[dramatic music] (cheering) (Critical Role theme music) (cheering) MODERATOR: Hey. MATT: Hi! MODERATOR: So that was cool. MARISHA: I've never seen it so big! That's
what she said. Oh, that's so great. MATT: After 4 PM. MARISHA: After 4 PM! MODERATOR: All right, guys, this is the panel
you've all been waiting for. It is about a little show called Critical Role. Have you heard of it? (cheering) MODERATOR: Some of you have heard of it. That's
good. That's cool. Joining us, two of the stars, and the dungeon master himself, Mr. Matthew
Mercer! And the lovely Marisha Ray! MARISHA: And joining me is this glass of Shiraz.
Yay, Shiraz! MATT: Biggest cheer. MODERATOR: We're going to start, dive right into
it. There is going to be time at the end for you guys to ask your questions, so figure them out in
your head, hold onto them. So. Do you guys remember your first ever D&D character? MARISHA: I do! MODERATOR: Tell us about it. MARISHA: My first ever D&D character was actually
with this guy. He was my first dungeon master. Once you go Matt Mercer? (laughter) MATT: Sure. I'll allow it. MARISHA: I had never played before, because I grew
up in a small town in Kentucky, where Dungeons & Dragons was a ritual cult, or something. MATT and MARISHA: It's the devil! MARISHA: I came out to Los Angeles, and he ran a
one-shot for me, and I made a controller ranger. It was Fourth Edition, and she was a ranger that
would cast control spells. MATT: I think it was a drow, too. MARISHA: She was a drow, yeah. Drow ranger
controller caster. It was cool. I had bats. I had a lot of bats. I would make AoE's filled with
bats. That's what I remember. MATT and MARISHA: Bats. MATT: My first character was less cool. I'd been
brought into a Second Edition D&D game in high school. They're like, "Play whatever you want!"
I'm like, "I want to be a wizard! I want to be a "Gandalf wizard who uses his sword. How can I do
that?" Well, there's this militant wizard kit. Oh, cool, I'll use that! As such, I made a wizard that
wasn't as good at magic, and was really terrible with a sword. He didn't last very long. His name
was Ameridus Trent, named after the Xanth character, and it was a terrible, terrible
character. But! You learn from your mistakes! To this day, he has a special place in my heart, to
not make a wizard that uses swords. (laughter) MODERATOR: We all know Critical Role for what it
has become now, but where did it start? What was the first thing that brought this show to us? MATT: Before it was a show, it was just our home
game for a little over two years. I'd been running different campaigns for years, off and on, and
Liam O'Brien loved D&D when he was a kid, but hadn't played in many, many years. I'd been threatening all through the time we
were working on Resident Evil together, saying, "Hey man, you want to play D&D, let me know."
Finally, as part of a birthday celebration, he was like, "All right, go ahead and run a game, we'll
bring some people over." That's where we brought Taliesin in, dragged Laura, Travis, and Sam, who
had never, ever played before. Most of the players who came in had never played, so we began running
a home game from that one-shot, and it turned into a campaign that was ongoing. MARISHA: I actually didn't play that first game,
because no one else had played. I was there as assistant coach, assistant to the dungeon master.
I went around and would help the characters. I basically just pointed to their stat sheets
whenever they were confused on what to roll. MODERATOR: Can you come to my place, and just do
that? I mean that. MARISHA: Just pointing over people's shoulders.
"Where's my damage?!" "Right there." MATT: You were essentially Microsoft Word's Clippy
of D&D. MARISHA: I was totally Clippy. MATT: It looks like you have a strength bonus
right there! MARISHA: Don't forget your advantage! MATT: Exactly. We played on our own for two years,
and then word got around in the industry about a bunch of voice actors playing D&D, and people were
like, "That sounds pretty nerdy?" and we were like, "Damn right." Eventually Felicia Day
contacted us, through Ashley Johnson, and she was like, "Hey, you guys ever thought about making
this into a show?" We're like-- MATT and MARISHA: No! MATT: That sounds like a terrible idea! MARISHA: No one would watch that shit. MATT: Yeah! And then, eventually, we were
like, well, we'll give it a shot and see if it works out, and we're all here now. That worked
out. (cheering) MARISHA: We gave ourselves a promise that if we
hated it after six weeks and if it didn't take off, we would quit and go back to playing at home.
No harm, no foul. We aren't losing anything, really. Needless to say, that decision was not
made. Which I am very glad it was not made. MATT: Now we have CG video of Sam shooting a
lightning bolt out of his crotch. That's fun. MARISHA: It's funny how things work out. MODERATOR: How has the game changed since when it
was your home game to now being livestreamed to over 20,000 people at any given minute? MARISHA: Not a whole lot. Part of our stipulation
for making it a show is that we didn't want it to change. We were in pre-production for six to eight
months with Geek and Sundry, because they were in the same camp that we were in, where they thought
there's no way anyone's going want to to sit down and watch people play Dungeons & Dragons for four
hours. They kept trying to make it more visual. One of the original ideas is that we would play to
a certain point in the campaign, then we would stop, then we would all jump on computers into an
MMO, like World of Warcraft, and then beat the boss in the MMO. We were like, "You don't know how
Dungeons & Dragons work. That-- no." Luckily it didn't go that way. MATT: We had a while figuring out how the show
would work. We decided we would leave it up there, blemishes and all, all of its awkward stumbling
and us messing with the rules. Essentially just our game with cameras available. And it worked. MARISHA: The benefits are one, we're not waiting
in between games for six weeks. We only have a week so we can retain information a lot more.
Since we're on camera, it cut away from the side-table chatter that you have in a lot of your
games, where if one person's distracted with something, you're like, "Hey bro, how's work
going?" MATT: Oh it sucks, my car broke down last weekend.
I was supposed to get it fixed. Oh, and I'm rolling initiative. MARISHA: "Wait, what happened?" It cut down on a
lot of that, which was good. If anything, we're almost more engaged? MODERATOR: That's cool. Obviously you guys didn't
expect it to be the runaway success that it has become. Your fans are incredible. I mean, they
create fanart, they cosplay, they're so engaged. What's it like for you guys, especially seeing
someone--I know Matt, you used to be a cosplayer--seeing someone dressed up in costume as
the characters you guys are creating? What's that like for you? MATT: I don't know what's going on! It's crazy!
We're all crazy! So awesome! I-- it's seriously-- MARISHA: There are no words. I don't know, man. MATT: If I told you how many times we've read the
response letters we've gotten from fans, and the heartfelt emails, and breaking down into tears
with the idea that people out there are either so touched by our silly little game, or have gone on
and made their own home games and sent us pictures of their friends getting together on weekends and
playing, and how much it's affected their life and changed their life, that they've created their own
worlds. That's really the most I could have ever hoped to create with this show, with all of us. MARISHA: It's forever overwhelming, and we'll say
repeatedly that Critical Role is not just the show. When we say Critical Role, we're not talking
about the stream that airs from seven to ten on Thursday nights, we're talking about the fan art
and about the community, because if it wasn't for the fan art we wouldn't have visuals. The fan art
really does add so much more to the show. MATT: When we say fan art, that includes like, we
have a lot of wonderful musicians that write songs and music based on their inspiration from the
show. We have wonderful writers that write a lot of really awesome fan fiction, side stories within
the world they create on their own. MARISHA: It's all so good, it's all so good. MATT: All these people find different crafts and
different things that they're good at and find a way to take the inspiration and funnel it that way
and create something really cool and unique. We're constantly beside ourselves and don't know how we
ever got so lucky to be even remotely involved in this wonderful chaos. MODERATOR: Can I get a show of hands if you've
ever made Critical Role fan art or cosplay, or written something, or engaged with the Critical
Role community? MARISHA: See, look at how many. MODERATOR: That's crazy. MARISHA: It accounts for 50% of what we are, for
sure. We're always so humbled. Not to go Keyleth on everybody here for a minute, but we're not
heroes, we're not special. We're just people and-- MATT: You totally went Keyleth. MARISHA: I did! But we're not! We're not. Just to
have anybody to say that we've moved them or affected them, it's like-- I'm going to stop
talking about it so I don't start crying on stage. MODERATOR: Just drink. MARISHA: I drink. MODERATOR: Matt, a question I think every DM in
the room wants to know is: how do you prepare for a session? How do you get that ready? What's the
process? MATT: It changes based on the story elements and
what's happening but I generally try and foresee possible directions the party may go based on what
happened in the last game. I'll consider those paths. Maybe they'll go and-- this one story lead
I left them a while back, they'll pursue that in this direction, so I'll flesh out this path and
whatever NPC's they may come across, and possible encounters they may circumvent or go head on into,
and I'll prepare that from multiple different avenues. I don't flesh it out too crazy because
most of that is going to go out the window the moment you play anyway because inevitably players
do the most random shit ever and you have no control anymore. MARISHA: Cows. (cheering) MARISHA: Proudest moment. MATT: I usually break it down in a Word document
and I'll have bullet points with major important points of information, like if an NPC knows
certain key elements of a conversation they try to draw out, I'll have notes on what they know and
what the players could find out if they ask the right questions. It's pretty loose, so I don't
feel like I put too much effort to have something never come to light if it doesn't get used, and if
it does happen, a lot of the conversation is still improvised and I use those bullet points as points
of reference as they emerge. MARISHA: A lot of people ask for your improv-ed
NPC's. Give a quick list of your improv-ed, unexpected NPC's. Victor. Victor wasn't
expected-- MATT: There's a lot of them. MARISHA: Kynan wasn't expected, right? No wait,
Kynan was. MATT: Kynan I prepared a little bit. There's a lot
of them. MARISHA: There's so many that you weren't
expecting. MATT: I mean, technically-- there's too many to
list right now. MARISHA: Never mind. MATT: You caught me off guard with that one! There
are a lot of ones that are improvised when they first happened but I then fleshed them out once
they were created too so it's hard to remember which ones started that way unless I go through a
list to consider it. It's okay, put me on the spot, it's fine. (deep voice) Matthew Mercer
will remember this. (laughter) MARISHA: Shut up, Telltale. Shut up. MODERATOR: What's the most unexpected curveball
that the players have thrown you? MATT: Cows was pretty crazy-- MODERATOR: Someone has to fill me in on the cows
thing. MATT: Long story short, they were briefly given a
task to help this farming community outside of the main city who had been losing livestock. They had
just gone missing, and there had been rumors of some large creature snatching them away in the
middle of the night. The party decides to go and infiltrate this cattle field by masquerading as
cows through illusion magic, and then try and interrogate the cows for information. (laughter) MATT: Cows, even if you can speak to them through
magic means, aren't the best conversationalists nor really take in the information around them.
She talks to one of the cows and was like "So, what have you seen?" and the cow is like-- MARISHA and MATT: "Grass." MARISHA: "Big bird." MATT: "Pooping." Not a lot going on inside the
cow's head. Then suddenly this giant bird, a roc, comes swooping in and snatches one of the players
up, thinking it's one of the cows, and takes off into the night. The rest of them, to give chase,
have to use a fly spell. Now all of a sudden you have this giant squadron of flying cows coasting
over the night sky after this giant bird, and thus the fan art rolled in after the evening, of this
wonderful moment. That was definitely a strange curveball. MARISHA: I think the hashtag Vox Moochina started
happening after that. MATT: Yeah, there was a whole sequence where they
went to the Temple of the Raven Queen to retrieve this artifact and the artifact in the end was
trapped. After this big battle with the beholder, everyone was like "Oh, thank god that was cool,
let's go see what loot there is." No one checked for traps. Taliesin, scared for Percy,
grabs it. Sets it off. Avoids it himself but it hits Laura's character. She fails her saving throw
and it kills her, outright. She's just dead, and so they end up trying to resurrect her and they go
through the ritual and as part of the ritual, Liam's character, who is her twin brother,
basically prays to the Raven Queen in an angry way saying "Take me instead of her," and, unknowing,
started this path of joining in a pact with the Raven Queen. None of that was planned! None of
this was expected-- and now suddenly this entire character's story is completely changed based on
this one improvised character moment, and it's pretty much defined his story. MARISHA: Based on this one fuck up. MATT: Yeah, this one bad roll that Laura made
completely altered the trajectory of this character's story. MARISHA: I remember we were all so angry at
ourselves after that because we were like "Man, that was some level one mistakes right there--
can't believe we did that," and everyone wonders why we're so paranoid. (high pitched voice) "God,
why are you guys taking so long to talk about these plans?" (crying voice) "Because people die!
This is real life!" Go with it. MODERATOR: Now that I think we're getting pretty
deep into the fandom I think I can ask this question. This is one of the many, many questions
submitted on Twitter, and this one is: If Gilmore owned a business, present day, what would it be?
And would it be a dance club? (laughter) MATT: I think one of his many business in
modern-day would probably be a delightful dance club, that-- hell, I'd frequent that dance club. MARISHA: I'd go there, hell yeah. MATT: Gilmore's Glorious Dance Floor? Yeah. MARISHA: Gilmore's Glorious Grooves. MATT: There it is. (dance music noises) Oh yeah. MARISHA: (dance music noises) MATT: (Gilmore voice) That's right shake that
money maker. MARISHA: (dance music noises) MATT: Yeah, other than that, he would probably buy
out the Men's Warehouse and make it so much more fabulous. (Gilmore voice) Think business suits,
everything would be rhinestones and glitter, it would be marvelous. MARISHA: You're going to like the way you look, I
guarantee it. MATT: (Gilmore voice) I'm going to like the way
you look-- (laughter) MATT: (Gilmore voice) Everyone's going to like the
way you look. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. MODERATOR: Okay, so now that we've all experienced
that. Bringing it back a little bit, tell us more about your background in tabletop gaming. Where
did it all start for you and what encouraged this love of gaming? MARISHA: I briefly mentioned it before but he was
my first DM and then-- that was just a one-shot, and then I was hooked from there on out. I think I
had an adrenaline high for like the rest of the evening after that game, and then from there on
out I sought out my own games and then I ended up doing a Buffy the Vampire tabletop RPG for a
while, which was great. A few other shorter campaigns, little one shots, and then came back
around for the game before this one. Which was with you and yeah-- MATT: Taliesin. MARISHA: Taliesin, and a few other people. That
was our long running game for about a year, well-- MARISHA and MATT: For two years. MARISHA: Then from there, jumped into this game.
That's a deeper question for you. MATT: I started way back, before there was time
and deserts. In the ancient dark days of 1997. MARISHA: (sharp inhale) [no audio] MARISHA: (sharp inhale) (laughing) MARISHA: That's it. MATT: Okay, I was waiting for more. Yeah, so I was
in high school, I was invited to be part of a game. I was excited. I made a terrible
sword-wielding wizard we talked about. We played for a few months and I realized very quickly that
the dungeon master that was running the game was really frustrating and was playing more for his
own personal empowerment and power trip type circumstance than trying to tell a good story and
a narrative, and so I got frustrated and stopped playing that game and started dungeon mastering my
own. That was where my real path of game running started. I've played in many games since, and with
many good friends I still talk to and occasionally game with to this day, but that was
definitely where it all started. MODERATOR: That's awesome. A good D&D group is
hard to get right. As you mentioned, certain DMs can be super controlling and some people just
aren't great in a team. MATT: I think a lot of that also stems from
communication before you start playing too. Sometimes if the people aren't clear about what
kind of game it's going to be when you get into it, you start discovering until it's too late,
that everyone had different ideas and expectations of it-- but I think that can be avoided for the
most part if that communication actually happens, but it still happens, it's hard to avoid. MODERATOR: My question was going to be: do you
have any advice for anyone who might be starting their first game? MATT: If you're starting your first game where you
haven't played before, it's okay to be nervous, I still am before every game we play, regardless.
You learn over time to go ahead and let go and get into the story and have fun. It doesn't mean you
have to do crazy voices like we do, or insane people, that's what we do for a living. You find
your comfort zone, and if someone is new to your game and they're being a little shy, let them be.
Give them opportunities, and try to elevate them, and give them the spotlight occasionally. If you
have that one player in your game that usually takes the spotlight and stands up and overshadows
the rest, perhaps talk to them and let them calm down a little bit and let somebody else step in
and be in that light as well. If you're just starting, definitely take the time to build a
character personality that you would be comfortable playing for an extended period of
time. It could be something that's opposite from you, if you're a meek person, you can try pick
someone who is more strong and bombastic in the hopes that maybe that will help pull you out of
that shell a little bit. Conversely, you can pick someone who is comfortable first as well, just
make sure that when you have a character that you've developed, you have a clear enough idea of
how to play it so that when the opportunity arises, you don't feel, for lack of a better
term-- MARISHA: Trapped? MATT: Maybe. You lack the drive and the will to
step out and make those character moments happen. A lot of D&D is give and take in an improv
environment with the other players, and if you have a lot of experienced people around you, it's
hard to find a place to jump in. Other people are used to seizing the moment and if you wait too
long you'll miss that opportunity. That comes with experience. Don't be afraid to leap out, and take
a moment to say something, to shake the story up, and show the rest of the party that you have
something to offer beyond just additional damage in the occasional combat circumstance. MARISHA: I think to go off of that point, know
that the game won't wait for you, so if you want to say something, you have to make it be known. I
mean, there's been a few times-- I'm sure you guys have all noticed most of them, when something
might happen and one of us will have an idea, or want to try to say something and then a moment
will come in and take it off in another direction and then it's gone, but you have to let it go.
Once again. it's just like life, that happens sometimes, but if you want to say something, you
jump on it immediately. I actually get asked a lot from my fellow ladies, any advice for women who
want to jump into the genre, and a lot of them are very intimidated because it seems very
male-dominated. That's such a tough, layered question to answer in so many ways-- I mean, in
two ways. One, we look out in this audience, like half of them are women. First off, represent.
Yeah! Ladies game, hell yeah. I feel like that's slowly coming out of that trend. Secondly, I then want to address all of
our boys out there, all of our men, because there is a little bit of onus on you to realize that it
can be intimidating if you're a woman trying to come into this. So, if you are at a gaming store,
and a woman joins your group, just be welcoming. Realize that that's not necessarily easy to do and
it does take a lot of balls to walk in there, and just be open and accepting. I think so much about
D&D is about being open and accepting, because you don't want to sit down at a table where you feel
like you're going to be judged. You know? MATT: On that point, and this is my last other
note point to make on this. If you do feel there's conflict, there's something in the game that's
bothering you as a player, if you play for a few games and it's not clicking or a player is acting
in a way that you feel is preventing you from really enjoying the experience, don't be afraid to
talk to them about it after the game. I wouldn't say throw down in the middle of the roleplaying
game session because it just tends to lead to heightened emotions and conflict, but talk to the
dungeon master afterward or talk to that player or both and just be like, "Hey, just wanted to ask,
the way this is going I'm not really feeling like it's letting me play my character or the story is
really hindering me from enjoying this, is there a way that we can work towards changing or making it
better for all of us together?" And most people will be happy to, they just weren't aware that
there was a conflict of that type of circumstance. And if they aren't willing to, maybe find another
gaming group. Yeah, those are my biggest suggestions. MODERATOR: Super helpful. So, I know that you're
all bursting to ask your questions. Wonder Woman is our roving mic tonight which is just a really
fun thing to say, so put your hand up if you do have a question, and Wonder Woman might choose
you. MATT: Come on, Wonder Woman. MARISHA: I choo- choo- choose you! MATT: Pick the person. I'm going to get my water. AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Australian accent) Some great
NPC character voices. Any chance of an Australian one? (laughter) MATT: When I get comfortable enough with the
dialect to not embarrass myself in front of all of you, yes. (laughter) MATT: As a performer I'm always working on
different dialects and accents and the Australian is one that I've, only in recent years, been
really trying to take a crack at and I'm not quite comfortable enough yet to go all in with a
character in that regard. MARISHA: We try not to be offensive. (laughter) MARISHA: Try. Emphasis on try. MATT: And if I do it and it sounds awful it's only
because it's a fantasy world where there aren't actually Australians. It's its own unique dialect
that might loosely at times sound Australian, but it's my world whatever. (laughter) WONDER WOMAN: We've got another one over here. AUDIENCE MEMBER: Hi Matt, I've got a question
about foreshadowing, storybooks and villain progression. So, I want to know, without giving
too much spoilers away, and I won't mind if you choose not to answer this, but back in the
pre-stream, when the group fought Brimscythe, was there anything they would have encountered that
would have stopped Thordak from returning? (laughter) MATT: I mean, there were things that were
happening during that time period parallel to their progression in the story that they could
have totally mucked up what eventually became the releasing of Thordak, but that would have been a
very very far arc, out of the path they were taking. And they didn't have the necessary magical
ability at the time, nor the really clear know-how or knowledge to know to pursue that thread. As far
as they knew, Brimscythe was a singular entity and what brief hint they had of the rest of the Chroma
Conclave with the other obsidian spheres in his lair, it was more like a "Oh, that's not good.
Let's not go there ever again. Slowly step out and let's say that never happened." MARISHA: Yeah, basically there were evil eyeballs
in a bunch of crystal orbs, and they were like, "We saw what you just did and we're coming for
you!" and were like "Well, that's ominous. Well, anyway, moving on! We have no context for that!"
and kind of just kept going. (laughter) MARISHA: I think we all had that moment when we
were like "This is going to come back to haunt us. "Moving on, time for the Winter's Crest Festival
you guys, high five, yeah!" MATT: They had more pressing matters at the time.
So, it may have been possible, but it would have been a very very extraneous long shot to discover all
the story elements, and even so, the entities that were involved would have probably sneezed and
killed them all, like Raishan who was partially responsible for that, would have just turned and
gone "(laughs) That's adorable "(acid breath sound)," and they're all dead. MARISHA: That bitch is mine. That bitch is mine!
That bitch is mine! Raishan! WONDER WOMAN: We've got another question over
here. AUDIENCE MEMBER: Hey guys, huge fan, I watch all
of your videos all the time and one of the videos that I watched was with Vin Diesel, with the large
Witcher. MARISHA: What? Who's that? (fake laugh) AUDIENCE MEMBER: I just want to ask you a
question, as a DM and a player myself. Was it awkward or was it funny moments when you're trying
to DM for Vin Diesel, yourself? MATT: Well, first off that was one of the weirdest
phone calls I've ever gotten in my life. Dan Casey from Nerdist, three days before it happened, going
"Hey Matt, so? You want to come on Monday and "dungeon master for Vin Diesel?" I was like "Haha,
what?" (laughter) MATT: Life's weird enough in L.A. that with
conversations like that there is always the chance of truth, even if someone's messing with you. I
was like "Erm, what? What do you mean? Yeah "totally, all right cool, so how long are we going
to play?" He's like "How about two hours of game "play time?" I'm like, "I'll prepare about two
hours of story, it'll be great." They build the whole set over the weekend. I show up Monday. I
get a call the morning up Dan Casey's like "Hey, "so Vin Diesel's time is cut a little short so we
can only play for an hour." I'm like "Okay." So I had to condense two hours of story that I had into
an hour. "We can do this, we can do this." MARISHA: And then they were like "Oh yeah, by the
way, we actually want to do a PR Q&A with Vin "Diesel for like, the last 20 minutes. So you
really only have about 40 minutes?" MATT and MARISHA: Which they then cut down to 25. MATT: So I had to condense two hours of story to
25 minutes, no pressure. But at the same time when you have someone on that level of multi
international stardom like Vin Diesel, it feels like an 80 to 90 percent chance they're going to
be a complete asshole. It's just how it works sometimes. So I was really worried. I was really
worried. And he showed up, and we finally got a chance to talk, and we went over the story and his
character for about ten, 15 minutes. And he was the coolest, chillest dude ever. MARISHA: He was so nervous. MATT: He was like "I'm so excited, I haven't
played in a while and I hope I do okay. I like the "idea of the character. Okay cool, we can do that.
Oh man I'm really excited, thanks for having me "on." He was a very very cool guy. I was super
excited. He was a little rusty at first and as you watch the video you see him, he kind of has to get
into it. It takes him a few minutes. But as soon as he rolls that first natural 20 he turns into a
big eight year old and he's like "Yeah! Critical!" That was when I knew we had him. I was like, "We
got this." MARISHA: Jesus. MATT: You were just talking into your wine,
weren't you! (laughter) MARISHA: Shut up! I wasn't, no I wasn't, no i
wasn't! MATT: You were talking into your wine! MARISHA: No, that wouldn't happen in front of a
bunch of people! MATT: So Marisha, what was the next question? MARISHA: Shut the fuck up! (laughter) MATT: Here, talk into the mic. (laughter) MATT: I'm so glad we were all here to witness
that. (cheering) MATT: Yes! MARISHA: That was the most L.A. thing I've ever
done. I don't know what I was going to say. It's not important anymore. WONDER WOMAN: Would you like me to move on to the
next question? MATT: Yeah, yeah, to answer your question, it was
intimidating, but ultimately a lot of fun. WONDER WOMAN: We've just got another question
here, so-- AUDIENCE MEMBER: Hi guys, this kind of ties in to
the whole making a character that you're comfortable with. How much of your personality
goes into making your characters, and for you Matt, how much of your personality drives the
stories you create? MATT: It's hard not to put an element of your
personality in every character you play, because they're your character. Each represents a facet of
your personality, some that maybe don't get explored as often, or that you don't have the
opportunity to. Even in evil campaigns, you can make a terrible character, but is a part of your
id that's in that character, you want to play the story because you don't have the opportunity to
express these darker elements of your persona, so this is your chance to do so. So it's hard not to
put yourself into a character to a certain extent. MARISHA: I mean, technically, if we want to get
all actor-y woo-woo on you for a hot second, the Stanislavski method actually works a little bit
like this, where you make a table, or a T chart, and whenever you have a character, you write down
the ways you are like that character and all the ways you are not alike that character, and the way
Stanislavski teaches it is; in the ways that you are similar, awesome! You don't have to act. And
it's not a bad system because I could be a mile apart from someone sitting next to me, but you're
still going to have something in common. Everyone has something in common, somewhere. MATT: As far as creating stories and world and
NPCs, in the same way, it's hard not to put a little bit of yourself into them. Story is a
little more esoteric. I'm fascinated by things that are not like me, things that are different.
Especially as a dungeon master where you play so many characters, part of the fun of that, the
thrill of that, is being able to express so many different things that are outside of your comfort
zone. MATT: I really enjoy being able to step in and
play female characters across the spectrum. From very powerful, strong personalities, to sly, dark,
somewhat manipulative individuals. As far as dudes go, I get to play a range of dumb, grizzled,
outback farmers, to very intense politicians, to all these different things that are not at all
like me, except for little bits here and there. You find that seed of truth is what you build on
each time. But for making characters, it's hard not to put a nugget of yourself in there, really. WONDER WOMAN: Got another question over here. AUDIENCE MEMBER: So, you've got a backstory you
said you've written for both Gilmore and Allura. God forbid anything happens to them because we
love them, but would you post online their backstories for us to read? MATT: Perhaps one day. It's one of those things
where, when you're developing a world of this size, and it's a lot to develop, a lot of
expectation, a lot of eyes on it, I have to find a fine line between revealing information that's
already been revealed, and things that are still behind closed doors. There are things that may,
and probably shouldn't be revealed, because the party won't know. And if I've learned anything
it's that information online, everyone is going to tweet it at my players. I can be like "This is a
thing that's happening, but don't tell the players." And then 12 hours later it's like "Hey
Liam, look at this thing!" And of course players are going to look, so I purposely keep a lot of
things close to my chest because I want it to be a surprise for the players and for the watchers. MARISHA: Yeah, by the by, if you tag us in the
tweet it does mean we can see it. (laughter) MARISHA: Not a lot of people understand that
concept. MATT: "Oh my god, I hate that episode, I hate
watching @Marisha_Ray's face." Like, she sees that tweet. MARISHA: And I'm like, "Hey dude." And he's like
"I didn't know! I didn't know you-- Hi? Hi." I can see that. MATT: "Big fan, I love Keyleth, I'm sorry, I
didn't mean that!" Dude, it's cool, just don't put me in the tweet. (laughter) MATT: But yeah, I think eventually, when this arc
finishes and things are revealed, I probably do, and I've talked about this a little bit, when Vox
Machina's story ends (sad noise), do a big Q&A with all the things that people didn't know and
the questions that I can't answer now because that part's over, I'll be happy to discuss. MARISHA: We've been planning as a group that
whenever Vox Machina's story comes to the end we want to have like, at a tavern, some drinks, and
it's us talking to St. Peter at the Pearly Gates being like "All right dude, so tell us this one
time that the beholder did this thing and could I "have avoided it?" and you just tell us all your
secrets. MATT: I can't tell you all the secrets. MARISHA: I want all the secrets! MATT: I can't tell you all the secrets. MARISHA: All! MATT: Can't. Can't tell you all the secrets. MARISHA: Yes! MATT: Not happening. MARISHA: Okay, moving on. (laughter) WONDER WOMAN: We've got another question over
here. AUDIENCE MEMBER: In any game, past or present, do
you have a favorite trick or cursed item? MARISHA: I'm sorry what? WONDER WOMAN: A favorite trick or cursed item. MATT: I mean, Craven Edge was a fun one. (laughter) MATT: Not necessarily cursed, but sentient weapons
and sentient magical items are always an interesting dynamic. Bringing another personality
and source of strong power in a game that also can decide whether or not it likes its wielder, or can
manipulate the wielder, always makes for a fun game. That's a lot of fun. Less of a magical item,
but I like characters that can play with luck. It happened in our game, these hags, dark fey
creatures, could pluck elements of luck and fate from players as part of a trade, and I like that
aspect of it. While it's not necessarily an item, that character now looms. Technically, now Vax is
now indentured to one of those hags. The trade that he made for the poison that he has yet to
use. Oh, I remember everything guys. I remember everything. MARISHA: He hasn't used that poison? MATT: Nope. MARISHA: What a dumbass. (laughter) MARISHA: He's going to die over that poison and
he's not going to even use it. MATT: Not my problem. MARISHA: Love you Liam, if you watch this later. (laughter) WONDER WOMAN: So we've got another question over
here. AUDIENCE MEMBER: What's up guys. So, we've had a whole
year of this happening so we've got great fan art, great fanfiction and stuff. So that we know, if
this is being recorded, what's the line of you going "Hey this is great-- whoa, back up, I don't
want that!" MARISHA: Anything on rule 34? (laughter) MATT: I will say, I'm very open to all sorts of
fanfiction, fan art, even racy stuff. We go to Burning Man, we're cool, whatever floats your
boat, it's fine. But when you stumble upon extremely graphic sexual fan fiction about the
players, not the characters? I'll draw the line there. MARISHA: I forgot about that, yeah. MATT: And you know what? Power to you, I guess,
but that, at least, that was a very awkward morning. I think Taliesin read longer than
anybody, and he was like, "Oh, god, oh god, I can't stop, why, no, oh!" MARISHA: It became like a test of willpower, to
see how long you could get through it. I did what with-- how many of us were in one-- what?! Jesus! MATT: That was unique. MARISHA: Yeah, that was extreme. MATT: And yet, at the same time, I guess,
achievement unlocked? I don't know. The saddest little boop boop. MODERATOR: Now everybody is going to try and find it now. MATT: We may have just horribly embarrassed some
poor Tumblr writer, I'm so sorry if we did. MARISHA: We love you, just-- MATT: You're great, we love you and appreciate
you, it just caught us off guard. MARISHA: Yeah. MATT: Wasn't expecting that. WONDER WOMAN: We've got another question, if you'd
like. MARISHA: Yeah. (laughter) AUDIENCE MEMBER: Matthew Merther-- Merth? uh. MATT: Yes? MARISHA: (garbled noises) AUDIENCE MEMBER: Matthew Mercer, I'm sure this has
never happened to you, you're such a great DM, but let's say you wake up one day, 20 minutes to
game-- MARISHA: Where are you going with this? AUDIENCE MEMBER: There is a point. MARISHA: I'm sorry, this has never happened to me,
I'm so embarrassed. Keep going. AUDIENCE MEMBER: 20 minutes to the game, you've
got nothing prepared. What do you do? MATT: 20 minutes to the game and nothing
prepared? AUDIENCE MEMBER: Nothing prepared. MATT: Write down a bunch of names, and just see
where it goes. One of the things that'll hold you up for any game, situation wise, is having to
create NPC names, in my opinion. And nothing will take the players out of a deep fantasy story, more
than being like, "Oh, you encounter? David. The "knight." Or, "Steve, the stable master." You know?
Steve's been in a lot of your guys' games, and mine too. Steve gets around the table. The rest of it
you can bullshit as much as you want, but having that list of names is so helpful, because can just
say, "Oh yeah, you run into a half-orc named--" MARISHA: Perv-an! MATT: Purvan, as a singular phrase. MARISHA: Perv-an! (laughter and cheers) MATT: That's an actual name, and all the people
out there whose name is Purvan, who watch the show, hate all of you now. But I love you,
Purvan! WONDER WOMAN: We've got another question up here,
unless you want to continue? MATT: Just to finish up real fast, once you have
those names down, the rest of it you can bullshit all you want and make up whatever happens, but
that to me has always been what sells a story you're making up or not, is to have those names on
the go, for any NPCs they encounter like that. Monsters, you can make up stats on the go if you
want, you just see how the dice roll and say, "Yeah, that seems like that should hit." Or,
"Oops, that missed!" Or, "You find a crystal that "hums and whispers the phrase 'Golden Girls' over
and over again. What does that mean? Let's find "out!" You can make up whatever you want, but the
names make it easier. MARISHA: Monday, Tuesday, Happy Days-- whoa! Holy
shit, what is this stone? MATT: It's a great module, the Happy Days module,
highly recommend it. MARISHA: What was the book we found in the store,
Game Empire, and it was called GM's Gems or something like that. MATT: Yeah, it was a cool book called GM's Gems,
that has just a bunch of resources for game masters that has a bunch of tips and tricks on NPC
creation, world building, magical item development, and a bunch of examples you can pull
from that, as well. MARISHA: Yeah, it had a list of names, it had a
list of NPC quirky hooks, like has one eye and an eyepatch, and has a limp, you know, so that you
can just look quickly and be like, this is an interesting person, that I totally thought about! MATT: So if you have 20 minutes, you can go there
and be like, Uh, all right, they're in a small bog, and they discover that giant rats have become
sentient, and have begun stealing children in the night to mutate them into horned rat gods. MARISHA: It's like Mad Libs D&D. WONDER WOMAN: So we've got another question over
here. MATT: Yes! AUDIENCE MEMBER: G'day, guys. One thing I've
noticed with Matt saying a lot of the Telltale things, like "Matt will remember this." What are
the chances of actually getting a Critical Role Telltale game? And if it was in the works, would
it be a pre-season one, a post-season one, or would it follow an NPC? MATT: I mean, I'd love that! That would be
awesome! I think, when their licenses involve Minecraft and Batman, our lowly D&D game isn't
quite going to call their attention-- yet. One can dream. MARISHA: Yeah, I mean, we know a lot of the
Telltale guys too, but they--- Yeah, they're doing their own thing right now. MATT: Between Minecraft and Batman, and the
Borderlands, most of our party has worked with some Telltale to some degree, but it's also their
interest. If they came to us, and wanted to make one, hell yeah! Hell yeah! I'd be all over that!
So what I'm saying is, you all should bombard Telltale to make a Critical Role game, and just
let them know that there is interest. No, don't do that. MARISHA: Don't do that. MATT: Don't do that. That can come across as a
little? MARISHA: Let's just say there are things. Being
worked on. MATT: That's way too vague. MARISHA: I can't say any more! NDAs, and shit! MATT: We have no idea; we would love one day to
create something like that. MARISHA: We're working on it, man! MATT: We're trying to find ways to expand the
media. MARISHA: And I do want to preface all of this
with, when you guys watch Critical Role, we are pretty much 100% self-produced. We work with our
producers at Geek and Sundry, but they are also producing everything else, so we're very self-run,
so when you see the fan-art galleries, in break, Liam does that. When we do the pre-show
announcements, I do that. That's all stuff we wrangle. We self-produced our opening title video,
you know? So it's just us, and we're working as fast as we can. Yeah. MODERATOR: I think we've got time for one more
question. WONDER WOMAN: We've actually been given a few
moments more to ask some more questions. MATT: You don't say. Lovely. WONDER WOMAN: You guys are special. We've got a
question here. MATT: Question, please! AUDIENCE MEMBER: I was just wondering, if you
could do the Gollum voice? MARISHA: Something about the Gollum voice? WONDER WOMAN: Yeah, just wondering if you could do
the Gollum voice. MARISHA: Go, Matt, go. MATT: Well Liam can do it a lot better, because he
actually does Gollum for the games, but let me see. (Gollum voice) "It came to me. My own. My
love. My precious. Gollum! Gollum! We wants it. "Gives it to us, please! No, you're a thief, a
liar. No, no, not listening. Not listening! "Murderer! No, go away!" There you go! (cheers) WONDER WOMAN: So we've got a question over here. MATT: Pff. I do not need your mic! (laughter) AUDIENCE MEMBER: I was just wondering, in Vox
Machina, a lot of their characters are multiclassed for story purposes, but Keyleth is
one of the characters I don't see multiclassing. So if you could, what would you be, and why? MARISHA: If I multiclassed into anything? So, full
disclosure, I actually debated heavily about multiclassing with Keyleth for a hot second, but I
am a little torn, because honestly I'm still kind of going with the flow of the character-- none of us
know what's going on, we're all riding by the seat of our pants with this one, so you guys know about
as much of Keyleth's future as I do. Because we're allowing ourselves to be affected by the story
elements, so it'd be stupid if I was like, "No, I "mean, this is going to be my future, I'm going to
have an Oscar in five years!" You know, like that type of thing. So we try not to do that, because
the world changes you. So, I did debate for a hot second when Keyleth was very angry, she's pulling
out of her anger phase, but when she was so upset at the way that the world had become, and that
she'd been lied to-- she felt like she'd been lied to. So there was a hot second that I actually
debated about throwing a point of barbarian into her. (whoas, surprise) MARISHA: Yeah. MATT: Man, Raging and Wild Shape is no joke. That
is no joke. MARISHA: So I thought about-- and I'll tell you
the moment that I thought about it, and it was after the Fire Ashari had gotten wiped out, and I
levelled shortly after the Fire Ashari got wiped out. And then there was the few times at
Whitestone where I started using my Fire Storm spell and I was describing it as very like,
Keyleth is enraged, she's enraged, and angry, and she's crying and she's casting these fire spells.
So that was the moment after the Fire Ashari was wiped out that I heavily debated it but-- it is
tough because Keyleth's whole overarching journey is to try and become arch-druid, and be the
salvation to her people so, yeah. WONDER WOMAN: We've got another quick voice
request over here. MARISHA: Dance, monkey. Dance! MATT: Dance, monkey! MARISHA: Dance, monkey! AUDIENCE MEMBER: About your character McCree,
what's the time? (mic drop) (laughing) [no audio] MARISHA: I'm just enjoying Overwatch like a happy
person. (laughing) MARISHA: Pew, pew, pew, pew. (laughing) MATT: (western intro noise) (McCree voice) It's
high noon. MARISHA: (screaming) (cheering) MATT: (McCree voice )Someone call the undertaker. WONDER WOMAN: Now we've got our final question. AUDIENCE MEMBER: Um, Hi! MATT: Hi! AUDIENCE MEMBER: Some of my-- Marisha! Hey! MARISHA: Hi! AUDIENCE MEMBER: Some of my favorite moments in
Critical Role have been the character interactions, whether it's between the player
characters or between the NPCs. I think my favorite to date is Gilmore and Keyleth
teleporting to find a very naked Vax. (laughter) AUDIENCE MEMBER: And just that reaction-- MATT: There's been a lot of player nudity in
recent games. It's been a theme recently, I'm like, okay! All right! AUDIENCE MEMBER: I think everybody is okay with
this. MARISHA: Hey! Body pride, right. Be comfortable
with yourself! MATT: There's nothing wrong with it. MARISHA: No body shaming! MATT: No, I'm not shaming anything. I just-- MARISHA: Free the nipple! (cheering) MATT: It's just a trend that started happening
more often recently. I was like, huh all righty. Anyway, your question. MARISHA: Dragons are destroying the world, you
think we give a shit about seeing each other's titties? MATT: No! Why are you yelling at me? I think it's
great! I was just acknowledging it! What's your question? AUDIENCE MEMBER: My question is, is that something
that-- that interaction between yourselves, between the player characters, between
the NPCs. Is that something you actively try to foster, or is that something that's just kind of
come about over the years as you've been playing? or is that something you kind of go, "Oh I really
want to go for these cute moments, go for these "sad, scary moments between all of you so it's not
just combat," or is that like, "Oh it's happened "this way, this is great?" MATT: I think it's not so much that everyone's
trying to shoot for sad moments, or happy moments, or levity-- we're all performers and we all love
story telling and narrative, primarily. That's our career, that's what drew us into it. So while all
players and myself enjoy the strategy and the difficulty of battle, that's a very big part of
the game for us at the same time it's as important, if not slightly more so, is the
narrative and the character interactions for us. Nobody really plans moments, per se, because no
one knows what's going to happen, even me. I can't tell you how many games I've prepared sheets and
then we only get that far into it, or we skip all this and go right to here. So I don't know what
they're going to do either, I think all these moments that you see are part of what makes the
show so interesting, for all you guys, and us, is no one knows what's going to happen, and all those
moments happen organically. MARISHA: Yeah, you're experiencing it with us.
Which I think, like you said, is why it's so engaging. When there is a huge plot line reveal,
we're reacting with you guys. MATT: Yeah, that kind of-- for us, the thrill is,
for me, knowing what's going to come, dropping it, and seeing how the players react and take it, and
in many cases, taking it in directions I don't expect and-- that's really cool for me too. So, I
don't think anyone plans specifically-- except for maybe Sam, Sam plays the long con. I know he'll
plan moments to happen a ways away and find a way to drop it. So if anyone, he's the one that does
plot on his own for a bit, but other than that I think most everyone else is playing pretty much
reactionary to whatever is occurring in the game and that's kind of thrilling. MARISHA: Yeah, I think the only time that I've
really-- like the Gilmore thing, that was totally circumstantial, that just worked out the way it
worked out. MARISHA: The only times that I've tried to think
about moments and conversations I want to have, generally they're still a result of reaction,
they're still a result of "Well, this happened, so "I know I want to have this conversation." So like,
in last-- not last episode but the episode before, talking with Pike. I knew that Keyleth wanted to
talk to Pike about the religion aspect before they left, and then-- Keyleth and Kima had butted heads
early on and that was totally reactionary because Keyleth did not trust Kima. But after that,
Keyleth felt a little bad so there were apologies later. That was thought about, but not necessarily
much more beyond, "I know I want to apologize," or "I know I want to talk to Pike," and that's kind
of as far as we go. MATT: Good question. WONDER WOMAN: Okay so, we don't have any more
questions left to ask them but do any of you guys like singing? By any chance? MODERATOR: Do you guys know that there's a reason
this weekend is special, other than Haven, and it's Matt's birthday this weekend. (cheers) MODERATOR: I'm sorry. WONDER WOMAN: So? I'm going to point this mic at
you guys. MODERATOR: None of us want to sing into the mic. WONDER WOMAN: None of you want us to sing into the
mic and we're going to do a very extra special Happy Birthday chorus. Now, we've also got a bit
of a special group of singers joining us tonight. You may recognize their voices, and if you peek
around the corner on to the video screens, if you can, you might be able to see them but let's get
started with Happy Birthday. ♪ Happy birthday to you, Happy
birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Matthew ♪ MARISHA: Dungeon Master! ♪ Happy Birthday to you! ♪ WOMAN WITH HORNS: Hip hip! EVERYONE: Hooray! WOMAN WITH HORNS: Hip hip! EVERYONE: Hooray! WOMAN WITH HORNS: Hip hip! EVERYONE: Hooray! MATT: (airhorn noises) That's amazing, thank you
guys so much! WOMAN WITH HORNS: Make a wish! Make a wish! Make a
wish! MATT: I get to blow out the imaginary candles. WOMAN WITH HORNS: Use your imagination. [no audio] WONDER WOMAN: These are OH and S approved
candles. (laughing, cheering) MATT: (Cartman voice) If I die, will I dream?
(normal voice) For all of the South Park fans out there. This is amazing! Thank you so much! MODERATOR: Thank you everyone for coming out to
the panel. Thank you Matt and Marisha for being amazing guests at Haven. (cheering) MODERATOR: Who wants cake? Yeah, it's cake time. (techno music) [elevator music]
The best part of the panel at 32:25 when Marisha forgets what a microphone looks like.
I was at the con, it doesn't show it well but the whole crowd lost it at that.
Don't lie. You're looking for the fanfic, too, dear reader. :p
Thanks u/CriticalScope ! You're awesome as always. Watching now.
"I remember everything, guys", he says while forgetting Vax has indeed used that poison :D
This video is proof that Marisha Ray is so hilarious! I mean Matt is cool too but she is practically doing a stand-up show here.
"Once you go Matt Mercer everyone else seems... worser?"
This video has been added to the list of Panels, Q&As, and Periscopes.
(You may also be interested in the List of Special Games, or a Compilation of DM advice and Critical Role Homebrew by Matthew Mercer, or a general Critical Role FAQ.)
You never fail to amaze me criticalscope! Awesome as always.
Marisha: so done with McCree quotes.
So very, very, very done. ;)