I am planning to run my next campaign in the setting and haven't had much luck finding anyone else who has run it... I am no Matt Mercer, and probably never will be, but I was wondering if anyone had any input on how to go about running it, or if anyone has run it, what worked and what didn't?
What worlds like Faerun and Exandria are good for is not having to do all the creative heavy lifting, but don't pen yourself into being Critical Roll Lite imo. I have played Frozen Sick, and expecting it to be like watching CR is a huge mistake as a player. I think you need to set expectations via a session zero. Let the players know that this isnt the tales of the next campaign, but their own stories that have to grow organically into this world.
That said you're in Exandria, and that world has been changed by the cast so much that it will be unavoidable running into references. I would also take a hint from Matt in campaign two and bring in major references to CR sparingly. That way they have more impact when the curtain is pulled back. Plus if you can't play Nott or Keyleth well enough to make player really enjoy them showing up once in a blue moon, it may feel cheap to them, though very well could be wrong.
If I had a suggestion, it would be to play pre-campaign one. Matt and company have written pretty wide, but it's only so deep. There should be history there, but also room for you to build out your own stuff.
I only know one person who tried running a Critical Role campaign (Call of the Netherdeep) and while they said the campaign itself worked well and had some interesting mechanics like the rival adventurer party the over all experience was a nightmare because of the players. A lot of the group were new to D&D and wanted to try it because of CR so straight away the DM was running into the Matt Mercer effect of having both his style and his maps and minis being constantly compared to a professional with huge resources behind him, but also any time he tried improvising anything on the spot at least one player would pipe up with "well that's wrong" and wheel out some obscure piece of lore from their favourite show.
I think the overall lesson is have a good Session Zero and make it very clear that this is *your* version of Exandria and therefore might evolve differently from the version the players see on screen. This is particularly important if they're huge lore nerds, especially as CR is still running so anything you have planned for your campaign might be contradicted in the future
Most of the "default" DnD campaigns can be run in Taldorei with a little finesse.
Don Farland has an adaptation of Lost Mine set in Jorunn that is a good example, and The Shattered Obelisk would be easy to add to it.
My advice: Let the player experience some of the campaign (shopping trip to Gilmores, maybe Allura and Kima give then a quest) I would not have them run into VM except in extreme circumstances. (My party went to Whitestone specifically for info on Orcus, and Vex was the best source for that.)
I would not worry much about the "Matt Mercer" effect--I think it is overblown and more an issue of DMs overthinking things than players having unrealistic expectations. There might be the odd example of a group of players with unrealistic expectations, but I would not let fear of not living up to the standard set by a professional voice actor whose miniature habit is subsidized by the miniature companies dissuade you from using the setting if you want to.
If that is not enough to assuage your concerns, let me provide two additional thoughts. Matt Mercer is very good at a lot of elements of DMing, but he is hardly an infallible DM. The last episode of the Vox Machina campaign, for example, heavily centered around perhaps the single worst DMing decision I have ever seen. Additionally, Mercer is not the only DM to operate in the setting. Aabria Iyengar in Exandria Unlimited was actively terrible as a DM--there were in-game issues (almost all her NPCs exhibited the exact same personality) and out-of-game issues (her interactions with Aimee Carrero, a brand new player, bordered on bullying). So, even within the canon world of Exandria, it is not like there should be an expectation of perfect DMing.
I am planning to run my next campaign in the setting and haven't had much luck finding anyone else who has run it... I am no Matt Mercer, and probably never will be, but I was wondering if anyone had any input on how to go about running it, or if anyone has run it, what worked and what didn't?
I'm in one right now as a player (see my sig), but it's a group that's largely been together in other non-Exandria campaigns as well so we've got a good level of trust and compatibility built up
The DM is also a first timer, but she's doing a good job of mixing in, for lack of a better phrase, "fan service" (oh, you want to go shopping? Here's Gilmore's!) while still doing her own thing
Playing in someone else's world can be intimidating, but remember that this is YOUR world when you're DM. Just so long as everyone understands that and is having fun, there shouldn't be any issues
One other thought - putting on my own DM's hat, I do wonder if there would be any value in having a shocking (and very non-canon) early NPC death just to establish early on that no, this isn't the show, it's your own game
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Aabria Iyengar in Exandria Unlimited was actively terrible as a DM--there were in-game issues (almost all her NPCs exhibited the exact same personality) and out-of-game issues (her interactions with Aimee Carrero, a brand new player, bordered on bullying)
Not to derail the thread, but that's a hot taek I think Aimee would disagree with very strongly
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I am planning to run my next campaign in the setting and haven't had much luck finding anyone else who has run it... I am no Matt Mercer, and probably never will be, but I was wondering if anyone had any input on how to go about running it, or if anyone has run it, what worked and what didn't?
What worlds like Faerun and Exandria are good for is not having to do all the creative heavy lifting, but don't pen yourself into being Critical Roll Lite imo. I have played Frozen Sick, and expecting it to be like watching CR is a huge mistake as a player. I think you need to set expectations via a session zero. Let the players know that this isnt the tales of the next campaign, but their own stories that have to grow organically into this world.
That said you're in Exandria, and that world has been changed by the cast so much that it will be unavoidable running into references. I would also take a hint from Matt in campaign two and bring in major references to CR sparingly. That way they have more impact when the curtain is pulled back. Plus if you can't play Nott or Keyleth well enough to make player really enjoy them showing up once in a blue moon, it may feel cheap to them, though very well could be wrong.
If I had a suggestion, it would be to play pre-campaign one. Matt and company have written pretty wide, but it's only so deep. There should be history there, but also room for you to build out your own stuff.
I only know one person who tried running a Critical Role campaign (Call of the Netherdeep) and while they said the campaign itself worked well and had some interesting mechanics like the rival adventurer party the over all experience was a nightmare because of the players. A lot of the group were new to D&D and wanted to try it because of CR so straight away the DM was running into the Matt Mercer effect of having both his style and his maps and minis being constantly compared to a professional with huge resources behind him, but also any time he tried improvising anything on the spot at least one player would pipe up with "well that's wrong" and wheel out some obscure piece of lore from their favourite show.
I think the overall lesson is have a good Session Zero and make it very clear that this is *your* version of Exandria and therefore might evolve differently from the version the players see on screen. This is particularly important if they're huge lore nerds, especially as CR is still running so anything you have planned for your campaign might be contradicted in the future
Most of the "default" DnD campaigns can be run in Taldorei with a little finesse.
Don Farland has an adaptation of Lost Mine set in Jorunn that is a good example, and The Shattered Obelisk would be easy to add to it.
My advice: Let the player experience some of the campaign (shopping trip to Gilmores, maybe Allura and Kima give then a quest) I would not have them run into VM except in extreme circumstances. (My party went to Whitestone specifically for info on Orcus, and Vex was the best source for that.)
I would not worry much about the "Matt Mercer" effect--I think it is overblown and more an issue of DMs overthinking things than players having unrealistic expectations. There might be the odd example of a group of players with unrealistic expectations, but I would not let fear of not living up to the standard set by a professional voice actor whose miniature habit is subsidized by the miniature companies dissuade you from using the setting if you want to.
If that is not enough to assuage your concerns, let me provide two additional thoughts. Matt Mercer is very good at a lot of elements of DMing, but he is hardly an infallible DM. The last episode of the Vox Machina campaign, for example, heavily centered around perhaps the single worst DMing decision I have ever seen. Additionally, Mercer is not the only DM to operate in the setting. Aabria Iyengar in Exandria Unlimited was actively terrible as a DM--there were in-game issues (almost all her NPCs exhibited the exact same personality) and out-of-game issues (her interactions with Aimee Carrero, a brand new player, bordered on bullying). So, even within the canon world of Exandria, it is not like there should be an expectation of perfect DMing.
I'm in one right now as a player (see my sig), but it's a group that's largely been together in other non-Exandria campaigns as well so we've got a good level of trust and compatibility built up
The DM is also a first timer, but she's doing a good job of mixing in, for lack of a better phrase, "fan service" (oh, you want to go shopping? Here's Gilmore's!) while still doing her own thing
Playing in someone else's world can be intimidating, but remember that this is YOUR world when you're DM. Just so long as everyone understands that and is having fun, there shouldn't be any issues
One other thought - putting on my own DM's hat, I do wonder if there would be any value in having a shocking (and very non-canon) early NPC death just to establish early on that no, this isn't the show, it's your own game
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Not to derail the thread, but that's a hot taek I think Aimee would disagree with very strongly
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)