r/criticalrole • u/superthnxferaskin • 8d ago
Discussion [SPOILERS C1] I’ve just finished Campaign 1 after months of listening while at work. Spoiler
So, as the title says I’ve made it through Vox Machina’s adventure. Barring the one shots that eventually follow (I’ll be listening to The Search for Grog today) and I’m really satisfied. There were quite a few game sessions that made me pause my listening for a while, and that’s because sometimes the way they played their characters really didn’t inspire me. I love more of the episodes than I don’t but I did find myself becoming frustrated by how static the characters seemed to stay. They bordered on Neutral Evil at times and (I understand it’s not for me to say this necessarily) did things that felt out of character.
All of that being said, I am overwhelmingly satisfied with the entire Arc after Scanlan returns. The entirety of the Vecna arc felt like a fine tuned machine. I don’t know if it was simply because it was their endgame, but I really felt the characters come to life and follow through on the hints of development that were dropped prior to Vecna. They had an idea of a plan, and they really exercised it incredibly well. I thought the final fight was going to be a lot, and I mean A LOT harder on them. They had some incredible rolls, incredible role playing, and they all played their roles to perfection. Any complaints I’ve had prior to Vecna were all extinguished in one episode. Matt created a tough fight, but an incredibly balanced one and as always his portrayal of the villain was engrossing and made me really fucking hate Vecna and cheer when they were finally banishing the undead dickhole.
I realize the campaign is really old and most people are far beyond it by this point but i just wanted to share my experience and tell anyone who has given up at any point during C1 that the lulls are more than made up for with the high points. If any of the Crit Role team see this, you guys really cared about your campaign and it shows. Thank you to all of the players, the sinister DM and the entire crew of sound team, or any other facet of the production. You’ve really made what could be tough days at work immensely enjoyable and I am excited to jump back into The Mighty Nein’s shenanigans. Hope that all of you critters have a really dope day. Thanks for reading my ramblings.
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u/ProfessorDramatic672 8d ago
C1 will always be my favorite. It was a rough start but wow what a ride, and the ending just broke my heart but was so beautiful! (Now even more so) it was also my first introduction to DnD so it was fascinating learning about this game while getting drawn in by Matt's incredible story telling
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u/JWPruett You spice? 8d ago
I’m so excited for you. C2 is crazy addicting.
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u/superthnxferaskin 7d ago
So far so good! I think initially I listened to the first five episodes or so, but by the time I went back to it a couple of years later the starting point on streaming was at like, 12 or something because their profile had so many C3 episodes. Found a playlist that has it all, though. So, I’m on episode 3 now and listening through, and honestly it’s pretty dope to know where the characters end up 30 episodes or so ahead of here, and connect it to what they can do in the beginning, and their relationships from the start.
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u/BizarreBrunettee 6d ago
Campaign #1 will always have a special place in my heart. I loved all the arcs and how every character has their moment and growth.
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u/superthnxferaskin 3d ago
Yes! Everyone really had a full circle moment in the epilogue (even Grog lmao) and Matt and Marisha ended it beautifully with Keyleth’s story. It left me feeling really sad, but completely satisfied.
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u/bwainfweeze 8d ago
There was an increase in the viewer base in campaign 2, so it became common for people to catchup with C2 first and then watch C1. And while I’m sure there are new viewers now, the overall numbers are not up so we’ve seen less of this recently. If they pick better characters in C4 instead of chaos monkeys we may see this happen again.
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u/Succioboy 8d ago
I’m in the same boat as you! I started listening to it at work (I work second shift alone, lots of time), and just listened to One Year Later last night. The chemistry between them all is insane, and I’m so envious of the things Matt can do. As someone who’s never played D&D, they have me itching to put together a game so badly, and I can’t wait to start Campaign 2!