Background
I stumbled upon Crit & Fumble after learning about a local game shop’s community Discord server. Dropzone Games has a staunch following of tabletop gaming aficionados, especially of Warhammer 40k. Once I jumped into the Dropzone server, I discovered tabletop roleplaying (not just dungeons and dragons) players were also being called over to join the Crit & Fumble Discord server. I was on a Discord server-joining-bender, and so I thought, “why not another one?”
Turns out that it was a great decision to join, yet another server. I discovered a fun community of TTRPG players and fans and a very fun actual-play to listen to.
Characters
Chelsea, the C&F game master for season four, voices upwards of ten different characters each session. The players are the main crew of a privateering vessel, sailing the coast from adventure to adventure. Chelsea plays the half-dozen or so other crewmembers of the Scurvy Lady ship quite regularly.
Gavin plays the ship’s Captain. Mawrow Furtide is a Tabaxi Bard who often shoulders the burden of responsibility for his crew. He has a secret that not even his closest crewmates know all the details of, and is somehow bound to a mysterious entity of the sea.
Tash, plays the adventure-seeking Firbolg, Eldric Bronson. The whimsical warlock starts the adventure with all laughs and banter, but is quickly put through trials he wasn’t expecting, challenging the path before him.
The party’s barbarian is played by Russ. Darvin Anncorman and his brother Gerald run an adventuring guild. But the sailor can’t be tied landward for long, and so he’s the muscle aboard the Scurvy Lady.
Dwayne, plays the ship’s beloved chef, Su Shichef. Su is world-renowned for his sushi-making and even has a chance to prove it in-game. The ranger-rogue multi-class keeps his wits sharp and his knives sharper as he typically runs point on the party’s scouting missions.
My Experience as a Listener
I’ve listened to and watched a variety of actual-plays across YouTube, Spotify, Pocket Casts, and Twitch. All of them tell unique and entertaining stories, but the things that keep me watching are production quality and community.
Maybe they stream live and interact with the audience, or maybe there’s a community discord server of fans. Crit & Fumble has an active discord server of about 100 followers, where players, listeners, D&D fans, and artists alike gather. When there is a community, there is external motivation for me to watch or listen to the next episode.
I come for the story, but I stay for the production quality. I haven’t even made it through all of Critical Role’s first campaign, primarily, because of the variable sound balancing. Crit & Fumble doesn’t have any video recording for their sessions, but they edit and capture sound professionally. They have a catchy intro theme song, written and produced for the show.
Additionally, I’ve noticed a good amount of awareness from the players regarding the sound and recording quality. Players seem to avoid talking over each other or meta-gaming (on mic), intentionally because they are recording a podcast. The GM also sometimes calls them out when things are getting too off-base. They do include a lot of, what I call “teenaged-boy humour”. Which I generally find humorous in moderation, but not in large quantities. I do sometimes zone out for a few minutes if it goes on too long for my taste, but it’s certainly forgivable and on par with most other actual-plays I’ve listened to.
Gameplay Mechanics
Chelsea does a good of balancing skill checks, seemingly setting a low DC when she wants the players to make a check but also wants to move the story along. One mechanic I like, which I mentioned in my review of Sunday Spy Club too, is the critical hit mechanic. I recall Chelsea borrowing this home rule from another C&F GM, Shawn. Where damage on a critical hit is rolled as usual and automatically adds the maximum dice value (instead of doubling the dice).
There is combat or pseudo-combat in pretty much every episode. Chelsea keeps the short sessions fast-paced and action-packed.
Overall thoughts so far…
I started with Season Four and just finished listening to the eighth episode. I’m definitely enjoying it, and know there are quite a few older episodes to catch up on when I’m ready for the next thing to listen to!
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