Decline Critical role ruined PnP

[sosmoflux]

I just skipped through an episode of Critical Role for the first time after being hounded about it constantly over the past few years. I am now a few steps closer to becoming a mass shooter.

This isn't what DnD is meant to be like, right? I've always wanted to play it, but now...

 

[Popiel]

This isn't what DnD is meant to be like, right? I've always wanted to play it, but now...

Unironically, though it may not be a popular opinion around here: play your tabletop however the hell you want. CR popularized a very particular style of playing this game, one which is quite popular nowadays because of them, but don't be bothered. Remember that this looks like it does because it's, at this point, an improvised TV show as well as a tabletop actual play (this is how this kind of recordings are called).

As an aside, also a hot take (?): Mercer is a lot better GM than people give him credit for. It's not entirely his fault that he was memed into oblivion. What's his fault though is the group he chooses to play with (or chose before this became a business and them coworkers), who are a bunch of absolute cunts.

 

[ItsChon]

As an aside, also a hot take (?): Mercer is a lot better GM than people give him credit for. It's not entirely his fault that he was memed into oblivion.

He always seemed like a great DM to me, he's just DMing for a group of casuals and got brainwashed by his girlfriend who is a modern kwan leftie degenerate. What do you mean hes been memed into oblivion?

 

[NecroLord]

As an aside, also a hot take (?): Mercer is a lot better GM than people give him credit for. It's not entirely his fault that he was memed into oblivion. What's his fault though is the group he chooses to play with (or chose before this became a business and them coworkers), who are a bunch of absolute cunts.

You know, I also heard that Mercer is a pretty competent GM. Still, he fudges rolls, obviously he doesn't want to make his snowflake players mad that they get screwed over or killed all the damn time.
A shame he is also a leftoid and woke...

 

[NecroLord]

ItsChon Yeah, his wife REALLY is a lefty twat.

 

[BING XI LAO]

 

[ItsChon]

You know, I also heard that Mercer is a pretty competent GM. Still, he fudges rolls, obviously he doesn't want to make his snowflake players mad that they get screwed over or killed all the damn time).

This is it exactly. Big part of why I stopped watching the show (this was before they went full woke and cringe) is because there was never any tension. They would constantly do stupid shit and never be punished for it. I could see Mercer doing an amazing job DMing for a group of hardcore players, with the cameras off so he could actually behave normal without having to constantly cater to his shitty, woke audience.

The show can be shit and Mercer can be a great DM, they're not mutually exclusive topics.

ItsChon Yeah, his wife REALLY is a lefty twat.

The first fifteen episodes of CR were so hard to get through because of how terrible Orion was (the guy who played the Dragonkin Sorcerer). Thankfully they got rid of him, but she was the next most annoying member, and while it wasn't excruciating like the other guy, she was always so obnoxious and lame, and added nothing. After her, the guy who plays Talesin was always boring and edgy cringe af. The rest of the players were good imo (Travis/Grog and Scanlan were the best and actually funny/cool even though they're both some of the least serious characters of the bunch), though obviously their casual/snowflake attitude is still a problem.

But yes, his wife has definitely influenced him over the years and contributed to him being cucked, when he seemed like a normal enough bloke when the show first started.

 

[NecroLord]

You know, I also heard that Mercer is a pretty competent GM. Still, he fudges rolls, obviously he doesn't want to make his snowflake players mad that they get screwed over or killed all the damn time).

This is it exactly. Big part of why I stopped watching the show (this was before they went full woke and cringe) is because there was never any tension. They would constantly do stupid shit and never be punished for it. I could see Mercer doing an amazing job DMing for a group of hardcore players, with the cameras off so he could actually behave normal without having to constantly cater to his shitty, woke audience.

The show can be shit and Mercer can be a great DM, they're not mutually exclusive topics.

ItsChon Yeah, his wife REALLY is a lefty twat.

The first fifteen episodes of CR were so hard to get through because of how terrible Orion was (the guy who played the Dragonkin Sorcerer). Thankfully they got rid of him, but she was the next most annoying member, and while it wasn't excruciating like the other guy, she was always so obnoxious and lame, and added nothing. After her, the guy who plays Talesin was always boring and edgy cringe af. The rest of the players were good imo (Travis/Grog and Scanlan were the best and actually funny/cool even though they're both some of the least serious characters of the bunch), though obviously their casual/snowflake attitude is still a problem.

But yes, his wife has definitely influenced him over the years and contributed to him being cucked, when he seemed like a normal enough bloke when the show first started.

Never underestimate a woman's ability to completely ruin everything.

 

[Dadd]

tldw: not being dumb is racist therefore a hate crime

 

[Morblot]

he fudges rolls

In combat? Disgusting if so.

 

[Mortmal]

he fudges rolls

In combat? Disgusting if so.

With his style of DMing which is like 4h of story telling and one easy encounter, it makes sense to fudge the roll to be sure he keep his cast of actors. I prefer a more deadly and harsh style of dming.

 

[NecroLord]

I prefer a more deadly and harsh style of dming.

If your players claim to be badasses you let them prove it, right?
Send in the Balors, Pit Fiends, Liches, etc.

 

[Fedora Master]

 

[Mortmal]

I prefer a more deadly and harsh style of dming.

If your players claim to be badasses you let them prove it, right?
Send in the Balors, Pit Fiends, Liches, etc.

No need of that, a mob of peasants can do wonder already, a den of kobolds trapped like vietcongs would do, no need of epic monsters for epic fights.

 

[Morblot]

his style of DMing which is like 4h of story telling and one easy encounter

Absolutely disgusting in every possible way. Glad I've never watched a minute of this shit.

If that's how they roll, why even bother with D&D? I'm sure there are a thousand storygames they could be playing instead.

 

[Trithne]

his style of DMing which is like 4h of story telling and one easy encounter

Absolutely disgusting in every possible way. Glad I've never watched a minute of this shit.

If that's how they roll, why even bother with D&D? I'm sure there are a thousand storygames they could be playing instead.

Because D&D is the only one they know. And maybe Pathfinder.

My wife once relayed to me the tale of some other members at a social group gathering she was at invited her to a, quote: "Game of Pathfinder D&D". She declined, but that story comes up whenever the decline of TTRPGs is being discussed.

 

[Hagashager]

I'm currently in a Star Wars PnP group. For the first time in the fifteen odd years I've been doung Tabletop on and off, my current PC marks the first time I ever played a character that had a full fledged backstory, limitations and moral compass separate from my own. Usually I either roll a fascimile of myself, or a gimmick character with a clear mechanical hook.

It's been both fascinating and annoyingly obtuse having to roleplay out an honest reaction to something I myself would either not care about, or be completely opposed to. Seeing the CR guys take things so seriously is exhausting. Even after the two other players and I had out big philosophical debate on the right course of action, I, out of character, was like, "alright look, the pathos is getting tiring, how do we actually want to do this? I'll act out my PC in a way that lets it happen."

My PC's schtick is that he's a Twi-Lek Bounty-Hunter who freed himself from Hutt slavers and now does odd job hunts in the Empire. For him, The Empire is another monolithic entity he has no chance of stopping. He couldn't kill his former Hutt master, and they're as powerful as the Imperials. He cares about survival and little else. He's also not that smart, only an Int of 2 (out of 5 Max).

One of our other PCs is a boy-scout wannabe rebel who's pestering the party to take the fight to the Empire while the last one is a character born during the chaos of the Clone Wars and understands the peace the Empire brought. Our party just saw, first hand, the brutality of the Empire as they occupied a colony world. All three of us got into an in-character debate over how to proceed. For my PC, he was relatively unphased by the executions and the martial law- the Hutts are no better, he'd seen it all before. I argued, legitimately in earnest, that this was not our fight, we're bounty-hunters taking in marks, nothing more. Let some other fool, like the Blonde pretty-boy with the blue lasersword, figure it out. The PC who'd been born into the Empire was having a crisis of faith because he does generally believe the propaganda. It just kept going and going until our GM just told us he'd written more for Rebels than Empire. At that point I just pulled a Han Solo and agreed on the condition I get the biggest share of credits.

Fuck me man, the people who actually sit there and get into it to the point of emotion are nuts.

 

[Stella Brando]

I just like the rolling the dice and hitting bad guys.

 

[KörangarTheMighty]

I'm currently in a Star Wars PnP group. For the first time in the fifteen odd years I've been doung Tabletop on and off, my current PC marks the first time I ever played a character that had a full fledged backstory, limitations and moral compass separate from my own. Usually I either roll a fascimile of myself, or a gimmick character with a clear mechanical hook.

It's been both fascinating and annoyingly obtuse having to roleplay out an honest reaction to something I myself would either not care about, or be completely opposed to. Seeing the CR guys take things so seriously is exhausting. Even after the two other players and I had out big philosophical debate on the right course of action, I, out of character, was like, "alright look, the pathos is getting tiring, how do we actually want to do this? I'll act out my PC in a way that lets it happen."

My PC's schtick is that he's a Twi-Lek Bounty-Hunter who freed himself from Hutt slavers and now does odd job hunts in the Empire. For him, The Empire is another monolithic entity he has no chance of stopping. He couldn't kill his former Hutt master, and they're as powerful as the Imperials. He cares about survival and little else. He's also not that smart, only an Int of 2 (out of 5 Max).

One of our other PCs is a boy-scout wannabe rebel who's pestering the party to take the fight to the Empire while the last one is a character born during the chaos of the Clone Wars and understands the peace the Empire brought. Our party just saw, first hand, the brutality of the Empire as they occupied a colony world. All three of us got into an in-character debate over how to proceed. For my PC, he was relatively unphased by the executions and the martial law- the Hutts are no better, he'd seen it all before. I argued, legitimately in earnest, that this was not our fight, we're bounty-hunters taking in marks, nothing more. Let some other fool, like the Blonde pretty-boy with the blue lasersword, figure it out. The PC who'd been born into the Empire was having a crisis of faith because he does generally believe the propaganda. It just kept going and going until our GM just told us he'd written more for Rebels than Empire. At that point I just pulled a Han Solo and agreed on the condition I get the biggest share of credits.

Fuck me man, the people who actually sit there and get into it to the point of emotion are nuts.

Sounds fucking fun, but then I like the in character debates as long as it's capped at a reasonable 30 minutes or so.

 

[Fedora Master]

I'm currently in a Star Wars PnP group. For the first time in the fifteen odd years I've been doung Tabletop on and off, my current PC marks the first time I ever played a character that had a full fledged backstory, limitations and moral compass separate from my own. Usually I either roll a fascimile of myself, or a gimmick character with a clear mechanical hook.

It's been both fascinating and annoyingly obtuse having to roleplay out an honest reaction to something I myself would either not care about, or be completely opposed to. Seeing the CR guys take things so seriously is exhausting. Even after the two other players and I had out big philosophical debate on the right course of action, I, out of character, was like, "alright look, the pathos is getting tiring, how do we actually want to do this? I'll act out my PC in a way that lets it happen."

My PC's schtick is that he's a Twi-Lek Bounty-Hunter who freed himself from Hutt slavers and now does odd job hunts in the Empire. For him, The Empire is another monolithic entity he has no chance of stopping. He couldn't kill his former Hutt master, and they're as powerful as the Imperials. He cares about survival and little else. He's also not that smart, only an Int of 2 (out of 5 Max).

One of our other PCs is a boy-scout wannabe rebel who's pestering the party to take the fight to the Empire while the last one is a character born during the chaos of the Clone Wars and understands the peace the Empire brought. Our party just saw, first hand, the brutality of the Empire as they occupied a colony world. All three of us got into an in-character debate over how to proceed. For my PC, he was relatively unphased by the executions and the martial law- the Hutts are no better, he'd seen it all before. I argued, legitimately in earnest, that this was not our fight, we're bounty-hunters taking in marks, nothing more. Let some other fool, like the Blonde pretty-boy with the blue lasersword, figure it out. The PC who'd been born into the Empire was having a crisis of faith because he does generally believe the propaganda. It just kept going and going until our GM just told us he'd written more for Rebels than Empire. At that point I just pulled a Han Solo and agreed on the condition I get the biggest share of credits.

Fuck me man, the people who actually sit there and get into it to the point of emotion are nuts.

Who asked?

 

[Stella Brando]

You did when you joined an RPG forum.

 

[430am]

Nobody asked you to prom that's for sure

 

[ItsChon]

I'm currently in a Star Wars PnP group. For the first time in the fifteen odd years I've been doung Tabletop on and off, my current PC marks the first time I ever played a character that had a full fledged backstory, limitations and moral compass separate from my own. Usually I either roll a fascimile of myself, or a gimmick character with a clear mechanical hook.

It's been both fascinating and annoyingly obtuse having to roleplay out an honest reaction to something I myself would either not care about, or be completely opposed to. Seeing the CR guys take things so seriously is exhausting. Even after the two other players and I had out big philosophical debate on the right course of action, I, out of character, was like, "alright look, the pathos is getting tiring, how do we actually want to do this? I'll act out my PC in a way that lets it happen."

My PC's schtick is that he's a Twi-Lek Bounty-Hunter who freed himself from Hutt slavers and now does odd job hunts in the Empire. For him, The Empire is another monolithic entity he has no chance of stopping. He couldn't kill his former Hutt master, and they're as powerful as the Imperials. He cares about survival and little else. He's also not that smart, only an Int of 2 (out of 5 Max).

One of our other PCs is a boy-scout wannabe rebel who's pestering the party to take the fight to the Empire while the last one is a character born during the chaos of the Clone Wars and understands the peace the Empire brought. Our party just saw, first hand, the brutality of the Empire as they occupied a colony world. All three of us got into an in-character debate over how to proceed. For my PC, he was relatively unphased by the executions and the martial law- the Hutts are no better, he'd seen it all before. I argued, legitimately in earnest, that this was not our fight, we're bounty-hunters taking in marks, nothing more. Let some other fool, like the Blonde pretty-boy with the blue lasersword, figure it out. The PC who'd been born into the Empire was having a crisis of faith because he does generally believe the propaganda. It just kept going and going until our GM just told us he'd written more for Rebels than Empire. At that point I just pulled a Han Solo and agreed on the condition I get the biggest share of credits.

Fuck me man, the people who actually sit there and get into it to the point of emotion are nuts.

Eh, maybe I'm autistic, but this whole story reeks of "casual" to me. I unironically enjoy things like in-character debates that sometimes take forever. Shit is super fun and immersive. Of course, an hour does seem excessive but not always, depends on if the situation warrants it. My question to you would be what is the situation in which the three characters you described are even working together? Like, what's stopping y'all from just going your separate way?

Like I said, I get very into roleplaying, so things as intricate as that actually matter to me. I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of people that are into this are nuts, because as I've said before, I've never actually joined a PnP campaign because I can't imagine finding a group of people that I could actually stomach being around who would enjoy DnD to the level of autism that I do.

 

[ItsChon]

I'm currently in a Star Wars PnP group. For the first time in the fifteen odd years I've been doung Tabletop on and off, my current PC marks the first time I ever played a character that had a full fledged backstory, limitations and moral compass separate from my own. Usually I either roll a fascimile of myself, or a gimmick character with a clear mechanical hook.

It's been both fascinating and annoyingly obtuse having to roleplay out an honest reaction to something I myself would either not care about, or be completely opposed to. Seeing the CR guys take things so seriously is exhausting. Even after the two other players and I had out big philosophical debate on the right course of action, I, out of character, was like, "alright look, the pathos is getting tiring, how do we actually want to do this? I'll act out my PC in a way that lets it happen."

My PC's schtick is that he's a Twi-Lek Bounty-Hunter who freed himself from Hutt slavers and now does odd job hunts in the Empire. For him, The Empire is another monolithic entity he has no chance of stopping. He couldn't kill his former Hutt master, and they're as powerful as the Imperials. He cares about survival and little else. He's also not that smart, only an Int of 2 (out of 5 Max).

One of our other PCs is a boy-scout wannabe rebel who's pestering the party to take the fight to the Empire while the last one is a character born during the chaos of the Clone Wars and understands the peace the Empire brought. Our party just saw, first hand, the brutality of the Empire as they occupied a colony world. All three of us got into an in-character debate over how to proceed. For my PC, he was relatively unphased by the executions and the martial law- the Hutts are no better, he'd seen it all before. I argued, legitimately in earnest, that this was not our fight, we're bounty-hunters taking in marks, nothing more. Let some other fool, like the Blonde pretty-boy with the blue lasersword, figure it out. The PC who'd been born into the Empire was having a crisis of faith because he does generally believe the propaganda. It just kept going and going until our GM just told us he'd written more for Rebels than Empire. At that point I just pulled a Han Solo and agreed on the condition I get the biggest share of credits.

Fuck me man, the people who actually sit there and get into it to the point of emotion are nuts.

Who asked?

21,000 posts with over half of them being shitty one liners that add nothing to the conversation. Shut your fucking mouth bitch. Somewhere along the line you fostered the misguided impression that you actually have a right to give your opinion as confidently as you do. You are actual subhuman trash and I can guarantee you look disgusting IRL.

 

[Fedora Master]

I'm currently in a Star Wars PnP group. For the first time in the fifteen odd years I've been doung Tabletop on and off, my current PC marks the first time I ever played a character that had a full fledged backstory, limitations and moral compass separate from my own. Usually I either roll a fascimile of myself, or a gimmick character with a clear mechanical hook.

It's been both fascinating and annoyingly obtuse having to roleplay out an honest reaction to something I myself would either not care about, or be completely opposed to. Seeing the CR guys take things so seriously is exhausting. Even after the two other players and I had out big philosophical debate on the right course of action, I, out of character, was like, "alright look, the pathos is getting tiring, how do we actually want to do this? I'll act out my PC in a way that lets it happen."

My PC's schtick is that he's a Twi-Lek Bounty-Hunter who freed himself from Hutt slavers and now does odd job hunts in the Empire. For him, The Empire is another monolithic entity he has no chance of stopping. He couldn't kill his former Hutt master, and they're as powerful as the Imperials. He cares about survival and little else. He's also not that smart, only an Int of 2 (out of 5 Max).

One of our other PCs is a boy-scout wannabe rebel who's pestering the party to take the fight to the Empire while the last one is a character born during the chaos of the Clone Wars and understands the peace the Empire brought. Our party just saw, first hand, the brutality of the Empire as they occupied a colony world. All three of us got into an in-character debate over how to proceed. For my PC, he was relatively unphased by the executions and the martial law- the Hutts are no better, he'd seen it all before. I argued, legitimately in earnest, that this was not our fight, we're bounty-hunters taking in marks, nothing more. Let some other fool, like the Blonde pretty-boy with the blue lasersword, figure it out. The PC who'd been born into the Empire was having a crisis of faith because he does generally believe the propaganda. It just kept going and going until our GM just told us he'd written more for Rebels than Empire. At that point I just pulled a Han Solo and agreed on the condition I get the biggest share of credits.

Fuck me man, the people who actually sit there and get into it to the point of emotion are nuts.

Who asked?

21,000 posts with over half of them being shitty one liners that add nothing to the conversation. Shut your fucking mouth bitch. Some where along the line you fostered the misguided impression that you actually have a right to give your opinion as confidently as you do. You are actual subhuman trash and I can guarantee you look disgusting IRL.

Nobody asked you.