Curious Beginnings

is the first episode of the first chapter of the second campaign for Critical Role.

Pre-Show

 * This is the first game of Critical Role's new campaign of Dungeons & Dragons. New viewers were welcomed, as a record-breaking 120,000+ people watched the episode live.

Announcements

 * Critical Role had two sponsors for this episode:
 * D&D Beyond: an online tool for Dungeons & Dragons. Critical Role has started using it for their characters and campaign, and D&D Beyond will be a long-term partner.  Critical Role content, such as the Blood Hunter class, can now be activated on D&D Beyond.  Also, there is a one-time discount of $10 off any digital book in the D&D Beyond marketplace if you use the codeword "beginnings".
 * Sam Riegel...no, it's Backblaze: unlimited cloud back-ups for Mac and PC. Sam wrote the sponsor ad way back in mid-December, so it feels a little stale.  It is a Backblaze-themed "The Night Before Christmas" ("The Night Before Critmas"), complete with Sam in a Santa Claus hat.  You can get 15 days free if you go to backblaze.com/criticalrole.


 * Wyrmwood Gaming, in addition to providing new dice boxes for the new campaign, made a new gaming table. It is made of English brown oak, with the Critical Role logo as an inlay.  It was built by hand in their Massachusetts office, and involved over 100 man-hours to finish.  The Geek & Sundry studio smells like wood now.  Sam jokes that when the show gets canceled, it will make a great dining room table.
 * merch update from Laura: The 1980s parody ad used as a teaser for the new campaign (by popular demand) is now a poster available for purchase in the Geek & Sundry store. All the ladies go crazy about Matthew Mercer's outfit, much to Matt's embarrassment.
 * Laura reminds the other players that there are many first-time viewers who haven't seen or haven't finished the previous campaign. So NO SPOILERS about the Vox Machina campaign!
 * All of the episodes of the Vox Machina campaign are now available on the Critical Role Podcast. Podcast episodes for the new campaign will be released one week after the original airdate.  For example, "Curious Beginnings" aired live on January 11, 2018, so the podcast episode will be available on January 18, 2018.
 * "Vox Machina: Origins" #4 (the fourth issue of the Critical Role comic book) is coming out on January 24, 2018. Liam has already read it and it is so good.  It is available for digital download on Comixology, the Dark Horse Comics app, and wherever digital comics are sold.
 * Matthew Mercer will be at Paradise City Comic Con in Miami, Florida on January 12-14, 2018. He will also be at Lexington Comic and Toy Con in Lexington, Kentucky on March 9-11, 2018; Otafest in Calgary, Alberta on May 18-20, 2018; and A-Kon in Fort Worth, Texas on June 7-10, 2018.
 * Laura Bailey and Travis Willingham will be at Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle, Washington on March 2-4, 2018.
 * The cast wants to renew their appreciation and support for 826LA: a really amazing charity that does after-school creative writing and great creative classes for children who are underprivileged and/or lack opportunities to attend these types of classes. Thanks to 826LA for being such an amazing source of creative drive for so many kids.  Matthew Mercer asks the Critters to double down on that support and show 826LA the same appreciation, if they can.
 * Thank you to Ian Phillips of Iron Tusk Painting, who painted the miniatures for the new campaign. He also painted the cake toppers for Matt and Marisha's wedding.  Ashley Johnson grew up with Ian (he was best friends with one of Ashley's brothers), and they reconnected on Instagram when Ian's name was being floated around to create the minis for the new campaign.
 * Thank you to Warner Bros./Monolith Entertainment and CD Projekt Red for allowing Critical Role to incorporate music from the soundtracks for "Middle-earth: Shadow of War" and "The Witcher III: Wild Hunt" (respectively) into the new campaign. Matthew Mercer had originally used music from The Witcher in the Pre-Stream, back when Critical Role was still a home game played with Pathfinder.
 * Marisha Ray announces Critical Role's brand-new opening title sequence, which is then played.

Previously on Critical Role
"Welcome to Wildemount. The year is [835] PD, or 'Post-Divergence'.  This continent is divided by both jagged terrain and political powers.  The Menagerie Coast - a collection of city-states united under the Clovis Concord - monopolizes the southwestern shores and ports of Wildemount, thriving on open trade and cultural freedom. 

''Beyond the Cerios Mountains lies the massive region known as Wynandir, bisected by the Ashkeeper Peaks. Eastern Wynandir houses the expansive waste and turbulent badlands of Xhorhas, overrun with all manner of beasts and terrors, relics from the final battles of the Calamity that ruined that scarred landscape. Northward, you would find the Greying Wildlands, a lawless realm harboring a curse that has kept it unconquered by human hands. However, this story begins in the territory of Western Wynandir, within the boundaries of the Dwendalian Empire. ''

''Emerging thirteen generations before, the Dwendalian Empire has slowly spread to encompass the surrounding societies of the region - absorbing the peoples of the Zemni Fields and the Marrow Valley, before finally conquering the Julous Dominion and taking the whole of Western Wynandir for the Empire. ''

''Under the rule of the current King Bertrand Dwendal, now in his 68th year, most are left to their own devices. You live as you did before: the crown only takes a tithe of what you produce and earn. You follow its laws, worship its gods, and bow to its installed local leadership. In return, denizens of the Empire are protected from the chaotic horrors and shadowed evils that stalk the edges of the civilized lands. ''

''This accord has led to a prosperous century for the Empire...or at least the political elite. Tensions brew beneath the chafing watch of the Crown's Guard. Every temple is government-owned and -run, and worship outside the approved idolatry is met with imprisonment. Rumors of military clashes at the eastern border near Xhorhas have many common folk on edge.''

''Our story, however, begins much smaller: Here in the southern reaches of the Marrow Valley, beyond the entry gates of the We-Un Gorge, lies the small rural town of Trostenwold. Bordering the blue waters of the Usterlock, this town came to prominence near the turn of the recent century when the surrounding fertile farmlands were discovered to produce a unique type of grain and wheat, leading to a boom of breweries. When the glut subsided, three large families stood triumphant in the local business of fermented delights. Now Trostenwold thrives on its export of fish, crops and ale.''

Here in this sleepy trade stop along the Amber Road, a handful of wandering destinies slowly begin to intersect..."

New

 * Caleb Widogast
 * Frumpkin
 * Nott
 * Jester
 * Beauregard
 * Fjord
 * Mollymauk
 * Yasha
 * Yorda, an innkeeper at the Nestled Nook Inn
 * Adeline, a barmaid at the Nestled Nook Inn
 * Reynaldo, a grateful fisherman
 * Bo the Breaker, a Half-Orc carnival performer
 * Gustav Flatchling, an Elf carnival barker
 * Desmond, a fiddler fool
 * Mona, a Halfling acrobat
 * Yewly, a Halfling acrobat
 * Orna the Fire Fairy
 * Coury the Devil Toad
 * Toya the Vivid Voice, a young Dwarf singer
 * Sir Flynn, a nervous Crown's Guard

Trivia
Matt misstated the year of the campaign as "335 PD" in his intro. Matt corrected the year in voiceover for the YouTube video.