Sarenrae, maybe its because she was ever-present but we didn't get to meet her until the very end, or maybe because when we did finally get to see her she was exactly who i thought she was, but that was a great moment when Matt portrayed the Dawnflower.
22:04 when Kynan starts crying, and Taliesin/Percy says "Wait, wait... There! There's his heart breaking" is one of the best background lines ever. The background chatter can often be distracting, but sometimes it is comedy gold.
I am so glad someone else called this moment out! I tried to find a way to spotlight it in the video but couldn’t really because of crosstalk. It’s so good, though.
@@yargolocus4853 Yeah, the on-screen text would’ve been tough just because there’s crosstalk over the line. But my videos are fully-subtitled, so I’m at least glad anyone who watches them with captions on will get to fully appreciate that line :)
I think your entire point on Victor is shown by one single line Matt uses in this segment. "No one asks about the black powder, but I knew it had a purpose." This shows that someone having black powder like this is more of a coincidence than anything. Victor himself doesn't even know what to use this for, so Percy is still the pioneer and inventor of guns. This line explains why Victor has the goods without diminishing Percy as a character. In fact, it shows that even a crazy and chaotic character like Victor isn't crazy and chaotic enough to invent guns, like Percy.
I think the whole scene with Kynan really makes perfect sense for where Vax is at mentally. Like, I would argue that Vax doesn't really view the life they live as one to be aspired to, more like it is something they are forced into because they had no other choice. If Vax could turn back time and trade all the glory and status and adventure they go through for a simple quite life with his sister and mother, we all know he would do it in a heartbeat. He basically sees a naïve kid who wants to be a part of something that he knows nothing about, who probably has a life that Vax envies deep down. And so he tries to warn him off in the only way he can think in the moment, by showing just a taste of the violence that Vox Machina lives with every day. Not to crush his dreams, but at least to make the kid reconsider thing more deeply. Unfortunately, it's pretty hard to convey lifetime of spoken and unspoken thoughts about your station into a quick action and few sentences, and his warning is taken in the worst way possible by a kid who is really just putting himself out there. A kid who probably feel just as trapped as Vax does. In retrospect it is really just a tragic "grass is always greener" moment for both parties.
Really love this take, Vax is a man who's always worn his heart on his sleeve, is fiendishly impulsive, abrasive, but deeply empathetic. All of those traits were on display for this interaction
One particularly funny thing about the encounter with Victor that gets overlooked is that for the next merchant that Percy went to, Matt literally spoke in his own normal voice- no accents, no affectations, nothing. The contrast was hilarious to watch.
Im actually really sad that it doesnt seem Kynan is coming to the show since we're already fast approaching the Ripley stuff. Kynan was such an interesting NPC and had such a tragic arc with Vox Machina and their story. And we never got to see Kynan's reaction to Vax's death and how he will never get that chance to be trained by his hero.
I agree, but they're barely giving time to Gilmore and Allura as it is so I can only imagine they're trying to not completely kill the time schedule by adding minor NPC's like Kynan, who are great but don't _Technically_ impact the story in a direct plot way. It's sad but necessary.
When Kima barely exists in the show's timeframe, much smaller NPC's never had much of a chance unfortunately. Even Kern, Grog's rival, doesn't show up because there's simply no time for detours in a TV show.
@@zeldamaster52 Yeah, I mean we only got like 10 seconds of _Victor_ as a cameo/lore drop! That right there says it all, If they we're gonna spend some of that precious time you'd think it would be padding that scene out a little.
Honestly It kind of makes me worried for the Mighty Nein series. So so much of the best stuff from that campaign had very little to do with the actual plot or them moving forwards. So much of it is just the hilarious character interaction stuff and weird shenanigans they get upto that have nothing to do with their plans. So I worry that so much of it will be cut for time reasons.
Ever since I played D&D and my characters whole thing was 'I'm trying to find my brother, might as well join a band of adventurers who will go across the world to try and find him." So every new location, I'd ask an NPC if they've seen someone who looked like my brother. My DM was immediately annoyed after the 3rd time and just told me yeah someone has a scrying orb, you look in to find your brother, you find nothing. He's dead. Okay moving on. just purely to get me to stop asking.
@Andrew JW My friend another player and we both decided we didn't want to be there anymore. So we ended up not coming back and using the same characters in a different group. I ended up not playing much but she ended up loving that group and after the campaign ended she became the DM and used my character as an NPC. So at least he's living on somehow
Yikes. I had a sorta similar setup but the GM didn't shut it down so hard, so much as didn't really care. My first Pathfinder character developed a friendship with my friend's character, but my friend wound up discussing with the GM that he wanted to switch characters. So at one point we encountered a weird door that sucked in the old character and spat out the new one. Despite understanding why the switch had happened, I knew my character would never be content to let her friend just sit stuck in a door like that forever, so whenever we came to a city I'd ask around and see if I could send someone to that place to try to get him out of the door. I don't believe anything ever came of it (and my character eventually got eaten by a demon god or something), but it definitely felt preferable to just ignoring a character my character had cared about. One thing I expect to use with my players in future (though not in every campaign -- I'm about to run a social-light version to ease some newbies into the mechanics and give myself less anxiety about running a campaign in the first place (I'm Neurodivergent, the social side of gaming is hard)) is to have each player specifically design (in simple, broad strokes) a character they're connected to and a side character asset. Like, a sibling or close friend and also a librarian they're familiar with. I forget if I got the idea from *Shadowrun* but it gives some decent hooks and makes the worldbuilding a bit crowdsourced (which I enjoy, conceptually -- details to work with are better than a blank page).
I totally got what Vax was trying to do, a bit of Tough love with showing him the reality of the situation, but yeah, I do wish for his sake that they had done a bit of a gentler reality check for him. Less 0 to 100 and more, look, getting stabbed really really hurts, maybe stay here and in between quests when we come back to the keep we'll give you some lessons, meanwhile you can train with Jarret/ our guards and we'll see what happens. Or something like that.
God, Kynan breaks my heart...to the point that I've actually spent the past three years of my own D&D campaign mulling over what my own character would say if her party got popular enough to have fans like that. She's got a real soft spot for kids and made a mistake pretty early that I've been worried about becoming a Kynan situation of its own, so...I think about it a lot more than I probably should lol.
26:25 "And what if he comes for your head?"... funny you should mention that... That being said, I really loved that twist with Kynan. Because... how will you view that character? Really well done.
12:12 - Some voices are easier than others. I once played a character from a fantasy version of medival Germany, but he was named after a Danish heavy metal drummer and I did a light Austrian accent (Arnold Schwarzanneger) for his voice. Celebrity accents are easy to find training material on, and you might find a few lines you like which help you get into the mode. I liked to use Conan's prayer to Crom.
I had an NPC who basically spoke like Dean Winchester from supernatural and so I just thought of some of Dean’s most iconic lines when I needed to hone in on the voice lol
I think their response to Kynan is also colored by the fact that they are voice actors who are already being approached by hopeful young actors saying “I want to be like you!”
This was one of my favorite episodes of the whole season. I was in tears and wheezing. Victor hits the perfect funny bone for me. I absolutely appreciate your combing over these details in prior CR content. Keep it up, you wonderful person!
So, when this uploaded I was struggling to come up with some good NPCs for some shops my players may visit soon. Mike's recounting of Victor really was a break through I needed lol
Okay but honestly Kynan's character is one of the most underrated characters in C1, his appearance in later episodes really help show the growth of Vax as a character and show the consequences of player character choices. I think his introduction scene might be one of the most "cringe" moments for me of C1 because I feel as though there were plenty of better options for the characters to go about it and felt almost slightly out of character at the time? Even still I appreciate the scene for what it's worth.
I love how most of the NPCs my parties ended up liking were characters i made on the fly by imitating ficcional accents from videogames i was playing at the time.
This is an amazing series, and one that I always look forward to! As for my favorite NPC, I have to go with the Matron of Ravens. There's just something so captivating about a character that the players (and a portion of audience) have reason to despise, but she's just doing her job without judgment or bias. Her backstory is also incredibly interesting, and I'm torn between wanting to see it explored in more depth or have it remain mysterious. I also now appreciate Kynan a lot more as a character because how you explained his representation of Vox Machina's changing status. I honestly did not like him my first time through, although that may have been because I was tired of hearing Liam give him the same exact dramatic speech like 3 different times during the second half of the campaign.
There's a video called "How to Create 100 Distinctly Different Voices" by *Improve Your Voice* that I found highly informative. It starts with a basic three-quality setup: Strong/Light, Sudden/Sustained, Direct/Indirect. By combining one of each, you get 8 basic voices to build from. Only then do you start working in traits like Tempo, Pitch, Attitude, or qualities like Breathy, Nasally, Creaky, etc. -- and that's before any sense of accent/dialect. Before that video, I'd never thought about that sort of baseline, but the video's right: You can *easily* get to 100 voices with just a small selection of traits. Starting from that base 8 you can triple it with something like Tempo (24 possible voices), then just two more traits (whether pairs or triplets) gets you well over a hundred. ...so now I gotta remember those principles when trying to craft my podfic voices. It's stressful going from shorts that have two or three characters to a giant project with a cast of nearly a dozen key voices that already have established sounds, but it's those stretches that help my skills grow. Hope it'll help me when I get back to running a campaign!
Re: Character voices in general One of the guys in my group is playing a character who wears a plague doctor mask. He talks into a Solo cup (a la Liam’s Bane impression) and it’s just the best.
I love your CRITICAL thinking! 😆It's great to hear everything boiled down to such a well concentrated shot of information. Great job on your channel man! I look forward to more content from you!
i personally saw kynan as a bit of a meta comment about people online wanting to join crit role, and him just straight up explaining how that would go for them
It would be nice if the Lighfall campaign from the Yogscast High Rollers was covered as well since it has a mix of experienced players and new players and hear what lessons can be gleaned from a different group and DM
The feast? I thought the next episode is the one with the best use of Polymorph ever. Anyway, your insight about how Matt creates NPCs on the fly is so on the spot. And by the way, my favest NPC for the time being (while I'm halfway C2) is Kiri. I'll leave it at that.
@@SupergeekMike I'm talking about cows but maybe is after the party. I recall that Taliesin couldn't make it to that game and since is his storyline obviously Matt wouldn't continue without the main character and stays in his workshop all day, that's why I'm perhaps confused with the order.
@@manueltorresart2345 Ahh that's episode 26, and for the most part they aren't polymorphed, they have Seeming cast on them. That's gonna be a wild episode to talk about, but we'll get there soon :)
When watching the episode, I initially assumed that Earthbreaker Grund (sorry for spelling) was simply the sensei that had taught Kern his levels in Monk.
A friend pointed out that people were using cannons *wayyy* before actual guns. (I haven't fact-checked her but the way she informed me made it pretty clear she'd looked into this enough to have some enthusiastic connection to that point of historical trivia.) So it's possible that black powder would be reasonably available before anyone had the concept of a portable handheld device that would use it. ETA: Oooh, you do mention cannons! Nice.
Currently I think Dr Nesbit is my favourite XD I've been looking up pathfinder 2e recently and the more I look at it the more I can see things in this first season of Critical Role that were taken over from pathfinder. Kinda nice to spot it.
What a happy surprise! I’ve been binging these videos and was off work with a migraine and looking for things to listen to. I’m sorry to hear about your job, and hope YT comes through for you in the meantime!
we've actually already seen Kynan in the cartoon (I think) I believe he is the kid that Vox Machina saves from the dragon attack, the one that gave one of them the stink eye once they hit whitestone through the tree-bamf
One thing about the world of Exandria. Its chemistry must be different from our own. As in TRW black powder is made from sulfur, charcoal and potassium nitrate, it would hardly come from some cast-off refining process. However, I can also see how Matt and CR would not want to show people how one would really make gunpowder as some young viewers may blow off a finger or burn themselves horribly trying to make it.
But... What if a young man fought with the armies in vasselheim, and after vm defeat vecna, he start to see ravens everywhere whom guide him to the matron of ravens temple... And he walk out not just a young man... But a Paladin for the raven queen... Hand pick by the champion himself...
A part of me really wants to see an alternate timeline (which is a pretty common thought for Critical Role fans, no doubt) where they actually recruited Kynan. Tiberius was right: Vax used unecessary violence with him...and we know how that contributed to his return later. I'm not saying they should have taken him on a mission, but testing him, maybe hiring as a guard for the keep, that could have gone a long way.
Gonna have to disagree with you on this one, SGMike...the main and overwhelming reason that Grog was so keen for a rematch, is because Travis found out about all the mistakes he made in playing Grog during the first fight...like the fact that he neglected to add his bonus to damage for his Rage for the entire fight...and he was desperate to try again. Personally, I think Matt knew how much it was eating Travis, and the participation trophy was just his way of giving Travis a convenient excuse. After all, Matt is REALLYT dedicated to his players having fun, and it cannot have been fun for Travis to find out about his screwups in fight #1. ✌😁
I love your insight and your videos! Always looking forward to the next one. Best of luck to you on your job hunting. P.S. Love the shirt! Just got my K&W book in the mail yesterday.
Honestly Vax hazing Kynan genuinely made me kind of mad, and I'm glad Matt sent Kynan down a pretty self destructive path after that as to be honest that's the logical continuation of that. It's probably one of the worst ways they could've handled that.
That’s something Liam was very keen to clarify and argued with the exclamations of his fellow players - if he’s a master assassin, surely he can do nonlethal damage to this kid.
I have a random npc that became my defacto vendor the name can vary but he started as a malkavian in vtm v3 called alistor and based his voice on insanity prawn boy
I'm gonna be devil's advocate here and say that the conclusion of the rematch against Kern looked very forced by Matt. It could have been an honest mistake, but if a player catches on to you doing what Matt did, they might not feel like they've earned the win. For those who don't know, in short, if he did this by the rules Kern would have gotten an additional attack. Now you could say that Matt might have been using custom monk abilities. Sure, ok, even then taking that dodge action instead of attacking a bunch of times to try and get the knockout was a little too convenient in my opinion. That being said, everyone seemed to be having a blast, so talking about a GM mistake might be pushing it.
Рік тому+1
Why Dodge?! What was Kern waiting for?! More cheating from the audience on his side? Wait, there was no cheating from his side... Kern clearly threw this fight and only the two of us noticed, ByteKnight.
I have to disagree with you to an extent. I don't think that Matt had the time to do all of that. I think he created an elevator pitch in his head quickly with about 3 to 5 traits and ran with that. For future appearances he fleshed the NPC out more, but everything else you said took place on the subconscious level. Most of my players favorite NPC's are like that. I made a quick elevator pitch when I first created them, and then fleshed them out later. One of my players favorites is their Goblin Chef they have nicknamed Goblin Gordan Ramsey. I think making him the opposite of Percy was instinctual rather than rational...or just DM's luck. That isn't a slight against Matt, it's actually a trait of the best GM's IMO.
(I still do not believe that Groon is just a mortal man. ESPECIALLY in the show, and ESPECIALLY after the last episode with Grog impaled. I refuse to accept it. That is 100% his god speaking through him, in a very direct sense)
Some more advice on getting better at portraying characters/voices and such. Go join an improv acting club and such. Both players and dms. Heck. Just take an online course somewhere. Because in a way. Roleplaying is just Acting. So, theater class, improv classes, voice acting classes. You name it! Do em somewhere local or online!
I disagree that Kynan won't be in the show. I just think they realized it would be more impactful and narratively tight if he first shows up in his second meeting with Vox Machina (SPOILERS) as part of Ripley's anti-Vox Machina. Imagine that they beat up everyone, and then hear someone whimpering, "I just wanted to be a hero, like you all."
Spoiler warning . . . . . LOL same kind of is not an important NPC... He really should show up in the show, is arc is fantastic, I really showcases some of Liam's brilliance as a player. But we prolly skipped it. Haven't seen the new season
The tell you are talking about is matt ever so slightly slowing down his speech when he's improving lore to stretch time. It's probably to help fight his stutter, I do the same to help with mine when I'm giving shit off the top vs written cause my brain is too fast for the mouth parts to work
He’s functionally doing the same thing and Matt is doing the same sort of line readings, but the manic energy is just really, really hard to translate. The pacing and style of comedy were translated directly, but I just don’t think they work as well in that medium, at least the way they pulled it off.
While I'm sure that the character was improvised the voice and mannerisms was definitely inspired by The Earthbender King Bumpy I think his name is from Avatar.
Honestly, I was so mad at how the group helps him and him taking the strength potion. Like, it could have been a moment of character growth. Instead he and the entire team cheats to win and pretend it was a victory worthy of celebration.
It’s heavily implied Kern is also cheating in both fights, via his wineskin. And from a mechanics perspective, Kern is at a severe advantage in an unarmed fight due to his monk training - which Matt does telegraph prior to the fight. Keyleth’s attempt to heal also fails, so the only impact the group has on him is via Scanlan’s bardic inspiration, which thematically doesn’t break any rules of honor. Your mileage may vary or course, but that’s my two cents.
I'm kind of done with CR deconstructions. Using a clip here and there while you explain a process or approach to play acting or making a ruling instead of aping a rule is great, but this read more like a synopsis and so felt a little 'phoned in'.
I’m sorry you feel that way, especially since this is the first Demystified video script I had anything written for, and has been one I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. My feeling on clips is that there are some where it’s just faster to show the clip rather than explain things; others where the clip is useful for context; and a few where there’s a moment I just really enjoyed and wanted to share with the audience. A lot of that final type hit the cutting room floor, but I also view this series as a way for me to share my passion for the show, so there are some clips I include just because I want to highlight them. But my goal is to make sure we can learn something as DMs and players from every video I upload, and I’m especially proud of the insights in this video. I’m disappointed you don’t feel I added much value in this case, but I’m still very proud of this video and so I don’t imagine I’ll change my approach in a major way anytime soon. Hope you’re well :)
Who is your favorite Critical Role NPC?
Sarenrae, maybe its because she was ever-present but we didn't get to meet her until the very end, or maybe because when we did finally get to see her she was exactly who i thought she was, but that was a great moment when Matt portrayed the Dawnflower.
You mean besides Gilmore? 😂 honestly, it’s Viktor. He’s a delight.
Pumas Sol
The raven queen. I loved the description of her and the background surrounding her. As well how she interacts with the characters.
I’m so torn between Yeza and Pumat Sol…
"Matt wasn't born with a player's handbook in his hand."
I mean, we can't know for sure...
Not 5e atleast. Lol
22:04 when Kynan starts crying, and Taliesin/Percy says "Wait, wait... There! There's his heart breaking" is one of the best background lines ever. The background chatter can often be distracting, but sometimes it is comedy gold.
I am so glad someone else called this moment out! I tried to find a way to spotlight it in the video but couldn’t really because of crosstalk. It’s so good, though.
@@SupergeekMike considering this was back when percy was still abit of a dick, i believe that line was made in character, at least by matt
@@MrJCTrix lol no! he was a dick but he wasn't THAT much of a dick!
@@SupergeekMike it's a bit more effort, but I think some quick subtitles just for line or two would work super well.
@@yargolocus4853 Yeah, the on-screen text would’ve been tough just because there’s crosstalk over the line. But my videos are fully-subtitled, so I’m at least glad anyone who watches them with captions on will get to fully appreciate that line :)
I think your entire point on Victor is shown by one single line Matt uses in this segment.
"No one asks about the black powder, but I knew it had a purpose."
This shows that someone having black powder like this is more of a coincidence than anything. Victor himself doesn't even know what to use this for, so Percy is still the pioneer and inventor of guns. This line explains why Victor has the goods without diminishing Percy as a character. In fact, it shows that even a crazy and chaotic character like Victor isn't crazy and chaotic enough to invent guns, like Percy.
Ah yes, the second appearence of Burt Reynolds Esq. Attorney at Small
I fell in love with Matt as a DM the first time I saw him. But when I saw the first appearance of Victor, I fell in...well...something beyond love.
I think the whole scene with Kynan really makes perfect sense for where Vax is at mentally. Like, I would argue that Vax doesn't really view the life they live as one to be aspired to, more like it is something they are forced into because they had no other choice. If Vax could turn back time and trade all the glory and status and adventure they go through for a simple quite life with his sister and mother, we all know he would do it in a heartbeat. He basically sees a naïve kid who wants to be a part of something that he knows nothing about, who probably has a life that Vax envies deep down.
And so he tries to warn him off in the only way he can think in the moment, by showing just a taste of the violence that Vox Machina lives with every day. Not to crush his dreams, but at least to make the kid reconsider thing more deeply. Unfortunately, it's pretty hard to convey lifetime of spoken and unspoken thoughts about your station into a quick action and few sentences, and his warning is taken in the worst way possible by a kid who is really just putting himself out there. A kid who probably feel just as trapped as Vax does.
In retrospect it is really just a tragic "grass is always greener" moment for both parties.
Really love this take, Vax is a man who's always worn his heart on his sleeve, is fiendishly impulsive, abrasive, but deeply empathetic. All of those traits were on display for this interaction
One particularly funny thing about the encounter with Victor that gets overlooked is that for the next merchant that Percy went to, Matt literally spoke in his own normal voice- no accents, no affectations, nothing. The contrast was hilarious to watch.
Not to mention that his personality could be summed up as "sick of people asking questions about why Victor is *like that*"
Im actually really sad that it doesnt seem Kynan is coming to the show since we're already fast approaching the Ripley stuff. Kynan was such an interesting NPC and had such a tragic arc with Vox Machina and their story. And we never got to see Kynan's reaction to Vax's death and how he will never get that chance to be trained by his hero.
I totally agree. I get why he can’t be in it for time reasons, but it is a huge bummer for me as well.
I agree, but they're barely giving time to Gilmore and Allura as it is so I can only imagine they're trying to not completely kill the time schedule by adding minor NPC's like Kynan, who are great but don't _Technically_ impact the story in a direct plot way. It's sad but necessary.
When Kima barely exists in the show's timeframe, much smaller NPC's never had much of a chance unfortunately. Even Kern, Grog's rival, doesn't show up because there's simply no time for detours in a TV show.
@@zeldamaster52 Yeah, I mean we only got like 10 seconds of _Victor_ as a cameo/lore drop! That right there says it all, If they we're gonna spend some of that precious time you'd think it would be padding that scene out a little.
Honestly It kind of makes me worried for the Mighty Nein series. So so much of the best stuff from that campaign had very little to do with the actual plot or them moving forwards. So much of it is just the hilarious character interaction stuff and weird shenanigans they get upto that have nothing to do with their plans. So I worry that so much of it will be cut for time reasons.
Tiberius being like sure you can join our team and the rest being like “whoa slow down there buddy” lmao
And then with Kynan it flips to Tiberius immediately leaving while everyone is trying to figure out how exactly to ease Kynan into the group
Ever since I played D&D and my characters whole thing was 'I'm trying to find my brother, might as well join a band of adventurers who will go across the world to try and find him."
So every new location, I'd ask an NPC if they've seen someone who looked like my brother. My DM was immediately annoyed after the 3rd time and just told me yeah someone has a scrying orb, you look in to find your brother, you find nothing. He's dead. Okay moving on.
just purely to get me to stop asking.
Ugh that sucks. That’s just such a terrible way for that DM to handle that situation. Sheesh.
Wow what a terrible DM. I hope you went, "ok my character unalives himself." And just left the table
@Andrew JW My friend another player and we both decided we didn't want to be there anymore. So we ended up not coming back and using the same characters in a different group. I ended up not playing much but she ended up loving that group and after the campaign ended she became the DM and used my character as an NPC. So at least he's living on somehow
@@kawaii33366 hey! Well that's good. It's sucks when groups don't communicate.
Yikes. I had a sorta similar setup but the GM didn't shut it down so hard, so much as didn't really care. My first Pathfinder character developed a friendship with my friend's character, but my friend wound up discussing with the GM that he wanted to switch characters. So at one point we encountered a weird door that sucked in the old character and spat out the new one.
Despite understanding why the switch had happened, I knew my character would never be content to let her friend just sit stuck in a door like that forever, so whenever we came to a city I'd ask around and see if I could send someone to that place to try to get him out of the door. I don't believe anything ever came of it (and my character eventually got eaten by a demon god or something), but it definitely felt preferable to just ignoring a character my character had cared about.
One thing I expect to use with my players in future (though not in every campaign -- I'm about to run a social-light version to ease some newbies into the mechanics and give myself less anxiety about running a campaign in the first place (I'm Neurodivergent, the social side of gaming is hard)) is to have each player specifically design (in simple, broad strokes) a character they're connected to and a side character asset. Like, a sibling or close friend and also a librarian they're familiar with. I forget if I got the idea from *Shadowrun* but it gives some decent hooks and makes the worldbuilding a bit crowdsourced (which I enjoy, conceptually -- details to work with are better than a blank page).
I’m loving all of these C1 breakdowns. They give me the same nostalgia of rewatching the campaign and talking to a friend at the same time
That's a great description!
I totally got what Vax was trying to do, a bit of Tough love with showing him the reality of the situation, but yeah, I do wish for his sake that they had done a bit of a gentler reality check for him. Less 0 to 100 and more, look, getting stabbed really really hurts, maybe stay here and in between quests when we come back to the keep we'll give you some lessons, meanwhile you can train with Jarret/ our guards and we'll see what happens. Or something like that.
God, Kynan breaks my heart...to the point that I've actually spent the past three years of my own D&D campaign mulling over what my own character would say if her party got popular enough to have fans like that. She's got a real soft spot for kids and made a mistake pretty early that I've been worried about becoming a Kynan situation of its own, so...I think about it a lot more than I probably should lol.
First introduction to Matt wasn't any paid role, but this black powder merchant.
Decided I should give this Watching D&D a try.
26:25 "And what if he comes for your head?"... funny you should mention that... That being said, I really loved that twist with Kynan. Because... how will you view that character? Really well done.
I love the echoes of this Kynan scene that happens in 63 episodes.
12:12 - Some voices are easier than others. I once played a character from a fantasy version of medival Germany, but he was named after a Danish heavy metal drummer and I did a light Austrian accent (Arnold Schwarzanneger) for his voice. Celebrity accents are easy to find training material on, and you might find a few lines you like which help you get into the mode. I liked to use Conan's prayer to Crom.
I had an NPC who basically spoke like Dean Winchester from supernatural and so I just thought of some of Dean’s most iconic lines when I needed to hone in on the voice lol
Sorry about you losing your job man. Keep cranking out the good content!!
Thank you!!
I think their response to Kynan is also colored by the fact that they are voice actors who are already being approached by hopeful young actors saying “I want to be like you!”
This was one of my favorite episodes of the whole season. I was in tears and wheezing. Victor hits the perfect funny bone for me. I absolutely appreciate your combing over these details in prior CR content. Keep it up, you wonderful person!
So, when this uploaded I was struggling to come up with some good NPCs for some shops my players may visit soon. Mike's recounting of Victor really was a break through I needed lol
Okay but honestly Kynan's character is one of the most underrated characters in C1, his appearance in later episodes really help show the growth of Vax as a character and show the consequences of player character choices. I think his introduction scene might be one of the most "cringe" moments for me of C1 because I feel as though there were plenty of better options for the characters to go about it and felt almost slightly out of character at the time? Even still I appreciate the scene for what it's worth.
As someone who just binged your whole playlist, this came out at the perfect time
This is honestly my favorite episode of campaign one. So many great moments.
I love how most of the NPCs my parties ended up liking were characters i made on the fly by imitating ficcional accents from videogames i was playing at the time.
This is an amazing series, and one that I always look forward to! As for my favorite NPC, I have to go with the Matron of Ravens. There's just something so captivating about a character that the players (and a portion of audience) have reason to despise, but she's just doing her job without judgment or bias. Her backstory is also incredibly interesting, and I'm torn between wanting to see it explored in more depth or have it remain mysterious.
I also now appreciate Kynan a lot more as a character because how you explained his representation of Vox Machina's changing status. I honestly did not like him my first time through, although that may have been because I was tired of hearing Liam give him the same exact dramatic speech like 3 different times during the second half of the campaign.
This is a surprise... but a welcome one!
There's a video called "How to Create 100 Distinctly Different Voices" by *Improve Your Voice* that I found highly informative. It starts with a basic three-quality setup: Strong/Light, Sudden/Sustained, Direct/Indirect. By combining one of each, you get 8 basic voices to build from. Only then do you start working in traits like Tempo, Pitch, Attitude, or qualities like Breathy, Nasally, Creaky, etc. -- and that's before any sense of accent/dialect.
Before that video, I'd never thought about that sort of baseline, but the video's right: You can *easily* get to 100 voices with just a small selection of traits. Starting from that base 8 you can triple it with something like Tempo (24 possible voices), then just two more traits (whether pairs or triplets) gets you well over a hundred.
...so now I gotta remember those principles when trying to craft my podfic voices. It's stressful going from shorts that have two or three characters to a giant project with a cast of nearly a dozen key voices that already have established sounds, but it's those stretches that help my skills grow. Hope it'll help me when I get back to running a campaign!
Re: Character voices in general
One of the guys in my group is playing a character who wears a plague doctor mask. He talks into a Solo cup (a la Liam’s Bane impression) and it’s just the best.
WOOO bonus critical role vid is always appreciated.
this weekly would be sick!!!!
i love it
I love your CRITICAL thinking! 😆It's great to hear everything boiled down to such a well concentrated shot of information. Great job on your channel man! I look forward to more content from you!
Thank you!
i personally saw kynan as a bit of a meta comment about people online wanting to join crit role, and him just straight up explaining how that would go for them
Can’t wait for you to go through the Briarwood Arc!
Me at 21:59 "hey wait a second! That's Pillars of Eternity music!"
You brought up grog getting a level up. Would you kindly maybe update us on the parties levels every now and then
It would be nice if the Lighfall campaign from the Yogscast High Rollers was covered as well since it has a mix of experienced players and new players and hear what lessons can be gleaned from a different group and DM
The feast? I thought the next episode is the one with the best use of Polymorph ever. Anyway, your insight about how Matt creates NPCs on the fly is so on the spot. And by the way, my favest NPC for the time being (while I'm halfway C2) is Kiri. I'll leave it at that.
If you’re talking about the moment I think you are, I believe that’s episode 30 or 31
@@SupergeekMike I'm talking about cows but maybe is after the party. I recall that Taliesin couldn't make it to that game and since is his storyline obviously Matt wouldn't continue without the main character and stays in his workshop all day, that's why I'm perhaps confused with the order.
@@manueltorresart2345 Ahh that's episode 26, and for the most part they aren't polymorphed, they have Seeming cast on them. That's gonna be a wild episode to talk about, but we'll get there soon :)
@@SupergeekMike Oh! Thank you for the freshly reminder. I remembered so many things wrong. Eager for that episode.
I like to imagine, that Matt indeed was born, grasping a DND book
When watching the episode, I initially assumed that Earthbreaker Grund (sorry for spelling) was simply the sensei that had taught Kern his levels in Monk.
I believe he is that as well, if I’m remembering Kern’s and Groon’s next appearance correctly
Really fantastic video. So much more than recounting & summarizing the episode. Wonderful insight into the game, characters, and DM. Very impressive.
A friend pointed out that people were using cannons *wayyy* before actual guns. (I haven't fact-checked her but the way she informed me made it pretty clear she'd looked into this enough to have some enthusiastic connection to that point of historical trivia.) So it's possible that black powder would be reasonably available before anyone had the concept of a portable handheld device that would use it. ETA: Oooh, you do mention cannons! Nice.
Bless you, and my favorite NPC is probably J'mon Sa Ord
Or the devil Percy signed a contract with, can't remember the name for the life of me
Ipkesh 😈😈😈
Currently I think Dr Nesbit is my favourite XD
I've been looking up pathfinder 2e recently and the more I look at it the more I can see things in this first season of Critical Role that were taken over from pathfinder. Kinda nice to spot it.
What a happy surprise! I’ve been binging these videos and was off work with a migraine and looking for things to listen to. I’m sorry to hear about your job, and hope YT comes through for you in the meantime!
Hope it cured your migraine!
we've actually already seen Kynan in the cartoon (I think)
I believe he is the kid that Vox Machina saves from the dragon attack, the one that gave one of them the stink eye once they hit whitestone through the tree-bamf
I actually know what that was, that was a different thing. No spoilers here :)
If you're talking about the green eyed kid, that was 100% someone else.
Oh I guess im wrong then haha
@@flamespire2235 honey you got a big storm coming
oh its clicked, of course
Sorry to hear you lost your job. It’s rough. Keep the faith and wishing good luck hits you soon!
Thank you!
I only just realised, seeing Mike wearing his MCDM shirt, that he talks with same cadence as Matt Colville
I appreaciate the censured chat
One thing about the world of Exandria. Its chemistry must be different from our own. As in TRW black powder is made from sulfur, charcoal and potassium nitrate, it would hardly come from some cast-off refining process. However, I can also see how Matt and CR would not want to show people how one would really make gunpowder as some young viewers may blow off a finger or burn themselves horribly trying to make it.
But... What if a young man fought with the armies in vasselheim, and after vm defeat vecna, he start to see ravens everywhere whom guide him to the matron of ravens temple... And he walk out not just a young man... But a Paladin for the raven queen... Hand pick by the champion himself...
3 weekly videos! You spoil us 😍
A part of me really wants to see an alternate timeline (which is a pretty common thought for Critical Role fans, no doubt) where they actually recruited Kynan. Tiberius was right: Vax used unecessary violence with him...and we know how that contributed to his return later. I'm not saying they should have taken him on a mission, but testing him, maybe hiring as a guard for the keep, that could have gone a long way.
Gonna have to disagree with you on this one, SGMike...the main and overwhelming reason that Grog was so keen for a rematch, is because Travis found out about all the mistakes he made in playing Grog during the first fight...like the fact that he neglected to add his bonus to damage for his Rage for the entire fight...and he was desperate to try again. Personally, I think Matt knew how much it was eating Travis, and the participation trophy was just his way of giving Travis a convenient excuse. After all, Matt is REALLYT dedicated to his players having fun, and it cannot have been fun for Travis to find out about his screwups in fight #1. ✌😁
I had no context of anything critical role when I first started watching so the introduction of Victor was glorious
Yay weekly! Just this once.
I love your insight and your videos! Always looking forward to the next one. Best of luck to you on your job hunting.
P.S. Love the shirt! Just got my K&W book in the mail yesterday.
Sucks you lost your job, sorry to hear
Hope we can get you to weekly soon
Weekly!! Poggers!! Look forward to this series a lot
Great video. Sorry about the job loss. I have been there. I hope things change for the better soon.
Thank you!
Honestly Vax hazing Kynan genuinely made me kind of mad, and I'm glad Matt sent Kynan down a pretty self destructive path after that as to be honest that's the logical continuation of that.
It's probably one of the worst ways they could've handled that.
More CR DeM’d! Woot woot! 🎉
RIP Vicktor(spoiler) to took his shop with him to the end defending till the end
Great stuff, Mike! Would love to see you DM a game on this channel at some point.
Victor feels like a dimension 20 character in terms of chaotic energy
The kind of guy to be very concerned about having his bones.
Tiberius was right, they should have hired him as a guard then train him during their downtime.
Victor will always be my favorite
Kynan not dying instantly means he had at least 34 HP, that's pretty darn good for a commoner.
That’s something Liam was very keen to clarify and argued with the exclamations of his fellow players - if he’s a master assassin, surely he can do nonlethal damage to this kid.
I have a random npc that became my defacto vendor the name can vary but he started as a malkavian in vtm v3 called alistor and based his voice on insanity prawn boy
Matt is a gd genius
Weekly????? Hell yeah
I'm gonna be devil's advocate here and say that the conclusion of the rematch against Kern looked very forced by Matt. It could have been an honest mistake, but if a player catches on to you doing what Matt did, they might not feel like they've earned the win.
For those who don't know, in short, if he did this by the rules Kern would have gotten an additional attack. Now you could say that Matt might have been using custom monk abilities. Sure, ok, even then taking that dodge action instead of attacking a bunch of times to try and get the knockout was a little too convenient in my opinion.
That being said, everyone seemed to be having a blast, so talking about a GM mistake might be pushing it.
Why Dodge?! What was Kern waiting for?! More cheating from the audience on his side? Wait, there was no cheating from his side... Kern clearly threw this fight and only the two of us noticed, ByteKnight.
How did I miss Travis’s incredibles line!!!!!
I have to disagree with you to an extent. I don't think that Matt had the time to do all of that. I think he created an elevator pitch in his head quickly with about 3 to 5 traits and ran with that. For future appearances he fleshed the NPC out more, but everything else you said took place on the subconscious level. Most of my players favorite NPC's are like that. I made a quick elevator pitch when I first created them, and then fleshed them out later. One of my players favorites is their Goblin Chef they have nicknamed Goblin Gordan Ramsey. I think making him the opposite of Percy was instinctual rather than rational...or just DM's luck. That isn't a slight against Matt, it's actually a trait of the best GM's IMO.
I always felt bad for the kid.
Sorry about your job, and thanks for videos
Thank you!
Please mike more weekly videos :p
Hey man I lost my job recently too! Good luck
(I still do not believe that Groon is just a mortal man. ESPECIALLY in the show, and ESPECIALLY after the last episode with Grog impaled. I refuse to accept it. That is 100% his god speaking through him, in a very direct sense)
BRIARWOOD ARC YEAHHHH
Some more advice on getting better at portraying characters/voices and such. Go join an improv acting club and such. Both players and dms. Heck. Just take an online course somewhere. Because in a way. Roleplaying is just Acting. So, theater class, improv classes, voice acting classes. You name it! Do em somewhere local or online!
I disagree that Kynan won't be in the show. I just think they realized it would be more impactful and narratively tight if he first shows up in his second meeting with Vox Machina (SPOILERS)
as part of Ripley's anti-Vox Machina. Imagine that they beat up everyone, and then hear someone whimpering, "I just wanted to be a hero, like you all."
it's like Critmas in February :D
gl with jorb :B
Spoiler warning
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LOL same kind of is not an important NPC... He really should show up in the show, is arc is fantastic, I really showcases some of Liam's brilliance as a player. But we prolly skipped it. Haven't seen the new season
The tell you are talking about is matt ever so slightly slowing down his speech when he's improving lore to stretch time. It's probably to help fight his stutter, I do the same to help with mine when I'm giving shit off the top vs written cause my brain is too fast for the mouth parts to work
Yes yes yes
Comment for the algorithm
it's too bad, but understandable, this wasn't in the show, it's one of my favourite fights int he whole campaign
Victor seemed very subdued in the Show I feel.
He’s functionally doing the same thing and Matt is doing the same sort of line readings, but the manic energy is just really, really hard to translate. The pacing and style of comedy were translated directly, but I just don’t think they work as well in that medium, at least the way they pulled it off.
While I'm sure that the character was improvised the voice and mannerisms was definitely inspired by The Earthbender King Bumpy I think his name is from Avatar.
Bumi
@Boundwithflame23 thanks. I couldn't remember exactly.
Sorry you lost your job man.
Thank you!
First like!
Honestly, I was so mad at how the group helps him and him taking the strength potion. Like, it could have been a moment of character growth. Instead he and the entire team cheats to win and pretend it was a victory worthy of celebration.
It’s heavily implied Kern is also cheating in both fights, via his wineskin. And from a mechanics perspective, Kern is at a severe advantage in an unarmed fight due to his monk training - which Matt does telegraph prior to the fight. Keyleth’s attempt to heal also fails, so the only impact the group has on him is via Scanlan’s bardic inspiration, which thematically doesn’t break any rules of honor. Your mileage may vary or course, but that’s my two cents.
I'm kind of done with CR deconstructions. Using a clip here and there while you explain a process or approach to play acting or making a ruling instead of aping a rule is great, but this read more like a synopsis and so felt a little 'phoned in'.
I’m sorry you feel that way, especially since this is the first Demystified video script I had anything written for, and has been one I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. My feeling on clips is that there are some where it’s just faster to show the clip rather than explain things; others where the clip is useful for context; and a few where there’s a moment I just really enjoyed and wanted to share with the audience. A lot of that final type hit the cutting room floor, but I also view this series as a way for me to share my passion for the show, so there are some clips I include just because I want to highlight them. But my goal is to make sure we can learn something as DMs and players from every video I upload, and I’m especially proud of the insights in this video. I’m disappointed you don’t feel I added much value in this case, but I’m still very proud of this video and so I don’t imagine I’ll change my approach in a major way anytime soon.
Hope you’re well :)
@@SupergeekMike Matt had to learn the same thing: you can’t please everyone on the internet.
I love these.
@@christenh359 Thanks :)