have come to realize how broken I once was, as the Raven Queen once told Percy -- and realizing this, I have come to understand, and accept through forgiveness, my own deepest and darkest corners. In the process that feels like forging, I have come out stronger on the other side -- and in so, healed a lot of past pain, anguish, anger, and rage. In a word, Percy was the therapist I didn't know I needed. Though I may never meet Taliesin in real life, I am eternally grateful for playing a character that has revealed so much of my own nature to myself, while at the same time, healing the pain and hell I put myself through. Taliesin, should you ever read this, thank you. You have no idea how greatly you have affected the world -- let alone someone like me. Thank you.
Counterpoint: don't always make characters with a bit of yourself in them. I was once in a group with a bunch of rather moody, dark characters - and then there was Osborn, this cheerful, annoying halfling. He got bullied quite a bit by his party mates. And whenever he was insulted, it was indirectly insulting me. Not that the people were mean, the party was rather flippant and chaotic. So, make sure you got yourself the right group.
I absolutely love every character in CR season 2 but I didn't exactly have a favorite and I still don't, but I was shocked how sad I felt when I heard Molly died. (I'm always few episodes behind and twitter is full of spoilers) In a way though I remember thinking "Molly was the only one who would make sense dying" in a way he was only one with no past, not one he would have wanted to tell. He was and is such amazing character ^^ But that doesn't explain why I almost started crying while watching this video and not when listening the episode! Anyways I love these kinds of videos, thank you
Taliesin roleplayed Molly so well. Doing everything in his power to be a good person while helping those who needed it, and checking those who would take advantage of others while giving them a chance to be better (bandits/Nott). In other cases, sometimes just being an extra pair of hands made all the difference.
I relate to Percy a lot honestly. Like you said Percy admits to not being deserving of his life, and I feel the same at times. I love critical role, and all of the characters. I’m still at like the beginning of season 1 and I still love the characters in season 2 already. Honestly this makes me so happy to be apart of this community even though I’m still so new to it
And now, almost a year on, Caduceus is right up there as one of my favourite Critical Role characters. He's wise, caring, lovable, supportive and perhaps most importantly to me, subtle. Though, we certainly have not seen the last of Molly.
Amazing video ! I truly admire the way your mind works and everything you said in this video, I too think of Talison as a mysteriously creative person who is so much deeper then he seems. Thank you for this content, I will for sure keep it in mind when creating and role playing my npc’s for my groups campaign.
this makes me understand things a little better i think. the character i made that had the most impact on any group ive ever played with was one i made as a goof. LICKTOAD!!! the goblin sorcerer.they were loud, ridiculous, and i only made them to see how long they lasted. everyone knew LICKTOAD!!! was hurtling towards an end. but some of the best moments came from their craziness. i have never made a character that came so close to dying within the first 5 minutes of being introduced before. i might start applying that philosophy a bit more now.
Every time I watch this video I'm always intrigued by your comments on Cad because sure he's a cleric, but Taliesin chose the grave domain, so even in his 'life-supporting' role as you put it, he's still embracing death. Also, I think how Cad reacted when the M9 first showed him Molly's grave is one of my favorite moments in c2 so far because it was a great opportunity for not only Cad to show his stance on death and the natural order of things, but it also gave Tal a final, grand moment to say goodbye to Molly
The best thing you can do for a character is let them go when it's time, whether that be via character death or the end of the campaign. I was playing a half-elven druid named Carric in my friend's campaign who was plagued by knowledge of how to make a key that wluld lead to the end of the world. This knowledge haunted Carric and tried to get out by constantly getting louder in his head until Carric spoke it aloud. Carric would subvert this by speaking the instructions in druidic and doing it in the form of a ritual. Eventually, the one who needed the key to escape tried to syphon the knowledge from him. In response, Carric stabbed himself with his scimitar and killed himself to prevent the end of the world. It was sad, and affected all of us until the final session, where we were given the chance to have him come back.
I'll never forget the first time one of my PCs died. The party had been just barging through my campaign without a care in the world. The best roleplayer of the group was running a halfling ranger named Kasmo Wildwinds and the group eventually had to actually face some of his literal inner demons. While the rest of the party was goofing around with some of the lower level enemies, Kasmo went one-on-one with a Balor of the Abyss. Naturally, he died. After the battle, some of my players were legitimately weeping for the death of this character. Long after that campaign ended, all my players forgot the actual title of my campaign and just took to calling it the Kasmo Campaign. That same player is now running a new campaign set in that same world and some of our characters are even descended from the original party, but no one dared be related to Kasmo's family. They still felt that wound. It was too fresh and that was over a year ago. Sometimes, death can be beautiful. Thank you, Kasmo, for everything. . .
This right here embodies every reason why Percy is my favorite character of all of them and why I can't take my eyes off Tal whenever he's at the table, even when he doesn't say a thing for 20 minutes. He still roleplays every moment of it and what he says is always pure gold. He creates characters that I cry for wneh they face hardships and cheer for when they win. He is the player I aspire to be at my table.
@@DareMurdok Orion, although he played my favorite character, was an addict and a shit dude, and I'm pretty sure he is now again too after a short stretch clean
@@DareMurdok Cancer and HIV apparently--and yes, from what little I've seen, the drugs were either the cause of the HIV, meant to ameliorate the cancer, or perhaps both. Since US doctors won't give out serious medication even to cancer patients and all, meaning some turn to street drugs. Which cost less, too.
Every character I make represents a part of me. It’s way funnier and easier to play. I once made a duo with another player. A detective and his assistant. And I was the assistant. The detective has really high perception and could spot all the clues but he has no investigation. The assistant has all the investigation and is like looking up to the detective. And they basically form this over the top duo. Where the detective will take credit for the assistants work. And instead of getting mad. The assistant will praise him as if she forgot that she was the one who did it. Also to prove that this duo is wacky. Allow me to show you their introduction. So you guys watch as this girl, that looks about 16 walk up to you guys. She has these twin braids in her brown hair. And a pair of giant round glasses on her nose. She is clutching a pretty big book. She clears her throat. Puts the book on the floor. And stands on it. Then she speaks. With a pretty bad lisp as if she is wearing braces. “Behold the power or the genius detective! Vandham Stoffelstein! (Yes that’s the name we went with.) BRINGER OF JUSTICE! SEEKER OF TRUTHS!” And then the detective would stand next to the assistant and say. “See here my intelligent assistant! Mary Naide! (yes that is the name we went with.) If you need the truth! Just ask here!” And then there would be an awkward silence as the other players were dying of laughter.
