The Fall of Campaign 3

In this video Fraud discusses The Fall of Campaign 3 and why some Critical Role fans are consistently upset with the shows latest Dungeons and Dragons campaign.

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outro song- Back To You and Me (Moog, Mark Agustin)

0:00 The Fall of Campaign 3
0:45 Pre-recorded elephant in the room (Chapter 1)
5:13 Change Is Coming (Chapter 2)
9:58 The Bells of Hell (Chapter 3)
15:13 8 Years In The Making

Critical Role is a dnd 5e game featuring famous Dungeon Master Matt Mercer and other famous voice actors.

FraudOnTheTele is a media commentary and entertainment channel, where we breakdown shows, anime, and trending topics.

[Finn_Films]

Critical Role is as popular as ever...but some fans seem to have had enough of Critical Role Campaign 3.

[amritlyall]

I'm a fan of Campaign 3, its different from campaign 2 which was different from campaign 1. I like them changing things up and not letting things become stagnated and stale, having said that Campaign 1 will also have a soft spot in my heart as an OG year 1 fan of CR and Campaign 2 is probably the best in overall quality but i enjoy Campaign 3 to and can't wait for Ep51

[fer]

100% dorian should had stayed, i personally didnt watch the original exu, but i grew to love dorian over the early section of campaign 3

[DuxBellorum]

This campaign is really feeling like a group of misfits really caught up in an event well above their weight class and just trying to do what they can. I feel like the next few episodes are going to make or break this campaign and I think a lot of fans are going to have huge opinions about what happens next.

[williamross]

C1 was a story about a group of adventurers and their relation to the world.

C2 was a story about 7 individuals and their relations to each other.

C3 is a story about a world and it’s relation to 7 individuals

[reyocasio]

Not gonna lie and I know I might be in the minority but I feel like not having TalksMachina hurt the brand in a total it for sure helped anchor the brand with the fans it gave us small tidbits to hold on to and feel like part of it

Example with a prerecorded actual play is D20 adventuring party helps you feel like you're part of the table and choices

[FearlessGamer]

I’ll be honest, as a new fan of Critical Role, this is my first campaign and I am loving it. Didn’t know people were getting disappointed with it but I really love most everything about it.

[TheCrimsonOne]

My biggest gripe is the apparent fear of confrontation and the over analysis of every issue the party faces. It’s bogging down the story and really hurting the pacing imo

[Highwynd]

My issue with C3 is it's more boring, the player characters are less interesting and FCG, Fearne and Chetney are straight up joke characters, walking comic relief gimmicks most if the time.

Also Imogen is clearly the main character and I can't stand her, she has no sense of humor, she's the most boring one and she gets the most screen time as well as those OP main character syndrome powers and focus. But to be fair, Laura always gets the spotlight for whatever reason, Jester was uber the main character of C2 and Vex arguably was for C1, but those characters were infinitely more enjoyable.

Also Tal just cusses his way through most conversation now which got old in episode 2. Overall, the story is interesting but extremely slow, and not thrilling enough to base an actual play on. In C2 they worked for the mob essentially, then they stole a boat and became pirates, they were in dangerous jungles, fighting snake people in temples, swimming at the ocean floor, going inside the mage tower fighting a dragon, going to a magic tundra, going into an ancient magic ruin and fighting a flesh city and I'm leaving out the majority of the interesting events here.

For 50 episodes, it's felt like one really long slog with nothing very memorable happening. There's a red moon, a slug woman, a creepy gangly bald elf man, some bald chick that killed laudna, Chet is horny. That's about it. The crawler race was cool, I remember that part.

[Zac_Frost]

So I kinda fell off of Critical Role as a whole. Not just Campaign 3. For a myriad of reasons, but none of them are really due to "change."
1) EXU: Calamity. Before you chop my head off, hear me out. The whole idea of detailing the events of the Calamity seemed cool on paper, but the execution was a bit.... off. Like, they had to retcon a few things from established lore to make it work fully, and the characters were just a bit... off. It just didn't live up to the quality and hype promised or expected. Also, to understand the big threat facing the party at this time in the new Campaign, you kind of have to have seen it to fully grasp it. And as MCU and Star Wars fans know, there's no more fun part of entertainment than the homework! (sarcasm)
2) The Imogen Action Hour. This whole story seems to just revolve around her in an unhealthy way, but she's not really strong enough of a character to carry this whole narrative. Chetney's backstory and whole feral werewolf problem were just kinda brushed away in a couple episodes, but Imogen's is taking the whole damn Campaign. I get that Travis made Chetney as mostly a gag character, but still, Imogen kinda looms over the whole party when she's not really that compelling of a character. Sure, these characters might be interesting, but their development, aside from Imogen, is just rushed.
3) "This show has to reflect the world we live in today." I don't see why the entertainment industry is so hell bent on making fantasy worlds that are basically just modern day Earth, but magical. I think entertainment is at it's best is when you're not constantly reminded of modern day, real world social and political issues that are handled with all of the grace of a falling Anvil covered in Napalm. That's not to say that having a kind of message in your work is a bad thing. The best stories do. The problem is that entertainment today puts the message first, and the story/entertainment a distant, forgotten second. Exandria started off as pure fantasy and fun. Well, very, *VERY* heavily inspired by Skyrim and Diablo if you analyze it, but still fantasy escapism. Jrusar may as well just be Los Angeles on spires. Every other city we've gone to this Campaign has been the same core, but with different window dressing.
4) The issues with the pacing. As you stated, the pacing of Campaign 3 is all out of whack. They're facing the potential Big Boss while they're Level.... 8. Let that sink in. Vox Machina didn't face Vecna until Level 19. The Mighty Nein didn't face the Rushed Ending until Level 16. This new threat seems to be bigger than both of those previous threats put together, and they're going at it at Level... 8. It'll be the mother and father of all storytelling asspulls if they survive one way or the other.
5) No one's ever truly dead. The main problem I had with Vox Machina is that all of them died at least once, but never really stayed that way. I get that they've usually got someone who can revive them in the party, but that's more my issue with D&D as a whole. The problem is that resurrection and such trivializes death in a story where you're trying to maintain stakes. It makes death have as much meaning as it does in Dragon Ball, but even easier to revive someone, as you don't have to wait a year. I was seriously expecting the Otohan Thull bloodbath to have permanent ramifications, like meeting a new character or two. In the end, it actually turned out to be a net positive for them, as Briarwood's influence on Laudna was weakened or outright removed as a result. Death in a story is supposed to mean something. It's supposed to mean that that character's story is over. Their narrative screeches to a halt. But, nah, let's just make it so dying is actually good for a character and doesn't give them crippling PTSD or anything like that, despite the fact that we want to shove realism into every other aspect of our story.

I could go on with more, but I'm tired, and don't feel like writing a short book tonight.

[monosito]

I feel like a lot of people tend to forget that while yes, its enjoyable to watch them play this game because they're good storytellers and have backgrounds in acting, this is ultimately THEIR game. We just get to be along for the ride. Watching it like explicitly like a show is a disservice to the game they're playing. I am personally having a blast watching C3. It feels very different from the other two campaigns and that's ok.

[Peytoneileen]

As the first campaign I watched, I found it difficult to keep watching after Dorian left. Robbie added an air of lightness and joy and positive vibes that I lowkey feel are missing now.

[davencabrera]

I think the frustrating thing about C3 is that we as an audience can see all the pieces from other campaigns and from EXU …. BUT NONE OF THE C3 CHARACTERS ARE SMART ENOUGH like we don’t have beau and Caleb to figure everything out so they really feel more at the mercy of the world and are unable to take cohesive steps as they bumble trying to figure it out they’re really is no planner in the group

[spudsbuchlaw]

I think the biggest reason why C3 hasn't stuck is actually because CR is a campaign first, show second, as the cast and crew have stated numerous times. If you're running different campaigns with the same tables across many years, its impossible to know how good each one will be stacked next to the other ones. Thus Is the nature of DnD

[keithredacted]

It surprised me that the fans treat this show like a tv series, which is perfectly understandable and I can see. For me though, I only ever treated it like watching a Let's Play. I personally couldn't really criticize this product like a TV Show since its so freeform for me. Them not focusing on making a story for funs but going with whatever flow seriously works for me more.

[nanazoghbi]

My only issue with campaign 3 is really the main character syndrome that Imogen is getting. It really feels to me that she is the main driver from the beginning and that every event have to relate to her and that bug me. Even the whole laudna arc felt more like let's save Imogen best friend. Laudna death was about her and her resurrection was mainly her doing. I enjoy Imogen but we spent a year and a half having her in the front seat. Everyone's back story that we observed were also linked to her

To Be Clear, I don't think that Laura wanted or even pushed for this. And I don't fault her or Matt for this. They play the game they want to play and that's it. I am just explaining what I feel made C3 less enjoyable for me. I think Matt expected the other people's link to the red moon to be stronger and more relevant but it didn't happen. Even orym for who it was supposed to be a revenge Mission had to have that go at the background.

[Freeezy_pop]

This campaign feels more plot driven then character driven. I'm struggling to understand what motivates these characters have from doing or saying anything. Sometimes I feel like they don't know. But I'm struggling to stay engaged this campaign.

[colinrobertson]

Honestly, the story just feels too big for their level, especially since they didn't really have time to do personal side quests early on. Having a patron meant that they were doing what the patron wanted and not roaming around dealing with their past like the Mighty Nein did, which I think is why these characters haven't felt that interesting. There are so many cool hints at their backstories throughout the campaign, but we never get into it because we need to do this mission for Eshteross or we need to deal with Ruidus. Also, as cool as the cameos from past campaigns are, it left me wanting to see what they were up to rather than follow Bell's Hells. Part of the charm of C2 was that it was its own story separate from the events of C1. Bell's Hells just kinda feel like NPCs in their own story.

[Lngbrdninjamasta]

I have been enjoying C3 so far and have been excited every Thursday since it began. While I miss the live part of the streams, they don't take away from my enjoyment.

[andreacallegari]

3 things killed my interest in Campaign 3. Dorian was my favourite character of the cast and I was devastated to see him go, by the end of Calamity I realized that I had developed a deeper connection with Cerrit, Patia and Loquatious in four episodes that I had with Chetney, Laudna and FCG in over 20, and the Otohan fight's aftermath, when Imogen simply wished the problem away