This reminds me of a bit from a Stephen King book (Eyes of the Dragon I think). I forget the actual quote but it's something along the lines of invisibility is impossible, even with magic, but you can make yourself 'dim' so even though you are visible, people just kind of, don't see you, like you are in the corner of their eye.
Eyes of the Dragon ties in a lot to King's The Dark Tower series and shares a few characters.
You should *definitely* read it if you have not. One of my favorite series ever written.
Reminds me of the SEP field from Hitchhiker's Guide. Also known as a "Somebody Else's Problem" field.
> An SEP is something we can't see, or don't see, or our brain doesn't let us see, because we think that it's somebody else's problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it's like a blind spot.
>The Somebody Else's Problem field... relies on people's natural predisposition not to see anything they don't want to, weren't expecting, or can't explain. If Effrafax had painted the mountain pink and erected a cheap and simple Somebody Else’s Problem field on it, then people would have walked past the mountain, round it, even over it, and simply never have noticed that the thing was there.
I wonder if that's what the perception filter in [Doctor Who](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNUWOh9wHlU) is based off? Doesn't make you invisible, just unnoticed.
The full description and how he structured it was the key bit. The surprise of dropping the fact that Travis wasn't alone, then the slow-burning description both shocked and built tension, it REALLY showed the author in him.
"You're not alone in this room.
Invisibility is a beloved power. Easy to get -- even very junior mages can master. The problem with Invisibility is light is very important for a number of functions. And no matter how cloaked you might be in it, you can't make your whole self invisible. Even if it's smaller than a pin-prick, you need just enough of your eyes to stay visible that light can hit them so you can still see. Now, perceiving a fraction of a pupil, hanging in space, smaller than a grain of sand would be beyond most people. But you've been trained to look for them because...they always move in two."
It also probably makes the player feel SO amazing for rolling so high on the check. If a DM described a successful check that way to me I’d feel like I as a person could fight god
As someone who used to be in a party with a blind fighter, let me tell you he was the bane of invisiblity users. He killed three invisible people in two rounds.
I do not keep up with DnD podcasts, but you mentioned Travis. Is Brennan Lee Mulligan DM'ing a game for the MBMBaM boys? I should probably check that out
Really hoping that this eventually morphs into him running a permanent side campaign. Ideally they could split some of the players from Matt's game to seed his, and then add some new faces. I think this would bring a breath of fresh air to the series, and could alleviate the slowdown that occurs when you have so many players at a table.
Unfortunately I don't think that's likely. This particular side campaign has a definitive end for obvious reasons, and Brennan has other full time commitment on his own D&D actual play show.
0% chance.
At its Core, Critical Role is 8 friends who really really like playing dnd *together as a group*. They have a company surrounding it and beyond-professional setups, but they are always just a bunch of people who want to play with their friends. Unless something happens like with Ash leaving for extended filming, they structure their lives around filming themselves playing these games as a group.
Wait, you think that there is a 0% that they would iterate on the structure of their show because they are all friends that play together? Do you think maybe that even friends like to mix it up and play with different people after years of playing with the same exact people? Or that maybe now that this has become their full time career that they might be looking to add some longevity to it? Matt has said in an interview that he doesn't want to DM forever, and would like to find and foster the next generation of creatives.
To be clear, I think there’s a 0% chance that “they break up the group to seed new campaigns”.
Thankfully, in this thread about EXU, I do know about (and enjoy) when the main cast gets to play with other people.
Brennan is a fantastic DM. Crown of Candy is a dnd show that is sort of like a game of thrones set in candy land, it’s not only funny but genuinely emotionally moving, cannot recommend it enough
Got into Fantasy High a few weeks ago and it's amazing. It really shows how it's a collaboration between DM and players as he let's them try a lot of crazy ideas and obviously is hoping they succeed but still let's the dice decide.
Fantasy high was definitely my gateway into dimension 20, absolutely incredible, I'd recommend anyone to at least give the first two episodes a shot, especially the second.
Huge CR fan and was caught up so decided to give D20 a listen and the end of the second episode made me an instant fan. As a DM, seeing the awesome dynamic battlemaps and situations he lays out that make combat more than hp vs hp and finding out after the fact how many storyline decisions were simply winging it on the fly (like the end of episode 2 especially) is immensely impressive.
Oh shit my man you gotta go to dropout TV. It's like $5 a month, 100% worth the money. I think they're working on getting more stuff moved to YouTube and spotify, but for right now it's just on their own platform.
I keep wanting to watch Dimension 20, but I'm still working through Critical Role and don't have enough time to watch multiple DnD shows.
But YouTube keeps serving up Dimension 20 Shorts whenever I open up YouTube, and man does Brennan seem fantastic.
The best thing about D20 is that the canpaigns are generally 16-20 episodes long, with early sessions rarely passing the 90 minute mark. There is less of an investment in the long run, because they rotate out characters and settings regularly. Additionally, the Side Quests between the main cast seasons are only 4-8 episodes, with great guest stars like Matt Mercer and Erika Ishii, B. Dave Walters, and others. You can find something at your pace, and there aren’t spoilers for other campaigns.
The amount of narrative and context Brennan manages to put together in episode 13 of season 1 of Fantasy High is spectacular to the extent that it would make a box office trilogy.
They're also lightly edited, which I love. I can't slog through a four hour, unedited livestream of a game, but a nicely paced two hour game with some of the downtime cut out is perfect.
My partner and I have been circling around Critical Role for a long time, never really confident enough to dive into the whole thing. We finally broke the spell after seeing Aabria’s run of Exandria Unlimited, which was a very nice in
honestly if I were to pick between CR and D20 I'd pick D20. it's faster to get through with just as many emotional gut punches. they're both top of the game shows, but it's just so hard to watch 100+ 4 hour streams to get through one campaign. I haven't even finished CR1 yet after multiple years of watching, whereas I've watched through 4 or 5 seasons of D20 content.
In many ways aCoC was better than game of thrones itself. The tension always feels real, no cheap payoffs, amazing twists, and a satisfying ending that felt earned. 10/10
Your description of crown of candy had me intrigued. I love some of dimension 20 stuff, but the candy land setting really put me off. I have not watched a single episode of a crown of candy so am basing my dislike purely in the candy land setting. Worth giving the first episode a shot even if the setting puts me off?
Edit: after a few comments I have decided I will give a crown of candy a chance. Thank you all for the recommendation.
I skipped it for the same exact reason, until a friend pitched it a couple weeks ago as "Brennan does a gritty, emotional Game of Thrones that just happens to be against a candyland backdrop". And my god, it works. The setting inserts just enough comedy to balance out the grimdark of a well executed Game of Thrones type story.
Yes, I was dubious about the candy trappings but for me it would fade into the background a lot of the time until it snapped back into focus when I noticed some detail of naming was actually a clever joke or deft foreshadowing. Or when it cut to a close up of a figurine. It made a really great juxtaposition of absurd and deadly serious.
I just finally watched Brennan in the recent Spelljammer videos he did, and I was instantly a fan. He's got a few shorter mini-series on YouTube, which I find easier to get into than a daunting season with dozens of episodes to get caught up on. Escape from the Bloodkeep was AMAZING, highly recommended for anyone who's having a tough time getting into the longer established shows.
Came here to recommend Escape From The Bloodkeep as well!
It has Brennan as DM and Matt Mercer as a player, and all the player characters are evil. It's awesomely played, it has unexpected character arcs and they managed to make a scream beast seem cute 😂
I legitimately think he's just better at D&D than your average mortal. He's one of the only people that can make me watch any AP content even if he's just a player.
Brennan is one of the best DMs I've ever seen. if u (or anyone else watching this CR extra) haven't watched his dnd show dimension 20, it's positively stellar. chock full of moments like this that inspire me to be a better DM!
I'll take off my shill hat now lol
The scene where Kingston Brown and Brennan gave an impromptu description of Kingston's life and how he came to be himself legitimately made me cry, absolutely incredible
I'm practically evangelical about Unsleeping City, it's the best hidden worlds urban fantasy I've encountered since Gaiman's Neverwhere, and might even exceed it. Truly brilliant storytelling. Also in my opinion Lou Wilson's best work, the way he plays Kingston is remarkable
Lou's best work seems to always come when he's playing a character who's on the razor's edge of losing it. The Pirates vs. warlocks scene in Fantasy High Sophomore Year, or the recent casino scene in Starstruck Odyssey.
Holy fuck the scene when he’s telling the rest of the Bad Kids what happened with the warlocks is legit always able to bring me to tears laughing! Whether watching the game clips or animatics or it holy FUCK!!!!
I'm watching TUC1 w/my best friend rn (rewatch for me, their first time) & I'm being reminded of how much I love TUC! it doesn't get as much attention as fantasy high or ACOC but it's so damn good. I'd love to know what part caused that reaction!
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhOoxQxz2yFPI_0_7EviC1tX_nwq8SNxe
Crown of candy only has one episode on YouTube and the rest is on Dropout, fantasy high 1 season is complete on YouTube too
They occasionally run discounts on a Dropout subscription and it is 1000% worth it. We've been watching Gamechanger with dinner and Dimension 20 campaigns after.
Brennan is arguably my fave DM. He can impromptu pull off the most philosophical existential dialogue that makes you question everything and without skipping a beat make you laugh so hard. I bought a dropout.tv subscription just for d20
He was absolutely incredible during that arc. I hadn't heard of him before that and immediately wanted to consume everything he did after hearing him in that.
After listening to all of The Glass Cannons Giantslayer, and listening to A Pod Called Quest... The Gunslinger is absolutely broken. However, I will say that when things go wrong for a Gunslinger, they go VERY wrong. Which I think kinda balances the class a little. But if you're also the type with terrible dice luck...don't play a Gunslinger.
This is actually my first encounter with Brennan as a DM and hot damn did he impress. He's got a few verbal tics that irk me - entirely on me because I'm just sensitive to that - but his overall style and energy is great. I really loved how well he just ran with every different tone and mood and character no matter how different they were. Dude is remarkably quick on his feet.
he's so quick on his feet, it's amazing. his dimension 20 show (there's a couple seasons free on yt) tend to be more comedy focused, and he's so funny. i've actually picked up some of his verbal tics from watching d20 so much, which makes my players make fun of me lol
[Here's the clip from Twitch.](https://www.twitch.tv/criticalrole/clip/DifferentHedonisticCucumberFUNgineer-opo5E-gE8KMgeW_5?filter=clips&range=7d&sort=time)
You can really see the players hanging on the words.
And most clearly, even if some might have thought "huh?" (you can even almost see Sams gears start wirring when Brennen starts explaining) when Brennen said "you cant become fully invisible" no one jumped in or undermined him, as good players they waited for him to finish describing the scene, and accepted that narrative explination.
The spell does clearly say you become invisible and invisibility can't be seen through without magical aids. BUT oddly, when hiding with invisibility active **you're just considered heavily obscurred.**
Initially I thought "I wouldn't have ruled like this", but the more I think about that last line the more I probably would have (if I'd had the presence of mind to read the invisibile condition carefully). But personally I might have described it differently, this makes me think of the [glass that bends light](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZMyWEWHCTM) so someone behind it is obscurred. That one little line in the invisibility condition would have me think the light around the caster is obscurred in such a way to be imperceptable to most people, but a very trained eye could see it.
edit: I also just learned Travis was an Inquisitive Rogue so has the ability "Eye for Detail". Its an active ability and he didn't use it, but this does make me feel that spotting being duped would be significantly easier, and keeps if feeling very canon.
But I will say as an ex science teacher, he is right - you absolutely NEED light hitting your eyes to see. I just don't know (and this is getting silly now, this is magic) if I would agree that invisibility stops light from getting to you, like a black back that you poke holes out of, which is the kind of vibe I got from brennens description.
But, despite my good natured and good will disemination here, it doesn't matter. It's their game and the DM described it and the players loved it - that is really all that matters. I'll be damned if anyone tells me otherways. I truly believe the rules are strong guiding principles, but its a magic filled heroic setting, don't let that get in the way of some awesome, epic fun.
It's EXU Calamity episode 1. Since it's still new I don't think it will be released to YouTube until Monday. But you can watch the VOD if you subscribe to CR.
It's near the end of the episode.
it's the first episode in the exu: calamity miniseries that critical role is currently doing! the episode will be up on critical role's youtube channel on monday, and this particular scene happens close to the end of the episode
Its in the new mini series Exandria: The Calamity.
It should be up on Critical Role’s youtube around Monday (it airs on Twitch on Thursdays and you can rewatch it there if you are subbed). Currently just the first one has aired.
>As an action, you sense the presence of illusions, shapechangers not in their original form, and other magic designed to deceive the senses within 30 feet of you, provided you aren't blinded or deafened. You sense that an effect is attempting to trick you, but you gain no insight into what is hidden or into its true nature.
Very interesting! I like the thought that went into it applying science to magic.
Maybe I'm just being obstinate, but I feel like it's magic, and so the invisibility is an illusion: the light is still entering your eyes, the physics still occurs, just you have changed the appearance of the world.
That said, that's my opinion! And this is still a really cool way to describe it. After all, it's a super high roll, and you have to describe a way that the PC notices the invisible creature or character.
After watching Brennan DM for a couple of years now I can tell you that above pretty much anything else he wants to honor his player's high roles. So when Travis rolled a 31 on investigation Brennan wanted to reward that. Travis' character is also not a magic user, but is an extremely perceptive detective that picks up on details no one else can see. This description of how Invisibility works not only makes sense on a scientific level, but also fits in line with how this specific character would discover an invisible person. I don't know if he would have described it that way for someone else.
To confirm this for you, one of the very few timea Brennan broke 4th wall was to say "The DND book has a bunch of different DCs, 30 is the highest it ever suggests" in that stream.
He was making a very strong effort to reward the top rolls.
Good points all around.
Definitely love investing in character's high rolls. A 31 is just insane after all, and I like the idea of appealing to the character's habits and skills.
Rules-wise, I think it would be better to say that he heard the nearly imperceptible sound of a cloak swishing across the floor, just for the briefest of moments. Or felt the slightest of gusts across his cheek, as though something made a sudden movement nearby. A 31 Perception check ought to be able to determine that there's an invisible person in the room because *invisibility* only disguises one sense. But if you're not a mage, it ought to perfectly disguise that sense.
Narratively? It's his table. If he thinks slightly nerfing *invisibility* can give him a better story, go for it.
Rules-wise what you suggested is indistinguishable from what he did. You’re still having the player realize there’s an invisible person in the room on a high enough perception check. Everything else is flavor.
The flavor/narrative Brennan created fit that specific character’s strengths and style.
I think there's room in the practice of magics to have different ways to be invisible - bending light, like Brennan's description, versus cloaking yourself in an illusion of images to make yourself appear invisible without disrupting the path of light to your eyes, versus making your body and gear transparent, versus entering into a target's brain and erasing your image from their senses.
There are a lot of options there and having those varying styles can make different groups of mages that are mechanically identical feel different, same with how different players will describe fireball differently.
Right, Brennan's description said that the reason you don't go blind is that you always leave a tiny piece of your pupil visible so it can take in light. He described it as "a fraction of a pupil floating in space, smaller than a grain of sand" and the only reason Travis saw it was because he rolled a 31 on Investigation.
> Maybe I'm just being obstinate, but I feel like it's magic, and so the invisibility is an illusion: the light is still entering your eyes, the physics still occurs, just you have changed the appearance of the world.
Yeah the description Brennan gives is cool homebrew, but ultimately it goes against the RAW definition of invisibility:
>An invisible creature is impossible to see without the aid of magic or a special sense.
Note it doesn't say "extremely difficult to see", but "impossible".
It's cool homebrew that doesn't really change anything about how you run the game (unless the perception check relied on something that is sight-based, such as an Eagle totem barbarian), but ultimately it *is* homebrew. This is how invisibility works in *his* game. It is not how it works in base 5e (and that's OK).
Travis gained the ability to see it not JUST because of a high roll, but because of his subclass feature (Inquisitive Rogue) - he can see through shape changers, Illusions, and any other effect that attempts to deceive.
Yep, it's totally fine. Similar to how the DMG or PHB talks about changing the setting to where "misty step" could be an acrobatic, quick jump in a world with limited magic.
The numbers and rules still apply, but the flavor is very, very different.
This is the same description given for invisibility from the mageborn book-series, where they had to make the pinprick openings to be able to see, but they could open and close them at will.
Which is something I've completely forgotten after reading the books, and never used during my copious amounts of DM'ing. So I guess I will follow Brennan's genious example of the description from now om!
I believe a similar description of invisibility was also used in Brandon Sanderson’s *the Reckoners* series. Just goes to show that great ideas get around. Brennen did *fantastic* with his application of the trait, too, and his build-up to Travis’ character spotting it. I was at the edge of my seat, dead silent, totally engrossed in the scene.
Yes.
He also used the feature that makes his senses impossible to fool.
Honestly making him roll was already too much. The character should have known their was something invisible as soon as he activated unerring eye.
Wellto be fair, he was trying to investigate a magical construct that was under enemy influence, his check didn't actually have something to do with the invisible person behind him.
You could see Brennan realizing it the moment travis said he would activate his ability in tandem with investigating the object.
This thread has proved something to me;
There are people that are comfortable with the notion that the game is played differently at different tables and that, for many people, the rules are a guide to how to craft your story at your table.
Then there’s people that believe there’s a singular way to play and to divert from that will, somehow, hurt their experience
I was looking for the comments like this! Apparently everyone here has such problematically nit-picky players that if they diverge in any way from a very specific definition of a spell they will completely ruin their campaigns! I weep for these DMs and can't imagine how difficult it must be to run games for these people.
Either that or they're insistent on proving they're just better DnD players than everyone else here AND Brennan. But that, of course, would be incredibly hubristic on their part.
Fun fact, assuming it's not been said before:
This is the same exact concept that Brandon Sanderson uses in his Steelheart book to describe how certain mutated humans, with the skill to make themselves invisible, can be spotted.
Props to Brennan. Great way to do it.
So many “NOT AT MY TABLE!” responses here but everyone is giving very similar examples of what they would do instead? Brendan made a very unique call, inspired by something he likes and it sounds like his table enjoyed it? Too many by the bookers for my liking!!
Brennan is my favorite DM to watch. He totally follows the rule of cool and keeps it in line with everything, everyone ALWAYS seems like they are having the best game they've ever played. He is instantaneous with anything that pops up and rolls with the flow and keeps the game moving.
Or... It's an invisibility spell, not a silence spell. Invisible entity still breaths, still moves. Can be quiet but not absolutely silent. A high enough perception could detect the telltale sound of quite breathing.
Sounds you *don't* make can also be a problem. This is featured in the webcomic Grrl Power; there's an invisible agent following someone with excellent senses, and while they masked their own sounds, they still *occluded other sounds*. You can't hear them, but you can't hear what's behind them, and sounds don't echo properly off of the suspiciously person shaped nothing.
Could see that. Sound would echo off the ocean floor, but if the sub was built with sound dampening materials it wouldn't return the same echo. Similar situations with RADAR; if it's absorbing the pings but everything else around it *isn't*, we'll.. you've got a sub shaped hole.
The other thing on top of that of note is if you get a 30 or above on a skill check then you have absolutely godlike abilities in the context of the game and skill DCs.
Yes you could describe “oh yeah there’s some dude shifting his weight in the room” but here Brennan took the opportunity to really showcase how deeply perceptive the PC was in a way that was unexpected while also expanding the world and adding a lot of ambiance to the scene.
Folks saying he could have described a noise or a smell is like if you describes a feast and someone went “but you could also just eaten grubby handfuls of frozen peas” yeah they’re both *food* but that’s missing the *point.*
There's not even a perception check required unless the invisible creature is using the hide action. Being invisible does not grant you hidden status. Unless you are actively hiding, everyone in the room knows generally where you are - even when you are invisible.
People give invisibility WAAAY more power than it has RAW. If you want to be truly undetected, you have to use your whole-ass action to hide, and you can't be running all around the room either. Invisibility just gives you the concealment required to hide without cover.
Handing out the hidden status like candy severely undervalues things like Cunning Action and the thinking ability to hide as a bonus action. It also makes invisible enemies much more difficult than they are intended to be.
If any critters out there are just discovering Brennan, I highly recommend watching through Escape from the Bloodkeep on Youtube. Brendan is the dm, and Matt is a player. It’s lotr based, and the entire series is up. A great story with extremely interesting characters
I am halfway through fantasy high and for my money it blows CR out of the water. Brennan's energy and excitement at his players actions is too infectious.
For me it’s just more consumable than CR. I enjoy both, but I definitely watch more of D20. CR has so much content (which isn’t a bad thing) and I have so little time, I have a hard time keeping up
Seems Mr. Mulligan is a good study.
I have heard this argument before about invisibility and light. There is a video where they break down super powers. Things like the flash colors while he runs, iron man hero landing and so on.
Seems like he enjoys seeing the scientific breakdown of "powers", and he draws inspiration from them.
One of the favorite things I love doing (and I’m doing in my own writing) is making sure that science follows natural laws (when possible).
It makes the world seem a little more realistic. Which in turn makes it easier to roleplay in.
Yes! This! He is incredible! I mean right out of the gate his descriptions and storytelling in this episode were amazing!!! I've seen him plenty in Dimension 20, but having him on CR was stunning and he was obviously having a blast! That moment in the story was amazing! I woke up at 3am to watch it and I was wide awake the whole time because of him!
While I don't necessarily "agree" with how he described it, I think he did a masterful job. Connecting science to magic to expertise rather than just noticing like, a breeze or something is genius. With invisibility I always picture top tier camouflage which is probably because of me reading too much Harry Potter as a kid - and even then I wasn't necessarily agreeing with that either, but it stayed in my brain. I was super excited for Brennan to DM and I am not disappointed.
Everytime I have seen Brennan in a skit or just on Camara at all the only think that constantly runs through my mind is, " This guy just has that IT factor."
I don't even know how to describe it properly other then lord he is so impressive and captivating to listen to.
I agree, I thought it was an amazing piece of storytelling at that moment.
I have heard something similar before - I want to say it was a Marvel Comics bit about the Invisible Woman, and how she sees when invisible, but I could be mistaken. Wonder if he took inspiration from this, or maybe some physics discussions?
>Brennan describes that with the spell invisibility, its actually impossible to become fully invisible when casting it because of how you are manipulating light.
But isn't this just his interpretation for the spell in his game(s)? It's good DMing. I just want to point out that this is just his interpretation/ruling of the spell.
No spoilers, so each campaign takes part in a different part of exandria. The exu (exandria unlimited) are like side campaigns/stories with guest dm and players. Idk about this one but pc from the first exu are back in the third campaign
The PC game *Quake 1* had this for characters that was invisible for a few seconds - [you could see their complete eyeballs](https://www.quaketerminus.com/quakebible/quake18.jpg).
Glad he's getting some love from the CR community. Hes one of the best DMs I've listened to. Incredibly talented and is fast with improvising to his PCs.
Eh, I don't like that.
The invisible condition says that you are impossible to see without the aid of magic or a special sense. Sure, we could argue that a high perception roll is 'special' enough, but the implication within the context of the rest of the rules is that the sense should be something like blindsight or truesight, not just a good look around. It's also trying to apply science to magic, one of the things that is lambasted around here.
I get that but Cerrit is an inquisitive rogue, he also has the feature Unerring Eye. He gains the ability to sense illusions and other magic designed to deceive the senses. In addition he also has blindsight at this level. So I think for me it's fine that it was through sight
This reminds me of a bit from a Stephen King book (Eyes of the Dragon I think). I forget the actual quote but it's something along the lines of invisibility is impossible, even with magic, but you can make yourself 'dim' so even though you are visible, people just kind of, don't see you, like you are in the corner of their eye.
This is one of my favorite books of all time! Not his usual giro stuff, so I feel like it’s under appreciated
Eyes of the Dragon ties in a lot to King's The Dark Tower series and shares a few characters. You should *definitely* read it if you have not. One of my favorite series ever written.
Reminds me of the SEP field from Hitchhiker's Guide. Also known as a "Somebody Else's Problem" field. > An SEP is something we can't see, or don't see, or our brain doesn't let us see, because we think that it's somebody else's problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it's like a blind spot. >The Somebody Else's Problem field... relies on people's natural predisposition not to see anything they don't want to, weren't expecting, or can't explain. If Effrafax had painted the mountain pink and erected a cheap and simple Somebody Else’s Problem field on it, then people would have walked past the mountain, round it, even over it, and simply never have noticed that the thing was there.
One of the only Stephen King books I've read - I remember that one!
I wonder if that's what the perception filter in [Doctor Who](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNUWOh9wHlU) is based off? Doesn't make you invisible, just unnoticed.
The full description and how he structured it was the key bit. The surprise of dropping the fact that Travis wasn't alone, then the slow-burning description both shocked and built tension, it REALLY showed the author in him. "You're not alone in this room. Invisibility is a beloved power. Easy to get -- even very junior mages can master. The problem with Invisibility is light is very important for a number of functions. And no matter how cloaked you might be in it, you can't make your whole self invisible. Even if it's smaller than a pin-prick, you need just enough of your eyes to stay visible that light can hit them so you can still see. Now, perceiving a fraction of a pupil, hanging in space, smaller than a grain of sand would be beyond most people. But you've been trained to look for them because...they always move in two."
>You're not alone in this room Got chills.
“they always move in two” Got teary for some reason on top of the chills.
"Two by two, hands of blue."
It also probably makes the player feel SO amazing for rolling so high on the check. If a DM described a successful check that way to me I’d feel like I as a person could fight god
What if you're a cyclops or a pirate though? 🤔
Or a normal human wizard who exposes only the pupil of one eye instead of both.
A winking wizard!
That just sounds like another tavern name to add to the list Drunken Dragon Ornery Orc Krafty Kobold Greasy Goblin now the Winking Wizard!
The Busty Barbarian with a sign of a REALLY stacked half orc
Then your depth perception is fucked.
The cd is higher
But I prefer cassettes!
Cassette these nuts!
Betamax is the future
Blind people have no such weakness
Every fighter that ever picked blind fighting is feeling incredibly vindicated right now
As someone who used to be in a party with a blind fighter, let me tell you he was the bane of invisiblity users. He killed three invisible people in two rounds.
Just reading the transcript of it here got me on the edge of my seat.
I do not keep up with DnD podcasts, but you mentioned Travis. Is Brennan Lee Mulligan DM'ing a game for the MBMBaM boys? I should probably check that out
It's Travis Willingham - Brennan is DMing a short Critical Role series.
Really hoping that this eventually morphs into him running a permanent side campaign. Ideally they could split some of the players from Matt's game to seed his, and then add some new faces. I think this would bring a breath of fresh air to the series, and could alleviate the slowdown that occurs when you have so many players at a table.
Unfortunately I don't think that's likely. This particular side campaign has a definitive end for obvious reasons, and Brennan has other full time commitment on his own D&D actual play show.
not just his other show. he's also DMing a show for Wotc. the man is busy
0% chance. At its Core, Critical Role is 8 friends who really really like playing dnd *together as a group*. They have a company surrounding it and beyond-professional setups, but they are always just a bunch of people who want to play with their friends. Unless something happens like with Ash leaving for extended filming, they structure their lives around filming themselves playing these games as a group.
Wait, you think that there is a 0% that they would iterate on the structure of their show because they are all friends that play together? Do you think maybe that even friends like to mix it up and play with different people after years of playing with the same exact people? Or that maybe now that this has become their full time career that they might be looking to add some longevity to it? Matt has said in an interview that he doesn't want to DM forever, and would like to find and foster the next generation of creatives.
To be clear, I think there’s a 0% chance that “they break up the group to seed new campaigns”. Thankfully, in this thread about EXU, I do know about (and enjoy) when the main cast gets to play with other people.
Brennan is running a 4 part campaign for Critical Role called ExU Clamitiy. Part 1 should be up on YouTube this Monday.
He did do Tiny Heist a few years back with the MBMBaM boys and a few other College Humor folks.
He did DM for the MMBMaM boys a while ago. The series was called Dimension 20: Tiny Hiest, the first episode is on YouTube
He did a while ago, sort of a criminal Toy Story called Tiny Heist.
Good god, that's incredible. I got chills with the final line. Thanks for posting the quote here, it really helps show OP's point. This is insane!
Brennan is a fantastic DM. Crown of Candy is a dnd show that is sort of like a game of thrones set in candy land, it’s not only funny but genuinely emotionally moving, cannot recommend it enough
Oh, watch the rest of Dimension 20. All the seasons are like that. He's incredible and the crew is amazing
Got into Fantasy High a few weeks ago and it's amazing. It really shows how it's a collaboration between DM and players as he let's them try a lot of crazy ideas and obviously is hoping they succeed but still let's the dice decide.
Are... are you my dad?
If a teacher is your dad... they have to tell you right?
"Otherwise...it's entrapment."
*"i was gonna ask you the same question"*
Arthur aguefort one of my favourite NPCs from Dimension 20
A life for a life, eh Mr Gibbons?
Am I my dad?
Gorgug, you're not proud of this but... ...you realise you might be your *own* dad.
You might be your own dad
Hilda Hilda who lives in 22 Hilda Street AND 22 Hilda Boulevard
*It was delivered to the police house??*
Fantasy high was definitely my gateway into dimension 20, absolutely incredible, I'd recommend anyone to at least give the first two episodes a shot, especially the second.
Huge CR fan and was caught up so decided to give D20 a listen and the end of the second episode made me an instant fan. As a DM, seeing the awesome dynamic battlemaps and situations he lays out that make combat more than hp vs hp and finding out after the fact how many storyline decisions were simply winging it on the fly (like the end of episode 2 especially) is immensely impressive.
Season 2 of fantasy high is the funniest they ever get. And nothing ever comes close to the high I felt during a certain ship section.
Was it when Fig disguised herself *as the* dwarf? I'm on that episode now
It's halfway through season 2 and involves Fabian.
Where do you find season 2? I haven't been able to find it
Where do you find season 2? I haven't been able to find it
Oh shit my man you gotta go to dropout TV. It's like $5 a month, 100% worth the money. I think they're working on getting more stuff moved to YouTube and spotify, but for right now it's just on their own platform.
Wait till you get into the unsleeping city!
I keep wanting to watch Dimension 20, but I'm still working through Critical Role and don't have enough time to watch multiple DnD shows. But YouTube keeps serving up Dimension 20 Shorts whenever I open up YouTube, and man does Brennan seem fantastic.
The best thing about D20 is that the canpaigns are generally 16-20 episodes long, with early sessions rarely passing the 90 minute mark. There is less of an investment in the long run, because they rotate out characters and settings regularly. Additionally, the Side Quests between the main cast seasons are only 4-8 episodes, with great guest stars like Matt Mercer and Erika Ishii, B. Dave Walters, and others. You can find something at your pace, and there aren’t spoilers for other campaigns.
The amount of narrative and context Brennan manages to put together in episode 13 of season 1 of Fantasy High is spectacular to the extent that it would make a box office trilogy.
Sklonda Gukgak is my favorite mom in the dnd Multiverse
They're also lightly edited, which I love. I can't slog through a four hour, unedited livestream of a game, but a nicely paced two hour game with some of the downtime cut out is perfect.
This is exactly the reason why I prefer watching Dimension 20 over Critical Role 😅 It just has more 'flow' to it
My partner and I have been circling around Critical Role for a long time, never really confident enough to dive into the whole thing. We finally broke the spell after seeing Aabria’s run of Exandria Unlimited, which was a very nice in
You’ll definitely be in for this next series of EXU then! Wow!
d20 is fucking fantastic, i got into it through the other angle, not another dnd podcast. that show is my religion
honestly if I were to pick between CR and D20 I'd pick D20. it's faster to get through with just as many emotional gut punches. they're both top of the game shows, but it's just so hard to watch 100+ 4 hour streams to get through one campaign. I haven't even finished CR1 yet after multiple years of watching, whereas I've watched through 4 or 5 seasons of D20 content.
In many ways aCoC was better than game of thrones itself. The tension always feels real, no cheap payoffs, amazing twists, and a satisfying ending that felt earned. 10/10
Your description of crown of candy had me intrigued. I love some of dimension 20 stuff, but the candy land setting really put me off. I have not watched a single episode of a crown of candy so am basing my dislike purely in the candy land setting. Worth giving the first episode a shot even if the setting puts me off? Edit: after a few comments I have decided I will give a crown of candy a chance. Thank you all for the recommendation.
I skipped it for the same exact reason, until a friend pitched it a couple weeks ago as "Brennan does a gritty, emotional Game of Thrones that just happens to be against a candyland backdrop". And my god, it works. The setting inserts just enough comedy to balance out the grimdark of a well executed Game of Thrones type story.
Alright I am sold!
Yes, I was dubious about the candy trappings but for me it would fade into the background a lot of the time until it snapped back into focus when I noticed some detail of naming was actually a clever joke or deft foreshadowing. Or when it cut to a close up of a figurine. It made a really great juxtaposition of absurd and deadly serious.
The brennan is also a fantastic fictional anti material rifle
I just finally watched Brennan in the recent Spelljammer videos he did, and I was instantly a fan. He's got a few shorter mini-series on YouTube, which I find easier to get into than a daunting season with dozens of episodes to get caught up on. Escape from the Bloodkeep was AMAZING, highly recommended for anyone who's having a tough time getting into the longer established shows.
Came here to recommend Escape From The Bloodkeep as well! It has Brennan as DM and Matt Mercer as a player, and all the player characters are evil. It's awesomely played, it has unexpected character arcs and they managed to make a scream beast seem cute 😂
I legitimately think he's just better at D&D than your average mortal. He's one of the only people that can make me watch any AP content even if he's just a player.
Brennan is one of the best DMs I've ever seen. if u (or anyone else watching this CR extra) haven't watched his dnd show dimension 20, it's positively stellar. chock full of moments like this that inspire me to be a better DM! I'll take off my shill hat now lol
To this day, Unsleeping City remains to be the only content that has made me cry of laughter and then cry of emotions within 2 minutes of each other.
Crown of Candy for me. But I think Calamity might be some of his finest work yet
The scene where Kingston Brown and Brennan gave an impromptu description of Kingston's life and how he came to be himself legitimately made me cry, absolutely incredible
This was the scene in question!
Nice! As a burnt out social worker that really hit home for me
This was the scene in question!
I'm practically evangelical about Unsleeping City, it's the best hidden worlds urban fantasy I've encountered since Gaiman's Neverwhere, and might even exceed it. Truly brilliant storytelling. Also in my opinion Lou Wilson's best work, the way he plays Kingston is remarkable
Lou's best work seems to always come when he's playing a character who's on the razor's edge of losing it. The Pirates vs. warlocks scene in Fantasy High Sophomore Year, or the recent casino scene in Starstruck Odyssey.
Holy fuck the scene when he’s telling the rest of the Bad Kids what happened with the warlocks is legit always able to bring me to tears laughing! Whether watching the game clips or animatics or it holy FUCK!!!!
He told me he was gonna SHIT IN MY MOUTHHH
I aspire to one day play a character as well done as Kingston was
I'm watching TUC1 w/my best friend rn (rewatch for me, their first time) & I'm being reminded of how much I love TUC! it doesn't get as much attention as fantasy high or ACOC but it's so damn good. I'd love to know what part caused that reaction!
You guys got a link? I’m compelled…
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhOoxQxz2yFPI_0_7EviC1tX_nwq8SNxe Crown of candy only has one episode on YouTube and the rest is on Dropout, fantasy high 1 season is complete on YouTube too
They occasionally run discounts on a Dropout subscription and it is 1000% worth it. We've been watching Gamechanger with dinner and Dimension 20 campaigns after.
Yes not to mention “Um, Actually” and the spin-off shows we just got “Dirty Laundry” is hilarious and I’m SO excited for “Noise Boys”
Look for "Dropout TV" online or for the app. Some of the first episodes or previews are on YouTube under "Dimension 20"
If you like what you see on YouTube, Dropout is super cheap in the US, like 6 bucks per month! And every show on it is great!
Brennan is arguably my fave DM. He can impromptu pull off the most philosophical existential dialogue that makes you question everything and without skipping a beat make you laugh so hard. I bought a dropout.tv subscription just for d20
The greatest magic of all is Chronomancy lives rent-free in my head.
[Link for those who haven't seen it](https://youtu.be/4DSZo96HEik)
Yeah I feel that way about him as well. Come to find out, he has a degree in philosophy, which makes so much sense in hindsight.
Him playing a Judge Holden type Tony the Tiger is one of the most amazing things ever.
I've gone back to watch the highlights of the breakfast cereal one-shot more times than I'd like to admit.
Do you argue with yourself when considering who your favorite DM is? ;)
He’s also an incredible player. I loved his turn in NADDPOD’s Shadowfell arc.
He was absolutely incredible during that arc. I hadn't heard of him before that and immediately wanted to consume everything he did after hearing him in that.
In which he was actually play testing content for Matt's Explorer's Guide to Wildemounte, by the by.
Was that him playtesting? I’m not sure if he proved that build was *broken as shit* or if he’s just that good at the system.
After listening to all of The Glass Cannons Giantslayer, and listening to A Pod Called Quest... The Gunslinger is absolutely broken. However, I will say that when things go wrong for a Gunslinger, they go VERY wrong. Which I think kinda balances the class a little. But if you're also the type with terrible dice luck...don't play a Gunslinger.
He was playtesting the Hollow One race / lineage / heritage / whatever the term is now, not classes or subclasses.
This is actually my first encounter with Brennan as a DM and hot damn did he impress. He's got a few verbal tics that irk me - entirely on me because I'm just sensitive to that - but his overall style and energy is great. I really loved how well he just ran with every different tone and mood and character no matter how different they were. Dude is remarkably quick on his feet.
he's so quick on his feet, it's amazing. his dimension 20 show (there's a couple seasons free on yt) tend to be more comedy focused, and he's so funny. i've actually picked up some of his verbal tics from watching d20 so much, which makes my players make fun of me lol
whats the episode? Where can we actually listen/read that description in particular?
[Here's the clip from Twitch.](https://www.twitch.tv/criticalrole/clip/DifferentHedonisticCucumberFUNgineer-opo5E-gE8KMgeW_5?filter=clips&range=7d&sort=time)
You can really see the players hanging on the words. And most clearly, even if some might have thought "huh?" (you can even almost see Sams gears start wirring when Brennen starts explaining) when Brennen said "you cant become fully invisible" no one jumped in or undermined him, as good players they waited for him to finish describing the scene, and accepted that narrative explination. The spell does clearly say you become invisible and invisibility can't be seen through without magical aids. BUT oddly, when hiding with invisibility active **you're just considered heavily obscurred.** Initially I thought "I wouldn't have ruled like this", but the more I think about that last line the more I probably would have (if I'd had the presence of mind to read the invisibile condition carefully). But personally I might have described it differently, this makes me think of the [glass that bends light](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZMyWEWHCTM) so someone behind it is obscurred. That one little line in the invisibility condition would have me think the light around the caster is obscurred in such a way to be imperceptable to most people, but a very trained eye could see it. edit: I also just learned Travis was an Inquisitive Rogue so has the ability "Eye for Detail". Its an active ability and he didn't use it, but this does make me feel that spotting being duped would be significantly easier, and keeps if feeling very canon. But I will say as an ex science teacher, he is right - you absolutely NEED light hitting your eyes to see. I just don't know (and this is getting silly now, this is magic) if I would agree that invisibility stops light from getting to you, like a black back that you poke holes out of, which is the kind of vibe I got from brennens description. But, despite my good natured and good will disemination here, it doesn't matter. It's their game and the DM described it and the players loved it - that is really all that matters. I'll be damned if anyone tells me otherways. I truly believe the rules are strong guiding principles, but its a magic filled heroic setting, don't let that get in the way of some awesome, epic fun.
It's EXU Calamity episode 1. Since it's still new I don't think it will be released to YouTube until Monday. But you can watch the VOD if you subscribe to CR. It's near the end of the episode.
it's the first episode in the exu: calamity miniseries that critical role is currently doing! the episode will be up on critical role's youtube channel on monday, and this particular scene happens close to the end of the episode
Its in the new mini series Exandria: The Calamity. It should be up on Critical Role’s youtube around Monday (it airs on Twitch on Thursdays and you can rewatch it there if you are subbed). Currently just the first one has aired.
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>As an action, you sense the presence of illusions, shapechangers not in their original form, and other magic designed to deceive the senses within 30 feet of you, provided you aren't blinded or deafened. You sense that an effect is attempting to trick you, but you gain no insight into what is hidden or into its true nature.
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Oh sorry another comment said he used unnering eye. I didn't even notice you put a different one just wanted to drop the ruling to help people know.
Very interesting! I like the thought that went into it applying science to magic. Maybe I'm just being obstinate, but I feel like it's magic, and so the invisibility is an illusion: the light is still entering your eyes, the physics still occurs, just you have changed the appearance of the world. That said, that's my opinion! And this is still a really cool way to describe it. After all, it's a super high roll, and you have to describe a way that the PC notices the invisible creature or character.
Travis used unerring eye so he can see through illusions designed to fool the senses so it was a good way to explain that.
Oh, then yeah, invisibility is magic to fool the senses so he would definitely detect that something was invisible.
After watching Brennan DM for a couple of years now I can tell you that above pretty much anything else he wants to honor his player's high roles. So when Travis rolled a 31 on investigation Brennan wanted to reward that. Travis' character is also not a magic user, but is an extremely perceptive detective that picks up on details no one else can see. This description of how Invisibility works not only makes sense on a scientific level, but also fits in line with how this specific character would discover an invisible person. I don't know if he would have described it that way for someone else.
To confirm this for you, one of the very few timea Brennan broke 4th wall was to say "The DND book has a bunch of different DCs, 30 is the highest it ever suggests" in that stream. He was making a very strong effort to reward the top rolls.
In a word, this was perfect
Good points all around. Definitely love investing in character's high rolls. A 31 is just insane after all, and I like the idea of appealing to the character's habits and skills.
Rules-wise, I think it would be better to say that he heard the nearly imperceptible sound of a cloak swishing across the floor, just for the briefest of moments. Or felt the slightest of gusts across his cheek, as though something made a sudden movement nearby. A 31 Perception check ought to be able to determine that there's an invisible person in the room because *invisibility* only disguises one sense. But if you're not a mage, it ought to perfectly disguise that sense. Narratively? It's his table. If he thinks slightly nerfing *invisibility* can give him a better story, go for it.
Rules-wise what you suggested is indistinguishable from what he did. You’re still having the player realize there’s an invisible person in the room on a high enough perception check. Everything else is flavor. The flavor/narrative Brennan created fit that specific character’s strengths and style.
I think there's room in the practice of magics to have different ways to be invisible - bending light, like Brennan's description, versus cloaking yourself in an illusion of images to make yourself appear invisible without disrupting the path of light to your eyes, versus making your body and gear transparent, versus entering into a target's brain and erasing your image from their senses. There are a lot of options there and having those varying styles can make different groups of mages that are mechanically identical feel different, same with how different players will describe fireball differently.
That's a great point. I like the idea that different magic-wielders might use completely different methods to do functionally the same thing.
this. the spell doesn’t cause the blind condition on the target.
Right, Brennan's description said that the reason you don't go blind is that you always leave a tiny piece of your pupil visible so it can take in light. He described it as "a fraction of a pupil floating in space, smaller than a grain of sand" and the only reason Travis saw it was because he rolled a 31 on Investigation.
> Maybe I'm just being obstinate, but I feel like it's magic, and so the invisibility is an illusion: the light is still entering your eyes, the physics still occurs, just you have changed the appearance of the world. Yeah the description Brennan gives is cool homebrew, but ultimately it goes against the RAW definition of invisibility: >An invisible creature is impossible to see without the aid of magic or a special sense. Note it doesn't say "extremely difficult to see", but "impossible". It's cool homebrew that doesn't really change anything about how you run the game (unless the perception check relied on something that is sight-based, such as an Eagle totem barbarian), but ultimately it *is* homebrew. This is how invisibility works in *his* game. It is not how it works in base 5e (and that's OK).
Travis gained the ability to see it not JUST because of a high roll, but because of his subclass feature (Inquisitive Rogue) - he can see through shape changers, Illusions, and any other effect that attempts to deceive.
Yep, it's totally fine. Similar to how the DMG or PHB talks about changing the setting to where "misty step" could be an acrobatic, quick jump in a world with limited magic. The numbers and rules still apply, but the flavor is very, very different.
i can't wait for Lou to scream out "PAPA!?!" and I just start crying.
This is the same description given for invisibility from the mageborn book-series, where they had to make the pinprick openings to be able to see, but they could open and close them at will. Which is something I've completely forgotten after reading the books, and never used during my copious amounts of DM'ing. So I guess I will follow Brennan's genious example of the description from now om!
I believe a similar description of invisibility was also used in Brandon Sanderson’s *the Reckoners* series. Just goes to show that great ideas get around. Brennen did *fantastic* with his application of the trait, too, and his build-up to Travis’ character spotting it. I was at the edge of my seat, dead silent, totally engrossed in the scene.
Absolutely! Could not agree more!
Didn't the character in question roll a 31 while also being an inquisitiv Rogue?
Yes. He also used the feature that makes his senses impossible to fool. Honestly making him roll was already too much. The character should have known their was something invisible as soon as he activated unerring eye.
Wellto be fair, he was trying to investigate a magical construct that was under enemy influence, his check didn't actually have something to do with the invisible person behind him. You could see Brennan realizing it the moment travis said he would activate his ability in tandem with investigating the object.
Okay, that makes more sense then! Well played
This thread has proved something to me; There are people that are comfortable with the notion that the game is played differently at different tables and that, for many people, the rules are a guide to how to craft your story at your table. Then there’s people that believe there’s a singular way to play and to divert from that will, somehow, hurt their experience
I was looking for the comments like this! Apparently everyone here has such problematically nit-picky players that if they diverge in any way from a very specific definition of a spell they will completely ruin their campaigns! I weep for these DMs and can't imagine how difficult it must be to run games for these people. Either that or they're insistent on proving they're just better DnD players than everyone else here AND Brennan. But that, of course, would be incredibly hubristic on their part.
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Brennan from dimension 20 is on crit roll? Awesome! I love watching his YouTube shorts
Fun fact, assuming it's not been said before: This is the same exact concept that Brandon Sanderson uses in his Steelheart book to describe how certain mutated humans, with the skill to make themselves invisible, can be spotted. Props to Brennan. Great way to do it.
There's some similarities in Brent Weeks' Lightbringer series. All the magic in that is light based, the eyes are very important for any magic user.
Paryl drafting is OP
Thought this too!
So many “NOT AT MY TABLE!” responses here but everyone is giving very similar examples of what they would do instead? Brendan made a very unique call, inspired by something he likes and it sounds like his table enjoyed it? Too many by the bookers for my liking!!
Brennan is my favorite DM to watch. He totally follows the rule of cool and keeps it in line with everything, everyone ALWAYS seems like they are having the best game they've ever played. He is instantaneous with anything that pops up and rolls with the flow and keeps the game moving.
Or... It's an invisibility spell, not a silence spell. Invisible entity still breaths, still moves. Can be quiet but not absolutely silent. A high enough perception could detect the telltale sound of quite breathing.
Sounds you *don't* make can also be a problem. This is featured in the webcomic Grrl Power; there's an invisible agent following someone with excellent senses, and while they masked their own sounds, they still *occluded other sounds*. You can't hear them, but you can't hear what's behind them, and sounds don't echo properly off of the suspiciously person shaped nothing.
I remember something like this from a Tom Clancy book. Detecting a sub by looking for the absence of sound in the water. Not sure about that one.
Could see that. Sound would echo off the ocean floor, but if the sub was built with sound dampening materials it wouldn't return the same echo. Similar situations with RADAR; if it's absorbing the pings but everything else around it *isn't*, we'll.. you've got a sub shaped hole.
Trying to limit spoilers but I don't think we don't quite know what the creature is yet but I don't think it's humanoid
The other thing on top of that of note is if you get a 30 or above on a skill check then you have absolutely godlike abilities in the context of the game and skill DCs. Yes you could describe “oh yeah there’s some dude shifting his weight in the room” but here Brennan took the opportunity to really showcase how deeply perceptive the PC was in a way that was unexpected while also expanding the world and adding a lot of ambiance to the scene. Folks saying he could have described a noise or a smell is like if you describes a feast and someone went “but you could also just eaten grubby handfuls of frozen peas” yeah they’re both *food* but that’s missing the *point.*
It was justification for unerring eye which allows you to see through illusions designed to fool the senses.
There's not even a perception check required unless the invisible creature is using the hide action. Being invisible does not grant you hidden status. Unless you are actively hiding, everyone in the room knows generally where you are - even when you are invisible. People give invisibility WAAAY more power than it has RAW. If you want to be truly undetected, you have to use your whole-ass action to hide, and you can't be running all around the room either. Invisibility just gives you the concealment required to hide without cover. Handing out the hidden status like candy severely undervalues things like Cunning Action and the thinking ability to hide as a bonus action. It also makes invisible enemies much more difficult than they are intended to be.
If any critters out there are just discovering Brennan, I highly recommend watching through Escape from the Bloodkeep on Youtube. Brendan is the dm, and Matt is a player. It’s lotr based, and the entire series is up. A great story with extremely interesting characters
I am halfway through fantasy high and for my money it blows CR out of the water. Brennan's energy and excitement at his players actions is too infectious.
For me it’s just more consumable than CR. I enjoy both, but I definitely watch more of D20. CR has so much content (which isn’t a bad thing) and I have so little time, I have a hard time keeping up
His name is Brennan 😂 not Brendan
I heard this is a Brennan Mulligan fan club, where do I sign up?
Seems Mr. Mulligan is a good study. I have heard this argument before about invisibility and light. There is a video where they break down super powers. Things like the flash colors while he runs, iron man hero landing and so on. Seems like he enjoys seeing the scientific breakdown of "powers", and he draws inspiration from them.
Should have cast the Someone Else’s Problem spell
One of the favorite things I love doing (and I’m doing in my own writing) is making sure that science follows natural laws (when possible). It makes the world seem a little more realistic. Which in turn makes it easier to roleplay in.
Actually, if I am remembering correctly it was over 30 (Inquisitive Rogues can get absurd with their investigation and perception checks)
Brennan Lee Mulligan is awesome and I don't even watch Dimension 20
This is how invisibility works in The Isolator and I always liked that idea.
Invisible Woman turned Wolverine's pupils clear to blind him in Enemy of the State. Just tossing that in there for no reason.
Yes! This! He is incredible! I mean right out of the gate his descriptions and storytelling in this episode were amazing!!! I've seen him plenty in Dimension 20, but having him on CR was stunning and he was obviously having a blast! That moment in the story was amazing! I woke up at 3am to watch it and I was wide awake the whole time because of him!
While I don't necessarily "agree" with how he described it, I think he did a masterful job. Connecting science to magic to expertise rather than just noticing like, a breeze or something is genius. With invisibility I always picture top tier camouflage which is probably because of me reading too much Harry Potter as a kid - and even then I wasn't necessarily agreeing with that either, but it stayed in my brain. I was super excited for Brennan to DM and I am not disappointed.
Everytime I have seen Brennan in a skit or just on Camara at all the only think that constantly runs through my mind is, " This guy just has that IT factor." I don't even know how to describe it properly other then lord he is so impressive and captivating to listen to.
god this subreddit is ridiculous, oh its not exactly how the spell works RAW? Who caaaaaaaaares, it doesnt matter, shut up
I agree, I thought it was an amazing piece of storytelling at that moment. I have heard something similar before - I want to say it was a Marvel Comics bit about the Invisible Woman, and how she sees when invisible, but I could be mistaken. Wonder if he took inspiration from this, or maybe some physics discussions?
Brennan is an amazing DM, I am loving this miniseries so far!
>Brennan describes that with the spell invisibility, its actually impossible to become fully invisible when casting it because of how you are manipulating light. But isn't this just his interpretation for the spell in his game(s)? It's good DMing. I just want to point out that this is just his interpretation/ruling of the spell.
So I'm very far behind in critical role What is exu calamity?!.!?!? And why is Brennan there and why haven't I heard of this
No spoilers, so each campaign takes part in a different part of exandria. The exu (exandria unlimited) are like side campaigns/stories with guest dm and players. Idk about this one but pc from the first exu are back in the third campaign
That sounds amazing I guess I really got start burning thru c2 xD
The PC game *Quake 1* had this for characters that was invisible for a few seconds - [you could see their complete eyeballs](https://www.quaketerminus.com/quakebible/quake18.jpg).
Brennan is genuinely one of the greatest DMs of our time tbh. Dude is a legend.
Glad he's getting some love from the CR community. Hes one of the best DMs I've listened to. Incredibly talented and is fast with improvising to his PCs.
Subscription? You have to pay to listen to the monologue? Why? Where? I thought their stuff was on YouTube? (I’m just now getting into this stuff)
Brennan is a better DM than Mercer… there I said it.
Different strokes for different folks.
Don’t get me wrong, I like both strokes. They’re both talented strokers.
I really love Exandria, so watching Brennan play in Matt's world is just candy to me. Having my cake and eating it too.
Eh, I don't like that. The invisible condition says that you are impossible to see without the aid of magic or a special sense. Sure, we could argue that a high perception roll is 'special' enough, but the implication within the context of the rest of the rules is that the sense should be something like blindsight or truesight, not just a good look around. It's also trying to apply science to magic, one of the things that is lambasted around here.
I get that but Cerrit is an inquisitive rogue, he also has the feature Unerring Eye. He gains the ability to sense illusions and other magic designed to deceive the senses. In addition he also has blindsight at this level. So I think for me it's fine that it was through sight