i woke up to ur asks on my dash and i have to say i think people are being way too hard on matt. like he's hinted MULTIPLE times that the TT are a threat for several sessions, has subtly nudged them toward getting essek's help, etc. i'm not saying the players are stupid for not taking the hint bc sometimes as a player u wanna see how things play out, but they had all the warning they needed. sometimes players charge into things. sometimes the dice stack against them. i've had what should -c-
have been very balanced encounters end up wiping some players. i've had players piss off NPCs they've been given every warning in story NOT to do. players are gonna do what players are gonna do. matt's been more than fair up to this point, & to accuse him of prioritizing his villain over his friends fun is incredibly misdirected. no DM worth their salt wants to kill their PCs, & his players also know that the world has to have some integrity and sometimes that means consequences for stupid shit.
absolutely agreed. the tomb takersâ difficulty has been amply communicated to the party -- and in fact the vast majority of the things they used against the m9 we had already seen them use in some capacity. the party went into this fully aware that it would be difficult, the only surprise per se was how difficult
and like, i definitely do get where that anon is coming from, there have been times in c2 especially where iâve been like âoh man this is just frustrating for everyone, i hope things let up on them soonâ. there was a period of like 10 episodes in the middle there with obann where the m9 just Could Not catch a break and everything they tried to do fell apart, and it sucked
but i think that itâs unfair to attribute those things to mean or uncaring dmâing rather than a mix of unlucky dice rolls, player decisions that didnât work out, and yeah maybe a little miscommunication -- things that happen to all dms and parties, and which arenât a reflection on anyoneâs friendships or desire to have and create fun
consequences and failure have always been a key part of critical role, and itâs something the table really embraces narratively -- whether that failure is down to an unbalanced, difficult encounter or down to an encounter that just doesnât go their way for whatever other reason. and like, to a certain extent, if matt pulls his punches here, doesnât that throw all the times when he didnât into a different light? should he have pulled his punches when vax died? when molly died? what would it mean for him to âgo easyâ in one fight but not another?
unfailing fairness has always been a cornerstone of mattâs dmâing style, and crucially his players know this. itâs a key part of the trust between the table and dm. they know he wonât go easy on them, and in turn that creates genuine tension, stakes, consequences, and triumph. their victories are all completely legitimate, as are their struggles. for him to erode that trust for the sake of making easier one or two hard fights that will inevitably make for incredible narrative payoff whenever they do finally succeed against those enemies? it just ainât worth it fam
(and, for the sake of argument, we know what this table looks like when theyâre genuinely not enjoying the game. i feel like we as a community need to have schedulled re-watches of c1e27 just as an exercise in perspective sdfkgh)
