Taking 20 Podcast - Ep 51 - The Matt Mercer Effect and Setting Expectations

Episode Date: December 13, 2020

I wanted to address an aspect of Critical Role's success that's mentioned too often called the Matt Mercer effect.  Its most common manifestation is that every Tabletop RPG should be just like Critical Role and every DM should be just like Matthew Mercer.  In this episode, Jeremy breaks down why that's simply unfair to him and to your DM.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for tuning in to episode 51 of the Taking 20 podcast, the Matt Mercer effect and setting expectations for your table. This week's sponsor is yogurt, made of active cultures, which means it's alive. Yep, while you're eating it, it's trying to eat you. Dungeons & Dragons has experienced a resurgence in recent years. More and more people are being exposed to this wonderful hobby thanks to podcasts and recorded live-play games like Glass Cannon, Dice Camera Action, and of course, Critical Role. Critical Role is a live-play podcast put out every Thursday and DM'd by Matthew Mercer.

It is a major catalyst for driving the popularity of tabletop role-playing games. Now, the cast of the show will downplay this. They'll say they're just geeky friends who enjoy playing role-playing games and just happen to do so in front of a camera. I'm here to tell you that they are being way too coy about the range of their influence. These extremely talented men and women have positively impacted the game in ways that will be felt for years, maybe decades. They are amazing voice actors, roleplay their characters extremely well, understand and execute story arcs extremely efficiently, and their love and respect for one another shines on the screen. Plus they're

philanthropic, they support great causes and non-profit companies, and by all accounts I've heard, as we say in the South, they just good people. Just because I'm singling out and praising Mercer in this episode, don't think for a second that by doing so I'm diminishing the contributions of the others. Sam Regal, Laura Bailey, Travis Willingham, and all of the others are some of the best players I've ever seen, and the quality of their play certainly sets Critical Role up for success. But I do want to focus on the dungeon master, Matthew Mercer. Matt is a terrific voice actor in his own right, a multi-published author, and in my opinion, the best DM of our generation. Now in the unlikely event Mr. Mercer were ever to hear me say that, he'd probably blush and smile while looking down at the table, denying what I said is true, quickly mentioning the names of other great DMs, and being uncomfortable with the praise.

But the simple fact of the matter is, his ability to craft stories, come up with memorable characters off the cuff, and world build is quite simply second to none. world build is quite simply second to none. Thousands, maybe tens of thousands of people who have never played a session of Dungeons and Dragons around a table with friends, colleagues, and strangers have watched Critical Role streams and Mercer's amazing character and adventure building. And the potential negative side effect of this is sometimes called either the Mercer effect or the Matt Mercer effect. The Matt Mercer Effect comes in two flavors. The most common way I've seen it described is the unrealistic expectations potentially held by new tabletop role-playing game players who believe any game they join will be similar to Critical Role.

The second aspect is the fear that newer dungeon masters have that they will never be able to run a game as effectively and successfully as Matt Mercer, so they may not even try. Let me go on record to say that neither of these are Matt Mercer's fault, and it's not fair to him. How dare you, Matt Mercer, for being so good as a DM. You should suck more. Look, he happens to run the most popular tabletop live play podcast and YouTube and Twitch stream, and he happens to be so damn good at it. Mercer has been consistent in his statement that every table is different. He admits that he DMs a table full of professional actors.

Most players in Dungeon Masters don't have the skills to immerse themselves in a character as well as he and his players can. He will also be the first to tell you that he has been DMing for more than 20 years, and most DMs just don't have that much experience. So let's assume the Matthew Mercer effect is a real thing, because I've seen it quoted multiple times online. How do you as a DM and you as a player deal with these two aspects? Well, I have some ideas. Okay, yeah, I would have some ideas or I wouldn't make an episode. I mean, that'd be a garbage episode to record. What should you do? Beat the shit out of me. Thanks for listening. Mash that like and subscribe button. That being said, I'd love for

you to rate the podcast and provide feedback, questions, and episode suggestions to feedback at taking20podcast.com. Back to live action. Let's address player expectations that every tabletop RPG game will be just like Critical Role. If you're an experienced player or GM, you know that each game is different. DMs have different skills, focus on different aspects of the game, and run their games in different ways. There's a lot of different ways we can break up DM styles, and I'm going to paint with a very broad brush here. Chances are you're a mix of storyteller, tactician, character actor, encounter builder, improviser, rule lawyer, or one of a hundred other types. I plan on having a DM styles episode at some point in the future, so be on the lookout for that.

So I'm going to leave that there. There are different styles of DM and be done with that. Mercer is a master world builder, storyteller, and character actor. That's his style, and he's great at it. Other DMs are different. I'm more of an improviser, tactician, rule of cool kind of DM. That means our games, even if we were running the exact same module, would look different. Some other DM may be a macro-building, encounter-focused DM. Re-emphasizing the point, every DM is different and will run games different ways. Frankly, it's unfair for

players to expect you to be Matthew Mercer. You're not. I'm not. Hell, Mercer would have every right to stand up on the table in the middle of the stream, rip his shirt off, quote Rocket Raccoon by saying, ain't no thing like me except me, kiss his wife Marisha, and swing off the set on a vine that comes from nowhere. But he doesn't do that. By all accounts, he's humble as shit, a good person at heart, and an exemplary advocate for our hobby. So players, don't expect every game that you play or join to be just like Critical

Role. Now I want to address the second aspect of the Matthew Mercer effect, the fear DMs have. Don't think for a second that just because you're not as experienced and just because you don't have the acting chops that Mercer has that you can't run a great game. You have your strengths and weaknesses just like Mercer does. They will be different than his, different than mine, and different than any of the other DMs that are out there. Being a DM or GM is a labor of love in a lot of ways. It's a lot of work to bring adventures or worlds alive.

Preparing to run a pre-designed adventure, designing adventures to run, and or honing improvisation skills to make entire adventures out of the phrase troglodyte reformation. You really need to love being a DM because we rarely receive praise from our players. That's not a woe is me statement by the way. It's just if you're getting into being a DM for the effusive praise that you'll receive, you may want to reconsider your motives. So how do you deal with this Matt Mercer effect, whether explicitly stated or implicitly assumed? The number one solution to this is something you've heard me harp on before, good communication. Set expectation with your players, especially new players early on, that your table isn't like Critical Role. You probably don't have the production value,

cameras, sound equipment, etc. Your campaign isn't the critical role campaign and it may not even take place in Exandria. Critical role is role play heavy. Role is in the name. They focus on characters and world interaction much more than die rolls and crunchy mechanics. We don't want every table run by every DM everywhere to be a clone stamp of Critical Role. What makes your game and your DM's game so good is that it's uniquely yours. Each table is vastly different from one another, and that's what makes this game great. You and I could have been DMing for the exact same length of time, put similar groups together to run the exact same adventure, and our games and our tables are going to come out so differently from each other.

Your game might wind up being a swashbuckling epic action movie where the players storm the Rat King of Chicago's headquarters, ending the adventure by blowing it up while walking towards the camera, not looking at the explosion. You know, badass. Mine might be closer to a Will Ferrell movie where the players kill a mariachi band, oppose musicians to strategically assassinate the Rat King, and get out of town riding a light rail under the cover of night. Variety is the spice of life. Different games make the hobby better.

If you're in a game, or if you're running a game and everyone at the table has a good time then it's just as successful as Critical Role even if it looks and sounds nothing like it even if you were flying by the seat of your pants part of the time. Second thing you can do to combat the Matt Mercer effect set the expectation that you handle NPCs differently than Mercer. You probably don't have the voice acting range to give each one a unique voice. You may not get into any kind of unique characters for random NPCs like shopkeepers or Tina the diehard llama farmer. You may not even roleplay exchanges with merchants at all and just hand wave the negotiation process. Again, that's okay.

If your players aren't interested in that much roleplay, then skip it. That doesn't make your game substandard. It makes your game yours. Third thing you can do. Sit down with your players even before session zero to find out what kind of game they want to play in. If they want a critical role-like game and you feel like you can provide that roleplay-heavy experience, then do your best and make the game yours. I guarantee you if Matthew Mercer sat down to play a game session with you as the DM, he'd tell you you did a great job. If you're not sure if you can run a game like Critical Role that's role-play-heavy, then have a frank discussion with the player. Explain to them your DM style and what your vision is for the campaign. Discuss how it

would be different than their expectations. Which, as an aside, what if you don't know what your DM style is and don't know what kind of game you'd like to play in? Well, now's the time to consider it. Like role-playing versus role-playing. See episode 27 for more on this. Do you like games that focus more on the story or battle strategy? Do you like sweeping epics or focusing on the characters and the small stories? Do you like knowing and enforcing the rules as written or are you more about the rule of cool? Do you like descriptive and serious painting pictures with your words or do you like things comedic and light? Your homework for this week is to fill in this blank.

The type of tabletop RPG I'd prefer to be in or run would look like blank. Figure out what you would put in that blank. For me, I love RPGs that have character growth, defined plot arcs, comedy, and not letting the rules get in the way of fun. Think about what that would be like for you. Would that be a game that you would enjoy? If so, fantastic. But if not, what would you change? Each table is different.

Each group is different. So figure out what you would enjoy as far as an RPG experience. Anyway, I've strayed off topic. For maximum success, DMs and players should want the same type of game. Matthew Mercer is an amazing DM for a Matthew Mercer type game like Critical Role. Matthew Colville is an amazing DM for his game The Chain. Troy LaVallee is an amazing DM for the Glass Cannon podcast. If you mix their players around, the games probably wouldn't be as good. Don't get me wrong, everyone still would be just as talented, but in all three of the above

cases, the players and the DM have committed to a certain style of game, and it makes for amazing stories. But the games are very, very different from one another. That doesn't make any one or the other one better, they are just different. And to finish that thought, by the way, throughout this episode I've been focusing on the Matt Mercer effect and making a lot of positive statements about him. But these same statements could apply to any of the great DMs that are out there. I mean, I can heap praise on Debra Ann Waller, Matt Colville, Satine Phoenix, Adam Colville, too many others to list. But this is about the Matt Mercer effect due to the popularity of Critical Role. Now, suppose you're down on yourself because you

don't think you're as good of a DM as any of these great DMs that I listed. Chances are you have other hobbies. Say you like archery. Do you watch archery competitions online or the Olympics and say, well fuck, I'll never be that good, so why even try? I mean, do you expect everyone that you go to shoot arrows with to be as talented as an Olympian? Of course not. Simply because you viewed Matthew Mercer as a better DM than you doesn't mean that you shouldn't be a DM. Don't get wrapped around the axle that you're not Matthew Mercer or Satine Phoenix. Who gives a crap? Pick your story, get your players together, set up a DM screen, battle map, digital tabletop, get your snacks, and collaboratively tell your story. If there's something you like that they do and you'd like to incorporate into your game, use it.

As I have said in other episodes, borrow, borrow, borrow, steal, steal, steal great ideas. After my first episode of Critical Role I ever watched, I started saying, how do you want to do this for killing blows around my table? Do I feel cheap for doing it since I borrowed it from Matthew Mercer? No. It's a great and succinct way to get players involved in storytelling. When I watched Relics and Rarities, it made me reassess how I use traps and puzzles in my games. I use some of Debra Ann Wall's triggers and puzzle ideas. Am I doing my players a disservice by borrowing from her? Absolutely not.

Iron sharpens iron. We learn and improve from each other. DMs, if anything, don't be discouraged by watching DMs you think that are better. Learn from them. Use their techniques and make them your own. Players, find a game that fits with the type of game you'd like to play, and play it. Commit to it. Even if you have no character voice, or it sounds like Beyonce gargling a glass full of river rock.

Maybe the DM doesn't even roleplay NPCs like Mercer does, and there's a lot more combat than you see on Critical Role. If there's an aspect of the game that you'd like to see more or less prominent at your gaming table, have a conversation with your DM about it, but recognize that this may not be her style. Good communication is key. I'll say it over and over again. If your suggested change isn't adopted and it doesn't break your fun, then accept the game for what it is and the DM for what he or she is. But if you need these changes to have fun, if it is breaking your ability to have fun in a table, then find another table.

We DMs would rather you have fun at another table than grit your teeth and just bear it and tolerate our game. For good DMs, there will be no hard feelings, and believe me, we will shake your hands once we get through the COVID mess and wish you well. Most importantly for players, if you're committed to a game, support your fellow players and their stories. Support your GM and her stories.

Immerse yourself in the game and have fun. The Mercer effect emerges from the false belief that every game should look like Critical Role and that every DM should look like Critical Role and that every DM should behave like Matthew Mercer. Tabletop gaming groups should play the type of game they want to play, not what's popular for streaming. DMs, find and adopt your own style. Borrow what you like from other DMs and what works for you, your table, and your players. Continue to grow as a DM and be the best you DM that's ever been, rather than the second best Matthew Mercer. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for

listening this week. I once again want to thank our sponsor, Yogurt. It's eating you alive, which means it's like swallowing a ravenous rat hole. This has been episode 51 of the Matt Mercer Effect and setting expectations at your table my name is jeremy shelley and i hope that your next game is your best game