Destruction wrought by an unidentified beast brings adventurers from all over the land, looking to claim the reward for its destruction. When all the reputable such groups are promptly and gorily slain by their quarry, the task falls more or less by default to a seven self-centred mercenaries who go by the name 'Vox Machina'.
Having hitherto been motivated primarily by their love of fighting and alcohol (and the gold needed to buy the latter), the group are almost as surprised as everyone else when they not only survive their first encounter with the beast - a mighty dragon, no less - but discover within themselves a spark of altruism they never knew was there. They seek out the creature once more, taking their first uncertain steps on the path to becoming heroes of the realm.
The Legend of Vox Machina is an animated show based on the events of the first series of Critical Role. For those who don't know of this show, it is a long-running livestream of people playing Dungeons & Dragons. The notable thing about the group in question is that they are all veteran voice actors (and sometimes also live action actors). All seven players, plus Matt Mercer, who runs the game, have charisma to burn. They also share a strong camaraderie. These factors have contributed to earning Critical Role an enormous fan-base and considerable commercial success, and they certainly don't hurt The Legend of Vox Machina, either.
Another factor in Critical Role's success - and which also benefits this show - is Mercer's meticulous depth of setting lore, memorable supporting characters - both antagonistic and helpful - and intricately structured stories. I think he asks his players to make too many unnecessary die rolls during the game, but I can't fault his ability to create over-lapping, mutually interacting storylines that pay off big as they reach their conclusions. How much of this is fully pre-planned and how much is extemporaneous, I don't know. But I don't think it matters over much: whether its down to meticulous preparation or clever improvisation, or a (most likely) mixture of both, Mercer's storytelling is very strong.
One thing that I must note about this show is that it is an adult cartoon. It is most definitely not intended for all ages and contains horror elements, as well as nudity, gore and a lot of bad language. This definitely won't be to all tastes. And in my opinion, the show does sometimes verge into the puerile by including crassness for its own sake. It never got to the point where it put me off the show, but it may do so for others.
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