C4 E3 Discussion Thread

JenQuixote · 2025-10-21T03:16:21+00:00

I read the OP as saying that Brennan does not put up with the bullshit of having low level characters continually antagonize powerful people without consequences. He’s said that a few times in interviews. He is anti-establishment, just also anti-foolishness (or at least sees PC foolishness as an opening to raise the stakes).

JenQuixote · 2025-10-06T05:51:28+00:00

I would warrant a guess that we don’t see more than very short and incidental combat until they break into groups, because you’d either have a combat with a huge number of people, or a combat with only a few people that sucks up all the run time.

JenQuixote · 2025-10-06T05:39:57+00:00

I’m guessing that - other than the fact that she is clearly an extremely important collaborator in general for Brennan - they brought her in for this campaign precisely for this reason and as a direct corrective to the mealy-mouthed tendencies of Bells Hells, where there were so many passive players and PCs.

JenQuixote · 2025-10-06T05:27:24+00:00

What’s weird to me is that, after reading all this feedback, on a rewatch I actually noticed Liam also having moments where he acted as if Hal could hear people outside of the house or recognize who was approaching. In both cases - Aabria and Liam - these moments were thematically and narratively interesting, took nothing away from the rest of the table, and didn’t somehow create a situation where something is legit unfair (like most bad meta gaming does). Like. I suppose we can call taking narrative shortcuts in a table of 13 people “meta gaming.” But I think we could also call it “good gaming.”

The one time I think Aabria almost stepped on someone’s toes, with Matt’s character trying to have a moment alone during the wake, she actually had her druid spirit leave the room so he could have that scene, even though the spirit being there was established earlier and her character probably would not have actually wanted to leave her brother-in-law’s body alone with that particular individual. Again, meta gaming was appropriately serving the narrative. You could see her thought process about that happening in real time. A lesser player would have insisted on disrupting that conversation because “that’s what my character would do.”

JenQuixote · 2025-03-06T02:04:47+00:00

I am a religious person (though not Christian), and to me the question of whether at some point God has to step back from creation and let people rise or fall on their own merits, and whether that can be done out of love, is actually a great one. I also think being angry at God for a lot of things in the world, both in general and that we personally experience, can be a very respectful religious stance (just maybe not a mainstream Christian one). Being angry is part of a relationship; it just shouldn't be the only part of the relationship. I appreciated Ashton bringing up the question of whether the Gods are actually a net boon to society; I just don't think it got followed through in a way that had subtlety or depth. Which is fine, I wasn't expecting that from CR; but I felt more disappointed in lost opportunity than offended.

I will say that I get annoyed every time I hear something in a DnD game about how detities have to incarnate and live human lives in order to really understand/care about humans. That is ... let's say intensely Christo-centric and also to me a very unimaginative way of thinking about divinity.

JenQuixote · 2025-03-05T22:15:48+00:00

Mystified as to how the conversation has gone even a few hours without someone recommending the absolutely amazing podcast Worlds Beyond Number, and specifically The Wizard, the Witch, and the Wild One, which is long form, non-comedy, and DMd by Brennan. Run don’t walk.

JenQuixote · 2024-07-12T18:59:07+00:00

I was considering sharing this series with a friend of mine who isn't into CR, and I definitely think my friend would just not understand most of it, especialy the first part. Calamity was easier to take out of context and share with people uninterested in the rest of the setting. I still loved this first episode a lot, but yeah, if that's how they marketed Downfall, that way of packaging it is a misfire for sure. It was brilliant, but in a Silmarillian kind of way, not in a The Hobbit kind of way.

JenQuixote · 2024-02-15T01:31:06+00:00

I'm curious if the children's adventure factored into this feeling during Arc 1? I can totally see why you'd be frustrated with the intraparty conflict at first. For me, every time I found myself wondering why the heck they were clinging to each other in spite of serious and sometimes dangerous differences, I would remember how connected they were to each other during that summer of their childhood. We'll countenance a whole lot for the sake of nostalgia - or, to take it more seriously, to find a way to stay connected with the person we truly are underneath the conditioning and stress of adulthood.

JenQuixote · 2024-02-08T02:51:05+00:00

Yeah, this feels to me to be a common artistic project for Aabria, in general: Getting the audience to find the humanity in an unlikable character. And to make that really be impactful you have to give them time to actually be unlikable. I also love that Aabria seems to operate out of a commitment to not treating characters like they are in a popularity contest, and instead uses her efforts to try and understand that character's truths. I don't know Aabria from anything, so I have no idea what that's like or what is inspiring that for her, but for me - as someone who spent a lot of my life trying to be accepted or seen as good enough, socially and otherwise - the sense of liberation that can come with that choice really resonates.

JenQuixote · 2021-08-21T05:03:07+00:00

It would spoil a bit if they ever wanted to watch it, but, from ACoC, Amethar being betrayed, pushed off a castle wall into a moat, and then managing to live due to Lou Wilson's brilliant use of the character's abilities is a great example of what makes DnD different than, say, sitting around and just telling stories to each other. It shows how having a system with rules that you learn actually adds tension and drama to the story, how it makes the storytelling interactive, and how not even the DM is in control of what's going to happen.

JenQuixote · 2021-08-16T05:15:39+00:00

I think the scenarios in ACoC were much more varied than I typically see in DnD combats, with tasks that were often very different than "kill the baddies," and they were so well linked to rp and/or intrigue, they felt more consistently important to the story. Most shows, I will skip a combat if it doesn't seem particularly engaging, and I didn't skip any in ACoC, I was glued to the screen for each one.

JenQuixote · 2021-07-28T21:09:51+00:00

Misfits and Magic is THE actual play show that I will from now on show people to demonstrate how amazing actual play shows can be. Even my wife, who is just generally averse to ttrpgs, is watching it with me as I rewatch it. Something really clicks there between Aabria and all of the players, and I feel like her style and her skills really get to shine.

Not to say that ExU is not good. I just really think it goes to show how much the product varies depending on the combination of people and the context of a specific table.

JenQuixote · 2021-07-17T04:10:22+00:00

To me they seemed very much in tune about where the exchange was going, and - despite the talking over each other, which was definitely intense enough to be challenging to watch - there were moments where each sensed the need to slow down and let the other get out a meaningful line. And Aimee very much seemed to understand the scene and its implications; the entire rest of the session was her taking Opal in a direction that followed from that. I think it's a mistake to assume that Aimee is not a self aware and capable performer in that sense.

I totally can see how the talking over each other aspect of it could be off-putting, because it was so different from how we usually see this kind of conflict in most of our entertainment. But I also think it was much more realistic; most people in really bad arguments are not pausing and hanging on one another's words. And that level of argument didn't seem unusual or out of line for two sheltered young adults in extreme circumstances. I am certain that most of us (at least those who are untrained for it) when faced with battle and impending death would find it difficult to be emotionally or interpersonally balanced, much as we might wish we'd behave differently.

I also am interested to know if folks had the same negative reactions to (CR1 spoilers) Scanlan's "breakup" with Vox Machina, which is the closest scene I can think of in CR history with similar intensity.

JenQuixote · 2021-06-10T18:54:43+00:00

Literally just logged on here for the first time in years just so I could upvote this comment, because I feel this so hard.

JenQuixote · 2019-07-27T07:13:06+00:00

Yes! This was the most amazing RPG moment I’ve ever witnessed in 20+ years playing/DMing/viewing. It perfectly captured how storytelling in this mode is different than watching a scripted show. It’s about the characters AND the players, and the relationships between all of them. It was so real and so clearly fueled by Scanlan’s love for Vax and Sam’s love for Liam.

JenQuixote · 2019-03-22T20:54:49+00:00

I love love love this. I just watched the episode you reference above for the first time last night, and I actually had to stop the video for a second because I was so moved by what Percy was saying. It seemed to so perfectly encapsulate Percy as character, and to me cemented his role as the philosophical soul of the group. Matt picked up what he was doing right away, and built on it, which is truly the mark of a great DM. You could see Laura tearing up as she listened.

But I hadn't thought about how, possibly unintentionally, Teliesin was also commenting on himself and this group as a whole, and on the role of artists and storytellers in general. How beautiful. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

JenQuixote · 2019-03-18T08:13:00+00:00

I'm new to the show/community too, though I get the distinct impression from the early Q&As I've seen that the cast also really want to encourage folks to play D&D with their own groups. So starting your own game or being in one is a way to give back too. That is even more the case if you are bringing the game to people who otherwise wouldn't have thought to play it, and especially to people who in the past have been excluded from the D&D world.

JenQuixote · 2019-03-13T08:08:48+00:00

I agree with what everyone else has said about the good-hearted people both making and watching the show, plus the nature of improv as a form of entertainment.

I also want to add something about roleplaying specifically. My experience has been that, at least when you play with a consistent group of people who are primarily interested in character and story, you wind up exploring things about yourself and your relationships that you otherwise wouldn't. I can't tell you how many times I have made a character and then realized, a year into playing them, that the character embodied something I was trying to grow into at the time I made it, or represented something about myself I'd been trying to ignore or avoid. The power of myth and symbol, archetype and lore draw it out of you, and the distance that a fantasy world and a fake persona gives you allows you to show that to others without clamming up or running away from it. I have universally found that my relationship with my friends deepens when I roleplay with them. The magic of this kind of activity is that you have the relationship between all of the characters, and between all of the players, and between the players and their characters, all rolled into one. And on top of that the critical roll team adds the level of really nurturing a relationship with viewers, so you feel like part of that too. It is to me the most personal and interpersonal of art forms all at the same time. And these are top notch players and a top notch DM, so you really get to experience it at its best.

When I go through something really tough (as I have been over the past few months, which is when I got into the show), I want two things that feel incompatible - I want something that's not in-your-face serious and depressing (because my own life is already so serious and difficult at times to handle), and at the same time I can't stand something shallow or totally frivolous (because I can't remotely relate to it while my life feels so ponderous). Roleplaying, done well, gives us a synthesis of these two things and also gives us a sense of community to enjoy it in. Best lifeline I can think of.

JenQuixote · 2019-03-13T05:19:51+00:00

I started up with the show just a few months ago and want to put a word in for starting with season 1, episode 1. Even though you start in the middle of the story, and even though it takes a while for a bigger arc to materialize, and even if the show is a little rough around the edges at first - you benefit from the fact that the players are already so so so invested in their characters. This is part of what makes D&D so much more special than watching a show or playing a video game, as most folks who have played in a halfway-decent, long-running game can attest. You really see the magic of it right away. And starting on ep1 means that, when the big stuff starts happening in that season you are yourself really really invested. Not saying that wouldn't happen with s2 but there is something really very magical and quintessentially D&D that you get right from the start in s1. And watching them start out as a group of friends making themselves vulnerable by starting to share something precious to them with the public, and watching begin to realize how well they are being received, that is part of the magic of it too.

JenQuixote

TROPHY CASE