Critter Corner: Examining the Storytelling Devices in Episode 8 – The Gates of Zadash

Welcome you to the next installment of musings and thoughts on the new campaign of Critical Role, Geek and Sundry’s mega-popular live stream gameplay starring Matt Mercer as Dungeon Master with a bunch of nerdy-ass voice actors playing D&D. New episodes live stream every Thursday at 10 p.m. eastern on Alpha, Twitch and starting with Campaign 2 on YouTube as well. 

VOD of each episode is instantly available through Alpha and Twitch for subscribers, and on Mondays on Geek & Sundry’s YouTube channel and website. Down below you’ll find a video from the Nerdarchy YouTube channel where Nerdarchists Dave and Ted share their thoughts on Critical Role too. The new campaign was the perfect jumping on point for them to join the Critter family. These videos will post on Wednesdays, with a two week window giving Critters time to watch if they missed the live game. Now…

*spoilers for Critical Role, Campaign 2 Episode 8 ahead

Let’s dive into Episode 8 of Critical Role

If you read last week’s installment of Critter Corner, then you know I totally dug episode 7; it presented an excellent illustration of how fun and thrilling D&D combat can be. But campaigns can’t always survive on combat alone. Unless your group is the type to enjoy 100 percent smash-and-grab sessions, then you need to have significant storytelling elements to engage players long term. Critical Role has the additional challenge of satisfying its audience as well, but it does so by hitting several sweet spots that keep the fans coming back for more. If you’re searching for ways to make your campaign more engaging, then consider these four storytelling devices I enjoyed from Episode 8: The Gates of Zadash.

Matt’s magical worldbuilding

This one is pretty obvious. The Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting isn’t sitting on Amazon’s top 100 gaming books list because it’s just meh. Currently, it’s  No. 16, and only Wizards of the Coast content like the Dungeon Master’s Guide and Volo’s Guide to Monsters outrank it as far as D&D-related material goes. Considering the guide has already been out five months, that’s not too shabby.

Matt’s settings are detailed, well thought out, and logical. If he doesn’t have something planned out, he makes it up on the spot. In episode 8 we heard descriptions of city gates, streets, markets, monorail-like public transportation, artisans, merchants, inns, high brow districts and their more working-class counterparts, libraries, and a bookstore known for smut.

Having a detailed setting, or being flexible enough to create on the fly, gives players a lot of agency. Choosing where and who they visit in a town provides the Game Master with hints about what’s important to them and creates opportunities to develop both the plot and the characters. But if city building isn’t your thing, there’s an even better way to enrich the world and engage the players.

NPCs! Admit it: you remember people more than you do places. If you’ve been a Critical Role fan since the beginning, watched all the episodes, and maybe even bought some merch or attended a panel, then answer this: which stands out more in your memory, Allura or Emon? Viktor or Vasselheim? I’d bet $20 that 95 percent of Critters could name Grog’s uncle faster than they could recall the city where the two goliaths had their confrontation. The other 5 percent are probably people like the incomparable Deven “Mistress of Maps” Rue – she whose talents brought us that kickass map of the Dwendalian Empire that made its appearance in episode 4. And hey, if geography and infrastructure are your jam then geek on my friend, the rest of us are lucky to have you.

Episode 8 had three fun, new NPC encounters: the bandits, Ulysses Staneras, and Enchanter Pumat Sol (all four of him). And yes, I agree that Matt’s voice acting abilities lend a delightful bit of color these characters, but I also propose they’re not the best of what the NPCs bring to the game. Their individual histories, economic status, perspectives, motivations, and personal prospects all created opportunities for the players to both engage in the game and define themselves.

The bandits gave Taliesin a chance to show off how merciful and generous Mollymauk can be, all while using humor to defuse a deadly situation. Standeras’ interactions with the party let us see how trusting Caleb and Jester were willing to be of strangers, and consequently, how much the rest of the party has begun to trust their judgment. And Pumat – delightful, intriguing, Canadian-John-Wayne-esque Enchanter Pumat – literally showed Caleb off in a new light, and created an opportunity for the group to talk about how they prioritize party spending. Topics like that seem dry on the surface, but they can make or break parties in the long run. When that stuff is handled in-character organically as it was here, it creates a genuine sense of unity among the players.

Running gags

Humans like to have their expectations met. It scratches a very particular itch we have. This aspect of ourselves is why songs like Call Me Maybe become so popular – they follow a formula and deliver a catchy pattern. We feel fulfilled when we inherently pick up on and experience the pattern through to completion. So when the players roll another nine and everyone immediately shouts “NEIN!” Or Caleb is called out for being filthy, or Jester finds a way to insert doughnuts into a scene, we’re happy because we’re in on the joke, and it’s our cue to take a moment to laugh.

BTDubs, we were *this* close to having a party named “The Knights Who Say, Nein!” THIS CLOSE!

Answered questions

Jester, yo, she’s got baggage. Even better, her backstory was teased through hints, left to percolate in our imaginations, and then laid out in both funny and tragic ways.

Early on Jester made it clear she thought her mother could provide money on demand. Then, in episode 5, she says, “My mom saw lots of people from other places.” When we met Starosta Kosh in episode 6, Laura asked Matt if Jester had seen him before, as “he seems like the type to have made a stop.” At this point, I was pretty sure the mom was someone like Madame Alvarez or Aunt Alicia from the movie Gigi (that 1950’s flick where Audrey Hepburn is trained to become a courtesan in 1900’s Paris).

In episode 7 there was a moment where Jester chose to heal a kid rather than attack the enemy, and the whole time she was grumbling about how she didn’t want to help the kid but felt guilted into doing it anyway. For someone who took such an immediate liking to Nott, it was a pretty intriguing lack of concern. Here’s my note on the incident. (I have to write my ideas down as I go or I’ll only remember them when I’m trying to fall asleep.)

Possible evidence she grew up as the only child in a house of lady favors → doesn’t really have empathy for other children → foil to Beau’s habit of (trying to) rescue kids?

So now, in episode 8, we learn that Jester’s mom is indeed a courtesan (expectation met) and that Jester had an exceedingly strange childhood (expectation exceeded). By including the details about Jester’s isolation, missing father, and lack of nurturing from her mother, Laura delivers on the promise of her previous teasers while simultaneously laying the groundwork for future reveals and plot hooks.

New mysteries!

Speaking of anticipated future reveals, in addition to the newly unveiled possibilities for Jester’s character growth, there were multiple little hooks and bobs dotted throughout the episode that invite both the cast and the audience to “stay tuned for more.” For example, when Caleb warned Ulysses about provoking Molly’s wrath, Ulysses replied: “I know better than to cross anyone with Xhorhasian blood.”

Recall that Xhorhas is the super sketchy kingdom that borders the Dwendalian Empire, is ruled by a spooky queen, and inhabited by tons of magically mutated beasties like the devil toad. It was an offhand comment the party missed, so the audience is left wondering whether this “Xhorhasian blood” is a prejudice thing or a legit piece of the world design. Is specific to tieflings only, or maybe anything related to demonic power?

Also, Ullyses referred to the librarians at the Cobalt Soul archive as “believers,” but he uses the same kind of tone you’d expect to be employed when describing an adult who still believes in Santa Claus. So like, what’s that about, huh? Are we to interpret this as a continued lack of influence or power from the Knowing Mistress (the goddess who was previously weakened by the Chained Oblivion during the Calamity)? Or is there some other in-world perception about the monks of the Cobalt Soul?

Also-also, WTF was Caleb on about when he startled awake shouting “Take them out! Take them out!” Was he referring to the bandits they’d just encountered, or does it have something to do with whatever it is that gave him PTSD and caused him to zone out in episode 7?

Also-also-also, Beau said she traveled extensively through the empire, and has contacts everywhere. Who are these people? How many are there? And speaking of questionable individuals, who is The Gentleman that wrote the letter Beau stole and shared with Jester? Why is this person sending poison to the Baumbachs? Are the Baumbach’s plotting to taint the other breweries in Trostenvald, thereby eliminating their competition? Oh-oh-oh! And what did Matt mean when he told Marisha “the last thing you did before your family said come home was here [in Zadash]”? Did Beau’s family *want* her to return? I thought her dad was happy to be rid of her…

See? Little seeds scattered about everywhere. The players have options about what to follow-up on, both in the world and with each other, and the audience has stuff we get to stew over and anticipate as well.

So yeah, if you’re trying to get into this or any other actual play content – or else up your own roleplaying campaign – look for ways to either indulge in a bit of fan service (running gags, answering questions) or else toss out a few baited plot hooks (captivating NPCs, mysteries). And remember, it doesn’t have to be detailed or scoped out to the Nth degree for people to have fun. Viktor in campaign 1 was a complete spur of the moment character brought on by Percy looking to buy black powder, and now there’s animated shorts, cosplays, and dozens of fan art pieces featuring him. Whether you’re a creator or a consumer there’s always opportunities to enrich your experience.

Leave a comment here or tweet me @IfThenAnderson with your Critical Role thoughts.

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