I will say more about Sam not forcing backsory stuff in the game. I think in some of Talks Machina episodes Sam said that when Matt asked him about when Sam wants the truth about Nott to be revealed in the campaign (in the beginning, in the middle or later), Sam literally answered "I'm fine even if it will never come up at all".
@PlayYourRole
2 жыл бұрын
Damn I actually wished I had touched on that. Sam is more interested in telling the story in front of him than the one from the past
@LegendStormcrow
2 жыл бұрын
Sam played so cool too. He set it up where no matter what happened the ending of her story was acceptable, even if her husband died.
@icymoons
2 жыл бұрын
it's so fun in the way that her backstory still definitely informed aspects of her character, but whether we know it or not is up in the air.
@LuckPuddle
Жыл бұрын
I flat out asked the question early on: What kind of mom is Nott” on Talks Machina and Sam deflected it like a BOSS.
@bonmot7850
Жыл бұрын
For a guy who didn't 'force backstory into the game,' he sure did drop constant hints and allusions to it. Did he do that because he 'didn't care if it ever came up at all'? He tried to bring it up constantly so he could seem clever to everyone after it finally came out, even if that meant waiting until after the campaign. You don't have to be a genius to do that... you just need to be neurotically fixated on seeming smart.
@OniNoSweeney
2 жыл бұрын
There's a scene where Nott first learns to look like a Halfling where she just goes to a cafe, orders food, and just sits there happily, getting to be a Halflings in public again for the first time in who knows how long.
@alexandreboutaudvalarini5638
2 жыл бұрын
Gods above and below! I had forgotten avout that!
@AnxietyRat
2 жыл бұрын
Well we do know how long. A couple years. She was with the goblin clan for a year and a half ish...and then met Caleb like a month before the campaign started. So a couple years of her being a goblin is our best guess.
@NoNameAtAll2
Жыл бұрын
@xyzxyz5637 you're*
@Ajehy
Жыл бұрын
Absolutely right. Also, it’s crazy to see my own GM on here! You taking notes?
@santi3991
2 жыл бұрын
This is the same man that gave Veth/Nott parents the names T'ravys and Ashlee at the table when asked because he never thought of her parents before, I swear Sam can be playing 4D chess while not paying attention to half of it while watching tiktoks and somehow make it work, he's a chaotic genius.
@grey8288
2 жыл бұрын
That scene also happened because, in the previous campaign [SPOILER ALERT] part of the reason his character left the party was because they didn't know almost anything about his life pre-vox machina. What little backstory he had was what had inspired Scanlan to go adventuring, after seeing his mother be killed by goblins. But the party didn't know about this and didn't know his mother's name, so asking for someone's mother's name became an ongoing joking way to "check in" on someone's backstory and learn a bit about them.
@ladykoiwolfe
2 жыл бұрын
@@grey8288 wait...Scanlan was Veth's son? I've only just started watching their actual campaigns because their one shots are absolutely awesome. I'm not the least bit upset by this revelation. I love it.
@tiringsarcasm
2 жыл бұрын
@@ladykoiwolfe uh sorry no, Veth is not Scanlan’s mother
@ladykoiwolfe
2 жыл бұрын
@@tiringsarcasm ah, damn. Ok.
@hirocheeto7795
2 жыл бұрын
@@ladykoiwolfe Vox Machina was, on the timeline, decades before the Mighty Nein. Some timeloop shenanigans would have to happen for that to work.
@jessicascoullar3737
2 жыл бұрын
First hint I noticed on a rewatch was right in the first episode when it was revealed she spoke halfling. She was badly disguised as a halfling and Beau tried to trip her up and reveal her by greeting her in halfling and she was able to respond fluently. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but it caught my attention as a well placed hint to her origins on a second watch.
@johnekare8376
2 жыл бұрын
Yes, he even threw in a little "I know halfling, right?" to Matt before answering. It could have been he wasn't sure if the language was lost in the transformation and hadn't thought of it until then, but I'm guessing it was just to not draw too much attention to the fact she knew the language.
@EpicGalaxyDragon
2 жыл бұрын
Yeah I remember immediately picking up on it during the first episode, and then all the talk to Caleb about learning a spell and transformation pointed the audience to the conclusion. Very good foreshadowing.
@stonescorpion
Жыл бұрын
"He can fix me. He can change me. He can save me." - At first these lines seem almost like a sad, self hatred that Nott has for herself. Turns out she was cursed and she wanted Caleb to become strong enough to break that curse. Its brilliant. Sam could have started sharing Notts backstory with Fjord right then but he didn't. Perfect slow play.
@lolli_popples
2 жыл бұрын
My party: Woah, there’s Gilmorian missing posters everywhere. Aren’t you from there? My Warlock: Oh... yeah... I think the prince went missing or something. Party: Yep. Prince... Elijah? Isn’t that your name? Warlock: Yeah, I was named after him. My parents are obsessed with royalty. Massive suck ups. Party: Internally: *Haha now we know more about his mysterious parents. That’s probably why he’s so adversed to royalty* My Warlock: *I can’t believe they fell for that, thank god*
@thatsmuggamer
2 жыл бұрын
As another person with a runaway prince character, albeit for different reasons, I love that so much
@lolli_popples
2 жыл бұрын
@@thatsmuggamer Runaway princes for the win!
@Gladissims
Жыл бұрын
I don’t have a runaway prince but I do have a runaway noble lady. She’s a hill dwarf who was about to be married off to a deep dwarf king and… not being able to imagine herself living in the underdark for the rest of her life immediately noped out of that arrangement. So now she’s a grave cleric on a mission to make sure the dead… stay… well… dead. She’s having an absolute blast of it. XD
@Klaital1
Жыл бұрын
@@Gladissims I personally always try to subvert the tropes, so when I was just working on a noble lady character, she didn't run away or anything, she was abducted and taken to pretty much the other side of the world (and under it) to be a slave to the Drow, which is where she is going to meet the rest of the party, and her whole motivation is getting back to her home and to her life and betrothed that she was very much happy with.
@Alexis_Nemesis189
2 жыл бұрын
There’s also a part where Nott and Caleb go to a bath house, and Nott asks if Caleb is the same after he comes out of the water, it was such a clever bit of foreshadowing as well.
@TheReaver1234
2 ай бұрын
Never caught that
@SylviusTheMad
2 жыл бұрын
My favourite part of Nott's backstory is the explanation for her alcoholism, and how it ties directly to the game's mechanics. Halflings are immune to fear. In becoming a Goblin, Nott lost that immunity. But drunk people are also immune to fear, so she drank to recover that immunity, and then she wouldn't be afraid anymore.
@phillipdangt341
Жыл бұрын
Can't imagine the weight of living a whole life with fear only as a concept, and then being murdered and thrust into a new life with your literal murderers and now having this fun new aspect of fear dusted over the top of everything. Terrifying.
@mar30999
Жыл бұрын
She was Nott the Brave.... Halflings have an ability called Brave.... oh wow
@thegreatninjaman
Жыл бұрын
Thought it was just advantage on saving throws vs fear
@chadnorris8257
Жыл бұрын
@@thegreatninjaman It is. They're not immune, just resistant.
@theteddy1487
2 жыл бұрын
"... and they drowned me in it." What is dead can never die. Welcome, sister Nott, to the church of the drowned god.
@leonardopimienta9997
2 жыл бұрын
There is also Umberlee, her cult also drowns newcommers
@shadhum17
Жыл бұрын
unexpected but pleasant ref
@SingingSealRiana
Жыл бұрын
Great reference, but it ought to be sister
@theteddy1487
Жыл бұрын
@@SingingSealRiana fixed
@hqueso
2 жыл бұрын
Goulash the half-orc barbarian was a character I built to see how grim, horrific and traumatizing a background I could give a character but have them be, in the present, very happy and content. As such, no one knew how bleak his childhood was, as he didn't dwell on it in the present. The fact that he had a low Int (flavored as an old head wound that left him stuck in a child-like state) helped hide it. One thing that the party noticed right away was that Goulash didn't drink alcohol. He'd ask for milk, juice, water- anything but booze- at the tavern. The following conversation took place between Gou and the party's wizard: Wizard: I've never met a half-orc that avoided ale at all costs before. Why is that. Goulash? Gou: If I drink, I might get drunk! An' if I get drunk, I might die! W: What makes you think you'll die if you get drunk? G: One time, my Papa got drunk an' then he died. W: Well, his being drunk when he died doesn't mean he died because he was drunk. G: Oh, no! I was a lot smaller then. If he hadn't been drunk, I couldn't'a killed him. Ooh! Juice!
@TheSpencermacdougall
2 жыл бұрын
Lol.
@XoIoRouge
2 жыл бұрын
That's the RP and story elements I yearn for! I'd have loved to been at the table during that conversation.
@knightghaleon
2 жыл бұрын
That’s a great reveal through role play man.
@greeninferno1339
2 жыл бұрын
That’s a great interaction
@Juli-zg7sj
2 жыл бұрын
Permission to give Goulash's likeness an NPC cameo in my homebrew campaign?
@kroter955
2 жыл бұрын
Actually, Sam had somewhat forshadowed the fact that Nott had a child. He answers in episode 6 or 7 that he is of age to bear children when asked about her age.
@Margar02
2 жыл бұрын
I remember "Chekhov's gunning" mentally ehat when Nott said it!
@chrisrudolf9839
2 жыл бұрын
When he did that, I first thought it was Sam being caught on the wrong foot with his lore knowledge and being insecure about goblin maturity and life span, so he just said he is of childbearing age instead of giving a number in years when asked, but in hindsight, it could very well have been the character being insecure about what age she should claim for herself (vaguely aware that goblin lifespan was much shorter than halfling lifespan and thus by just telling her (real) age she might come across as an old goblin granny)
@jansolo4628
2 жыл бұрын
@@chrisrudolf9839 Alternatively, might reveal that she's too young if she's only counting her age ever since becoming a goblin.
@jessicajeide3053
Жыл бұрын
He also had her shopping for toys and trinkets that she then sent along with money to an undisclosed location in game. Brilliant.
@NumPad
2 жыл бұрын
Another masterstroke of Sam’s storytelling was the reason his character decided on the name “Nott” for her new self. Growing up she was always bullied by the village boys for being “not pretty” and “not graceful” and “not girly” and it really messed with her self-confidence until, eventually, she found love and her husband helped repair that psychological damage. When she was cursed into a goblin, she woke up and saw that she really was “not pretty” and “not graceful” and “not girly”. She was not any of those things. She was... just Nott. And as a bonus: Nott the Brave is an anagram of her real name, Veth Brenatto.
@perigrin6
2 жыл бұрын
I never noticed the anagram. That is nice work on Sam's part! I need to work on being clever like this for characters with conflicting backstories.
@piperbird7193
2 жыл бұрын
@@perigrin6 Remember Nott using three fake names on different occasions - Veth, Bren (watch Liam freak out), and Otto.
@khuri9030
2 жыл бұрын
Sam playing the long game again with that name.
@chrisrudolf9839
2 жыл бұрын
@@piperbird7193 Yeah, the funniest part about that though was that the Bren part also being Calebs real first name was actually a freakish coincidence, Sam was only going for using bits of his character's original name.
@Juniper_Rose
Жыл бұрын
And when Nott stopped being scared, and started caring about M9 as her family and friends again she became Nott, The Brave.
@wanderswithmoonlight681
2 жыл бұрын
The other bit of foreshadowing he did that I love was he, as Nott, said that she had feelings of her body being wrong. That she never fit in with other goblins. And nothing else. Which wasn't a joke, it was a moment of vulnerability for Nott, but there's still so many ways to interpret that. The "body being wrong" feeling could just be general body issues, just her dealing with body dysmorphia. And there could be something about her that just didn't fit with goblin society, Or a specific community of goblins that she didn't feel a part of for one reason or another. But we get that reveal of the truth and it all makes sense.
@MCEvans66
2 жыл бұрын
If fact she almost has a pathological hatred of other goblins until she meets Wensforth assistant / servant of the Mage Yussa Errenis. Then it's just the tribe that caused her change.
@Zoey_the_Rat
2 ай бұрын
I remember screaming "goblin dysphoria" the first time it came up
@wanderswithmoonlight681
2 ай бұрын
@@Zoey_the_Rat Goblin Dysphoria is gonna be the name of my trans punk band.
@giuliafornaciari9235
2 жыл бұрын
This happened a year after the campaign began, with everyone thoroughly convinced I was playing the edgy smartass for a change (I'm known for my bubbly, kind and chaotic characters). There's nothing better than having your dark, broody and unfriendly Investigator getting to his hometown with the party, for story reasons. By that time, they all knew he got abducted to the Shadow Plane with his brother a while earlier, and the consequences of living there made him the person they met. And in the same session, the Paladin and the Cleric stumble in a nice, well-kept and cozy tavern where a big and broad-shouldered blonde man welcomes them from behind the counter. They eat amazingly, chat about the current events and when they're about to leave, they're faced with a lovely painting of two young, blonde boys. A small plaque has two very familiar names on it: my character's and his younger brother's. Two promising, healthy, happy sons of innkeepers. And that's when the whole party found out that my character wasn't an orphan, wasn't suffering from memory loss and wasn't frugal because of a poor background, as they all thought. He just never told his family he was alive, and every single coin he earned from guild's work went to his parents anonymously to help them rebuild after they gave away everything, got scammed and almost went bankrupt to look for their missing children. He just couldn't face telling them he came back and his brother didn't. And that the son they knew and loved was a bitter, angry shadow of his former self who they never recognized.
@napppstar0
2 жыл бұрын
That's beautiful
@witchyfirbolg
2 жыл бұрын
Holy crap, that is INCREDIBLE character building. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for the rest of the party to come to that realization, or even your character feelings about it all. Great work!
@giuliafornaciari9235
2 жыл бұрын
@@witchyfirbolg it was a bit rocky. The Witch found out (the Cleric told her), and took it upon herself to go there and tell the truth (she's an orphan and couldn't understand why her friend would do this to himself and his parents). My character went ballistic because there was so much cr*p going on and he just wasn't ready to do this. They accepted him in the end, it was very sweet. And I made the whole party cry their eyes out during the reconciliation 😏
@khuri9030
2 жыл бұрын
That is edge character done right.
@giuliafornaciari9235
2 жыл бұрын
@@khuri9030 I wanted to play edge with a good purpose, keeping in mind that he had to change and get better in order to function. The group helped him find a way and he's now more of a team player, cares for his companions and has found his positive emotions. He's still a grouchy, sassy smartass but at least it's played for fun now :)
@pastaking3639
2 жыл бұрын
I love how Sam misdirected people about the backstory with her saying she just wanted to change when she was under a spell only then to reveal it's layers deeper then that.
@PalleRasmussen
2 жыл бұрын
Post-campaign Talks Machina; "Why Nott The Brave?" Sam; it is an anagram of Veth Bernatto", Laura; "AAAAARRRRGGGHHH! I sometimes forget how smart you are!" And he is. There is a reason he has a fantastic wife and the man-wife he has.
@XoIoRouge
2 жыл бұрын
More like how oblivious Laura is. Obviously he made Nott The Brave first and shoved a bunch of letters together until it could sound like a name. No one I know is named ''Veth'' so that's just a random jumble of letters. If it was an anagram of John Smith, that'd be smarter because he limits himself with words / names we (Earth humans) have already established.
@Step43099
2 жыл бұрын
@@XoIoRouge doesn’t Sam say he came up with the name Vix first then changed it to Veth and made his name Nott as anagram
@XoIoRouge
2 жыл бұрын
@@Step43099 That sound familiar but that was a joke in reference referring to Vex and Vax from season 1. He wouldn't honestly consider naming his character Vix; and Liam suggested him "Goblin" as a race beforehand. I can speak from "experience" as I found that anagram thing to be fun, so I messed around with other titles and anagrams. It was nearly pointless or impossible to come up with a wellsounding fantasy name and then anagram it into an english sentence, especially one that's such a successful pun as "Nott The Brave" - every character in that name matters. Taking away that extra T throws off the pun, and taking away any extra character misspells the words. Given the difficulty of the word-game, the fact that Sam already knew he was a goblin, and the successful pun that is "Nott The Brave," I have no reason to believe that Sam actually started with Veth Bernatto. Knowing Sam, the pun came first, and the anagram came later.
@punusername3445
2 жыл бұрын
@@XoIoRouge Veth is a real name in my country, not written like that but said the same way, works for fantasy names
@XoIoRouge
2 жыл бұрын
@@punusername3445 I'm not saying Veth isn't a real name. I'm saying it's rare enough to be used for DnD fantasy (like, we don't see people named Jim, for example). More specifically, it's rare for Americans, and Critical Role's cast are Americans and so they tend to use non-American names, be it from other languages or completely made up. My point previously is that it's exceptionally easier to come up with a catchy goblin-name-title-pun like "Nott The Brave" and find an anagram out of that rather than start with a seemingly random "Veth Bernatto" and *magically* come up with an perfect play on words that fits for a goblin's name. It's just logic.
@Darkjonny79
2 жыл бұрын
One of my favourite characters I've played, was a Tiefling bard who drank heavily, called Rin. Stayed clear of women and tended to not go too close to fire, due to already being "warm enough." He rarely took his clothes off, and had a thing about bathing privately. He even slept last, just to sleep as little as possible. Party decided to go to a brothel, and the Fighter pays for everyone to have a room and for everyone to enjoy the night with a person of their choice. DM pulls us all aside to ask about how we'd like to spend the night. The party is told that they hear some deep crying, but the hostel is so busy, they can't tell what room it's from. Rin came downstairs after everyone else, muttering about feeling better after a long night. Is asked about if he heard someone crying, and replies that he heard the crying, but was so busy letting things out in a wild case, he didn't much care who cried. Party carries on to an inn, where Rin feels bothered, so drinks more. Puts it down to the aftershock of last night, and leaves it at that. Buys more wine, gets drunk and is generally a quiet ass to anyone to tries to pry. He had his night, he feels lighter, but he shouldn't have gone as far as he did. Party of course thinks he did something amazing, but no one rolls for it and just assumes. Regardless, he's still doing well in combat and we carry on with our mission. Revealed next time they went to the same brothel, like 40+ sessions later, the brothel owner doesn't want him left alone. The girl he was with brings another, and he has to pay extra. Being the bard, party things he's a demon in the sheets. Again, more crying happens but this time, they're the only ones there. Party decides to go follow the crying, while looking for him. Find him embraced by the two women, hugging him as he sobs, body covered in burn scars. That's where after some gentle prodding, he tells them how his human father used to run a bar, and his human sister was the local barmaid and bard. He was essentially her backup. She on the flute, him on his violin. Said she danced between the crowd like silk in the fingers. Orcs attacked them, and he was pushed into the wine cellar while a fire started. Fight spilled into the cellar, and he got covered in wine. Partially drunk, he got hit in the head as he climbed out, and woke up in the ashes of the tavern, just outside it. He found who he presumed to be his sister, her bone flute next to the body, with charred markings, and no sign of his father. Party realises that he's been iffy with his body, because he almost burned to death, regrets not helping his family out more, and drinks to help hide the screams. Went from being the quiet loner, to being the darkest backstory, to eventually healing before the campaign got cut short. Found his father, was told his sister might be alive and they were going to Hell to speak with his mother. He dreaded that thought.
@johnc._9822
2 жыл бұрын
My current character sometimes say he's a "Son of a lich" as a joke. Or whenever something very messed up happens, he sometimes says "Ugh, it's just like home". He is a runaway son of a powerful Mage (who by definition isn't a lich but uses Souljar to extend his life), in a homebrew country that's full on evil mages everywhere. Something I did very recently is after an encounter with the BBEG that resulted in the death of a party member, my character refused to go on the search party to find them (the PC's didn't know they died), because he already believed their fate was sealed, and that the party would only "Create several corpse when looking for one", because my character is against senseless death.
@PlayYourRole
2 жыл бұрын
Love this! Simple vernacular can also go a huge way into showing backstories without telling it!
@MoonyFBM
2 жыл бұрын
ok but son of a lich is the best insult I have ever heard and I will now use it to my kids
@djcowell91
2 жыл бұрын
One other important point of his backstory and the way it worked with the story was the interaction with Fjord's backstory. You included the clip of fear of water, the feeling of drowning, etc. To be willing to go on a boat and on waterbreathing adventures at all with that background was a wonderful give and take of stress, trying to get out of it, but still playing along with the party. Worth revisiting with the topic in my opinion. (And I really loved when Travis apologized for not taking that fear seriously once he found out about the drowning!)
@jesterlavorre6417
2 жыл бұрын
3:45 in one of my favorite books when meeting one of the characters someone mentions how cold his hands are and he says "i've been dead for seven years, that's as warm as they get" and it's a JOKE but then they find out he was actually murdered seven years ago and he is definitely a ghost
@WithASideOfTibbs
Жыл бұрын
Now I really want to have this as a potential future D&D character, shit.
@vsh608
2 жыл бұрын
The character that had the greatest legacy of mine came from doing a minimal backstory. It was simply, his father is a tyrannical king of spades, his mother disappeared, and his wife was cursed to be his weapon (causing the hexblade pact). Everything else about him was made organically from playing. That character lead to the greatest campaign I’ve ever experienced, and the most heartfelt campaign end. He went from having a single directive of breaking his wife’s curse (which meant willing to give up power, as the party agrees he was the most powerful), to sacrificing himself to save the party he had grown to love and the world (side note: the final boss was his father and the father of the cleric). And in the end, he never actually finished his only directive of saving his wife. He entrusted his entire purpose for going on this journey to those he never trusted at the beginning. They did bring her back, but that was post campaign. She ended up being there to attend his funeral. Long Live The King Dyvlyrd Spade: True King of Spades
@Venslor
2 жыл бұрын
I think it's also a great lesson to be flexible with your backstories. Sam decided Nott wouldn't like water, and from that came some of the saddest material from Campaign 2. Being able to change your backstory as you play really fun. Obviously, you can't know every single thing about your character before you start playing, so it's fun to have flexibility. My cleric was modeled after Alistair from Dragon Age slightly goofy and shy, but it wasn't until the barbarian tried to push a sexual encounter at a brothel that I absolutely immediately knew that my cleric was asexual. He and that prostitute had a lovely evening talking together about her life and her daughter. An entire campaign changed by a moment of flexibility and realization.
@laurenjohnson5941
Жыл бұрын
one of my favorite subtle hints is Nott's relationship with Caleb, I think. Specifically when she defends him to the rest of the party in the first few episodes, and basically implies that she views him as someone to take care of like a son. It was so sweet in the moment and was what made me fall in love with the dynamic between the two of them, but upon a rewatch it's so sad bc she thinks she won't see Luc again - but she's proud of Caleb unconditionally, the way she'd like to be for her own son. Pushing Caleb to get more books and learn is also partial to her hopes of him maybe getting learn'd enough to "fix" her. And she has clear bodily dysmorphia from the get go, which is phrased in a way that can be read as insecurity when - realistically - it's a result of body horror. Nott's reveal is so good because there were so many things that you *think* made perfect sense before, but then you rethink it and realize the true meaning god I love her she's my favorite CR character 😭
@haku8135
2 жыл бұрын
Just pointing out the first time Sam used a fake name he was Veth. Then he was Bren (freaking out Liam as a bonus). Then he was Otto. Veth Bren Otto. Sam Riegal is an absolute genius and I hate it.
@dicedoom7162
2 жыл бұрын
i dont hate it, it think its cool.
@williammcnirlan4820
2 жыл бұрын
What I also thought was cool was the use of Nott's alcoholism and the need for liquid courage in certain circumstances. Halflings with advantage against being frightened, while Goblins in an almost constant state of fear. While it would be an exaggeration to say Veth never knew fear, going to the level of fear Nott felt , perfect reason for the level of alcohol. Again played for laughs at times by Sam, in hindsight such an obvious and tragic reason for it. And really played up to around water situations.
@NuclearFusion09991
2 жыл бұрын
On top of that Nott, The Brave is an anagram of Veth Brenotto. The clues were every where
@jeepersmcgee3466
2 жыл бұрын
why did Laim freak out? edit: oh, duh, he probably knew about Veth because Caleb and Nott started the campaign together
@williammcnirlan4820
2 жыл бұрын
@@jeepersmcgee3466 Bren was Calib's real name, which Liam was hiding. When Sam gave Bren as a false name, Liam reacted. The first part of Nott's real surname being Bren. At this stage neither knew the other had claim to "Bren"
@patrickmcisaac3142
2 жыл бұрын
Sam's RP (both Nott and Scanlan) was my inspiration for my newest character in a group with my cousins who know ME really well. I built a character named Gene Gull, a half-elven bard whose magic comes from improvised jingles in the vein scanlan would riff on well known popular/classic songs. He is high in charisma with a lot of proficiency in deception, but in reality his name IS jingle, he's fully human and just obsessed with elven culture. In actuality he is Tingle from The Legend of Zelda : Majora's Mask and my cousins still don't know. We can only meet every few months but I hope it takes years for them to figure it out
@bob8988
2 жыл бұрын
In a campaign that i dm, i forgot the name of a mage that was important in a porttown but was not important in the story. When the party asked for the name of the mage to the ifreet that was summoned by the mage, he told them that he did not know the name. This made them curious so they began to investigate and made me panick but i kept going with this idea. Long story short, for their adventure, they needed to go to the "spiral staircase of the stellar sky" where they can make one wish that can even alter history within certain rules. So the mage wished to be forgotten by everything so she could freely travel the realms in search of forbidden knowlegde. This way, no god, titan or elder evil could stop her because nobody knew who or what she was. Only referring to her as "the Shadowed one" or "the nameless seeker". From one forgotten detail to a new interessting villain.
@knightghaleon
2 жыл бұрын
I’m currently playing a character who on paper should be an edge lord but I’m playing him as a perky fella happy to be adventuring. He’s a Hexblade whisper bard shadow sorcerer. The guy was hired to help a party of murder hobos loot bodies and carry loot along with a couple other followers. Well those murder hobos wanted to fight something strong and gain more power so they took materials from a cult for their ritual and figured they’d take the power for themselves. They decided they’d sacrifice the followers they had hired and my character was a sole survivor. So he can hear the voices of his friends in the shadows and even gets hints that the murder hobo party might have been twisted into boss monsters. My character however doesn’t do big lore drops of this. He’s just happy to be working with better employers. He’s been a mercenary for a bit and has worked for waaaaay better people when you compare to who he used to work for. So when the conversation comes up, he sort of presents in a way that sounds like he worked in fast food or some other terrible service job. I intentionally run him this way as to not dull out the other members’ backstories and because he genuinely loves working with the party. But in battle they’re always curious why I can be so peachy and yet slip into shadows or can speak with an almost eldritch voice when using certain bard spells. One time I stole the shadow of an evil noble we killed (whisper bard ability) in order to infiltrate an enemy base and my character had to ditch his usual personality to blend in. He felt creeped out after getting the party inside. Like he didn’t like the memories of the noble and wanted them gone as soon as possible.
@somenerdpng
2 жыл бұрын
I have a character I want to play some day, she’s an ancestral barbarian who instead of having her ancestors spirits, she has those of her dead family, her mother and her 3 brothers. But I like the idea that during the game, they’re just these vaguely tiefling like spirits that help her and her allies. So no real connection is made beyond what makes sense for the character. And due to the circumstances of their death, she would be a very righteous character, light hearted and not wishing to deal with serious emotional moments. During whatever story plays out, if there was ever a moment where she is ordered or given the order to do something that she disagreed with, such as a party member telling her to run away and leave someone behind, she would just break down, unable to handle having to make a decision which may get people killed again. I just love the idea of this character who always does their own thing and jokes around, all because having to make a serious choice brings back their trauma, brings back events which they blame themselves for.
@thornangel16
2 жыл бұрын
If you have a character that you’re saving for a campaign, you need to be willing to leave flexibility in their backstory no matter what. Don’t be tempted to fill in those blanks while you’re waiting, because if you do and you’re inflexible, by the time you’re finally getting to play as them you’ve basically dug yourself into a hole. Of which if things go badly enough, the story of the aftermath of that could end up being shared online and picked up by the likes of CritCrab, AllThingsDnD and the like.
@bleddynwolf8463
2 жыл бұрын
defiantly, i always try to leave wiggle room for my characters backstories to be adjusted and not to get too married to an idea
@nickwilliams8302
2 жыл бұрын
Just like DMs should always leave a few "blank" spaces on a map, players should leave blank spaces in their backstory.
@dovahfruit9503
2 жыл бұрын
I'm not sure why having a really thought out character would be bad though?
@nickwilliams8302
2 жыл бұрын
@@dovahfruit9503 It's not about _not_ thinking about your character, it's about leaving room for that character to develop where it matters: at the table. The best way to do this is to pare your backstory down to the essentials - the bits that actually define who your character is - while leaving the non-essential stuff a bit vaguer. To put it another way, it's much easier for the DM to weave your PCs backstory into the campaign if you've left them some loose ends to work with.
@dovahfruit9503
2 жыл бұрын
@@nickwilliams8302 ah aright, I see
@verdantmistral442
2 жыл бұрын
This is also a great example of what older role players call discovering your character. Leave enough of your backstory vague so you can discover traits of your character in the moment. Having too ironclad of a backstory can rob you of potential surprises for your own character. Sam discovering Nott's fear of water and rolling it into the character was a surprise to him and everyone else. It's one of those little joys of roleplaying that you don't see talked about enough. The CritRoll group have a lot of people who do this naturally.
@seisosimp
2 жыл бұрын
One of my most adored creations is Alabaster, a half-orc barbarian. Originally, his backstory was just "ostracized orc falls in love with maiden from town and decides to grow stronger to be worthy of her". A single joke changed all of that. Everybody else in the party was way too trusting of our DM's NPCs, so I made him overly hostile towards guards. One thing led to another, and it led to "orc realizes guard courting maiden is part of a conspiracy to take the monarchy down through the army's brute force from the outside and assassinations from the inside", which also led to uncovering the identity of the BBEG. Turns out that jokes do reflect life circumstances...
@LocalMaple
2 жыл бұрын
My first character was named Sam. Not (just) because Sam Reigel hid Nott’s true race for a long time, but because I wanted my character’s name to be a hint towards his race. Sam was short for Samir, which meant Friend for Evening Talks. A Tiefling Virtue name, but everybody thought I was a Half Elf. It wasn’t like I was not dropping at least 3 hints a session. Things like “staring at the Tieflings,” “sleeping on my side,” “the Orc tribe that hates elves saw my unmasked face and didn’t hate me,” “my Find Familiar was a Tressym with bat wings…” By the fourteenth session, I had so many clues, I had everyone roll History in order to go over them in character. That story got shared by All Things DND, and I have the playlist on my channel.
@PlayYourRole
2 жыл бұрын
This is somewhat aside to the comment you put here, but I got a notification of your comment and panicked because this video was NOT SUPPOSED TO GO OUT YET but... Oops. I guess youtube had other plans lmao
@LocalMaple
2 жыл бұрын
@@PlayYourRole does this mean I was… First? With a comment that long?!?
@sparkhatsune6555
2 жыл бұрын
@@LocalMaple Congrats
@PlayYourRole
2 жыл бұрын
@@LocalMaple According to KZitem, you were in fact the first!
@thewingedporpoise
2 жыл бұрын
yeah, I have built up truly a massive number of hints about my characters backstory even down to the word choice of how they introduce themselves, I think the subtle coloring of every mundane action is very good
@haku8135
2 жыл бұрын
My various character's backstory hints range from introducing herself by maybe setting you on fire, to a thin braid of hair tied to an earring. I like to keep things varied.
@kamirostorino9416
2 жыл бұрын
I mean most (not all) of my characters are actually pretty open about their past and they will reveal their story when asked in character. Some, however, may withhold a lot of information cuz they are: a) ashamed of what they did, b) do not want to put other people in danger by hinting at the connection c) any other reason
@PlayYourRole
2 жыл бұрын
See, this: Most people are not cagey about their past, BUT they also don't just drop it in every conversation (unless they're searching for attention). It's just something that comes up if it happens to, and over the course of getting to know someone
@kamirostorino9416
2 жыл бұрын
@@PlayYourRole yes. precisely.
@TheLoFiLady
2 жыл бұрын
“I didn’t know you were half god and you own 2/3 of the country!” “You never asked.”
@PlayYourRole
2 жыл бұрын
Hey everyone, I hope you enjoyed! If you want more Sam content (as well as some Liam content!) come watch my breakdown of one of Sams best moments ever! kzitem.info/news/bejne/06N_znZ-gWWSlKg
@zendikarisparkmage2938
2 жыл бұрын
The timing of this video is a reminder to us all that it's never too early to EAT YOUR BEANS.
@ahealthkit2745
2 жыл бұрын
Excellent video! It's really fun to start off with only a loose idea of what you want your backstory to be, and to seed bits and pieces of it throughout your gaming, by just thinking about what might fit or suit the character, what other people in your party might be interested in, and also just by following your own hunch! All in all, very fun and improv-y. Have a great gay!
@maemae527
2 жыл бұрын
I think this happened to a lot of people, I’ve seen this comment a couple of times.
@MemphiStig
2 жыл бұрын
Sam has said many times "i don't know how to play D&D" and he's proven himself right in two campaigns so far. he's somehow managed in each one to play two characters, and surprisingly organically both times. and this is clearly not the way to play D&D, conventionally anyway. i'm not watching C3 yet, but i'm curious to see if he does it a third time, or if he finds some surprising new way to break the game. forget knowledge. *Ignorance* is power. Also ale.
@Harlizarrd
2 жыл бұрын
I don't know if anything has been revealed about his C3 character more in depth yet, but I know when they first debuted the general consensus was "What a fun character! I can't wait for them to break my heart!"
@thatsmuggamer
2 жыл бұрын
His new character is a robo-Cleric
@xleplayVA
Жыл бұрын
Spoiler alert "The One Eyed Monster slayed my Pussy". Ladies and gentlemen, he did it again. "He cant keep getting away with it!!!!"
@LocalMaple
2 жыл бұрын
Sam had a ton more clues than that. She was Nott a little goblin girl, she claimed to not like the goblin camp from her home region, and Nott the Brave is an anagram of Veth Brenatto. No joke. Nott the Brave Nott ___ Bra_e Veth _ott ___ __a__ Veth Bren Veth Brenatto
@PlayYourRole
2 жыл бұрын
Okay I knew almost everything BUT the anagram. I'm sorry WHAT, Sam is an absolute mad lad
@sagescribe_
2 жыл бұрын
@@PlayYourRole I believe it was during the Campaign 2 wrap-up when Sam finally explained that, which was followed by Liam’s explanation as to why Caleb was shocked when Nott used “Bren” as a fake name
@nyteraven
2 жыл бұрын
Yeah, on 3 seperate occasions he used the "Fake" names of Veth, Bren, and Otto while in disguise as well.
@jasonagodfrey
2 жыл бұрын
I built a warrior/bard that claims to be a dragon slayer. The Dragonborne in our party doesn't like that about him. Funny thing is I keep shying away from fights and no one has even caught that yet. If they did, it wouldn't take much to realize I'm lying to everyone just to have the fame. Hell, we have a druid with speak to animals who hasn't ever tried talking to my mount, an elk.
@AugmentedSmurf
2 жыл бұрын
Honestly, I feel like he's doing exactly the same thing with FCG in campaign 3. He slowly is revealing information about his backstory while also deflecting toward others in the group in the guise of helping them, then when they start pushing him further than he wants to reveal, FCG starts "glitching" be they don't get any more information out of him. Watching Sam is a master class in developing backstory honestly.
@gerardlacroix6015
2 жыл бұрын
Well, after 43 sessions, my companions have still not figured that my character's sister, to whom she always write letters, and can't see in person because she got dishonored ( in L5R it's a pretty bad situation, especially from a Lion Clan samurai ), is actually her daughter...
@Jason-u5r
Жыл бұрын
the way Marisha reacted to the story of Knot being drowned lets you know how much she feels for the characters both in and out of character.
@skullsquad900
2 жыл бұрын
That's exactly how I always play my characters and why I love CR so much. I finally found a show where everybody does that and not just play video game cut outs.
@justinsinke2088
2 жыл бұрын
I honestly have trouble with this. I like the idea of the rest of the party learning my character's backstory over time, but I often find myself, well, overeager for that reveal moment that I end up showing my cards way too early rather than keeping things a bit closer to the vest, so that it gets revealed with an "oh, okay" reaction because there pretty much was no buildup, the whole idea of a hidden backstory sort of lands with a thud, and the game just moves on.
@harpoonlobotomy
2 жыл бұрын
Pay attention to the reasons your character has kept these things secret/hidden and lean into role-playing that. Just my 2p.
@Jonic_P
2 жыл бұрын
Why am I tearing up just rewatching these clips in the middle of this good video
@indigostudio2245
2 жыл бұрын
I’ve got a character who has a messy and confusing backstory. I have no idea how it will come into the story, and it might not even come up at all. But this was really helpful :))
@PlayYourRole
2 жыл бұрын
Don't forget to ask your DM and work with them! You might be surprised how it might be incorporated into the story if you tell your DM it is important to you
@nickwilliams8302
2 жыл бұрын
A really good tip is to try to pare your backstory down to three punchy paragraphs. Where the character is from, how they learned to do the things they can do and why they are in the campaign. If you can't do this, you may not have a very clear idea of who your PC is. And if _you_ don't, then no one else at the table does either.
@twiztedsynz
2 жыл бұрын
For me, I love when 'something out of the past' happens in game with a character, or in writing. It's my character, but 'they' just told me something about themselves I didn't know, and I love that feeling.
@ponilo99
2 жыл бұрын
that's one of the biggest things I've learned while playing: most of the time, you're going to start a campaign NOT knowing your character, and that's great! I usually wait at least the first 2-3 sessions before coming up with an actual backstory, gotta see how I feel playing them first. that being said, finding out about Nott and then going on a scavenger hunt for all the clues and seeing how they all made sense...Sam, you beatiful bastard you.
@stefanjentoft8107
2 жыл бұрын
I'm playing a minotaur warlock right now, and have been having fun dropping hints in and out of character to set up my backstory. It's been more complicated, though, because one of the other PC's is my character's sibling, so it's been a very collaborative process. I'm about to drop a bit more lore, but in the context of a magic act so I'm curious to see if anyone realizes that there's a nugget of truth in the middle of all the illusions.
@L_Aster
2 жыл бұрын
My favorite character I've pIayed was Andrew, a scientist from an aIien worId reincarnated into the body of a reaIistic robot after an accident burned down the Iab he worked for. And that was aII I wrote of it, I Iet everything eIse deveIop organicaIIy, incorporating different aspects of the worId and other character's backstories (with permission) into my own's. After over a year of pIaying him, I finaIIy got to reveaI that he's a robot and that was the most satisfying feeling in the worId :) It was reveaIed after he was injured in a fight so bad that he deactivated. I pIanned for it to just take some quick repair work and he'd be back on his feet but the person tasked with the repair got so into figuring out where Andrew came from and how he worked that I stayed up tiI 2 am making a network of fake menus for the pIayer to go through (we had two sessions on back to back days) Then, another spontaneous IittIe spark of story happened because I Iisted four different saves of Andrew's digitaI brain. I don't remember why I did it, but the pIayer inevitabIy seIected them aII and I had to on the fIy improv what his younger personaIity wouId be Iike. And that was SO fun, it's Iead to some of the best story and character moments I've ever had. I used to be very concerned about wanting to make the best story ever, I'd teII backstory through infodumps and monoIogs and it just never feIt right! No one was that invested, but when Andrew's past started to come out I was amazed to see how interested and encouraging everyone was. And I enjoyed it way more, too! I've started going with the fIow more, trusting it'II make a good story. And the wonderfuI thing is it aIways does :)
@JohanHaagg
Жыл бұрын
The genius of Sam is that he dropped hints from episode 1, and he did it so brilliantly that no one caught up on it. Also, Nott the Brave is a anagram of Veth Brenatto. Brilliant.
@pbj-5583
2 жыл бұрын
It's kind of incredible how good at storytelling Sam is. He's always acting as the comic relief of the group but he really does have extremely good narrative moments and diverse characters.
@piperbird7193
2 жыл бұрын
There's a couple points earlier than that, when Nott gets caught stealing from Fjord. Molly forces her to tell the truth about why she was stealing, and she said it was so Caleb could save her. Caleb specialized in transmutation. Sam's reaction to Fjord telling Nott that he (Fjord) didn't always look this way was telling in retrospect as well. Sam uses three fake names at different points: Veth, Bren (watch Liam freak out at this) and Otto. Veth Brenatto. Which is also an anagram of Nott the Brave. Nott stealing buttons and toys and mailing them to somewhere in secret. Things that are crazy obvious when you watch a second time, but would slip right by if you didn't know Nott's backstory yet. Sam dropped hints LIKE CRAZY, we just didn't know they were hints yet.
@zer0prototype5
2 жыл бұрын
I only wish I could foreshadow like Sam. My best was Ja'son, a book loving wizard who killed a parent figure with fire magic before going on the run and living homeless for a while after fleeing. (Sound familiar, I did it before Campaign 2 was out let alone before I knew about it so great minds think alike.) Anyway fast forward, he got blasted with time magic, aged 50 years before being cured. We get to Ja'son's hometown and we find a underground resistance. The leader is Scarlet Jay, my character's father. When the party meet him they got to roll a history check because he looked familiar. Later when Ja'son spoke up at a meeting, Scarlet Jay got a history check. Everyone failed and I was sweating bullets. Later when Ja'son freaks out from fireballing a camp of bandits in their sleep the story comes out and everyone was blown away since my characters alias was Jay's son all along. My dm was great at teeing up the ball.
@RyuSpike
2 жыл бұрын
I play a bugbear barbarian named Gergan in Lost Mines of Phandelver. Throughout the adventure, I would slowly drop hints about his tragic backstory. The party first saw him as a scary bugbear that they can use in the frontlines of battle. As the story went on, he shown himself to be very thoughtful and caring despite the stereotype of him being a bugbear. He adopts a caged wolf in a goblin base named Boy, he was extremely protective of mothers and children, and he keeps breaking out into a rage when somebody he knows is in danger. Eventually, while crafting a magic item with a party member, he reveals his story when the subject of families came up. Gergan was a father once. His wife and two children lived a happy life in the wild. Then one night, a great beast attacked and devoured his family and gravely wounded him. He survived, but trauma had made him forget what the beast looked like in fear that it will cause him to relive the horrific events of that night. What that monster was is a mystery to me as I left that up to the DM. I am also beginning to wonder if this monster is related to the Big Bad based on a few comments made by my DM. It is a slow burn so I'm excited to see how it all ends.
@pastaking3639
2 жыл бұрын
Can't wait for Sam's signiture carpet pull in the new game.
@dreadroberts7523
Жыл бұрын
you have no idea how accurate the feeling the water entering your lungs is, and the feeling of the water filling the trachea
@kmaguire7161
6 ай бұрын
The great thing about this twist to Nott's backstory is I knew the basics of it (that she was actually a halfling named Veth), because I only started watching C2 a few months ago and it was impossible to avoid basic spoilers, but I didn't know all the details and the reveal was still really satisfying to watch play out.
@rjcase4762
2 жыл бұрын
My man I recall when you had less than 1k subs and now look at you 41.9k this awesome and he’s been a awesome ride
@PlayYourRole
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks man, I still look and it kind of don't believe it. The journey has been incredible and I've been thankful for every single step
@spencerwilliams4413
2 жыл бұрын
I wish I knew more ways to bring parts of my backstory up in rp that doesn't feel forced because sometimes I'll drop hints or have strange interactions and my party members will be like "that was weird" but don't ask further and it feels like I'm so close yet so far
@liquidwood4064
2 жыл бұрын
I don't know your situation, but the best way is to show the other player that you're interested in their backstories too by asking their characters about it. dnd is the most fun when everyone is bouncing off each others energy, so if you start asking about backstory stuff they might get invested in finding out more about your character as well.
@Picklescape
2 жыл бұрын
I came to say the same thing as TheLynx. Have your characters express interest in other characters and that way they will build a rapport so character interactions will become easier and more natural
@WellManNerd
2 жыл бұрын
I love your perspective and breakdown of this, I believe, understated and under appreciated form of storytelling
@ChestnutRiceandKamehameha
Жыл бұрын
Sam's gameplay was sprinkled with the dust of deliciousness
@Nikdislikesyou
Жыл бұрын
For me a great detail that gives a lot of depth and helps this foreshadowing is her relationship with Caleb. At first it seems like he protects her, but eventually we see that it’s the opposite, she is very motherly towards him. Like she is using him as a replacement for her own son. And it culminates into that scene where she even says “I watch out for him. I protect him” on one of the episodes.
@jamesmills5326
2 жыл бұрын
We're doing a Odyssey of the Dragon Lords campaign rn in my group. My character is a Lizardfolk who has the "Curse of the Doomed" Basically cursed by Sydon and Lutheria to live a shitty life and die a shitty death. He became a monk and took to the drink to deal with this as his own tribe basically forced him out with the logic of "leave or die" Now the party just thinks he's a big goofy lizard who likes to get drunk, not realizing how dangerous or how scarred the poor bastard really is lmao
@Malt0d3xtr1n
Жыл бұрын
I think instead of calling it "jokes", you can call it a "quirk". Brendan Lee Mulligan talks about this with a Vampire he played, and I had a similar experience with a Swashbuckler Rogue who hated wearing hats. Those little quirks can come into play later during intense emotional scenes or be developed in more sessions.
@Sunari
2 жыл бұрын
I was a little impressed how much of an opening just hovering over this video in recommended let me watch, but as curious as I was to see how much it would let me get away I didn't want to screw you out of a view either on an interesting subject. My favorite point is leaving somethings vague to develop naturally as sometimes the first idea is okay, but a second or even third idea later can feel more gripping to the player down the road.
@jb111082
Жыл бұрын
This reminds me of how I did it, I told my backstory largely through stories and reminiscing, as my character was an older man he had alot of stories to tell. He would often tell them during downtime and ask for other characters' stories, and often we'd spend hours just laughing, crying, and swapping in-character stories and it'd always start with my character sharing how he had his first kiss, or how he made his first gun, etc etc
@zynwar7475
2 жыл бұрын
This was embodied in one of my best characters, that I am making a comic out of. Mayne Farfiel's backstory fit in one sentence: Born to a barbarian tribe she hated, she fled when they fought the Black Mist (spreading cloud of undeath), becoming a druid fleeing from the calamity reminding her of her past. This backstory, supported by who taught her druidism, why she wore a skull on her head, and other minimal details, evolved into a fantastic story of facing her fear of combat and guilt of leaving family and teacher to die. Meeting the party that would be new family, growing from pacifist to activist, learning how to gain immunity to the Black Mist, curing it by purifying Gaia Trees, Traveling the world to fight the calamity, and returning to her home continent to save her abandoned master and tribe. Literally, the hero's journey. We just finished the 4-year long campaign a couple weeks ago, and I have to agree: All characters should be lose and revealed overtime, uncaring for if they are brought to light or not and flexible to bring fun to the table. I will continue to do this for all characters I create henceforth.
@matties1681
2 жыл бұрын
Before any of the veth stuff was revealed, Nott used a few aliases and obviously no one batted an eye bc no one knew yet. Her aliases were Veth, bren, and Otto..... Veth Brenotto
@IIIGioGioStarIII
Жыл бұрын
I am prepping for a Wild Beyond the Witch Light campaign and was talking with one of my players about their background. Really excited because we have them being cursed by one of the Hags and was turned the first time they went into the Feywilde. She had turned him into a Kobald and once the party defeats that hag, his curse will break and he'll return back to his true form. Planning on doing other things with the players and I'm excited.
@RIVERSRPGChannel
2 жыл бұрын
Good information I don’t watch CR but I understood what you were saying
@fyrewolf7805
2 жыл бұрын
I’m not going to act like I’m some professional player or writer or actor but here’s something I use for backstory. Cause and effect. I write out to backstory which is generally made up of segmented stories forming a plot. Then I leave it there and once I’m comfortable with my character I’ll choose how it affected them appropriate to their past actions and how I like to play them.
@ShinxyMuro
2 жыл бұрын
"Makes sense", "Organic", "Don't force", ... God damn it! I knew I should've grabbed the "Common Sense" and "Social Skills" perks when I was born!
@tomsawyerpiper9412
2 жыл бұрын
“Not brave. Not smart. Not pretty. Just…Nott.”
@ashleycook300
2 жыл бұрын
I had something similar happen in a Curse of Strahd Campaign. It was a small party that consisted of myself, a monk, a fighter, and a wizard. The Monks backstory was tied with my Clerics backstory. His family was a group of famous monster hunters, and she had been one of many children who were kidnapped by a red wizard of thay. (aka a wannabe cultist liches) These monster hunters found out about a town where children were mysteriously disappearing and eventually discovered the wizards lair. They killed the wizard and rescued my cleric, but the man of the household and the monks father died while fighting the wizard and protecting my cleric. Later on she had found that family and kept in close contact. Her and the monk always had something of a strained relationship however, that grew with the campaign. Eventually it all came to a head when our monk lashed out at my cleric and told her, "If it wasn't for you my father would still be alive!" Eventually things settled, he apologized but my cleric never forgot those words. They haunted her. So she determined she would get stronger and bring his father back. So when we encountered an npc who told us that he knew where there was a monument that grants you the ability to bring people back from the dead at the risk of 'damning your soul,' she mentally decided that she would find it and if the risk was worth it, she'd bring his dad back. Well, along the way, she picked up a curse that said, 'you will do anything to acquire power,' So consequences be damned, she was going to use that monument. Once we got there, the party noticed she was acting strangely right away when she went up to it and started to interact with it. Eventually it lead to an initiative roll (that she failed thankfully) and the party was able to cast dispel magic on her and remove her curse. They were then able to pull her away and when they asked her why she wanted this, she could do this she shook her head and said, "I'm a failure...I am responsible for your fathers death. I killed him, I killed my parents, I failed to bring back (insert npc that died in campaign that she tried to resurrect but it failed), I am a failure but that would have let me bring your father back. I'm sorry, I just wanted to make it right..." It was the first time she revealed all the guilt and anguish she felt over their shared trauma. It was revealed organically through the campaign, and it was such a beautiful moment. The monk held her, she held him, and they cried together. Whispered "I'm sorry's," "thank yous," and "It's not your fault," were exchanged in a beautiful moment of healing. After that all of the tension had left the party and they had bonded in a really special/meaningful way.
@hannarae4311
Жыл бұрын
I joined a new role play group with a group of friends I already know their role playing styles and your videos are very helpful on how to develop my character's backstory for the role-play.
@jenk4545
2 жыл бұрын
I built a Revenant rogue who was hunting down a group of bandits who had murdered her entire family. I told my DM at the beginning that I didn't care if he used any of her backstory in his campaign, and I didn't care if the other PCs ever figured it out. This is definitely the key to keeping backstory secrets - you have to keep them *secret*. Focusing on dropping hints because you want to have a cool reveal scene will lead you to showing your hand way too early.
@spikemoody1757
2 жыл бұрын
Excellent example and in depth explanation. Thanks for doing this video!
@Maninawig
Жыл бұрын
This really helps me with both my Kobold Smuggler, Lizardfolk Monk, and Goblin Jedi, as their "alien minds" and cultures are something I have yet to find a compelling backstory for. Also for my Dhampir Batman, as this gives me the freedom to say: • Kobold: has lost clan, kin, and dragon ~ turned to smuggling in order to survive. • Lizardfolk: a once shaman whose tribe started to worship a demon [stuff happens] eas sold to a merchant as a bodyguard. • Goblin: traveled the planes in order to find and assemble shards of power to stop an (unknown) evil. • Dhampir: something burned down his town ~ made a deal with an archfey to rebuild it ~ has traveled the world building up the funds and returning with abandoned children. This is very contrary to my style of constructing their world through This Is My Life.
@Hannah-ologist
2 жыл бұрын
The scene that really gets me is when Nott wants to talk to/free Halas in order for him to change her, even though she had trusted Caleb to do it the whole time but he suddenly wasn't fast enough. Those scenes between Caleb and Nott in the Ball and in Yussa's tower are just incredible.
@PantheonStar
Жыл бұрын
A DM of mine changed my backstory and it made the story amazing. She knows me very well and knew beyond doubt that I would be okay with the change (do not go changing things without a player's permission all willy nilly) Anyways, my character's sole motivator was his little sister. He did everything for her. What I -nor my character- knew, was that she didn't exist. She was an illusion my character's mother had created when she had to abandon my character (the mother was the DM's old character) To reiterate, this would not have worked if the DM didn't know me very well. She knew I would love that but a lot of players might have been upset.
@OmegaLittleBob
2 жыл бұрын
I made a character who was a human warlock in her 80's. Her whole schtick was that she had been an adventurer in her early days before settling down. On a whim, when I wrote my initial backstory, I thought "what if I just say she married an orc? Yeah why not?" and I decided she had a few children. About a dozen sessions into the campaign, the wizard, who was raised in a country where they're practically taught from birth to hate orcs, said something racist about orcs and so I had my character said "What did an orc ever do to you?" which began a long series of foreshadowing. Overtime the young wizard came to admire and look up to my aged experienced warlock. Until we ran into one of my warlocks half-orc kids and the wizard was shocked beyond words. It was an amazing experience.
@Elheru42
Жыл бұрын
I believe the biggest reason Critical Role are able to do these long, slow reveals is because they know it will happen. 4 hours every week for 100+ episodes. How many of us out here in real D&D land can count on our campaign lasting that long? The same goes for Matt as it does for the players. He can tease something in episode 12 that is revealed in episode 60 because he knows one day it will happen. It must be so nice.
@Mazfaz89
Жыл бұрын
Escept goblins in the 3.5 version of d&d are mindless muteted creatures made in big cauldron.
@mentalrebllion1270
Жыл бұрын
6:09 lol actually my character is super cagey about his backstory, least in character he is. The table has overheard some scenes though that their characters have not however. Namely 1) he believes his entire family is dead, including his twin brother, 2) he is trying to hide from others of his race and believes others associated with him will be in danger if they reveal that connection, 3) He wants to run. He is trying to run from and all hints of his past from before the town he settled down in for 50 years before the start of the story (he is a very very long lived race). If it wasn’t for his strong desire to protect, he would have made a run for it a long time ago. Another reveal they are slowly uncovering is his absolute anger and distrust and distaste for corrupt people in power. He has no patience for it. He has also revealed he would rather perish than take a bad deal with a corrupt entity of power, even if it was the only way (he actually gave the cold shoulder to one of the other characters when they asked this hypothetical, but don’t worry, checked in with the player and they are fine with it). My character’s whole deal is that he is cagey as heck. He isn’t a bad person but he can and does mislead others, without directly lying, if people are edging too close to those truths. For example, even his best friend, someone he cares for dearly and is a fellow party member who he has fought to protect and nearly died for, and the other has done the same in return, that character hasn’t ever even been told my character’s last name. Now, here is something I do to get this to work however. See, my character doesn’t have one weakness that gets him to be honest….he can be bullied by loved ones and children. Since more than half the party are his students to some degree he can, and has been already, bullied into some honesty or better behavior. And since the entire party are people he cares deeply for already, well….he would honestly reveal some stuff at this point if they asked the right questions. The question is, will they? The dm is setting things up for some aspects to be revealed. Some confrontations are headed the party’s way soon enough. As for why all this works? It’s because secrets, misunderstandings, and lack of information are part of this game and the intended story being told. Intrigue is the name of the game (not literally) and so we made some secrets, large and small that are leading to a very interesting story. It’s the plot behind the plot, lol. But hey, this is what works for this table. This is a roleplay heavy group with a roleplay heavy campaign. We got over a lot of heavier subject matter and our characters speak of their beliefs and perspectives and philosophies. They aren’t static by any means. Heck, most don’t even see themselves as hero’s. They are all very very different people with different motives and come from different lifestyles. Heck, we are a decently vast range of ages and races. Anyway, it’s an interesting game. I look forward to the excitement the next session brings, especially after our Paladin revealed something to an npc that they probably shouldn’t have, all because the party didn’t discuss things and the Paladin had every reason to trust this person since they said they were, and definitely seemed to be, a friend of the Paladin’s father. Honestly, had me in the background whispering“oh no, oh no, oh no.” over and over again as this was happening and being able to do nothing because my character is across town being told by a trusted source (someone my character has known and seen grown since they were a baby and is now an adult) that they shouldn’t trust said npc the Paladin is revealing secret to. Lol. My heart was racing after that finale of the session!
@that1gayghost
2 жыл бұрын
I've done a few characters with notable backstories over time, but my favorite was one where I had nothing planned, and when the DM asked me about my characters backstory I said that my character had a dead brother and a ring he never takes off. Starting with nothing but this made it so the DM and I could make things up on the spot and let events flow more naturally. For those interested, the total party backstory was that the group had formed to take down a dragon overshadowing the land, and defeated it. My character's brother (Ivasaar) died in the battle. My character (Cedric) knew that he had actually survived because of the ring, which was linked to his brother's soul. They later found Ivasaar, who became a common companion/npc until he died again (for real this time) to the big baddie of the campaign, and the full remaining power of his soul went into Cedric's ring. There's even more but it would take too long to explain so yeah, there you go.
@user-fq4ny4mo1l
7 ай бұрын
My acoustic guitar has the same finish as your does in the background of this video. And, I'm also a fellow gamer. Coolz. Great vid, man! Take care!
@Mary_Studios
2 жыл бұрын
Yes I agree with everything you said. I do my best never to revel something from my character's backstory until it makes sense. Now I could maybe do a better job at foreshadowing but I do try my best as with my grave cleric I had her looking things up that she could to find out the source of her power as she didn't know what it was (I kinda played her more like a divine soul sorcerer as I wanted that to be more of she had abilities to cast magic as a kid but with her church and faith in her goddess she was able to grow. I think for me playing a character who has no idea how to talk with people I've done a good job with foreshadowing on my own by asking if all Green Dragonborns are evil as we were fighting one because they killed my character's creator and even told a member of the party how hate's all dragons that his mentor was a gold dragonborn and was a good character. The only foreshadowing I did was when the dm asked my character how old he was and told them that they didn't remember because he went down when trying to protect his creator and when he woke up it was a complete different time of day and the only person he could ask was dead.
@danieloconnell2731
Жыл бұрын
Liam's face when Sam gets sad...😮
@LadyFrostbite
2 жыл бұрын
having a campaign you know won't be shelved absolutely helps with stretching out your backstory. He could afford to play the long game. This helps more for crafting your personal writing than anything.
@Annies_mini_marvels
Жыл бұрын
When Edith answers the door "I thought you were dead?" "I'm nott"
@Evil0tto
11 ай бұрын
You definitely need both the right backstory and the right amount of subtle foreshadowing, but you also need the right group. Many groups have players who just aren't in to backstory... their own or that of other players. They might have one, often because it's expected, but it's minor at best and the player couldn't care less whether anything happens regarding it. If their goal as a player is to kill monsters and take their stuff, then that's fine, but it can be frustrating for the other people in the group who want to explore character stories.
@angussharington2374
2 жыл бұрын
It's maybe not much, but I was mindblown by the names :D
@blueicer101
Жыл бұрын
I think a great way to sum this up is that foreshadowing is meant to not be a physical thing. It's a shadow of something that you will reveal later on. Hiding backstory in a joke misleads the attention. Adding in the backstory where it makes sense and it being organic also means that attention is not necessarily drawn to it.
@blueicer101
Жыл бұрын
This makes it surprising.
@macari3667
2 жыл бұрын
i was so ready for my reborn warlock to spend a really long time with her party before they eventually realized she was undead. then, 2nd session the cleric cast detect good and evil, and the only blip that popped up was 5 feet behind him, in the direction of his cheery new friend who promised to become a hero with him. it wasn't at all what i planned for her, but it was a lot more organic and ended up making for a great conversation between characters! (especially bc he followed a religion where you burn the dead specifically so they don't become undead) Needless to say, they had a lot to work out, and they still do, but they're still bffs even though they have regular conversations on the morality of necromancy. sometimes things go wrong in a great way, huh? 😁
@tysondennis1016
8 ай бұрын
I'm having a character with a mysterious past in my comic. I feel like this should help me with revealing said past. Make it organic, dripfeed it so that the big reveal is predictable, but surprising.
@SigneofHorses
2 жыл бұрын
I love how caduceus was organic in his backstory and family coming up. Whereas his character Mollymauk and Ashton are just too mysterious on purpose for me. I used to Larp a lot and when you are busy with figuring out a plot it’s hard to also figure out a character that doesn’t want to say anything about themselves so you just leave them be. It’s about timing I think and both the cast as well as Matt Mercer are very good at plotting out stories and interweaving them with sense of timing.
@azureperite5298
Жыл бұрын
Definitely can see Sams theater background in his characters
@rektl2036
2 жыл бұрын
one thing matt and the cr crew does is try to like each person to location. hence.. if they head there.. like how fcg is going to a new location now.. its sorta implies that yes.. we are now going into my back story. and he is prepared to cooperate and make characters for that member as needed if they want to expand
@maggiefelisberto5281
2 жыл бұрын
My friend and I worked together to create very "Shaggy and Scooby" characters for a mystery campaign, and were very frank with the other players about this. I was playing a talking dog and she was playing a teenager with a van. In actuality, with the DM's help, we were basing our characters on a mix of Mystery Skulls Animated, The Graveyard Book, and NatsumeYuujinchou. So instead of being a regular teen sleuth, her character was raised by ghosts and can speak to the dead, and instead of being a run of the mill talking dog, I'm playing a nine tailed fox spirit who's lost most of her tails and now spends most of her time playing guardian spirit to this ghostwise halfling
@reaper23113
Жыл бұрын
so not exactly a hidden backstory thing but one of my characters who was a dark elf before the campaign was an assasin for a guild for about 200 years. my dm used this against me and reveled partway thru an ark that my character and their squad assassinated a close npcs parents. it was great cuz it wouldnt have been something worth remembering to him
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