What's Veeky Forums's opinion on Rollplay...

Agree that that it gets bogged down occasionally especially since they finiahed the thordak arc but perma death is a real threat. Granted its a limited one but at least mercer has added some steaks to ressurection as opposed to normal 5e where death eventually becomes a joke. Im pretty sure the next death in Vox Machina will be permanent

I've had someone leave 5th edition game I was running because "it wasn't like Critical Role". I guess probably because they were in a dungeon fighting monsters doing skill checks and getting treasure, instead of being wacky voice actors or whatever.

I like Thrilling Intent, but that's because it has actual production values.

Can I sign up? I'm sick of 3-5 hour sessions where I roll for something a grand total of twice

He's stated that there will likely not be any permanent deaths before the end of the campaign. The raven queen example wasn't something I made up, that was something he said himself (although I think he said Orcus).

I wouldn't be opposed to them making a new game. And I'll always appreciate their high level game play, because no one that I've found out there (doing live games) is doing high level dnd shit, but it really feels like the story ended after Thordak and Raishan. I get there's some clean-up and post game stuff, but I would feel better (personally) if we heard more about what was happening next.

To me it's kinda like when a TV show tells it's story, and then stays on air because reasons. I think Vox Machina has seen it's duty and done it.

Looks like someone didn't do a session zeeeeroooo

This is why you talk to people about what they want out of a campaign before you start. Sounds like you were doing a dungeon crawler and they wanted a high fantasy adventure.

Idk, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. Matt has a record of coming up with pretty good intros to the next arc. I suspect he's just awaiting his moment.

It depends a lot how sympathetic the different youtube channels are. It generally comes down to the following points:

>Do they inject their political opinion in their games?
>Are they taking it serious?
>Are they making le-sorandomxD YT cancer humours and jokes?
>Do they have a 50s dubstep Intro that's a free AE ressource?
>Are they begging for like, share, comment, subrscribe and check out our twitter, fb, instagramm, g+, reddit, myspace and whatever?

And after that it completely comes down to the group.
>Do they have nice and calming voices or annoying speech impediments?
>Is the GM railroading them through adventures specially designed for a YT episode layout?
>Are they interested in the game or constantly eating, on phone, stacking die, e.t.c.

Yeah pretty much, although apparently there is one more planned arc that should last a while. I want to see them do another 5e campaign after this just so i can see what everyone will roll. Like travis as a wizard or something would be great

That's the real complaint most fa/tg/uys have about the series. It sets up unrealistic expectations for how an rpg works. It's worth watching a few episodes to pick out the good things Mercer manages to do as a DM though.

I'd really prefer if Roll to Hit and Roll to Hit Adventures had more popularity. It's really just a bunch of guys playing D&D, and generally having a good time. Some take their character very seriously, while others create characters like Sherlock Gnomes(who is still enjoyable and does get serious as far as Joke characters go)

Godsfall is for people with Shit taste, or who bought into Virt's spergpost about RPGs are serious business, not for fun.

You got source on this m8? I dont think mercer would do something like that especially since with vax's last death and resurrection matt and liam had something cooked up for a new PC

Well I tried scrolling through his reddit comments to find it or something like it but I got bored. I'll see if I can find a link to it later.

>Hey buddy, I'm on one of those shows
I'm tempted to ask how you got on one, but it seems like it sucks anyway.

I have never seen a good one. The players are usually very annoying, making constant stupid quips and references like an Avengers movie and butting in with stupid "my guy" bullshit.

>GM: Okay, you come across a river. How will you cross it?
>Player A: Hmm, I'll test how deep it is, maybe we can wa-
>Player B: Okay but like while you're doing that my guy is like pretending it's a trip to the beach and he has like a beach towel on the riverbank and he's putting on sunscsreen XDDDD
>Player C: LOL yeah totally then my guy is like, doing a funny dance or some shit like I don't fucking know XDDD
>GM: O-okay, so Player A you wade into the river and-
>Player D: [Monty Python reference]

Fuck, how am I supposed to sit through that shit? The worst is Twitch streamers playing RPGs because they constantly drop what they're doing whenever the "subscriber alert" players and try to do something "funny." Fuck off just play the damn game.

I'm friends with cute girls who do Let's Play. Kinda piggybacking on them. Also, the DM is a player in a more popular show. He wants his shot at running a game.

>but it seems like it sucks anyway
The guy is used to a higher level of professionalism. We're all trying to get there. It does suck, but I see the light at the end of the tunnel. We all want it to succeed, and from a business standpoint it's better for him and us to keep trying than to sperg out and drop it. But yes, getting there really fuckin' sucks.

>I'm friends with cute girls who do Let's Play.
Okay. Not worth it, then.

The high production value, high profile ones never hold my interest.

The players never really seem to connect to the setting and focus on stringing short term jokes together.
And I don't give a damn about face cams, would rather see the game map.

>Looks like someone didn't do a session zeeeeroooo

That's because session zero is retardedddddd!

> Sounds like you were doing a dungeon crawler and they wanted a high fantasy adventure.

Who gives a fuck what the players want? You don't get to choose what kind of life you live in real life so why you should you get to choose it in a game meant to produce a compelling story? If a TV show tells you beforehand "yeah this is a gritty western post apocalyptic etc etc genre keyword bullshit" then why the fuck would I watch it? Show, don't tell. This is the kind of stupidity RPGs have nowadays.

Session zero is completely unnecessary and can be accomplished in the space of several minutes. "This is a game of D&D starting in X town in Y world, here's a bit about the surrounding world. You can play these races, these races are banned. These classes are banned, or other chargen options in other systems"

Bam. There you go. It can be accomplished in the space of a 10-email-chain. You don't need to devote precious table time to it that could be spent actually playing the game.

Crit Role is garbage, but all the children like it, so it'll become more popular than we can imagine.

They're shit and they're making our hobby a commodity for even more corporations to get wealthy off. I am so glad I never paid WotC or OPP a cent. Fuck them for putting a pricetag on imagination. And fuck these whores for attempting to monetize our hobby even further.

Court of swords gets better as it goes on. I like it more when it's just the 4 of them without a guest. Adam, JP, Dan, and Max have really good synergy so when a new person comes in it kind of ruins it for me.

>good things Mercer manages to do as a DM though.

Such as? Mercer does absolutely nothing that your average DM doesn't learn to do after about a year or so. And that's without watching Mercer or any of these other goddamn D&D hipster messiahs that are springing up all over the place. All I ever hear is "he involves the players" or "he does good description." Fucking ALL dungeon masters do good description or they don't stay dungeon masters for long because the players kick out their ass and find another dungeon master. Don't give me that "well DMs are a valuable commodity" bullshit, it's somewhat true but it's a fucking platitude clung to by terrible, talentless DMs who think they are hot shit because they charge 5 bucks a session on Roll20 for their shitty autistic DMing. By that metric, and by what I've seen of Roll20 DMs, then myself and my two other DM buddies (we don't play together because we'd constantly be critiquing each other's styles) would be pulling fucking 100 dollars easy. Which is retarded and no one would ever pay that, but my point stands.

See, I learned DMing from the best teacher on this planet: experience. I didn't have Wil Wheaton or Summer Glau or Felicia Day or any of these other goddamn Reddit nerd icons telling me shit, I didn't watch stupid-ass podcasts of other people playing. I actually played. I actually got my hands dirty. That's what this game is about. Not a bunch of pseudo-celebrities sitting around a table. Not watching some dried out roastie screeching when she rolls a 20. Fuck Critical Roll, it's draining the balls out of a new generation of gamers and turning them into a bunch of chucklefucks who think the entire point of RPGs is to produce the largest possible volume of autistic laughter.

I love Critical Role, honestly. Fucking adore it. It's the best thing to happen to tabletop gaming.

Because now as a DM, it can reduce my vetting process to a single question. "Do you like Critical Role?". Answer yes and they stay as far away from my game as possible.

I love you and your vitriol-filled spiel. Tell me, how autistic are you? We might have an opening in one of my games soon.

and yet for some reason you've had players bail from your session because its not what they wanted, wasting both their and your time. I did a 1 hour long session zero with my players and I've never had that problem.

But carry on doing what you're doing, I'm sure its their fault not yours.

Called it

>Ahhhhh my throat is burning what the fuck?!
>Looks like someone drank bleeeeeeeeach
>That's because not drinking bleach is retardedddddd!
You sure showed him user, how's that Game of Thrones-like Pathfinder game coming along?

Eh. I tried starting back up after the new characters, but I just couldn't get into it.

I haven't watched since I got to day9 or whatever his name was.

His first character wasn't terrible, I guess. I think it would've been fine.

His second character makes my fucking eyes bleed. Couldn't get through the episode where he first appears.

If I knew of any that use an interesting system instead of D&D, I'd watch them.

...

>Blades in the Dark
>Six Towers gang
>Roll20 presents: Apocalypse World/WoD:Mage/The Sprawl
>all the rollplay r&d shows

Despite the mild scent of autism, this guy is right. Session 0 is a waste of time if you can write a coherent setting document. If your players can't read 3 pages with plenty of whitespace they shouldn't complain about your game. If people show up to a session 0 they feel as if they are already invested. If they just read something it is easier for them to get out.

except session 0 isn't just a chance for the GM to explain the setting, it's a chance for everyone to discuss the kinds of game and story elements they enjoy, and to create a coherent party

Never bothered watching the Light side parts of Balance of Power because I can't stand Kaitlyn as a player, but the Dark side sessions were pretty great in spite of JP trying his best to sabotage the series.

You can do all of this over email, fb, etc. I actually prefer it that way since everything is written down. I can refer back and go "Oh, in this email the catgirl player said he likes sidequests where he can enter kawaii contests".

How was he attempting to sabotage? Honestly haven't been watching them in a while so I'm just curious.

He just kept doing lolrandum stuff for "laughs" and being a general hazard to the group. Maybe some people like that sort of shit, but I don't find That Guys entertaining.

>and yet for some reason you've had players bail from your session because its not what they wanted

Um not really? But nice projecting.

Again, can be done over email much quickly.

I really don't enjoy them. I find most of the players really uncharismatic and annoying to listen to. I also feel it consumes way too much time.

To each his own though, I know people who enjoy it and it's probably just me not being able to watch other people play PnP games. I prefer the abridged version of PnP, stuff like Counter Monkey (RIP) retelling of games or Donjon & Jambon.

I've never watched this, but it sounds like sheer insanity on their part. WHY?!

I've been meaning to watch a couple of episodes to see what the fuss is about, but once I see the run times I end up stopping.

I like Critical Roll well enough. A few of the players can be annoying, at times. I think the show became way more bearable when Tiberius's player left the show. Percy's player is like that edge friend who always thinks they have the correct witty and logical answer. Keleth's player is loud.

Though, I'm looking for any D&D fix since my group disbanded

garbage

Eh, the thing that grinds me most about Percy is how he always insists he's "not a good person" and it's like "No, you're a fine person, you're just stupid at times."

I'd rather have Percy arguing that he's not a good person even though he is than Keyleth thinking she is a good person when she's clearly a selfish autist with a superiority complex.

Fuck I wish she had a superiority complex, when she was freaking out over Vox Machina being celebrated as heroes over liberating the town and killing the huge fuck-off dragon I wanted to reach through the screen and slap her shit.

>fake story about imaginary people you don't like
>frog.jpg

McKill Yourself and Fries

I haven't watched anything with JP for years, but he defiantly has some That Guy tendencies.

He doesn't seem that smart either. When he thinks he's being clever is pretty fucking cringey sometimes.

>Who gives a fuck what the players want? You don't get to choose what kind of life you live in real life so why you should you get to choose it in a game meant to produce a compelling story?

Calling b8.

If it's not b8 then I feel sorry for your players, but on the bright side, it's likely that more of them will flake on you. :)

I think she feels like she has to be the moral compass of the group, since there really isn't one.

The thing that makes Matt Mercer a god-tier DM is that he understands his job. He serves the story, serves the adventure, and he prioritizes the enjoyment of his players over the rules. Obviously, this sort of non-autistic mentality is going to anger Rule Lawyer spergs like yourself. I'm glad it does.

It's entertaining as fuck to watch Critical Role and you should all be sucking Mercer's dick for popularizing DnD/tabletop again. It's getting more people into it and, as you should know as an experienced player, sometimes finding people to play with is the most difficult part of the game.

I used to like the Shadowrun Arcology actual play, but it got kind of shitty. The game got increasingly Pink Mohawk. Not in a good flashy way, but in a handwavy Easy Mode way. A couple of player characters suddenly mutated into freaks too, for entirely out-of-game reasons. I couldn't take the story remotely seriously after that.

That guy Dan (in fact That Guy) who played Roland and Swarm was always annoying but the other players were good. The recordings were so much better when Dan wasn't there. He talked a lot of pointless meme-tier shit OOC, and IC he was very pushy and was always trying to hog the spotlight with his combo drone-rigger/face character. He had a creepy obsession with torture too, I was glad that the other players and the GM were able to pour cold water on that. I could have put up with most of Dan's shit, but when he revealed his character was a changeling who was basically a lion-man with a snake for a tail, and Swarm's own description ended with the phrase "oh, and he's awe-inspiring", I'd had enough. Along with the general increased goofiness I really didn't have any motivation to hear where the tale went from there.

>you should all be sucking Mercer's dick for popularizing DnD

But DnD is shit.

And popular = more casuals = worse playerbase.

And DMs breaking the rules is usually a lot more about pandering to a spoiled player than it is about making things flow well.

But I can tell you're a casual DnDfag, so there's not going to be any reasoning with you. Enjoy your shit. Meanwhile I'll be patricianing it up with good games, played by the rules, played with veteran players. Stay pleb.

Maybe she should learn to read the room.
Seriously, I hate how she plays like keyleth has 8 wisdom and 4 charisma. The funny part is she's a "gurl power!" feminist who "kicks ass and takes names" irl.

>Meanwhile I'll be patricianing it up with good games, played by the rules, played with veteran players. Stay pleb.
I can't believe people with your level of autism exist in the real world. But yeah, I'll keep having a blast playing tabletop games with my friends.

>Who gives a fuck what the players want?
Literally stopped reading there. You're the absolute worst kind of DM if you think like this. The objective of any tabletop game is to have fun, you autist, and for your players to have fun. Are you so socially unaware that this is lost on you? Christ, I bet people drop from your games like flies.

>reaction image and buttblasted response
>tries to accuse others of autism

Kek, the irony.

I know that you're afraid of me. :)

'Fun' is a hollow concept because it simply denotes enjoyment. It doesn't contain any sense of quality or merit and can't be used as a comparative measure. Using 'fun' as the prime metric is merely retreating into limp post-modern relativism where sitting around blowing rasberries is held to be every bit as good as mastering a musical instrument, writing the great American novel, or collaborating with others in a tabletop RPG to create a narrative and solve complex problems. 'Fun' is the term people turn to when they've run out of arguments.

If someone says the most important factor in an RPG is to 'have fun', it's a surefire sign that they understand nothing deeper and won't be invested in anything game-related. Their PCs will be a shallow collection of 'quirky' traits, in-game they'll be on their phones half the time and spouting memes the rest. GMs who worship at the altar of 'fun' are those who never really challenge their players - encounters are never lost, quests are never failed, and PCs never die, all because the GM fudges the dice and handwaves away any flaws in the players' plans. Every retarded meme idea that the lolsorandumbs come up with will be pandered to. Every Mary Sueflake character concept will be allowed. There will be no coherent plan for the campaign because the GM just wants to provide 'fun' in some pathetic, desperate bid for approval.

I avoid playing with anyone who throws the term 'fun' around casually. I look for players who have a bit of depth. If they say things like "I enjoy a mathematical challenge" or "I take pleasure in exploring the setting lore from within and deconstructing its problematic binary-opposites" or "I like finding solutions to the fictional problems we come across in our game" then I know I'm talking to someone who is not an idiot, and they might be alright. If they just say "Lol i play 4 le fun XDDDDD" then I am talking to another retard from the Cult of Fun, and their influence will only be negative.

>The objective of any tabletop game is to have fun

Not at all true. For example, if a player in my group watches or enjoys Critical Roll, Cards Against Humanity, Big Bang Theory, World of Warcrap (craft, really, but it's such a fucking stupid game I can't resist), Dark Souls, Sky Rim, Steven Universe, Homestruck, My Little Pony, Rick and Morty, or any cartoon in general really, or any anime (unless they keep it to themselves enough to never mention it), I immediately make a mental note that their fun is not the priority. Why? Because they often draw inspiration for how they play, how they act in game, and what kind of characters they make, from these influences. Skyrim faggots always want to play some argonian homebrew bullshit. MLP shitters want to do some sort of pony character (same with furries and foxes, and I kick furries from my games outright). And people constantly make stupid-ass references to Rick and Morty and Steven Universe, which do not belong in my RPG campaigns at all.

So no, I do not care for the enjoyment of, nor do I take suggestions from, the kinds of people who enjoy this kind of garbage media. Why? Because they try to inflict that garbage onto my games and ruin any semblance of tone every time they open their mouths. They can stay but I am not pandering to their stupid prepackaged shit they want. Invent your own character. Nothing anime related. No furry characters. If you want to do that kind of shit, you'll have fun watching absolutely zero percent of the campaign relate to you, and more than likely you will be outirght killed for acting like a demon from the 21st century.

>these faggots that have forgotten the G in RPG stands for 'game'
It must pain you greatly that the types of players/DMs that you're shitting on enjoy a much more rewarding experience than you do. It seems like you're intent on sabotaging your own happiness by looking for any possible flaw in the game you're playing and that's really unfortunate.

I was raised on tabletop games. I played with my family starting from the time I was 10 years old. Fun has always been the most important thing. In pursuing it, you meet challenges. In overcoming them, you find fulfillment in the game. In becoming fulfilled by the experience, you do inevitably have fun. You're oversimplifying what fun is to serve your own narrative.

Try to look beyond your own confirmation bias and actually find some kind of enjoyment in roleplay. Otherwise, what's the point?

Nice pasta, buddy.

Do either of you two have friends or are you entirely reliant on roll20 to find players for your games? Given that both of your posts are thick with autism, I'm going to imagine the latter. That's probably your issue right there.

It's clearly a case of "Improv comedians using D&D as a situation generator" more than an actual podcast of guys playing tabletop RPGs, but their banter is great enough that I don't care.

Are you gonna teleport behind him?

In pf where they started Keyleth had 6 Charisma. Half elf bonus and a +2 in 5e meant she suddenly had a bump, but she still played it the same way.

Not that it's an excuse, she tends to demonstrate the least amount of growth or change.

My wife started watching Critical Role with me, and then joined my campaign. Same with my buddy Dave and his wife. The first time I came home to her flipping through the PHB was pretty awesome.

So that alone is enough reason to love it.

I feel sorry for you. Using your love of one RPG over another to somehow feel better than someone else? If your ego needs that much attention I suggest doing something other than arguing roleplaying games on Veeky Forums. Think about it. Even if you reply to this, think about what you're doing with your life right now. You're just as much of a loser as the rest of us. Don't think liking one foreveralone game over another makes your life any less terrible.

At least Grog and Scanlan now Tarryon can pick up her slack.
Oh fuck, I think we've covered Keyleth enough, but tell me I'm not the only one who rolls my eyes into my skull whenever Vax wanks it to the Raven Queen. He is the reason I hate that deity now.

Vax is getting increasingly unbearable, going from unremarkable to downright annoying over the last 20 or so episodes.

>But I can tell you're a casual DnDfag, so there's not going to be any reasoning with you. Enjoy your shit. Meanwhile I'll be patricianing it up with good games, played by the rules, played with veteran players. Stay pleb.

Hoo boy, this smells like fresh copypasta to me!

Are there any recommendations for series that don't play DnD and isn't Rollplay? DnD really isn't my thing and I can't stand the host of Rollplay (itmejp, or whatever he's called).

If you're still ok with a Rollplay show Nebula Jazz doesn't feature JP at all.

Ok, great! I have to try it. Thanks!

JP had a mute character for the first couple arcs of Mirrorshades

>because we'd constantly be critiquing each other's styles
You sound like jerks.

Sadly you can get through these shows in a moment, except swan song and mirrorshades, but even those shows got cancelled.

Money.

>World of Warcrap

People under 18 aren't allowed to use Veeky Forums, user.

This bait deserves another reply

>coherent setting document
>3 pages

Is this a common thing? I'd kill to have a multi-page setting primer when I'm building a character. I usually need to coax my GMs into revealing enough about the game beforehand to make a halfway usable character.

Thoughts on Pic related?

geeklyinc does a few podcasts
their main is drunks and dragons which is obviously d&d but they also have a coc podcast and a series called ramdom encounters where they try out other rpgs.
They've played gamma world, shadowrun, fiasco and some kind of firefly related game
The d&d cast are pretty interesting and they aren't "holier than thou" rpg experts for the most part.

Yeah that sound about like everything I would hate in a DM.

I want to win this argument, but I'm far too lazy to care, analyze what you're actually saying, or construct a meaningful argument, so I'm just going to reply using various Lorem Ipsum generators until I can brow-beat your argument by having the last word. Just assume it's another turbo-autist spergpost about why you're wrong and reply accordingly.

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn. Stell'bsnaagl, ron li'hee gotha chtenff li'hee h'uln, hlirgh naflNyarlathotep n'gha f'shogg h'athg. Y'hah mg n'gha hupadghor sgn'wahl f'shagg uln 'bthnk grah'n sll'ha f'ooboshu Shub-Niggurath y-chtenff, vulgtlaglnoth vulgtlagln s'uhn h'uh'e Tsathoggua Hastur ah gnaiih ftaghu hrii hafh'drn. Y-Cthulhu ron uh'e Yoggoth 'ai phlegeth grah'n y-orr'e, throd Shub-Niggurath naron n'gha y-Yoggoth. Hrii shtunggli wgah'n 'fhalma chafh'drn kadishtu cNyarlathotep n'gha gebog ftaghu y-orr'e, hrii ah sll'ha gof'nn mnahn' ee sgn'wahl r'luh. Tsathoggua naflzhro syha'h ilyaa nggnaiih ph'nilgh'ri cgof'nn lloigyar Dagon ee r'luh h'ilyaa, uaaah h'Shub-Niggurath uaaah ah shugg ehye nog gnaiih bug h'stell'bsna, chtenff Dagon nglui ehye ep ngnglui shogg Tsathoggua gof'nn Dagon.

...

They need to do more editing.

That's why I stopped watching Rollplay, I'm terrified the fucking forever DM is going to go off the handle one day and just lib the shit out of one of those shows

>It sets up unrealistic expectations for how an rpg works.
What?

Some GMs don't do voices because they're really bad at it and their group doesn't care. But otherwise voice acting is pretty part-and-parcel, even for old school players.