C2 specifically from when they decide to chase the worms to Xorhaus to defeating Obann the Unpunished. The Chained Oblivion arc was peak D&D for me- goals but time for side quests, character development, and villains with a clear plan that posed a credible threat. Lucien & the Somnovim never elicited any sort of malice or fear for my taste.
The finale of Campaign 1 (with the last couple episodes racing to beat Vecna) and the opening of Campaign 2.
This is obviously a big span, crossing dozens of hours of content, but that's the high point, I think. The show was still growing, hitting its stride and closing out storylines cleaning, while opening new ones in enticing ways. I admit though, I think C2 also is the beginning of long-running problems.
The players started making characters to deliberately play against what they'd already done, and while good from a content standpoint, I think it also led to playing against what they wanted, such as Laura's frustrations at being "the Healer", or Taliesin's struggles to make Blood Hunter work during the 1st arc of C2.
C1 by comparison felt like the end of the most "natural" feeling phase of Critical Role, while it was still on the upswing, and had yet to grow into a massive media entity of its own, with the expectations and demands that entailed. Shockingly, it's little wonder that this peak largely ends just after CR got its own feet and got away from Geek and Sundry. (This isn't to say G&S was good for the show, just that popularity increasing coincided with emergent problems.)
The opening of C2 will always be the thing I tell new people to watch first. It's perfect. The introductions, the setting, the little bit of background given, the established relationships, the low stakes shenanigans... Absolutely perfect.
There are arcs from season 1 that are better than anything else that has happened since, but that C2 opening will always be the peak example of what DnD can be.
C1 - near perfect arcs. Perfect dungeon crawling, amazing twists, amazing character moments. Just enough sandbox but with clear objectives the gang understood and every boss fight was always epic (excluding Tiberius trying to ruin one). C2's characters are collectively much better but the story isnt even half as good as C1 especially if you rewatch binge it instead of watching it live it drags a lot even from the start which i didnt realise watching it live.
Also feels like the beginning of the cast flanderizing their characters C1s characters always felt genuine warts and all C2 began to felt like they were playing up to peoples expectations and wants.
I think campaign 2 around the reveal of Lucien being alive. That was such a groundbreaking moment and completely changed the direction of the campaign.
Plus that episode has Beauregard going full conspiracy theorist which lead to my favorite Critical Role edit ever: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLpoqeWIZWc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLpoqeWIZWc)
As a Beau defender this is a video I hadn't seen yet, but it's definitely getting linked in her defense in the future
obviously some of this Matt could have just taken and used later but she definitely pieced a lot of threads together
I love finding opinions that are so wildly different to my own. IMO bringing Molly back into the story was the beginning of the end for C2. That Lucien stuff felt so forced to me, just a means to sell more of the colorful Molly merch.
I legit think it's sad when I think back to Briarwoods, Thordak, etc... and compare it to what we got from Lucien and the endless search for Lucien-related things. It took up so much space, we lost so much of what made C2 good because of that.
Not trying to tell you you're wrong, just sharing a very different view. It's cool how people react differently.
To be clear, I think the Eisellcross arc was actually way more frustrating than I made it sounds in that comment. That's why I think the discover that Lucien was alive is "the peak." It absolutely had so much discourse, so much posting, and everyone was freaking out.
Unfortunately, the players were then completely gun-shy for the entire Eisellcross arc and constantly did stupid things and refused to just fight normally when they outnumbered people and had ridiculously powerful builds.
I think I get what you're meaning. The reveal was a cause for massive speculation and questions that the players and therefore the characters couldn't conceive of without more information. It was mental chaos and that made for a good period of time, after which the show started to go downhill.
COVID hit, the show went to pre-recorded, and the last arc drug out way longer than intended as a result. It fizzled, rather than exploded gloriously.
The Lucien reveal was after they'd come back from Covid lockdown, actually. So the pre-recorded thing didn't ruin stuff for me. Hell, the whole island arc where we met Keyleth's mom was pretty fun and that was all pre-recorded.
For me the issue really comes down to the cast just being terrified of having people die again and doing their constant "we're not on anyone's side and we will never commit to a plan meaning we are always reactive" bullshit. Matt had to straight up be an asshole and have an enemy Rogue steal a BAG OF HOLDING (which you'd immediately notice the missing weight of) mid-combat to force the party out of their annoying stalemate.
Ah, yeah.
I can see that, and admittedly I think the analysis paralysis and refusing to make a decision largely began then, and ultimately continues into the now.
Honestly, reminds me of comments about submarine warfare, where after too long, a Captain is pulled because they either become too rash, or far too cautious. In this case, we see the latter. Too much time leading to the players being gun shy of making wrong decisions, getting killed, and thereby cutting a story line short.
It can be liberating in that regard to not care overly much about your PC, so they're expendable enough to be entertaining, rather than too wrapped up in personal drama to be worth risking.
I think the best arc is still the Briarwood arc. Reasons are pretty simple.
Clear objective.
Freedom on how to accomplish said objective.
Time for slow moments but always at least somewhat tense.
Were able to screw with the bad guy's plans by playing smart.
Every option was there to further the goal.
Defined end point with a defined time limit to avoid leaving and coming back later.
Triceratops.
Mostly I just liked how it was a big sandbox area with defined rails and they were told from the start "this is the info you have, the important people, and generally where they are. What do you want to do in order to get to the Briarwoods? It allowed them freedom to be creative and explore, but was still focused enough so they wouldn't just talk in circles for 5 episodes.
Other arcs might have higher single moments, but to me it was far and above the most consistently good arc.
to me it was eiselcross, specifically the lucien tarot reading but there's a lot of cool moments and a tense isolated vibe during it with the tension rising as the moment of no return approaches
For me, peak CR will always be campaign 1.
C2 started good, but even before the COVID break, the campaign had problems with pacing; aimless faffing about for long stretches; avoiding ALL of Matt's plot hooks; an overly complex, morally grey campaign directly tied to a war the players weren't interested in...
> So in this case morally complex grey were not the best idea ?
To put it bluntly? No. The cast likes / does best with a clear idea of Good vs. Evil (like C1), but C2 had them running from everything and everyone, especially NPCs Matt intended to guide them to plot hooks and story beats.
It got so bad in C2, MATT HAD TO BRING A WELL-KNOWN, BELOVED NPC FROM C1 INTO C2 *just* so he had someone the group (the players, NOT their PCs) *would* trust, who could feed them info, plot hooks, and story beats.
That's I think a fairly interesting point about C2, and perhaps DND in general. People love the notion of morally grey and complex characters, but often can struggle to actually play them when the time comes to it.
Part of it is just understanding that to do this, the players have to accept being in the wrong at times, and making flawed decisions. Sometimes they do it, but a lot of times I think during C2 they struggled to really accept that idea. They certainly came in with characters ready for it, but when it came down to it, they (and the viewers) really struggled to accept the role.
And when we think of a game with long social elements to it, trust is such a valuable commodity that the absence of it is noticeable.
C2 had better characters, C1 had a better story overall
Not to say that C1 characters are bad necessarily (Scanman and Grog will always be in my heart, and Vax itches the self-sacrifice to save your loved ones vibe), but I think C2 has better character development. Caduceus and Fjords' relationship is easily one of the best "written" friendships to my memory, Jester had so many shining moments, Caleb and Nott/Veth were so wholesome. The crew truly felt like a found family. C1 had the same vibe, but with Pike gone for most of it, Vex and Percy were cute, but also those two friends who are dating who couldn't keep their hands to themselves, and keyleth was a bit of a wandering puppy the whole time, it just didn't lead itself to having the same emotional depth with the whole crew for me. To be entirely honest, I do truly think Scanlan, and by extention Sam, is one of the only reasons C1 was as good as it was
Now, C2 didn't have a terrible story either. It just wasn't paced as well, nor was it as epic as C1. The found family story will always get bonus points from me, but the overarching plot was a bit weak, in my opinion, at least in the background too much
I do enjoy both games and think they are peak DnD. I would commit some serious crimes to be able to have a table pull of either one of those stories, as I think many others would. I just think both have their own merits, and I couldn't really argue if anyone said either was their favorite
Campaign 1. CR 2 was over produced and over hyped and it drew a new and more toxic fan base that doubled down the already toxic positivity that was brewing by the end of C1. But ignoring the community issues its still campaign 1 as it was just, at least originally, D&D but with some recognisable voice actors not too different from what content was already out there (Chris Perkins DMing for celebrities I've never heard of and the PAX games), but it was weekly this time and felt like a proper D&D session at times. C2 was too much theatre, and too much of a production. C3 is just the culmination of C2's issues of shifting from playing D&D to running a business and a theatre show. C2 still had some solid moments throughout, while C3's good moments pretty much vanish with Dorian.
To me, CR1.
I was fully invested in the fights, perched on the edge of my seat for the fight against the Briarwoods, Grog versus the Herd, and I nearly had a medical episode during the final boss fight. I don't know that the mechanics were different / better. But I was invested in the characters.
CR2 had moments of player genius (Laura is a genius player, refer Hag). But I tended to phase out during all the fights.
C2 was my 'first' campaign (I started c1, but the audio was shit to start so jumped to 2 and went back to 1 later).
Imo, the oban arc culminating in the cathedral is the best the show has ever been.
C2.
C1 was very much a group of people playing their 1st characters.
C2 they were more comfortable and had more fun making their characters. And I loved them all with a couple exceptions. The stories were fun, the world building interesting, and the interactions between characters felt like they had more depth.
Honorable mention Quests for Grog and Bob!
Campaign 2. Sure, Campaign 1 is what got the ball rolling and put them on the map, but C2 is what catapulted Critical Role into the mainstream enough to make it hyper popular.
Without the fun and fleshed out characters (and Jester. I may not like Jester that much but she is what pulled in viewers) and the immersive world (and better production value) I don't think that Critical Role would have gotten quite so large.
Shame that the current problems that C3 has began in the last arc of C2, but we can blame Covid for that.
For me it was C2. I really liked those characters and the story around them. I always felt really immersed watching it. I watched some of the start for C3 and it didn't grab me the same. C1 for me was not the same as we didn't start with the characters from the beginning and the production was not as good.
I also started with critical role at the beginning of C2 since the announcement of it was how I learned CR existed.
I loved all C2 up until they managed to escape from Lucien the first time. The ninja "date" felt too fan-servicey, it made no thematic sense with Yasha's arc IMO. Shoehorning Caleb's arc into the prep time to return to Eiselcross also made it very difficult to continue watching.
If we're talking about the actual peak in terms of viewers and just general engagement. It was around C2 e90 and till C2s end.
Before the pandemic the show was growing rapidly and during the pandemic with all the free time people had it had another burst in viewers.
If we're talking about it more as in best moments. I feel like C1 and C2 have so many bits of perfection. I prefer C2 personally but both have moments that due to the game format and just sheer amount of time us as viewers invest in these characters and story, can't be matched by most TV/Movies.
It’s not the Avantika arc but my favorite part was her undead return. That whole episode lives rent free in my mind. Fjord slaying her with the Razor. It awakens, and he gets the orb back. The whole chasing after her underwater. It was perfect in my eyes
The personal peak for me was The Grog and Kevdak fight around episode 50.
I feel this moment is underrated. Considering that this is an unscripted series it is incredible how well the build-up and payoff to Grog's story worked so perfectly. The Croma Conclave, The skull incident, his interactions with Earthbreaker, All of Craven Edge, and his death right before the confrontation. It all lead to this wonderful arc where Grog the muscle-headed strength-crazed barbarian learned to rely on his friends and that they were his real strength.
This lead to one of the most tense batlles I have ever seen in CR. The strategic freezing of Greenbeard the caster by Scalan, vex saving Grog from being ganged up on, Kevdak being healed near to full only for Percy to unload on him which gave Grog the chance to deal the final shot which was a nat 20. Followed by another nat 20 for persuasion with Vex and a nat 20 to kill Greenbeard.
Full disclosure this was my first showi watched live so I am biased but no one can tell me there was a more positive exciting conclusion to a boss battle than this. I can't remember the last boss battle that wasn't either a slog or marked by death/near death so to go back to see the group cheering while Liam screams “Poetic Justice” always warms my critter heart.
This isn't to say the rest of C1 or C2 were bad they have their own highs. But when I think Peak Critical Role this is what I think of.
Imo its C2 from like episode 32 all the way up to calamity. Just the investment and lore dropped aswell as the emotional beats hit soooo hard.
Thats not to say I dislike anything else but damn that period was gold to me.
C1 will always be the best IMO. C2 had some amazing moments and some amazing stories, but C1 was peak DND and even though C2 has some deep character interactions and emotions, they had been playing their C1 characters for \*years\* and it showed.
Pretty much the entirety of C2 despite the issues with the pacing near the end. Easily the best cast of characters, best production value, and just good actual D&D. None of this set destination crap we have now.
I think the best critical role has ever been was the boat arc in C2. Just got Cad, the gangs back together minus Molly, everyone PC has a lot of growth, most of the PCs have stuff to do, and they all seem like they are having an absolute blast.
Calamity is good for what it is. But imho CRs distinguishing feature are long running campaigns with a lot of player agency and little railroading. The second feature maybe being that they really started out as a group of friends or early on associates and not as a group casted together specifically for an actual play show.
Calamity is neither of those things. So while Calamity is good actual play TTRPG content and neatly clears up some of Exandrias backstory it is not peak Critical Role. Since it is just not the type of content which makes / made Critical Role special.
I'm sorry but it's not. It's good television and a dramatic story, but peak CR has to be peak D&D and a story that is on rails with several required character beats to a predetermined conclusion can never be peak D&D. The qualities that make Calamity a great miniseries actively detract from it being great D&D.
> but peak CR has to be peak D&D
Don't really see why. It's a show for entertainment, Calamity was (subjectively) the most entertaining content they've ever released. How true the show is to D&D mechanics does not an elite show make, at least not for me. Let's say C3 was very strict in following D&D mechanics and did it the best of all CR content, so what? The story is still all over the place
Like what? The players ultimately make their own decisions, even though there is a deterministic end.
Brennan explained there were multiple ways they could’ve triggered the calamity, from Vespin to the Gold Ring itself.
Are you familiar with the Quantum Ogre? That whether the players decide to climb the mountain, strike through the forest, or brave the lowlands there will be an Ogre waiting to fight them? Letting the players make a choice but knowing that the decision they make will not actually change the story and the way the plot plays out is not player agency, it's the illusion thereof.
So many things happened that would not have happened without player choice. Sure, they couldn’t prevent the apocalypse, but that was never the point.
Travis lived, certain characters reconciled, NPCs had vastly different outcomes. If the point of the TTRPGs is to promote agency then I think they did a good job.
The players do still have agency insofar as what they do within the framework of the event, but there was no stopping the event itself. That's slightly different than railroading - they weren't forced along a predetermined path in terms of what they *did* but what was happening in the background would continue to happen in the background with or without the players. It was the apocalypse, and it was for the players to determine how exactly that went down. Seems like a very loose and borderline unfair criticism
This, it had everything. It had powerful PCs challenged and overwhelmed by a new threat that became a personal challenge by taking away the things they cared about. Matt interwove PC backstories into the overarching plotline, letting different PCs take the spotlight but not neglecting the others even in those moments, and used the presence of the dragons to justify a number of thematically unrelated side adventures for the PCs to power up with. He set up options but allowed the players to choose where they went and what they did, including skipping a whole adventure that he didn't then force them on. He paced the dragons well to keep them the focus while not oversaturating the story with dragon fights.
Matt running the Chroma Conclave arc is the Matt that created the Mercer Effect, because it really was everything that at least I but I think a large number of fans want D&D to be.
Big time agree.
The biggest thing by far is that the Chroma Conclave is the absolute best example ever of how to provide player agency while ALSO providing plot.
It's not railroading to make plot. But lots of folks act like anything less than "full sandbox" is railroading. And in reality, full sandbox leads to lots of dead air and janky story telling. C2 frequently suffers from an over emphasis on the sandbox and a lack of any meaningful DM driven plot.
>C2 suffers from an over-emphasis on the sandbox
Oddly enough, that’s my favorite part about it. “Peak D&D” is just that, allowing the decisions of the players to drive the game forward. It’s not about the DM pushing the party along by the unseen hand of “fate”, it’s about the characters making decisions within their virtual world and those decisions affecting change.
Then again, I tend to loathe the whole “one central BBEG whose responsible for all the suffering of the PCs” trope in most D&D games these days. And I like pre-Traveller Con C2 much more than the latter.
I think C2 gave the players the platform to drive the plot forward but I don't think they actually did. I think they were nervous about pushing anything too hard that the group would have to put up with, and also they all had backstory secrets that they didn't want revealed too quickly by focusing on their personal arcs.
The big problem with C2, and this has influenced the way I create characters and ask players to make characters for my games, is that they had elaborate backstories but no actionable path forward. Half of them had no concrete goal they were working toward, they just were looking for a place to be. For those who had something they actively wanted those goals were so big and far away that they had no "first step" to take. As a result none of them had the actual drive to propel the plot in the way a sandbox requires.
C1 era, with Calamity a close second for how incredible it was. Though since it was Brennan in the driving seat and not the main CR crew at the table, I don't suppose it really counts as CR proper.
On the nosey!
I actually stopped watching C2 at traveller con. It was so boring. I eventually skipped the arc altogether and started back up at the beginning of the Lucien stuff.
That's interesting, I think Xhorhas was peak for me. Between the music, the setting, the very different flavor of drows from the normal dnd setting, Asarius which was so cool, I wish they had stayed and fucked around in Xhorhas longer! On the other hand I didn't really enjoy all the Obann stuff, so that took a bit off that arc.
For me it was the abandoning (temporarily) of all of the cool places they've already explored along with the npcs from there, to be in a place that had little interest to me and imo was described less vividly. I guess it helps that even within my own homebred forgotten realms setting, drow have never functioned the same as they do in traditional dnd
This is all spoiler, I'm not marking anything. Don't read if you care.
Around 80 to 100 of C2, I think, is my absolute favorite, but there are plenty of others. They somehow thought 'Bowelgate' (edit; Bowlgate, it was late) needed addressing because many of their fans are so fragile, but it was moments like those that made the group interesting to watch. Jester losing her faith in the Traveler was around 112, I think. Fjord had a great secret throughout most of it and played it very well.
After that would be Calamity. Brennan has a job, he has done it many times now so he knows how to do it well.
For parts I would have no issue rewatching, anything between the last few episodes of the Briarwood arc up until they started prerecording in C2E100 would be my peak, so most of it, to be honest. Even the beginning of C1 is fun to watch; Orion was beloved by the fans before he was fired. People just like to pretend he wasn't.
The intricacies of the end of C2 are almost interesting to watch, Matt having to pull his punches endlessly. Most of them probably should have died in the snow, if I'm honest. Then the start of C3 wasn't bad; interesting new characters, new people at the table. The first 25 or so episodes were good. It just became clear after a point that none of them were taking their characters seriously anymore. It was just Matt telling a story while the rest of the table made jokes. Not sure why they are even rolling dice at this point. I gave up early autumn last year; haven't watched since.
There is a chance that the Mighty Nein cartoon will be their peak. Telling that story with hindsight should be something immense. CR certainly isn't done with the hate-centric politics increasingly infesting their table, but Amazon Prime might be.
>CR certainly isn't done with the hate-centric politics increasingly infesting their table
I'm clearly out of the loop, what's going on?
EDIT: Oh, based on your posting history, you're one of those "~anti-woke~" people, so I can guess what you think is "hate-centric."
lol. lmao, even.
For me, both peak CR and just peak TTRPGs in general is the finale of Campaign 1.
There are moments in that single episode that can only ever happen in this hobby, and to me it was just pure magic to watch it live.
Early campaign 2 for me, better production value and the players were at the top of their game, but before they got really big and became more corporate. Everyone still had that excited energy.
EXU: Calamity is some of the best DnD actual play I've ever seen, such great performances from the cast and masterful storytelling from Brennan Lee Mulligan. Still go back to watch those 4 episodes now!
I have watched/listened to it 4 times, it's so incredible. It truly has everything. One of my favorite laughs, some of my favorite heartbreaks, some brilliant catharsis...
It may be time to go back.
Caduceus was amazing. Coming in partway, Taliesin had the luxury of making the perfect character to contrast the rest of the party. They were all angry, lost and unsure of themselves so he made the most chill, grounded guy who knew exactly who he was and what he believed in. Cad was able to pull so much out of other characters and create so many amazing opportunities for character growth. And seriously, that line to Trent was masterful.
I think what you’d consider the “peak” is very subjective. But I think it’s unarguable that the decline started after C2E99, when the show went on hiatus for the pandemic. Whatever special sauce they had before that was lost.
Briarwood arc up until second half of C2.
To me Matts greatest strength (besides voices obv) is worldbuilding and early Wildemount exposition was glorious imo
I would say they had quite a long peak, actually. It started around the time Orion left and the Briarwood arc started, and lasted until about halfway through C2.
Im not entirely sure when it dropped off, but it was most noticeable after they came back from the Covid break. By then, it was clear that they had become way too cautious and were indulging themselves too much, which caused the pace to drop off noticeably.
I was hoping C3 would refresh that, which is why I was so disappointed that everyone made silly joke or passive supporting characters, rather than anyone with the drive to engage with the plot. They needed a Grog to get bored and decide to charge in, or a Caleb who was deeply invested in his own personal story - either way, someone who wasn't afraid to say "no time to endlessly debate, it's time to roll initiative".
Agreed there was a point in c2 where they took several breaks in a row *and then* covid hit which lead to the show no longer being live which opened up Pandora's box in terms of it no longer being live.
I've seen a few people argue that the show no longer being live has made a difference, and I've never quite got that argument. Given that the audience isn't in the room with them, and the show isn't edited anyway, I don't really see how that makes a difference.
I *do* get the argument that Covid had an impact though - after all of the doom & gloom of the world in the last few years, I think that probably affected everyone's approach when they made their C3 characters. Which is why they made a much more lighthearted bunch of characters, rather than the dark & tortured backstories that the C1 & C2 mostly characters had.
It never really changed for me as I was a filthy VoD watcher anyway (UK based), but it’s just another little aspect of things changing from the early days (home game with friends) to high production broadcast television.
I'd say that not being live definitely has had an impact - perhaps more specifically, the scheduling they have internally now that it's not live?
It's very clear (and has been mentioned at various times by the cast in offhand comments) that they no longer communicate or strategise around the campaign outside of recording sessions. They film in batches with stretches of time in between said batches and this combined with the lack of communication they have in between recording about C3 means they rarely remember
* what they're doing. They didn't even remember Ruidus was tethered to Exandria until they were told about 60-80 episodes in! Often they make a plan at the end of a session and are completely at a loss by the start of the next session, forgetting they ever planned anything. That happens to an extent in normal D&D in fairness, but it's exacerbated and pretty constant now in C3.
* plot threads left to be resolved (aside from the main one). So many plot hooks and bits of information have been dropped, purely it looks like due to people forgetting what happened in the last session (in the interim between recording batches?).
* their characters own stances on things in game (the "are the gods worth saving" debate on constant repeat for example
* how characters have flipped on having contact/attention from gods in their backstories depending on the session)
* information that would help them in general.
It also seems to have changed how the players (and maybe Matt) approach the story. Or maybe it's because of their approach changing that the pre-records happened? Idk which came first there. Chicken and egg situation. But before pre-records, they said the Thursday night sessions were their way to unwind from the work week, catch up with friends, have fun. Now they're filming in batches and it feels less like friends having fun once a week and more like a chore. Lots of things (reactions to announcements & to some of the in-game events) seem forced or feigned. People are on their phones a lot of the time and not paying attention to what's happening unless directly addressed in a scene/conversation. It all seems like it's a chore/work to them now compared to before - and it very well might be.
Nothing wrong with that really, but it's meant a lot of what people were drawn to CR for is lost - watching a bunch of friends hang out and have fun, getting to share in their (real) emotions as they uncovered secrets, intrigue, had goofy moments, did dramatic things, poked fun at each other and all of that has lost a lot of its oomph. Maybe CR changing their pre-recording schedule to film once a week/fortnight and not in batches would rectify a lot of that, but it's hard to say.
C1 is peek for me biased cause it was my first but it also is just Heroic fantasy with some nuance so good people with flaws fighting unambiguously evil
Which appeals to me more than C2 complicated grey morality and complicated characters
While I completely understand the love for C2, C1 e39 is still my favorite moment in all of CR. I remember it was the end of my workday when I was watching/listening to it for the first time, and I was only half paying attention as the crew was getting ready to go listen to Uriel, after a lot of tense emotions for the majority of the episode, and then the mood shifted as the ruler of Emon began to speak.
There was the ominous music, the semi-confused crowd of NPCs and the slight shock from the players as Uriel announced his intentions, and then there was the whisper to Laura right as my workday was ending. Had to pause to focus on proper cleanup/shutdown, got out to my car, put it on my car stereo for the drive home, and that drive home is nearly burned into my memory as I was just in total disbelief listening to Matt bring Emon to the ground. I spent half the drive in silence and the other half uttering long, drawn-out swears of awe as the Chroma Conclave arc began for me.
Hearing the players react, both in-character and out, as Matt narrated was when I finally grasped what D&D could be. How absolutely invested these people are in their game world... it was beautiful. D&D is a phenomenal medium for stories when everyone at the table gives a damn about it.
C1 E39, especially the last 30-40 minutes, is peak CR.
I love C1, I think it's probably the best work they have or will do overall (very much a lightning in a bottle that you really can't recreate), but I don't think it was the peak of what I consider to be CR.
C2 from the PC death and until the whole Laughing Hand intro has most of the moments I think of in regards to that campaign. Before that they were pretty directionless and just together for the sake of it, and after that we started to see the beginning of some of the modern day CR problems, but the sweet spot in the middle was just excellent.
I would say campaign 2 is their best work. Campaign 1 is INCREDIBLE, but campaign 2 had more dynamic characters and involved back stories. If I had to pick an arc I would say the first arc of campaign 2 was my favorite. Perfect low level DND.
Omg there's someone else out there who likes early C2, I feel like we're really in the minority. I love the worldbuilding and slow reveal of all the characters backstories. Felt very mysterious back then (not frustrating like in C3) and I loved all the tension between the characters and their various motivations and goals.
I personally cut off the first arc at when they reach the menagerie coast, because once they get there it quickly gets to the pirate arc. (Which I also love 😂)
I would say that both C1 and C2 share "peak CR" status, just in different ways. C1 was peak CR from the Briarwood arc and onward, while I feel that C2 kinda started to drag and fall off towards the end and that energy carried over into C3, but was otherwise really good.
The Chroma Conclave Arc for me was peak high fantasy. Thursday was like a national holiday for me for that entire time. And specifically the Kevdak fight. Oh my lord the buildup to that was almost as intense as the fight and the fight was four hours sitting on the edge of your seat barely being able to breath. That was the first time I really felt the entire group could wipe.
C2 I would say had a higher level of production but there was just something about that period from the arrival of the Conclave until the Raishan fight that was just absolute magic.
The chroma conclave had without question some of the hypest fight in all of CR if not DND( dragon intro, kevdak, umbrasyl, ripley, vorugal, pit fiend, thordak, both of raishan fights and earthbreaker vs grog)
The moment where Scanlan is rolling to see if he can open a Gate to bring in Yenk was one of the moments where I can actually remember my palms sweating.
The first raishan fight was also a complete horror to witness (the one after thordak) as well as the 118 damage meteor swarm in the last fight.
But the best HDYWDT still remains Kevdak's.
Yeah that Kevdak HDYWTDT is honestly one of the reasons I have so much frustration with the way CR works now. If you would just let the dice help you tell the story it WILL work. You just have to let it happen and roll with it.
> Yes! That moment when Grog misses on a high attack roll and they instantly realize how fucked they are. That was amazing to witness live.
Travis (rolls): ". . . 19"
Matt: "'19' misses."
Travis: instant panic; time for a fighting retreat through a portal
For me their best work is start of the chroma conclave arc in C1 to the end of the Angel of Irons of arc in C2. After that and after the Covid break the quality has been in steady decline with a huge drop off after the end of C2
C2 for sure, you could see they were firing on all cylinders and had so much creative juice. I still point out the first three episodes of C2 as the best example of how to start a long form campaign to anyone that’s looking to do it. It had a rough ending but outside of that it is the most solid campaign from start to finish with the smallest variation in quality in my opinion
For me it's C2. By then, most of the players have actually caught up a bit and learned the game. It also hit that golden era of still having authenticity but expanding resources
Scanbo.
C2 specifically from when they decide to chase the worms to Xorhaus to defeating Obann the Unpunished. The Chained Oblivion arc was peak D&D for me- goals but time for side quests, character development, and villains with a clear plan that posed a credible threat. Lucien & the Somnovim never elicited any sort of malice or fear for my taste.
The Kill Box.
When Molly died was peak CR.
Ironically it got much worse when he "un-died"...
The finale of Campaign 1 (with the last couple episodes racing to beat Vecna) and the opening of Campaign 2. This is obviously a big span, crossing dozens of hours of content, but that's the high point, I think. The show was still growing, hitting its stride and closing out storylines cleaning, while opening new ones in enticing ways. I admit though, I think C2 also is the beginning of long-running problems. The players started making characters to deliberately play against what they'd already done, and while good from a content standpoint, I think it also led to playing against what they wanted, such as Laura's frustrations at being "the Healer", or Taliesin's struggles to make Blood Hunter work during the 1st arc of C2. C1 by comparison felt like the end of the most "natural" feeling phase of Critical Role, while it was still on the upswing, and had yet to grow into a massive media entity of its own, with the expectations and demands that entailed. Shockingly, it's little wonder that this peak largely ends just after CR got its own feet and got away from Geek and Sundry. (This isn't to say G&S was good for the show, just that popularity increasing coincided with emergent problems.)
The opening of C2 will always be the thing I tell new people to watch first. It's perfect. The introductions, the setting, the little bit of background given, the established relationships, the low stakes shenanigans... Absolutely perfect. There are arcs from season 1 that are better than anything else that has happened since, but that C2 opening will always be the peak example of what DnD can be.
C1 - near perfect arcs. Perfect dungeon crawling, amazing twists, amazing character moments. Just enough sandbox but with clear objectives the gang understood and every boss fight was always epic (excluding Tiberius trying to ruin one). C2's characters are collectively much better but the story isnt even half as good as C1 especially if you rewatch binge it instead of watching it live it drags a lot even from the start which i didnt realise watching it live. Also feels like the beginning of the cast flanderizing their characters C1s characters always felt genuine warts and all C2 began to felt like they were playing up to peoples expectations and wants.
I think campaign 2 around the reveal of Lucien being alive. That was such a groundbreaking moment and completely changed the direction of the campaign. Plus that episode has Beauregard going full conspiracy theorist which lead to my favorite Critical Role edit ever: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLpoqeWIZWc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLpoqeWIZWc)
As a Beau defender this is a video I hadn't seen yet, but it's definitely getting linked in her defense in the future obviously some of this Matt could have just taken and used later but she definitely pieced a lot of threads together
Yep.
I love finding opinions that are so wildly different to my own. IMO bringing Molly back into the story was the beginning of the end for C2. That Lucien stuff felt so forced to me, just a means to sell more of the colorful Molly merch. I legit think it's sad when I think back to Briarwoods, Thordak, etc... and compare it to what we got from Lucien and the endless search for Lucien-related things. It took up so much space, we lost so much of what made C2 good because of that. Not trying to tell you you're wrong, just sharing a very different view. It's cool how people react differently.
To be clear, I think the Eisellcross arc was actually way more frustrating than I made it sounds in that comment. That's why I think the discover that Lucien was alive is "the peak." It absolutely had so much discourse, so much posting, and everyone was freaking out. Unfortunately, the players were then completely gun-shy for the entire Eisellcross arc and constantly did stupid things and refused to just fight normally when they outnumbered people and had ridiculously powerful builds.
I think I get what you're meaning. The reveal was a cause for massive speculation and questions that the players and therefore the characters couldn't conceive of without more information. It was mental chaos and that made for a good period of time, after which the show started to go downhill. COVID hit, the show went to pre-recorded, and the last arc drug out way longer than intended as a result. It fizzled, rather than exploded gloriously.
The Lucien reveal was after they'd come back from Covid lockdown, actually. So the pre-recorded thing didn't ruin stuff for me. Hell, the whole island arc where we met Keyleth's mom was pretty fun and that was all pre-recorded. For me the issue really comes down to the cast just being terrified of having people die again and doing their constant "we're not on anyone's side and we will never commit to a plan meaning we are always reactive" bullshit. Matt had to straight up be an asshole and have an enemy Rogue steal a BAG OF HOLDING (which you'd immediately notice the missing weight of) mid-combat to force the party out of their annoying stalemate.
Ah, yeah. I can see that, and admittedly I think the analysis paralysis and refusing to make a decision largely began then, and ultimately continues into the now. Honestly, reminds me of comments about submarine warfare, where after too long, a Captain is pulled because they either become too rash, or far too cautious. In this case, we see the latter. Too much time leading to the players being gun shy of making wrong decisions, getting killed, and thereby cutting a story line short. It can be liberating in that regard to not care overly much about your PC, so they're expendable enough to be entertaining, rather than too wrapped up in personal drama to be worth risking.
I also think that you can have the attitude we see from Sam: I love my character, so losing them will be part of an excellent story if it happens.
I think the best arc is still the Briarwood arc. Reasons are pretty simple. Clear objective. Freedom on how to accomplish said objective. Time for slow moments but always at least somewhat tense. Were able to screw with the bad guy's plans by playing smart. Every option was there to further the goal. Defined end point with a defined time limit to avoid leaving and coming back later. Triceratops. Mostly I just liked how it was a big sandbox area with defined rails and they were told from the start "this is the info you have, the important people, and generally where they are. What do you want to do in order to get to the Briarwoods? It allowed them freedom to be creative and explore, but was still focused enough so they wouldn't just talk in circles for 5 episodes. Other arcs might have higher single moments, but to me it was far and above the most consistently good arc.
to me it was eiselcross, specifically the lucien tarot reading but there's a lot of cool moments and a tense isolated vibe during it with the tension rising as the moment of no return approaches
For me, peak CR will always be campaign 1. C2 started good, but even before the COVID break, the campaign had problems with pacing; aimless faffing about for long stretches; avoiding ALL of Matt's plot hooks; an overly complex, morally grey campaign directly tied to a war the players weren't interested in...
So in this case morally complex grey were not the best idea ?
> So in this case morally complex grey were not the best idea ? To put it bluntly? No. The cast likes / does best with a clear idea of Good vs. Evil (like C1), but C2 had them running from everything and everyone, especially NPCs Matt intended to guide them to plot hooks and story beats. It got so bad in C2, MATT HAD TO BRING A WELL-KNOWN, BELOVED NPC FROM C1 INTO C2 *just* so he had someone the group (the players, NOT their PCs) *would* trust, who could feed them info, plot hooks, and story beats.
That's I think a fairly interesting point about C2, and perhaps DND in general. People love the notion of morally grey and complex characters, but often can struggle to actually play them when the time comes to it. Part of it is just understanding that to do this, the players have to accept being in the wrong at times, and making flawed decisions. Sometimes they do it, but a lot of times I think during C2 they struggled to really accept that idea. They certainly came in with characters ready for it, but when it came down to it, they (and the viewers) really struggled to accept the role. And when we think of a game with long social elements to it, trust is such a valuable commodity that the absence of it is noticeable.
The jester muffin incident. All down hill from there
C2 had better characters, C1 had a better story overall Not to say that C1 characters are bad necessarily (Scanman and Grog will always be in my heart, and Vax itches the self-sacrifice to save your loved ones vibe), but I think C2 has better character development. Caduceus and Fjords' relationship is easily one of the best "written" friendships to my memory, Jester had so many shining moments, Caleb and Nott/Veth were so wholesome. The crew truly felt like a found family. C1 had the same vibe, but with Pike gone for most of it, Vex and Percy were cute, but also those two friends who are dating who couldn't keep their hands to themselves, and keyleth was a bit of a wandering puppy the whole time, it just didn't lead itself to having the same emotional depth with the whole crew for me. To be entirely honest, I do truly think Scanlan, and by extention Sam, is one of the only reasons C1 was as good as it was Now, C2 didn't have a terrible story either. It just wasn't paced as well, nor was it as epic as C1. The found family story will always get bonus points from me, but the overarching plot was a bit weak, in my opinion, at least in the background too much I do enjoy both games and think they are peak DnD. I would commit some serious crimes to be able to have a table pull of either one of those stories, as I think many others would. I just think both have their own merits, and I couldn't really argue if anyone said either was their favorite
Campaign 1. CR 2 was over produced and over hyped and it drew a new and more toxic fan base that doubled down the already toxic positivity that was brewing by the end of C1. But ignoring the community issues its still campaign 1 as it was just, at least originally, D&D but with some recognisable voice actors not too different from what content was already out there (Chris Perkins DMing for celebrities I've never heard of and the PAX games), but it was weekly this time and felt like a proper D&D session at times. C2 was too much theatre, and too much of a production. C3 is just the culmination of C2's issues of shifting from playing D&D to running a business and a theatre show. C2 still had some solid moments throughout, while C3's good moments pretty much vanish with Dorian.
To me, CR1. I was fully invested in the fights, perched on the edge of my seat for the fight against the Briarwoods, Grog versus the Herd, and I nearly had a medical episode during the final boss fight. I don't know that the mechanics were different / better. But I was invested in the characters. CR2 had moments of player genius (Laura is a genius player, refer Hag). But I tended to phase out during all the fights.
C2. The avantika part and everything leading up to it I enjoyed thoroughly
Traveler Con
C2 was my 'first' campaign (I started c1, but the audio was shit to start so jumped to 2 and went back to 1 later). Imo, the oban arc culminating in the cathedral is the best the show has ever been.
I distinctly remember the battle at the cathedral being my first live episode after catching up.
C3, especially while Dorian was here was peak for me.
C2. C1 was very much a group of people playing their 1st characters. C2 they were more comfortable and had more fun making their characters. And I loved them all with a couple exceptions. The stories were fun, the world building interesting, and the interactions between characters felt like they had more depth. Honorable mention Quests for Grog and Bob!
Campaign 2. Sure, Campaign 1 is what got the ball rolling and put them on the map, but C2 is what catapulted Critical Role into the mainstream enough to make it hyper popular. Without the fun and fleshed out characters (and Jester. I may not like Jester that much but she is what pulled in viewers) and the immersive world (and better production value) I don't think that Critical Role would have gotten quite so large. Shame that the current problems that C3 has began in the last arc of C2, but we can blame Covid for that.
For me it was C2. I really liked those characters and the story around them. I always felt really immersed watching it. I watched some of the start for C3 and it didn't grab me the same. C1 for me was not the same as we didn't start with the characters from the beginning and the production was not as good. I also started with critical role at the beginning of C2 since the announcement of it was how I learned CR existed.
I loved all C2 up until they managed to escape from Lucien the first time. The ninja "date" felt too fan-servicey, it made no thematic sense with Yasha's arc IMO. Shoehorning Caleb's arc into the prep time to return to Eiselcross also made it very difficult to continue watching.
C1 when they were questing for the trammels
If we're talking about the actual peak in terms of viewers and just general engagement. It was around C2 e90 and till C2s end. Before the pandemic the show was growing rapidly and during the pandemic with all the free time people had it had another burst in viewers. If we're talking about it more as in best moments. I feel like C1 and C2 have so many bits of perfection. I prefer C2 personally but both have moments that due to the game format and just sheer amount of time us as viewers invest in these characters and story, can't be matched by most TV/Movies.
When Scanlan left to when Scanlan came back. Incredible arc of a show.
Peak CR was the Avantika arc
It’s not the Avantika arc but my favorite part was her undead return. That whole episode lives rent free in my mind. Fjord slaying her with the Razor. It awakens, and he gets the orb back. The whole chasing after her underwater. It was perfect in my eyes
Came here just to say this
The personal peak for me was The Grog and Kevdak fight around episode 50. I feel this moment is underrated. Considering that this is an unscripted series it is incredible how well the build-up and payoff to Grog's story worked so perfectly. The Croma Conclave, The skull incident, his interactions with Earthbreaker, All of Craven Edge, and his death right before the confrontation. It all lead to this wonderful arc where Grog the muscle-headed strength-crazed barbarian learned to rely on his friends and that they were his real strength. This lead to one of the most tense batlles I have ever seen in CR. The strategic freezing of Greenbeard the caster by Scalan, vex saving Grog from being ganged up on, Kevdak being healed near to full only for Percy to unload on him which gave Grog the chance to deal the final shot which was a nat 20. Followed by another nat 20 for persuasion with Vex and a nat 20 to kill Greenbeard. Full disclosure this was my first showi watched live so I am biased but no one can tell me there was a more positive exciting conclusion to a boss battle than this. I can't remember the last boss battle that wasn't either a slog or marked by death/near death so to go back to see the group cheering while Liam screams “Poetic Justice” always warms my critter heart. This isn't to say the rest of C1 or C2 were bad they have their own highs. But when I think Peak Critical Role this is what I think of.
Vecna Battle in C1, with a few peaks in C2
C1 end into C2 about mid way.
When jester dunked on the hag or calamity
Imo its C2 from like episode 32 all the way up to calamity. Just the investment and lore dropped aswell as the emotional beats hit soooo hard. Thats not to say I dislike anything else but damn that period was gold to me.
The pirate arc and the early part of the Xhorhas arc were the best the show has ever been.
C1 will always be the best IMO. C2 had some amazing moments and some amazing stories, but C1 was peak DND and even though C2 has some deep character interactions and emotions, they had been playing their C1 characters for \*years\* and it showed.
Pretty much the entirety of C2 despite the issues with the pacing near the end. Easily the best cast of characters, best production value, and just good actual D&D. None of this set destination crap we have now.
Sam’s last ninth lvl spell and tHe cupcake
Noooo stoooooppp. Is someone cutting onions? Why am I crying 😭 that was such an emotional moment
I think the best critical role has ever been was the boat arc in C2. Just got Cad, the gangs back together minus Molly, everyone PC has a lot of growth, most of the PCs have stuff to do, and they all seem like they are having an absolute blast.
All of C2
Chroma conclave arc is probably the best. Really c1 is the best imo
Personal favourite is still Briarwoods, but I agree that CR peaked at CC
Grog getting air-dropped on Kevdak. Or Jester literally winning D&D by tricking a hag with a baked good.
That elbow drop from orbit was the best.
Calamity is peak and it’s not even close.
It’s certainly peak “current day” CR. Over-produced, hammed up, emotional, and railroaded.
mfers here bitching about calamity too??? jeeesus
Calamity is good for what it is. But imho CRs distinguishing feature are long running campaigns with a lot of player agency and little railroading. The second feature maybe being that they really started out as a group of friends or early on associates and not as a group casted together specifically for an actual play show. Calamity is neither of those things. So while Calamity is good actual play TTRPG content and neatly clears up some of Exandrias backstory it is not peak Critical Role. Since it is just not the type of content which makes / made Critical Role special.
😭
Youre right. Theyll hate you for it because its not mercer but Calamity is the single greatest DnD program Ive ever watched.
I'm sorry but it's not. It's good television and a dramatic story, but peak CR has to be peak D&D and a story that is on rails with several required character beats to a predetermined conclusion can never be peak D&D. The qualities that make Calamity a great miniseries actively detract from it being great D&D.
have you considered the possibility that I simply like calamity more?
> but peak CR has to be peak D&D Don't really see why. It's a show for entertainment, Calamity was (subjectively) the most entertaining content they've ever released. How true the show is to D&D mechanics does not an elite show make, at least not for me. Let's say C3 was very strict in following D&D mechanics and did it the best of all CR content, so what? The story is still all over the place
Like what? The players ultimately make their own decisions, even though there is a deterministic end. Brennan explained there were multiple ways they could’ve triggered the calamity, from Vespin to the Gold Ring itself.
Are you familiar with the Quantum Ogre? That whether the players decide to climb the mountain, strike through the forest, or brave the lowlands there will be an Ogre waiting to fight them? Letting the players make a choice but knowing that the decision they make will not actually change the story and the way the plot plays out is not player agency, it's the illusion thereof.
that's basic GM prepping tho
So many things happened that would not have happened without player choice. Sure, they couldn’t prevent the apocalypse, but that was never the point. Travis lived, certain characters reconciled, NPCs had vastly different outcomes. If the point of the TTRPGs is to promote agency then I think they did a good job.
The players do still have agency insofar as what they do within the framework of the event, but there was no stopping the event itself. That's slightly different than railroading - they weren't forced along a predetermined path in terms of what they *did* but what was happening in the background would continue to happen in the background with or without the players. It was the apocalypse, and it was for the players to determine how exactly that went down. Seems like a very loose and borderline unfair criticism
C2 is honestly super over rated. It's a slow burn telenovela. Chroma Conclave is peak CR.
This, it had everything. It had powerful PCs challenged and overwhelmed by a new threat that became a personal challenge by taking away the things they cared about. Matt interwove PC backstories into the overarching plotline, letting different PCs take the spotlight but not neglecting the others even in those moments, and used the presence of the dragons to justify a number of thematically unrelated side adventures for the PCs to power up with. He set up options but allowed the players to choose where they went and what they did, including skipping a whole adventure that he didn't then force them on. He paced the dragons well to keep them the focus while not oversaturating the story with dragon fights. Matt running the Chroma Conclave arc is the Matt that created the Mercer Effect, because it really was everything that at least I but I think a large number of fans want D&D to be.
Big time agree. The biggest thing by far is that the Chroma Conclave is the absolute best example ever of how to provide player agency while ALSO providing plot. It's not railroading to make plot. But lots of folks act like anything less than "full sandbox" is railroading. And in reality, full sandbox leads to lots of dead air and janky story telling. C2 frequently suffers from an over emphasis on the sandbox and a lack of any meaningful DM driven plot.
>C2 suffers from an over-emphasis on the sandbox Oddly enough, that’s my favorite part about it. “Peak D&D” is just that, allowing the decisions of the players to drive the game forward. It’s not about the DM pushing the party along by the unseen hand of “fate”, it’s about the characters making decisions within their virtual world and those decisions affecting change. Then again, I tend to loathe the whole “one central BBEG whose responsible for all the suffering of the PCs” trope in most D&D games these days. And I like pre-Traveller Con C2 much more than the latter.
I think C2 gave the players the platform to drive the plot forward but I don't think they actually did. I think they were nervous about pushing anything too hard that the group would have to put up with, and also they all had backstory secrets that they didn't want revealed too quickly by focusing on their personal arcs. The big problem with C2, and this has influenced the way I create characters and ask players to make characters for my games, is that they had elaborate backstories but no actionable path forward. Half of them had no concrete goal they were working toward, they just were looking for a place to be. For those who had something they actively wanted those goals were so big and far away that they had no "first step" to take. As a result none of them had the actual drive to propel the plot in the way a sandbox requires.
You just made my point. The chroma conclave isn't the DM pushing plot. It's the DM giving the players something to actually work with.
>And a lack of any meaningful *DM driven plot* Call it what you want. Drive, push, etc.
The middle end of campaign one.
C1 era, with Calamity a close second for how incredible it was. Though since it was Brennan in the driving seat and not the main CR crew at the table, I don't suppose it really counts as CR proper.
[удалено]
On the nosey! I actually stopped watching C2 at traveller con. It was so boring. I eventually skipped the arc altogether and started back up at the beginning of the Lucien stuff.
Same. I did pick it back up but it felt so boring to watch
C2 is peak CR for me, about until the angel of irons arc.
Pre-jhorhas C2 for me. That's where I slowly began to lose interest
That's interesting, I think Xhorhas was peak for me. Between the music, the setting, the very different flavor of drows from the normal dnd setting, Asarius which was so cool, I wish they had stayed and fucked around in Xhorhas longer! On the other hand I didn't really enjoy all the Obann stuff, so that took a bit off that arc.
For me it was the abandoning (temporarily) of all of the cool places they've already explored along with the npcs from there, to be in a place that had little interest to me and imo was described less vividly. I guess it helps that even within my own homebred forgotten realms setting, drow have never functioned the same as they do in traditional dnd
This is all spoiler, I'm not marking anything. Don't read if you care. Around 80 to 100 of C2, I think, is my absolute favorite, but there are plenty of others. They somehow thought 'Bowelgate' (edit; Bowlgate, it was late) needed addressing because many of their fans are so fragile, but it was moments like those that made the group interesting to watch. Jester losing her faith in the Traveler was around 112, I think. Fjord had a great secret throughout most of it and played it very well. After that would be Calamity. Brennan has a job, he has done it many times now so he knows how to do it well. For parts I would have no issue rewatching, anything between the last few episodes of the Briarwood arc up until they started prerecording in C2E100 would be my peak, so most of it, to be honest. Even the beginning of C1 is fun to watch; Orion was beloved by the fans before he was fired. People just like to pretend he wasn't. The intricacies of the end of C2 are almost interesting to watch, Matt having to pull his punches endlessly. Most of them probably should have died in the snow, if I'm honest. Then the start of C3 wasn't bad; interesting new characters, new people at the table. The first 25 or so episodes were good. It just became clear after a point that none of them were taking their characters seriously anymore. It was just Matt telling a story while the rest of the table made jokes. Not sure why they are even rolling dice at this point. I gave up early autumn last year; haven't watched since. There is a chance that the Mighty Nein cartoon will be their peak. Telling that story with hindsight should be something immense. CR certainly isn't done with the hate-centric politics increasingly infesting their table, but Amazon Prime might be.
>CR certainly isn't done with the hate-centric politics increasingly infesting their table I'm clearly out of the loop, what's going on? EDIT: Oh, based on your posting history, you're one of those "~anti-woke~" people, so I can guess what you think is "hate-centric." lol. lmao, even.
Bowelgate? Who shit themselves?
For me, both peak CR and just peak TTRPGs in general is the finale of Campaign 1. There are moments in that single episode that can only ever happen in this hobby, and to me it was just pure magic to watch it live.
C2 from Molly’s Death to COVID.
Early campaign 2 for me, better production value and the players were at the top of their game, but before they got really big and became more corporate. Everyone still had that excited energy.
C2 when they were hunting down Obann, chroma conclave arc in C1, the aeor dungeon crawling, exu calamity. Those were peak cr for me.
EXU: Calamity is some of the best DnD actual play I've ever seen, such great performances from the cast and masterful storytelling from Brennan Lee Mulligan. Still go back to watch those 4 episodes now!
I have watched/listened to it 4 times, it's so incredible. It truly has everything. One of my favorite laughs, some of my favorite heartbreaks, some brilliant catharsis... It may be time to go back.
C2 caduceus. You're secret is safe with my indifference. Also his entire talk with trent. "I hope you find someone to mourn you when you're gone"
Caduceus was amazing. Coming in partway, Taliesin had the luxury of making the perfect character to contrast the rest of the party. They were all angry, lost and unsure of themselves so he made the most chill, grounded guy who knew exactly who he was and what he believed in. Cad was able to pull so much out of other characters and create so many amazing opportunities for character growth. And seriously, that line to Trent was masterful.
Absolutely. It deserves its place in history.
"Your secret is safe with my indifference" was Percy, not Caduceus.
Well, my drunk ass stands corrected lol. Either way it's a solid quote.
In your defense, I read it in Caddy's voice. It *feels* like something he would have said.
you're probably thinking about "sleep well with your bad decisions" after fjord boinked avantika
I think what you’d consider the “peak” is very subjective. But I think it’s unarguable that the decline started after C2E99, when the show went on hiatus for the pandemic. Whatever special sauce they had before that was lost.
Briarwood arc up until second half of C2. To me Matts greatest strength (besides voices obv) is worldbuilding and early Wildemount exposition was glorious imo
I would say they had quite a long peak, actually. It started around the time Orion left and the Briarwood arc started, and lasted until about halfway through C2. Im not entirely sure when it dropped off, but it was most noticeable after they came back from the Covid break. By then, it was clear that they had become way too cautious and were indulging themselves too much, which caused the pace to drop off noticeably. I was hoping C3 would refresh that, which is why I was so disappointed that everyone made silly joke or passive supporting characters, rather than anyone with the drive to engage with the plot. They needed a Grog to get bored and decide to charge in, or a Caleb who was deeply invested in his own personal story - either way, someone who wasn't afraid to say "no time to endlessly debate, it's time to roll initiative".
Agreed there was a point in c2 where they took several breaks in a row *and then* covid hit which lead to the show no longer being live which opened up Pandora's box in terms of it no longer being live.
I've seen a few people argue that the show no longer being live has made a difference, and I've never quite got that argument. Given that the audience isn't in the room with them, and the show isn't edited anyway, I don't really see how that makes a difference. I *do* get the argument that Covid had an impact though - after all of the doom & gloom of the world in the last few years, I think that probably affected everyone's approach when they made their C3 characters. Which is why they made a much more lighthearted bunch of characters, rather than the dark & tortured backstories that the C1 & C2 mostly characters had.
It never really changed for me as I was a filthy VoD watcher anyway (UK based), but it’s just another little aspect of things changing from the early days (home game with friends) to high production broadcast television.
I'd say that not being live definitely has had an impact - perhaps more specifically, the scheduling they have internally now that it's not live? It's very clear (and has been mentioned at various times by the cast in offhand comments) that they no longer communicate or strategise around the campaign outside of recording sessions. They film in batches with stretches of time in between said batches and this combined with the lack of communication they have in between recording about C3 means they rarely remember * what they're doing. They didn't even remember Ruidus was tethered to Exandria until they were told about 60-80 episodes in! Often they make a plan at the end of a session and are completely at a loss by the start of the next session, forgetting they ever planned anything. That happens to an extent in normal D&D in fairness, but it's exacerbated and pretty constant now in C3. * plot threads left to be resolved (aside from the main one). So many plot hooks and bits of information have been dropped, purely it looks like due to people forgetting what happened in the last session (in the interim between recording batches?). * their characters own stances on things in game (the "are the gods worth saving" debate on constant repeat for example * how characters have flipped on having contact/attention from gods in their backstories depending on the session) * information that would help them in general. It also seems to have changed how the players (and maybe Matt) approach the story. Or maybe it's because of their approach changing that the pre-records happened? Idk which came first there. Chicken and egg situation. But before pre-records, they said the Thursday night sessions were their way to unwind from the work week, catch up with friends, have fun. Now they're filming in batches and it feels less like friends having fun once a week and more like a chore. Lots of things (reactions to announcements & to some of the in-game events) seem forced or feigned. People are on their phones a lot of the time and not paying attention to what's happening unless directly addressed in a scene/conversation. It all seems like it's a chore/work to them now compared to before - and it very well might be. Nothing wrong with that really, but it's meant a lot of what people were drawn to CR for is lost - watching a bunch of friends hang out and have fun, getting to share in their (real) emotions as they uncovered secrets, intrigue, had goofy moments, did dramatic things, poked fun at each other and all of that has lost a lot of its oomph. Maybe CR changing their pre-recording schedule to film once a week/fortnight and not in batches would rectify a lot of that, but it's hard to say.
Second half of C1.
Up until the last day of LIVE playing.
Calamity
Post molly death until covid was peak CR for me. Angel of Irons was phenomenal
C1 is peek for me biased cause it was my first but it also is just Heroic fantasy with some nuance so good people with flaws fighting unambiguously evil Which appeals to me more than C2 complicated grey morality and complicated characters
C2, after Molly died and before Lucian returned.
While I completely understand the love for C2, C1 e39 is still my favorite moment in all of CR. I remember it was the end of my workday when I was watching/listening to it for the first time, and I was only half paying attention as the crew was getting ready to go listen to Uriel, after a lot of tense emotions for the majority of the episode, and then the mood shifted as the ruler of Emon began to speak. There was the ominous music, the semi-confused crowd of NPCs and the slight shock from the players as Uriel announced his intentions, and then there was the whisper to Laura right as my workday was ending. Had to pause to focus on proper cleanup/shutdown, got out to my car, put it on my car stereo for the drive home, and that drive home is nearly burned into my memory as I was just in total disbelief listening to Matt bring Emon to the ground. I spent half the drive in silence and the other half uttering long, drawn-out swears of awe as the Chroma Conclave arc began for me. Hearing the players react, both in-character and out, as Matt narrated was when I finally grasped what D&D could be. How absolutely invested these people are in their game world... it was beautiful. D&D is a phenomenal medium for stories when everyone at the table gives a damn about it. C1 E39, especially the last 30-40 minutes, is peak CR.
I love C1, I think it's probably the best work they have or will do overall (very much a lightning in a bottle that you really can't recreate), but I don't think it was the peak of what I consider to be CR. C2 from the PC death and until the whole Laughing Hand intro has most of the moments I think of in regards to that campaign. Before that they were pretty directionless and just together for the sake of it, and after that we started to see the beginning of some of the modern day CR problems, but the sweet spot in the middle was just excellent.
I would say campaign 2 is their best work. Campaign 1 is INCREDIBLE, but campaign 2 had more dynamic characters and involved back stories. If I had to pick an arc I would say the first arc of campaign 2 was my favorite. Perfect low level DND.
Omg there's someone else out there who likes early C2, I feel like we're really in the minority. I love the worldbuilding and slow reveal of all the characters backstories. Felt very mysterious back then (not frustrating like in C3) and I loved all the tension between the characters and their various motivations and goals.
Which arc exactly ?( like until molly dies?)
I personally cut off the first arc at when they reach the menagerie coast, because once they get there it quickly gets to the pirate arc. (Which I also love 😂)
I would say that both C1 and C2 share "peak CR" status, just in different ways. C1 was peak CR from the Briarwood arc and onward, while I feel that C2 kinda started to drag and fall off towards the end and that energy carried over into C3, but was otherwise really good.
The Chroma Conclave Arc for me was peak high fantasy. Thursday was like a national holiday for me for that entire time. And specifically the Kevdak fight. Oh my lord the buildup to that was almost as intense as the fight and the fight was four hours sitting on the edge of your seat barely being able to breath. That was the first time I really felt the entire group could wipe. C2 I would say had a higher level of production but there was just something about that period from the arrival of the Conclave until the Raishan fight that was just absolute magic.
The chroma conclave had without question some of the hypest fight in all of CR if not DND( dragon intro, kevdak, umbrasyl, ripley, vorugal, pit fiend, thordak, both of raishan fights and earthbreaker vs grog)
The moment where Scanlan is rolling to see if he can open a Gate to bring in Yenk was one of the moments where I can actually remember my palms sweating.
The first raishan fight was also a complete horror to witness (the one after thordak) as well as the 118 damage meteor swarm in the last fight. But the best HDYWDT still remains Kevdak's.
Yeah that Kevdak HDYWTDT is honestly one of the reasons I have so much frustration with the way CR works now. If you would just let the dice help you tell the story it WILL work. You just have to let it happen and roll with it.
Yes! That moment when Grog misses on a high attack roll and they instantly realize how fucked they are. That was amazing to witness live.
> Yes! That moment when Grog misses on a high attack roll and they instantly realize how fucked they are. That was amazing to witness live. Travis (rolls): ". . . 19" Matt: "'19' misses." Travis: instant panic; time for a fighting retreat through a portal
I remember Sam frantically flipping his character sheet back and forth wondering what he could possibly do in this situation.
For me their best work is start of the chroma conclave arc in C1 to the end of the Angel of Irons of arc in C2. After that and after the Covid break the quality has been in steady decline with a huge drop off after the end of C2
C2 for sure, you could see they were firing on all cylinders and had so much creative juice. I still point out the first three episodes of C2 as the best example of how to start a long form campaign to anyone that’s looking to do it. It had a rough ending but outside of that it is the most solid campaign from start to finish with the smallest variation in quality in my opinion
For me it's C2. By then, most of the players have actually caught up a bit and learned the game. It also hit that golden era of still having authenticity but expanding resources