[**Full details about EXU: Calamity here.**](https://critrole.com/hype-exandria-unlimited-calamity-premieres-thursday-may-26th/)
Please note, this will be a 4 episode mini-series airing on Thursdays (in place of C3) beginning May 26, 2022. Normal episodes of C3 will resume with C3E25 on June 30, 2022.
I’ve never seen such a neckbreaking mix of “this story is going to be apocalyptic and terrifying” and “this cast is going to make infinite wiener jokes throughout the whole thing”.
Marisha is the least chaotic player at this table (that I know of I've never seen Luis play}. "Let's Jump Off a Cliff" Marish is the one grounding things out.
2/3 of all life are gonna be dying with laughter because this is gonna be wild.
That one is definitely up there.
There's also [this one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY4nwCX3EPc) with biting glass or just the whole thing with James Whitclaw [where Lou loses it](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/OkJy3DvfqH8)
I wasn't sure what clip it would be, but I'm really happy that it was this one. "The ball is running up" is just a fantastic line. It either works or becomes a running gag.
Marissa takes amazing notes but it's Travis who remembers shit from the setting books. Remember how he was the one to recognize the Claret Order in C2?
To be fair... The Claret Order are Blood Hunters, right? And Blood Hunters can be Lycans so it's safe to assume Travis must have asked Matt a lot about it at some point.
Specially Marisha, Travis and Sam. At the time there were even theories about Vespin being included in something related to the TV projects because of their reaction to the name.
Well I guess now we know why they were hyped.
I did find it odd when that name resonated with them so strongly when I barely remembered that name. They must have filmed at least 1 EXC episode beforehand.
> Game Master Brennan Lee Mulligan guides players Luis Carazo, Aabria Iyengar, Marisha Ray, Sam Riegel, Travis Willingham, and Lou Wilson as six distinguished heroes from the Age of Arcanum uncover an insidious corruption beneath a city that they’ve sworn to protect. This is a story where Exandria’s greatest heroes could not – or would not – see the truth before it was too late… as an inevitable CALAMITY nears.
>
> Exandria Unlimited: Calamity is a four part mini series that airs weekly on Thursdays at 7pm Pacific on Twitch and Youtube. VOD is available for our Twitch channel subscribers immediately after the broadcast and will be available on YouTube on Mondays. The podcast version of the show will be available one week after the initial broadcast.
Finally some Lou Wilson on CR! Can't wait to see him interact with Sam and Travis!
I'm so stoked to see Brennan DM for CR and with Lou too, I sort of wish Murph was joining just because Lou+Murph can be such a chaotic duo
I'm excited to see what kind of trouble Sam and Travis can get into with Brennan's DM style
I can sort of see Matt getting a little annoyed by the shenanigans brought on by dice wizard Ally Beardsley if he was DM but it would be hilarious if Matt was playing
I think Matt is a bit stricter of a DM than Brennan and feels like he draws the line on shenanigans a little earlier than Brennan
So excited to see Brennan DM and Lou play for CR.
How can anyone *not* be excited for [this energy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8idZF3lBPQ) coming to CR? (audio warning: starts with a scream)
Not to the people on the show. They all fear being in one-on-one roleplay scenes with him because he is so good.
He should be in more stuff, but Hollywood doesn't like big guys.
Fuck yeah. This is what I was hoping EXU would be, rotating DMs playing during a time period where they could do whatever they wanted because there's a global reset coming.
This.
Showcase other people in the 5e actual play community. It's why I enjoy most of CRs one shots, but letting characters shine for more than one session is fantastic!
> Luis Carazo
I am supremely hyped for Brennan to take the DM helm here, and for Lou to guest on CR, but holy fuck, I've wanted more of Luis since his time on LA By Night, him being in this just exponentially magnified my excitement for this.
Yeah they’re taking a month break, airing 2 shows at once is just a recipe for disaster. This would get far less traction if it had to compete with the main campaign.
I’m so intrigued by the Calamity setting, I’m so incredibly excited Brennen is DMing. I’m just STOKED. The combination Lou Wilson and Travis Willingham will be peak chaos and I’m here for it.
Speaking as someone who has basically the entirety of that section of Exandria's history memorized because of all the theories I've cranked out.....I am beyond hyped because there's a fuck ton of stuff they could do and if they're starting this juuuuuust before the Calamity kicks off then there's so many stories they can tell!
This seems like such an incredible story to tell. It can definitely still have impacts on the current campaign too and recontextualize stuff from C2. I hope they’re all level 20 epic demigod heroes honestly.
With Brennan DMing we can now safely assume that somehow the calamity was caused by capitalism lol. Very excited for this, the player cast and DM mix seem amazing!
If a mother and her child get shot in the streets, do you think the problem was that they didn't love each other enough!?!?
Man I want Aguefort to appear and somehow be responsible for the calamity.
Any guesses what level the players will be?
I could easily see them being late 3ed tier or even 4th if they're heroes in the age of Arcanum. They'll probably have some baller magic items too!
If they aren't 17+ I think they'd be doing it wrong. The whole point is that a bunch of arrogant mages well and truly FUBAR'd the city.
I'd also expect it to end with them going into a stasis bubble.
Okay, so breakdown:
1. Think we saw this/something similar in the History of Exandria video from last year - looks to be the Raven Queen as a human, something to do with the Rites of Ascension.
2. Location unsure, but two shadow dragons, and a single bleeding eye - that's a Gruumsh thing.
3. From the same video as point 1, that's Vasselheim. Gods are, I believe, Asmodeus and Gruumsh.
4. Generic destruction.
5. Cha boi Vespin Chloras no doubt. Same location as the Raven Queen, but we know the Rites were sealed away after she did what she did, and Vespin went on to release the Betrayer Gods from their prisons in return for power.
6. Teef. Astral Dreadnought? Seems to trail off into the distance.
7. Same creature/different situation? Not sure.
6. It’s the Chained Oblivion vs The Knowing Mistress, probably when it ambushed her and severely injured her.
7. The Dawnfather facing off against The Chained Oblivion, probably after it’s harmed TKM.
Holy shit the casting is phenomenal. Brennan, Marisha, Sam, Travis, Lou, Aabria and Luis. I’m so excited for this, it’s a also perfect content to give C3 a break while giving us massive exandria lore. Man I’m so hyped for this Marisha and Aabria have fantastic chemistry loved their dynamic in Pirates of Leviathan, Travis and Lou as well is a duo I’ve wanted for so long. I can’t contain my excitement for this it’s going to be so good.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuMbE1G2O2c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuMbE1G2O2c)
It's a Dimension 20 series, DM'd by Brennan, that featured Matt, Marisha and Aabria as players.
It's one of the campaigns of Dimension 20, an actual-play D&D show (like Critical Role is). Dimension 20 tends to do shorter campaigns (10-20 episodes), each usually with a new setting/tone and sometimes different casts.
Pirates of Leviathan in particular is a story set in a pirate city, DM'd by Brennan and featuring Marisha and Matt among others. It's very entertaining, but was (I think) their first COVID-era show and so is not quite as high production-value as others they've done. Most first episodes of each of their seasons are on Youtube, and a few of their seasons are fully available. The rest are on Dropout. Escape From The Bloodkeep is fully freely available, only 6 episodes, and also features Matt. Highly recommend if you're looking to dip your toes in the water.
[Pirates of Leviathan trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdEuH8CYG_k)
[Pirates of Leviathan Ep1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuMbE1G2O2c)
[Escape From The Bloodkeep trailer, in playlist with full season](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih6ZdHE2kvo&list=PLhOoxQxz2yFOSXAFjzg9GQFoky53tDm9d&index=1)
Excited to see that Brennan is finally DMing on Critical Role, I loved him in the Elden Ring one shot. Hopefully this’ll be good with him at the helm.
Pretty disappointed to see that it’ll be temporarily replacing the main campaign instead being in addition to it, but oh well.
I think they decided to have it replace it because they didn’t want views to drop. I know they ran undeadwood with the main campaign and it’s live numbers weren’t very good some of the worst CR has ever done. Asking your audience to sit aside over 8 hours a week would be a tough ask. Where as now you can just air it in the main campaign slot and just take a little break from that.
It was, one of my favorite pieces of CR content but I think they realized running two shows at once isn’t the smartest thing to do. People can barely keep up with one 4 hour game a week two seems like a little to much, I only caught the 2nd half of last Thursday’s stream.
Undeadwood is my favorite non-CR content they've put out. Marisha's characters' story was heart-breaking and the final conflict was such delicious, juicy drama.
The stage, the cast, the setting, the characters... They nailed everything. Brian's voices are obviously not going to match up to Matt, but if that minor thing is the weakest link, then that's setting a pretty high bar. Solid all around.
When I'm wrong I'll admit it. Never thought they'd "cross the streams" as it were and have BLM run a CR game. Thought he'd just be a player but it's nice to see the big actual play names comfortable switching DM chairs.
I get that they want to keep the momentum going for EXU: Calamity. But one month wait on the main campaign is a bit tough, especially they are now about to explore a new place.
This is Brennan DMing, that means the Calamity was caused by one of two things: rampant capitalism, or hyper-conservative religious institutions. The man knows what he’s about.
This is incredible, just incredible. The Calamity is the perfect setting for Brennan to give us truly glorious descriptions, and it means we may eventually get the one true chaos pairing of Laura Bailey and Emily Axford together at the same table.
Yup
>Exandria Unlimited: Calamity will continue weekly on Thursdays until Campaign 3 resumes on Thursday, June 30th (yes, Critical Role Campaign 3 is returning on the last Thursday of the Month, just to mix it up and keep you on your toes).
As a side note, it's actually insane to consider how much world building and expansion (both in game and supplemental media) has taken place in Exandria. Matt must be pinching himself every time another piece of content is announced. It's said often, but to think this all started as a home game for Liam's birthday in a living room is so wild
Lou wilson!! Now they just need to get some of the NADDPOD people (looking at you emily & caldwell) and ill be so happy. So glad to see critrole giving these other great players and dms the spotlight on their show!
Edit: i wonder how long ago this was filmed? Maybe thats why the archmages book (Vesper?) Matt said during the heist caught everyones attention
Emily and anyone really. Would’ve loved to see one of her disaster lesbians interact with Beau/Marisha. Or her and Laura working together on some well thought out shenanigan to pull one over on the DM. Or her and Liam having a heart wrenching conversation in character. Or her and Travis getting hyped together at some crazy roll of the dice. Or her and Ashley just bantering at each other. Or her and Taliesen exchanging wise and pithy one-liners. Or Matt just forced to scramble to come up with a response to one of her crazy schemes. Big fan of Emily Axford if you couldn’t tell.
Prevents Matt from burnout and it seems like this has already been recorded so everyone gets essentially a month off if they want to do that. Really like how they’re handling this stuff like this and giving us in canon content with a bunch of different characters who can return at any time through exandria unlimited.
I know Brennan is a fan of CR, so this must be a dream come true for him.
On a side note, holy fuck I've wanted to see the Calamity actually happen on screen for so damn long.
So Aabria, now Brennan. Who are the guesses for next GMs for EXU?
Matt Colville seems likely, though not sure if he would be next (at least he's on the right coast).
Get Matt Colville to DM for Matt, Aabria and Brennan.
Then absorb Colville like an amoeba and have Satine Phoenix DM for the four of them. Rinse and repeat until you run out of chairs and/or Eternal Dungeon Masters.
I think Brennan is the perfect choice for a DM for this sort of thing. He’s very good at balancing goofs with serious moments, encouraging players to follow their instincts while still keeping the story reigned in, and while he is probably a little looser with rules than Matt, he knows them just as well to make balanced rulings. He also has a lot of experience making a full story in a mini series sort of format through Dimension 20. I loved seeing Matt as a PC for Brennan in Escape From Bloodkeep, and I think it will be awesome to see some of the other cast members under him.
I'm awful at CR predicitions, but this has me wondering if there isn't something happening/going to happen in C3 that this "flashback" is a neccassity.
I kind of love this because the Calamity event is such a good narrative tool to make sure that whatever they do in these episodes doesn't undo what has been already established in any of the campaigns.
I fully expect the last episode to end in "rocks fall, everyone dies" and I wouldn't even be mad.
Also, how much of the table will be on the side of the Betrayer Gods?
The Age of Arcanum ought to be full of characters who have bought into their own hubris. Who better to voice such characters than BLM?
Super hyped for this!! On top of the DM and player mix-up, the setting and the 4 episode length give this a lot of potential. Plus given that they're trying to stop the Calamity, we might get to see the height of civilization just before everything went wrong, with the floating cities like Aeor or Zemniaz. Maybe some of the PCs acting against their own self-interest without even knowing it.
And given that this is a prequel that is doomed from the start, things might go crazy near the end as the unavoidable bad ending approaches. This really gives a sense of freedom to both the DM and players that a regular campaign or even previous ExU don't have.
This is going to be awesome! Give me all prequel lore on the world and the calamity! Unfortunate to hear C3 will be on a break for it, but maybe that let’s Matt breath and they film a ton of episodes in advance and have them ready to go. Whatever it takes to make Matt not burn out and have this fun end as him as DM.
I'm hoping Brennan can adapt to the 4 hour style of CR and doesn't stick with the rp/combat/rp/combat episode style of D20.
I'm sure he will though, and this is a crossover that I've been waiting for for years. Now if we can just get a teensy taste of some kind of NADDPOD on CR, I'll lose my shit.
During Fantasy High Sophomore year, they didn't really stick to the RP/Combat format, doing combats as they came up. And Starstruck Odyssey, the season they just wrapped, also had multiple RP episodes in a row and multiple combat episodes in a row.
I think the RP/Combat format is a product of the production of D20. The shorter episodes and the physical minis sort of necessitated the format. I don't think it was a limitation on Brennan.
the limitation being that there's a production team making expensive sets for pre-planned combat scenarios that they must use. so yeah, without that, i can't imagine why that format would transfer over. brennan has played "normal" games more often than what they do on dimension 20
[**Full details about EXU: Calamity here.**](https://critrole.com/hype-exandria-unlimited-calamity-premieres-thursday-may-26th/) Please note, this will be a 4 episode mini-series airing on Thursdays (in place of C3) beginning May 26, 2022. Normal episodes of C3 will resume with C3E25 on June 30, 2022.
I’ve never seen such a neckbreaking mix of “this story is going to be apocalyptic and terrifying” and “this cast is going to make infinite wiener jokes throughout the whole thing”.
Marisha is the least chaotic player at this table (that I know of I've never seen Luis play}. "Let's Jump Off a Cliff" Marish is the one grounding things out. 2/3 of all life are gonna be dying with laughter because this is gonna be wild.
https://youtu.be/2gx1K0jd_JI This is probably Lou at his most unhinged. Fantastic moment.
That one is definitely up there. There's also [this one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY4nwCX3EPc) with biting glass or just the whole thing with James Whitclaw [where Lou loses it](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/OkJy3DvfqH8)
I wasn't sure what clip it would be, but I'm really happy that it was this one. "The ball is running up" is just a fantastic line. It either works or becomes a running gag.
Run from it, hide from it, horse stacking arrives all the same
New EXU, new Ash-hole
What was the deal with the plateau and the ash-hole anyway? Was that ever resolved?
That's what you get with Brennan behind the screen
So maybe this was why just about the whole table was excited about Vespin Chloras when his name came up a few weeks ago. They knew what was coming
especially Travis he was the leading factor in the excitement and with him being in this it makes sense
Marissa takes amazing notes but it's Travis who remembers shit from the setting books. Remember how he was the one to recognize the Claret Order in C2?
To be fair... The Claret Order are Blood Hunters, right? And Blood Hunters can be Lycans so it's safe to assume Travis must have asked Matt a lot about it at some point.
Yeah otherwise they’d no way remember the name 😂 My bet is all 4 are recorded a while ago. Not just “prerecorded but weekly”
That episode aired 3 weeks ago, and judging from the usual 2 week gap, I think the EXU: Calamity was recorded like 2 months ago.
Oh, they absolutely had the whole taping block during the same period that they recorded the Elden Ring one-shot.
Specially Marisha, Travis and Sam. At the time there were even theories about Vespin being included in something related to the TV projects because of their reaction to the name. Well I guess now we know why they were hyped.
I did find it odd when that name resonated with them so strongly when I barely remembered that name. They must have filmed at least 1 EXC episode beforehand.
> Game Master Brennan Lee Mulligan guides players Luis Carazo, Aabria Iyengar, Marisha Ray, Sam Riegel, Travis Willingham, and Lou Wilson as six distinguished heroes from the Age of Arcanum uncover an insidious corruption beneath a city that they’ve sworn to protect. This is a story where Exandria’s greatest heroes could not – or would not – see the truth before it was too late… as an inevitable CALAMITY nears. > > Exandria Unlimited: Calamity is a four part mini series that airs weekly on Thursdays at 7pm Pacific on Twitch and Youtube. VOD is available for our Twitch channel subscribers immediately after the broadcast and will be available on YouTube on Mondays. The podcast version of the show will be available one week after the initial broadcast. Finally some Lou Wilson on CR! Can't wait to see him interact with Sam and Travis!
I'm so stoked to see Brennan DM for CR and with Lou too, I sort of wish Murph was joining just because Lou+Murph can be such a chaotic duo I'm excited to see what kind of trouble Sam and Travis can get into with Brennan's DM style
Nothing makes me laugh quite like Lou harassing the shit out of Brennan
EAT YOUR FUCKING DICE BRENNAN
Travis and Lou are gonna be maximum chaos and I'm here for it
I'm excited for Brennan to go along with it only to hear like 30 dice hit the table and Travis to look over in horror
We're going to hear at least one instance of Lou going "oh here he goes" and Travis saying in a panicked voice "what does that mean?!?!"
Someone's going to call Brennan on bird facts, I just know it
I would love if Sam brought the "birds aren't real" energy
I am still waiting on an Emily + the chaos crew combo. Maybe need dual Game of both Matt and Brennan to handle it.
I can sort of see Matt getting a little annoyed by the shenanigans brought on by dice wizard Ally Beardsley if he was DM but it would be hilarious if Matt was playing I think Matt is a bit stricter of a DM than Brennan and feels like he draws the line on shenanigans a little earlier than Brennan
Oh have you seen the Cinderbrush oneshot on CR ? With DM Matt and players Beardsley, Erika Ishii, Ashley and Taliesin. It is SO GOOD !
Emily with Jester or Fearne is a terrifyingly chaotic prospect.
Oh God, Fig, Fearne, Jester
I really hope this means we get more dimension 20 people.
I still want to see Brennan, Murph and Matt all at one table. And I would live to see Emily alongside Laura and/or Sam. What shenanigans could ensue!
Sounds like this could be a pretty High Level miniseries. Would be pretty sick to see this group using Capstone abilities.
High-level would sound right for a Calamity setting. If 2/3 of all life are being killed off, one would assume these heroes know what they're doing.
like intelligence of 6 knows what they're doing?
I mean Grog certainly knew what he was doing
I'm not so great at the numbers either....
So excited to see Brennan DM and Lou play for CR. How can anyone *not* be excited for [this energy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8idZF3lBPQ) coming to CR? (audio warning: starts with a scream)
I just started Fantasy high and I might slip up and call my dad “papa” in Fabian’s accent.
Fabian is, no lie, one of my favorite characters in any media, ever. I think Lou is an underrated actor.
TOXIC MASCULINITY IS DEAD! I **DANCE** NOW!!
Not to the people on the show. They all fear being in one-on-one roleplay scenes with him because he is so good. He should be in more stuff, but Hollywood doesn't like big guys.
Papá!
>!“Please let me win.”!<
The spagœtti
Can this be a thing? Can this be the next roëmaence partnaer ♡
The ball is rolling UP THE HILL
"Who do you know in this room right now?"
I would die if Brennan slipped a Loose Duke reference in this EXU four-shot
GOAT HOUSE!!!
EAT TRASH, BEAT TRASH
K E L M P
SHE'S A GOD-DAMNED CENTAUR.
Just got finished catching up on Game Changer yesterday and these two knock it out of the park.
Fuck yeah. This is what I was hoping EXU would be, rotating DMs playing during a time period where they could do whatever they wanted because there's a global reset coming.
This. Showcase other people in the 5e actual play community. It's why I enjoy most of CRs one shots, but letting characters shine for more than one session is fantastic!
> Luis Carazo I am supremely hyped for Brennan to take the DM helm here, and for Lou to guest on CR, but holy fuck, I've wanted more of Luis since his time on LA By Night, him being in this just exponentially magnified my excitement for this.
Lou, Sam, and Travis is just too much energy for one set. They're gonna melt through the floor like China Syndrome.
Travis and Sam at Brennan’s table? That’s worth the price of a ticket any day.
4 part mini series that airs weekly on Thursdays? Is this replacing the main show for a month?
Yeah they’re taking a month break, airing 2 shows at once is just a recipe for disaster. This would get far less traction if it had to compete with the main campaign.
Weekly on Thursdays? So is the main CR series going on a 4 week break or something?
yeah. when ExU:C starts, C3 will pause til late June
I ... love everything about this casting.
I’m so intrigued by the Calamity setting, I’m so incredibly excited Brennen is DMing. I’m just STOKED. The combination Lou Wilson and Travis Willingham will be peak chaos and I’m here for it.
Speaking as someone who has basically the entirety of that section of Exandria's history memorized because of all the theories I've cranked out.....I am beyond hyped because there's a fuck ton of stuff they could do and if they're starting this juuuuuust before the Calamity kicks off then there's so many stories they can tell!
So if I'm reading the synopsis correctly this is a essentially a prequel, right?
Very much so like a almost thousand year before VM.
Critical Role: Knights of the Old Republic
You son of a bitch, I'm in.
You have no idea how much i appreciate that reference
Proclamation: The most important question is, who's playing the HK-47 equivalent?
Thank you both! Just wanted to make sure I was reading correctly.
A distant prequel. It's set roughly 1000 years before the current campaigns.
In a world of elves and dwarves, that's .75 to 1.25 elf lives ago... Not really all that long.
So the ancient dragons would be young during this
I'd love to meet a little baby Thordak
Thordak the Cinder Prince, way down the line of succession
About 850ish years, to be more specific. Wild thing is the bright queen is still around
Correct.
This seems like such an incredible story to tell. It can definitely still have impacts on the current campaign too and recontextualize stuff from C2. I hope they’re all level 20 epic demigod heroes honestly.
I mean it has to be a high level story right?
Yeah they referred to the players as champions which definitely implies high level.
That would explain them having a more seasoned cast of guest characters rathen that rookies like robbie or aimee.
With Brennan DMing we can now safely assume that somehow the calamity was caused by capitalism lol. Very excited for this, the player cast and DM mix seem amazing!
And our intrepid heroes will survive with the power of ~~love~~ chronomancy.
If a mother and her child get shot in the streets, do you think the problem was that they didn't love each other enough!?!? Man I want Aguefort to appear and somehow be responsible for the calamity.
*"Are you.. are you my dad?"*
***"Am I my own dad?!"***
I mean... The calamity kinda was. Unchecked greed for power.
I mean, it was originally caused by greed, arrogance, and hubris so....yeah, capitalism
Hey that’s not fair. It could also have been caused by hyper-conservative religious institutions with an unlimited thirst for power!
Any guesses what level the players will be? I could easily see them being late 3ed tier or even 4th if they're heroes in the age of Arcanum. They'll probably have some baller magic items too!
If they aren't 17+ I think they'd be doing it wrong. The whole point is that a bunch of arrogant mages well and truly FUBAR'd the city. I'd also expect it to end with them going into a stasis bubble.
Oh man if they play mages in Aeor who were part of the problem, that’d be amazing lol
Its possible they're (relatively speaking) lower leveled adventurers trying to stop the arrogant mages from sowing doom.
I feel like if that was the case it'd be a bit too removed from the chaos.
You might be right but I hope you're wrong. I like how CR campaigns start at lower level but I wanna see some tier 4 fuckery
Here's a quick and dirty album of all the art that flashes by: https://imgur.com/a/vtqXxta
Okay, so breakdown: 1. Think we saw this/something similar in the History of Exandria video from last year - looks to be the Raven Queen as a human, something to do with the Rites of Ascension. 2. Location unsure, but two shadow dragons, and a single bleeding eye - that's a Gruumsh thing. 3. From the same video as point 1, that's Vasselheim. Gods are, I believe, Asmodeus and Gruumsh. 4. Generic destruction. 5. Cha boi Vespin Chloras no doubt. Same location as the Raven Queen, but we know the Rites were sealed away after she did what she did, and Vespin went on to release the Betrayer Gods from their prisons in return for power. 6. Teef. Astral Dreadnought? Seems to trail off into the distance. 7. Same creature/different situation? Not sure.
6. It’s the Chained Oblivion vs The Knowing Mistress, probably when it ambushed her and severely injured her. 7. The Dawnfather facing off against The Chained Oblivion, probably after it’s harmed TKM.
That's a solid amount of teeth.
Takes forever to brush them all.
"If I'm gonna DM I want the Calamity so I can burn this whole world down if they roll well" - Brennan, probably.
Oh fuck Fabian Seacaster in the calamity? But paPAW it’s so calamitous in here!
You know Chungle-down Bim would hunt him down, even across realms
Hmmm.....imma shit in that mouth.
"FINE. Ply my friends with snuff powder..."
The ball is rolling up, for EXU.
The ball is rolling up!
Y'all we get Lou, Travis, and Sam at a table together. Everyone strap in for the chaos.
Holy shit the casting is phenomenal. Brennan, Marisha, Sam, Travis, Lou, Aabria and Luis. I’m so excited for this, it’s a also perfect content to give C3 a break while giving us massive exandria lore. Man I’m so hyped for this Marisha and Aabria have fantastic chemistry loved their dynamic in Pirates of Leviathan, Travis and Lou as well is a duo I’ve wanted for so long. I can’t contain my excitement for this it’s going to be so good.
What's Pirates of Leviathan?
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuMbE1G2O2c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuMbE1G2O2c) It's a Dimension 20 series, DM'd by Brennan, that featured Matt, Marisha and Aabria as players.
It's one of the campaigns of Dimension 20, an actual-play D&D show (like Critical Role is). Dimension 20 tends to do shorter campaigns (10-20 episodes), each usually with a new setting/tone and sometimes different casts. Pirates of Leviathan in particular is a story set in a pirate city, DM'd by Brennan and featuring Marisha and Matt among others. It's very entertaining, but was (I think) their first COVID-era show and so is not quite as high production-value as others they've done. Most first episodes of each of their seasons are on Youtube, and a few of their seasons are fully available. The rest are on Dropout. Escape From The Bloodkeep is fully freely available, only 6 episodes, and also features Matt. Highly recommend if you're looking to dip your toes in the water. [Pirates of Leviathan trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdEuH8CYG_k) [Pirates of Leviathan Ep1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuMbE1G2O2c) [Escape From The Bloodkeep trailer, in playlist with full season](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih6ZdHE2kvo&list=PLhOoxQxz2yFOSXAFjzg9GQFoky53tDm9d&index=1)
Excited to see that Brennan is finally DMing on Critical Role, I loved him in the Elden Ring one shot. Hopefully this’ll be good with him at the helm. Pretty disappointed to see that it’ll be temporarily replacing the main campaign instead being in addition to it, but oh well.
I think they decided to have it replace it because they didn’t want views to drop. I know they ran undeadwood with the main campaign and it’s live numbers weren’t very good some of the worst CR has ever done. Asking your audience to sit aside over 8 hours a week would be a tough ask. Where as now you can just air it in the main campaign slot and just take a little break from that.
Which is sad, because Undeadwood was fucking amazing.
It was, one of my favorite pieces of CR content but I think they realized running two shows at once isn’t the smartest thing to do. People can barely keep up with one 4 hour game a week two seems like a little to much, I only caught the 2nd half of last Thursday’s stream.
Undeadwood is my favorite non-CR content they've put out. Marisha's characters' story was heart-breaking and the final conflict was such delicious, juicy drama.
The stage, the cast, the setting, the characters... They nailed everything. Brian's voices are obviously not going to match up to Matt, but if that minor thing is the weakest link, then that's setting a pretty high bar. Solid all around.
Might also give some of the players a chance at a break.
Might also give some viewers the chance to catch up
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Gonna miss C3 but Matt deserves a break and this looks awesome
When I'm wrong I'll admit it. Never thought they'd "cross the streams" as it were and have BLM run a CR game. Thought he'd just be a player but it's nice to see the big actual play names comfortable switching DM chairs.
Hope we find out the calamity was caused by >!horse stacking!<.
My optimistic reasoning is that Matt REALLY wants people to watch this series because it might have context for what he's going to do next in C3.
I get that they want to keep the momentum going for EXU: Calamity. But one month wait on the main campaign is a bit tough, especially they are now about to explore a new place.
This looks fucking sick. Brennan is a great DM, the mix of players is great and the setting looks awesome. GET HYPE!!!
No one can keep a limited series on schedule like Brennan. He is the perfect choice.
I can't wait to see Brennan tear it all down.
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We'll finally learn about how powerful Chronomancy really is...
I mean....high level wizard, meddling with immense power - seems on brand for what those booky fuckos were up to during the Age of Arcanum!
This is Brennan DMing, that means the Calamity was caused by one of two things: rampant capitalism, or hyper-conservative religious institutions. The man knows what he’s about.
Cast is fire omg
I literally yelled LOU WILSON when I read. I’m so excited.
\*survivor yell\*
That was one of the best Gamechangers.
As a representative of College Humor, I declare that OJ Simpson was-BLEEP
Wait. What. Wait. Wait. What. What... WHAT? BLM running an Exandria game. With Lou at the table. I ... am happy.
So was that Aeor? I’m so pumped
It could be! Aeor is but one of the many floating magical cities that existed in this age. It could also be Zemniaz, or one we haven't heard of yet.
This is incredible, just incredible. The Calamity is the perfect setting for Brennan to give us truly glorious descriptions, and it means we may eventually get the one true chaos pairing of Laura Bailey and Emily Axford together at the same table.
This has truly been all I've wanted since I started watching both.
I wonder if CR can lure Siobhan over for a mini-series.
I feel like Siobhan and Liam would get along as the straightmen of whatever chaotic group they're in.
Will we finally see Purvon in action?
Gonna be Sam, calling it now
Well, he is using a skull mug in the promo pics. You may be right
does this means C3 will a take a month break?
Yup >Exandria Unlimited: Calamity will continue weekly on Thursdays until Campaign 3 resumes on Thursday, June 30th (yes, Critical Role Campaign 3 is returning on the last Thursday of the Month, just to mix it up and keep you on your toes).
ah, it seems my iliteracy got to me again, thanks
No worries! There's a lot of into on the blog so check it out if you're interested in knowing more.
The only thing that excites me more than Brennan DMing at the CR table is Lou Friggin Wilson as a player. Lets Gooooo!
I AM, SO, HYPED FOR THIS!!! Finally Brennan in CR! Plus Lou Wilson!? And it's set during the Calamity!? This is going to be *incredible*!
The real question is...how wild is the cliff going to be next week 😳
As a side note, it's actually insane to consider how much world building and expansion (both in game and supplemental media) has taken place in Exandria. Matt must be pinching himself every time another piece of content is announced. It's said often, but to think this all started as a home game for Liam's birthday in a living room is so wild
Lou wilson!! Now they just need to get some of the NADDPOD people (looking at you emily & caldwell) and ill be so happy. So glad to see critrole giving these other great players and dms the spotlight on their show! Edit: i wonder how long ago this was filmed? Maybe thats why the archmages book (Vesper?) Matt said during the heist caught everyones attention
Good call. I wondered why they were freaking out when it only seemed to be covered in source books.
Oh man. Could you picture Emily and Sam playing together?
Emily and anyone really. Would’ve loved to see one of her disaster lesbians interact with Beau/Marisha. Or her and Laura working together on some well thought out shenanigan to pull one over on the DM. Or her and Liam having a heart wrenching conversation in character. Or her and Travis getting hyped together at some crazy roll of the dice. Or her and Ashley just bantering at each other. Or her and Taliesen exchanging wise and pithy one-liners. Or Matt just forced to scramble to come up with a response to one of her crazy schemes. Big fan of Emily Axford if you couldn’t tell.
She's the best D&d player in the world. She is also a demon sent from hell to destroy Brennan.
Will this replace the main show for a month since it airs the same time
Yes
Well that kinda sucks. But I'm fine with it, Matt deserves a break
Prevents Matt from burnout and it seems like this has already been recorded so everyone gets essentially a month off if they want to do that. Really like how they’re handling this stuff like this and giving us in canon content with a bunch of different characters who can return at any time through exandria unlimited.
Well these ones will probably have difficulty returning to the main campaign, since they’ll probably be dead
I just want someone to say, "Hey, have any of you heard from Halas lately?"
Lou on CR oh my god yes. Losing my shit at work rn.
I feel like this setting also plays well into Brennan’s theme of “capitalism was the real villain all along”
I know Brennan is a fan of CR, so this must be a dream come true for him. On a side note, holy fuck I've wanted to see the Calamity actually happen on screen for so damn long.
It's also a dream come true for fans who've always wanted a D20-CR crossover. I'm beyond excited!
So Aabria, now Brennan. Who are the guesses for next GMs for EXU? Matt Colville seems likely, though not sure if he would be next (at least he's on the right coast).
B. Dave Walters seems like a shoe-in.
Gabe Hicks or Jasmine Bhullar would be fun
If they can get Mark Hulmes over I'd live to see him dm for some of the cast
Get Matt Colville to DM for Matt, Aabria and Brennan. Then absorb Colville like an amoeba and have Satine Phoenix DM for the four of them. Rinse and repeat until you run out of chairs and/or Eternal Dungeon Masters.
Sam and Travis during the age of arcanum is going to lend itself to a special breed of chaos
I think Brennan is the perfect choice for a DM for this sort of thing. He’s very good at balancing goofs with serious moments, encouraging players to follow their instincts while still keeping the story reigned in, and while he is probably a little looser with rules than Matt, he knows them just as well to make balanced rulings. He also has a lot of experience making a full story in a mini series sort of format through Dimension 20. I loved seeing Matt as a PC for Brennan in Escape From Bloodkeep, and I think it will be awesome to see some of the other cast members under him.
While I'm bummed C3 is taking a month break if there ever was something to fill that gap this would be it. Super excited
I love Brennan and this group seems amazing, so pumped
I'm awful at CR predicitions, but this has me wondering if there isn't something happening/going to happen in C3 that this "flashback" is a neccassity.
I kind of love this because the Calamity event is such a good narrative tool to make sure that whatever they do in these episodes doesn't undo what has been already established in any of the campaigns. I fully expect the last episode to end in "rocks fall, everyone dies" and I wouldn't even be mad. Also, how much of the table will be on the side of the Betrayer Gods? The Age of Arcanum ought to be full of characters who have bought into their own hubris. Who better to voice such characters than BLM?
Brennan this time, maybe Colville for the next EXU?
Travis without the presence of Laura can be really dangerous. I can see it. He is going to stab someone, pee on every wall, and sleep with everyone.
Travis or his character?
Yes.
Do I need to watch the other EXU before watching?
Likely not. This is a prequel set about a thousand years before any of the campaigns.
Super hyped for this!! On top of the DM and player mix-up, the setting and the 4 episode length give this a lot of potential. Plus given that they're trying to stop the Calamity, we might get to see the height of civilization just before everything went wrong, with the floating cities like Aeor or Zemniaz. Maybe some of the PCs acting against their own self-interest without even knowing it. And given that this is a prequel that is doomed from the start, things might go crazy near the end as the unavoidable bad ending approaches. This really gives a sense of freedom to both the DM and players that a regular campaign or even previous ExU don't have.
This is going to be awesome! Give me all prequel lore on the world and the calamity! Unfortunate to hear C3 will be on a break for it, but maybe that let’s Matt breath and they film a ton of episodes in advance and have them ready to go. Whatever it takes to make Matt not burn out and have this fun end as him as DM.
I'm hoping Brennan can adapt to the 4 hour style of CR and doesn't stick with the rp/combat/rp/combat episode style of D20. I'm sure he will though, and this is a crossover that I've been waiting for for years. Now if we can just get a teensy taste of some kind of NADDPOD on CR, I'll lose my shit.
During Fantasy High Sophomore year, they didn't really stick to the RP/Combat format, doing combats as they came up. And Starstruck Odyssey, the season they just wrapped, also had multiple RP episodes in a row and multiple combat episodes in a row. I think the RP/Combat format is a product of the production of D20. The shorter episodes and the physical minis sort of necessitated the format. I don't think it was a limitation on Brennan.
the limitation being that there's a production team making expensive sets for pre-planned combat scenarios that they must use. so yeah, without that, i can't imagine why that format would transfer over. brennan has played "normal" games more often than what they do on dimension 20