In the conversation about adapting to a new GM, I realized I cannot remember if Taliesin has ever been the one to instigate the dive into his character's deal. The Briarwoods showed up because Matt brought them in. Caduceus got his stuff together eventually, but I truly cannot remember him pushing to find his family or the stuff he used to heal the grove. Ashton never investigated his family at all that I remember. Am I missing details? Is this part of the adaptation?
Hey! This is a good question, and I have been avoiding talking too much about Taliesinâs past characters because I have either liked them (Percy, Caduceus, Kingsley), respected what he was doing even if it wasnât my thing (Molly, though see below), or in the case of Ashton felt this was ultimately, again, a DMing issue. However, that does not mean I am without critique of his playstyle, nor critique of how the fandom has at times responded.
Before I get into this however I have noticed that a number of people who started with Campaign 4 (ie, do not have this history) have, in my notes, said âyeah all Bolaire is doing is aura farmingâ and I think that is worth pointing out in that like, ultimately, the past does not matter in terms of saying âwell this character isnât fucking working for these reasonsâ. However, I think looking at the past is interesting, and important, and thatâs what the question is about, and I love airing long simmering grievances and bursting fanon bubbles so read on.
I think itâs rare for anyone to truly instigate their own characterâs story, because D&D isnât a solo endeavor. The Briarwoods showing up doesnât mean Taliesin failed in not just having Percy go after them; that would be a wild choice. Most of Campaign 1 is in fact Things Happen To Vox Machina And They Respond, so to judge Percy for not instigating is like judging Vax and Vex for not personally hunting down Thordak before the Chroma Conclave, or Scanlan for not realizing he might have fathered some children. Molly died very early in the campaign. I think Caduceus was a character for whom avoidance actually felt very true to who he was; the choices were coherent. I think itâs hard to judge any of the cast for how they handled their Bells Hells characters because the signaling from Matt was so fucked, and as several people have pointed out, Taliesin very much set up a lot of history with the Nobodies and really was never given room to explore it.
And yet. While all of this is true, and I believe all of it, saying âthis worked outâ or âI get why this happenedâ is just, well, a statement that in this context, it worked. Itâs really possible, for example, that had Molly lived, he would have had an absolutely suck-ass main plot, and we say âitâs hard to judge Molly because he died so earlyâ because thatâs the truth, but thatâs not actually a statement that the character concept was any good, just that he was gone very quickly. Caduceus absolutely works in the context of Campaign 2, but he is a character who was created after the vibe was established, and if everyone played a character like that the campaign would have been very dull. Itâs possible that in a world where Matt was fresh and rested and Campaign 3 was otherwise a work of brilliance that Ashton might still have crashed and burned; we just canât say for sure.
Tangential to that, and I think this is part of what is driving the strength of the fandom response, is that a lot of fans of Taliesinâs characters have a habit of demanding that everyone else do the work to make his characters have interesting stories. This is a huge problem currently. Itâs always someone elseâs fault that Bolaire isnât working, actually. Itâs Brennanâs for making such a plot-heavy and fast-paced campaign (except single other PC is firing on at least most if not all cylinders). Itâs Liamâs for Hal not continuing the argument (heâs not going to make a scene at the gala where all of the Sundered Houses are coming, and then the assassination plot popped off and the Schemers had to work together, and Bolaire hasnât come by the Hallowed Round at all and isnât even coming to the show). (Thaisha and Thimble are just too close to see Thjazi objectively though btw, that conflict doesnât count forâŚ.reasons). Why isnât everyone else just running the scenes we want with Bolaire instead of doing what their character is interested in? And, of course, so what does this say about Sam and Whitney attempting to do so and getting shot down?
And letâs look back, shall we. I like Caduceus. I really do. I have and will continue to defend the idea that just because his arc was subtle and not very showy and ended with him back where he began itâs still unmistakably a great character arc. Also, I remember Campaign 2 discourse, thatâs where I started out, and god it was like pulling teeth to convince the stans that maybe, a lot of characters had checked in with Caduceus, and he kept on pushing them away or making the conversation about their problems as a means of deflecting from his own, and perhaps this is not a matter of everyone else not caring enough but rather his own choices. Or like, look, I am a vocal disliker of every single Liam and Taliesin character ship and I donât want to digress by getting deep into that, but specifically it has always ground my gears that people act like the fact none have gone canon is because Liamâs characters are refusing the advances of Taliesinâs. If that were trueâŚthen thatâs not Liamâs fault, that is Liamâs choice in a matter of pretty serious autonomy and comfort that you are getting mad at. Or again, with Ashton, I felt the shard worked out well story-wise and for the character but like, that was not a misunderstanding, that was Matt saying four times âthis is not a smart decisionâ and Taliesin still going ahead with it and fans started nitpicking down to âwell, theyâre just saying itâs unwise, or it âmightâ kill them, not that it DEFINITELY WILLâ and like. Be serious.
So I think a lot of people have reached the end of our rope in terms of having even a shred of patience for âwell, actually, itâs everyone elseâs faultâ both because weâve heard it before, and because, again, explain why when someone was like PLEASE PLAY THIS SCENE SO WE KNOW WHAT YOU WANT US TO DO, Taliesin said ânoâ and thatâs somehow anyoneâs fault but his.
In terms of adapting - honestly? My guess is some of this behavior comes from DM mistrust (I was reminded during the scene where Occtis pointed out that actually, Bolaire can't keep people from dying, of how Taliesin was one of the players who tried to interrupt Jester's blueberry cupcake scene, which came from wanting to save Jester, but like, would have utterly wrecked what is an iconic moment) and Matt sometimes is like "yeah, that's fair, I'm sorry you didn't trust me :(" and Brennan's like "tough break bud" and I think he's not adapting well to that but frankly I prefer when Matt's more of a hardass too. But that's not an instigation problem. And in terms of instigation...if any DM leads a horse to water and pushes its head down to the water and says HEY YOU MIGHT WANT TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE WATER it is Brennan. But you know how the saying ends.
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