History Characters / CriticalRole

* MontyHaul: A bit like Matt before her. When the party visits Gilmore's Glorious Goods, she has Gilmore give them the "friend discount", which reduces his shop's prices somewhat. More specifically to Aabria, she can be very forgiving with low rolls on skill checks, as she tends to operate on a "if the information is crucial to the campaign you will get it regardless but if you roll high you'll the info will be more revealing" ideology more than some [=DMs=].

* CatchPhrase: "Make a (stat/skill) (saving throw/check) for me", or "Give me a (stat/skill) (saving throw/check)" when she asks the player to do this.

* SceneryPorn: Aabria is very good at creating evocative descriptions of the people and places the party encounters.

* {{Corpsing}}: While he usually manages to keep a straight face and stay in character most of the time, there are a few exceptions:
** [[RunningGag The sudden appearance of Burt Reynolds]] ''always'' cracks him up.
** The best example is during Keeper Yennin's thank-you speech at the end of Episode 35. Matt loses and tries to regain his composure no less than three times.
** When Travis realizes that the Ring of Fire Resistance that Fjord bought for Jester is going to come in handy, Travis shouts "[[BigYes YES!]] Saved my bitch!" at the top of his lungs. This caused everyone at the table to break down laughing, Matt included.
** Whenever Sam unveils one of his shirts, usually depicting Matt's own visage, but he found amusement in the shirts depicting the rest of the cast.
** With Campaign 3's odd energy from being back in close contact, Sam's new flask gimmick does it several times as well as his Pussy puns. Marisha's reactions also start him off and keep him going.

* [[Characters/CriticalRoleExandriaUnlimitedVillains Exandria Unlimited Villains]]

** Lots of things are "technically" something, [[YouKeepUsingThatWord even when there's nothing 'technically' about the thing he's talking about]].

* CombatCommentator: Matt is especially fond of doing this to describe each hit. UpToEleven during his [[FinishHim "How do you want to do this"]] moments.

** With Campaign 3's odd energy from being back in close contact, Sam's new flask gimmick does it several times as well as his Pussy puns. Matt's wife's reactions also start him off and keep him going.

----

* [[Characters/CriticalRoleExandriaUnlimitedCalamity Exandria Unlimited: Calamity]]

* TheGMIsACheatingBastard: Averted. Mercer plays entirely fairly, and in fact has been known to sometimes roll his dice in full view of the players. More and more, he's taken to calling out his own rolls; he even sometimes takes pictures of his dice with his smartphone's camera just to make sure the rolls can't be disputed. At the end of Campaign 2, [[spoiler:he rolled on the table twice for Mollymauk's resurrection rolls so his players could see that he wasn't fudging anything. The first roll was a 1; the second one was a 12. The camera even cut to the die rolling across the table both times, all to prove Matt wasn't making anything up or fudging the rolls]]. In the FinalBattle against Vecna, Matt rolled very badly on Vecna's attempt to resist the party's trying to imprison him. He made a point of taking a picture of his die roll during the stream to show he wasn't just giving the party the victory.

* MontyHaul: A bit like Matt before her. When the party visits Gilmore's Glorious Goods, she has Gilmore give them the "friend discount", which reduces his shop's prices somewhat. More specifically to Aabria, she can be very forgiving with low rolls on skill checks, as she tends to operate on a "if the information is crucial to the campaign you will get it regardless but if you roll high you'll the info will be more revealing" ideology than some [=DMs=].

--->'''Matt:''' God I fucking love this game so much.

* SubvertedCatchPhrase: Matt's had to ask ''himself'' "How do '''I''' want to do this?" when an NPC he was controlling got the final kill instead of one of the players. He was more than a little embarrassed, especially when the players razzed him into saying it.

** [[Characters/CriticalRolePikeTrickfoot Pike]]

** [[Characters/CriticalRoleTaryonDarrington Taryon]]
** [[Characters/CriticalRoleTiberiusStormwind Tiberius]]
** [[Characters/CriticalRoleVaxildan Vax'ildan]]
** [[Characters/CriticalRoleVexahlia Vex'ahlia]]

* [[Characters/CriticalRoleWildemountCampaign The Mighty Nein]]
** [[Characters/CriticalRoleBeauregardLionett Beau]]
** [[Characters/CriticalRoleCaduceusClay Caduceus]]

** [[Characters/CriticalRoleFjord Fjord]]
** [[Characters/CriticalRoleJesterLavorre Jester]]
** [[Characters/CriticalRoleMollymaukTealeaf Molly]] (beware of spoilers)
** [[Characters/CriticalRoleNottTheBrave Nott]] (beware of spoilers)
** [[Characters/CriticalRoleYashaNydoorin Yasha]]

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dm_avatar.jpg]]

* ApologeticAttacker: Matt really doesn't ''want'' to kill the players, and is just as pained as they are when a combat situation turns against the party. [[MeanCharacterNiceActor But it's his job to play out what the enemies would do in their situation.]] This is mostly clearly seen in Campaign 1 Episode 68.
-->'''Marisha:''' Why would you do that to us?\\
'''Matt:''' It's what [Ripley] would have done.

** Any beast with sharp teeth has a "toothy maw."

** When an attack hits an enemy, it “finds purchase.”

** One word: "Siggle."[[labelnote:Explanation]]This is a case of NeverLiveItDown, as Matt used to pronounce the word "Sigil" as this before the internet got on his case about it.[[/labelnote]]

* {{Catchphrase}}:

** A member of the party asks if they can attempt something especially outlandish? "You can certainly try." In many ways, this phrase is Matt's credo as a DM.

** A darker example is “it’s what X would have done” whenever he has to be harsher on the players than he wants to because the characters they’re fighting are evil.
** "I'll give you a visual perspective", when he brings up the map for an encounter.

* ChronicallyKilledActor: On the rare occasion he gets to step out of the DM's seat and become a player for oneshots and the like, things tend not to end well for his characters. This includes [[spoiler: himself in "Liam's Quest: Full Circle", himself again in "Thursday By Night" and Clayton "The Coffin" Sharpe in "[=UnDeadwood=]".]]

* DidNotThinkThisThrough: It's rare, but it does happen. Most notably, when he gives The Mighty Nein magic paint that can be used to make objects by painting them, and Nott ''immediately'' suggests painting dicks on everything.

* MagicHair: Played for laughs, when it was speculated in a Q&A after Episode 4 that Matt couldn't DM without his hair. On the rare occasions Matt’s hair has been cut fairly short, it often doesn’t turn out well for the players. Episode 68 of campaign 1 saw a stressed and overwhelmed Travis tell Matt never to cut his hair again.

* NeverLiveItDown: Matt frequently mispronounced the word "sigil" as "siggle" during the early episodes of Campaign One, and it has stuck with him ever since. Mostly because of Sam reminding him from time to time.

** When [[spoiler: he basically goads Grog into headbutting a captive Fomorian]].

** After revealing [[spoiler: that the Nein’s ally Viridian is actually Keyleth’s mother Vilya]], Matt simply smirks and says that he’s been waiting to drop that particular bombshell for ''five years'' since the beginning of Campaign 1.
* NotSoStoic:
** He's a master of staying poker-faced while the players argue over the best course of action, or as they walk blithely into his traps. But his DM's mask has been known to slip when the [=PCs=] are in mortal danger (though it doesn't stop him endangering them, naturally) or even when his own campaign is on the verge of coming to a screeching halt due to horrible cases of oversight. Notably, when one episode ended with [[spoiler: Percy dead on the ground and Pike absent]], his end-of-episode expression was not his usual jovial one, seeing as five of his six players were either crying or close to.

** Sports a clear [[OhCrap facial expression]] when Scanlan busts out a sixth-level Thunderwave [[spoiler: from inside Umbrasyl's stomach.]]
** When Keyleth, the party's only way out of the Nine Hells, [[spoiler:is brought extremely close to death in Episode 93 and she has to roll one death saving throw (with a 45% chance of failure)]], the look on Matt's face says it all. He mentions after she makes the save that if she had died, in his own words, "that would've been [[TotalPartyKill Campaign Over]]."

---> '''Matt:''' ''[barely holding his laughter]'' This was not in my plan!
** A way less funny one. During Episode 8 of Campaign 2, Marisha turns awkwardly and injures her rib. When she comes back to the table in genuine pain, Matt instantly drops his DM persona and asks if she's alright. Since this happened right before the break, he says, "I'm going to take care of my wife."
** At the end of episode 113 of campaign 1, after an emotionally grueling scene featuring a cruel TheReveal and demonstration of just how far the BigBad will go, Matt is smiling and giggling as he tells the players (and audience) that he hoped they had a great time. On the heels of said players calling him a monster.
** In the penultimate episode of Campaign 2, [[spoiler: Taliesin successfully rolled for Divine Intervention after Mollymauk's failed resurrection roll. The re-roll it bought him succeeded. Matt tried valiantly to hold onto his DM persona before breaking into a laugh and muttering incredulously under his breath.]]

--> '''Matt:''' As a dungeon master, that was one of the more frustrating moments - like, as a person that's built to an intense encounter like this - and one of the most proud I've been of a player outsmarting me.
* TheStoryteller: A bit on the nose, but one of the main responsibilities of a Dungeon Master is telling an immersive story.
* SubvertedCatchPhrase: Matt's had to ask ''himself'' "How do '''I''' want to do this?" when an NPC he was controlling got the final kill instead of one of the players. He was more than a little embarrassed, especially when the players razzed him into saying it.

** He was momentarily shocked when Keyleth's attempt to [[spoiler: feeblemind Raishan]] succeeded.
** When he rolled for Vecna's saving throw against the party's attempt to imprison him, he stood there in surprise for a moment, and then took a picture of his dice roll to prove he wasn't fudging anything when he described Vecna's final defeat.

* CatchPhrase: "Make a (stat/skill) (saving throw/check) for me," or "Give me a (stat/skill) (saving throw/check)" when she asks the player to do this.
* DistaffCounterpart: She is this for Matt, acting as DM while he moves to the other side of the table.
* MontyHaul: A bit like Matt before her. When the party visits Gilmore's Glorious Goods, she has Gilmore give them the "friend discount", which reduces his shop's prices somewhat. More specifically to Aabria, she can be very forgiving with low rolls on skill checks, as she tends to operate on a "if the information is crucial to the campaign you will get it regardless but if you roll high you'll the info will be more revealing" ideology than some [=DMs=].
* SceneryPorn: Aabria is very good at creating evocative descriptions of the people and places the party encounters.
* TheStoryteller: Aabria is the one crafting the story the players and audience are following.
* SureLetsGoWithThat: She's had to do this when bad dice rolls make things go pear-shaped.
* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: Much like Matt, she has these moments when bad rolls come up. One of the most notable examples is in episode 4 when the players roll hilariously badly when trying to control Gilmore's wagon.

* TheGMIsACheatingBastard: Averted. Mercer plays entirely fairly, and in fact has been known to sometimes roll his dice in full view of the players. More and more, he's taken to calling out his own rolls; he even sometimes takes pictures of his dice with his smartphone's camera just to make sure the rolls can't be disputed. At the end of Campaign 2, [[spoiler:he rolled on the table twice for Mollymauk's resurrection rolls so his players could see that he wasn't fudging anything. The first roll was a 1; the second one was a 12. The camera even cut to the die rolling across the table both times, all to prove Matt wasn't making anything up or fudging the rolls]].

* MontyHaul: A bit like Matt before her. More specifically to Aabria, she can be very forgiving with low rolls on skill checks, as she tends to operate on a "if the information is crucial to the campaign you will get it regardless but if you roll high you'll the info will be more revealing" ideology than some [=DMs=].
* BorrowedCatchphrase: Had been wondering who would earn her first "How do you want to do this?" moment and gave it to Matt as Dariax in the first episode

* [[Characters/CriticalRoleMarquetCampaign The Bell's Hells]]

* [[Characters/CriticalRoleMarquetCampaign The Player Characters]]

* MontyHaul: A bit like Matt before her Aabria can be very forgiving with low rolls on skill checks, she tends to operate on a "if the information is crucial to the campaign you will get it regardless but if you roll high you'll the info will be more revealing" ideology than some [=DMs=].