Critical Role Panel at DPCC

The Critical Role Panel at Denver Pop Culture Con packed the main stage theater, and brought many revelations. At different points, Travis threatened to walk out, Laura jumped out of her chair, Marisha teared up, and Sam said that when he’s sewn together with Liam, he calls the end.

Here’s a summary of our favorite moments that we can do justice in written form. This panel is a must-watch for Critters, and will be available next week on YouTube. Update: Here’s the Youtube link! Go watch right now!

Brian Gets a Question

Critter Question: I’d like to know if you’d be willing to share with us a specific time when you dealt with something in game, and that experience directly helped you with something that you were dealing with in real life. Therapy in some way for you.

Brian W. Foster: Yeah, man. Wow, that’s a really good question, and I’m not very prepared for it. Let me try to do that justice however I can.

I think that the things…We all bring our own shit to the table, we all bring our own shit to our own characters in some way, and in some ways hopefully see that…I just realized…I just realized there’s people here.

Hopefully, in that way, as they transform, we transform. And for me, and obviously, these guys can attest to this, it’s going on a journey with someone else, being vulnerable in front of somebody else, even if you’re RPing. RPing is being vulnerable in front of somebody else. That act alone, reaching out to another person in faith that you won’t get rejected, or that they are just like you. That connection alone is transformative, and that’s why we keep coming back to the table, in my opinion.

Matt and Marisha are asked about Love

Critter Question: How has your connection grown through your love and your DM, and your connection…I just want to celebrate love, and we love you, and you’ve changed my life. Thank you.

Marisha Ray: Now I’m getting emotional. It’s early. The altitude.

Critter: Also welcome to the mile HIGH!

Marisha: Matt and I were just saying the other day what’s kind of incredible about this, not only having a partner, those that game together, stay together, that we can have such a deep shared hobby and interest in, but just this, this whole Critical Role journey, and the fact that we’re lucky enough to go through it together and…See I’m getting emotional. Just traveling, and seeing all of you guys, and…I mean beyond us as a couple, damn we’re lucky.

Matthew Mercer: For me, uh…I mean yeah, I agree with all of that.

Laura Bailey: Whatever you say, baby. You’re right.

Travis Willingham: Yeah, whatever, whatever, whatever. For me…

Matt: It’s hard to follow that up! I don’t know what to say. Although a more specific element of it. I’ll say between us, even when we first started dating, it was very much, I know I DMed for her once, so I knew she was into roleplaying games.

Marisha: Yeah, but so was my ex!

Matt: Yeah, that worked out well in my favor.

Brian: I thought a couple that plays together stays together, Marisha.

Marisha: You gotta be careful of those one shots!

Brian: Are we still talking about D&D?

Matt: I guess you can say I slid in as your DM.

Matt: In all sincerity. From a DM’s perspective, it’s one thing to play with your partner or partners. Just this idea that I get to create this gift for my friends, and I get to create this experience, watch them enjoy it, flesh it out, break it, and make it their own, and the fact that I get to make that for you as well is a weekly gift that I enjoy very much.

Brian: Congratulations. Matt, did I hear you say “I slid in as your DM?” That’s pretty good. That’s pretty good.

Sam discusses playing a female character

Critter Question: What challenges have you faced as a man playing a female character? And what advice would you give others that are playing characters that go against their gender identity or sexual identity?

Sam Riegel: The challenges I face, other than having to do that voice every week, have been…In playing a female character, I didn’t want it to be like a spoof or anything like, I’m sort of silly sometimes, but I didn’t want it to be a spoof of what I think, you know, girls are like or anything. I really wanted to play a character who’s real and authentic, and obviously have never lived as a woman, but you know, half the people I know are women. So just trying to get into the female mind is a challenge, but an exciting one.

And I would have that also be my advice to people playing another gender or sexuality is just really try to think as that person would think and not just do a like a surface level spoof. But what driving forces does a mother feel, or a wife, that me as a man, might not think about. Thinking about Nott’s son through all of this has always been a driving thing that I always think about, even way before any of the reveals happened it was always something that was in my mind, because I know that mothers like have this cosmic connection to their kids constantly, not that dad’s don’t, but it’s somehow even more intense. Playing it authentically is a challenge, and rising up to the awesomeness that is a woman is a challenge.

Liam O’Brien: That’s largely why we do this, is to step into somebody totally different from us, and learn empathy from it.

Sam: It’s true. All of us are experimenting and exploring other points of view in our characters, and that’s why D&D is so great, and that’s why this group is so great.

Then they discuss how awesome Sam’s wife is, Laura says that she’s like Essek, and everyone who’s met her has a crush on her.

The last question was for Travis, about his upcoming trip to a haunted house, thanks to a kickstarter stretch goal. He’s a bit panicked. Marisha weighed in that they realized that they have a lot of GoPros around…
Travis threatened to walk out, but came right back.

The panel ended with a cute kid saying HIIIIIIII!

This was an amazing Denver Pop Culture Con panel, full of deep emotions, silliness, and Essek. I did my best transcribing my audio recording; however, three thousand Critters in a room can get very loud. Forgive me a few mistakes!

​The panel should be posted on YouTube next week. I’ll add the link as soon as the video is posted.