Which episode of critical role should I start with?

>this show has episodes 1-9001
>GEE WHAT EPISODE DO I START FROM

do you americans not know how to count, or what?

Well, they had to officially change all of the characters skin colors because Tumblr didn't like that they were white, and now Taako just suddenly has always been in some gay romance that never came up really in the show because it was shipped hard by Tumblr.

They also instantly forgave the main villain without any real conflict AT ALL because Tumblr liked her, thought she was justified, and that they should forgive her.

He's not one of ours, I thought he was Australian.

Oh, sorry, I thought we were talking about Critical Role. My mistake.

Sounds like something that I should avoid, then.

I've been enjoying Swan Song with Rollplay, especially with the GM Turns. It's very Firefly.

Why would you start with anything other than ep.1

>tfw started HS at Act 5 bc "the trolls looked cool"

Taako was always considered to be gay, it just didn't come up much in game.

Is this why all the artwork is blurred out in esp0/1?

TAZ has always been fun and maintained that you can imagine how the characters look in any way. In game they are fairly vague about the descriptions regarding skin color and physical dimensions. The upcoming comic will be officially licensed soon, so expect whiners to whine.
Tumblr is going to Tumblr, regardless.

Why the fuck wouldn't you start at episode one you stupid cunt

If you like CritRole i can recommend High Rollers (and the spin-off HR: Uncharted Territory).

and now he is also a tranny. go figure

listen to "the movie reroll" instead
no bullshit politics, no drama, no tumblr

Not a gameplay podcast, but System Mastery is two lads reviewing a bunch of weird and/or obscure RPGs. They've done a LOT, including Synnibarr (which was a two-parter), Noumenon, Nobilis 2e, Witch Girls Adventures, etc. They're pretty consistently hilarious. I'm also listening to the L5R podcast Shadow of the Cabal, but I haven't listened to enough of it to recommend either way.

Campaign Podcast hands down. Role playing heavy Edge of the Empire campaign. It's incredibly funny and it flows really well.

I started listening to TAZ because I'd heard so much hype about it and while it's ok I'm so confused as to where all the praise is coming from, can somebody explain

Probably because of Orion. It's worth skipping all the way to Episode 28 to not have to hear his bullshit.

Are you still on the first arc? It starts out a little rough but it gets much better come Moonlighting, and it keeps improving with each arc.

That's retarded, because you think of the "dragons arc" as a single arc. Separating it into peices and foregoing the actual dragon fights, which are typically just 1-2 episodes long, you're still left with nearly 30 peices of great content including Kevdak, Ripley and the whole Feywild arc. It's not as great as Briarwoods/Whitestone but it's nothing to scoff at.

A shame because Tiberius started as promising.
I think the K'varn fight is where I started finding him annoying. Or bipolar maybe?

Why would you want to at all? I hate to go all "normies get out reeeee" but I'm going to anyway.

Ever since this shit heap has come out at least half my games have some new player who's enamored as fuck with the professionally produced content and has a prewritten script. And expect the same shit.

At first I loved the idea, bunch of voice actors doing a dnd campaign, except then it started making money.

I guess it's growing the hobby, but it's growing it with fair weather fans and it pisses me off. My irl friends who never wanted to touch dnd before joined my game and then started asking for Matt Mercer shit.

Fuck Critical Role.

I've heard nice things about TAZ. They're pretty cool people.

War In Scarlet by The Heroes of Awsome
Edited an episode average from 30min to 1 Hour
Comfy
Funny
No attention whoring, no forced jokes, I totally recommend it.

Bards & Nobles is an entertaining D&D podcast. Just simply a bunch of guys drinking beers and having fun playing D&D.

I'm mostly with you save for two points.

I genuinely think that it isn't a prewritten script, it's just that the actors are overhamming their roles hard. I seriously doubt that if it was scripted we'd have so many different consecutive resurrection scenes in close succession.

I also believe that Mercer is too good for those people. I've never once thought that the problem with CR is Mercer in any capacity. I've seen people whining about his resurrection mechanics, but eh. I have a dumb way of doing critical fails in my game, every DM has stupid quirks.

I haven't watched all that much roleplaying podcasts other than some Rollplay series but I can second the swan song for my part. It kept me watching until the very end and definitely some memorable moments throughout the series.

>I've never once thought that the problem with CR is Mercer in any capacity.
Well, he's the one recruiting these people. Plus, isn't he the one who came up with that completely tumblr-riffic homebrew setting?

Regardless, these threads seriously need to cool it for a while. Having one every new episode is bad enough, but shilling for it constantly is getting really old, especially when the "fans" here are the first the admit how terrible a lot of the people involved are half the time.

I recommend 'Thrilling Intent' on The Third Wheel youtube channel. It's mostly jokey with some ok story, nice art (and occasional animation) and even songs. It's a little slow starting but has some pretty amusing world building to make up for it. Also in ep13 or something one of the dmpcs (called Kier) gets introduced who adds a lot to the group cohesion and is quite funny. There's later dmpcs who are also good.

I genuinely haven't read his setting. I thought it was just a generic D&D thing.

Yeah, MM seems like a pretty decent dm. And I'd be pretty surprised if at least some of the plots aren't pre-written. Maybe not down to the actual actions in the sessions, but I'm pretty certain the overall thing has people's working to ensure it's high enough quality. It makes a lot of months, I can imagine, and they put in the resources to match. Half the reason why it's so damn popular is the great production value.

Yeah, you're right. Forgot about those. The whole Westrun mini-arc is pretty good, but I got so bored with the last few episodes when they fought Thordak and Raishan that it kinda ruined the whole thing for me.

I thought Lup was the tranny?

Either way, it's all fucking retarded.

I always thought the "Muh representation" mentality was super two-faced.

For instance, if one of the characters was supposed to be black and the (white) player role played them with stereotypes like "can a brotha' get some fried chicken ova here?" Or "Yeeaaa booiiiii" it's be a total shitshow over offensive stereotypes.

But if they're playing a gay character and being a totally flaming fruitcake like Taako (carrying around a parousel, speaking in a rediculously flamboyant voice, dressing in drag occasionally, or being super thrilled over a fashion show), that same community loves it and eats it up.

What's the deal?

It is. Nothing special, nothing really tumblr either.

I can't believe the book sold at all, the setting fluff is nothing new or thinly-veiled 4e/Pathfinder fluff and the homebrew subclasses are mediocre.

Oh well, fame sells books.

Tumblr is mostly 14 year old girls that just try to agree with what the other 14 year olds agree with without critical thinking.

I'm really kind of bummed about the show, though. The last episode kind of sucked. It really seemed like they were pandering. Forgiving the villain with a hug immediately without any discussion, even though what she did was unforgivable, Taako and Kravitz suddenly being in a relationship that came from nowhere, Griffin bringing back the lesbians to undo Tumblr being mad that he killed them, shit like that. Plus the taco thing didn't even make sense.

I'm also with you, even if I don't agree with the prewritten part. And you can see when they go from a bunch of nerds playing DnD on twitch to treating this like a second job when they completed one year of streaming. It became kinda soulless after a while, they were more interested in putting a show than actually playing the fucking game, with a romantic pause every second. Save for Travis and Sam, with the former actually wanting to see what Matt has planned for them.

Can someone here explain to me the in-universe reasoning for why there's always two cloud giant kings who are married to each other?

>expecting SJWs to be remotely consistent

If you're interested in a show that isn't retarded I suggest Frozen Frontier.

It's a semi-gritty 2e game west march through a frozen wasteland where things like resource management are key. Good role play bits that aren't balls-retarded except for sorta the guy who plays the elf.

I've seen them argue it's ok if the character has a well written personality besides the stereotype. So play your chicken loving, watermelon eating character. It's ok, as long as he also has a backstory.

>Officially change the skin colour

Uh, no. They had a podcast (The Adventure Zone Zone) to explain that they felt kind of awkward over the whole fan art thing. The McElroy's decided to let the fans do whatever they want, whatever races they want, because it is an audio medium.

Two main characters are called Taco and Chalupa. Does that really sound like they are pandering?

Now, Griffin McElroy, the DM, is a Deputy News Editor for polygon.com. Whether or not that shows is probably more based off how you read what he does as a DM, not really him.

Swan Song. Watch it.

The glasscannon podcast is pretty awesome. They have a little over 110 episodes right now. Not as long as critical role, most go from like an hour to an hour and a half. Troy is a pretty funny DM but doesn't really give the players bullshit rp passes that go against the rulebooks

Having a gay character? Or having a transgender character?

They made a Tumblr post where they apologized for being white and now Magnus is officially ginger, Merle is black, and Taako is blue. And then they apologized for making the absent father black and for making Taako look like a jew.

So as long as my black character "Wawtah Melon" my fighter/rogue has a backstory that touches on why he loves fried chicken, purple drank, shoes, stealing bicycles, and got a 5 on his ACT, he's 100% SJW approved?

Good to know.

Link to either?

Mainly to prove that you go on Tumblr.

Playing either of those in itself isn't retarded. Deciding mid way through the podcast the the character is gay to appeal to tha crowd is retarded. Having nearly half the cast of NPCs at the end of the show being either gay or trans to appeal to that crowd is retarded. Writing an apology letter to the fan base for being white is retarded. Changing a character to be black to try and be more "representative" and then apologizing again because the character was a dead-beat-dad BEFORE becoming black, thus, retroactively offending people for a totally different reason is retarded.

I really like TAZ even though they hardly actually play the game, but its a great example on why you should never give an inch to the tumblr types because as soon as you try and "fix" one thing for them, it opens up a floodgate of complaints that you will never be able to satisfy because that whole community's identity is centered around victimhood.

I don't know the post. Griffin linked it on his Twitter and that's how I saw it back when. Here's the official graphic novel cover though, showing their official character designs.

Sorry for the spelling. Typing quickly on a phone.

I read a study someone did on modern cartoons that showed SJWs left Gravity Falls alone but bitched about Steven Universe, despite loving both, and GF mostly having white characters. The study found evidence that SJWs only tend to attack things that are actually trying to pander to them, basically.

>wasting your time watching a 4 hours podcast of numales and basic bitches who have no idea how to play the game

Why would you do that?

>hey guis I totally remember a study about how ess jay double U's are the source of all problems in the world!
>I'm serious

It makes sense and re-affirms my long-held belief that most of those people aren't nearly as offended as they ever claim to be. It's just about power.

They only have any power over you if you allow it, and as soon as you do, they own you. If you ignore the initial attack, you show that you're not giving their accusations of '"misrepresentation" or "white washing" won't enter your mind as a valid criticism, they'll give up and move on to somebody they CAN control.

Of course it makes sense, it reaffirms your long-held beliefs.

The article mostly took the stance that if you try to pander you can't do it well enough to make them happy and that's why they bitch. If you don't even try, they don't have anything to complain about except that you don't try.

Post the study.

I read it a couple months ago on Reddit. I know you're now gonna bitch that I have no proof, but this is a fucking off topic discussion on Veeky Forums. I don't really need to prove anything. The most you're accomplishing here by getting butthurt about this conversation is showing us that SJWs indeed really do get offended by everything.

It's still more logically sound than the behavior of these people as noted here:
You're more than welcome to make some counterpoints instead of just snarking about what appears to be self-evident to most people here.

According to him the voice was based on a friend of theirs, rather than trying to make him fruitier than a Caribbean ice cream shop.

>I have a pre-conceived opinion I swear I have proof for
>except I can't find it
>but how dare you point out I'm bullshitting I'll just have my pre-conceived opinion more!

Yeah you're winning that one matey.

Oh drat, you're right. I'm losing an anonymous argument on Veeky Forums. Now my whole day is ruined.

I'm not the one talking about any stufy, merely replied that it would make sense to me if others have made the same observations I have.

Once again, I'm pointing out observations and coming to what I consider to be self-evident conclusions.

All you're doing is making non-commital "nuh-uh" statements.

>my opinion is self-evident because made up studies and anecdotes reinforce my existing beliefs
>how much harder can I stick my head up my own ass? We'll find out!
>and proving I'm bullshitting "doesn't really count"

I see. Well good luck with that. It must be hard being retarded.

none
they are popular therefor are bad

Why does every single thread have to disintegrate into culture war bullshit? Why can't you just keep politics in /pol/?

They appear to be self-evident "to me" based on real-world observations.

If you have anything to add to the discussion, you're more than welcome to do so instead of just continuing to say "nuh uh, you're retarded" and avoiding actually presenting an opinion or any reasoning to back it up.

You're not making yourself look smart here.

>This guy is calling other people retarded. Unironically.

>I have no self-awareness or understanding so I'll just assume my opinion is the only right one and anything I see is justification

Okay bro, have fun with that. I'm sure thinking of new or different things is really hard for you so may as well not bother.

Because near everything is a culture war now. Politics has permeated near everything. If someone mentions a substantiated dislike of something they are allowed to. Change for the sake of it or poor reasons is a legitimate problem. Go fuck yourself.

I'm open to new ideas and different perspectives. That's why I'm asking you now for the 4th time to present an opinion or a counterpoint.

You've continued to refuse to say anything besides "you're retarded", so I don't really understand what you're trying to do here.

> Oh no, these people are having an actual discussion and bringing up actual real-world examples. Better call them all retarded! That'll show em!

Can't tell if he's trolling or just completely unaware that you actually have to attempt to prove a point to be taken seriously.

Pretty clearly a troll at this point.

Stereotypical gays are funny and harmless. Stereotypical blacks are imposing and frightening.
It's more comforting to feel that nigger has neutered himself by accepting white culture. The gay has already neutered himself, and thus is no threat.

>I don't understand, my brain hurts

Welp, there you go.

You can't be serious. You still haven't presented a single argument. Are you really that deluded or are you just a really bad troll.

He wrote a "gazetteer" for literally Faerun minus all the things that make Faerun good. It also has forced gay tokenism and ethnic harmony between all fantasy races.

Taako and Kravitz literally went on a full on date in a previous episode, if you think it's out of nowhere you need to actually listen to the damn thing instead of reading fan wiki summaries of the plot.

Not that person but
>they seem to focus on those that surrender to them
does not make SJWs inconsisten in their ideological beliefs or merely 'power hungry', they are still following their SJW goals.
If the given situation is still not satisfactory, it would make sense to fully correct it (from an SJW world angle), since it should be somewhat easy now that the 'perpetrator' has already shown willingness to surrender.

Besides, I personally don't see this trend being that clearly. SJWs hate on a lot of things that refuses to acknowledge them, or even speaks against them.

They went on a date that wasn't known as a date till halfway through, and then suddenly two years later it's "kiss I miss you my beloved!"

>download latest episode of adventure zone
>it's literally a two hour recording of Griffin masturbating

notice how in this picture only ashley and mercer look attractive

Probably the shitty makeup on the rest of them

damn Veeky Forums yall got some bad bad takes about those good good mcelroy boys

Well I still listen. I want the show to be better because I listen. I wouldn't give a shit if I didn't.

You shouldn't start watching critical role at all.

That's because Travis Willingham's handsome mug is covered.

>Critical Role
Ugh

i agree but i think there's "griffin is stifling the good creativity the rest of them have shown through the whole show, just because he's anxious about making the ending as good as possible" criticism and then there's "the mcelroys are SJW apologist cucks" criticism

I don't have a problem with lup being trans or Taako being gay. I have a problem with them caving in to unreasonable tumblrites and apologizing for being white men.

"because we aren't minorities, we didn't think about how this might be offensive, and because we aren't assholes, we're sorry for offending people" isn't the same as "we're sorry we're white"

"hey it's kinda weird that uhhh these characters are all white" is a reasonable thing to say, for various reasons. "hey you're right, there's no reason not to make one or more of these characters non-white in a graphic novel adaptation" is a perfectly reasonable response.

and when people STILL weren't happy with that (which in my opinion is unreasonable), they apologized again for upsetting people but stuck to their guns about their second round of decisions in what was a pretty eloquent statement on griffins part

"Let's all sit around and cringe over a popular thing so we can get sick nerd cred for not liking it!"
>"Oh man we all feel so super cool now, and it's so easy! This is great!"
"Oh man I'm so smug right now you guys"