Summary

• Watching Critical Role improved my understanding of D&D 5e rules used in Baldur's Gate 3.
• Critical Role's storytelling driven by dice rolls inspired me to become more involved in TTRPGs.
• Because of Critical Role, I understood several mistakes I was making in my first few hours of Baldur's Gate 3.

I got significantly better Daggerheart TTRPG systems for Critical Role. I knew of Critical Role and even had a chance to interview them before the release of The Legend of Vox Machina.

However, I was not involved in their campaigns and was not a critter (the term is used to describe fans of Critical Role). However, playing through Baldur’s Gate 3 at launch left me wanting to roll dice night and day. Most of the game’s systems are determined by dice rolls, even if not actively. Some of the major outcomes in the story are decided by the player’s active roll and that feeling of landing a successful natural 20 or a world-ending nat 1 always left me wanting more. That’s when I decided to visit my interviewees’ popular TTRPG channel.

I Started Watching Critical Role Because Of Baldur’s Gate 3

I Felt An Urge For Deep Storytelling Driven By Dice Rolls

Feeling the urge to continue witnessing great stories unfold, determined by the randomness of dice like in Baldur’s Gate 3, I jumped into Critical Role’s channel on YouTube and started campaign 3, Bells Hells. The story was well underway and I had dozens of four-hour episodes to catch up with, but I was immediately grasped by their storytelling abilities – and further immersed by the actor-players’ talents to play their roles. It was a matter of a single Bells Hells episode to get me enthralled and consider myself a critter. When not working and playing BG3, I’d just watch Critical Role.

It did not take me long to catch up with the story of Bells Hells and then start watching them weekly. Not satisfied with having to wait, I retroactively started the second campaign, The Mighty Nein, and several other spin-offs, like Candela Obscura and the most recent Menagerie stories. While becoming a critter is a topic of its own, the fact is that hundreds of hours of Critical Role actually made me a better Baldur’s Gate 3 player. This is because I was simply unaware of DnD’s 5e rules, the pillar that has sustained most of CR’s campaigns.

Critical Role Taught Me DnD 5e Rules That Helped Me In Baldur’s Gate 3

The Award-Winning RPG’s Mechanics Aren’t Always Made Clear

After hundreds of hours of the TTRPG show on YouTube, several of the mechanics from BG3 started making a lot more sense. There were aspects of the video game that I had misunderstood or not completely grasped, and those were now clear as day. Having witnessed the group of actors use 5e rules on a near-daily basis had me quickly understand how the minutiae of the game worked. A great example of my early faulted understanding of the game’s mechanics was near the beginning of the story, right on the outskirts of the Githyanki Crèche in Baldur’s Gate 3.

For reference, I had not played a single TTRPG since middle school, which is why I was so outdated.

Before heading down into the Giths’ lair, you can find a nest of eagles on the rooftop. By talking to them, I understood that they were simply trying to survive, but when I approached them, I initiated combat. Not wanting to kill them, I was desperately trying to Disengage with Astarion so that the battle would end and I could leave. Of course, this did not work. By watching Nott use Disengage on Critical Role, I understood what that same action meant in Baldur’s Gate 3 – I would simply be able to move without provoking an attack of opportunity.

Another embarrassing yet funny example of how the TTRPG show taught me to be a better player was by setting the distinction between Action and Bonus Action. I running the campaign and, at moments, asking why I could not use specific moves or attacks as actions or bonus actions, accordingly, and getting somewhat frustrated since I believed Bonus Action was simply a second set of actions I could take after my initial attack in Baldur’s Gate 3, without restrictions. I also learned by watching Critical Role’s Ashton and Yasha, why Karlach’s Rage would suddenly drop in a fight.

Rage, of course, is a Bonus Action used in combat that vanishes if the Barbarian is not trying to attack or is hit throughout their turn. As such, activating Rage for Karlach while she was far away and spending her entire turn trying to reach enemies without actually engaging in combat would result in Rage being dropped, something I did not understand. Because of Critical Role’s campaigns, I also started to better comprehend AC and why Shadowheart’s attacks would never land. The list of the small details in BG3 that I learned or perfected because of Critical Role is large.

Over hundreds of hours, I also learned that Critical Role is not the best source for DnD-heavy gameplay mechanics. The group of actors takes of lot of liberties when it comes to gameplay, mainly for the sake of narrative. This is not a problem, per si, since they get a chance to make their stories denser and more appealing, but I’ve learned that some straight-laced players dislike it. Regardless, the DnD 5e rules I learned from Critical Role put me on the right path to learning and becoming a better Baldur’s Gate 3 player.

This is also somewhat the game’s own fault. BG3 is a mechanic-heavy game because DnD’s 5e is also mechanic-heavy. The problem is that the game does not explain a lot of its gameplay mechanics and somewhat expects all of its players to already know 5e rules or to learn them on the go. It is intuitive enough for you to finish the entire campaign without fully understanding 5e rules – I got to Act 3 before starting to watch Critical Role – but a more active tutorial for Baldur’s Gate 3 players unaccustomed to 5e rules would be very helpful.

Even with this issue, BG3 is still well-tailored enough for players to go through the majority of its campaign and experience its great storytelling capabilities. Having both played Larian’s RPG and watched hundreds of hours of Critical Role, I became fascinated with TTRPGs and dice. The two very distinct entertainment products triggered my curiosity and set me looking toward more systems, trying to fix up groups of friends for one-shots, and, of course, heavily awaiting the sequel to Baldur’s Gate 3, if there ever is one.

Source: YouTube/Critical Role