DM Love: Critical Role

Critter blog celebrating the greatness of DM Matt Mercer, his NPCs, and his ability to build a world for even spectators to immerse themselves and enjoy.

[vaxildanthechampion]

Matt Mercer Intros through the campaigns.

[essektheylyss]

WHAT is better than when Matt's voice rises a whole octave in a single "NO!"

[justalittlebluetiefling]

Please Leave + The Critical Role Table

[louisegluckpdf]

fave brennan fucked up & evil dm moments from exu calamity

[sky-scribbles]

Brennan’s DMing throughout Calamity was consistently incredible, but I just want to give a shout out to how sensitive and considerate it was in the first hour of Episode 4.

This was a moment of ridiculously high tension. I have rarely seen so much nervous energy at the CR table - that amount of nervous lauighter and OOC joking in that ‘oh god oh god things are fucked let’s take quick breaks from the game reality to remind ourselves we’re still having a great time at the table with our friends’ way that any dnd player recognises. And Brennan never hurried them, never rushed them. He let them joke and laugh and release the tension, and joined in with the jokes too. He gave them time to sit back and discuss strategy and ask about their options.

And he built in moments to let them stop and process the insane amount of emotions that were happening. When he asked everyone their expressions in the moment before they all hit the ground, everything got quiet and still. Each player got a moment to focus on their character’s emotions, time slowed down a little, and the pressure eased.

That level of sensitivity towards players’ feelings and stress levels? That’s a sign of an absolutely stellar DM.

[vethbrenatto]

‘FCG is a Flat Exandria-er’ Conversation but it’s just Matt’s Face Journey

[conversation context:

FCG: I wonder how many days it would take to sail [to the edge of the world.] Imogen: You know how there’s like… water? What do you think happens to the water? FCG: What do you mean? At the edge? Imogen: Yeah. FCG: Same thing that happens to the land. Imogen: Which is what? FCG: It just ends. Imogen: The water doesn’t fall off anywhere, it just…? FCG: Goes to the other side? The under? Imogen: Do you think it’s a double-sided flatness? Do you think there’s a whole other world on the opposite? FCG: Gosh! We’d have to ask a real science person. Imogen: Yeah, maybe we should find one for you. FCG: Wow! Do you think there’s people just on the other side? Like we’re on top and they’re on bottom. Imogen: Maybe. But don’t you think it’s weird no matter how far we go, the edge never gets closer? FCG: It must be very far.]

[dmlovecriticalrole]

Matt Mercer: The World's Most Famous DM | Cracked.com

Matt Mercer: The World's Most Famous DM

The man is unstoppable and if you don't know him yet, you will soon.

[eyeshadowandcaffeine]

Apparently Matt Mercer is having a bad time rn, so I’m reposting some wholesome tweets that I screenshotted from that week in February when “The Matt Mercer Effect” was trending on Twitter, because he’s a good egg and I think spreading some positivity helps somehow

And if anyone has any positive Matt Mercer-related posts or content you would like to share, you are more than welcome to it pile on here, idk who’s gonna see it, but by all means go for it

And please don’t forget to love each other💕💕

[criticalsorcery]

Evon Hytroga’s vacation selfies

[puwumats]

travis: *says something so rancid that the dm just straight up leaves*

[stardustedknuckles]

Taking thoughts about the role of Matt's kindness in Critical Role to the next level, I find myself thinking about how one of the most powerful aspects of this entire story was the good faith that drove it. By which I mean: I hear people say that campaign 1 was more plot/bigger stakes - and technically they're right, but the stakes in campaign 2 and the stories being told reverberated on a personal level in a way that spits in the face of the more conventional message we get from so many stories these days along the lines of "well that's just how it is." Those are the stories that had us bracing for Jester to be let down by her mom and her dad, expecting nobody to follow up on Beau being kidnapped, waiting for Yeza to crack under the strain of Veth leaving so often. In the jaded mainstream we're used to, Vandran would've been callous and dismissive when they finally found him and Fjord would have realized he'd outgrown the sort of approval he was never going to get. Astrid and Eadwulf would have just been using Caleb, too broken to escape the cycle. Cynicism would've been so easily hidden under the guise of realism and hardly questioned. Even applauded. Let me emphasize: it still would have been a great story.

None of that happened. Instead, incredibly, Matt took every chance to love his friends through the very narrative itself in a more explicit way, one that wouldn't have matched the priorities of the first campaign but which shaped the second into something so extraordinary. The world we live in has been darkening in so many ways and there's something bright and healing about watching Matt craft a whole world around uplifting his friends' creations - validating them, avenging them, righting the sorts of tiny, personal wrongs we're so often powerless in our own day-to-day lives to affect. I think that's at the crux of what makes the Mighty Nein so personal to us all. It truly is the little things, and seeing personal struggles given as much weight and resolution as epics about kingdoms and dragons struck a chord the likes of which I'm not sure I'll ever see again.

The narrative conflicts of this story were so much more realistic than the first. But it made all the difference in the world that it was a realism presented through the eyes of people who believe in hope and light. And none more than the DM himself.

[luckthebard]

Something interesting I noticed about the new intro is that Matt is credited in the middle alongside the rest of the cast, rather than at the end in a special position, indicating he holds a special role. (Previous intros have always had a "and Matthew Mercer" feel to them, if you know what I mean.)

I like this for a few reasons, mostly because it puts less pressure on him as the "star" and because it's a more accurate reflection of the storytelling sharing going on at the table. I wonder if it was purposeful as a push-back against some of the "MM Effect" stuff that gets thrown at him in a negative way that ignores the rest of the table.

[stickandthorn]

I will never get over Matthew Mercer being able to portray the most fucking adorable characters out there like Henry Crabgrass or Charlie who I Just Want To Hug, and then being able to make my skin legitimately crawl by playing creeps like Ikithon or Thoreau Lionett who I Just Want To Strangle, all with purely his vocal acting, minimal physical acting, and his descriptive skill. The man’s range is off the fucking charts I’ll tell ya that. 

[cranesofibycus]

over-excited purple-nails-matt appreciation post 💜😌 

[bixbiboom]

[tarydarrington]

“that is the risk i am presenting. but we would not have achieved a lot of the great things that we have as people throughout history, let alone together as friends, if we didn’t take risks.”

[dsadwdasdadawdwad-deactivated20]

How does she always look this stunning 😍