Dungeons and Dragons is cool. Let's just get that out of the way first of all. Anyone who doesn't think it is has clearly never played it, because as soon as you do you realise its so much fun. But whilst it's a lot of fun to play it seems like it's sometimes hard to watch. A lot of the time this comes down to the fact that most people who play the game are just regular folk like you and me. Critical Role, however, stands out as something a little different, thanks in part to the players being such good actors.
Within the first episode of the web series you'll end up being sucked into the world that the group have created, as well as the characters that they play. It doesn't just feel like a group of friends playing a game, but a group of creatives making something special. That's why there is literally hundreds and hundreds of hours of Critical Role content out there; people recognised that it was something special.
Despite having a hugely successful web series that takes weeks to watch through even if you don't do anything else, fans always want more Critical Role in their life. This is where Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins comes in. Jumping back in time to the very beginning of the story, this book shows readers just how the group first came together all those years ago when they were playing in their homes.
The story begins with elf twins Vex and Vax investigating the strange happenings in a small town surrounded by a swamp, where the young and old are getting sick and dying. The two of them are trying to find out if it's some kind of curse, a poison, or some evil force behind the events when they discover a much bigger plot, one that has drawn in several groups of adventurers.
It's fun to see several members of the group split across other groups, and to see that they actually didn't really like each other that much. Viewers of the series got to see these characters after they'd been together for years and had become something of a family, but here they're just strangers. Instead of teasing there's outright hostility at times.
This isn't the Vox Machina that most fans will know, and it might be something of a shock to see the characters portrayed in this way, but it still ultimately feels like Critical Role, with the same group of misfits and idiots, and the same plans that don't work. One of my favourite parts of the book is when the group are standing around outside the evil lair, coming up with various plans whilst Grog goes running off in the background, attacking head on. It feels like a comic representation of every planning session the team has in the series, where things usually go a little crazy and unexpected.
It won't take you long to read through the book, but if you're all caught up with the episodes and don't want to go back and rewatch this'll certainly scratch your Critical Role itch for an hour or two, as well as shedding some light onto the origins of the iconic group of heroes.
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