As a side note: Depending on the audio quality and your personal background, turning on subtitles when watching the show on UA-cam can be a good option. They're all done manually! As a non native English speaker, it helped my understanding and language acquisition a lot. And there are even some funny easter eggs hidden in there. I will say though, I did miss some body language by watching it this way.
I always watch with subs too, makes it easier to follow along. I also check the comments afterwards because nice RP moment or fun body language are mentioned there (usually with time stamps) so I go back and rewatch if I feel like I missed something with subs on.
I honestly didn't care that Marisha was playing a character of a different race than her in Campaign 2. That's pretty much the point of dnd, to play as something you're not. Heck same campaign, Sam Riegel was playing a rogue goblin girl and I didn't hear any complaints about that.... I don't think.
Yeah I don’t understand why people would care about someone pretending to be someone of a different race, half the cast of characters look like demons, I.e. tieflings. Isn’t skin color in Dnd just a character detail anyway?
Yeah I feel like few of the takes of campaign 2 are dumb I personally liked it way better than campaign 1. I’ll agree new cast members are nice but you not only have find ones with time but also mash well with the group as whole.
i dont understand that either - you got all kind of species in those worlds that dont even look like humans and no one bats an eye. Why cant Marisha play a coloured woman?
There a distinct advantage of starting with C2 - the references to C1 aren't as blatant as in C3 (and this was by design), it's more watchable and - and this is important - it gets you hooked for the cast. I remember starting with C2 when it was still ongoing and when I caught up to it (episode 40-something I think) I started slowly dipping my toes into C1 to pass the time between mondays. Once you get to know the cast and you start liking them, beginnings of C1 start being much more forgiving :)
That's not bad advice as far as I'm concerned. Much preferable, as far as I'm concerned, to starting somewhere in the middle of C1. As something of a completist though, I'm very glad that I started at the beginning and carried all the way through. As rough as it was sometimes throughout that first campaign, I really did enjoy watching them develop and improve their process along with everything else. It was interesting as well as entertaining. And I wouldn't have wanted to miss that. It took a good long while. It replaced podcasts, music, television and such for awhile. But all in all it was well worth it.
Thanks to CR I started playing DnD. However my group and I did not experience the "Matt Mercer effect" at any moment because we understood that the CR players are, above all, very talented voice actors.
Just drop in "toothy maw" every once in a while. Or "you see". Even as a player or out of context just drop it in to catch people off guard. You see a toothy maw! Matt Mercer effect achieved.
Same for my groups. As long as you recognise CR has much more experience, and professional experience at that, then players do well with a dm that doesn’t do all the things MM does. Yeah I myself sometimes wish I had a dm like MM, but I also love my current dm for all her effort and time put in. Especially as our entire party is new dnd players and two of us are a wizard and Druid 😅 (I’m a wizard but I made sure to research the hell out of it to not slow us down)
I think CR3 didn't cast Robbie as a main cast member due to a few reasons: Firstly, being a main cast member on CR is a really big commitment few people can actually make. Because it probably was really difficult to find a day where the main cast members have time to play up to 4 hours DnD. So slotting in another person might be difficult. And I think guest stars is something really important to them and it seems like they want those guests to have more chance to have their own arc. Which means I think there will be more long term guests in the future and adding another main cast member on top of that would mean Matt has to deal with up to 9 players. Which doesn't sound fun.
At this point though it’s their main job so it’s probably easier to schedule. You don’t create an entire business around your home game as big as CR is then make the main campaign something you have to pencil it. It kinda become super important. Also we may be missing the main reason Robbie may not of wanted to. They may have asked/offered and he just said no that isn’t the road I want to take. Kinda like how Foster left for personal projects (or maybe something else who knows). Not everyone wants dnd to be their legacy and that’s ok to.
robbie still does EXU right so i think it also could have been a way to build more hype for that. The first run of that was fine but it seemed fan reception was lower than hoped and people were a bit disappointed in it all around. but now (and again im not following it so idk) i think with robbie being shown off to the larger viewership it might help drag more viewers to try it out
I remember back when they used to regularly do "guest slot" roles, so I think this was just an extended version of that. Eight players is clearly Matt's maximum, and well over what most DM's can handle anyways. I like them leaving that 8th slot open for occasional rotating guests. If you think about all of the guest players they've had on the show over the years, I'd hate to see them get rid of that feature because they're full up. Robbie is a great fit with the rest of the cast, but I'd rather see some new faces take a turn every so often.
also, at the core of it, it's a group of friends that are sharing their personal home game with us. yes it's a business, but it's their persona friend group, i hate seeing people saying "they should add x or y" or "they need to add non-white people to the main cast", like you are asking them to add representation to their friend group to meet a quota. If they add a someone, anyone to the main cast, it will be because they all want their friend in, not a coworker. (yes, the guests are their friends, but we all have friends and "THE CLOSE FRIENDS", there's a difference.)
found critical role through the trailer of the legend of vox machina on amazon, found out they're from a dnd campaign and i've always wanted to play. looked them up and found out they just started campaign 3. i started ep1 campaign1 back in october 2021. watching at 1.5 speed on youtube, now i am halfway through campaign 2 🙃 with some one shots here and there. a nice way feel like i have unlimited entertainment whenever im bored 😀
Kinda broke my heart that exandria was so ignored :( i think aabria is such a talented player and dm and i have seen her gm a lot for d20 and play in other games and i am so thankful because i think i might not have diacovered her if it wasn't for Exandria
I started with Exandria Unlimited. I knew of Critical Role before it, but I heard about it first when they were pretty far in campaign 2 already, and the backlog of episodes looked daunting. So I watched the first episode of ExU, got hooked, started watching Campaign 1 during the summer of 2021 in between new ExU episodes. I've just reached the point where Taryon was introduced. And of course, I am following Campaign 3. ExU was different, yes. Aabria's DMing style is different than Matt's, but I don't think it is as bad as some people say it is. I legit saw people claim Matt must be ashamed about how she ruined his world and yadda yadda. Watching the campaign wrap-up though, you could tell he was proud of her. Plus watching the joy on Aimee's and Robbie's faces while discovering the joys of D&D was just magical. (And man... I still miss Robbie at the C3 table. I knew he was a special guest and all, but he had such a good chemistry with the rest of the gang...)
She's so good! I think D20 did a great job of building a brand where DMs can swap out and it doesn't feel jarring. With CR, they don't leave room for different styles of gameplay besides Matt's. To fans, he is D&D Jesus and any DM on CR must strive to replicate him. I think that's a big reason people weren't interested in Exandria.
This might be a silly reason to have stopped watching Exandria Unlimited for a while, but I kept hearing the clicking of Aabria's jewelry everytime she moved and it was irritating to me. Everything else was great, but...well sometimes really small things can really get on your nerves. I just kept thinking "take those things off". But you know what that's on me and my misophonia, not on Aabria. I only managed 3 episodes, I do plan on watching them all, but in small increments. Whatched almost all of C1, all of C2 and keeping up with C3. So I do consider myself a fan of sorts. I stepped in, in C2, and slowly watching C1 to fill the gaps.
I think Aabria did great and handled some insane shit with grace, as she always does. But anyone who worships Matt and thinks there's no other way to DM has never seen Brennan Lee Mulligan in action. My only problem with ExU was the players: it seemed like everyone was trying to be the "wackiest" character (except for Liam but including Matt) to the point where it was 100% "chaos" and 0% focusing on their team's goals. When "I'll create a distraction so the rest of you can quietly sneak into the city" turned into two more players going "I'll help with the distraction!" and another player going "I'll create yet ANOTHER distraction!" ending in a combination of a loud parade and public disturbance, when their original goal was to quietly sneak into the city... at that point I was kinda done. There's "chaotic" and then there's just intentionally stupid. They each seemed more interested in competing to be the most "chaotic" character in the party, than they were in actually getting anything accomplished. It was kind of like a party of all Scanlans. And Liam couldn't carry a focus on team goals all by himself (even though his character was/is all about focusing on team goals), so he seemed kind of dragged along by the wacky shenanigan party... "Mother."
I had three major problems that prevented me from enjoying EU over all. And of course a lot of it is subjective and individual, like preferring chocolate to strawberry, or just NOT being able to tolerate the flavor of cilantro. First and foremost, as much as I enjoyed many of the reveals of the world, of lore, of character traits and backstories... There were far too many moments where neither I, nor the players, had any clue what was going on, or what direction would actually move the story forward. As much as I really enjoyed Aabria, it seemed to me that it was probably her job to provide that information, and the guide rails that might have resolved the chronic aimlessness and frustration that kept cropping up to stall everything. Maybe I'm wrong on that, but whatever the problem was, it was a problem. Second, I also did not enjoy the complete chaos most all the players kept piling on. Those two together made the whole experience feel like a step backwards in a way, like to campaign ones struggle with excessive chaos at the players table, like distracting crosstalk and snacking. Finally, and similar to not being able to tolerate the clinking of jewelry or chewing and swallowing over the mic, I just could not tolerate Opal's voice. It was incredibly difficult to endure in more than short snippets, and the fact that I didn't like the character on top of that made it that much harder. But thats like not being able to enjoy cilantro. Some people just love it. To some people it just tastes like soap. You’re not going to know which camp you fall into until you try it for yourself. Aimee is super talented though, and though I did not like Opal, I really enjoyed her wickedly clever performance in Narritive Telephone. The whole cast of Exandria Unlimited is spectacular. Abria's description of the world, landscapes, and people were very appealing and rich. Her interplay with the characters as various NPCs was really nice. In fact, in watching campaign 3, I have to say I miss Abrias charactetizations of Mister. The story has a lot of very cool elements. Robbie Daymond is wonderful. Anjali Bhimani is stunning. Both great characters. There is a lot to praise but it was extremely difficult to force myself through it just the same. I recommend to everyone who just can't, to go ahead and read Dani's recaps. They are very good and don't take long to get through at all. It isn't necessary of course, but it'll give you a peek at the backstories of the characters who carry over from EU to Campaign Three at least.
So, I started on campaign 2 because at the time it was still running, and this was pre-pandemic. I started here because at the time it tied in very little to campaign 1 so I would avoid spoilers (I detest spoilers, so this was important to me). As I neared episode 80 of campaign 2, my friends warned me that it was around this time that the spoilers would start to sneak in, so it would be a good time to go back and start campaign 1 if ever I was going to do so. At that point, I had already fallen in love with the cast and knew their style of play well enough, that going back to campaign 1, episode 1, was easy enough because I knew of the pitfalls of the earlier episodes, but they didn’t really bother me because I was already committed to the group. So that’s my recommendation: start with 2. If you find you like it by about 50-80 episodes in, pause that and go watch 1. It’s worth it. And yes, it is possible to catch up on everything. I did. Campaign 3 is the first time I’ve ever been able to watch a show “live.” Granted: I had a pandemic’s worth of spare time to help me get started on catching up. But even then, I was still working and I’m a single father. It did take me about two years to watch it all, but it was well worth it in my book.
It's funny you say that because I feel the same. As a truck driver I have been through campaign 1 twice and campaign 2 almost 3 times. I started with 2 and got caught up to episode 30 and went to campaign 1 and watched it all while catching the campaign 2 weekly episodes. I ended up on campaign 1 finishing around campaign 2 episode 80. I know it sounds confusing but then I started campaign 2 over again. Let's just say being a truck driver kind of spoils you because you have nothing but time. Critical role had changed my life for sure. Just finished traveler con for the 3rd time around
I still recommend starting at C1 E1. I love the underdark arc, I remember loving the huge attack on the duergar war camp, infiltrating the prisons and going room by room until they find Kima, the fight in the throne room, the rest of the build up and the actual fight with K’Varn. Also all the Vasselheim stuff, the trial of the take, Grog’s fistfights, etc. It’s all worth watching, there’s so much to love before the feast introducing the Briarwood arc happens.
I love for people to go back to them once they’re invested - either by watching some of C1 or C2, it helps to already have a better sense of what the show will one day become.
@@SupergeekMike I can understand that but my OCD forces me to watch it in order. I was never bothered by the early technical teething issues, I was honestly more concerned in how the set design changed since when I started watching C1 they already had the C2 cool set going on, so I was just looking forward to the evolution of that.
I agree, the fight with K'Varn alone is worth watching from the beginning, and I'm currently on episode 105 and they still reference Orcus, Clarota's helmet and so on, not to mention how confusing it would be to miss Hotis' introduction. But yeah, it took me at least three tries, years apart, to be able to get past E1... I got through the whole of Campaign 2 and still was unable to get invested in those first hours. What did the trick for me was the Legend of Vox Machina: it made me invested enough in the characters so that I could go back and overlook the problems cited in the video. Now I'm in the final arc of C1 and wishing there were another 200 episodes with these characters.
I completely agree. Even if you only watch it while you're cooking or folding laundry and it takes two years it'd be worth it if you find even half of the things it's got going for it appealing. I suspect most people are spending many hours each week watching mediocre TV shows that they will have a hard time remembering just months out. I'd no sooner erase Critical Role Campaign One from my lifeline as Hitchhiker's Guide or Discworld.
@@ProphetOfTruth_ Same There's so much to love about season 1 and you're going to notice the dip in quality way more if you start with the better episodes and then go onto the worse episodes. Its better to start with really good episodes with minor problems then enjoy the show even more when it gets great in my opinion.
I'm a pretty new critter as I got into CR w/ Campaign 3 ep 1. I had been trying to get into CR for a while but for me personally, with so much content ahead it felt so daunting. However w/ C3, as they''re just releasing new eps every Thursday it feels a lot more manageable and as always the characters are a blast. Also it helps that while I wait for the next episode to come out, I'll end up being hungry for more content and that leads me back to finally starting C2,
personally, i started becoming interested in cr fairly recently with the release of tlovm. when I decided to fully get into and start watching cr, I found that clip and compilation channels have really helped. I watched a little bit of the beginning of c2 but I watched the end of it through a clip channel that shortened the show down to about 45 min to an hour. that was SUPER helpful for me, especially for the c2 finale which is just so so long. now I've started c3 with a mostly complete understanding of what's going on. for anyone reading this, utilize fan channels! they're beyond helpful.
I'm glad I started with Episode 1. Not because any of the criticisms you leveled are wrong, but rather because I don't know if I could've enjoyed going back to it ever after watching the better stuff. I got to experience the growth firsthand, and I think it made the emotional payoffs later even sweeter.
I started watching CR when campaign 2 first started up, and I've gone back and tried to watch campaign 1 to catch up. It's...rough adapting to the different gameplay, dynamics, and audio issues of the VM era. It feels like a very different game, so it's hard to go from 2 to 1 in those respects. But the characters for all 3 campaigns are fantastic, the stories are amazing, and it's worth it. Also, EXU absolutely deserves more love, it was truly incredible. Robbie, Anjali, Amy, and Aabria were such a breath of fresh air (not to say the rest of the cast is bad or anything, I love every single one of them), and it was such a fresh, fun, dynamic. I was legitimately thrilled to see Orym, Dorian, and Fearne in campaign 3, and man I would give so much for Robbie to be a permanent cast member he's absolutely fantastic.
The first Exandria unlimited want quite on the level of your normal critical role, but fun in its own right and I think they improved on it a bit with Kymal. But damn, EXU: Calamity was the best D&D show I've ever seen. By a pretty big margin. It was simply mind blowing. I know this video was made before that aired, but I just had to mention it.
EXU: Calamity was the final nail in the coffin that actually got me to go back and watch C1, as well as more of Brennan Lee Mulligan's games that he DMs for. It's unironically my recommendation for an entry point into live-play.
@@crashcoptr I would have to think about recommending it as an entry point. I'm not sure if you get the full effect if you haven't heard about the calamity, the age of arcanum and the raven queen before. So I think I'm still leaning towards campaign 2 as a start or alternatively one of the dimension 20 one shots. Of course I started decades ago with the first Acquisitions Inc. podcast and found that to be a great entry point, so what do I know?
I listened to calamity first because I was familiar with Brennan and his other work. I’m now finally getting into campaign 1 because of the cartoon. Someday I’ll probably go back and listen to calamity again so I have that context, but it was a good way to dip my toes into the longer sessions and heavy duty campaigns
@@4203105 As someone whose intro to CR was via EXU: Calamity, I still think I got the full effect after watching everything else after. I think part of why it works that way is because the Raven Queen and the Age of Arcanum were so shrouded in mystery anyways. Seeing Calamity before c2 certainly made the back half of c2 very interesting
I started in the middle of the chroma conclave arc of C1 and I watched pretty much every week until C2E70 or so when life just got in the way. I've been meaning to jump back in at some point but the prospect of catching up is daunting to say the least. I don't envy a new fan trying to start watching all this.
You can jump into campaign 3 pretty easily. There's the 8 episodes of ExU, and then only 21 episodes of C3. They mention a few things that tie into the end of C2, but they're only Easter eggs so far. Basically just a couple of place names that the M9 visited, and that's it. Though C2 definitely is worth catching up on. Honestly you dropped out right around when it started getting really good. Honestly I find the first 25 episodes of C2 harder to watch than the early episodes of C1. It slowly picks up from there, but the arc you're entering starts really going. Ashley comes back full time, and there are a number of HUGE lore drops and plot twists.
I had recently started playing pathfinder 1e myself, and a fellow player told me about this show where we could see them play and watch the story unfold. I thought it would be great to watch other play, getting inspiration how to play the game myself. And it did! She did warn me, that the first 20 episodes or something of CR1, wasn’t necessary to watch. She didn’t say why, other than the story wasn’t THAT important. I’m just that type of person, who doesn’t wanna miss ANYTHING. So I didn’t follow the advise, and started from episode 1. Now I don’t regret that decision, even though it had all of those mentioned troubles. Especially the last 3 episodes of Tiberius was hard to watch, but how it changed for the better SO FAST from the first episode without him, was a delight to watch. All in all, I enjoy watching the content in the chronicle order it was put out, and going through CR2 at the moment, around ep. 116. Would I recommend others to do the same as me? Not necessarily, depends on the person, but probably not. I just warn people a bit more, especially about quality and Orion. Then people can decide them self. So far, CR1 is still my favourite as well. The animation had me so hyped, and was better than I would have imagined. CR2 is alright, but it took 80 episodes before I was really hooked, like I was with CR1. Curious to how I’m gonna feel about ExU and CR3. 👏🏻
I tried C1E1 and was sooooo turned off. But I eventually stumbled across Exandria Unlimited last summer, and I LOVED that show. Yes, I can see now, that Critters might struggle with the different style, but for new players it's a really good jumping on point. After falling in love with Liams character in ExU, I watched a spoiler video for mid-Campaign 1 and just new I wanted to get there. So I actually pushed through the whole first campaign, and though the beginnings are VERY rough, by the end I couldn't imagine not having seen it. And yes, if you put all your other hobbys on hold for a year or so, you can catch up... if you REALLY want to.
I actually think the best place to start is trial of the take part 1 (episode 18) at around timestamp 17:00 when they get to the slayer's take Reason 1: one less player than normal Reason 2: Orion isn't in this episode, and he's also not in the next one Reason 3: two out of the four guest player's characters will become relevant later on, skipping trial of the take also skips their introduction Reason 4: The fact that they have guests means the main cast introduces their characters again Reason 5: personal one but I think Zahra is great, and Will Wheaton's curse needs to be witnessed
This is always what I recommend as well! You get a little glimpse of introducing new characters AND a largely self-contained, digestible story arc in the monster hunt so it feels less intimidating than hundreds of hours
I don't know if it's because of the last thing you mentioned (C3 relying on certain knowledge of C1), but while watching C3 I very often feel like I'm missing something. It's a feeling I never had during C2. Still love the characters and the story so far and watching TLOVM definitely helped. But still.
I felt that way when I started C3 but I thought it was me just not understanding the dynamic or D&D enough I think that Matt Mercer has said he tried to make C2 as different and disconnected to C1 as possible, so people wouldn't feel like the group was just reusing the same characters or milking the popularity of C1. This worked really well because when there are characters or moments from C1 that come up, they're explained and moved on from I still honestly might watch C1 just so I get all of C3, but TLOVM definitely helped, especially with Laudna's backstory
My husband and I started on C2 because I'd been seeing such great fanart and was already in love with shabby wizard man and his cat! 😂 I read some episode guides as we went and curated our watching so we could streamline a bit. There's watch guides like this for Clone Wars and ATLA and I always wish someone would make one for CR so I didn't have so many spoilers in the selection process. We loved the animated show and we're excited to pick up with C1 next!
A friend of mine told me about CR when it was around episode 30 of campaign 1. That wasn't very much to catch up on, so I did that- oh the slog that was those first 30ish episodes, for all the reasons you sited, especially the bad audio. Wil Wheaton guesting was SUCH a highlight though :) Been a Critter ever since, and I still go back and watch bits of story arcs when waiting for new content. I absolutely adored Aabria as the DM for EXU, I think she is perfect for what I think of as a D&D mini series. She is mentally agile to handle dealing with short form narrative and she honestly enjoys the challenges that it all brings. And I also think that EXU is a smart way for the base CR cast to have a damn break if they want one.
Agreed, Aabria was fantastic! And since they just did another EXU two-part, I’ll admit I was worried they might react to the poor fan reception and try swapping her out for someone else (which they might do at some point, EXU could be a great venue for lots of DMs). But I’m so glad they said, “No, Aabria is coming back. She’s good and she knows our world and she knows our players and she’s right for what we’re looking for.” In my heart I would love for an actual play channel to have multiple groups intersecting with each other, and the addition of EXU is starting to move in that direction and it makes me very happy.
Heh, totally had no idea when i started watching about any of this, picked campaign one and started watching. Was very relieved when i found out tiberious would be leaving. That said, I've never minded how imperfect it is, because they're just playing. Somehow knowing how long it went on and realizing how big it became when this was where it started makes it easier for me to work on creating anything of my own. It felt like they were having fun whether it worked or not. I feel like it really helped me learn to let go of perfection and just have fun with whatever i was working on.
i prefer campaign 2 over campaign 1. i find C2 way more entertaining and watchable than the entirety of C1. i dont really care for the diversity angle of why i like C2 the reason i prefer it is the PCs are morally complex and i kinda do have a bias since i started with C2.
That’s totally fair; I personally prefer the story for C1, but C2 is much more experimental and that means some really wonderful characters and moments
IMO Season 1 episode 1 all the way through. It was way more fun to watch as these plot lines and charecter were stitched together. I was lucky enough to find critical role after season 1 episode 32 and have been watching everything I could get my hands on ever since. (while a few friends from way back started our on table top) Vox Machina The first campaign had a more classic feel. you could also see the players band together when all hope was lost. I still love Campaign 2 but IMO nothing will come close to those early day watching the twins bonding Grog and scan-man and those hilarious scenes. It's just too good I'm sorry but I disagree.
From the bottom of my heart thank you for making this video. I started watching DnD from Dimension20 and have wanted to watch Critical Role but it is daunting. Thank you.
As a long time lurker and brand new watcher, I am absolutely loving campaign 3! I have always enjoyed the animatics and clips of the CR table, but now I’m glad to finally see them in action. For me personally, I don’t think I’ll go back and watch campaign 1&2. It’s a big time investment and I can google any questions I have. I know I will miss out on the shock-and-awe watching them gives, but I want to fully enjoy them now. Plus, there are so many resources (wiki, the animated show, forums) to fill in any gaps I come across! I’m so glad I found your channel and I’m loving your videos. You give great insights into this new fandom I’ve joined and have made me reevaluate the kind of TTRPG player I am. Can’t wait for your future videos!
The EU point I thought about was how the first time any company or product changes direction, it can be met with something like inattention/indifference, among other things both positive and negative. I’m not really active in the community, so if the trends were something else then fine, but the reason I didn’t really engage is it just didn’t seem appealing. I think a lot of it was not knowing most of the new players and DM, and with how daunting a task like watching CR each week is. Especially as someone new to the world of CR. I tried doing C2 but gave up around ep 30. Now I’m trying again with c3, and liking it so far. I did see EU was way shorter so I’m planning on going back, since Robbie sold me on that with what he brought to the table. Great vids! Just discovered you today and been binging.
My story of watching critical role was a small mix of your suggestions and it started a little over 2 months ago around the time The Legend of Vox Machina ended its first season. I was in love with the show from episode 1 and I do think this was the best animated show I have ever seen. And when episode 12 ended, I immediately started watching random clips, mostly from campaign 1 and found the first episode of campaign 3. Got 40 minutes into that episode and said screw it, I'm going back to the very beginning. Went to episode 1 of campaign 1 and watched every single episode on a daily basis. I'm now up to episode 108 of the first campaign and will watch every single piece of content (excluding the non Canon one shots, those will come one day) and I can't wait to catch up to the current episodes! Love the channel! ❤️
Thank you for making this video. One of my close friends talks non stop about Critical Role, so I thought I give it a try, but was overwhelmed with where to begin. And this video really helps a lot, so thank you. Edit: Also, I started watching the cartoon and I really enjoy it a lot! So of course now I want to watch everything
When I first started watching, I tried to start with C1 E1. But much like what you described, it was difficult for me to follow along with the story, especially since I have never played DnD myself before and had no idea how the mechanisms worked. But by the time the animated show was about to be released, I gave it another shot, this time though I skimmed through a lot of the "dull" parts. Battles that dragged out, conversations that did not intrest me, solo scenes with he-who-must-not-be-named. Then it lead me to the Vasselheim arc and where it started to get more interested for me. And as soon as the Briarwood arc started, it went smooth sailing. And watching the animation alongside it, helped a lot to follow along, and thats what I plan to do when season 2 gets released where they probably will cover the chroma conclave arc. I am currently watching campaign 2 in between waiting for campaign 3 episodes.
As someone who tried watching from episode 1, everything Mike says is 100% true. I honestly had so much trouble getting caught up the first few episodes. Which is why I just chose to start with Campaign 2, and it's my favorite to date but I have always wanted to watch Campaign 1 and I was thinking of starting with episode 24 but rather avoid a lot of the cringe that occurred due to the Tiberius character. So, I'm going to trust Mike and just start at episode 37 as he suggested, since I watched the animated series. thanks Mike!
I started with the UA-cam videos in my earphones at work and the amount of times that I’d turn the volume up to full and then a huge up roar in laughter or cheering. That would physically hurt my ears really bothered me. Thank you for this video 😅 I’m probably going to watch the show and then maybe episode 24 and skip straight to 28
So glad I found this while still halfway through C1E1. I have already seen the Prime Show, but want to get a sense of how the actual game compares to the show and to move forward from there, so I think I'll jump ahead to C1E24 (After watching the Story of Vox Machina video). Thanks for putting this video together! very helpful!
This video would definitely be something I would recommend newer viewers to check out. When I first started watching CR, I was very new to DnD as a whole. It popped in my recommended videos several times and finally broke down to watch it. If I remember right, they were still in campaign 1 when I started but really late like in the last episodes or something. I remember that I wanted to start watching campaign 2 live but at the same time I wanted to finish watching campaign 1 first in the case of spoilers. At that time, I had a lot of time to do so, so I just started binge watching. To this day I have watched every episode of CR main campaigns, and most of the one shots. What I like the most about starting with C1 Episode 1, it really shows how much CR has grown into what they are now. Even though there was some rough patches, I still find it enjoyable, in fact I have actually gone back to C1 just to rewatch it and enjoy the characters all over again, this time I started on the last episode of the first vasselhiem journey but still am enjoying it while I wait for current episodes to be aired.
So, I will say, for me, my enjoyment of this series has been helped by not caring about spoilers, and also spoilers helping me get into the characters. I watched the cartoon, then read up ono the wiki on campaign 1 just because I'm impatient and wanted to know what happened whilst the cartoon was still airing week by week, then started watching clips etc. I then started to watch campaign 3. I think you can actually probably watch campaign 3 after watching the cartoon as a basis for the characters if you don't mind spoilers lol. I am very slowly getting through it-- I've started episode 18. I have ADHD and a full time job and the episode are four hours long, i watch each episode over days. Once I catch up, I honestly don't know if I can commit myself to watching years worth of content, but I may watch the original whitestone arc as I loved the cartoon and see how I go. I do still want to watch what I've spoiled, but I'm also not holding myself to it. I think campaign 3 is a good place to start--- if you don't mind campaign 1 spoilers, campaign 3 feels very linear and tight to me, it does have a quick pace. I have watched many critical role compilations though, and clips, and I feel like I have gotten to know the characters in the show even without watching the whole plot. perc'ahlia supercut my beloved. I just think that if you're like 'i can't enjoy this show as i don't have the time to watch hundreds of hours of episodes' then maybe... don't watch the show, enjoy the show in other ways. I've also read the comics for both campaigns. Obviously some people get a lot out of experiencing a show blind with no spoilers, but I think if you just free yourself that and have fun you can just enjoy reading the wiki.
Very helpful, thank you! I’ve tried (and failed) to jump in twice, but found it absurdly complicated to navigate! But I feel like ep 24 is a good choice for me now, with your detailed explanation. Frustrating to miss the true “beginning” (my completist brain hates that) but now I understand that’s par for the course. And it doesn’t seem to hinder people’s enjoyment!
I started with the Briarwood arc. It took nearly 3 months to watch all of campaign one. Ur right, it WAS alot to watch, even watching the 2 to 3 episodes I was watching, while working. I was watching it as background noise. But when I get ppl into it, I tell them to watch the Briarwood Arc and see how they like it. Then I tell them to watch C2. Cause it was so fun, and u get inros from episode 1. Legend of Vox Machina does a good enough job of showing ppl who they are, what their motivations are and how their relationships work. So if they like the briarwood arc, and want more, I tell ppl to watch that and start C2. I enjoy watching it for the story and who the ppl are playing the game. I love all of it, Matts world is so immersive and huge, so much lore. I loved this video, thanks for this take on it. So glad to see ur channel growing since ive found this channel!
Personally, I started with C2, and I think its a great place to start. Its the first campaign they actually started live, and watching the characters meet and bond is amazing. I know the lost references to C1 are a bummer but really, it didn't really deter me. I started C3 right after I finished C2 and am now watching C1 as well as some of EXU and the oneshots while waiting for new episodes to go live. getting into C1 was really difficult, because I did want to watch from episode 1 but the audio problems as well as the abruptness of starting in the middle of a story arc really made it difficult to get into it. and there is Orion as well.... I honestly think if I didn't get to know the players well enough from C2 to know this is worth watching, I'd get tired of it before the Briarwood arc begun. (As it is, I'm in chapter 17 right now and I've already watched the animated series so I know the next arc is worth the wait... so for the sake of continuity I grit my teeth through the remaining episodes. )
Thank you for the chill and informative video, I really enjoyed it as a new Critical Role fan and I'm looking forward to watching more of your content c:
An aspect to this discussion I feel you missed is the ability to experience an campaign in real time. Campaign 3 is the first campaign I am watching while its airing and the opportunity to connect with other fans through social media (or in person) is something very unique. To see twitter-fanart of moment you watched or listended to makes you feel closer to the franchise than just catching up.
I just found out about Critical Role a few months ago, through the animated series. But seeing how many episodes and hours it would took to watch C1, I started with C3 because I want to catch up to the waiting and watching every week. I learned to love the cast and just their overall chemistry in such a short amount of time and can't imagine ever stopping to watch anything by them. I am still far away from catching up but it sparks so much joy in me to watch them stumble from adventure to adventure. So happy that I found this group of people and the community around it, it's such a safe space for me :)
I started with the cartoon by default. I have never played DnD (Yeah I know, wrong channel to say that :) ) and so I was aware CR was a thing, but I never really checked it out. I ended up really liking the cartoon just as a fun standalone piece of storytelling, and it made me interested in watching CR. I now have gone right back to the beginning, the intro wasn't too necessary as I knew the characters from the cartoon, and already knew some of the cast from voicing my favourite videogames. The audio on those early episodes is rough for sure, but there's something charming about seeing them play with paper maps and basic minis, which I have seen is not something that lasts for long.
i’ve been a sort of ‘diet’ fan of critical role as i found their channel during the later episodes of C2, deciding to jump onto the campaign three bandwagon instead and using my freetime to catch up on the previous campaign! it was very overwhelming at first but i found myself comfortable after a while
This video obviously was created before the recent Exandria Unlimited: Calamity series but that was my first intro to CR proper actual play and got me hooked (I DID watch the cartoon first but it didn't draw me in to the rest of CR on it's own). I got into Dimension 20 last year and really loved Brennan's style and energy so he was my gateway to CR. And then I bit the bullet with Campaign One (about to finish that first underdark arc and yeah, that Tiberius problem is... rough). And the algorithm led me to videos like this one. Great work and thanks for the insight for a new Critter!
Thank you - this was really helpful to me. I have been watching Dimension 20 (explicitly enjoying their diverse representation in and out game) and a lot of players in my D&D campaigns recommended that I try out Critical Role. After watching the cartoon and some of the oneshots, I just saw Episode 1 of campaign 1 and was a little shocked, honestly. Especially about the representation part (even though I was conscious of the videos being from 2015) as well as the crosstalking and the way Orion and sometimes other people regularly took scenes away from other players. I knew there had to be more to it than that because I trust the people who recommended it to me, but I was seriously doubting if I would be able to stick with it. For once, the algorithm did a good thing and put your video into my feed. That really puts some much needed context on things. I will try my luck with episode 37 next. Thank you very much! Looking forward to more of your content. All the best from Germany!
I just started watching very recently with calamity because I am a big fan of Brennans dming on D20. This is a great video for me because I honestly tried to watch the beginning of vox machina a while ago and was turned of from the first few episodes so its great to have a better established start point. Thanks for the video
I started my critical role journey a couple months ago when I wanted to learn more about Matt as a dm going into D20 the ravaging war. I watched geek and sundry when season one was about half way done and I remember thinking that is such a commitment so I’ll pass. Now years later I am watching it all from the beginning but I love to binge a new series so I am now watching everything in release order (as much as possible) with the exception of the animated box machina series which I am watching as I complete the story arch’s they cover. This way I can simulate to the best of my ability growing to love the crew as the og fans have. It has been fun and I am a little over halfway done with the first campaign. But it was good to see others perspective on the best way to join the fandom. I know this is a huge commitment but I love a rich story. Personally I am watching the full streams because I love to see their reactions to each other’s actions.
I started with campaign 3 because there were about 7 episodes and it would be the easiest to dive into. I am SUPER invested now and will be going back to watch c1 and c2 eventually.
Thanks for the video! This was so helpful as I determine how to start with critical role. I'm a huge Dungeons and Daddies fan and really love the player dynamics as much as the character dynamics. You helped me to understand that I may prefer to muscle through the shitty production quality of early Crutical Role episodes (the very thing which, 2 minutes in, led me to look for your video) for the sake of getting to know the players as they evolve through the show. Thank you so much!!! Subscribed and liked 👍
I've played D&D, and other roleplaying games, off and on since high school. My brother told me about Acquisitions Incorporated, which I watched because I knew who Will Wheaton was. I then watched Dice, Camera action! For the curse of Strahd storyline. But I wanted to find some D&D content that was different from what I had been watching. A search of UA-cam showed me a little program called critical role. Dispite the problems with the very first episode, I was hooked. I actually liked the Kraghammer story arc. At the beginning the only player I had any knowledge of was Marissa, and that was due to superpower beatdown. I don't remember when I started watching, but I do know it was quite far into C1, and by the time I finished C2 had been going for awhile.
I’ve made it a personal goal to catch up on all episodes and one-shots. I started about a three years, I’m about halfway done with campaign 2 and plan on starting EXU when I’m done before beginning 3. So much content, but I’m happy I started this way. :)
I think, as someone who both fell in love with the show as well as the players/characters/interactions around the table, I will advocate for watching from the beginning of episode 1. I more than understand the audio issues and that some people just can't get past them as they may be pet peeves or severe distractions, but seeing the players grow and learn as they went through was a wonderful ride. That being said, I guess I must have tuned out Orion/Tiberius because I never realized the things he was doing until afterwards when they were talked about/I looked back on them. I don't know how much of a distraction they would be on a repeat watch. Also, I loved the show and think it's a great way to see who is Vox Machina and meet them as they go through the Briarwood Arc, but there's so many things they had to gloss over/change for the show and I will always remember the episodes where big reveals or battles or moments happened, very fondly. I loved the show, but I would recommend the episodes still. :)
Starting at C1E1 has the potential to be the most rewarding in the long term, I just wish it also wasn’t where the majority of viewers bounced off - but I also understand why that’s the case, unfortunately.
@@SupergeekMike Agreed. It's a rough start that, honestly, feels like you kinda have to grit your teeth for. And that's kinda rough when there's many other choices that don't start like that.
Super helpful! I was just getting frustrated searching and scrolling to figure out where to start on Critical Role, when this video popped up. Thank you for all the advice!
I just started CR a couple weeks ago and I'm typically a story purist so I insisted on starting episode 1 in the order it was released. Having said that, if I come back and rewatch it, I'll probably do this format. It reminds me of how some people watch Starwars 123456, others do 456123, and then others will do 45236
Thanks for this video! I started listening to Dungeons and Daddies this year, after many tik toks about DnD games were cracking me up. After devouring their first campaign, i started looking for more DnD content and found CR. I started with ExU because the sheer quantity of other content was daunting. (Which is ironic cuz I'm a huge Supernatural fan...) I loved it. The characters, the interactions, the storyline. Aabria's tone and way of storytelling are so enchanting to me. Went right into C3. Tried to start C1 with the podcast and then UA-cam, both were hard for me. Can't get passed the sound issues, too hard for me to focus. But now I'm going to try again, with your suggestion of episode 37. As someone who has very little info/watch time with C1, i thought the animated series, was awesome. I felt like i saw the players behind their characters. I cracked up with the cursed door, just imaging how ridiculous those rolls must have been in real life.
I’m so glad you enjoyed EXU! And I hope you enjoy Vox Machina - aside from all of the growing pains of a new show and a new edition, it’s a really great story 😁
Wait a second... so I can play a dwarf, a lizard, a minotaur and even a half devil or angel but I CANNOT due to "sensitivity issues"(?) play a human with dark(er) skin than mine? or lighter? or different eye shapes? or is this one of those "only white people can be racist" kinda things? No seriously. If you start spreading harmful or belitteling stereotypes with your role playing, then that's never okay. RP is not for promoting your racist views and dumping on other people. but RP is about putting yourself in SOMEONE ELSES VERY DIFFERENT shoes. now.. there is an argument of "oh but you don't know how it IS to be *insert triggered minority/minority defended by some triggered social justice zealot* .. yea no shit I don't. But neither do you know how it is to look at a live that's supposed to be several CENTURIES long.nor do you know the complications of minotaurs or ever faced the struggles unique to gnomes and MOST CERTAINLY you have NO FUCKING IDEA how it feels and what it means for a dragonborn to use their breath. And yet you do it. "cuz no real person is harmed" yea neither is when marisha or anyone elese white plays a non-white character. (again, as long as they don't promote harmful stereotypes) seriously, everytime I hear crap like that my hatred of humanity grows.
I completely agree with this. Roleplay is just that - Roleplay. If you're forced to contain yourself to what you are in real life it destroys most of what makes RP fun. I get that a very unfortunate minority use Roleplay as an excuse to dehumanize others, sometimes due to skin colour, sometimes due to sexuality etc, sometimes just because they want the chance to act horribly to people in a way they could not get away with in real life out of some misguided belief that it being RP makes it a non-issue. These people are a very bad part of the DnD/TTRPG community and, sadly, not a small one. But if we put barriers on what people can play because of who they are IRL, it only serves to destroy much of the fun of the game - and demonize and restrict the people who are unlikely to act wrongly, as those who act reprehensibly aren't going to listen to these rules anyway.
Like I agree in principle, for sure you roleplay to put yourself in another's shoes etc., we don't know how an elf that lives for centuries would approach life, or a minotaur or a gnome and it's fun to explore these ideas. Thing is, elves gnomes and minotaurs don't exist, there are no toes or hoofs to step on so to speak. The issue, if there even is one really, is with someone playing a marginalized real-world characteristic (like marisha playing beau or Sam playing Tary if we wanna go there) is the potential for harm, ie as you said promoting harmful stereotypes, which is a risk you inevitably run the less shared experience you bring to the table, even well intentioned people can step into powderkegs if they are negligent or ignorant of the group they borrow from. I think noone ever accused Marisha of actually causing harm, willfully or negligently, as far as I've seen (maybe I'm wrong, there's always someone I suppose) but there has been a long history of that shit happening in media so I can understand if the prospect of someone attempting a similar thing can put certain groups on edge, even if it's done in a respectful manner, because on the onset you can't know if someone is going to be respectful about it. People have been warming up to that sort of stuff, I mean nowadays playing the opposite gender isn't a big deal at all anymore but I remember sitting at tables and hearing other people's horror stories about tables where players would go hard into the stereotypes, so I think it's just going to take some more time for the wariness in that regard to soften up as better representation and respectful adaptation become more common place.
@@Zakiel97 The argument does indeed hold, and I understand where it comes from. However, this view of role-playing really has the potential to become a "slippery slope". And a big one. Roleplaying is supposed to be about roleplaying. Just like in theater, where it doesn't really matter in the context of many plays if you match the age, gender, or ethnicity of the character you're playing. If a "white" person can't play a character from another ethnicity, what about being able to play a person of another gender? Or even of a race that has no gender? Can a woman play a man, but a man cannot play a woman because it is a group that has been oppressed for centuries? And what about her sexuality? Can you play a character from a culture inspired by another culture than your own? To what extent? The same goes for social class, being a player from a wealthy family, can we play a heroic fantasy peasant's son because after all we could offend by awkward actions/speech players at our table who grew up in a more unfavorable background? Can we play a character with a handicap, a physical trait that might seem harmless but is not for some (red hair and freckles for example) ? Moreover, the concept of "race" differs according to cultures. Just the concept of POC or "White" is not the same in the US as in Europe. Can I, a French player with Latin and Germanic origins, play a character from a setting inspired by ancient Greece? After all they have a darker skin than me ? Can I play a Keleshit in Pathfinder ? For that matter, can people other than players from Central African countries play characters from the Mangwi, since after all no player born and raised in America really knows the cultures that served as inspiration? And what about the game master? After all he should be able to play all NPCs. Can he play NPCs from another culture than his own, or from another genre? After all, this kind of argument about players should apply to the GM. Unless we play in an entirely alien and imaginary universe (and even then it's impossible because each setting is more or less inspired by our cultures), we will all find ourselves playing only characters of our race, gender, age, social extraction, physical appearance evolving in a unique setting from our culture. Again, I understand the argument, but I think it goes against the whole idea of roleplaying. That's why the 0 sessions are so important because they allow us to know the state of mind of the players and to know their limit in terms of RP so that we can all play in a healthy environment. But for people to criticize another player outside of their circle because it is offensive to them, I find that very pernicious. (Sorry if some of the wording can be awkward. I'm not trying to be condescending or vindictive in any way. English is not my native language, and my cultural background is different from that of many American viewers, so I'm sorry if some of my comments seem misplaced)
@@FandeNap2032 You're preaching to the choir already my guy, I told you I mostly agree with the overall notion. It all comes down to being responsible and tactful with your choices. In my opinion this will become less of a touchy subject as time goes on, like I said with the example of playing another gender we've already seen this happen - that one's usually a non-issue at this point and as overall emancipation of other groups increases the chance to insult someone by accident will decrease. The slippery slope only exists if that wasn't the case, all we have to do is be chill and respectful and the problem will slowly fade as people acclimate. The one distinction I'd stress though is the difference between a home table that usually just consists of your close friends and a streamed game like critical role that reaches literally millions of people. The impact of these is worlds apart so for your home table there probably won't be an issue ever, at all, especially if you have a session 0 and friends capable of basic empathy. And even if someone oversteps boundries in that setting the maximum effect of that would be that they look like an asshole to your 5 people on the table which is easy to manage, you can tell them, they apologize, everything goes smoothly. Like say in my group of straight guys someone wants to play a gay character, because they think it's a funny idea and then they make the most stereotypical gay jokes. I'd take them to the side, tell'em they're being shitty and call them cringe, and that usually takes care of the situation (in my experience so far). With critical role though you're broadcasting to and affecting a broad viewership which means your responsibility as a player (and also DM) grows significantly. That's a problem most tables don't have but you can see in Matt's NPCs that over the campaigns he's put in more effort to be respectful regarding representation - if he had not done that the current campaign 3 setting could have possibly been a risky move, but since he is putting in the work I have not seen anyone shit on him for playing a non-western setting or accused him of orientalism or smth like that. Fun fact, I'm actually joining a campaign in a kelesh setting in a couple of weeks so you mentioning that made me chuckle a bit. Bottom line, just be mindful of your impact and talk with your friends and fellow players and you probably can play anything you want, this goes for stepping on real world toes aswell as just any other character. Don't play something that could risk anyone's fun and if you do by accident and someone brings it up don't dismiss it. Like if someone says my edgy loner rogue is kinda ruining the heroic vibe of the party I'd either work on a character arc to make my character fit in more or retire him for a more fitting choice, and I'd do the same if the way I played a character of mine made anyone uneasy bc we're all there to have fun.
I started at the beginning of campaign 1 in mid 2019 after a layoff and with the pandemic I managed to catch up completely by the end of C2 (6/21) so for anyone who wants to get fully caught up, it can be done! I found it to be a very rewarding experience, however it's great to see that now there is enough supplemental media out there to help people decide which starting point is the best fit for them. For those who are interested in C1 I definitely agree that reading the comics or checking out tLoVM is a great way to see if they vibe with the characters and themes, since you'll be spending a lot of time with them. The first campaign was darker in tone, which I don't personally miss, but conversely, the battles felt epic on a scale that hasn't often been replicated since (partially bc the players are all so good at the game now!). It's funny to me that so many skip the Underdark chapter (for completely valid reasons) bc that's one of my favorite arcs of any of the three campaigns, but I also love the flavor and lore of the Underdark, so that tracks. Personally, I think Campaign 2 is a great place to start for those who are generally invested in character development and prefer themes that are more hopeful. This campaign's characters definitely break the fantasy trope mold and are super endearing and memorable ftmp, though it had pacing issues and definitely suffered at times for being more sandboxey (While I LOVE a good sandbox as a player, it doesn't always make for the best TV, js) Checking out the comics (though only two are out at the time I'm writing this) to see if you resonate with the characters is a great approach imo, since they're one of the strongest draws of C2. Honestly, if I were to start watching in 2022 I would probably just start with C3. It's off to a great start, and the synergy both technically and at the table is the best its ever been. EXU is short, and a good way to get the full scoop, and while I enjoy it as someone who appreciates seeing different DMs styles, I can see how Aabria's style may be a bit too off the cuff or lacking in consequences for some. For me personally, her storytelling more than makes up for it! This is all to say that you really can't go wrong! I'm so happy I took the time to get into it, it's made me laugh and cry over the years more than really any other franchise that comes to mind :)
I personally started Critical role with Campaign 3 after being recommended the show by a friend I started enjoying it _very_ fast, and by the time I caught up to about episode 20, I had to start waiting for episodes to come out, so I began Campaign 2 I managed to watch about 3 episodes of C2 a day, meaning I got in ~21 episodes a week before the next C1 episode would come out. I also started watching Talks Machina following each C2 episode, which I highly recommend. I also watched TLOVM roughly 80 episodes in. Since I'm close to finishing C2, I'll probbaly started watching C1 just for the context and CR content, but this video has given me a good starting point My personal recommendation after all of this would be to watch Campaign 2 (if you don't mind C1 spoilers) followed by TLOVM as context for C3, then C3. Then you can choose whether or not to watch C1 I wouldn't recommend starting with the cartoon because I know if I did, I probably wouldn't have watched upwards of 500 hours of critical role. The reason for this is that critical role is 4 hour episodes of a group of friends playing D&D together, with large sections of roleplaying, great ongoing jokes, and excellent combat sections with interesting battle maps designed/commissioned by Matt Mercer. By watching the cartoon first you get a fast paced show that misses...pretty much all of that, but does serve as a good introduction to the Briarwood arc. With the extra one shots and shorter campaigns, I haven't watched any personally, but I might have to watch Exandria unlimited after seeing this video
I actually started watching Exandria unlimited and loved it! But then I've struggled to get into the earlier campaigns and not been able to figure out why. This was super helpful. I think I will catch up on campaign 1 through the animated show and then go to campaign 3 as it contains some of the characters I love from Exandria unlimited. ❤
Comparatively new critter here, should you want to read what my way is: A friend recommended CR to me summer 2021, who hasn't really watched it herself but thought I as a nerd might like it. I have played pen and paper before (different system than DnD and only like 7 sessions total) and I remember having seen some CR animations that were recommended to me on YT prior. I started with C1 E1. Regardless of the valid criticisms you brought up, I was immediately hooked and watched around 15 episodes while painting. I had a sudden burst of creativity/prouctivity at the time and for me it was the perfect thing to have rambling on beside me. I could in turns concentrate on it, look at the battle map or focus on my own work. I still do it today, but now I can also just sit and focus on it fully. Then it was autumn and C3 started. I stopped watching C1 and switched to C3 because I could witness it from the start, instead of being in an impossible seeming catching up chase. I love the campaign so far. In the meantime, I managed to catch up until episode 23 of C1, immediately before the Briarwood Arc. I knew that the animated series would focus on that, so I stopped there and watched it on Prime as it aired, getting my boyfriend to watch it with me and after that I showed him some best moments compilations from C3. So now I understand some references to C1 in C3 and I may watch C1 after the Briarwood Arc until the next animated season comes out. For now I keep up to date with C3 and currently I am watching and fully enjoying Exandria Unlimited, because I miss Robbie/Dorian. I briefly started the first episode of C2 with my boyfriend, but I doubt we'll bring up the time to really commit to it, at least for now. Also we're playing DnD now with some friends and the DM is also a critter, but I think he mainly knows C2 :D So basically I am all over the place :'D But it works for me, it's my way. When watching C1 I briefly checked out the podcast as well for a few episodes while playing Minecraft, that worked too, though there are a lot of things I miss, so I prefer to watch it on UA-cam. Sadly, I'm not able to catch the livestreams, since in my country they begin at 2 AM at night.
Hahaha however you watch it works, I’m glad you’re enjoying it! Don’t feel bad about missing the live streams - I usually can’t watch them either, and I live in the same city as the cast lol
Thank you so much for this! I just came from your Tiberius video and enjoyed your thorough approach. I remember getting interested in CR by seeing fanart of the Bright Queen, specifically the Beacon moment. I started with C2 and am currently up to date on C3 and all EXU. My older sister’s interest in CR was piqued at the show, and it’s been so tough to find good sources in where to start. This was perfect!
I think this should be updated for EXU: Calamity. It is a short campaign (4 episodes) but the level of intensity, drama and lore is more comparable to C1 and C2, then the original EXU was. I also think Brennan's style is more similar to Matt, than Aabriya's. Of course it is not the same as a 5 year long campaign, but it got me emotionally invested in the same way. Concerning C1, I think powering through E24-E27 is crucial. The Briarwoods Arc is amazing and the build up to them is too.
Really enjoyed this video. It was very refreshing to see how other people have started or ways that you coud start because i have experienced resistance when recomending the stream to people based on nothing more than how much of it there is. I started playing d&d and then was recomemnded to go and watch critical role by my DM. I actually started watching campaign 2 and watched it through to epiosde 30. My Dm kept harping on at me about how could campaign 1 was so i stopped watching 2 at 30 (SPOILER, big moment happens around this time, those who know know) and then moved to campaign 1 from the start. This was a really good way to go as i already knew by this time who the players were, (except Orion obviously) and because i'd seen a few big moments of consequence in 2 it made appreciate all the tear jerking parts of campaign 1 alot more. In terms of speed i doubled up. Watched the stream when i was at home and podcasted while driving, at work or at the gym. Got through it faster but it still took a long time. I have now rewatched campaign 1 a second time, skipping over the underdark arc and now rewatching campaign 2. What can i say? i have an obsessive personality. so for me: watch campaign 2 up to their first live show which espidoe 30ish then watch campaign 1 all the way through including associated one shots then carry on with campaign 2 would it also be possible to do an episode on your take of Marisha. I was shamedly one of those people who didnt enjoy her on my first watch through of Vox and Nein but on my second go around i developed a great appreciation for her skill as a role player and the egaging chracters she creates. especially Laudna. Would appreciate your take. Great video!
I started watching when there were only 8 episodes of C2 on UA-cam, so I think that's why the Mighty Nein is my favorite campaign so far. But while I was waiting for new episodes I went back and watched Capaign 1, and it was a lot easier to push through the bad quality because I was already hooked and I needed to know what happened with Vox Machina (since they kept referencing it)
I’m a critter newbie. I backed the Kickstarter cause a friend was into it, but I hadn’t really seen it. I got hooked with the cartoon. Then I caught up on c3 (and I like the no new c3 content last week of the month. It helps). Once we were caught up on 3 we decided to go back and start 2. Part of it was I felt already pretty spoiled for a lot of c1 and part of it was wanting to see a story from the beginning. I’m 32 episodes in and I’m absolutely in love with the M9. I know a few vague spoilers but mostly out of context. And even stuff I’m spoiled about isn’t the same as seeing it play out. I know there is A Lot more but I’m taking it one episode a night, sometimes 2 on weekends (except c3 on mondays). I’m invested and I’ve found the community welcoming. Sorry about the novel, but thank you for the vid.
I listened to all of critical roll while at my old job, just popped my ear buds in and listened to the vods on UA-cam. I had a blast and got caught up just in time for EXU.
I started following CR because of Ashley and Laura and a little videogame that some of you may know :D I started watching CR through the Vox Machina animated series because I wasn't feeling watching all of campaign 2 when campaign 3 was already at episode like 60. So I started not so long ago with campaign 3, and I'm having a really great time.
Much as I enjoyed S1 of the Vox Machina series, using that as a replacement for that portion of the stream, if you have the time and inclination to watch the stream, is a mistake I think. I never watched CR prior to seeing the series and went through campaign 1 afterwards starting with Ep1. There's several great moments in the stream that just work better there thanks to the decompressed story telling giving it better pacing and letting the viewer invest in the world and characters more completely simply because they have more time with them. Also felt the show's use of humor, while funny on its own, stepped on a couple more serious scenes a few times and hurt their impact. Vax's encounter while searching the Briarwood's rooms as an example was sooo much better in the stream without the cutaways to a Scanlan song. The song was funny, but the way that whole sequence came about in the stream was just great, pure drama created entirely through emergent gameplay and improv and in retrospect, despite the fact I saw the animated series first, it felt like a shame having that undermined by a silly gag in the show. I'm only 30ish episodes into campaign 2 now but I haven't really seen anyone complaining about Beau's ethnicity, this is the first time I've ever even seen it mentioned. Still occasionally see the random weird hate comments in the YT comments towards Marisha that she's apparently gotten for years just for, from what I can tell, having the audacity to exist as a person.. but I guess this ethnicity criticism is something I've missed entirely as a newcomer to CR. Seems extremely silly to me. The criticism of (generally white) actors taking the roles of ethnic or minority characters in films and shows is rooted in the fact actors actually from those backgrounds routinely, historically, had fewer opportunities and having some of those few existing minority character roles getting white washed just made it that much harder for actors of minority backgrounds to break in. But that's something entirely irrelevant to something like a persons custom DnD character. Maybe if she was playing Beau as some incredibly stereotypical caricature of another ethnicity it would make sense but that doesn't seem to be the case, Beau could look like just about anything and it wouldn't make any difference in terms of her characterization so far.
A little tardy to the party here, but I'm going in chronological order, including the comics and novels and all that. Personally, I'm very happy with this order of watching the show
I'm torn. Critical Roll is one of those things that I've wanted to get into but seemed to daunting. Then I finally watched the animated show and I love it. I want more. But I also know that I probably would prefer to watch the adaptation rather than the game. I don't know if I should start watching where the show left off or if I should just wait for next season instead
I started with Kraghammer in podcast form. I have vision issues, so that worked as well as it could for me, especially since I'm generally listening while I do other things.. I appreciate season two, but I also prefer most of the characters and locations of season one. The main thing I wish was available for all of the seasons is a fast-forwarded version of the combat encounters, cutting out the dice and math and going straight to the descriptions of actions would be great. You could also cut all the dice superstition nonsense. Logical fallacies are only funny for a short while.
The first episode I watched was I believe episode 114 or so of campaign 2. I knew what critical role was, but this was the first time an episode made it into my youtube recommended section. So I decided to just give this "random episode" a go to see if I even can enjoy it. It had me hooked way more intensely than I imagined, even knowing nothing about campaign 2. So after half of that episode I decided to start campaign 2 at episode 1 (of course the episode I started with had some HEAVY spoilers for the campaign but that didn't end up bothering me too much). Campaign 2 really showed what heights critical role could achieve, both in quality as a stream and in terms of the story & characters. So knowing what it would eventually become, I powered through the really rocky start of campaign 1 as well, after I had finished watching campaign 2.
Thank you for this video, this really helped quell my anxieties about feeling like I need to start from the very beginning after watching the Amazon show and falling in love with it. I got through 20 minutes of the raw Geek & Sundry episode during my lunch break today and it was kind of rough, so I may be resorting to recaps and highlights until the Briarwood arc. I'm also bringing myself to watch Critical Role because I'll be playing a one-shot campaign soon. I'm super nervous about it even though it's between friends I already know. I'm excited about the character I've already created and am currently fleshing out his backstory. Still, I'm worried about fumbling the technical stuff and playing my own character well, and making it as fun as it looks in these shows.
I started on ep one. Honestly tho I was nieve to Tiberius until being told about it. But I think it’s a fine place to start. Now like 3 years after starting I’m all cought up and have rewatch the first one. I’d say starting after Tiberius leaves is a good place to start I think the cartoon is a lot better when you know the story already
I started with the Amazon Prime show. Now I am watching campaign 3. I've fallen behind a bit but still am interested in the campaign. Been considering trying the older campaigns but am hesitant, mostly because of the time it would demand.
When I picked up CR Campaign 1 (back in 2018, I think - ON PODCAST), I was so confused by the “in media res” quality. It took me so long to attach actors to characters. Thankfully, I stuck with it and eventually got my sea legs. Now I’m going back to rewatch when I have some extra time!
Though I watch Critical Role on UA-cam, I often listen to it more often than I actually watch it eyes-glued. I'm usually doing something else at the same time which is a great way to catch up on all the content. I don't watch the screen unless something particularly engaging starts up.
15:00 As someone who didn't get hooked on Critical Role early on, the cartoon was great for me to dip my toe in. I don't have a ton of time to watch streams or anything. I grew up on 3.5E and my dad running AD&D. 5e was very much not appealing to me, and only recently got back into ttrpgs with Pathfinder 2e. Critical Role is beloved by many but is also treated as a blight by the grognard types. Watching some stream highlights and the cartoon really gives me some positive insights into why people like the show despite the time commitment not being worth it to me. Thank you for giving a great breakdown of where I can try the show again, but not from the very beginning like when it first came out.
A year late, but I still want to add something to this discussion: I listened to the podcast for almost the entirety of Campaign 1 and only watched the last few episodes on UA-cam. And I can't understate the regret I feel now. There are so many interactions and nuances that you just don't get when you're just listening. Seeing Sam despair and weep at the end of the final battle... I would have never known. I am not up-to-date with CritRole anymore. Adult life grants me too little opportunity to actually watch the episodes. And I'm fine with watching month old episodes when I get the opportunity to. If that gives me the best experience, so be it. But never again will I just listen to those people play. It deserves my full attention and rewards me tenfold for doing so
i started with the Amazon Prime show and i got hooked and have started C2 as I want to experience Vox Machina through the show first and then watch the stream for a more in depth look
I started watching around the time the kickstarter happened. I saw Matt on the old collider live show, the success of the kickstarter had made me realize that I would like to check it out myself. I watched the first 80 or so episodes of campaign one and personally my biggest slog was the slayers take episodes. I then switched over to campaign 2 and proceeded to catch up there before going back to campaign one and finishing that while keeping current on campaign 2
Everything good must come to an end, the show will NEVER be the same as Matt, Marisha, Travis, Laura, Ashley, Sam, Liam, and Talison sitting at that table and playing dnd. That being said, people should watch the show and get ideas for their own games and go record themselves. Become the next critical roll sized stream for dnd content. Look at Dimension 20, Aquisitions Incorporated, and so many more.
ahhh just the video i needed. I wanted to start watching critical role but had no idea where to start. Now i do. My only wish for the video, was perhaps a timeline graphic to help illustrate it a bit better(im a visual person). again. great video and thanks for taking the time to make it.
I really enjoy your presentation style. You laid everything out with a fair and fact based presentation, and then also gave your own opinions, while not trying to be dismissive of other people's perceived reasons for other approaches. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go back to listening to the podcast C1.E9...because I'm a glutton for punishment apparently. Technically I got into this by watching the Amazon Prime cartoon, so I guess I followed one of the avenues you did suggest that was better!
I started with campaign 3 on day one. My wife wanted me to watch campaign 1 with her, but she was already on episode 60 or something by the time she suggested it and I didn't feel like watching hundreds of hours just to catch up to her, let alone however many hours past that*. Prior to that I had watched all the Narrative Telephone videos, which were hilarious even without knowing the characters they referenced. That was how I came to know the players, and what sold me on watching Campaign 3, because before now I was not even remotely a fan of watching other people roleplay (with the sole exception of Harmon Quest, which seemed more like improv than actual DnD.) (* - Once she's done with season one [still going through it while we also watch C3, and also Exandria Unlimited since there's character overlap with C3], we're going to also watch campaign 2, which I was on the fence about until the recent Red Nose Day one shot with some of the characters.) I don't understand the complaints about the cartoon, as it's its own separate thing, and is not meant to replicate the player dynamic (I would assume). There was no way that was ever going to translate over, so it's unclear to me what they were expecting.
I'll talk about how I got into Critical Role because idk it just feels appropriate here. I first dipped my toes in when campaign 2 was around... I wanna say 80-90 episodes in? Everyone talked about it all the time and a good friend of mine recommended it, not to mention I loved Matt's voice acting roles in many games I enjoyed. I watched the first 10 or so episodes and enjoyed it but it really didn't hook me. I just sorta ignored it for a long while until just a couple of months ago. I think it was right before/during when they were doing EXU Calamity. I knew Robbie Daymond was in campaign 3, as a guest at least, and since I liked him just as much as Matt I decided to give it a watch. I really don't know what it was about campaign 3 as opposed to campaign 2 but I was positively glued to my seat. Since then I've been following campaign 3 as the vods are released each Monday, and have watched EXU which I loved. I've been thinking about going back to C1 and 2 but I've specifically heard about how difficult it is to get into C1 and I've already had a meh experience with C2 so that's still just sorta on the agenda. So as someone who has barely seen any CR, my guide to getting into Critical Role is try campaign 2, if that's a bit too slow for your taste give campaign 3 a shot and if you do enjoy that, branch out accordingly. If you *don't* enjoy C3 either then this show probably isn't for you.
I'm so glad I stumbled on this. As a long time DM (very aware of the Matt Mercer effect) I've avoided the show for a long time. I just didn't want it influencing me and none of my players had seen it. However now I kinda want to know what all the hype is about. Started on YT ep.1. . .and um ya. Everything you just said. Very lost. Assumed I would "miss out" if I didn't stitck it out but . . .ya. . .not fun. So thank you for this video even a year later =) helps a lot and still relevant
I wish I’d seen this video first. A friend got me back into D&D because of Critical Role, so my first experience was starting a fresh 5e Wildemount campaign (still going). After trying Vox Machina on Prime, it didn’t work for me, so I dove into C1E1. I love the chaos. It’s authentic, but modern D&D is very Millennial for this GenXer. :) Thankfully, I found Story of… early on and was able to see what appears to be the original character videos, making the audio make more sense. Starting into the middle of things wasn’t jarring, but was what I remember as I often joined campaigns mid-progress. At episode 15 now. Orion is starting to get noticeable…
I started at EXU Calamity through a friend's recommendation and I couldn't have asked for a better starting point. Granted Brennan and his cast is a different chemistry than the original CR group. But the worldbuilding, storytelling and absolutely engaging roleplaying drew me in and made me want to play DnD myself. It's been EXU: Calamity, then EXU: Kymal, then going from C1 Vox Machina: E28 to E78 where I am now. I recently started Mighty Nein but so far I'm not as drawn in. I've also not been as fond of the CR one-shots, thus far.
I actually watched the Wendy's one shot before it got taken down. That was so awkward. I felt really bad for all of them, as you could see them die a little inside as the game went along.
My brother has been a long-time fan and we started the animated show together. When season 2 came out I finally decided to start watching the live show. I started with episode 37 of campaign 1 which, as you said, was a great place to start. But, that has made it difficult to me to start campaign 2. I don't know if it's burn out bc I finished c1 pretty quick or (what I think) the fact that I jumped into c1 when there was a lot going on arc wise and because c2 can't just jump in with a really big plot line, I don't find it as exciting. I love the cast and especially since mighty nein I also getting animated I want to watch it but I'm really lacking motivation
Thank you I have literally just come across the whole thing I went to C1 and was a little daunted and your video popped up which I’m glad bcz had I started c1/1 & not knowing it had already started as a HG I probably would have ducked simply bcz I would have felt stupid not knowing what was going on. So THANK YOU and I’m really excited to join an amazing community your my 1st follow 😊
I started with c3 and have watched a number of the oneshots. i have now started going back to c1 just to watch the development in how the show now looks and feels from how it was in the beginning. i must say the few videos of yours i have watched have been very informative especially the one about Tiberius . i am also liking watching C1 as i want to see how it played out at the table compared to the series on Amazon.
As a fairly new critter, who actually started with C1E1, finished the whole campaign and then watched the now 2 seasons of Legend of Vox Machina animation I… was really disappointed with the first season of the animation. I truly believe they were able to convey the story much better with the second season, but the first one felt like such a mishmash of the original story. Granted, they needed to cut quite a few things out and condense the story into the 12 episodes they had allotted for it, and it made sense at the time when they weren’t sure if it would extend to season 2 and further, but looking back from today, it’s honestly a bit of a clusterfuck. Sure, the storyline is much more linear - but i would argue that made it way simpler than it should’ve been. For the whole of season 1 i felt like i was watching a cartoon for children aged 10 but with a whole lot of inappropriate themes and language for that age group. It was simpler, it was very fast paced, the characters themselves felt rather superficial exactly because they cut out a big chunk of side-plots and little conversations. My biggest complaint though was with the most iconic scenes of that arc: Percy’s “you’re at the bottom of my list”, Delilah’s “I broke the world for us” and again Percy’s mental fight with Orthax (the back-and-forth pointing of his gun at Delilah and himself). The first two scenes went from a mic drop kind of a moment to just a throwaway line no one would pay attention to, and the Orthax fight cheapened the conflict between Percy and the demon for me - specifically because it went from the original intention of a character that made really bad choices in the name of revenge and that was starting to re-evaluate those choices the longer he was with this group, having to now deal with the consequences of the pact he made with Orthax - to now a character that made a pact with this demon and the demon possessed him every time it saw a chance to. So yeah, the way the first season was handled makes me grunt for a bit. That being said, with the second season I believe they were able to smooth those rough edges and adapt the story a bit better, especially considering the leniency of having the chroma conclave arc spread across multiple seasons. I was a lot happier how they handled that season in confrontation with the briarwoods arc, though im still a little bit bitter in the ‘i wish they knew what they learnt with season 1 before they did season 1’, as the Briarwoods arc remains my favourite of the Vox Machina story
Started with Campaign 2. Absolutely love it! Now I've gone back and am watching/listening to Campaign 1. I'm in the middle of the Chroma Conclave arc and I think it's great, too. I think I still prefer C2, though. I just really love how morally complex all the characters are!
when i first heard of critical role, i actually tried to start with vox machina ep1 bc i had no idea what critrole even is and it felt like the right place (obviously) i didn’t make it through more than fifteen minutes before i turned it off bc all the factors you mention - the way we begin in the middle, not really knowing what’s going on, the audio, the crosstalk - really made it basically unwatchable. i tried to go back and watch it again some three or four more times (not kidding whatsoever, it was a LOT of tries) but this never changed, i was always turned off by one thing or another… so months of frustration and determination to get into it later i finally figured out that the campaigns aren’t really interlinked (1 and 2 much less than now 3 is with either) and that one can definitely start at mighty nein ep1 and not really miss out on anything but a couple of inside jokes which i was fine with. watched CR2 ep1 and got hooked so immediately ive not been the same since! and now, after some more months of finally (finally!) watching critical role and enjoying and loving it more than i ever thought i would i recently went back to vox machina bc i want to watch the campaign before the animation and would you look at that - im on ep13 now and will def keep going bc the entry was sooooooo much easier this time around. understanding the mechanics of the game and the table, the interactions between the players, their relationships, having an idea what the fuck is even going on from basically having soaked up mild spoilers through the fandom, it all helped so so so much to get through the vox machina beginning and definitely (minus a couple things ofc) enjoy it a LOT!!! (i never could bring myself to actually skip available campaign episodes and just start after kraghammer or briarwood even tho that’s essentially what they did to us 😭) (also man does one get emo over watching them get excited for selling 1k shirts or collecting 5k in donations or earning 3k twitch subs or saying they wish (!) for an animated series or vin diesel guest staring like it’s a dream that will never come true… they had no idea what was coming and it’s almost as emotionally impactful as the campaign itself) tldr do NOT start critical role with vox machina ep1 and do NOT get frustrated if you did and it feels like this isn’t for you. trust me, it’s the episode and not you 😭 personally, beginning with the might nein ep1 was what helped me get into it, but you can just as well start with the animated series and get the full picture and just come back to watch the actual campaign (or don’t! lol but trust me again… you probably will) find the entry point that suits you most and trust me a final time, it will get so much better after a handful of episodes… you will get the hang of it and then you’ll get destroyed emotionally but what can you do! (on a side note, i haven’t even watched either exu or cr3 but i do feel like starting with either might be a bit overwhelming not bc of any quality issues obviously but more bc there’s just so fucking much you have at that point missed out on that will make you feel left out of the loop a little… im now watching VM and MN parallel and cannot wait to eventually get to EXU and BH)
Mike this was a great video! Great advice for people not knowing how to jump into Critical Role. I started in mid 2019, and began the grind of the Geek and Sundry channel shows. Yes, it was tough for the first few episodes, but being a role player for many years I 'muscled through'. It took me a year and a couple of months to catch up. By Oct of 2020 I was caught up to campaign 2. I finished campaign 2 in spring 2021 and stayed current. Luckily I have an hour and a half commute to my job so that helped me to catch up. I agree with you Mike that the quality is tough. I disagree in saying skip those episodes. Those episodes allow you to see the organic growth of them as players, streamers and company owners so I recommend you grind through these episodes if you are a true role playing gamer geek like me. I also recommend that video in episode 36 (I believe) campaign 1. The sketched video of the the Story of Vox Machina. I think if you start with that, then jump into the first episode you will get what you need. On the other hand. If you are just looking for story then yes, start with the animated show. I cringe at mentioning this as there is so much fun in the streamed episodes, but yes, if you just want story start at the animated series. That is my two cents. Again, thanks for this video :)
i would love to see your review over Campaign 2 ! first time hearing it having quibbles. i personally prefer it over c1 as the story was more intriguing in my eyes and had dynamics that broke the traditional mold of fantasy.
I started C1E1 on Thanksgiving ‘23. By President’s Day ‘24 I had just started C3. I am one of those people who won’t start reading a book if I know that it is part of a serialized narrative (i.e. book 3 of 6). I have to start at the beginning, period. From that perspective I learned from the get go why/how this show became so beloved and I loved it the same way as the Critters who had been there from the beginning too. But that’s just me.
This was so nice! I've been watching a lotta shows lately so I'll probably start with the comics as a change of medium then hop into campaign 3 and hope it doesnt go over my head woop. Amazing watch! Thanks for the video man :)
As a side note: Depending on the audio quality and your personal background, turning on subtitles when watching the show on UA-cam can be a good option. They're all done manually! As a non native English speaker, it helped my understanding and language acquisition a lot. And there are even some funny easter eggs hidden in there. I will say though, I did miss some body language by watching it this way.
Watching with subtitles on for the same exact reason.
same here and the good thing is that the subtitles only show the important lines that belong to the main action.
I am doing this too
Mighy Nein animated series confirmed!
I always watch with subs too, makes it easier to follow along. I also check the comments afterwards because nice RP moment or fun body language are mentioned there (usually with time stamps) so I go back and rewatch if I feel like I missed something with subs on.
I honestly didn't care that Marisha was playing a character of a different race than her in Campaign 2. That's pretty much the point of dnd, to play as something you're not. Heck same campaign, Sam Riegel was playing a rogue goblin girl and I didn't hear any complaints about that.... I don't think.
Yeah I don’t understand why people would care about someone pretending to be someone of a different race, half the cast of characters look like demons, I.e. tieflings. Isn’t skin color in Dnd just a character detail anyway?
Yeah I feel like few of the takes of campaign 2 are dumb I personally liked it way better than campaign 1. I’ll agree new cast members are nice but you not only have find ones with time but also mash well with the group as whole.
i dont understand that either - you got all kind of species in those worlds that dont even look like humans and no one bats an eye. Why cant Marisha play a coloured woman?
@@beneteus3833 exactly I mean if she was being disrespectful or harmful about it sure but beau was great and honestly a really inspiring character
funny how if a non-white person played a white character nobody would care, it's just respectful acting/playing why would anyone feel attacked by it
There a distinct advantage of starting with C2 - the references to C1 aren't as blatant as in C3 (and this was by design), it's more watchable and - and this is important - it gets you hooked for the cast.
I remember starting with C2 when it was still ongoing and when I caught up to it (episode 40-something I think) I started slowly dipping my toes into C1 to pass the time between mondays. Once you get to know the cast and you start liking them, beginnings of C1 start being much more forgiving :)
This is a really good approach :)
I definitely agree, C2 is the best place to start, especially since C1 started with them already mid-story.
That's not bad advice as far as I'm concerned. Much preferable, as far as I'm concerned, to starting somewhere in the middle of C1.
As something of a completist though, I'm very glad that I started at the beginning and carried all the way through.
As rough as it was sometimes throughout that first campaign, I really did enjoy watching them develop and improve their process along with everything else.
It was interesting as well as entertaining.
And I wouldn't have wanted to miss that.
It took a good long while. It replaced podcasts, music, television and such for awhile. But all in all it was well worth it.
C2 was the better, more polished and balanced game.
That's how I did it.
Thanks to CR I started playing DnD.
However my group and I did not experience the "Matt Mercer effect" at any moment because we understood that the CR players are, above all, very talented voice actors.
Don't worry about being a master voice actor, my group certainly doesn't! But that's not to say that we don't throw in some voices for our characters!
Just drop in "toothy maw" every once in a while. Or "you see". Even as a player or out of context just drop it in to catch people off guard. You see a toothy maw! Matt Mercer effect achieved.
Same for my groups. As long as you recognise CR has much more experience, and professional experience at that, then players do well with a dm that doesn’t do all the things MM does. Yeah I myself sometimes wish I had a dm like MM, but I also love my current dm for all her effort and time put in. Especially as our entire party is new dnd players and two of us are a wizard and Druid 😅 (I’m a wizard but I made sure to research the hell out of it to not slow us down)
I think CR3 didn't cast Robbie as a main cast member due to a few reasons: Firstly, being a main cast member on CR is a really big commitment few people can actually make. Because it probably was really difficult to find a day where the main cast members have time to play up to 4 hours DnD. So slotting in another person might be difficult. And I think guest stars is something really important to them and it seems like they want those guests to have more chance to have their own arc. Which means I think there will be more long term guests in the future and adding another main cast member on top of that would mean Matt has to deal with up to 9 players. Which doesn't sound fun.
At this point though it’s their main job so it’s probably easier to schedule. You don’t create an entire business around your home game as big as CR is then make the main campaign something you have to pencil it. It kinda become super important.
Also we may be missing the main reason Robbie may not of wanted to. They may have asked/offered and he just said no that isn’t the road I want to take.
Kinda like how Foster left for personal projects (or maybe something else who knows). Not everyone wants dnd to be their legacy and that’s ok to.
robbie still does EXU right so i think it also could have been a way to build more hype for that. The first run of that was fine but it seemed fan reception was lower than hoped and people were a bit disappointed in it all around. but now (and again im not following it so idk) i think with robbie being shown off to the larger viewership it might help drag more viewers to try it out
I remember back when they used to regularly do "guest slot" roles, so I think this was just an extended version of that. Eight players is clearly Matt's maximum, and well over what most DM's can handle anyways. I like them leaving that 8th slot open for occasional rotating guests. If you think about all of the guest players they've had on the show over the years, I'd hate to see them get rid of that feature because they're full up. Robbie is a great fit with the rest of the cast, but I'd rather see some new faces take a turn every so often.
@@elbruces You are totally right.
also, at the core of it, it's a group of friends that are sharing their personal home game with us. yes it's a business, but it's their persona friend group, i hate seeing people saying "they should add x or y" or "they need to add non-white people to the main cast", like you are asking them to add representation to their friend group to meet a quota.
If they add a someone, anyone to the main cast, it will be because they all want their friend in, not a coworker.
(yes, the guests are their friends, but we all have friends and "THE CLOSE FRIENDS", there's a difference.)
found critical role through the trailer of the legend of vox machina on amazon, found out they're from a dnd campaign and i've always wanted to play. looked them up and found out they just started campaign 3. i started ep1 campaign1 back in october 2021. watching at 1.5 speed on youtube, now i am halfway through campaign 2 🙃 with some one shots here and there. a nice way feel like i have unlimited entertainment whenever im bored 😀
It's also a nice relief from watching the news. When that goes off, Crit Role goes on. Good at equalizing blood pressure.
Kinda broke my heart that exandria was so ignored :( i think aabria is such a talented player and dm and i have seen her gm a lot for d20 and play in other games and i am so thankful because i think i might not have diacovered her if it wasn't for Exandria
I started with Exandria Unlimited. I knew of Critical Role before it, but I heard about it first when they were pretty far in campaign 2 already, and the backlog of episodes looked daunting.
So I watched the first episode of ExU, got hooked, started watching Campaign 1 during the summer of 2021 in between new ExU episodes. I've just reached the point where Taryon was introduced.
And of course, I am following Campaign 3.
ExU was different, yes. Aabria's DMing style is different than Matt's, but I don't think it is as bad as some people say it is. I legit saw people claim Matt must be ashamed about how she ruined his world and yadda yadda. Watching the campaign wrap-up though, you could tell he was proud of her.
Plus watching the joy on Aimee's and Robbie's faces while discovering the joys of D&D was just magical. (And man... I still miss Robbie at the C3 table. I knew he was a special guest and all, but he had such a good chemistry with the rest of the gang...)
She's so good! I think D20 did a great job of building a brand where DMs can swap out and it doesn't feel jarring. With CR, they don't leave room for different styles of gameplay besides Matt's. To fans, he is D&D Jesus and any DM on CR must strive to replicate him. I think that's a big reason people weren't interested in Exandria.
This might be a silly reason to have stopped watching Exandria Unlimited for a while, but I kept hearing the clicking of Aabria's jewelry everytime she moved and it was irritating to me. Everything else was great, but...well sometimes really small things can really get on your nerves. I just kept thinking "take those things off". But you know what that's on me and my misophonia, not on Aabria. I only managed 3 episodes, I do plan on watching them all, but in small increments.
Whatched almost all of C1, all of C2 and keeping up with C3. So I do consider myself a fan of sorts.
I stepped in, in C2, and slowly watching C1 to fill the gaps.
I think Aabria did great and handled some insane shit with grace, as she always does. But anyone who worships Matt and thinks there's no other way to DM has never seen Brennan Lee Mulligan in action.
My only problem with ExU was the players: it seemed like everyone was trying to be the "wackiest" character (except for Liam but including Matt) to the point where it was 100% "chaos" and 0% focusing on their team's goals.
When "I'll create a distraction so the rest of you can quietly sneak into the city" turned into two more players going "I'll help with the distraction!" and another player going "I'll create yet ANOTHER distraction!" ending in a combination of a loud parade and public disturbance, when their original goal was to quietly sneak into the city... at that point I was kinda done. There's "chaotic" and then there's just intentionally stupid. They each seemed more interested in competing to be the most "chaotic" character in the party, than they were in actually getting anything accomplished. It was kind of like a party of all Scanlans. And Liam couldn't carry a focus on team goals all by himself (even though his character was/is all about focusing on team goals), so he seemed kind of dragged along by the wacky shenanigan party... "Mother."
I had three major problems that prevented me from enjoying EU over all.
And of course a lot of it is subjective and individual, like preferring chocolate to strawberry, or just NOT being able to tolerate the flavor of cilantro.
First and foremost, as much as I enjoyed many of the reveals of the world, of lore, of character traits and backstories...
There were far too many moments where neither I, nor the players, had any clue what was going on, or what direction would actually move the story forward.
As much as I really enjoyed Aabria, it seemed to me that it was probably her job to provide that information, and the guide rails that might have resolved the chronic aimlessness and frustration that kept cropping up to stall everything. Maybe I'm wrong on that, but whatever the problem was, it was a problem.
Second, I also did not enjoy the complete chaos most all the players kept piling on.
Those two together made the whole experience feel like a step backwards in a way, like to campaign ones struggle with excessive chaos at the players table, like distracting crosstalk and snacking.
Finally, and similar to not being able to tolerate the clinking of jewelry or chewing and swallowing over the mic, I just could not tolerate Opal's voice. It was incredibly difficult to endure in more than short snippets, and the fact that I didn't like the character on top of that made it that much harder. But thats like not being able to enjoy cilantro. Some people just love it. To some people it just tastes like soap. You’re not going to know which camp you fall into until you try it for yourself.
Aimee is super talented though, and though I did not like Opal, I really enjoyed her wickedly clever performance in Narritive Telephone.
The whole cast of Exandria Unlimited is spectacular. Abria's description of the world, landscapes, and people were very appealing and rich. Her interplay with the characters as various NPCs was really nice.
In fact, in watching campaign 3, I have to say I miss Abrias charactetizations of Mister.
The story has a lot of very cool elements. Robbie Daymond is wonderful. Anjali Bhimani is stunning. Both great characters. There is a lot to praise but it was extremely difficult to force myself through it just the same.
I recommend to everyone who just can't, to go ahead and read Dani's recaps. They are very good and don't take long to get through at all.
It isn't necessary of course, but it'll give you a peek at the backstories of the characters who carry over from EU to Campaign Three at least.
So, I started on campaign 2 because at the time it was still running, and this was pre-pandemic. I started here because at the time it tied in very little to campaign 1 so I would avoid spoilers (I detest spoilers, so this was important to me). As I neared episode 80 of campaign 2, my friends warned me that it was around this time that the spoilers would start to sneak in, so it would be a good time to go back and start campaign 1 if ever I was going to do so. At that point, I had already fallen in love with the cast and knew their style of play well enough, that going back to campaign 1, episode 1, was easy enough because I knew of the pitfalls of the earlier episodes, but they didn’t really bother me because I was already committed to the group.
So that’s my recommendation: start with 2. If you find you like it by about 50-80 episodes in, pause that and go watch 1. It’s worth it.
And yes, it is possible to catch up on everything. I did. Campaign 3 is the first time I’ve ever been able to watch a show “live.” Granted: I had a pandemic’s worth of spare time to help me get started on catching up. But even then, I was still working and I’m a single father. It did take me about two years to watch it all, but it was well worth it in my book.
It's funny you say that because I feel the same. As a truck driver I have been through campaign 1 twice and campaign 2 almost 3 times. I started with 2 and got caught up to episode 30 and went to campaign 1 and watched it all while catching the campaign 2 weekly episodes. I ended up on campaign 1 finishing around campaign 2 episode 80. I know it sounds confusing but then I started campaign 2 over again. Let's just say being a truck driver kind of spoils you because you have nothing but time. Critical role had changed my life for sure.
Just finished traveler con for the 3rd time around
I still recommend starting at C1 E1. I love the underdark arc, I remember loving the huge attack on the duergar war camp, infiltrating the prisons and going room by room until they find Kima, the fight in the throne room, the rest of the build up and the actual fight with K’Varn. Also all the Vasselheim stuff, the trial of the take, Grog’s fistfights, etc. It’s all worth watching, there’s so much to love before the feast introducing the Briarwood arc happens.
I love for people to go back to them once they’re invested - either by watching some of C1 or C2, it helps to already have a better sense of what the show will one day become.
@@SupergeekMike I can understand that but my OCD forces me to watch it in order. I was never bothered by the early technical teething issues, I was honestly more concerned in how the set design changed since when I started watching C1 they already had the C2 cool set going on, so I was just looking forward to the evolution of that.
I agree, the fight with K'Varn alone is worth watching from the beginning, and I'm currently on episode 105 and they still reference Orcus, Clarota's helmet and so on, not to mention how confusing it would be to miss Hotis' introduction. But yeah, it took me at least three tries, years apart, to be able to get past E1... I got through the whole of Campaign 2 and still was unable to get invested in those first hours. What did the trick for me was the Legend of Vox Machina: it made me invested enough in the characters so that I could go back and overlook the problems cited in the video. Now I'm in the final arc of C1 and wishing there were another 200 episodes with these characters.
I completely agree.
Even if you only watch it while you're cooking or folding laundry and it takes two years it'd be worth it if you find even half of the things it's got going for it appealing.
I suspect most people are spending many hours each week watching mediocre TV shows that they will have a hard time remembering just months out.
I'd no sooner erase Critical Role Campaign One from my lifeline as Hitchhiker's Guide or Discworld.
@@ProphetOfTruth_ Same There's so much to love about season 1 and you're going to notice the dip in quality way more if you start with the better episodes and then go onto the worse episodes. Its better to start with really good episodes with minor problems then enjoy the show even more when it gets great in my opinion.
I'm a pretty new critter as I got into CR w/ Campaign 3 ep 1. I had been trying to get into CR for a while but for me personally, with so much content ahead it felt so daunting. However w/ C3, as they''re just releasing new eps every Thursday it feels a lot more manageable and as always the characters are a blast. Also it helps that while I wait for the next episode to come out, I'll end up being hungry for more content and that leads me back to finally starting C2,
personally, i started becoming interested in cr fairly recently with the release of tlovm. when I decided to fully get into and start watching cr, I found that clip and compilation channels have really helped. I watched a little bit of the beginning of c2 but I watched the end of it through a clip channel that shortened the show down to about 45 min to an hour. that was SUPER helpful for me, especially for the c2 finale which is just so so long. now I've started c3 with a mostly complete understanding of what's going on. for anyone reading this, utilize fan channels! they're beyond helpful.
I'm glad I started with Episode 1. Not because any of the criticisms you leveled are wrong, but rather because I don't know if I could've enjoyed going back to it ever after watching the better stuff. I got to experience the growth firsthand, and I think it made the emotional payoffs later even sweeter.
I started watching CR when campaign 2 first started up, and I've gone back and tried to watch campaign 1 to catch up. It's...rough adapting to the different gameplay, dynamics, and audio issues of the VM era. It feels like a very different game, so it's hard to go from 2 to 1 in those respects. But the characters for all 3 campaigns are fantastic, the stories are amazing, and it's worth it. Also, EXU absolutely deserves more love, it was truly incredible. Robbie, Anjali, Amy, and Aabria were such a breath of fresh air (not to say the rest of the cast is bad or anything, I love every single one of them), and it was such a fresh, fun, dynamic. I was legitimately thrilled to see Orym, Dorian, and Fearne in campaign 3, and man I would give so much for Robbie to be a permanent cast member he's absolutely fantastic.
The first Exandria unlimited want quite on the level of your normal critical role, but fun in its own right and I think they improved on it a bit with Kymal.
But damn, EXU: Calamity was the best D&D show I've ever seen. By a pretty big margin. It was simply mind blowing.
I know this video was made before that aired, but I just had to mention it.
EXU: Calamity was the final nail in the coffin that actually got me to go back and watch C1, as well as more of Brennan Lee Mulligan's games that he DMs for. It's unironically my recommendation for an entry point into live-play.
@@crashcoptr I would have to think about recommending it as an entry point. I'm not sure if you get the full effect if you haven't heard about the calamity, the age of arcanum and the raven queen before.
So I think I'm still leaning towards campaign 2 as a start or alternatively one of the dimension 20 one shots.
Of course I started decades ago with the first Acquisitions Inc. podcast and found that to be a great entry point, so what do I know?
I listened to calamity first because I was familiar with Brennan and his other work. I’m now finally getting into campaign 1 because of the cartoon. Someday I’ll probably go back and listen to calamity again so I have that context, but it was a good way to dip my toes into the longer sessions and heavy duty campaigns
@@4203105 As someone whose intro to CR was via EXU: Calamity, I still think I got the full effect after watching everything else after. I think part of why it works that way is because the Raven Queen and the Age of Arcanum were so shrouded in mystery anyways. Seeing Calamity before c2 certainly made the back half of c2 very interesting
Calamity was the first CR campaign I ever watched, and it definitely got me hooked
I started in the middle of the chroma conclave arc of C1 and I watched pretty much every week until C2E70 or so when life just got in the way. I've been meaning to jump back in at some point but the prospect of catching up is daunting to say the least. I don't envy a new fan trying to start watching all this.
You can jump into campaign 3 pretty easily. There's the 8 episodes of ExU, and then only 21 episodes of C3. They mention a few things that tie into the end of C2, but they're only Easter eggs so far. Basically just a couple of place names that the M9 visited, and that's it.
Though C2 definitely is worth catching up on. Honestly you dropped out right around when it started getting really good. Honestly I find the first 25 episodes of C2 harder to watch than the early episodes of C1. It slowly picks up from there, but the arc you're entering starts really going. Ashley comes back full time, and there are a number of HUGE lore drops and plot twists.
I had recently started playing pathfinder 1e myself, and a fellow player told me about this show where we could see them play and watch the story unfold. I thought it would be great to watch other play, getting inspiration how to play the game myself. And it did!
She did warn me, that the first 20 episodes or something of CR1, wasn’t necessary to watch. She didn’t say why, other than the story wasn’t THAT important. I’m just that type of person, who doesn’t wanna miss ANYTHING. So I didn’t follow the advise, and started from episode 1.
Now I don’t regret that decision, even though it had all of those mentioned troubles. Especially the last 3 episodes of Tiberius was hard to watch, but how it changed for the better SO FAST from the first episode without him, was a delight to watch. All in all, I enjoy watching the content in the chronicle order it was put out, and going through CR2 at the moment, around ep. 116.
Would I recommend others to do the same as me? Not necessarily, depends on the person, but probably not. I just warn people a bit more, especially about quality and Orion. Then people can decide them self.
So far, CR1 is still my favourite as well. The animation had me so hyped, and was better than I would have imagined. CR2 is alright, but it took 80 episodes before I was really hooked, like I was with CR1.
Curious to how I’m gonna feel about ExU and CR3. 👏🏻
I tried C1E1 and was sooooo turned off. But I eventually stumbled across Exandria Unlimited last summer, and I LOVED that show. Yes, I can see now, that Critters might struggle with the different style, but for new players it's a really good jumping on point. After falling in love with Liams character in ExU, I watched a spoiler video for mid-Campaign 1 and just new I wanted to get there. So I actually pushed through the whole first campaign, and though the beginnings are VERY rough, by the end I couldn't imagine not having seen it. And yes, if you put all your other hobbys on hold for a year or so, you can catch up... if you REALLY want to.
I actually think the best place to start is trial of the take part 1 (episode 18) at around timestamp 17:00 when they get to the slayer's take
Reason 1: one less player than normal
Reason 2: Orion isn't in this episode, and he's also not in the next one
Reason 3: two out of the four guest player's characters will become relevant later on, skipping trial of the take also skips their introduction
Reason 4: The fact that they have guests means the main cast introduces their characters again
Reason 5: personal one but I think Zahra is great, and Will Wheaton's curse needs to be witnessed
This is always what I recommend as well! You get a little glimpse of introducing new characters AND a largely self-contained, digestible story arc in the monster hunt so it feels less intimidating than hundreds of hours
Watching Mary Elizabeth McGlynn play her first game of D&D was straight up magical.
You are right, that is a great episode to start with.
Oooh that's a very good point, you also get to experience the Rakshasa that will be imporant later on
I don't know if it's because of the last thing you mentioned (C3 relying on certain knowledge of C1), but while watching C3 I very often feel like I'm missing something. It's a feeling I never had during C2. Still love the characters and the story so far and watching TLOVM definitely helped. But still.
I felt that way when I started C3 but I thought it was me just not understanding the dynamic or D&D enough
I think that Matt Mercer has said he tried to make C2 as different and disconnected to C1 as possible, so people wouldn't feel like the group was just reusing the same characters or milking the popularity of C1. This worked really well because when there are characters or moments from C1 that come up, they're explained and moved on from
I still honestly might watch C1 just so I get all of C3, but TLOVM definitely helped, especially with Laudna's backstory
I think C3 is a lot worse than c2 thus far
My husband and I started on C2 because I'd been seeing such great fanart and was already in love with shabby wizard man and his cat! 😂 I read some episode guides as we went and curated our watching so we could streamline a bit. There's watch guides like this for Clone Wars and ATLA and I always wish someone would make one for CR so I didn't have so many spoilers in the selection process. We loved the animated show and we're excited to pick up with C1 next!
A friend of mine told me about CR when it was around episode 30 of campaign 1. That wasn't very much to catch up on, so I did that- oh the slog that was those first 30ish episodes, for all the reasons you sited, especially the bad audio. Wil Wheaton guesting was SUCH a highlight though :) Been a Critter ever since, and I still go back and watch bits of story arcs when waiting for new content. I absolutely adored Aabria as the DM for EXU, I think she is perfect for what I think of as a D&D mini series. She is mentally agile to handle dealing with short form narrative and she honestly enjoys the challenges that it all brings. And I also think that EXU is a smart way for the base CR cast to have a damn break if they want one.
Agreed, Aabria was fantastic! And since they just did another EXU two-part, I’ll admit I was worried they might react to the poor fan reception and try swapping her out for someone else (which they might do at some point, EXU could be a great venue for lots of DMs). But I’m so glad they said, “No, Aabria is coming back. She’s good and she knows our world and she knows our players and she’s right for what we’re looking for.”
In my heart I would love for an actual play channel to have multiple groups intersecting with each other, and the addition of EXU is starting to move in that direction and it makes me very happy.
Heh, totally had no idea when i started watching about any of this, picked campaign one and started watching. Was very relieved when i found out tiberious would be leaving. That said, I've never minded how imperfect it is, because they're just playing. Somehow knowing how long it went on and realizing how big it became when this was where it started makes it easier for me to work on creating anything of my own. It felt like they were having fun whether it worked or not. I feel like it really helped me learn to let go of perfection and just have fun with whatever i was working on.
i prefer campaign 2 over campaign 1. i find C2 way more entertaining and watchable than the entirety of C1. i dont really care for the diversity angle of why i like C2 the reason i prefer it is the PCs are morally complex and i kinda do have a bias since i started with C2.
That’s totally fair; I personally prefer the story for C1, but C2 is much more experimental and that means some really wonderful characters and moments
IMO
Season 1 episode 1 all the way through.
It was way more fun to watch as these plot lines and charecter were stitched together.
I was lucky enough to find critical role after season 1 episode 32 and have been watching everything I could get my hands on ever since.
(while a few friends from way back started our on table top)
Vox Machina
The first campaign had a more classic feel. you could also see the players band together when all hope was lost. I still love Campaign 2 but IMO nothing will come close to those early day watching the twins bonding
Grog and scan-man and those hilarious scenes.
It's just too good I'm sorry but I disagree.
C2 is more polished and Hollywood-ish. C1 is more genuine. Imo
From the bottom of my heart thank you for making this video. I started watching DnD from Dimension20 and have wanted to watch Critical Role but it is daunting. Thank you.
As a long time lurker and brand new watcher, I am absolutely loving campaign 3! I have always enjoyed the animatics and clips of the CR table, but now I’m glad to finally see them in action.
For me personally, I don’t think I’ll go back and watch campaign 1&2. It’s a big time investment and I can google any questions I have. I know I will miss out on the shock-and-awe watching them gives, but I want to fully enjoy them now. Plus, there are so many resources (wiki, the animated show, forums) to fill in any gaps I come across!
I’m so glad I found your channel and I’m loving your videos. You give great insights into this new fandom I’ve joined and have made me reevaluate the kind of TTRPG player I am. Can’t wait for your future videos!
Thank you so much!
The EU point I thought about was how the first time any company or product changes direction, it can be met with something like inattention/indifference, among other things both positive and negative. I’m not really active in the community, so if the trends were something else then fine, but the reason I didn’t really engage is it just didn’t seem appealing. I think a lot of it was not knowing most of the new players and DM, and with how daunting a task like watching CR each week is. Especially as someone new to the world of CR. I tried doing C2 but gave up around ep 30. Now I’m trying again with c3, and liking it so far. I did see EU was way shorter so I’m planning on going back, since Robbie sold me on that with what he brought to the table. Great vids! Just discovered you today and been binging.
Thank you!
My story of watching critical role was a small mix of your suggestions and it started a little over 2 months ago around the time The Legend of Vox Machina ended its first season. I was in love with the show from episode 1 and I do think this was the best animated show I have ever seen. And when episode 12 ended, I immediately started watching random clips, mostly from campaign 1 and found the first episode of campaign 3. Got 40 minutes into that episode and said screw it, I'm going back to the very beginning. Went to episode 1 of campaign 1 and watched every single episode on a daily basis. I'm now up to episode 108 of the first campaign and will watch every single piece of content (excluding the non Canon one shots, those will come one day) and I can't wait to catch up to the current episodes!
Love the channel! ❤️
Thank you for making this video. One of my close friends talks non stop about Critical Role, so I thought I give it a try, but was overwhelmed with where to begin. And this video really helps a lot, so thank you.
Edit: Also, I started watching the cartoon and I really enjoy it a lot! So of course now I want to watch everything
Glad it was helpful!
When I first started watching, I tried to start with C1 E1. But much like what you described, it was difficult for me to follow along with the story, especially since I have never played DnD myself before and had no idea how the mechanisms worked.
But by the time the animated show was about to be released, I gave it another shot, this time though I skimmed through a lot of the "dull" parts. Battles that dragged out, conversations that did not intrest me, solo scenes with he-who-must-not-be-named.
Then it lead me to the Vasselheim arc and where it started to get more interested for me. And as soon as the Briarwood arc started, it went smooth sailing. And watching the animation alongside it, helped a lot to follow along, and thats what I plan to do when season 2 gets released where they probably will cover the chroma conclave arc.
I am currently watching campaign 2 in between waiting for campaign 3 episodes.
As someone who tried watching from episode 1, everything Mike says is 100% true. I honestly had so much trouble getting caught up the first few episodes. Which is why I just chose to start with Campaign 2, and it's my favorite to date but I have always wanted to watch Campaign 1 and I was thinking of starting with episode 24 but rather avoid a lot of the cringe that occurred due to the Tiberius character. So, I'm going to trust Mike and just start at episode 37 as he suggested, since I watched the animated series. thanks Mike!
I started with the UA-cam videos in my earphones at work and the amount of times that I’d turn the volume up to full and then a huge up roar in laughter or cheering. That would physically hurt my ears really bothered me. Thank you for this video 😅 I’m probably going to watch the show and then maybe episode 24 and skip straight to 28
So glad I found this while still halfway through C1E1. I have already seen the Prime Show, but want to get a sense of how the actual game compares to the show and to move forward from there, so I think I'll jump ahead to C1E24 (After watching the Story of Vox Machina video). Thanks for putting this video together! very helpful!
This video would definitely be something I would recommend newer viewers to check out. When I first started watching CR, I was very new to DnD as a whole. It popped in my recommended videos several times and finally broke down to watch it. If I remember right, they were still in campaign 1 when I started but really late like in the last episodes or something. I remember that I wanted to start watching campaign 2 live but at the same time I wanted to finish watching campaign 1 first in the case of spoilers. At that time, I had a lot of time to do so, so I just started binge watching. To this day I have watched every episode of CR main campaigns, and most of the one shots. What I like the most about starting with C1 Episode 1, it really shows how much CR has grown into what they are now. Even though there was some rough patches, I still find it enjoyable, in fact I have actually gone back to C1 just to rewatch it and enjoy the characters all over again, this time I started on the last episode of the first vasselhiem journey but still am enjoying it while I wait for current episodes to be aired.
So, I will say, for me, my enjoyment of this series has been helped by not caring about spoilers, and also spoilers helping me get into the characters. I watched the cartoon, then read up ono the wiki on campaign 1 just because I'm impatient and wanted to know what happened whilst the cartoon was still airing week by week, then started watching clips etc. I then started to watch campaign 3. I think you can actually probably watch campaign 3 after watching the cartoon as a basis for the characters if you don't mind spoilers lol. I am very slowly getting through it-- I've started episode 18. I have ADHD and a full time job and the episode are four hours long, i watch each episode over days. Once I catch up, I honestly don't know if I can commit myself to watching years worth of content, but I may watch the original whitestone arc as I loved the cartoon and see how I go. I do still want to watch what I've spoiled, but I'm also not holding myself to it. I think campaign 3 is a good place to start--- if you don't mind campaign 1 spoilers, campaign 3 feels very linear and tight to me, it does have a quick pace.
I have watched many critical role compilations though, and clips, and I feel like I have gotten to know the characters in the show even without watching the whole plot. perc'ahlia supercut my beloved. I just think that if you're like 'i can't enjoy this show as i don't have the time to watch hundreds of hours of episodes' then maybe... don't watch the show, enjoy the show in other ways. I've also read the comics for both campaigns.
Obviously some people get a lot out of experiencing a show blind with no spoilers, but I think if you just free yourself that and have fun you can just enjoy reading the wiki.
Very helpful, thank you! I’ve tried (and failed) to jump in twice, but found it absurdly complicated to navigate! But I feel like ep 24 is a good choice for me now, with your detailed explanation. Frustrating to miss the true “beginning” (my completist brain hates that) but now I understand that’s par for the course. And it doesn’t seem to hinder people’s enjoyment!
I started with the Briarwood arc. It took nearly 3 months to watch all of campaign one. Ur right, it WAS alot to watch, even watching the 2 to 3 episodes I was watching, while working. I was watching it as background noise. But when I get ppl into it, I tell them to watch the Briarwood Arc and see how they like it. Then I tell them to watch C2. Cause it was so fun, and u get inros from episode 1. Legend of Vox Machina does a good enough job of showing ppl who they are, what their motivations are and how their relationships work. So if they like the briarwood arc, and want more, I tell ppl to watch that and start C2. I enjoy watching it for the story and who the ppl are playing the game. I love all of it, Matts world is so immersive and huge, so much lore. I loved this video, thanks for this take on it. So glad to see ur channel growing since ive found this channel!
Thank you!
Personally, I started with C2, and I think its a great place to start. Its the first campaign they actually started live, and watching the characters meet and bond is amazing. I know the lost references to C1 are a bummer but really, it didn't really deter me. I started C3 right after I finished C2 and am now watching C1 as well as some of EXU and the oneshots while waiting for new episodes to go live. getting into C1 was really difficult, because I did want to watch from episode 1 but the audio problems as well as the abruptness of starting in the middle of a story arc really made it difficult to get into it. and there is Orion as well.... I honestly think if I didn't get to know the players well enough from C2 to know this is worth watching, I'd get tired of it before the Briarwood arc begun. (As it is, I'm in chapter 17 right now and I've already watched the animated series so I know the next arc is worth the wait... so for the sake of continuity I grit my teeth through the remaining episodes. )
Thank you for the chill and informative video, I really enjoyed it as a new Critical Role fan and I'm looking forward to watching more of your content c:
Appreciate you making this. I had always written it off as something I was simply too late to get in to. Looking forward to giving it another go.
Glad it was helpful!
An aspect to this discussion I feel you missed is the ability to experience an campaign in real time. Campaign 3 is the first campaign I am watching while its airing and the opportunity to connect with other fans through social media (or in person) is something very unique. To see twitter-fanart of moment you watched or listended to makes you feel closer to the franchise than just catching up.
I just found out about Critical Role a few months ago, through the animated series. But seeing how many episodes and hours it would took to watch C1, I started with C3 because I want to catch up to the waiting and watching every week. I learned to love the cast and just their overall chemistry in such a short amount of time and can't imagine ever stopping to watch anything by them. I am still far away from catching up but it sparks so much joy in me to watch them stumble from adventure to adventure. So happy that I found this group of people and the community around it, it's such a safe space for me :)
I started with the cartoon by default. I have never played DnD (Yeah I know, wrong channel to say that :) ) and so I was aware CR was a thing, but I never really checked it out. I ended up really liking the cartoon just as a fun standalone piece of storytelling, and it made me interested in watching CR. I now have gone right back to the beginning, the intro wasn't too necessary as I knew the characters from the cartoon, and already knew some of the cast from voicing my favourite videogames. The audio on those early episodes is rough for sure, but there's something charming about seeing them play with paper maps and basic minis, which I have seen is not something that lasts for long.
i’ve been a sort of ‘diet’ fan of critical role as i found their channel during the later episodes of C2, deciding to jump onto the campaign three bandwagon instead and using my freetime to catch up on the previous campaign! it was very overwhelming at first but i found myself comfortable after a while
I am in the same boat. Started with a few episodes of 2 but really watched full time at C3.
This video obviously was created before the recent Exandria Unlimited: Calamity series but that was my first intro to CR proper actual play and got me hooked (I DID watch the cartoon first but it didn't draw me in to the rest of CR on it's own). I got into Dimension 20 last year and really loved Brennan's style and energy so he was my gateway to CR. And then I bit the bullet with Campaign One (about to finish that first underdark arc and yeah, that Tiberius problem is... rough). And the algorithm led me to videos like this one. Great work and thanks for the insight for a new Critter!
Thank you - this was really helpful to me. I have been watching Dimension 20 (explicitly enjoying their diverse representation in and out game) and a lot of players in my D&D campaigns recommended that I try out Critical Role. After watching the cartoon and some of the oneshots, I just saw Episode 1 of campaign 1 and was a little shocked, honestly. Especially about the representation part (even though I was conscious of the videos being from 2015) as well as the crosstalking and the way Orion and sometimes other people regularly took scenes away from other players. I knew there had to be more to it than that because I trust the people who recommended it to me, but I was seriously doubting if I would be able to stick with it.
For once, the algorithm did a good thing and put your video into my feed. That really puts some much needed context on things. I will try my luck with episode 37 next.
Thank you very much!
Looking forward to more of your content.
All the best from Germany!
I just started watching very recently with calamity because I am a big fan of Brennans dming on D20. This is a great video for me because I honestly tried to watch the beginning of vox machina a while ago and was turned of from the first few episodes so its great to have a better established start point. Thanks for the video
I started my critical role journey a couple months ago when I wanted to learn more about Matt as a dm going into D20 the ravaging war. I watched geek and sundry when season one was about half way done and I remember thinking that is such a commitment so I’ll pass. Now years later I am watching it all from the beginning but I love to binge a new series so I am now watching everything in release order (as much as possible) with the exception of the animated box machina series which I am watching as I complete the story arch’s they cover. This way I can simulate to the best of my ability growing to love the crew as the og fans have. It has been fun and I am a little over halfway done with the first campaign. But it was good to see others perspective on the best way to join the fandom. I know this is a huge commitment but I love a rich story. Personally I am watching the full streams because I love to see their reactions to each other’s actions.
I started with campaign 3 because there were about 7 episodes and it would be the easiest to dive into. I am SUPER invested now and will be going back to watch c1 and c2 eventually.
Thanks for the video! This was so helpful as I determine how to start with critical role. I'm a huge Dungeons and Daddies fan and really love the player dynamics as much as the character dynamics. You helped me to understand that I may prefer to muscle through the shitty production quality of early Crutical Role episodes (the very thing which, 2 minutes in, led me to look for your video) for the sake of getting to know the players as they evolve through the show. Thank you so much!!! Subscribed and liked 👍
So glad I could help!
I've played D&D, and other roleplaying games, off and on since high school. My brother told me about Acquisitions Incorporated, which I watched because I knew who Will Wheaton was. I then watched Dice, Camera action! For the curse of Strahd storyline. But I wanted to find some D&D content that was different from what I had been watching. A search of UA-cam showed me a little program called critical role. Dispite the problems with the very first episode, I was hooked. I actually liked the Kraghammer story arc. At the beginning the only player I had any knowledge of was Marissa, and that was due to superpower beatdown. I don't remember when I started watching, but I do know it was quite far into C1, and by the time I finished C2 had been going for awhile.
I’ve made it a personal goal to catch up on all episodes and one-shots. I started about a three years, I’m about halfway done with campaign 2 and plan on starting EXU when I’m done before beginning 3. So much content, but I’m happy I started this way. :)
Have fun! That part of the campaign is really fun iirc
I think, as someone who both fell in love with the show as well as the players/characters/interactions around the table, I will advocate for watching from the beginning of episode 1. I more than understand the audio issues and that some people just can't get past them as they may be pet peeves or severe distractions, but seeing the players grow and learn as they went through was a wonderful ride. That being said, I guess I must have tuned out Orion/Tiberius because I never realized the things he was doing until afterwards when they were talked about/I looked back on them. I don't know how much of a distraction they would be on a repeat watch.
Also, I loved the show and think it's a great way to see who is Vox Machina and meet them as they go through the Briarwood Arc, but there's so many things they had to gloss over/change for the show and I will always remember the episodes where big reveals or battles or moments happened, very fondly. I loved the show, but I would recommend the episodes still. :)
Starting at C1E1 has the potential to be the most rewarding in the long term, I just wish it also wasn’t where the majority of viewers bounced off - but I also understand why that’s the case, unfortunately.
@@SupergeekMike Agreed. It's a rough start that, honestly, feels like you kinda have to grit your teeth for. And that's kinda rough when there's many other choices that don't start like that.
Super helpful! I was just getting frustrated searching and scrolling to figure out where to start on Critical Role, when this video popped up. Thank you for all the advice!
Glad it was helpful!
I just started CR a couple weeks ago and I'm typically a story purist so I insisted on starting episode 1 in the order it was released. Having said that, if I come back and rewatch it, I'll probably do this format.
It reminds me of how some people watch Starwars 123456, others do 456123, and then others will do 45236
Thanks for this video! I started listening to Dungeons and Daddies this year, after many tik toks about DnD games were cracking me up. After devouring their first campaign, i started looking for more DnD content and found CR. I started with ExU because the sheer quantity of other content was daunting. (Which is ironic cuz I'm a huge Supernatural fan...) I loved it. The characters, the interactions, the storyline. Aabria's tone and way of storytelling are so enchanting to me. Went right into C3. Tried to start C1 with the podcast and then UA-cam, both were hard for me. Can't get passed the sound issues, too hard for me to focus. But now I'm going to try again, with your suggestion of episode 37.
As someone who has very little info/watch time with C1, i thought the animated series, was awesome. I felt like i saw the players behind their characters. I cracked up with the cursed door, just imaging how ridiculous those rolls must have been in real life.
I’m so glad you enjoyed EXU! And I hope you enjoy Vox Machina - aside from all of the growing pains of a new show and a new edition, it’s a really great story 😁
Wait a second... so I can play a dwarf, a lizard, a minotaur and even a half devil or angel but I CANNOT due to "sensitivity issues"(?) play a human with dark(er) skin than mine? or lighter? or different eye shapes? or is this one of those "only white people can be racist" kinda things?
No seriously. If you start spreading harmful or belitteling stereotypes with your role playing, then that's never okay. RP is not for promoting your racist views and dumping on other people.
but RP is about putting yourself in SOMEONE ELSES VERY DIFFERENT shoes. now.. there is an argument of "oh but you don't know how it IS to be *insert triggered minority/minority defended by some triggered social justice zealot* .. yea no shit I don't. But neither do you know how it is to look at a live that's supposed to be several CENTURIES long.nor do you know the complications of minotaurs or ever faced the struggles unique to gnomes and MOST CERTAINLY you have NO FUCKING IDEA how it feels and what it means for a dragonborn to use their breath. And yet you do it. "cuz no real person is harmed" yea neither is when marisha or anyone elese white plays a non-white character. (again, as long as they don't promote harmful stereotypes)
seriously, everytime I hear crap like that my hatred of humanity grows.
I completely agree with this. Roleplay is just that - Roleplay. If you're forced to contain yourself to what you are in real life it destroys most of what makes RP fun. I get that a very unfortunate minority use Roleplay as an excuse to dehumanize others, sometimes due to skin colour, sometimes due to sexuality etc, sometimes just because they want the chance to act horribly to people in a way they could not get away with in real life out of some misguided belief that it being RP makes it a non-issue. These people are a very bad part of the DnD/TTRPG community and, sadly, not a small one. But if we put barriers on what people can play because of who they are IRL, it only serves to destroy much of the fun of the game - and demonize and restrict the people who are unlikely to act wrongly, as those who act reprehensibly aren't going to listen to these rules anyway.
Like I agree in principle, for sure you roleplay to put yourself in another's shoes etc., we don't know how an elf that lives for centuries would approach life, or a minotaur or a gnome and it's fun to explore these ideas. Thing is, elves gnomes and minotaurs don't exist, there are no toes or hoofs to step on so to speak.
The issue, if there even is one really, is with someone playing a marginalized real-world characteristic (like marisha playing beau or Sam playing Tary if we wanna go there) is the potential for harm, ie as you said promoting harmful stereotypes, which is a risk you inevitably run the less shared experience you bring to the table, even well intentioned people can step into powderkegs if they are negligent or ignorant of the group they borrow from.
I think noone ever accused Marisha of actually causing harm, willfully or negligently, as far as I've seen (maybe I'm wrong, there's always someone I suppose) but there has been a long history of that shit happening in media so I can understand if the prospect of someone attempting a similar thing can put certain groups on edge, even if it's done in a respectful manner, because on the onset you can't know if someone is going to be respectful about it. People have been warming up to that sort of stuff, I mean nowadays playing the opposite gender isn't a big deal at all anymore but I remember sitting at tables and hearing other people's horror stories about tables where players would go hard into the stereotypes, so I think it's just going to take some more time for the wariness in that regard to soften up as better representation and respectful adaptation become more common place.
Very well said.
@@Zakiel97 The argument does indeed hold, and I understand where it comes from. However, this view of role-playing really has the potential to become a "slippery slope". And a big one.
Roleplaying is supposed to be about roleplaying. Just like in theater, where it doesn't really matter in the context of many plays if you match the age, gender, or ethnicity of the character you're playing.
If a "white" person can't play a character from another ethnicity, what about being able to play a person of another gender? Or even of a race that has no gender? Can a woman play a man, but a man cannot play a woman because it is a group that has been oppressed for centuries? And what about her sexuality? Can you play a character from a culture inspired by another culture than your own? To what extent? The same goes for social class, being a player from a wealthy family, can we play a heroic fantasy peasant's son because after all we could offend by awkward actions/speech players at our table who grew up in a more unfavorable background? Can we play a character with a handicap, a physical trait that might seem harmless but is not for some (red hair and freckles for example) ?
Moreover, the concept of "race" differs according to cultures. Just the concept of POC or "White" is not the same in the US as in Europe. Can I, a French player with Latin and Germanic origins, play a character from a setting inspired by ancient Greece? After all they have a darker skin than me ? Can I play a Keleshit in Pathfinder ? For that matter, can people other than players from Central African countries play characters from the Mangwi, since after all no player born and raised in America really knows the cultures that served as inspiration?
And what about the game master?
After all he should be able to play all NPCs. Can he play NPCs from another culture than his own, or from another genre? After all, this kind of argument about players should apply to the GM.
Unless we play in an entirely alien and imaginary universe (and even then it's impossible because each setting is more or less inspired by our cultures), we will all find ourselves playing only characters of our race, gender, age, social extraction, physical appearance evolving in a unique setting from our culture.
Again, I understand the argument, but I think it goes against the whole idea of roleplaying.
That's why the 0 sessions are so important because they allow us to know the state of mind of the players and to know their limit in terms of RP so that we can all play in a healthy environment.
But for people to criticize another player outside of their circle because it is offensive to them, I find that very pernicious.
(Sorry if some of the wording can be awkward. I'm not trying to be condescending or vindictive in any way. English is not my native language, and my cultural background is different from that of many American viewers, so I'm sorry if some of my comments seem misplaced)
@@FandeNap2032 You're preaching to the choir already my guy, I told you I mostly agree with the overall notion. It all comes down to being responsible and tactful with your choices.
In my opinion this will become less of a touchy subject as time goes on, like I said with the example of playing another gender we've already seen this happen - that one's usually a non-issue at this point and as overall emancipation of other groups increases the chance to insult someone by accident will decrease.
The slippery slope only exists if that wasn't the case, all we have to do is be chill and respectful and the problem will slowly fade as people acclimate.
The one distinction I'd stress though is the difference between a home table that usually just consists of your close friends and a streamed game like critical role that reaches literally millions of people. The impact of these is worlds apart so for your home table there probably won't be an issue ever, at all, especially if you have a session 0 and friends capable of basic empathy.
And even if someone oversteps boundries in that setting the maximum effect of that would be that they look like an asshole to your 5 people on the table which is easy to manage, you can tell them, they apologize, everything goes smoothly. Like say in my group of straight guys someone wants to play a gay character, because they think it's a funny idea and then they make the most stereotypical gay jokes. I'd take them to the side, tell'em they're being shitty and call them cringe, and that usually takes care of the situation (in my experience so far).
With critical role though you're broadcasting to and affecting a broad viewership which means your responsibility as a player (and also DM) grows significantly. That's a problem most tables don't have but you can see in Matt's NPCs that over the campaigns he's put in more effort to be respectful regarding representation - if he had not done that the current campaign 3 setting could have possibly been a risky move, but since he is putting in the work I have not seen anyone shit on him for playing a non-western setting or accused him of orientalism or smth like that.
Fun fact, I'm actually joining a campaign in a kelesh setting in a couple of weeks so you mentioning that made me chuckle a bit.
Bottom line, just be mindful of your impact and talk with your friends and fellow players and you probably can play anything you want, this goes for stepping on real world toes aswell as just any other character. Don't play something that could risk anyone's fun and if you do by accident and someone brings it up don't dismiss it.
Like if someone says my edgy loner rogue is kinda ruining the heroic vibe of the party I'd either work on a character arc to make my character fit in more or retire him for a more fitting choice, and I'd do the same if the way I played a character of mine made anyone uneasy bc we're all there to have fun.
I started at the beginning of campaign 1 in mid 2019 after a layoff and with the pandemic I managed to catch up completely by the end of C2 (6/21) so for anyone who wants to get fully caught up, it can be done! I found it to be a very rewarding experience, however it's great to see that now there is enough supplemental media out there to help people decide which starting point is the best fit for them.
For those who are interested in C1 I definitely agree that reading the comics or checking out tLoVM is a great way to see if they vibe with the characters and themes, since you'll be spending a lot of time with them. The first campaign was darker in tone, which I don't personally miss, but conversely, the battles felt epic on a scale that hasn't often been replicated since (partially bc the players are all so good at the game now!). It's funny to me that so many skip the Underdark chapter (for completely valid reasons) bc that's one of my favorite arcs of any of the three campaigns, but I also love the flavor and lore of the Underdark, so that tracks.
Personally, I think Campaign 2 is a great place to start for those who are generally invested in character development and prefer themes that are more hopeful. This campaign's characters definitely break the fantasy trope mold and are super endearing and memorable ftmp, though it had pacing issues and definitely suffered at times for being more sandboxey (While I LOVE a good sandbox as a player, it doesn't always make for the best TV, js) Checking out the comics (though only two are out at the time I'm writing this) to see if you resonate with the characters is a great approach imo, since they're one of the strongest draws of C2.
Honestly, if I were to start watching in 2022 I would probably just start with C3. It's off to a great start, and the synergy both technically and at the table is the best its ever been. EXU is short, and a good way to get the full scoop, and while I enjoy it as someone who appreciates seeing different DMs styles, I can see how Aabria's style may be a bit too off the cuff or lacking in consequences for some. For me personally, her storytelling more than makes up for it!
This is all to say that you really can't go wrong! I'm so happy I took the time to get into it, it's made me laugh and cry over the years more than really any other franchise that comes to mind :)
I personally started Critical role with Campaign 3 after being recommended the show by a friend
I started enjoying it _very_ fast, and by the time I caught up to about episode 20, I had to start waiting for episodes to come out, so I began Campaign 2
I managed to watch about 3 episodes of C2 a day, meaning I got in ~21 episodes a week before the next C1 episode would come out. I also started watching Talks Machina following each C2 episode, which I highly recommend. I also watched TLOVM roughly 80 episodes in.
Since I'm close to finishing C2, I'll probbaly started watching C1 just for the context and CR content, but this video has given me a good starting point
My personal recommendation after all of this would be to watch Campaign 2 (if you don't mind C1 spoilers) followed by TLOVM as context for C3, then C3. Then you can choose whether or not to watch C1
I wouldn't recommend starting with the cartoon because I know if I did, I probably wouldn't have watched upwards of 500 hours of critical role. The reason for this is that critical role is 4 hour episodes of a group of friends playing D&D together, with large sections of roleplaying, great ongoing jokes, and excellent combat sections with interesting battle maps designed/commissioned by Matt Mercer. By watching the cartoon first you get a fast paced show that misses...pretty much all of that, but does serve as a good introduction to the Briarwood arc.
With the extra one shots and shorter campaigns, I haven't watched any personally, but I might have to watch Exandria unlimited after seeing this video
I actually started watching Exandria unlimited and loved it! But then I've struggled to get into the earlier campaigns and not been able to figure out why. This was super helpful. I think I will catch up on campaign 1 through the animated show and then go to campaign 3 as it contains some of the characters I love from Exandria unlimited. ❤
Comparatively new critter here, should you want to read what my way is:
A friend recommended CR to me summer 2021, who hasn't really watched it herself but thought I as a nerd might like it. I have played pen and paper before (different system than DnD and only like 7 sessions total) and I remember having seen some CR animations that were recommended to me on YT prior. I started with C1 E1. Regardless of the valid criticisms you brought up, I was immediately hooked and watched around 15 episodes while painting. I had a sudden burst of creativity/prouctivity at the time and for me it was the perfect thing to have rambling on beside me. I could in turns concentrate on it, look at the battle map or focus on my own work. I still do it today, but now I can also just sit and focus on it fully.
Then it was autumn and C3 started. I stopped watching C1 and switched to C3 because I could witness it from the start, instead of being in an impossible seeming catching up chase. I love the campaign so far. In the meantime, I managed to catch up until episode 23 of C1, immediately before the Briarwood Arc. I knew that the animated series would focus on that, so I stopped there and watched it on Prime as it aired, getting my boyfriend to watch it with me and after that I showed him some best moments compilations from C3.
So now I understand some references to C1 in C3 and I may watch C1 after the Briarwood Arc until the next animated season comes out. For now I keep up to date with C3 and currently I am watching and fully enjoying Exandria Unlimited, because I miss Robbie/Dorian. I briefly started the first episode of C2 with my boyfriend, but I doubt we'll bring up the time to really commit to it, at least for now. Also we're playing DnD now with some friends and the DM is also a critter, but I think he mainly knows C2 :D
So basically I am all over the place :'D But it works for me, it's my way. When watching C1 I briefly checked out the podcast as well for a few episodes while playing Minecraft, that worked too, though there are a lot of things I miss, so I prefer to watch it on UA-cam. Sadly, I'm not able to catch the livestreams, since in my country they begin at 2 AM at night.
Hahaha however you watch it works, I’m glad you’re enjoying it!
Don’t feel bad about missing the live streams - I usually can’t watch them either, and I live in the same city as the cast lol
Thank you so much for this! I just came from your Tiberius video and enjoyed your thorough approach. I remember getting interested in CR by seeing fanart of the Bright Queen, specifically the Beacon moment. I started with C2 and am currently up to date on C3 and all EXU.
My older sister’s interest in CR was piqued at the show, and it’s been so tough to find good sources in where to start. This was perfect!
Thank you! Glad I could help!
I think this should be updated for EXU: Calamity. It is a short campaign (4 episodes) but the level of intensity, drama and lore is more comparable to C1 and C2, then the original EXU was. I also think Brennan's style is more similar to Matt, than Aabriya's. Of course it is not the same as a 5 year long campaign, but it got me emotionally invested in the same way.
Concerning C1, I think powering through E24-E27 is crucial. The Briarwoods Arc is amazing and the build up to them is too.
Really enjoyed this video. It was very refreshing to see how other people have started or ways that you coud start because i have experienced resistance when recomending the stream to people based on nothing more than how much of it there is.
I started playing d&d and then was recomemnded to go and watch critical role by my DM. I actually started watching campaign 2 and watched it through to epiosde 30. My Dm kept harping on at me about how could campaign 1 was so i stopped watching 2 at 30 (SPOILER, big moment happens around this time, those who know know) and then moved to campaign 1 from the start. This was a really good way to go as i already knew by this time who the players were, (except Orion obviously) and because i'd seen a few big moments of consequence in 2 it made appreciate all the tear jerking parts of campaign 1 alot more.
In terms of speed i doubled up. Watched the stream when i was at home and podcasted while driving, at work or at the gym. Got through it faster but it still took a long time. I have now rewatched campaign 1 a second time, skipping over the underdark arc and now rewatching campaign 2. What can i say? i have an obsessive personality.
so for me:
watch campaign 2 up to their first live show which espidoe 30ish
then watch campaign 1 all the way through including associated one shots
then carry on with campaign 2
would it also be possible to do an episode on your take of Marisha. I was shamedly one of those people who didnt enjoy her on my first watch through of Vox and Nein but on my second go around i developed a great appreciation for her skill as a role player and the egaging chracters she creates. especially Laudna. Would appreciate your take.
Great video!
I started watching when there were only 8 episodes of C2 on UA-cam, so I think that's why the Mighty Nein is my favorite campaign so far. But while I was waiting for new episodes I went back and watched Capaign 1, and it was a lot easier to push through the bad quality because I was already hooked and I needed to know what happened with Vox Machina (since they kept referencing it)
I’m a critter newbie. I backed the Kickstarter cause a friend was into it, but I hadn’t really seen it. I got hooked with the cartoon. Then I caught up on c3 (and I like the no new c3 content last week of the month. It helps).
Once we were caught up on 3 we decided to go back and start 2. Part of it was I felt already pretty spoiled for a lot of c1 and part of it was wanting to see a story from the beginning.
I’m 32 episodes in and I’m absolutely in love with the M9. I know a few vague spoilers but mostly out of context. And even stuff I’m spoiled about isn’t the same as seeing it play out. I know there is A Lot more but I’m taking it one episode a night, sometimes 2 on weekends (except c3 on mondays).
I’m invested and I’ve found the community welcoming. Sorry about the novel, but thank you for the vid.
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the show!
@@SupergeekMike thank you! I look forward to your futures videos and I appreciated the Tiberius one
I listened to all of critical roll while at my old job, just popped my ear buds in and listened to the vods on UA-cam. I had a blast and got caught up just in time for EXU.
Same kind of thing here, I cut back listening to music and podcasts and started listening to Crit Role on UA-cam.
I started following CR because of Ashley and Laura and a little videogame that some of you may know :D
I started watching CR through the Vox Machina animated series because I wasn't feeling watching all of campaign 2 when campaign 3 was already at episode like 60.
So I started not so long ago with campaign 3, and I'm having a really great time.
Much as I enjoyed S1 of the Vox Machina series, using that as a replacement for that portion of the stream, if you have the time and inclination to watch the stream, is a mistake I think. I never watched CR prior to seeing the series and went through campaign 1 afterwards starting with Ep1. There's several great moments in the stream that just work better there thanks to the decompressed story telling giving it better pacing and letting the viewer invest in the world and characters more completely simply because they have more time with them. Also felt the show's use of humor, while funny on its own, stepped on a couple more serious scenes a few times and hurt their impact. Vax's encounter while searching the Briarwood's rooms as an example was sooo much better in the stream without the cutaways to a Scanlan song. The song was funny, but the way that whole sequence came about in the stream was just great, pure drama created entirely through emergent gameplay and improv and in retrospect, despite the fact I saw the animated series first, it felt like a shame having that undermined by a silly gag in the show.
I'm only 30ish episodes into campaign 2 now but I haven't really seen anyone complaining about Beau's ethnicity, this is the first time I've ever even seen it mentioned. Still occasionally see the random weird hate comments in the YT comments towards Marisha that she's apparently gotten for years just for, from what I can tell, having the audacity to exist as a person.. but I guess this ethnicity criticism is something I've missed entirely as a newcomer to CR. Seems extremely silly to me. The criticism of (generally white) actors taking the roles of ethnic or minority characters in films and shows is rooted in the fact actors actually from those backgrounds routinely, historically, had fewer opportunities and having some of those few existing minority character roles getting white washed just made it that much harder for actors of minority backgrounds to break in. But that's something entirely irrelevant to something like a persons custom DnD character. Maybe if she was playing Beau as some incredibly stereotypical caricature of another ethnicity it would make sense but that doesn't seem to be the case, Beau could look like just about anything and it wouldn't make any difference in terms of her characterization so far.
A little tardy to the party here, but I'm going in chronological order, including the comics and novels and all that. Personally, I'm very happy with this order of watching the show
I'm torn. Critical Roll is one of those things that I've wanted to get into but seemed to daunting. Then I finally watched the animated show and I love it. I want more. But I also know that I probably would prefer to watch the adaptation rather than the game. I don't know if I should start watching where the show left off or if I should just wait for next season instead
I started with Kraghammer in podcast form. I have vision issues, so that worked as well as it could for me, especially since I'm generally listening while I do other things.. I appreciate season two, but I also prefer most of the characters and locations of season one. The main thing I wish was available for all of the seasons is a fast-forwarded version of the combat encounters, cutting out the dice and math and going straight to the descriptions of actions would be great. You could also cut all the dice superstition nonsense. Logical fallacies are only funny for a short while.
The first episode I watched was I believe episode 114 or so of campaign 2. I knew what critical role was, but this was the first time an episode made it into my youtube recommended section. So I decided to just give this "random episode" a go to see if I even can enjoy it. It had me hooked way more intensely than I imagined, even knowing nothing about campaign 2. So after half of that episode I decided to start campaign 2 at episode 1 (of course the episode I started with had some HEAVY spoilers for the campaign but that didn't end up bothering me too much).
Campaign 2 really showed what heights critical role could achieve, both in quality as a stream and in terms of the story & characters. So knowing what it would eventually become, I powered through the really rocky start of campaign 1 as well, after I had finished watching campaign 2.
Thank you for this video, this really helped quell my anxieties about feeling like I need to start from the very beginning after watching the Amazon show and falling in love with it. I got through 20 minutes of the raw Geek & Sundry episode during my lunch break today and it was kind of rough, so I may be resorting to recaps and highlights until the Briarwood arc.
I'm also bringing myself to watch Critical Role because I'll be playing a one-shot campaign soon. I'm super nervous about it even though it's between friends I already know. I'm excited about the character I've already created and am currently fleshing out his backstory. Still, I'm worried about fumbling the technical stuff and playing my own character well, and making it as fun as it looks in these shows.
I started on ep one. Honestly tho I was nieve to Tiberius until being told about it. But I think it’s a fine place to start. Now like 3 years after starting I’m all cought up and have rewatch the first one. I’d say starting after Tiberius leaves is a good place to start I think the cartoon is a lot better when you know the story already
The podcast is what allowed me to finish campaign 1. I started 2 and haven’t gone back to it yet.
I started with the Amazon Prime show.
Now I am watching campaign 3.
I've fallen behind a bit but still am interested in the campaign.
Been considering trying the older campaigns but am hesitant, mostly because of the time it would demand.
Same. I started with the show and then went started listening to Campaign 3. I have started campaign 2 between new episodes of campaign 3.
When I picked up CR Campaign 1 (back in 2018, I think - ON PODCAST), I was so confused by the “in media res” quality. It took me so long to attach actors to characters. Thankfully, I stuck with it and eventually got my sea legs. Now I’m going back to rewatch when I have some extra time!
Though I watch Critical Role on UA-cam, I often listen to it more often than I actually watch it eyes-glued.
I'm usually doing something else at the same time which is a great way to catch up on all the content.
I don't watch the screen unless something particularly engaging starts up.
15:00
As someone who didn't get hooked on Critical Role early on, the cartoon was great for me to dip my toe in. I don't have a ton of time to watch streams or anything.
I grew up on 3.5E and my dad running AD&D. 5e was very much not appealing to me, and only recently got back into ttrpgs with Pathfinder 2e. Critical Role is beloved by many but is also treated as a blight by the grognard types.
Watching some stream highlights and the cartoon really gives me some positive insights into why people like the show despite the time commitment not being worth it to me.
Thank you for giving a great breakdown of where I can try the show again, but not from the very beginning like when it first came out.
A year late, but I still want to add something to this discussion:
I listened to the podcast for almost the entirety of Campaign 1 and only watched the last few episodes on UA-cam. And I can't understate the regret I feel now. There are so many interactions and nuances that you just don't get when you're just listening. Seeing Sam despair and weep at the end of the final battle... I would have never known.
I am not up-to-date with CritRole anymore. Adult life grants me too little opportunity to actually watch the episodes. And I'm fine with watching month old episodes when I get the opportunity to. If that gives me the best experience, so be it. But never again will I just listen to those people play. It deserves my full attention and rewards me tenfold for doing so
i started with the Amazon Prime show and i got hooked and have started C2 as I want to experience Vox Machina through the show first and then watch the stream for a more in depth look
I started watching around the time the kickstarter happened. I saw Matt on the old collider live show, the success of the kickstarter had made me realize that I would like to check it out myself. I watched the first 80 or so episodes of campaign one and personally my biggest slog was the slayers take episodes. I then switched over to campaign 2 and proceeded to catch up there before going back to campaign one and finishing that while keeping current on campaign 2
Everything good must come to an end, the show will NEVER be the same as Matt, Marisha, Travis, Laura, Ashley, Sam, Liam, and Talison sitting at that table and playing dnd. That being said, people should watch the show and get ideas for their own games and go record themselves. Become the next critical roll sized stream for dnd content. Look at Dimension 20, Aquisitions Incorporated, and so many more.
ahhh just the video i needed. I wanted to start watching critical role but had no idea where to start. Now i do. My only wish for the video, was perhaps a timeline graphic to help illustrate it a bit better(im a visual person). again. great video and thanks for taking the time to make it.
I really enjoy your presentation style. You laid everything out with a fair and fact based presentation, and then also gave your own opinions, while not trying to be dismissive of other people's perceived reasons for other approaches. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go back to listening to the podcast C1.E9...because I'm a glutton for punishment apparently.
Technically I got into this by watching the Amazon Prime cartoon, so I guess I followed one of the avenues you did suggest that was better!
I started with campaign 3 on day one. My wife wanted me to watch campaign 1 with her, but she was already on episode 60 or something by the time she suggested it and I didn't feel like watching hundreds of hours just to catch up to her, let alone however many hours past that*. Prior to that I had watched all the Narrative Telephone videos, which were hilarious even without knowing the characters they referenced. That was how I came to know the players, and what sold me on watching Campaign 3, because before now I was not even remotely a fan of watching other people roleplay (with the sole exception of Harmon Quest, which seemed more like improv than actual DnD.)
(* - Once she's done with season one [still going through it while we also watch C3, and also Exandria Unlimited since there's character overlap with C3], we're going to also watch campaign 2, which I was on the fence about until the recent Red Nose Day one shot with some of the characters.)
I don't understand the complaints about the cartoon, as it's its own separate thing, and is not meant to replicate the player dynamic (I would assume). There was no way that was ever going to translate over, so it's unclear to me what they were expecting.
I'll talk about how I got into Critical Role because idk it just feels appropriate here. I first dipped my toes in when campaign 2 was around... I wanna say 80-90 episodes in? Everyone talked about it all the time and a good friend of mine recommended it, not to mention I loved Matt's voice acting roles in many games I enjoyed. I watched the first 10 or so episodes and enjoyed it but it really didn't hook me.
I just sorta ignored it for a long while until just a couple of months ago. I think it was right before/during when they were doing EXU Calamity. I knew Robbie Daymond was in campaign 3, as a guest at least, and since I liked him just as much as Matt I decided to give it a watch. I really don't know what it was about campaign 3 as opposed to campaign 2 but I was positively glued to my seat. Since then I've been following campaign 3 as the vods are released each Monday, and have watched EXU which I loved. I've been thinking about going back to C1 and 2 but I've specifically heard about how difficult it is to get into C1 and I've already had a meh experience with C2 so that's still just sorta on the agenda.
So as someone who has barely seen any CR, my guide to getting into Critical Role is try campaign 2, if that's a bit too slow for your taste give campaign 3 a shot and if you do enjoy that, branch out accordingly. If you *don't* enjoy C3 either then this show probably isn't for you.
I'm so glad I stumbled on this. As a long time DM (very aware of the Matt Mercer effect) I've avoided the show for a long time. I just didn't want it influencing me and none of my players had seen it. However now I kinda want to know what all the hype is about. Started on YT ep.1. . .and um ya. Everything you just said. Very lost. Assumed I would "miss out" if I didn't stitck it out but . . .ya. . .not fun. So thank you for this video even a year later =) helps a lot and still relevant
I wish I’d seen this video first. A friend got me back into D&D because of Critical Role, so my first experience was starting a fresh 5e Wildemount campaign (still going). After trying Vox Machina on Prime, it didn’t work for me, so I dove into C1E1. I love the chaos. It’s authentic, but modern D&D is very Millennial for this GenXer. :) Thankfully, I found Story of… early on and was able to see what appears to be the original character videos, making the audio make more sense. Starting into the middle of things wasn’t jarring, but was what I remember as I often joined campaigns mid-progress. At episode 15 now. Orion is starting to get noticeable…
I started at EXU Calamity through a friend's recommendation and I couldn't have asked for a better starting point. Granted Brennan and his cast is a different chemistry than the original CR group. But the worldbuilding, storytelling and absolutely engaging roleplaying drew me in and made me want to play DnD myself.
It's been EXU: Calamity, then EXU: Kymal, then going from C1 Vox Machina: E28 to E78 where I am now. I recently started Mighty Nein but so far I'm not as drawn in. I've also not been as fond of the CR one-shots, thus far.
I actually watched the Wendy's one shot before it got taken down. That was so awkward. I felt really bad for all of them, as you could see them die a little inside as the game went along.
My brother has been a long-time fan and we started the animated show together. When season 2 came out I finally decided to start watching the live show. I started with episode 37 of campaign 1 which, as you said, was a great place to start. But, that has made it difficult to me to start campaign 2. I don't know if it's burn out bc I finished c1 pretty quick or (what I think) the fact that I jumped into c1 when there was a lot going on arc wise and because c2 can't just jump in with a really big plot line, I don't find it as exciting. I love the cast and especially since mighty nein I also getting animated I want to watch it but I'm really lacking motivation
Thank you I have literally just come across the whole thing I went to C1 and was a little daunted and your video popped up which I’m glad bcz had I started c1/1 & not knowing it had already started as a HG I probably would have ducked simply bcz I would have felt stupid not knowing what was going on. So THANK YOU and I’m really excited to join an amazing community your my 1st follow 😊
Thank you! I hope you enjoy, it’s a great show :)
I started with c3 and have watched a number of the oneshots. i have now started going back to c1 just to watch the development in how the show now looks and feels from how it was in the beginning. i must say the few videos of yours i have watched have been very informative especially the one about Tiberius . i am also liking watching C1 as i want to see how it played out at the table compared to the series on Amazon.
As a fairly new critter, who actually started with C1E1, finished the whole campaign and then watched the now 2 seasons of Legend of Vox Machina animation I… was really disappointed with the first season of the animation. I truly believe they were able to convey the story much better with the second season, but the first one felt like such a mishmash of the original story. Granted, they needed to cut quite a few things out and condense the story into the 12 episodes they had allotted for it, and it made sense at the time when they weren’t sure if it would extend to season 2 and further, but looking back from today, it’s honestly a bit of a clusterfuck. Sure, the storyline is much more linear - but i would argue that made it way simpler than it should’ve been. For the whole of season 1 i felt like i was watching a cartoon for children aged 10 but with a whole lot of inappropriate themes and language for that age group. It was simpler, it was very fast paced, the characters themselves felt rather superficial exactly because they cut out a big chunk of side-plots and little conversations. My biggest complaint though was with the most iconic scenes of that arc: Percy’s “you’re at the bottom of my list”, Delilah’s “I broke the world for us” and again Percy’s mental fight with Orthax (the back-and-forth pointing of his gun at Delilah and himself). The first two scenes went from a mic drop kind of a moment to just a throwaway line no one would pay attention to, and the Orthax fight cheapened the conflict between Percy and the demon for me - specifically because it went from the original intention of a character that made really bad choices in the name of revenge and that was starting to re-evaluate those choices the longer he was with this group, having to now deal with the consequences of the pact he made with Orthax - to now a character that made a pact with this demon and the demon possessed him every time it saw a chance to.
So yeah, the way the first season was handled makes me grunt for a bit. That being said, with the second season I believe they were able to smooth those rough edges and adapt the story a bit better, especially considering the leniency of having the chroma conclave arc spread across multiple seasons. I was a lot happier how they handled that season in confrontation with the briarwoods arc, though im still a little bit bitter in the ‘i wish they knew what they learnt with season 1 before they did season 1’, as the Briarwoods arc remains my favourite of the Vox Machina story
Started with Campaign 2. Absolutely love it! Now I've gone back and am watching/listening to Campaign 1. I'm in the middle of the Chroma Conclave arc and I think it's great, too. I think I still prefer C2, though. I just really love how morally complex all the characters are!
when i first heard of critical role, i actually tried to start with vox machina ep1 bc i had no idea what critrole even is and it felt like the right place (obviously)
i didn’t make it through more than fifteen minutes before i turned it off bc all the factors you mention - the way we begin in the middle, not really knowing what’s going on, the audio, the crosstalk - really made it basically unwatchable. i tried to go back and watch it again some three or four more times (not kidding whatsoever, it was a LOT of tries) but this never changed, i was always turned off by one thing or another… so months of frustration and determination to get into it later i finally figured out that the campaigns aren’t really interlinked (1 and 2 much less than now 3 is with either) and that one can definitely start at mighty nein ep1 and not really miss out on anything but a couple of inside jokes which i was fine with. watched CR2 ep1 and got hooked so immediately ive not been the same since! and now, after some more months of finally (finally!) watching critical role and enjoying and loving it more than i ever thought i would i recently went back to vox machina bc i want to watch the campaign before the animation and would you look at that - im on ep13 now and will def keep going bc the entry was sooooooo much easier this time around. understanding the mechanics of the game and the table, the interactions between the players, their relationships, having an idea what the fuck is even going on from basically having soaked up mild spoilers through the fandom, it all helped so so so much to get through the vox machina beginning and definitely (minus a couple things ofc) enjoy it a LOT!!! (i never could bring myself to actually skip available campaign episodes and just start after kraghammer or briarwood even tho that’s essentially what they did to us 😭) (also man does one get emo over watching them get excited for selling 1k shirts or collecting 5k in donations or earning 3k twitch subs or saying they wish (!) for an animated series or vin diesel guest staring like it’s a dream that will never come true… they had no idea what was coming and it’s almost as emotionally impactful as the campaign itself)
tldr do NOT start critical role with vox machina ep1 and do NOT get frustrated if you did and it feels like this isn’t for you. trust me, it’s the episode and not you 😭 personally, beginning with the might nein ep1 was what helped me get into it, but you can just as well start with the animated series and get the full picture and just come back to watch the actual campaign (or don’t! lol but trust me again… you probably will)
find the entry point that suits you most and trust me a final time, it will get so much better after a handful of episodes… you will get the hang of it and then you’ll get destroyed emotionally but what can you do!
(on a side note, i haven’t even watched either exu or cr3 but i do feel like starting with either might be a bit overwhelming not bc of any quality issues obviously but more bc there’s just so fucking much you have at that point missed out on that will make you feel left out of the loop a little… im now watching VM and MN parallel and cannot wait to eventually get to EXU and BH)
Mike this was a great video! Great advice for people not knowing how to jump into Critical Role. I started in mid 2019, and began the grind of the Geek and Sundry channel shows. Yes, it was tough for the first few episodes, but being a role player for many years I 'muscled through'. It took me a year and a couple of months to catch up. By Oct of 2020 I was caught up to campaign 2. I finished campaign 2 in spring 2021 and stayed current. Luckily I have an hour and a half commute to my job so that helped me to catch up. I agree with you Mike that the quality is tough. I disagree in saying skip those episodes. Those episodes allow you to see the organic growth of them as players, streamers and company owners so I recommend you grind through these episodes if you are a true role playing gamer geek like me. I also recommend that video in episode 36 (I believe) campaign 1. The sketched video of the the Story of Vox Machina. I think if you start with that, then jump into the first episode you will get what you need. On the other hand. If you are just looking for story then yes, start with the animated show. I cringe at mentioning this as there is so much fun in the streamed episodes, but yes, if you just want story start at the animated series. That is my two cents. Again, thanks for this video :)
i would love to see your review over Campaign 2 ! first time hearing it having quibbles. i personally prefer it over c1 as the story was more intriguing in my eyes and had dynamics that broke the traditional mold of fantasy.
I started C1E1 on Thanksgiving ‘23. By President’s Day ‘24 I had just started C3. I am one of those people who won’t start reading a book if I know that it is part of a serialized narrative (i.e. book 3 of 6). I have to start at the beginning, period. From that perspective I learned from the get go why/how this show became so beloved and I loved it the same way as the Critters who had been there from the beginning too. But that’s just me.
This was so nice! I've been watching a lotta shows lately so I'll probably start with the comics as a change of medium then hop into campaign 3 and hope it doesnt go over my head woop. Amazing watch! Thanks for the video man :)