Review – The Legend of Vox Machina S1

Every once in a while I think to myself, “hey I should get into D&D or another TTRPG!” but it has never worked out, I have not found the right group or TTRPG to sink my teeth into. TTRPGs also seem like a particularly time expensive hobby and I already have enough of those.

So when a friend suggested that I watch The Legend of Vox Machina, a show based on the first campaign of the massively popular D&D web series Critical Role, I jumped on the idea. Finally, here was a relatively low effort way to get into D&D.

I am happy to say that the experiment was a success. I enjoyed this show a great deal. The writing in it is just the right combination of witty humour and serious Plot Stuff. The characters are all unique and interesting. I am especially a huge fan of Grog, Pike and by the end of the first season I even took a liking to Scanlan.

The only real criticism I want to make here is not even really a criticism of this show but of this kind of fantasy storytelling in general. And that is the way dragons are portrayed as evil creatures who like to…hoard gold. I am just tired of that particular trope and I blame Tolkien for popularizing it. Please fantasy writers, make dragons more interesting. Make them actual nuanced characters instead of a set of tired tropes.

All that said, I am looking forward to starting the second season of this show next month and I am glad I decided to start watching this.