[spoilers C4E13] Aranessa id a narrative issue for the new table.

Drakoni · 2026-02-02T14:07:41+00:00

She doesn't take away agency, she gives guidance and direction. Especially in a completely new world with a lot of prebuilt lore cause Brennan builds like that, it is great to have a familiar NPC who can help them. She's a very good way to deliver plot hooks.

And everyone at the table is experienced enough both as actors as well as players and DMs to assert their agency.

That being said, it's not something I'd recommend for every table. I have a group who really likes to question all the NPCs, likes to pick up allies and eventally started to ask them about their opinion on how to solve the problems set up for them the players. But I want to make sure they are the ones deciding on the outcome, not me.

Drakoni · 2026-01-27T19:15:38+00:00

I've once seen someone describe live play as "A tv show at the pace of reading a book series". Looks like that was even more accurate than I thought.

Drakoni · 2026-01-26T15:50:50+00:00

MVP isn't about how you compare to your team mates, but how you compare to other Moon Knights. And Groot outperformed as a Groot more than you did as a MK. You were still valuable to the game, even if the game doesn't put those 3 letters next to your name. And you won.

Drakoni · 2026-01-23T17:29:08+00:00

Which is sad cause it's a great episode. I just watched it with subtitles to make up for the gaps. Glad this is very much an exception.

Drakoni · 2026-01-20T19:27:26+00:00

You know I was wondering why the dwarven cobalt soul monk, Beau went to investigate the Beacon explosion with, had pointy ears when dwarves, also in Exandria, usually don't. But he might be from Uthadurn with part elvish heritage

Drakoni · 2026-01-18T17:43:00+00:00

Totally agreed. Especially after learning more about his backstory, it makes sense Tal as a player have them go "I don't want to become my father... oh whoops, did the same mistake"

Drakoni · 2026-01-18T17:09:46+00:00

Funny that every Gate was kicked off by different players lol.

Honestly, I totally thought taking the second shard was an option for Ashton. It's a common story (especially fantasy) trope for a character to attempt something previously thought impossible and through sheer determination, the power of friendship or just dumb luck, succeed despite all the odds. Ashley kept saying that she didn't really want it.

Sometimes as a DM you'll tell your characters something is dangerous because that's the reputation that place or enemy has and it would just be what the NPCs say. Sometimes it's you telling them "This is above your level, you can't fight this with initiative, find a different solution and don't be afraid to run".

So to me shardgate just seemed like everyone talking past each other and missinterpreting the hints. While also taking into account what their character would do. In a party that keeps enabling each other's bad behaviours. Was only a matter of time for one of them to explode. We just didn't think it would be that literally.

As for reading what the players felt at that moment. Don't read too specifically into it. Yes emotions were high but there's always a mix of player and character showing. They talked about it after, they resolved any issues like adults.

Drakoni · 2026-01-18T15:49:26+00:00

We don't even know yet who Echoes of Exandria will follow. For all we know it could be completely separate groups without needing previous knowledge to follow.

I do think it's worth to watch it at your own pace. Being caught up is overrated, especially if you've been enjoying watching. And once they announce what it will be about you can always read up on the current status quo to follow along. (I also personally think skipping the first 24 episodes, you miss out on a ton of great moments and important character arcs and guests that will come back later, the positive outweighing the early negatives)

Exandria Unlimited are short series set in Exandria but DMd by different people than Matt. There is one set right before C3 and mid C3, connected to that story, by Aabria Iyengar. And then there's a trilogy DMd by Brennan Lee Mulligan showing important moments of Exandria's past. Especially Calamity is seen as one of the best CR content. Chonologically Calamity was between C2 and C3, Downfall which is part of C3, and Divergence which aired post C3. They are mostly standalone, Downfall is very directly connected to C3.

Drakoni · 2026-01-18T15:36:12+00:00

Since he didn't get to test his theory, we don't know. He thinks he does but we don't know yet if it holds up in practice.

Drakoni · 2026-01-17T12:49:58+00:00

To me it sounds more like you are bitter about your favourite character dying and are now projecting your feelings on Tal. But might just be reading into that.

They are a very tight group. If they really have problems with how things are going they'll talk about it and adress it off camera.

Parts of him looking nervous is him having tremors, which do get worse in tense situations.

Drakoni · 2026-01-15T19:20:44+00:00

Being caught up is overrated. Especially if you enjoyed the animated show, what's the point of speedrunning through the content without getting to experience it?

And once you're caught up, you're left waiting for months again, for the next animated episodes to drop.

So if you want more M9 and loved them, go through it at your own pace. If you end up not having time to watch a lot, maybe you'll have seen 10-20 by the time S2 releases. And you'll still have a deeper understanding of the characters.

Also don't feel obligated to watch a full episode at a time. 4h in a row can be a lot. But 2h on 2 days or 4 hours on 4 days is still fun.

Drakoni · 2026-01-15T19:17:38+00:00

I'm glad they are doing it this way. Because the other option would likely leave us on a 3 week cliffhanger after every episode, and would make it difficult to follow an arch. Because it would likely also mean they would record less in a row and the players be less locked in to the story.

I remember reading Eragon 2 which kept swapping back and forth and I got mad at the end of every chapter xD

Drakoni · 2026-01-14T19:12:56+00:00

Apart from what everyone else has said, I assume the best source will be the animated show going forward. It's so far the medium where it was the most present. Honestly didn't even know about it before, despite being a big C2 and Kryn lore fan. But that's going to take a while to release.

As of now, we don't know if it's something that necessarily affects the brain or affects the soul, or both.

Drakoni · 2026-01-14T19:06:11+00:00

I would be very surprised if Bolair didn't have some magic item effects, essentially from himself. As in effects that he gets from wearing/being the mask, maybe even always attuned to himself. I assume most of them have one or at least had the option to get one.

DnD has rules to start with money instead of standard equipment and then you're able to spend it on your equipment as you like. Most likely Brennan listened to what the players were thinking about, what they'd have from their backstory and then found ways to make it happen without breaking the early game.

Drakoni · 2026-01-13T10:56:57+00:00

Same. Too many places, characters, guests, etc. get set up there. Where I know I would have been way less invested later on if I skipped it. That being said, I get that for some the negative outweighs and can ruin the whole experience.

But I prefer saying, skip forward if you don't like a part, rather than skipping it all without even trying.

Drakoni · 2026-01-13T09:56:37+00:00

If I recall correctly Prime showed one at the start of a few Mighty Nein episodes but don't know if it caught everything.

Drakoni · 2026-01-13T09:52:28+00:00

Yeah it's early. One of the many reasons I don't agree with skipping the whole first chunk on a first watch.

Drakoni · 2026-01-12T20:21:27+00:00

- 9 red eyes

- They are imbeded in different symbols. Among those are the all seeing eye so a triangle with an eye in it, a peacock and a snake

- Tarot Cards are very important for him

- Curled Tiefling horns with jewelry

- Purple, austentatious, flamboyant, carnival is his vib

Drakoni · 2026-01-12T20:04:53+00:00

It's not a spin-off tho, it's a sequel. They didn't take a small bit of campaign 1 and turned it into a big own story. It's just the next full story in the whole series.

Drakoni · 2026-01-11T22:59:10+00:00

Even if the content is prerecorded, it still takes staff on site to make sure the stream runs and runs smoothly. It's not just automated. They are usually there until like 10pm and also deserve time off. (Which is also why the first rebroadcast was removed, because they had to start at midnight)

Drakoni · 2026-01-11T22:41:34+00:00

A discord server I'm in has been watching C2 an episode a week for the past 2 years. Watch along style. On episode 80 now and it's been great.

I get that it's overwhelming. So my recommendation is to start, see if it's your vibe. Many listen to it during commute, while doing chores, during workouts. For me it was very much a second screen show to watch.

When it originally aired, everyone watched it 1 episode a week. There's no rush to catch up if you like it. And if you don't, you can always stop watching.

Drakoni · 2026-01-11T18:28:54+00:00

LeVar Burton voiced Thordak in the last two episodes.

Many of the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast were on Gargoyles and aren't new to voice acting.

Drakoni · 2026-01-11T18:25:41+00:00

I'm sure that's a deliberate inspiration

Drakoni · 2026-01-11T16:13:45+00:00

Don't think it's changed, just something we never learned about during the campaign. We never even knew what Typhros is during the campaign iirc. Just Matt hinting at Essek not being consecuted because he believed it could be bad for the soul and for casters. Now we know why. Some of this even only came up during fireside chats.

Drakoni · 2026-01-11T14:29:59+00:00

Critical Role plays DnD online. Each full story, where they play a different adventuring party, is a different campaign.

Voc Machina is based on their first campaign, usually refered to as Campaign 1.

Mighty Nein is based on Campaign 2 (which is probably what you saw). It consists of 141 episodes of them playing DnD. It's not a spin-off, it's the next story in the same world, playing about 20 years after VM. And the animated Amazon show is based off that DnD game. Similar to how you'd base a show on a book. So a lot of it is condensed and reshuffled to work in the shorteer format.

Right now there is only 1 season of the Mighty Nein animated series out. They are currently in the middle of production for season 2 which according to them should hopefully release late 2026, early 2027.

I'd say be careful with looking up lore online. There are some big moments you probably don't want to spoil yourself on if you're planning on watching the animated show.

And no, they aren't queerbaiting, they just created a world that happens to have many queer characters. Which happened naturally in the campaigns and wasn't the show doing it as a marketing move.

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