Fun reaction! Ashley Johnson, the person playing Pike in the game, was on the TV show Blindspot and had to film in New York. The rest of the cast lives in LA area which is why her character had to leave.

In the D&D game this is based on, Trinket did go along with the rest of them. They left him at home for the show because apparently it's harder to animate quadrupeds than bipeds, and he didn't usually do a whole lot anyway. A few minutes of a couple episodes is no big deal, but a main character for a whole season is a big expense.

Travis Willingham aka player/voice of Grog is very good at making you like his characters. FUN FACT: If you didn't know... Travis is also Roy Mustang with his wife Laura Bailey (Vex) being Lust. And Matt Mercer is Jotaro Kujo.

Famous words by Grog/Travis from the campaign: “I have an intelligence of 6, I know what I’m doing.”

Just a fun fact, in the original stream Percy and Jarrett were the only ones initially present for this fight, and the ghost things were sent to kill the Briarwood's driver so he couldn't give up any information (so Percy was protecting the guy whose hand he destroyed earlier). The rest of the crew joined in later, after Percy had tried to use his gun like a baseball bat and clobber a ghost.

For reference: Pike is a Cleric (healer/holy person) Keyleth is a Druid (elemental magic/shapeshifting) Scanlan is a Bard (music-based support) Grog is a Barbarian (strong damage and strong defense) Percy is a Gunslinger (quick-firing gun and inventor) Vex is a Ranger (archer/tracker/animal companion) Vax is a Rogue (stealth/assassination)

You're pretty close on the jobs being presented, Abi. Clerics are the holy healers. Keyleth is a Druid, nature magic and stuff.

Keyleth is a druid, she does nature magic. It includes stuff with plants, and the elements, but also she can shapeshift into animals.

Side note this happened in the real game where the player pike had to film a tv show so she was gone during this time. So it’s cool how the brought that into the show

If the dice turn against you, combat in D&D can be **VERY** stressful, especially if characters start getting knocked out.

From my own personal experience, yes, you are that nervous during a DND battle 😅 I play a Cleric which is a healer type, same as Pike :)

Bears are hard to animate (quadrapeds bby) but in the actual campaign there are several instances of having to work out how to bring a massive bear along to numerous scenarios. Vex very much never leaves him behind. This also has a massive main cast for an animation, so a lot of things are condensed/combined to keep things moving. Which unfortunately means a number of side characters are likely to have reduced parts/be written out. So if anyone ever freaks out about someone w a tiny amount of screentime it's bc they have a larger part in the campaign.

It's unclear exactly what the creatures in this episode are. The two most likely candidates are either wraiths or shadows. It's entirely possible that the animators decided to do an amalgamation of both for the show. Both are creatures with an affinity for darkness, and a vulnerability to light and radiant damage attacks. One interesting detail to pay attention to though, is that black stuff coming out of their victims. A lot of undead do something called necrotic damage - which damages things by rapidly decaying them. That black stuff? It's blood that is being decayed in the body, followed by the body's reaction of trying to get rid of it.

A lot of the most typical and trademarked D&D monsters were replaced with original designs, to be on the safe side. At a certain point there's supposed to be a bulette, for example, a notorious D&D monster, but in its place there's an unnamed weird monster of similar size (don't worry, it's not a spoiler). The same thing happens with these "generic undead things", here.

Ashley (Pike’s VA) used to be gone for long periods of time on the main campaigns bc she starred on NBC’s Blindspot in the East Coast. Critical Role is West Coast. She’s back full time nowadays for the current campaign though. She’s great, love her humor 😂

"What's the point of having a bear if you don't bring it with you?" Because animators hate drawing quadrupeds. Apparently, it's rather difficult.

Matts such a great DM that the players do get so nervous in the tense situations he's able to build. His story telling is by far some of the best. Some other fun dnd channels you might enjoy are Dork Tales, Realmsmith, Dimension 20, and Black Dice Society they focus on more horror themed campaigns.

Ashley Johnson (Pike) worked on a show called Blind Spot which was on the east coast so that is why Pike left. Her return is BADASS! The different characters: Grog-- Barbarian, they are the up front/melee damage dealer. They are the damage sponge and keep the squishies from dying. Percy-- Fighter, ranged with the gun. Keyleth-- Druid, spell caster and can change into different animal. Druids magic is mostly dealing with nature so Air, Earth, Fire, and Water but also plants and animals. Plus has a lot of utility in spell casting. Vax (the male twin)-- Rogue, close up damage dealer. Able to score a HUGE amount of damage with his dagger because Sneak Attack. Vex (the female twin)-- Ranger, ranged damage dealer. Has a pet bear but the thing about Trinket is that he is kinda squishy so that is why you don't see him much. Rangers are the out door/survivalists. Pike-- Cleric, divine spell caster. Is the team's primary healer but can also dish out the pain when she needs to. Scanlan-- Bard, arcane spell caster. The all around caster, has many tricks, and has a lot of utility in spell casting.

This show does a good job of making its monsters scary IMO.

And with this episode my two favourite friendships from this campaign are forged. Pike and Grog as siblings and besties, and then Percy and Keyleth too. Two of the best parts of Campaign 1.

I don't think we ever learn what exactly the creatures are (this part played out slightly differently in the actual game episode). But, the general consensus in the community is that they are wraiths, or something similar.

3:46 - *“Ew! ‘No Neck Club’? What's going on here?”* Well, if one wants to hang around vampires, it's probably best not to have a neck. 😉 8:39 - Note the weirdly shaped table. This is the real-world gaming table that was made specifically for _Critical Role_ by Wyrmwood, around which they played their second campaign, "The Mighty Nein", which will _also_ become an animated series. Those spooky monsters in this episode have been called "wraiths", although they didn't quite work like wraiths in D&D. For the purpose of this show, they apparently work like Lapdancers: They can touch you, but _you_ can't touch _them._ Oh, and bright light doesn't do them any favours…

Dnd combat can be terrifying! My group faced an undead creature that had a Fear effect that, if you rolled badly enough, magically and rapidly aged your character Mine, Felicity, got lucky with only ten years. Two got slapped with 40 extra years. And we still have more to fight in this quest (so to speak)! We've got a group text of frantic planning and reminding each other of abilities for next session. Sometimes you stress in the moment, sometimes you stress for a WEEK

I just really enjoy that you recognize how handsome Vax and Percy are, our hotboys deserve appreciation 😂

Delilah enters cemetery, Abi starts singing _Thriller_ ... This girl gets it.

Yeah D&D combat can get stressful depending on the challenge the DM gives you. It’s not always combat but choices as well. It’s all part of the fun hehe

Here is a little trick to put the sword back in the scabbard, hold the scabbard right up at the top and you can touch you hand with the flat of the sword to help guide it back in.

For remembering Vax & Vex: Adam and Eve (guy- A,Vax) (girl- E,Vex)

Keyleth is a druid, so she weilds general nature magic. The monsters were indeed wraiths. Their attack drains the life force from their victims (doing damage AND temporarily lowering your maximum health), but they're blinded and made solid by sunlight.

The shadows do be at them gates lol They're literally called Shadows, but they have elements of wraith in there too.

They are wraiths. Think ghost that died a violent death. They are neutral evil beings. And under used in dnd is my belief

I love Grog as well! Inspired me to make a Barbarian in the last campaign I played in. Personally favorite class is bard because you can do a bit of everything. You can do damage, heal people, make a giant extra-dimensional mansion for your party to sleep in. Also, gives you an excuse to sing song parodies at your party members to inspire them.

I see your PoPs back there, in case no one else has mentioned it there is a full set for Vox Machina including Trinket.

Will you be this nervous playing the game? Eventually yeah. But you also get those lovely moments that make you feel great when you overcome too

yess a new episode!

In DnD you would like being a Druid, lots of nature magic. But in Pathfinder you would play a Suli, someone with all 4 elements in their ancestry

The names, races, and classes from the Critical Role Wiki: Vex'ahlia Half-elf Ranger (Beast Master) Percival de Rolo Human Fighter (Gunslinger) Pike Trickfoot Gnome Cleric (War Domain) Vax'ildan Half-elf Rogue (Assassin) Keyleth Half-elf Druid (Circle of the Moon) Scanlan Shorthalt Gnome Bard (College of Lore) Grog Strongjaw Goliath Barbarian (Path of the Berserker)

11:10 Trinket the bear actually did come along for this mission to to White Stone in the game. Vex/Laura never left him behind. He even bid the head of off a vampire in the game. Yet in the show he took up to many resources to animate & too much time from the character story lines...So therefore he has minimal show time

10:09 -- The best DMs have their players at least a little bit afraid. The monsters could most easily be categorized as Wraiths -- incorporeal in darkness, sucks the life out of their victims, vulnerable in light. They don't follow D&D rules 100% -- there's a lot of artistic license and rule-of-cool happening.

Hold the sheath near the mouth. You have more control and can use your fingers to guide the blade.

The undead was either wraiths or Wights

I would say yes, you will be that anxious in games. Maybe more so, because the show didn’t truly convey just how tense, serious, and close to death Vax was in the briarwood fight last episode.

Yo, love this one and how you are piecing DnD things together. Glad you're enjoying the show. Honestly, this makes me want to host a virtual one shot for you!

There's a whole set of incorporeal undead like shadows (which drain strength), ghosts (which can cause fear or possess people, or wraiths (which you're familiar with). These creatures showed elements of all 3 in ways, but weren't named. Probably because names and words from the game system are copyrighted... Same reason they don't refer to Pike as a Cleric or Vex as a Ranger. As for if that's how the game goes, it can if you've got a good storyteller as your Dungeon Master. The same encounter can be run on flat paper with miniatures and a simple set of rolls and values, or they could bring in a model of the castle, background music, scare you with sound effects and low lights, impressive enemy miniatures, and epic story telling for each move your actions result in. Or anywhere on that spectrum. It can all be fun, it's just finding someone that fits the same definition of fun as you're looking for.

Grog is best boy

They are indeed Wraithspsps

Combat can feel stressful, although it depends on the style of play. My 7th character in my current campaign just died tonight (with a max hp of 29, she took 74 damage from one hit by razor winged butterflies) but I don't mind because I enjoy making new ones.

Judging by their ability to move through walls, life-draining touch and negative reaction to sunlight I'd say they're almost definitely Wraiths.

If you wanna taste of actual gameplay you could react to one of Critical Role's oneshots. Perhaps easiest would be the one with Vin Diesel. Vex and Grog are in it too.

Potato head club XD

I'm betting you would enjoy critical role if you have the time. I don't say this for most reactors but with your love of fantasy etc I think you would enjoy it. You could start with C1 Vox Machina or if you want to avoid major spoilers for the show you could start with C2 which is what I did when I started watching.