Crucial Position showcased the power of an ever-growing continuity in two separate methods this week by its two signature exhibits. Within the newest episode of the favored Precise Play sequence, DM Matt Mercer orchestrated the return of The Mighty Nein, the favored protagonists of the present’s second marketing campaign. Members of the Mighty Nein beforehand appeared as NPCs in Marketing campaign 3, however the large twist is that gamers will roleplay as each the Mighty Nein and the present Bell’s Hells solid of heroes for at the very least the following episode. Primarily, the solid (save for Robbie Daymond) can have two character sheets and act out two separate characters for at the very least a bit within the new episode.
Marketing campaign 3 has leaned into the continuity of Crucial Position in a number of methods. The present has introduced in previous participant characters as NPCs and used cameo appearances by visitor solid to nice impact. Nonetheless, this week’s payoff showcases a singular power of Crucial Position each as an Precise Play sequence and as a wider franchise. Not solely do followers get to see the solid return to a beloved set of previous characters, they get to benefit from the chaos of the whole desk juggling two units of characters directly. This experiment ought to present new interactions, new connections, and even potential new conflicts.
All through Marketing campaign 3, we’ve seen Crucial Position push the boundaries of their established Precise Play construction. The present has cut up the get together with a number of company (together with an arc the place a visitor star was secretly a villain) and introduced in momentary DMs. It even had “a narrative inside a narrative” showcasing a historic occasion play out with a completely totally different solid. The reappearance of the Mighty Nein as participant characters is a brand new twist that solely works as a result of followers linked to these characters in a earlier marketing campaign. Now managed by their unique gamers, the Mighty Nein can impression the general narrative of Marketing campaign 3, doubtlessly shifting a high-stakes storyline that includes the gods going through extinction by one other primordial eldritch entity.
Crucial Position can also be exploring its personal continuity in different attention-grabbing methods in its animated sequence. This season of The Legend of Vox Machina featured Zerxus Ilerez, a personality from certainly one of their hottest Exandria Limitless arcs. Zerxus, performed by Luis Carazo in each Exandria Limitless and the animated sequence, was a paladin who tried and failed to forestall a battle between gods in historic Exandrian instances. Exandria Limitless: Calamity aired in 2022, lengthy after Marketing campaign 1 ended, and Zerxus by no means interacted with Vox Machina in the course of the first marketing campaign because the character didn’t exist on the time.
Nonetheless, utilizing Zerxus in The Legend of Vox Machina served a number of functions for each the animated sequence and the Crucial Position franchise. It was an Easter egg of types that allowed the animated sequence to pay homage to the Exandria Limitless storyline. It additionally established Zerxus’s present standing, organising one other storyline that might be revisited both in animated kind or Precise Play for sooner or later. Lastly, it served to construct out and clarify the Calamity for a unique viewers. The Calamity casts an extended shadow over all of Exandria and Crucial Position lore, but it surely was solely casually talked about in Marketing campaign 1.
With Crucial Position approaching its tenth anniversary, it’s fascinating to see how the group is each rising and molding its continuity in actual time. From utilizing its animated sequence to revise and construct on the early days of the franchise to leaning on the previous to search out new methods to inform its present story across the desk, Crucial Position is toying with how a multimedia franchise can efficiently use canon and continuity exterior of nostalgia functions. It’s a method that solely works with the strategy that elements of the unique tales may be modified and strengthened with out cheapening them. For Crucial Position, continuity is simply one other instrument of their storytelling instrument belt. Now, we’re seeing how that continuity pays dividends as Crucial Position continues to develop each on the sport desk and in different types of media.
