"What if I need you ?" This is why I love Travis Willingham as a performer. The guy will comic relief all day long, until he hits you with that one sentence emotional sucker punch. Also, fun details I liked in these episodes : - When the Briarwoods went back to their room, they walk in front of a mirror, revealing that Sylas doesn't have a reflection, while Delilah does. - As soon as the guards leave after confiscating the cutlery, Vax plays with a knife, showing he managed to pocket one under the guard's noses.
Not sure if anyone mentioned this, but since you guys mentioned how high-quality the show is: This show was originally crowd-funded on kickstarter. They pitched it to a lot of companies, and got turned down at almost every turn. So they decided to make it crowd-funded to not only get it made, but to show there was interest in the idea. The original plan was an animated special (the first 2 episodes were supposed to be one short film), with stretch goals to get this arc (the Briarwood Arc) animated in a mini-series. That was the *original* plan. Then ALL the stretch goals were met in the first *12* *HOURS* of the kickstarter being online. To put it in perspective, I believe the original goal was $750,000 with $3 mil in stretch goals. That $3 mil got hit before the first *day* was over. So they made more goals. And they kept getting met. By the end of the month-long kickstarter campaign, they'd raised over $11 MILLION for this project, *and* had gotten to keep creative freedom since they didn't sell the IP to any production company or anything like that. The series remained in the hands of the people who made it from the ground-up. Even when they made the deal with Amazon, they made sure they retained ownership/creative direction. Amazon saw the potential after the kickstarter, and actually has had a mostly hands-off approach from what I understand. That's why this show is so great! It's a story being retold by the very people who told it together in the first place. No corporate/hollywood B.S. No changes that ruin the core identity of the franchise. Just a group of friends who got the opportunity of a lifetime to see their story come to life in brilliant animation. Thanks for coming to my TED talk, if you read all that. Sorry it was so long.
It's not that no production company was interested in making the series, but as you pointed out, the sticking point was that they would not have let Critical Role retain ownership and control over their characters and other IP. Any contract they could have had would inevitably contain a clause that basically said: "Those characters that you've lived and loved for almost a decade? Those are _ours_ now. If the show takes off, we can bring out any form of merchandise we like, no matter how crappy or detrimental to the brand, up to and including _Vox Machina_ toilet paper, for the people who wish to rub their shitty arses all over your characters' faces. We can follow up the series with a shitty spin-off, 'Vox Machina meets the Flintstones… _IN SPACE!!'_ And you have no say in the matter."
The way in which the Critical Role cast was flabbergasted by the speed and amount of money pouring in, reminds me very much of the first time they printed T-shirts to gauge the interest in CritRole merch: "Oh, BTW, if anyone is interested, we had a couple of T-shirts printed. If that's a thing that interest you, you can buy them from our store at-" "They're sold out." "What?! But I hadn't even finished _introducing_ the offer!" 😆
@@SebastianWeinberg If you go back and check out the announcement video they made for the kickstarter, it was mainly because none of the studios they pitched to were willing to take a chance on the show, thinking it was too risky. Signing away the IP may have been part of that, but that's what I took as the main priority was the risk of a new series. As far as your second comment, yeah, the Critter hug of death is wild. We are, in fact, Legion. And God have mercy on the fool that underestimates our support.
@@Drocksas You're quite right that they weren't exactly swimming in offers. Production companies weren't tripping over each other to court them. I merely wanted to emphasise that those few who _would_ potentially invest in an "unproven" IP, would invariably demand more ownership and control over the IP and characters than the creators were comfortable ceding. So, it was less of a "No options at all" scenario that motivated their Kickstarter, and more like "No _palatable_ options".
Grog’s intelligence of 6 is very low, barely on the level of sentience. He’s been polymorphed into animals several times and actually became smarter while he was an animal. XD. He does, however, have a relatively high wisdom stat, so while he might not have a lot of mental capacity, he’s quite perceptive and insightful and makes very good use of what little he does know so he often comes up with unorthodox but highly effective tactics and ideas. It’s an interesting juxtaposition because Travis, his player, is arguably the smartest guy at the table but has the attention span of a gnat half the time. Lol
Also, he chose to play a Goliath with a low INT stat in the first place because he knew nothing about D&D or roleplaying at the start of their campaign. So he decided that if he played the dumbest character in the party, his lack of knowledge in what was going on could be played off as Grog's lack of knowledge. That in itself was a smart move.
Yep, human base average intelligence in the game world starts at about a 10, with most PC's having an above average intelligence, but Grog... with that 6, he is closer in intelligence to Vex's bear Trinket, whose intelligence is a 4, than he is to any other member of the group.
Liam, about Grog: He's got an intelligence of 6, he doesn't know! Travis, using Grog's wisdom and staring accusingly at Vax: let's just say I _assume_ . That's one of my favorite Grog moments from campaign 1, surpassed only by the time he took psychic damage for thinking too hard. 😆
I just realized how ironic it is when Silas says 'Charmed' to Percy, not knowing who he is for a moment and also having just magically Charmed the King
Percy's guns have unique homebrew mechanics, because they originally started playing Pathfinder, but when they started streaming they switched to D&D. His gunslinger class was missing in D&D, so they created one. He can do special tricks shots and other cool stuff, but his gun jams on a 1-3 on the d20 if I'm right. Maybe 1-5. He can fix it in combat, but there's a chance then that it breaks and he needs tools and time to repair it.
Say hello to No Mercy Percy! Fun fact: The snake is named "Simon" (The one eyed trouser snake) aka "Snake Pliskin" on stealth missions. Buckle up guys this ride gets insanely wild! :)
The actress that played/portrayed Pike (Ashley Johnson) worked on Blindspot for NBC. As she couldn't play D&D in Los Angeles while filming in New York, the show created an arc for Pike to explain Ashley's absence at the table. Also, the tabletop games last for 3-4 hours.
So Pike leaving is actually true to life in a lot of dnd groups. Sometimes other commitments mean that one or two players can't make it to the next few sessions. So this vignette of Pike leaving is more-or-less a representation of that common reality in D&D.
Very True... her commitments were in NY as she was starring in the TV Series "Blindspot", so she was unable to attend the game often. However, they WERE able to have her appear via Zoom a few times. They actually play that into this series a bit pretty cleverly. They specifically even stated that is why they did this. They wanted to stay true to some of what happened in the Streams.
Pike's story in the Briarwood arc is really good, although I should mention that while yes her belief in the Everlight is important, clerics in D&D generally use a holy symbol as a medium to cast their magic, so it being damaged by Delilah would really hinder her ability to cast spells. Another thing is that it makes for a good in-world reason for Pike to be away from the group, as during this and a few other parts of the original campaign, Ashley Johnson, Pike's creator and VA, was absent for several episodes due to her work taking her away for an extended period of time.
Off shooting episodes of Blindspot, in which the writers of that actually worked in references to Critical Role and her character a couple of times. Agent Patterson (Johnson's character in the show) even has a coffee mug that us all about Critical Role
"What the fuck!? It's so good!" Hearing this always brings so much joy to my little critter heart. It just keeps getting better from here, can't wait to watch it (again) with y'all.
Episode four was apparently when the animation team finally realized that they wanted these characters to get messed up in the story. The Critical Role crew kept telling them to mess up the party, but this was the first time they stepped up and went “bet. Hold my beer” and stepped up the violence haha
"is Grog actually the smartest one here?" As a barbarian he has an innate ability to roll natural 20s on all intelligence checks even though his is 6 or -3 ability score.
The show isn't a 1:1 retelling, but an adaptation. And the writers, headed by Sam (Scanlan's player) and Travis (Grog's player) are INCREDIBLY good and stay true to the essence of the story. It's kinda like the One Piece Netflix adaptation, where they had literal years worth of content to cram into a single season, and instead of trying to go beat for beat they wrote something similar and coherent while making sure to keep the major story beats, important character decisions and moments of development, and focusing more on capturing and staying true to the essence of the characters and story. So, no, the combat blow-by-bow wasn't necessarily each a specific roll of the dice, though when the roll of the dice resulted in something major that affected the actual story, they try to make sure that stays in. The other reason why this is so good is because it's literally a passion project headed by the original creators who have pretty much 100% control of the project. In fact, for the first season, Amazon only funded the last two episodes and agreed to put it on their platform and market it: the vast majority of the production of season 1 was funded by a Kickstart campaign that Critical Role set up. Critical Role set it up because they really wanted to see their characters animated and originally only planned on making at most 2 episodes ... then the Kickstart blew up because their fans ALSO wanted to see that. And since then, Netflix has pretty much gone with Disney's original model with Marvel: here's the money you need, now make awesome shut we can put on our platform and make sure papa Bezos gets his cut.
The ghost scenes are some of the best horror/suspense buildup scenes ive seen in recent times. From just a easily missed glimpse of a white eye in the darkness to brutal death by a dark figure just out of sight. The animators did a fantastic job.
Critical role is closer to 4 to 6 hour long episodes lol but yes, as a fan that watched them play and seeing this story at the table then seeing it translated to the screen has been amazing. Im stoked to see you guys enjoying it. It only gets better!!! Also their second campaign full of completely different characters got greenlit to become an animated show as well. So im excited to see all these actors playing completely different personas
Haven't seen it mentioned yet but since I found ya'll through your ATLA reactions: fun fact that the VA for Delilah (Grey Griffin) also did Azula. Excited to see you're reactions for the rest of this show!
In the actual campaign, pikes plyer, Ashley Johnson, who is also the voice of Gwen in Ben 10, can you be with the group for long hair is the time because of filming. So incorporated that into this story as her losing her power
In the campaign, Pike's VA, Ashley Johnson had to leave for long stretches to film another show across the country that she was contracted with. She'd drop in on video call to play when she could, and Pike's doubt after losing to Delilah and her journey to finding herself fits well in the show rather than just having her be absent.
This was their first dnd campaign for all but Matt Murcer and I think one other but I don't remember. The start of ep 3 was the second story arc they streamed, and it was at was about half way into the game. Ep 1 and 2 happened pre stream of their campaign. Also they switched from Pathfinder to DND when they started to stream.
fun fact that the behind the scenes reason why pike leaves is because during the campaign ashley (who plays pike) had other commitments and couldnt make it to the groups dnd sessions, and they incorporated that into pike's story!!
One major selling point for these stories crafted through D&D is that we naturally get a genuine sense of risk that other works try hard to create on their own while telling an interesting story. Because it’s a story heavily rafted through the chance of dice roles, truly no one is safe from their own stupidity of bad luck. They have basically NO plot armor and all of us who know this stories origin’s remember and loved that sense of danger and uncertainty.
Druids can learn the spell 'Daylight'. This was a great way to show our resident druid learning a new spell, for those who know D&D, and to show those who don't that spellcasters can learn new tricks and grow in power.
It would actually be her best attempt at Sunbeam, just without the beam part yet. "For the duration, a mote of brilliant radiance shines in your hand. It sheds bright light in a 30-foot radius and dim light for an additional 30 feet. The light is sunlight"
@@Kay-im6ht it was probably daylight because the show is an adaptation, not 1:1. additionally, though this was many years after the fact, daylight now casts sunlight in D&D24.
@@deffdefying4803 You are actually probably right, as druids don't learn daylight. I like the other commenter's theory that it was an attempt at sunbeam as well
They cut one of the best lines though. At the table percy's screaming questions while desmond pleads for his life Percy: tell me? Desmond: I can't they'll kill me Percy: No they won't (cocks his gun and points it desmond's head) because i'll kill you first
Necromancer and Vampire. Quite the Power Couple. Also, Pike left on her own journey because Ashley Johnson (who plays Pike) IRL got a job on the TV show Blindspot and was no longer able to attend regular sessions. She could only join in once every few months via Skype (they called it Astral Projecting).
Part of why I think this is so good is because they have all been working in animation as voice actors for years. In addition to acting several of them have careers in directing. I’m mean the voice of Scanlon (Sam Reigel) has an Emmy for directing an animated series.
Oh I'm so happy you guys are into this! I can not wait till you get into the coming episodes! Also the second campaign Critical Role did, Mighty Nein, is going to animated too!❤
1247 first recorded murder being solved by forensics. "The earliest known case of a crime being solved using insect evidence comes from medieval China. In 1247, the Chinese lawyer Sung Ts'u wrote a textbook on criminal investigations called "The Washing Away of Wrongs." In his book, Ts'u recounts the story of a murder near a rice field. The victim had been slashed repeatedly. Investigators suspected the murder weapon was a sickle, a common tool used in the rice harvest. But how could the murderer be identified, when so many workers carried these tools? The local magistrate brought all the workers together and told them to lay down their sickles. Though all the tools looked clean, one quickly attracted hordes of flies. The flies could sense the residue of blood and tissue invisible to the human eye. When confronted by this jury of flies, the murderer confessed to the crime." Smart people have always been around. When they didn't have modern tools, they found other ways to get things done.
21:00 hats off to the animations studio Titmouse. They nailed it. Some of the animators were fans of Critical Role before they got the opportunity to work on the show.
The Legend of Vox Machina is very similar to the One Piece Live action in the way that both are considerably condensed material. One Piece turning 45 ~25 min episode into 8 ~1 hour episodes,and The Legend of Vox Machina turning ~50 hours of live stream Dungeons and Dragons into 10(the first two episodes are prestream) ~25 min episodes.
In the firearms rules for Percy's character, each type of gun had a "Misfire" number. If you roll equal to or lower than that(the natural roll, before applying any bonuses or penalties), the gun misfires. It was then unusable until you spent an action to roll a check to repair it on the fly. If you fail that check, the gun was unusable until you could spend time out of combat repairing it(at a cost).
- Perceval De Rolo III is voiced & played in the campaign by Taliesin Jaffe who also voices Lord De Rolo from this series, Hawkins (One Piece), Blanka & Adon (Street Fighter), Skiadrum & Dist (Fairy Tail), Takeya (DearS), Leif (Hellsing Ultimate), Prosecutor (Space Dandy), Adolf (Monster), Masahiro (Paranoia Agent), Shizen, Kouha, & Houkou (Ikki Tousen), Kazuma (Free), Koji (Strawberry Eggs), & many more - Sovereign Uriel Tal’Dorei is voiced by Khary Payton who also voices Cyborg, Hot Spot, Herald, & others (Teen Titans & other animated DC series), Manny, Hex, & others (Ben 10), Aqualad , Black Manta, Black Lighting, Brick, & others (Young Justice), Black Samson & others (Invincible), Wasabi (Big Hero 6: the Series), Ten (Justice League), Maurice aka 9 & others (Codename Kids Next Door), Deuce (Loonatic Unleash), Tyr (Legion of Superheroes), Penguin King (The Super Mario Bros. Movie), & many more - Captain Jarrett is voiced by Eugene Byrd who also voices Principal O’Connor (The Ghost & Molly McGee), Jase & others (Rise of the TMNT), & many more
So...to put into context just HOW MUCH content they've made in the past 8½ years...if you watched the ENTIRETY of both The Simpsons AND One Piece TWICE, you'd still have a bunch of CR to consume - and that's JUST the 3 main campaigns, one shots, and mini campaigns. That doesn't include Con panels or talkshow stuff (though Talks Machina has now been removed from viewing for reasons that are easy to look up). But yes. It is a GOLIATH uptaking to get into. Most people (myself included) recommend just starting at the beginning of campaign 2, since it's very intentionally divorced from campaign 1, and honestly - a lot of tech and quality issues make consuming c1 pretty difficult if you didn't start watching then. It's just easiest to take Legend of Vox Machina as your take on c1. But it's awesome seeing you guys getting into this series. Hope you continue enjoying the ride :3
Yea, IRL Pike's VA had to go shoot a live action show, so they came up with a good reason for her absence here and in game. She does come back with some video calls for the game as well, showcased in here, but not spoiling how :D
So just a little info on the show the creator's critical role teamed up with titmouse the animation team behind DC's young justice anime and each live action episode can be from 3 and half to 5 hours long and they would stay in character for almost 80% of the episode's with some moments being so good that it brought people to tears and their second campaign has now also been green lite for the next show that takes place after the events of this one in the same world.
In the same vein as this being an ‘actual’ played campaign, real life wrote part of the plot; while the details are different, Pike’s player, Ashley Johnson, had to semi-regularly be away for portions of the campaign, so an in-context out was provided. To a degree.
More random behind the scene stuff. According to all the stuff said by them and the production company Titmouse they went a bit extra on episode 4 cause they were able to do rated R animated horror which is rare to be able to do for animation which typically has a rated teen at highest. So the animators pushed to have some fun with this
I'm sure Erik knows this from his solo reactions, but the reason why Pike breaks off is because in the Campaign live play, her player, Ashley Johnson was absent for much of this campaign (as well as a lot of Campaign 2) due to filming a TV show in New York (everyone else is LA based)
Pike leaves because the original tabletop episodes this is based on the voice actress was filming a TV show called Blindspot so she couldn't attend game sessions
It's so good thanks because of the fans. They kicked their Kickstarter's ass! It was only supposed to be a few episodes long, but because people donated way over what they needed, they had this opportunity. I'm excited for the Mighty Nein series and season 3. Also, Pike leaving, was because the actress Ashley Johnson I think was in New York shooting Blindspot. She sometimes came back for a few episodes, but she mostly was not on campaign 1 and 2.
Also just a tidbit the gunslinger subclass that matt made for percy all of his guns have a "misfire" number like 1-5 depending on the weapon, and if he rolled under that then the gun wouldnt work and might even break when percys gun jams.
So, Ashley Johnson (Pike) got a job on the NBC prime time show "Blindspot" which filmed in New York. If you're a working actor, you don't turn down an NBC prime time show. So for a long while she could only Skype in every once in a while. That's why Pike is leaving the group. The average CR episode is 3 1/2 to 4 hours long. There are over 110 episodes in the first campaign alone. They're on their 3rd campaign now.
It’s a great example of how organic storytelling (D&D) can create far more meaningful stories than 99% of the shit churned out by major media companies these days. If these 4 episodes so far have been meaningful and entertaining, I’m glad to say you have no fuckin’ clue what emotional waves you will be riding with this one.
Always remember with this show, generally speaking there is no plot armor for our characters here (NPCs maybe), so anyone can have a bad roll and die, that's D&D baby :D
You guys should check out the original scenes regarding some of these moments, specifically here with Vox Machina vs the first fight with Silas and Delilah Briarwood. Talisin Jaffe goes ham in his parts in the role play.
the reason pyke is leaving right now is that the player Ashley was in a active acting role at the time and they were filming so she had to leave the state to film a half season at some times and then she was gone for period of times.
Pike was busy making "The Last of Us" during the campaign and couldn't always make the "live" show. Sometimes Matt played her character. But when she comes back,,,, it's soooooooooo fkn'g bad ass!
This is fun to watch. It's making me watch Vox Mechana again on Prime. I know because of copyright laws and that you guys aren't trying to get a strike, but it's sad that you can barely watch and hear the show itself while you react to it. I'm still enjoying these reactions.
The reason Pike had to separate was that during the campaign, her player, Ashley Johnson regularly had to leave to go work on Blindspot in New York. So she wasnt around for a lot of this arc
Fun Fact : Pike leaving the group is something that happened often because her VA Ashley Johnson (who also voices Ellie in The Last of Us) had obligations to a live action show called "Blindspot" which forced her to leave the campaign for prolong periods of time. This would continue even into their 2nd campaign The Mighty Nein, until Blindspot finally finished! Because they dont have to worry about that with the show, Pike ends up appearing in moments she didn't originally in the campaign.
Watching this for the 2nd time makes me wonder if they're gonna throw an Easter egg in the form of a Tiberius body frozen in ice when they get to Drakonia...
Once you have watched all the episodes, some people have made videos showing big moments in the campaign next to how they did them in the animated series. So that would be fun for y'all to react to.
so the reason trinket is left behind a lot and not really used is because it died all the time and watching such a cute bear die over and over again would just make the series even sadder
Not sure if it was mentioned in comments, but this whole part with Pike leaving the group was made up for the animation because at this point in the game, Pike's player had to be away due to filming for a show on the opposite coast. Though she did try to meet up with them thru video call when she could.
Ironically even a bad D&D campaign makes a pretty good story (and Vox Machina's is one of the best). You have all the things that normally take an excellent writer to produce: a cast of characters each with a completely unique way of thinking, speaking, and acting. You have a setting that is unpredictable and where death is fickle and immediate. You have banal situations that turn out to be horrifying obstacles, and massive boss battles that become trivial moments. For a single mind to produce such a thing is very difficult. Creating different "voices" for characters is something that people complain about constantly in modern media. When the writer starts to make every character think and sound like them, you get the "Whedon-esque" writing that can certainly be clever, but it comes off as unauthentic. If you have ten people in a room making an adventure together, the easiest part of the writing is done for you. People who don't know much about writing will tell you that if you want a different experience, get a different writer. They'll tell you to get women to write for women, LGBT people to write their own experiences, etc, but the problem with that is that no one really understands their own flaws and what really makes them shine. You'll get ten people with main character syndrome who each think their burdens are the worst and don't understand why they fail or succeed at their goals. On the other hand, if you have a party of different genders, races, experiences, sexualities, etc. and can observe them and learn how they interact, that's a feast for a writer. Your writing will always stink of your own personal experiences, but that's what art is. Interpret reality as best you can, but make sure that your lens captures a wide enough scene that it's not just one boring blob of grey. TL:DR: You're never going to get a better chance than a tabletop game to learn different "voices". I think Mercer's world building is just ok. I know that's blasphemy, but where he really shines is creating memorable characters and understanding when his players need to be rewarded for their ingenuity and punished for their carelessness. He is an amazing storyteller more than anything, and I imagine a lot of that comes from steeping in the voices he performs for a living and learning to inhabit many different personalities and lifestyles to get as good as he is. I admire Mercer because he is a fantastic liar. Not in the malicious way, but in the way only great storytellers know how to be. He teases and taunts, sets false expectations, builds pitfalls into places of sacred safety. He is the spider Anansi, as all tricksters are who can spin words into worlds. I look forward to his betrayals as much as I look forward to the times where he sits back defeated and says, "well done."
"What if I need you ?"
This is why I love Travis Willingham as a performer. The guy will comic relief all day long, until he hits you with that one sentence emotional sucker punch.
Also, fun details I liked in these episodes :
- When the Briarwoods went back to their room, they walk in front of a mirror, revealing that Sylas doesn't have a reflection, while Delilah does.
- As soon as the guards leave after confiscating the cutlery, Vax plays with a knife, showing he managed to pocket one under the guard's noses.
"its a bad day for rain" -roy
"was i worth being loved" -ace
two of my favorites
Travis voices Ace??? I've only ever watched the sub, and love it, but holy crap i didn't know that! @@daemonite6661
Not sure if anyone mentioned this, but since you guys mentioned how high-quality the show is:
This show was originally crowd-funded on kickstarter. They pitched it to a lot of companies, and got turned down at almost every turn. So they decided to make it crowd-funded to not only get it made, but to show there was interest in the idea.
The original plan was an animated special (the first 2 episodes were supposed to be one short film), with stretch goals to get this arc (the Briarwood Arc) animated in a mini-series. That was the *original* plan.
Then ALL the stretch goals were met in the first *12* *HOURS* of the kickstarter being online. To put it in perspective, I believe the original goal was $750,000 with $3 mil in stretch goals. That $3 mil got hit before the first *day* was over.
So they made more goals. And they kept getting met. By the end of the month-long kickstarter campaign, they'd raised over $11 MILLION for this project, *and* had gotten to keep creative freedom since they didn't sell the IP to any production company or anything like that. The series remained in the hands of the people who made it from the ground-up.
Even when they made the deal with Amazon, they made sure they retained ownership/creative direction. Amazon saw the potential after the kickstarter, and actually has had a mostly hands-off approach from what I understand.
That's why this show is so great! It's a story being retold by the very people who told it together in the first place. No corporate/hollywood B.S. No changes that ruin the core identity of the franchise. Just a group of friends who got the opportunity of a lifetime to see their story come to life in brilliant animation.
Thanks for coming to my TED talk, if you read all that. Sorry it was so long.
It's not that no production company was interested in making the series, but as you pointed out, the sticking point was that they would not have let Critical Role retain ownership and control over their characters and other IP. Any contract they could have had would inevitably contain a clause that basically said: "Those characters that you've lived and loved for almost a decade? Those are _ours_ now. If the show takes off, we can bring out any form of merchandise we like, no matter how crappy or detrimental to the brand, up to and including _Vox Machina_ toilet paper, for the people who wish to rub their shitty arses all over your characters' faces. We can follow up the series with a shitty spin-off, 'Vox Machina meets the Flintstones… _IN SPACE!!'_ And you have no say in the matter."
The way in which the Critical Role cast was flabbergasted by the speed and amount of money pouring in, reminds me very much of the first time they printed T-shirts to gauge the interest in CritRole merch:
"Oh, BTW, if anyone is interested, we had a couple of T-shirts printed. If that's a thing that interest you, you can buy them from our store at-"
"They're sold out."
"What?! But I hadn't even finished _introducing_ the offer!"
😆
@@SebastianWeinberg If you go back and check out the announcement video they made for the kickstarter, it was mainly because none of the studios they pitched to were willing to take a chance on the show, thinking it was too risky. Signing away the IP may have been part of that, but that's what I took as the main priority was the risk of a new series.
As far as your second comment, yeah, the Critter hug of death is wild. We are, in fact, Legion. And God have mercy on the fool that underestimates our support.
@@Drocksas You're quite right that they weren't exactly swimming in offers. Production companies weren't tripping over each other to court them.
I merely wanted to emphasise that those few who _would_ potentially invest in an "unproven" IP, would invariably demand more ownership and control over the IP and characters than the creators were comfortable ceding. So, it was less of a "No options at all" scenario that motivated their Kickstarter, and more like "No _palatable_ options".
Huh, that’s interesting.
Grog’s intelligence of 6 is very low, barely on the level of sentience. He’s been polymorphed into animals several times and actually became smarter while he was an animal. XD. He does, however, have a relatively high wisdom stat, so while he might not have a lot of mental capacity, he’s quite perceptive and insightful and makes very good use of what little he does know so he often comes up with unorthodox but highly effective tactics and ideas. It’s an interesting juxtaposition because Travis, his player, is arguably the smartest guy at the table but has the attention span of a gnat half the time. Lol
Travis Willingham - Total goofball, and CEO of the company
Also, he chose to play a Goliath with a low INT stat in the first place because he knew nothing about D&D or roleplaying at the start of their campaign. So he decided that if he played the dumbest character in the party, his lack of knowledge in what was going on could be played off as Grog's lack of knowledge. That in itself was a smart move.
Yep, human base average intelligence in the game world starts at about a 10, with most PC's having an above average intelligence, but Grog... with that 6, he is closer in intelligence to Vex's bear Trinket, whose intelligence is a 4, than he is to any other member of the group.
Liam, about Grog: He's got an intelligence of 6, he doesn't know!
Travis, using Grog's wisdom and staring accusingly at Vax: let's just say I _assume_ . That's one of my favorite Grog moments from campaign 1, surpassed only by the time he took psychic damage for thinking too hard. 😆
well he has adhd and that tends to be a way it manifests (speaking as someone with adhd). you're smart but you have a hard time focusing.
22:01 "You've got to take Trinket with you!"
Laura Bailey, voice actress and player of Vex'alia: "Yes!"
Animators: **"NO!!"**
Scanlan: "HELL NO!"
I just realized how ironic it is when Silas says 'Charmed' to Percy, not knowing who he is for a moment and also having just magically Charmed the King
Sylas definitely knew who Percy is, but yeah, charmed from a vampire is fun I haven't noticed :D
Percy's guns have unique homebrew mechanics, because they originally started playing Pathfinder, but when they started streaming they switched to D&D. His gunslinger class was missing in D&D, so they created one. He can do special tricks shots and other cool stuff, but his gun jams on a 1-3 on the d20 if I'm right. Maybe 1-5. He can fix it in combat, but there's a chance then that it breaks and he needs tools and time to repair it.
Not quite that high a chance of misfiring, Percys good at what he does: 1 for pistols, 2 for pepperboxes, 3 for the big one
2:55 In the words of Travis, Grog's player:
"I have an intelligence of 6, I know what I'm doing."
"You have been transformed into a giant eagle and ... *Laughs* become smarter 😂 this line stuck out to me the most
Say hello to No Mercy Percy! Fun fact: The snake is named "Simon" (The one eyed trouser snake) aka "Snake Pliskin" on stealth missions. Buckle up guys this ride gets insanely wild! :)
The actress that played/portrayed Pike (Ashley Johnson) worked on Blindspot for NBC. As she couldn't play D&D in Los Angeles while filming in New York, the show created an arc for Pike to explain Ashley's absence at the table. Also, the tabletop games last for 3-4 hours.
So Pike leaving is actually true to life in a lot of dnd groups. Sometimes other commitments mean that one or two players can't make it to the next few sessions. So this vignette of Pike leaving is more-or-less a representation of that common reality in D&D.
Very True... her commitments were in NY as she was starring in the TV Series "Blindspot", so she was unable to attend the game often. However, they WERE able to have her appear via Zoom a few times. They actually play that into this series a bit pretty cleverly. They specifically even stated that is why they did this. They wanted to stay true to some of what happened in the Streams.
When the Briarwoods were walking in the hall, Delilah had a reflection while Sylas did not.
I've noticed that a lot of reactors miss that part.
Pike's story in the Briarwood arc is really good, although I should mention that while yes her belief in the Everlight is important, clerics in D&D generally use a holy symbol as a medium to cast their magic, so it being damaged by Delilah would really hinder her ability to cast spells. Another thing is that it makes for a good in-world reason for Pike to be away from the group, as during this and a few other parts of the original campaign, Ashley Johnson, Pike's creator and VA, was absent for several episodes due to her work taking her away for an extended period of time.
Off shooting episodes of Blindspot, in which the writers of that actually worked in references to Critical Role and her character a couple of times. Agent Patterson (Johnson's character in the show) even has a coffee mug that us all about Critical Role
The First Appearance of NO MERCY PERCY.
I heard the description of him being like that but seeing him like that is a thousand times more scary !
Pike and Grog are like family. They are best friends. Thats why He takes her words more seriously.
"What the fuck!? It's so good!" Hearing this always brings so much joy to my little critter heart.
It just keeps getting better from here, can't wait to watch it (again) with y'all.
Episode four was apparently when the animation team finally realized that they wanted these characters to get messed up in the story. The Critical Role crew kept telling them to mess up the party, but this was the first time they stepped up and went “bet. Hold my beer” and stepped up the violence haha
"is Grog actually the smartest one here?"
As a barbarian he has an innate ability to roll natural 20s on all intelligence checks even though his is 6 or -3 ability score.
And his Wisdom score wasn't terrible, so his insight and perception are decent. (and he IS the expert on Shapes and Colors.)
Plus, his player Travis Willingham is actually a pretty intelligent person. He plays dumb pretty convincingly though.
I have an intelligent of 6. I think I know what I'm doing.
@@AlmostOtaku7And shiny things
6 is a -2 to the checks. It's all about that incredible acting.
Ngl, Scanlan's song in the third episode, while it is inappropriate, is both surprisingly catchy and a real toe tapper
The show isn't a 1:1 retelling, but an adaptation. And the writers, headed by Sam (Scanlan's player) and Travis (Grog's player) are INCREDIBLY good and stay true to the essence of the story. It's kinda like the One Piece Netflix adaptation, where they had literal years worth of content to cram into a single season, and instead of trying to go beat for beat they wrote something similar and coherent while making sure to keep the major story beats, important character decisions and moments of development, and focusing more on capturing and staying true to the essence of the characters and story.
So, no, the combat blow-by-bow wasn't necessarily each a specific roll of the dice, though when the roll of the dice resulted in something major that affected the actual story, they try to make sure that stays in.
The other reason why this is so good is because it's literally a passion project headed by the original creators who have pretty much 100% control of the project. In fact, for the first season, Amazon only funded the last two episodes and agreed to put it on their platform and market it: the vast majority of the production of season 1 was funded by a Kickstart campaign that Critical Role set up. Critical Role set it up because they really wanted to see their characters animated and originally only planned on making at most 2 episodes ... then the Kickstart blew up because their fans ALSO wanted to see that. And since then, Netflix has pretty much gone with Disney's original model with Marvel: here's the money you need, now make awesome shut we can put on our platform and make sure papa Bezos gets his cut.
Was going to mention the not 1-for-1 combat, well covered :)
Welcome to a much darker arc of The Legend of Vox Machina, courtesy of the Briarwoods.
Indeed
I'm still sad that we couldn't have started with the first arc of the campain - kraghammer arc, although it's understandable why we didn't get it
Yeah Dragonborns and all that...@@Erblorg
@Erblorg maybe when the series is over they'll drop a few episodes from kraghammer
Oh yeah these guys are gonna shit over the tree. That's still an amazing reveal and so fucking dark.
“Eatch for an hour- actuallyni think its two hours an episode”
Me: BLINKS IN FOUR+ hour episodes
All the main characters are, of course, voiced by their players. Sylas Briarwood is voiced by Matthew Mercer, the Gamemaster.
The ghost scenes are some of the best horror/suspense buildup scenes ive seen in recent times. From just a easily missed glimpse of a white eye in the darkness to brutal death by a dark figure just out of sight. The animators did a fantastic job.
Critical role is closer to 4 to 6 hour long episodes lol but yes, as a fan that watched them play and seeing this story at the table then seeing it translated to the screen has been amazing. Im stoked to see you guys enjoying it.
It only gets better!!! Also their second campaign full of completely different characters got greenlit to become an animated show as well. So im excited to see all these actors playing completely different personas
Haven't seen it mentioned yet but since I found ya'll through your ATLA reactions: fun fact that the VA for Delilah (Grey Griffin) also did Azula. Excited to see you're reactions for the rest of this show!
“I think they’re more… I think they’re 2 hours”
Giggles in 3-6 hour episode lengths.
In the actual campaign, pikes plyer, Ashley Johnson, who is also the voice of Gwen in Ben 10, can you be with the group for long hair is the time because of filming. So incorporated that into this story as her losing her power
7:20 ~ ...I don't know if that's "intimidation" as much as "the barbarian grabbed the dude and threw him into a wall" ^^; ...
In the campaign, Pike's VA, Ashley Johnson had to leave for long stretches to film another show across the country that she was contracted with. She'd drop in on video call to play when she could, and Pike's doubt after losing to Delilah and her journey to finding herself fits well in the show rather than just having her be absent.
This was their first dnd campaign for all but Matt Murcer and I think one other but I don't remember.
The start of ep 3 was the second story arc they streamed, and it was at was about half way into the game.
Ep 1 and 2 happened pre stream of their campaign.
Also they switched from Pathfinder to DND when they started to stream.
Taliesin was the other one who had frequently played tabletop games
fun fact that the behind the scenes reason why pike leaves is because during the campaign ashley (who plays pike) had other commitments and couldnt make it to the groups dnd sessions, and they incorporated that into pike's story!!
Grog "I have an intelligence of 6, I know what I'm doing" Strongjaw
One major selling point for these stories crafted through D&D is that we naturally get a genuine sense of risk that other works try hard to create on their own while telling an interesting story. Because it’s a story heavily rafted through the chance of dice roles, truly no one is safe from their own stupidity of bad luck. They have basically NO plot armor and all of us who know this stories origin’s remember and loved that sense of danger and uncertainty.
And thus, no mercy percy was born
Druids can learn the spell 'Daylight'. This was a great way to show our resident druid learning a new spell, for those who know D&D, and to show those who don't that spellcasters can learn new tricks and grow in power.
Funnily enough the spell Daylight doesn't actually use sunlight. It was probably Dawn
It would actually be her best attempt at Sunbeam, just without the beam part yet. "For the duration, a mote of brilliant radiance shines in your hand. It sheds bright light in a 30-foot radius and dim light for an additional 30 feet. The light is sunlight"
@@Kay-im6ht it was probably daylight because the show is an adaptation, not 1:1.
additionally, though this was many years after the fact, daylight now casts sunlight in D&D24.
@@deffdefying4803 You are actually probably right, as druids don't learn daylight. I like the other commenter's theory that it was an attempt at sunbeam as well
They cut one of the best lines though. At the table percy's screaming questions while desmond pleads for his life
Percy: tell me?
Desmond: I can't they'll kill me
Percy: No they won't (cocks his gun and points it desmond's head) because i'll kill you first
Hearing you guys singing this shows praises this early on is amazing, because it just Keeps. Getting. Better.
Loving it
15:39 To quote Grog himself, "I have an intelligence of 6, I know what I'm doing"
With the “is this a check, nay 20” and stuff you are like 70% correct
Necromancer and Vampire. Quite the Power Couple.
Also, Pike left on her own journey because Ashley Johnson (who plays Pike) IRL got a job on the TV show Blindspot and was no longer able to attend regular sessions. She could only join in once every few months via Skype (they called it Astral Projecting).
Love that you are keeping these videos of two episode per video! Keep up the great work guys! It only get better from here 👍🏻💪🏻
"OOOOH HE'S A VAMPIRE!!" oh, so it finally sssunk in eh? :P >:D lol
you guys are doing this series so much justice
Part of why I think this is so good is because they have all been working in animation as voice actors for years. In addition to acting several of them have careers in directing. I’m mean the voice of Scanlon (Sam Reigel) has an Emmy for directing an animated series.
Oh I'm so happy you guys are into this! I can not wait till you get into the coming episodes! Also the second campaign Critical Role did, Mighty Nein, is going to animated too!❤
Ahh The briarwood Arc in critical role this is the fan favourite arc in vox machina
"this show has no sense being this good" it only goes up from here, man.
1247 first recorded murder being solved by forensics.
"The earliest known case of a crime being solved using insect evidence comes from medieval China. In 1247, the Chinese lawyer Sung Ts'u wrote a textbook on criminal investigations called "The Washing Away of Wrongs." In his book, Ts'u recounts the story of a murder near a rice field. The victim had been slashed repeatedly. Investigators suspected the murder weapon was a sickle, a common tool used in the rice harvest. But how could the murderer be identified, when so many workers carried these tools?
The local magistrate brought all the workers together and told them to lay down their sickles. Though all the tools looked clean, one quickly attracted hordes of flies. The flies could sense the residue of blood and tissue invisible to the human eye. When confronted by this jury of flies, the murderer confessed to the crime."
Smart people have always been around. When they didn't have modern tools, they found other ways to get things done.
21:00 hats off to the animations studio Titmouse. They nailed it. Some of the animators were fans of Critical Role before they got the opportunity to work on the show.
The Legend of Vox Machina is very similar to the One Piece Live action in the way that both are considerably condensed material.
One Piece turning 45 ~25 min episode into 8 ~1 hour episodes,and The Legend of Vox Machina turning ~50 hours of live stream Dungeons and Dragons into 10(the first two episodes are prestream) ~25 min episodes.
In the firearms rules for Percy's character, each type of gun had a "Misfire" number. If you roll equal to or lower than that(the natural roll, before applying any bonuses or penalties), the gun misfires. It was then unusable until you spent an action to roll a check to repair it on the fly. If you fail that check, the gun was unusable until you could spend time out of combat repairing it(at a cost).
- Perceval De Rolo III is voiced & played in the campaign by Taliesin Jaffe who also voices Lord De Rolo from this series, Hawkins (One Piece), Blanka & Adon (Street Fighter), Skiadrum & Dist (Fairy Tail), Takeya (DearS), Leif (Hellsing Ultimate), Prosecutor (Space Dandy), Adolf (Monster), Masahiro (Paranoia Agent), Shizen, Kouha, & Houkou (Ikki Tousen), Kazuma (Free), Koji (Strawberry Eggs), & many more
- Sovereign Uriel Tal’Dorei is voiced by Khary Payton who also voices Cyborg, Hot Spot, Herald, & others (Teen Titans & other animated DC series), Manny, Hex, & others (Ben 10), Aqualad , Black Manta, Black Lighting, Brick, & others (Young Justice), Black Samson & others (Invincible), Wasabi (Big Hero 6: the Series), Ten (Justice League), Maurice aka 9 & others (Codename Kids Next Door), Deuce (Loonatic Unleash), Tyr (Legion of Superheroes), Penguin King (The Super Mario Bros. Movie), & many more
- Captain Jarrett is voiced by Eugene Byrd who also voices Principal O’Connor (The Ghost & Molly McGee), Jase & others (Rise of the TMNT), & many more
So...to put into context just HOW MUCH content they've made in the past 8½ years...if you watched the ENTIRETY of both The Simpsons AND One Piece TWICE, you'd still have a bunch of CR to consume - and that's JUST the 3 main campaigns, one shots, and mini campaigns. That doesn't include Con panels or talkshow stuff (though Talks Machina has now been removed from viewing for reasons that are easy to look up). But yes. It is a GOLIATH uptaking to get into.
Most people (myself included) recommend just starting at the beginning of campaign 2, since it's very intentionally divorced from campaign 1, and honestly - a lot of tech and quality issues make consuming c1 pretty difficult if you didn't start watching then. It's just easiest to take Legend of Vox Machina as your take on c1.
But it's awesome seeing you guys getting into this series. Hope you continue enjoying the ride :3
the one-eye'ed trouser snake always gets me on that one, HA!
Yea, IRL Pike's VA had to go shoot a live action show, so they came up with a good reason for her absence here and in game. She does come back with some video calls for the game as well, showcased in here, but not spoiling how :D
So just a little info on the show the creator's critical role teamed up with titmouse the animation team behind DC's young justice anime and each live action episode can be from 3 and half to 5 hours long and they would stay in character for almost 80% of the episode's with some moments being so good that it brought people to tears and their second campaign has now also been green lite for the next show that takes place after the events of this one in the same world.
The reason Pike went off on her own is because during their campaign, Ashley (Pikes player/voice) had to go to NY for filming on the show Blindspot.
In the same vein as this being an ‘actual’ played campaign, real life wrote part of the plot; while the details are different, Pike’s player, Ashley Johnson, had to semi-regularly be away for portions of the campaign, so an in-context out was provided. To a degree.
Being a long time fan and watching this come to fruition has been amazing ❤ bonus - watching other people find and love CR and Vox Machina too!
More random behind the scene stuff. According to all the stuff said by them and the production company Titmouse they went a bit extra on episode 4 cause they were able to do rated R animated horror which is rare to be able to do for animation which typically has a rated teen at highest. So the animators pushed to have some fun with this
Probably been mentioned, but the voice of Lady Delilah is the same voice as Azula from Avatar
I'm sure Erik knows this from his solo reactions, but the reason why Pike breaks off is because in the Campaign live play, her player, Ashley Johnson was absent for much of this campaign (as well as a lot of Campaign 2) due to filming a TV show in New York (everyone else is LA based)
Pike leaves because the original tabletop episodes this is based on the voice actress was filming a TV show called Blindspot so she couldn't attend game sessions
It's so good thanks because of the fans. They kicked their Kickstarter's ass! It was only supposed to be a few episodes long, but because people donated way over what they needed, they had this opportunity. I'm excited for the Mighty Nein series and season 3.
Also, Pike leaving, was because the actress Ashley Johnson I think was in New York shooting Blindspot. She sometimes came back for a few episodes, but she mostly was not on campaign 1 and 2.
Also just a tidbit the gunslinger subclass that matt made for percy all of his guns have a "misfire" number like 1-5 depending on the weapon, and if he rolled under that then the gun wouldnt work and might even break when percys gun jams.
I think one of my favorite things about VM is the music, it's so so perfect
So, Ashley Johnson (Pike) got a job on the NBC prime time show "Blindspot" which filmed in New York. If you're a working actor, you don't turn down an NBC prime time show. So for a long while she could only Skype in every once in a while. That's why Pike is leaving the group.
The average CR episode is 3 1/2 to 4 hours long. There are over 110 episodes in the first campaign alone. They're on their 3rd campaign now.
It’s a great example of how organic storytelling (D&D) can create far more meaningful stories than 99% of the shit churned out by major media companies these days.
If these 4 episodes so far have been meaningful and entertaining, I’m glad to say you have no fuckin’ clue what emotional waves you will be riding with this one.
Always remember with this show, generally speaking there is no plot armor for our characters here (NPCs maybe), so anyone can have a bad roll and die, that's D&D baby :D
Their other campaign "mighty nine" is also getting a show on amazon.
I love how much they’re enjoying it so far, and we haven’t even gotten to the GOOD good shit yet!!
You guys should check out the original scenes regarding some of these moments, specifically here with Vox Machina vs the first fight with Silas and Delilah Briarwood. Talisin Jaffe goes ham in his parts in the role play.
And THAT is why they call him No Mercy Percy
Additional note about the issues with Percy's gun: he invented firearms in the world of Exandria, so they're janky prototypes.
And that's our introduction to No-Mercival Percival
CR D&D streaming sessions are usually over 4hrs and have been as long as 7hrs. These guys don't mess around!
God episode 4 is a wild like whoever animated props cause its FUCKING terrifying like geez and i hope theres more vox machina
the reason pyke is leaving right now is that the player Ashley was in a active acting role at the time and they were filming so she had to leave the state to film a half season at some times and then she was gone for period of times.
Pike was busy making "The Last of Us" during the campaign and couldn't always make the "live" show. Sometimes Matt played her character. But when she comes back,,,, it's soooooooooo fkn'g bad ass!
If you want to learn more about the dnd classes may i suggest jocat's "crap guide to dnd" series despite the name it summarizes the classes very well
YES! I'd love to see their reaction to those animations. Jocat is a treasure!
This is fun to watch. It's making me watch Vox Mechana again on Prime. I know because of copyright laws and that you guys aren't trying to get a strike, but it's sad that you can barely watch and hear the show itself while you react to it. I'm still enjoying these reactions.
BTW, welcome to the introduction of "No Mercy Percy" ;)
The reason Pike had to separate was that during the campaign, her player, Ashley Johnson regularly had to leave to go work on Blindspot in New York. So she wasnt around for a lot of this arc
Fun Fact : Pike leaving the group is something that happened often because her VA Ashley Johnson (who also voices Ellie in The Last of Us) had obligations to a live action show called "Blindspot" which forced her to leave the campaign for prolong periods of time. This would continue even into their 2nd campaign The Mighty Nein, until Blindspot finally finished!
Because they dont have to worry about that with the show, Pike ends up appearing in moments she didn't originally in the campaign.
Watching this for the 2nd time makes me wonder if they're gonna throw an Easter egg in the form of a Tiberius body frozen in ice when they get to Drakonia...
lmao each session episode of the campeigns is 4-5 hours on average, roughly 120-180 episodes per campaign
Great reaction. New to the channel to watch the reactions to this show. Looking forward to more.
You’re in for a ride.
Once you have watched all the episodes, some people have made videos showing big moments in the campaign next to how they did them in the animated series. So that would be fun for y'all to react to.
Keyleth is my favorite character but that’s probably because I have a druid character in dnd.
I'd love to see Castlevania on the channel down the line. Especially since Nocturne just came out.
It's cool, cause most of these banger one liners were improved on the spot in the og campaign.
Thanks for watching this, its giving me a chance to rewatch and your reactions and love make it so much better!
so the reason trinket is left behind a lot and not really used is because it died all the time and watching such a cute bear die over and over again would just make the series even sadder
Not sure if it was mentioned in comments, but this whole part with Pike leaving the group was made up for the animation because at this point in the game, Pike's player had to be away due to filming for a show on the opposite coast. Though she did try to meet up with them thru video call when she could.
Behold: No Mercy Percy
*maniacal laughter* You think this is wild now, the ride's still chugging up that roller-coaster's first hill ;)
My men really cut the "Your life is forfeit" line
I'm guessing Scanlan rolled a 1 on making that sandwich, lol
Ironically even a bad D&D campaign makes a pretty good story (and Vox Machina's is one of the best). You have all the things that normally take an excellent writer to produce: a cast of characters each with a completely unique way of thinking, speaking, and acting. You have a setting that is unpredictable and where death is fickle and immediate. You have banal situations that turn out to be horrifying obstacles, and massive boss battles that become trivial moments. For a single mind to produce such a thing is very difficult.
Creating different "voices" for characters is something that people complain about constantly in modern media. When the writer starts to make every character think and sound like them, you get the "Whedon-esque" writing that can certainly be clever, but it comes off as unauthentic. If you have ten people in a room making an adventure together, the easiest part of the writing is done for you. People who don't know much about writing will tell you that if you want a different experience, get a different writer. They'll tell you to get women to write for women, LGBT people to write their own experiences, etc, but the problem with that is that no one really understands their own flaws and what really makes them shine. You'll get ten people with main character syndrome who each think their burdens are the worst and don't understand why they fail or succeed at their goals. On the other hand, if you have a party of different genders, races, experiences, sexualities, etc. and can observe them and learn how they interact, that's a feast for a writer. Your writing will always stink of your own personal experiences, but that's what art is. Interpret reality as best you can, but make sure that your lens captures a wide enough scene that it's not just one boring blob of grey. TL:DR: You're never going to get a better chance than a tabletop game to learn different "voices".
I think Mercer's world building is just ok. I know that's blasphemy, but where he really shines is creating memorable characters and understanding when his players need to be rewarded for their ingenuity and punished for their carelessness. He is an amazing storyteller more than anything, and I imagine a lot of that comes from steeping in the voices he performs for a living and learning to inhabit many different personalities and lifestyles to get as good as he is. I admire Mercer because he is a fantastic liar. Not in the malicious way, but in the way only great storytellers know how to be. He teases and taunts, sets false expectations, builds pitfalls into places of sacred safety. He is the spider Anansi, as all tricksters are who can spin words into worlds. I look forward to his betrayals as much as I look forward to the times where he sits back defeated and says, "well done."
24:30 I understand, I've been watching Critical Role for two years and I'm still in campaign one