Huh! If my math is correct (actually, if I’ve labeled each entry properly with the correct tag) this is my 200th blog post. That means 200 weeks of running this site. I’ve decided that warrants a huzzah so HUZZAH!
So last weekend I was watching the first part of the Tabletop season finale (they played Mice and Mystics which was awesome sauce) and in the comments, one of the viewers mentioned that Wil Wheaton (host of Tabletop) had been on another Geek and Sundry show called Critical Role and much hilarity had ensued regarding his fabled poor dice-rolling skills. I decided to check it out. Wanting to get the full experience, I started with the first episode and figured I’d quickly work my way through the series to the 18th or so episode that was the most recent episode posted and which I figured was the one featuring Wil.
Well ha! Unlike Tabletop which heavily edits the gaming session to a nice 40-or-so minute chunk, Critical Role is a live show that typically runs 3-4 hours each episode as the players and GM (all really cool voice actors) play through their D&D campaign. They really get into it too. It’s great! I’ve binged through the first 12 episodes now (which as I mentioned before are each at least three hours long) and they just reached the climax of the first story arc…well the first shot story arc. The group has been playing for a couple of years and they were approached this year by the good people at Geek and Sundry to do this on the interwebz.
I won’t spoil any of the story in case any of you might be intrigued by this concept. I’ve been entertained but it’s weird because it’s a rare chance to see how other groups play D&D. While I’ve played in a few different groups over the years, my main experiences have been with the same players time and again. I think they’re much more comfortable with the role playing concept (as voice actors, I would expect as much) but they have the same quibbles over rules that I’ve experienced, which is strangely reassuring. We all have a little munchkin in us it seems.
The main thing that got to me as I’ve been watching though is how much I miss playing D&D, both as a player and a DM. I really need to work on that again. In the meantime, I’ve got more episodes of Critical Role to watch. If you want to watch, check them out on Youtube!
That’s all the ramblings I have for this week. Have a good seven all and we’ll do this again next Monday. Carja V.
