Has anyone here watched the animated show Vox Machina on Amazon Prime? I never followed the web series Critical Role (voice actors streaming a D&D campaign), but I’m certainly in the target demographic: I like D&D and I like animated shows aimed at adults.
I enjoyed it. The art was quite good and the plot was interesting enough (typical fantasy stuff, but with a good dose of humour and over-the-top violence). I still wish that Amazon Prime didn’t enforce a week’s wait between releasing batches of episodes, but c’est la vie.
I enjoyed the show. The first two episodes are a kind of mini-arc to introduce the cast, and the other 10 are part of a bigger arc. I thought the first two episodes were a bit rushed, but still fun to watch.
I’ve watched the two finished Critical Role D&D main campaigns, as well as the ongoing third one. It’s nice to put it in the background when I’m doing other things like cooking or washing dishes. The show sometimes a mixed bag, but overall I’ve liked it a lot.
I used to play tabletop RPGs a few decades ago, but it’s nearly impossible to find a playing group where I live these days, and RPGs tend to be the most fun when you play with people you’re already friends with. I’m not really interested in playing on the internet, so watching people stream tabletop RPG let’s me vicariously experience something I used to enjoy, but is no longer available for me.
I’ve just finished it and enjoyed it quite a bit. Slightly surprised to see a Gunslinger alongside standard classes like Druid, Barbarian, ect. All in all the jokes were indeed dumb but fun-kind of like a more faithful version of the Futurama D&D episodes.
What level are the group supposed to be at in the beginning of the series? I never watched any of the Critical Role episodes. It just seemed odd to face a dragon if they’re just beginning, but I guess they’re veteran adventurers?
Some friends I play a weekly game with recommended it so I tried it out. It was entertaining as generic fantasy fare; didn’t really feel “D&D” aside from being able to say “That’s a druid, that’s a barbarian, etc” and trying to think of it as a D&D show just made me think frustrating things like “You also have a ranger and a bard, how does no one have a Cure Wounds?” More of a “vaguely inspired by a D&D campaign” series.
Speaking of, I fairly hated the bard who seemed to roll every shitty bard character stereotype into one. Horny? Check. Anachronistic nonsense when everyone else is playing classic high fantasy? Double check. Small race doing lolrandumb shit? Triple check. But I realize that tastes differ and I’m sure he’s a fan favorite for a not insignificant percentage of the base.
I never got into Critical Role. I’m aware of it and appreciate the way it has expanded the audience for TTRPGs but the bits I’ve watched were never really my thing. Sort of like being in a career and seeing the Hollywood depiction of your career all sexed up and high budget, I couldn’t really connect to it. But I figured the animated show would be far enough removed from the bits that didn’t land to be worth trying and it overall was.
Not really a spoiler but still maybe spoilery
Vox Machina makes Wisdom saves about as well as the Order of the Stick makes Will saves. A vampire’s Domination checks have no greater ally than plot.
That’s unofficial. There ARE firearms rules in the 5e Dungeon Master’s Guide but no actual Gunslinger class. I guess the party started in Pathfinder (which does have one) then converted to 5e later so they homebrewed a Gunslinger class for the campaign.
But in a setting that includes optional firearms rules and Artificers and tinkerers, Percy was more of a curiosity from a “Hey, that’s not an official class” standpoint than actively breaking the milieu. That was my reaction while watching, anyway.
Aha-I didn’t look that closely. Thank you. It is a bit jarring. I’d expect to see cannons on the walls and guards with them as well-he could make a lot of money with that invention.
Curiously, the semi-official D&D/Critical Role sourcebook “Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount” (created “in partnership” with…) includes three new subclasses for 5e but no Gunslinger class. You would’ve thought they’d add that in there.
Speaking of, I wonder if the “generic fantasy” nature of the show was in part because it’s NOT an official WotC product so there would be more potential legal issues if they were all “Hey, Lore Bard, cast Vicious Mockery!”
