Hi! It’s Annie!
It’s been a while since I’ve made a full post about ‘Critical Role’ but it’s honestly about time. Especially because the most recent campaign of this amazing Dungeons and Dragons show has made so many major changes that we just absolutely have to talk about it. After Campaign 3, it was absolutely inevitable that ‘Critical Role’ was going to have to completely pivot. For one, the campaign wrapped up the entire world that Matthew Mercer has made so far including going back to and wrapping up the stories of past campaigns. So we knew from the get-go that this would have to be an entirely new world. However, if you also take into consideration how many people at the end of the campaign were kind of disappointed with it overall and were calling for the permanent addition of Robbie Daymond, it really felt like more than the world was going to have to change when it came to Critical Role. People absolutely loved the first campaign, they seemed to hit their stride in the second, and the third fell much flatter in comparison to that. The formula needed an update. Enter Campaign 4 complete with several new cast members, a completely new formula, and even (to everyone’s shock) a new Dungeon Master. Now that we’ve gotten a fair few episodes, I’m going to go into the individual characters, my thoughts so far, and what changes really stand out this time around.
WARNING: SOME SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Brennan Lee Mulligan-DM:
This has to be the biggest change and announcement that has come from this campaign. Matthew Mercer has been a forever DM by his own admission for longer than ‘Critical Role’ has been a show. He’s become the standard of what a DM should be in a lot of D&D playing households. But if there’s one person people would be ok with taking over the role, it was going to be Brennan Lee Mulligan. Brennan is known for his brand of comedy and his world building, but he’s also known for just being a hell of an engaging DM in the D&D sphere. Brennan had gotten to a point where he absolutely was rivaling Matt in who was the more revered DM amongst fans of the game. Brennan is also just known for being an incredibly intelligent and genuine person. When I initially heard he was going to be the DM, I was incredibly happy. I knew immediately that I would miss Matt’s DM style, but I completely trusted Brennan to shake things up in the way that they needed to be. I will say that his style is absolutely different. Not only have we separated into several tables because of the amount of players, but we’re certainly a little more combat-centric so far. I’ve always been more of a role-play gal myself, but Brennan makes things fun even if I do miss more role-play heavy sessions. There have been a lot of people accusing Brennan of making things too easy for the players, but I have really not found this to be the case. While he does make allowances and adds some convenient home-brew rules; he’s also been known to throw in a very deadly twist or two and he already has in this game. I only anticipate that getting worse. Brennan is less afraid of character deaths, so I’m anticipating some of those here. I think people who say that Brennan is making things too easy are speaking WAY too soon.
The Soldiers Table (So far)
(I say this because at this point we don’t know if tables will be switching as it goes on. I feel like it probably will because it only makes sense to have chances for all the characters to interact and so different things, but we’ll have to see.)
Thimble:
Thimble is Laura’s character and I would safely say she is the leader of the Soldiers table, which I don’t think anyone was expecting…especially not Laura. I love that Laura finally got her rogue here and I love even more that she’s this adorable and badass little fairy. Thimble has also become the scariest member of the Soldiers table because this character just seems to roll so damn well. Thimble has taken out entire rooms of people by herself at this point, which is hilarious considering she’s a tiny fairy who fights with a toy sword. Thimble has lost possibly the most coming into this campaign, so it’s really interesting to see Laura play a character who you can tell used to be so much more carefree and optimistic and has now been hardened by the world. Because of this, Thimble is very much the driving force of this table. People were speculating this would be more of a Jester type for her, but it’s honestly not. I think that Laura has actually been pretty adamant about making her characters just completely different from each other. I will say, Thimble might be my favorite character she’s played other than Jester.
Teor Pridesire:
Moving on with Travis, we do have a bit of a switch up for him again character wise. Teor falls more along the lines of Fjord where we have Travis playing a bit more of a serious and strategic character. Now, with this being the fourth campaign, it feels like he switches pretty evenly between comedic characters and strategic leader types. Teor is basically a very noble giant lion man who is a paladin. (More specifically he is a Nama.) So far Teor has been the protector of the group for the most part. He has quite literally pledged to protect other members of his party and he’s one of the heaviest hitters at the table. His large stature certainly helps his more intimidating look. But Teor does come off as a huge softy too. So far I’ve really liked how sweet he is with Thimble and Wick specifically but Teor isn’t necessarily the most outspoken member of the group. It is interesting to see Travis basically take the observant strategist role at the table. I certainly like Teor more than Chetney so far, but I think I’ll need to see a little more before I determine anything about Grog and Fjord.
Kattigan Vale:
Kattigan is Robbie Daymond’s very very attractive new character. I mean, if you weren’t sold on the art (you were), all you have to do is hear how Robbie voices him. Kattigan is a human ranger with a wolf companion and a chip on his shoulder. At first he appears very carefree, maybe even Captain Jack Sparrow-like, but through several Robbie hints we’ve found out that he’s much more complicated and scarred than he lets on. I also love his relationship so far with Thimble as he seems to soften up the most around her and his relationship with Tyranny is so interesting. He seems to have a strict moral code that makes Tyranny kind of a conundrum to him, but one that he’s intrigued by. But I’m just going to say, I’m so ready for more backstory here. Robbie has put so much into that mystery already. One thing is for sure though, he’s basically the exact opposite of Dorian and you can’t make me choose between them.
Wicander Halovar:
I have no idea what goes on in Sam Reigel’s head, but I feel like his characters just keep getting better and better. And all of his characters are amazing! Wicander Halovar is a human cleric who is basically the face of a very prevalent and controversial church and Sam basically wrote the bible of this church as lore for his character. What the hell, Sam. I have to say, this backstory is the most interesting to me so far and it’s clear that Sam put all of his creativity into it. He’s also a character who very much tries to stick to moral good and finds that more difficult as he realizes the morals he was taught were not good. Still, this character is much like FCG in that he’s the most pure-hearted of them all. You can tell that FCG really stuck with Sam and I can’t blame him; I love FCG. One of the best parts of campaign three right there. I am just continuously astounded by Wick and he’s been one of the most interesting parts of the whole campaign so far as well as just being funny as hell.
Tyranny:
This teifling warlock might be my favorite and she seems to be so many people’s favorites already. She’s the chaotic wildcard of this campaign, but in such a different way than how you would think. She basically works as a duo with Wick and she’s a demon who Wick is trying to teach to be good. Tyranny is actively very much trying to be a good person, which is just so cute. Tyranny is not played as being naive but is just trying to do the right thing while protecting Wick who is basically her master but also her best friend. She’s often smarter than him, but she really sees the good in him and she believes in that more than anything else. She also has the best design of any character in this campaign; I mean, c’mon, she’s pink. She has this childlike wonder to her that absolutely comes from Whitney Moore being so new to playing D&D in this way and it’s such a joy to see. I feel like that’s where she became more of a wild card and she’s the perfect balance to Sam’s character. This duo is my favorite thing about the campaign so far.
The Schemers Table (So far)
(From here on out I’m writing a little less because we haven’t gotten so much from these characters yet.)
Azune Nayar:
Luis Carazo has crafted a human paladin/sorcerer for this campaign and so far, I just need to see more. I don’t think I’ve seen enough of him and I so far think what we have seen is a little generic freedom fighter. I don’t want to judge him too early on, but whenever a human comes into the mix, I need something else to make me really interested. There are a lot of humans at the table this time, but this one is the least interesting to me so far. I’m just hoping we see more personality as we start getting into the Schemers table.
Murray Mag’nesson:
Marisha ray was hilarious for making this character. A dwarven wizard who’s tough as nails but is so exasperated by everything going on that she’s losing hope and her marbles very quickly. Murray already feels like such a fun character with such an immediately striking personality. I already want more of her and she’s one of the ones I’m looking forward to seeing more of most. I can’t say where I’d rank her yet among Marisha’s characters, but I will say that it’s giving Laudna levels of camp. Which I love! I mean, Laudna could be argued to be the best character of the last campaign.
Bolaire Lothalia:
Only Taliesin, man. Only Taliesin could come up with a character this quirky who is a sentient mask that wears other people. Bolaire, a warlock, was automatically one of the most charismatic and intriguing characters in the first episode and I have eaten up every moment that we’ve gotten since. He’s so observant, flamboyant, and exacting that it’s hard to not want to know everything that’s going on in his head. I want more backstory immediately. This is the character I’m most excited to see more of when we switch tables and I would certainly say that this may end up ranking among Percy and Caduceus at the top of my list for him; certainly better than Ashton.
Halandil Fang:
Hal is an orc bard who also is a very good father and runs all the major theatrical productions in the city. That in itself is pretty damn cool and really what sets this character apart. Towards the beginning I was worried he’d be another more generic freedom fighter, but so far he’s kind of giving me the vibes of Chris Pine’s character in the newest D&D movie. But sort of like that character after the movie has ended. His character is so soft-spoken and sweet yet strong and I’m excited to see where that will go. I don’t know that I’ll like him more than Vax or Caleb, but probably more than Orym. This character is a bit more wholesome like Orym is, but in a completely different way and it’s fun to see him lean into that fatherly side.
The Seekers table (So far):
Occtis Tachonis:
I think everyone can agree that Alexander Ward’s Necromancer human is one of the most interesting additions so far. Especially because he’s the walking dead and Brennan, in one of the most shocking moments I’ve ever seen on ‘Critical Role’, killed him during an episode. It was the most traumatic episode I’ve ever seen, but it was also so cool. Occtis is slightly awkward, very dorky, but also incredibly likable from the off. He may be introverted, but damn is he interesting. This is one of the main characters to watch in this campaign. I’m seriously impressed by the game the new players are bringing.
Thaisha Lloy:
I love that Aabria Iyengar gave us a gorgeous orc druid who is a mother who is going out there doing stuff. The father stays at home, the mother is the one who’s following her calling. I love how beautiful her powers are described to be so far. Like almost decadent. I also love how much of a badass she is and how badass of representation of women and mothers she is. Seriously, how can you not love her from the off? She’s already the great protector of the campaign. She will throw hands for any of her loved ones. I would want Thaisha to have my back more than any other character thus far. Except for maybe…
Valeus:
Ashely Johnson’s drow paladin is a force to be reckoned with. As in, you could feel it from the minute Ashely introduced her character. You do not mess with her, she will kick your ass. She gives big assassin vibes, honestly calling back to Yasha just a bit. But this character also has a whimsy and a grace to her that you don’t expect. She’s easily one of the biggest presences at the table and another character I can’t wait to get to. Seriously, I just want to get to this table already. I want to know more!! I already think this is one of my favorites she’s played and she seems so confident playing her too! I just want more of this badass lady!!
Sir Julien Davanos:
I was expecting Matt to come out swinging with his first full campaign PC and boy did he. Julien is an asshole who immediately gets on everyone’s bad side, but that only makes him more intriguing. He’s no hero, but he’s on their side. Serious Boromir vibes here. But he’s just so interesting as is his relationship to his family and how I feel like he is slowly starting to care about things. I want to see this man thaw damn it!!! A human fighter with so much personality already, Matt is already proving himself on the PC side. This table is looking so promising already!
That’s my run down so far. I might do an update as we get more, but this cast is already so stacked. I wonder how Brennan will balance everything but at the same time, it’s clear this world he’s made is so rich. I want a little more hopeful whimsy and RP than we’re getting, but we’ve also only been at the table specifically made for more combat so far, so we’ll see how things go. Also, I just know my takes on characters will change as it goes and I’m curious to see if my initial impressions will remain. I’m excited to get to know more characters! Although I’m really going to miss Wick and Tyranny for a while.
See you across the pond!
Sincerely, Annie
Oreos & Peanut Butter 