#c4 overture

[lastknightsleftovers]

gotta love this overture bc there's nothing funnier than having all 14? of them live reacting to all the bonkers shit thats been revealed at the other tables all while brennan's eyes are darting around everywhere in what I can only assume is the sheer dungeon master locked-in-ness required to manage this many plot threads. there are fifteen people in this room and everybodys got an opinion and i think we're gonna get a whole lotta good gifs from it idk

[tanoraqui]

I actually really hope the paint is, if not entirely normal paint, then meant to be entirely normal paint, on Thjazi’s part. At most, he knew it was enspelled to, like, sparkle. My ideal paint backstory is that Thjazi & crew were robbing a warehouse for something completely unrelated, but he spotted these kegs of paint and went, “Hey, that’d be perfect for Hal’s new theater!” and stole them (and a cart to carry them) with the same impulse that leads normal people to buy a little cat figurine because they know their friend likes cats. Just, a random small act of care.

[annamaggs16]

C4E2 rewatch thoughts

I can’t believe that this campaign actually makes me want to rewatch episodes as soon as the VOD drops on YouTube. I did not think I would be HOOKED and sat in my seat so soon. I thought maybe wait an arc, like 10 episodes and then they dropped the news about the Overture and damn was this a good idea. I really like the changing of cast and swapping scenes. It’s not as chaotic as you’d think and again, this isn’t some big screen production where everything has to be smooth. I like that the rustling of paper and rattling of dice is audible, reminds me of their earlier campaign days pre-pandemic. Or seeing the cast get all giddy and excited to who is joining them at the table for more interactions and picking at each other’s lore and backstory. Straight up, yeah, it’s table top. Bunch of talented acting individuals playing DnD and I can visualize the story in my head right with them.

I did not catch that the boar guy was 16 yrs old in the flashback. They sent children to war. Azune being one of them. That’s crazy and rough.

Kattigan’s “jacked from the waist up mostly” for those of you who need to know that 😉 scars around his lungs and heart. fucked up shoulders and neck from having to fight down.

Laura and the beefcakes should always open episodes of CR. Azune learning how to fight by copying Teor and Kattigan 💞 I fear the war band boys are gonna have a special place in my heart. These martial guys have seen some crazy magic with sorcery and now in present time are gonna have to be around magic people who are also from the same houses who sent sorcerers to kill their rebellion. They’ll totally be fine tho.

I hope Luis rolling shit initiative during critical times becomes a thing. It’s like Ashley with Yasha, or Laudna with Eldritch Blast.

Sorry but the mental picture of Thjazi running through a battlefield with a bundle of bedazzled shit in his arms is funny. He’s not beating the thief allegations. Shadow army is cool, possibly haunting Julien now. Casimir fought with the rebellion but might be a betrayer of the banner now or might be apart of something larger. I don’t think one man would turn on his war friends he’s known for literal decades over nothing. There has to be more going on with the glyph interception and Casimir is either the first layer working with others or is being framed.

Curse! Curse! Curse! Curse! Die! Die! Die! Die!

“This is episode two and I’m going to set a really important precedent about touching stuff”

Thaisha and Hal 🥰 “Stay” god these PCs are after me. I really love how comfortable in the skin the female PCs feel. I just like them all. And Matt trying to stay in character while everyone else is laughing just puts this air to Julien that he’s not aligned with everyone else

Damn these PCs already have a +6/+7 to skill rolls at level 3. WHY DOES BOLAIRE HAVE HIGH INTELLIGENCE TAL??? You rolled two 18s and put them in intelligence and charisma??? I smell a schemer. Nah I’m squinting my eyes at Tal and Sam with whatever secrets they got hidden.

Aw. Idk how many people notice this but when Aabria says “the dice do go higher” and Marisha laughs while scribbling notes down, Matt looks over and breaks character by smiling a little.

I love that these people get to be a little threatening and hostile with each other. They’re adults with families and jobs and backgrounds and they have beliefs and values that counter each other. They’re gonna rub a bit before they stick like glue

Every additional detail revealed about how Thjazi lived his life just makes him funnier. Man chose the craziest road at every fork. I fear he is my type. What a great concept to start a campaign

Sam: I’m gonna great a bible. Liam: I’m gonna create the art of war. Broken Wing🪽

I love Loza. Great NPC. “I can still hear the falcons cry.” I wonder if this has double meanings. Not only about the birds, but the soldiers being the birds and the cry being those who died.

Gifting fey as a wedding gift is crazy. But I really do love Thimble. She’s a warrior fairy from the gardens 🍃 dollhouse clothes fit her 🥰

Everything about the 5 joining the 3 and talking about things that went wrong. Random wolf in the house. Undead familiar fox trying to spy. Cranberry rolls no one wants. This is the stupid shit I want to watch 100s of hours of.

I don’t think Tyranny wants to go along with whatever plan the other demons having going on. I think the girl just wants to vibe and live life with people and make friends like Thaisha. She may be out of hell but she’s still in chains.

Idky but Loza getting an in for Teor totally went over my head watching this live. Teor is really selling his soul into this performance and Wick is just here for it without question. They’re both struggling so hard not to look at Teor disrespectfully. The physical acting coming from Sam and Whitney is great. I love that the cast is leaning into this more. Yes please embody your characters to where they straight up possess you

“Let’s go get snackies” it’s the small shit like this that gives characters so much personality you have to love. It’d be so easy to say it’s insignificant but there’s something there with revealing the childlike mindset still exists as an adult of spoiling yourself. There were so many ways Tyranny could’ve played Teor but she remained rather true to her instincts and I think that’s the person she wants to be not the pampered up aspirant or the demon with alternative plans. She wants snackies and friends

Brennan baiting with a box that totally won’t trap you. You can touch the box or not touch the box he doesn’t care, but hey just so YOU know, that box….hella touchable 😉 😉 if you dare. bet you won’t coward. Not like someone else is gonna come along and touch the box before you

Yeah whatever vibes Thimble, Occtis, Kattigan, Azune, and Teor have is what I wanna watch. You can’t give me a fae folk and not get attached. Man who loves dog?? Yes please. Wizard kid wannabe necromancer kinda weird? Give me the pathetic wet sock of a boy. Haunted by choices of others and riddled with guilt soldier who feels he isn’t ever doing enough??? Has never had the time to do what he wants?? Set some fucking fires king. Inheritor of the banner of rebellion just waltzing back, being the first one to act healing his old friends and reconning enemies?? Yeah. Which arm do you want? Inject me.

Leaving on all those different PC cliff hangers grr. Julien is to look for Occtis, Murray and Bolaire need a familiar and to speak with Hal who is making breakfast with Thaisha, meanwhile Occtis, Thimble, and Kattigan are gonna rough up the crows who Azune might be in the area on patrol with other marshals. Wick & Tyranny on their own with Teor intruding their house bleeding out a celestial?? And Vaelus is ???? watching the Fang residence??? or followed Thimble???? we don’t know! And there’s gonna be a combat and a gala

Whitney’s acting with Tyranny 💕💕 can we keep her 🥺👉👈 podcast listeners are missing out. This was a great episode and I can’t believe we have 2 more Overture episodes before we get solidified tables and they split off to their own separate adventures

[annamaggs16]

My C4E1 thoughts

Yes. I LOVE THIS CONCEPT. Everyone already has history and ties to not only each other but also the city they live in. You’ve got pretentious dicks, rich non-religious folk super obsessed with their names and legacies and that in itself being a concept of faith and worship, demons were recently released and adapting to mortal-kind whereas Fae Folk lost their immortality and have begun aging unable to open the doors to ever go home, protective moms and supportive nosy aunties, soldiers came home from war all fucked up and are trying to cope with their shit, and the next generation is all grown up getting brought to the table with plenty of optimism & sheltering to go around for the others while also completely unaware of why the vibes are weird

I could watch the Azune, Teor, Kattigan, Thimble, and Occtis group for literal hours. There’s a fucking story there. “Kattigan’s a man of few words” my ass. He couldn’t stop drunk spewing detail by detail explanations Thimble had to cut him off lol.

I love that the warriors all have this camaraderie between each other because they fought an insane war really long ago, but even with all the time that’s passed and the stations they’ve gained, they still fucking wanna hang out

Tyranny and Thaisha <3 yes sometimes women really do turn a corner with each other in under 30 seconds. They have feelings, they have priorities, they have likes and dislikes, and they will make that everyone else’s problem. I love that we’re getting two powerhouse female PCs, and I’m hoping the fandom (looking at men specifically) don’t try to villainize them for taking up their own space. All the guys created sad boi characters and that is not the women’s fault.

I’m so here for Murray. I was a bit worried she was gonna be hypersexualized but I love the playfulness of her flirtations, and she’s a tea sipper. She loves good gossip. Pleasantly surprised she’s a Wizard. Curious as to where Marisha is taking her mechanically DnD wise. I needed personality, and damn I got one close to home. The soft soulful country is something I’m a bit more familiar with, and I like that it’s not just in the accent but very present in the behavior and presence. I can tell I’m going to quickly be won over by this character which I didn’t think I’d come out of this episode with that conclusion so soon.

I’m glad Teor sounds the way he does because I was NOT interested in the big cat dude but after this episode, yeah I’m a sucker for a bit of a visibly big guy turning out to be emotional softy. Teor & Thimble is really hitting on the Grog & Pike vibes for me

I do feel like I’ve seen Kattigan’s character archetype somewhere else. I liked the initial character tease, and now having seen him in action, I’m a bit surprised that he isn’t more gruff and less social. He feels like a ranger who has been living in the city for far too long and is slowly forgetting his nature connection. The bounty hunter part…he doesn’t have a secure job place, nor status like the others, let alone a cause, he doesn’t seem like he was a part of the initial set up and more so came into this because he recognized old faces. Maybe he struggles with grief and loss and thus being shit-faced helps him cope. Idk. I feel like Kattigan and Murray swapped places for me with my initial character interest level. I want to see this man outside a city doing legit tracking shit and sober

Lore wise….so many people are playing characters from houses and big names. Holy shit I need lore docs and connection webs.

Also PC stats were crazy. I didn’t see everyone’s but there’s a lot of 16/17/18 range for people. It feels like lots of consideration was done to make stats reflect PCs intentions. I can definitely see that with Brennan wanting them to build back up characters, some of them will probably die and we’re going to have more than just 13 PCs for this campaign. If anything, this campaign feels like it’s set up for PCs to have finality and for players to come in with several characters ready to go and have a connection to why they’re there. Like you didn’t need to build a character with a goal that can only be accomplished after 100 episodes, some of them are going to be completing their personal story far sooner. And I like it. It’s different. Entertainment medias have gotten way too comfortable keeping beloved characters around for far too longer than necessary. I like that this campaign has the vibe of ‘you need to have your character contributing every session with agency’ I think we’ll get a lot of juicy content this way and less cagey ‘I don’t want to tell you my backstory lore because we aren’t halfway through the campaign yet’ that unfortunately CR was falling into the repetitive habit of. I don’t want to have to wait 40-60 episodes, each 4/5 hours long to know shit about your character. Campaign 4 definitely feels like a good reset with already so much revealed in just the first episode with 13 PCs. Yes, more.

[annamaggs16]

Here’s the Tags I’ll be using for the start of CR’s next campaign airing October 2nd!

I strongly advise getting your tag systems ready for those who will be live-blogging:

Correct pc name spelling (& NPCs)

new world lore (and it’s correct spelling: aramán has an accent marker)

spoiler filtering I can’t tag rn or else this advisory post gets hidden in those tags lol (#cr spoilers #critical role spoilers)

Anything else personally important to you like campaign table names and arcs (soldiers, seekers, schemers, & overture)

You can always get a few drafts ready to go with all the basic tags saved to spare yourself any live-blogging anxiety with simultaneously watching and react posting <3