#critical-role-spoilers

1 messages · Page 16 of 1

dire inlet
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Yes! Priceless faces, and Matt's "I knew this all this time" face

trim copper
knotty hill
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I saw a good point last night. We presume Laudna was Vex, due to hair color. However, she said her parents also came to this event with her. So, they could have been Vex and Vax, while she was done up like Keyleth.

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So, Marisha's playing Keyleth again. lol

worn violet
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Yeah, I never assumed she was anybody other than “Keyleth” specifically because she mentioned her parents

knotty hill
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Still can't wait to find out how and why Laudna's an Undeadlock

hardy dagger
worn violet
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Interesting. Orym’s husband’s name was Will.

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Which also happens to be the name of Derrig’s son.

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Y’know. Derrig. Keyleth’s bodyguard during the Dalen’s Closet wedding one-shot.

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“The Boring Ballad of Derrig”

ruby quiver
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Yea the implication is definitely that ts him

fallow perch
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That alpha wolf thing with Travis's characters triggered Matt a bit. I appreciate that Matt took the opportunity to educate the audience though.

ruby quiver
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Yea that was clearly a joke that happens in group often

worthy rain
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it's a very "god dammit he really said that, he did it" with a friend group moment

fallow perch
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Yeah it felt kind of tense but they've played together and have known each other long enough that it didn't really seem like a big deal.

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Unrelated. I'm loving campaign three, I wish I had more to watch. The combination of urban and fey themes is really cool. The fey elements in it so far are so intriguing.

worn violet
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It was honestly a bit of a slow start to me

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I always have a hard time with the beginning of a new campaign just cuz it takes a while for me to get used to them going from high tier play back down to T1

fallow perch
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Yeah, the starts do seem a bit slow. I was kind of feeling that with campaign three a bit too but it's picked up for me as of the last few episodes.

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Campaign 1 was nice because at least they started at higher level.

worn violet
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Yeah, it took getting to the Nightmare King for C3 to start getting good for me

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But even the space between that and the Shademother felt a little dragged

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I’m probably just having a hard time adjusting to the fact that they’re not going through the same fast-paced time sensitive stuff they were doing near the tail end of C2

fallow perch
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That's fair. I felt the same after the Nightmare King episode. Without looking it up, everything besides the dance/social gathering they went to was pretty slow.

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I've only just reached the cusp of Traveler-con in C2, but I've gathered the end of the campaign has a lot going on.

worn violet
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It becomes a bit of a race against time in the end

violet falcon
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You know, it might have been a good idea to start a campaign with each part of the group separately working their thing until they hit the first major bad guy that unites them in their interests.

ruby quiver
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They do that basically. They do sessions with their characters pre stream

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It happened with both C3 and C2

violet falcon
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But only to bring the characters up to level 3. They should stream the sessions up to facing the big bad.

knotty hill
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Those test sessions are also to iron out any issues with the characters before going through the full production.

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Some issues being a TPK pre-stream lol

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Or atleast a near one. IIRC Beau was the only one of the 3 to make it out of the giant snake fight.

lapis storm
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As far as I know there is an absolutely huge amount of work that goes into the character creation, it goes through the player, then matt actually has a day with them for feedback and some degree of corrections or implementation, then there's the design, then they work on the character in smaller groups to work out any kinks and get to grips with it

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You can see it in C2 when the three smaller groups combine and form one big one.

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Then in 3 with the smaller groups combining, I assume there was some degree of work outside the campaign

worn violet
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Yeah, they put a lot of effort into their characters and stuff, but I wouldn’t say it’s any more effort than any other table is capable of.

trim copper
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The extra effort is due to the production team and others over their shoulders

worn violet
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As previously mentioned, Level 1 and 2 are pretty deadly. Last thing I’m sure they want people to see is a character death in session 1 or 2 of a new campaign.

dusty grove
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The one thing that I find the most positive is their genuine interest in the other player’s characters and their backstory. What I sometimes miss from my groups is that they go for their backstory and the rest of the cast supports that. My players are often a bit hesitant because they think that the other players are not interested, so they stick to the “main” story line. That is very different from table to table I guess.

worn violet
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Keep in mind, CR group consists of professional storytellers

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So it might come more naturally to them

dusty grove
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Of course, I would never expect that from my players. They are professionals and make a lot of money doing it too. But going for my own backstory that I developed with the dm should be a part of the story I believe. For me it is one of the coolest parts to find out about the other players stories. I always weave their ideas into the plot of the campaign.

runic forge
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Eh I don't think it takes professional storytellers to show interest and support in what other players are doing at their characters at the table

hardy dagger
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But it is worth it to acknowledge that the CR crew represents a high level of RP by way of a combination of acting chops, familiarity with each other, and trust. Something that shouldn't be expected of the average D&D group

runic forge
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Honestly I think this particular thing has a lot less to do with their ability as actors and more their closeness as a group - they want to see what stories the other has thought up and show excitement and support

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A group that doesn't know each other isn't going to be like that

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But I think it's someone that can be learned from CR and taken to our own tables, it doesn't take a great actor to ask another character for more detail when something backstory related comes up

lapis storm
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It's the closeness of the group more than anything else. I find with a lot of newer DnD players they want to make memes and make things funny, which if they're in a set group, everyone's kind if seen it all before. With older players they want to potentially make things more serious like they are in CR, but sometimes they force it or do it too soon. Another "Mercer Effect" if ever I've seen one.

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In my opinion it's more of the mismatch of players as opposed to the actual ability or influence, just to be clear

knotty hill
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Ashton: "Help, it's again.."

paper dawn
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i just looked this up, the blue doesn't go away naturally

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remove curse can remove it

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but otherwise she's just like this now

polar falcon
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just gonna chose to hear "paralyzed" when he says "incapacitated" for those monster crits 😆

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blue is wild magic?

knotty hill
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Yea, Imogen is just blue now

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Yea, Blue is Wild Magic

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23/24 just inaugurates you as part of the blueman crew

trim copper
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She rolled and got blue?!😂

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Jester has retreated 😂

polar falcon
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the cotton candy look is here

violet falcon
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These snosberries taste like snosberries!

rain dove
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jester is back

knotty hill
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Yep. lol

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Trying to think of a good wordplay for blue Imogen.

polar falcon
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nightcrawler navy blue is kinda cool

knotty hill
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Keep the blue lol

violet falcon
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Bring on the fan art!

knotty hill
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Second favorite? Aabria, you are the best.

polar falcon
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so ready for the fantasy casino heist

trim copper
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Unless they already got rid of it and I didn’t see

worthy rain
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dispel magic or remove curse

knotty hill
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Just says remove curse. And they’ve not gotten rid of it yet lol

polar falcon
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matt might allow greater or lesser restoration to clear it, esp if the players stop having fun w/ it

worn violet
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Ashly Burch’s Tiny Tina one-shot is very fun so far

polar falcon
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indeed, quite delightful

worn violet
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Ashly’s really out here bringing the wrath after all those “Ashly killed Mollymauk” jokes

hazy kindle
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Robbie song about Bell

polar falcon
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woww thats nice

maiden rover
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Did Fjord beat Percy’s damage in one turn record? Or am I tripping?

trim copper
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The 118 is campaign record for c2(against big baby monster) and 197 is search for grog

slender fossil
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The whole rules lawyering to twin Catapult being allowed bothers me more than the incap =auto crit

vagrant bough
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Why?

maiden rover
trim copper
polar falcon
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im guessing that since incapacitated is part of both unconscious and paralyzed, and both of those have the melee auto crit thing, that's where the confusion might come from

slender fossil
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Incap has literally just one rule in its own condition, then about 3 or 4 buried under other rules. But none of it has to do with autocrit

worthy rain
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yeah... Also, autocrit is on any attack if the attacker is within 5 feet of the (unconscious/paralyzed) target, not just melee attacks, and not on melee attacks at any reach - they have to be in 5 feet.

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doubled a lot of damage that really should not have been doubled, unless he intended for them to be unconscious but jumbled words. I presume he intended unconscious with how he described it.

lapis storm
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Made for a great and intense game

polar falcon
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huh, didn't know about the 5 ft. thing, good to know. seems with incap on its own you could even still do a bonus action so that would surly have made for a quicker, less intense fight if that was supposed to be the condition

hardy dagger
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You can't take a bonus action if something prevents you from taking an action

polar falcon
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! ah makes sense... its still a type of action so also falls under 'cannot take actions or reactions'

slender fossil
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Now with that said, I'll just head canon that the creature on its attack has a rider of 'while a target is incapacitated in this way...' since I think there might be one or two creatures that do have a bonus on their attacks /damage after they've grappled /restrained /charmed /incapped an opponent with another ability

slender fossil
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Oh, it's ExU tonight instead of CR?

violet falcon
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Yeah. Last Thursday.

worthy rain
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wait, EXU is still going?

violet falcon
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They said it'll be an off-shoot series of one-shots.

worthy rain
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ah

polar falcon
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yeah it was the last thursday of the month day off anyway

lapis storm
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Just the 2 episodes as far as I know. I'm so excited to catch back up with Opal and the gang, and to see Matt back as a player

shut kelp
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yes the first ep was pretty fun, Aabria continues to be unable to give any lore due to poor roles, there are hints Deni$e might make an appearance, and Death Dwarf Dariax does not disappoint

trim copper
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Dariax is the unexpected MVP

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Flaming booger was amazing

knotty hill
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chenga

knotty hill
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hmmm

knotty hill
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Mmmm Magnets.

knotty hill
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Oh no. Buying gifts for Laudna.

knotty hill
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Through sheer force of fandom. We have destroyed Imogen's vision!

ruby quiver
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Thus episode has just been a "Imogen gets more and more worried about herself" one

knotty hill
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Pate and Sashimi!

knotty hill
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Alright, we found our weird factor to the Aberrant Mind

worthy rain
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it's gonna be real interesting when later AM features are gained

knotty hill
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She's 1 off from Psi Sorcery

worthy rain
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oh boy that is gonna be big yeah

knotty hill
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lvl 6 is probably after this arc, and I will further weep as Laudna never advances to 3 Warlock...

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And someday we will have to end our adorable cotton candy Imogen lol

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😈 It is time

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For poodle!

knotty hill
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booo...

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Next week

polar falcon
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I'm just waiting for Laudna lvl 6 shadow sorc and a hound of ill omen pate

trim copper
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And thematically it makes sense, since she isn’t exactly cooperating with briarwood

worthy rain
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so I think I predicted Ruidus being spooky, in a sense
since when I made my own custom calendar, I added 'the red night' to days of full ruidus on a date of 13th

simple marlin
knotty hill
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POODLE TIME

simple marlin
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that is terrifying

paper dawn
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vespin whatsit? who's that? why'd they get excited?

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oh i just googled him

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he freed the betrayer gods 👀

knotty hill
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So rude, cutting off here. lol

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Thems need the Thunderwave.

worthy rain
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So, two things:
1: I'm betting Matt will introduce Ruidium Corruption - he's already said the name Alyxian in this campaign
2: Chetney does have shadow touched, right? inflict wounds, invisibility, they gotta have it

trim copper
worthy rain
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ah yea

paper dawn
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i thought Laudna took the rod back from when they used it upstairs

slender fossil
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Matt playing hardball tonight

paper dawn
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did they use it again last week?

slender fossil
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I thought they'd left a door barred behind them

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Timeline wise I feel like perhaps the other party got to play fast forward maybe?

crude sonnet
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Holy hell

slender fossil
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Murder hobo time 😂

paper dawn
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the ultgar scene was oscar worthy and i need to know everything

worthy rain
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Fearne sounds like Burn.
Ahh, puns.

polar falcon
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sounds like burn, spelled like fear 😈

worthy rain
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Travis just constantly wheezing at every comedic part is just too good, I love it

slender fossil
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So, Stephen Colbert tonight?

tribal pier
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Yep. Looking forward to catching it at the weekend.

polar falcon
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all i remember from the last one was stephen played like a true old school player, very cautiously and expecting a trap every 5 ft 😆

simple marlin
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Mareeeesha

slender fossil
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Wait. Is Matt borrowing his Elden Ring oneshot as an insert for this?

simple marlin
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Nope

crude sonnet
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What’s going on currently?

simple marlin
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in a tower and fighting the bbeg

sullen dome
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I’m watching and went on twitter to watch all the reactions to the Yasha dealing

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Nice job Stephen but I’m just loving the deliciousness of everyone freaking out again

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No one give the barbarian wisdom saves

slender fossil
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I actually missed what happened at the end of it - got doing a thing and suddenly it was over

polar falcon
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Very much a downtime episode but got some good Ashton + dunamancy lore

worthy rain
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It's going to be interesting once Orym reaches Battlemaster 7, seeing how Matt might run Know Your Enemy, if it's used at all. Hopefully it does get used, it's gonna be interesting.

violet falcon
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Know Your Enemy?

worthy rain
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yep

violet falcon
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What is that?

worn violet
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It’s a feature that essentially lets the Fighter learn some of their enemy’s stats

worthy rain
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they can interact and observe over a minute, and then tell if - compared to the battlemaster - it's better, evenly matched, or worse, in two things, between its physical stats, AC, current HP, and class levels / fighter levels.

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so Orym could look at a thing and vibe check its Dex and Con

trim copper
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that would seem the most used of the three

tribal pier
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Sounds a little like Extract Aspects, only it takes time to observe, rather than just punching something.

worn violet
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New Exandria Unlimited announced!

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GM’d by Brendan Lee Mulligan, taking place during the Calamity!!!!

worthy rain
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now that's interesting to me

worthy rain
knotty hill
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😄 Aabria as a player? Nice

polar falcon
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yussss more EXU. branching out with more DMs exploring more places and times within Exandria is a great evolution for the series and CR as a company

worthy rain
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the whole deal about the floating magic cities just taunts me with how little is known

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like, what in sam hell are those domes of frozen time, eh?

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also, the M9 just... never returning to the strange domes, never really sat right with me, that.

knotty hill
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Seemingly, a rescue system. In the even of a catastrophic event, places can be paused in time so that they can be rescued once the danger passed.

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But, nobody ever came for Aeor after it was smote by the Gods

knotty hill
worthy rain
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I'm tripping, your name is dyno but so is the dyno bot

knotty hill
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Because, it's possible that Fjord could have ended the spell just by hitting the bubbles with Star razer.

worthy rain
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but yeah, even in the epilogue, the wrap up, like
I was shouting, "NO! YOU DIDN'T GO BACK FOR THE DOMES!" Desperately wanting that level 15 or 16 party to try and un-bubble the ancient super wizards or whatever, people with knowledge

polar falcon
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I've slowly been reading the Taldorei guide after finishing wildemount and there are a lot of interesting things that could be taken on that would probably be weird to shoehorn into the official campaigns

worn violet
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That moment when a DM preps something the players don’t end up doing

knotty hill
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In the Wildmounte book, those bubbles have suggested solutions for players. One of which is smacking them with an exalted Arm of the Betrayer.

worthy rain
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also, the suggested options in EGTW says arms of the betrayers, not exactly the vestiges

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jinx!

knotty hill
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It still might've worked, since they're essentially Vestiges (Just with a little buddy attached).

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But alas

worn violet
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I feel like mentioning the Arms themselves and not Vestiges as a whole was on purpose

knotty hill
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We will never know whether or not someone went back to uncover one of the greatest secrets of the fall of Aeor, which is that it didn't

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The people of Aeor are right there!

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Just gotta get them out of time.

worthy rain
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imagine the news too
"So yeah the cognouza dudes went to the astral plane and became an eldritch horror hivemind in years and years of agony."

knotty hill
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First, you gotta get them to calm down, because they're going from apocalypse in progress, to post apocalypse. lol

worthy rain
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also, Intuit Charges seem really not well designed. It's either complete proximity detonation, or you need to be close by, IIRC?

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close enough to manual det it, I mean

knotty hill
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lol yea, not very intuitive.

worn violet
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Mage Hand

polar falcon
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after the happy fun ball and jester's rapid aging incident, perhaps M9 just wanted to let sleeping dogs lie at that point 😅

worthy rain
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like, surely they coulda stuck some Glyph of Warding detection into that

worn violet
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Yeah, I imagine some pretty big problems could’ve arisen with the reawakening of Aeor

polar falcon
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let some other poor sap crack open the bubbles and unleash whatever horrors within

knotty hill
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Eh. I'm on the side of, please try and save some folks who you can.

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Their only crime was saying "Hey, we do not like the gods." So just don't send em to vasselheim.

worn violet
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Isn’t the whole city populated by mages?

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I feel like that’s a really dangerous group of people to just wake up and release unto the world

knotty hill
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I don't recall it being 100%. 🤷

worthy rain
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also gotta love "so the Aeormatons have been introduced to Exandria, and are their version of Warforged"
and then C3, like 20 years later in timeline?
Now has a robot PC... not a warforged. Also, not even any Aeormaton references detected by me

knotty hill
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Sure, but our heroes are also quite dangerous. And for the Aeoreans, their entire civilization is gone.

worn violet
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That’s like bringing back Netheril into the Forgotten Realms. Things are bound to end poorly for the people with the lesser developed magic.

knotty hill
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The entire world has grown over theirs. So, that certainly mitigates the damage.

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They had wi-fi, we have pigeons.

worn violet
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Oh boy, what if ExU:C takes place in a pre-Calamity Aeor? 😮

knotty hill
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Legitimately, I think it do.

polar falcon
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the aeor leadership was all mages at least... implied to be not-very-good-intentioned mages as well

worthy rain
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imagine if Brennan slips in a reference to Fearne's family who were apparently 'last in' Aeor

polar falcon
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FCG could be built from parts of an aeormaton, it was said Dancer constructed them of various scrap she found... so what if she found the core materials of an ancient buried 'warforged'?

ruby quiver
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FCG is definitely an aeormaton in some capacity

worthy rain
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if this is an accidental prediction as to why FCG is self aware and sapient and whatnot, then go play lotto

ruby quiver
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I suspect that Matt introduced devexian to release them so that Sam could play one

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Due to the timeline of when they actually start thinking of their new characters

worthy rain
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I'm hopping on board, FCG is like that because they're made out of Aeormaton bits which gave them soul or something

ruby quiver
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I'm glad they are finally doing a thing set during the calamity. I was hoping for a one-shot, but exu doing a four parter is even better

worn violet
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Yeah I’m excited to see Examdria in a completely different era

knotty hill
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So, we know how tonight's episode ends lol

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Er, next weeks.

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I can't do time lol

worn violet
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Wdym?

knotty hill
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C3 is going on break for a month

worn violet
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I know, I’m just wondering what you mean about us knowing how the last episode before the break ends

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I’m a couple episodes behind so I just assume they’ll close up whatever arc they’re dealing with atm

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Calamity era and Drassig rule have been two time periods I always thought would be really interesting to visit in Exandria, so it’s cool to see this going down

ruby quiver
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I fully expect a drassig rule at some point

worthy rain
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Drassig?

worn violet
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Drassig was the tyrannical monarchy that ruled Tal’Dorei before the land became “Tal’Dorei”

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Warren Drassig and his sons were the last rulers of the Kingdom of Drassig, then they lost their kingdom (and lives) during the Scattered War.

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The rebel hero, Zan Tal’Dorei, was crowned sovereign of the kingdom after that

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I’ve actually considered running a kingslayer campaign in Exandria here every player plays one of the historical figures of that time period as an adventuring party.

ruby quiver
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I'd expect one where each player is a member of Zans "crew"

worn violet
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There are a couple of named historical figures that could totally have been the “heroes of the Scattered War”.

polar falcon
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i forget where exactly their memorial is but i think her main 'party' is all mentioned in the book

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westruun maybe?

ruby quiver
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It wouldn't be out of line for them to play already named characters

polar falcon
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a Gatshadow expedition mini series would be cool too 🤔

worn violet
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Yenlara, Palest Westruun, and the White Duke all come to mind

ruby quiver
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Kinda hoping that the calamity goes to multiple cities

violet falcon
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I don't believe for a second that Dancer actually built the robots. I'm betting she found/stole them and reformatted them. That's probably what caught up to her.

polar falcon
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a rogue and not an artificer? interesting theory...

vivid oriole
violet falcon
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ExU is running.

vivid oriole
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Errr… I know that.

violet falcon
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So they won't be double-booking.

vivid oriole
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Eh, nvm. I’ll find out when I watch in a few days.

violet falcon
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They saw that the fans were disengaging when they ran two games at the same time.

polar falcon
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I think in general they are trying to build in more rests and breaks from the main campaign in C3 to avoid burnout (like it seemed C2 had), so it makes sense to have a season break after 24 'episodes'

runic forge
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Yeah it's good for the main cast to have some down time

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And it looks like Matt isn't actually playing this time? So he gets an off camera break

worn violet
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Oh god Laudna took Silvery Barbs

ruby quiver
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It'll be fine, just like the spell is

polar falcon
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the crit-canceller reaction returns

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Cad with us in spirit

worn violet
hardy dagger
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I took at look at the chat, and the reaction was about as good as you'd expect

worn violet
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Oh I’m sure

knotty hill
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Time for "HEY THERE DELILIAH, WHAT THE HECK DID YOU JUST DO?!"

slender fossil
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Lol. Vigilante werewolf going after crooked merchants

violet falcon
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Matt probably did that to troll him specifically.

slender fossil
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And now Matt is out crazying Fearne? Dang

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I don't think I've seen Ashley walk back an idea that fast as Fearne yet

knotty hill
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Poor squidly

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We are crashing this sky ship...

slender fossil
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F in fcg now stands for flesh

grizzled roost
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Is there any specific rules thing anyone here knows that would give Imogen her new flying ability?

violet falcon
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She took Fly as a 3rd level spell.

grizzled roost
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Ah

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I was hoping it was something more exciting

grizzled roost
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Ashton just payed in all silver and underpaid by a silver

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Strange

knotty hill
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Oh no...

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THEME RESTAURANT TIME

slender fossil
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Isn't that the same restaurant from the ExU?

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Or am I having the weirdest feeling of deja vu

knotty hill
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I don't think so?

earnest trail
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The buffet in the casino in ExU: Kymal was called Taste of Tal'Dorei.

slender fossil
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Ok, so I wasn't crazy

polar falcon
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we have ourselves a franchise

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the mcdonalds of exandria

slender fossil
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Quoth the fcg nevermore?

simple marlin
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ERICA!

polar falcon
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new guest! new guest! 👏 👏 👏

slender fossil
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And she'll be there for at least another session

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Since he just said that her mini will be there for next time they play

polar falcon
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im hoping it'll be like dorian and she'll get like 10-15 sessions 🙂

knotty hill
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RIP Gnollspeare

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Yay! More warlocks

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More-locks!

slender fossil
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'what else did I leave in here' 😂

knotty hill
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Afterall, Dusk carries an implement of stabbery

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WAH The rudeness

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Going on break right now.... weh

tribal pier
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Laura's face at "Cold hands, warm heart" was 😙👌

stoic leaf
#

So wait ashtons rages are essentially time, space, luck and what?

polar falcon
#

gravity i think

knotty hill
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Tonight, the end begins.

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Prepare the tears lol

ruby quiver
knotty hill
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So the Path of Fundamental Chaos is a Dunamis sub

ruby quiver
#

yea

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thats why people think that the thing that ashton was revived with was one of the dunamis juice potions that yeza made in c2 (or something like it)

trim copper
#

Ashtons burst are 2d4, im curious if they will scale or stay at 2d4

stoic leaf
polar falcon
#

calamity time baybeeee

knotty hill
knotty hill
#

RIP Exandria

#

Time to watch billions of people die

ruby quiver
#

mhmm fun new art for the intro

#

beacon making an appearance in the intro be like:

knotty hill
#

OH DANG

#

LVL 14

ruby quiver
#

Yesssssssd

knotty hill
#

We getting into the THICK of it

earnest light
#

YO

ruby quiver
#

That's what I wanted

knotty hill
#

AND GODS DANG, WHAT IS THAT STRENGTH

#

29 Strength, 18 con, 20 charisma. Yes sir! You are a Paladin

earnest light
#

Dear GOD-

slender fossil
#

Level 14

earnest light
#

this bit of EXU will be interesting hehe

knotty hill
#

It's gonna be so tragic by the end

earnest light
#

I knoowwww

#

but I'm here for it tho lol

ruby quiver
#

"Your son" never ends well

knotty hill
#

Yea..

ruby quiver
#

Starlight griffin baby

earnest light
#

griffiiiiin

ruby quiver
#

And there's the "I'm not your kid" moment

#

Explains the red figure in the intro...

#

Which God is this Brennan...

earnest light
#

hoooooly-

#

Welp, this is a start

zenith island
#

what. is. happening

earnest light
#

GOOD QUESTION!

slender fossil
#

Between Spelljammer and the opening of this, I'm thinking I need to go back and start listening to some d20

grizzled roost
#

What’s just happened my wifi went out last I knew he was with his griffin

slender fossil
#

I'm really liking Mulligans style as dm

ruby quiver
#

Which God is killing which God Brennan

knotty hill
#

PAPA PELOR

ruby quiver
#

Ok so the standing one is definitely the dawnfather

#

But whomst is the red one, asmodeus?

earnest light
#

in the words of Percival "OH SWEET PELOR"

ruby quiver
#

Brennan giving us that sweet sweet "the evil gods aren't so evil"

earnest light
grizzled roost
#

Please someone tell me what’s happened in back watching now but when my wifi went out I missed stuff what did I miss

slender fossil
#

Description

grizzled roost
#

Description of?

knotty hill
#

Pelor stepping on the throat of who is seemingly Asmodeus.

grizzled roost
#

Ok

earnest light
#

Hollly crap this is crazy-

grizzled roost
#

I hate spotty wifi

earnest light
#

I just played a character with strong Asmodeus ties so I'm like "whaaaaaaaat the heck is this-"

grizzled roost
#

Was that just a dream?

#

Wow it was

earnest light
#

the dream sequence my god-

#

Brennan Lee Mulligan youuuu insane lad.

ruby quiver
#

I mean we kinda already knew that the Bretayer gods had only betrayed the other gods (and iirc they did it for mortals)

#

But still

#

"The tower of the first night"

zenith island
#

who are the other two players? (Top row left and right)

knotty hill
#

The Betrayer Gods are the deities who strayed from the ideals of the Founding and embraced the destructive chaos of the Primordials or grew selfish of their own creations.

earnest light
ruby quiver
knotty hill
#

Explorer's guide explains it that essentially the betrayers saw how chaos was affecting the world, and wanted to just leave it to die and start over elsewhere.

#

But the prime deities didn't want to just shrug and let this happen.

ruby quiver
#

Well I guess we'll see~

#

Sam time!

knotty hill
#

Bout time Sam!

#

Bardlock

ruby quiver
#

Sam is apparently rich and famous I guess

#

So Luis' character definitely has a belt of Giant strength

earnest light
ruby quiver
#

14 AC is cracking me up

earnest light
#

I hope we get more songs from Sam :3

knotty hill
#

.... What the heck is this setting?!

ruby quiver
#

Big magic floating new York

#

But like. Mid century

slender fossil
#

14ac at level 14, Sam... And so many odd stats 😂

earnest light
#

honestly not a bad description lol

knotty hill
#

Yea this series is really hammering into perspective the fact that Critical Role is a post-apocalyptic setting.

ruby quiver
#

Mhm

slender fossil
#

Read a preview on this on how it's supposed to show what was lost in terms of how magical the setting was pre calamity

grizzled roost
#

THE CITY IS FLYING

ruby quiver
#

Magical and technological

earnest light
#

Y u P

knotty hill
#

We've got town criers and they had CNN

ruby quiver
#

P much lol

worn violet
#

Yeah, the Age of Arcanum is I believe supposed to be the most advanced era of Exandria

ruby quiver
#

Tieflings confirmed to be around at this time

#

(Was a bit unclear as to when they may have popped up originally before)

earnest light
#

This is awesome-

ruby quiver
#

This is such a Sam character and I couldn't be happier

grizzled roost
#

You know theoretically an elf Druid with their age slowed could have been alive back then and still be alive now. Like imagine meeting someone current day from back then

#

Just a random thought I had

slender fossil
#

Classic Sam

knotty hill
#

Sam

ruby quiver
#

This is Tary but if Tary was actually like that

earnest light
#

This is Tary's idol

knotty hill
#

Yea, We're just waiting for the Schism to catch up now.

ruby quiver
#

Robot elephant bus let's go

slender fossil
#

I like the use of changeling persona for advertising 😂

ruby quiver
#

Feast of ymir?

#

"The symbol of all that you have achieved" ah ok that's going crashing down later

worn violet
#

This is honestly so on-brand for Brennan so far

ruby quiver
#

So many fun construct usage

#

I love the re-enforcement that everyone uses magic

grizzled roost
#

This is giving me so much the city near Chernobyl vibes. So many young promising individuals

knotty hill
#

Cloudy

#

With a chance of SMITE

#

How to define underground a flying city...

knotty hill
#

Oof, this gone be messy lol

worn violet
#

I’m so excited

earnest light
#

this is awesome

slender fossil
#

Another 15ac character oof

#

Combat gonna be interesting to balance with over 10ac swing between PCs to target

ruby quiver
#

Yea but she's a wizard at least

#

God this is great

knotty hill
#

We at lvl 14 and the only light at the end of this tunnel is the flames of re-entry. I think that Brennan's gonna be sending off some Tarrasque threats to us.

grizzled roost
#

Oh they’re not just flying, they’re in SPACE

ruby quiver
ruby quiver
grizzled roost
#

Veil of secrecy?

#

Wow

knotty hill
#

It's never fun when the Archmage herself has to go "Ok, so this is my IMMEDIATE problem now."

#

...Yea

#

A month

#

Won't have to fly it for just a month

ruby quiver
#

It'll definitely be at least a month!

knotty hill
#

Yep, welcome to a brief window of near godhood.

#

Don't miss.

ruby quiver
#

wait i forget. Was the Raven Queen pre-calamity?

#

or during?

knotty hill
#

She's pre-calamity

violet falcon
#

I'm getting Nightfall vibes...

knotty hill
#

It was during the age of Arcanum when a Mortal woman ascended and killed the prior god of death

ruby quiver
#

cool just wanted to make sure

worn violet
#

Oh boy

ruby quiver
#

flying mountain~

knotty hill
#

If Aabria starts introducing some Raven imagery here, I'm gonna have thoughts

grizzled roost
#

This is crazy

worn violet
#

I mean, I know there are mages everywhere in the Age of Arcanum, but… woah, the theories are just making themselves.

grizzled roost
#

Oh they are it’s great

ruby quiver
#

so the city flies basically sub orbit from the sounds

#

just before space

#

We still have half the cast to introduce!!!

knotty hill
#

I know!

#

Lou! Where be you!

ruby quiver
#

vault of the golden scythe!

knotty hill
#

Nydas! SorBard

ruby quiver
#

lots charisma!

knotty hill
#

Our 2nd multi-class, and both are Bard mixes lol

worn violet
#

Whole lotta casting

#

Again, to nobody’s surprise

knotty hill
#

We have found our rich boy!

#

We have found our rich boy!!!

worn violet
#

I love how absolutely extra the CHA boys are

#

Extra™️

earnest light
#

Y e s

knotty hill
#

This is so precious...

#

These poor kids.

earnest light
#

Poor poor children

knotty hill
#

Travis is borb

#

Stabby chicken

worn violet
#

Travis playing a rogue JUST KIDDING HE’S A BLOOD HUNTER

violet falcon
#

Now I'm wondering if they're using the new race options...

knotty hill
#

TBD

#

Only Sam and Travis are people from our new multiverse

worn violet
#

Oop name drop

#

Ah, okay. So the Matron of Ravens’s ascendence has already occurred.

knotty hill
#

Gotcha. I was kinda curious to see if Marisha had something to throw at us.

ruby quiver
#

The name of this Archmage..

#

Haven't we heard it before?

#

Anyone know the spelling?

violet falcon
#

||He, supposedly, started the Calamity by releasing the Betrayer Gods||

ruby quiver
#

Ok cool cool cool so I was correct in the fact we knew it

knotty hill
#

Well. I guess we can say they very much cracked godhood

ruby quiver
#

They definitely contacted the gods that's for sure

knotty hill
#

And we have double wizard power

ruby quiver
#

gowdrashari?

#

ashari precursors

knotty hill
#

Possibly.

ruby quiver
#

considering they are druids im betting on it strongly

knotty hill
#

I don't recall if we know how the elemental wounds got on Exandria.

#

Because each village was founded to watch over those passages into the elemental planes.

ruby quiver
#

we know when they happened though

#

about 1k years ago from modern times

#

aka around the time of the calamity

knotty hill
#

“About 900 years ago or so, roughly a thousand years ago, we were a nomadic people. Then there was some sort of great sundering. We're actually still not 100% sure. A lot of information was lost. And the elemental planes started bleeding with this plane and—oh, Vex is falling asleep.”

#

Yea, I think we might be finding out what Kiki was told about.

ruby quiver
#

PURVON?!?!??!

#

Galdric??

knotty hill
#

Possibly

ruby quiver
#

"so we've got one of those"

slender fossil
#

Aeorian mail order bride

earnest light
#

it feels weird hearing "the jungles of marquet"

ruby quiver
#

such a shame all these characters are going to die soon ❤️

knotty hill
#

Enjoy the ride down! Hahahaha

ruby quiver
#

sam and aabria playing a divorced couple is incredible

knotty hill
#

....

#

Excuse me

ruby quiver
#

thisisfine.jpeg

knotty hill
#

A...

#

A Solar bow?

violet falcon
#

Slaying Longbow...

knotty hill
#

We have developed problems

#

We do not want to find out what could have the opportunity to, and ability to, snap a Solar's bow. (We really want to see it 😈 )

ruby quiver
#

'im sorry what?

#

more than a mortal man?

#

also: mage's disjunction 😅

knotty hill
#

OUR BOY

ruby quiver
#

YESSSSSSSS

knotty hill
#

OUR BOY IS HERE

ruby quiver
#

the lad!

#

emo lad

#

i'm so happy lmao

knotty hill
#

🦮

ruby quiver
#

note: this is still "before the vestiges of divergence"

#

a quaint little guy, nothing special

knotty hill
#

Yep, we have not reached the divergence yet.

#

But it's the lad!

ruby quiver
#

it makes everything about him so much funnier

#

"god stuff going on left and right"

knotty hill
#

Gift of Gab, for when you slip up

ruby quiver
#

Oh, a lore drop from Matt in the chat earlier

interesting point: only a handful of cities could "float" during the period, due to a finite amount of Brumestone, and it being greedily taken by the most advanced cities of the time. Most cities were still terrestrial, especially those who were more aligned with the faith of the pantheon

#

Inquisitive rogue indeed

#

blindsense rogue ❤️

knotty hill
#

Brennan you cruel man, lol

#

Bye bye birdy

ruby quiver
#

Hoooo boy

knotty hill
#

So I wonder, is Travis out? It'd be insane if each episode we dropped a player.

ruby quiver
#

He didn't die did he?

#

Or did I just misunderstand what Brennan said?

worthy rain
#

what did brennan say

ruby quiver
#

Cerrit was looking at his own reflection in the now cracked mirror

violet falcon
#

I don't know how you got "dead" from that.

ruby quiver
#

I can't help but think now that the intro sequence is holding.... a ton of spoilers

#

The context however we have no clue

knotty hill
#

I thought that he got dragged into the mirror after the guy said he would never reach the Wildmother's embrace.

polar falcon
#

vespin looking like he was reaching through the mirror to grab him but the mirror just shattered when his hand came into contact with the surface from the other side - my take

#

I think each of our heroes has some kind of patron prime deity connected to them whether they like it or not 🙂 just a theory though

ruby quiver
#

Seeing people talk about Avalir and the very clear similarity to Savalir in the name, aka the woods Cad is from

#

There are a lot of those "this name is very clearly similar to the names of things from modern times but before parts of the names were lost" so I wouldn't be surprised

#

Fun speculation also being that the wildmothers embrace is the reason not all life on exandria died during the calamity: ie pockets of life

glad ivy
#

Just remembered that Ghor Dranas is ||the original name of Rosohna, capital of the Kryn Dynasty||

ruby quiver
#

It's the ruins on which it was built yea

knotty hill
#

Which apparently spooked even the Dragons

stoic leaf
#

What was the cr1 city with all the temples and i think the guild

ruby quiver
#

Vasselheim, oldest city in exandria, pre calamity (as we have so eloquently heard during this first episode that it was around)

worn violet
#

Vasselheim is also mentioned as the oldest city in Exandria in Wildemount iirc and in the Tal'Dorei books

polar falcon
#

I think the savalir became cursed post-calamity though, like a few centuries before c2

ruby quiver
#

Yea, but it could be named because avalir came down near/in it (like how the Zemni Fields are named after the city that crashed there)

polar falcon
#

it was renamed from something else (Veluthil) when cursed 😅 I did see on twitter someone said that in EGtW savalir was said to mean 'guilt' in elvish which might suggest avalir would relate to that word somehow? and matt liked the tweet...

ruby quiver
#

Interesting

#

All these name-adjacent things has got me hooked

knotty hill
#

Currently, they're parked over Vasselheim, I think?

ruby quiver
#

Avalir? Its over its sister city Cathmoira

stoic leaf
#

So I have a thought with thr calamity series

#

I don’t remember vecnas lore well but had he ascended before? Or was in the duration of CR1 the only time he attempted?

#

Because the implication of the guy ascending to a betrayer god makes me think vecna but im probably not thinking right

ruby quiver
#

vecnas first attempt was during c1

#

He achieved Lichdom before the calamity

#

or I guess it would be more accurate to say: his first attempt that succeeded was during c1

#

he had tried once before and been defeated (via Kas and his allies)
he was worshipped even after that defeat and due to the way it works in Exandria, that worship granted him more power

stoic leaf
#

Im curious who this is in calamity

#

Do we know any other people that attemped to overthrow a god?

#

Let alone a betrayer

#

Ohh im stupid

#

We have heard his name before

polar falcon
#

Halas is also of the age of arcanum, Vecna should be a lich already and maybe have taken his Shadowfell tower already?

stoic leaf
#

I mean this is the spoilers channel but Vespin was the one who talked to the betrayer gods and set them free

#

Yell at me to delete this if it needs to be

polar falcon
#

I certainly dont mind 😆

#

yes Vespin was the one historically blamed for releasing the betrayer gods

ruby quiver
#

iirc he did it like.. 100 years before the calamity?

#

lemme double check

#

yea, he achieved lichdom + attempted godhood during a celestial solstice ~100 years before the calamity

polar falcon
#

just one of the guys they're all making fun of for trying haha

knotty hill
#

I'm guessing that we'll be trying to stop Vespin from unleashing them, knowing that they cannot succeed.

#

Want more now pls.

worn violet
#

The fun thing about this is knowing the lore regarding what is going down, but still getting to watch it

#

Cuz I believe both the Tal'Dorei guide and the Wildemount guide have a little bit of lore regarding some of the names being thrown around

knotty hill
#

Ok, someone just put this thought in my head, and I wonder if anything will come of it.

The Ascension of the Raven Queen is not even history in this series. That happened within the lifetimes of a lot of people here. So, I wonder if maybe we'll see folks who knew her.

worn violet
#

That’s a bit of a recent development for the world, yeah. Could totally be the case.

#

With that being said, her true name was lost after ascension.

ruby quiver
#

It's been a few hundred years at least

#

Especially based on what we now know about the celestial solstice stuff

#

Since (based on descriptions) the last "big" celestial solstice (during the time before the calamity) was the one vecna originally used to do his stuff, which was about a century beforehand. The lore dropped from this episode likely means that the last big one was probably two/three hundred (or more) years before this one (which is likely what the raven queen used to ascend)

worn violet
#

Also worth considering that we don’t really know what’s Matt canon and what’s Brennan’s canon.

#

Like we know Brennan and Matt spent a lot of time discussing before Brennan got to the table. But we don’t know to what extent Brennan is doing his own thing either.

ruby quiver
#

Considering Matt seems to have fully integrated all of the Canon aabria came up with, I wouldnt be surprised if he did the same with Brennan (or he worked with both of them to create whatever it is)

knotty hill
#

I just think it'd be cool if we ended up finding out some more stuff about her, since you could have an elf or someone who was around at the time. Or maybe we learn what it means for a god to get replaced. How does death work differently between them?

worn violet
#

As interesting as that would be to learn, I can imagine them not getting into specifics

#

I'd be okay with it just being one of those mysteries we never learn more about.

#

Then again, if ever there was a good time to address it, it's probably this campaign.

stoic leaf
#

Cuz thats what the ritual was

stoic leaf
worthy rain
#

I can't wait for Imogen to fireball on self (via feywild shard, RNGesus, not malice) and absolutely derail the campaign in one singular instant by sheer unfortunate luck (i so want to see Matt's reaction if that happens near something important)
If I'm a prophet, then it's probably gonna be another moment like her horrid luck in that one fight against Merrow, as Jester, rolling misses, everything saves, minimum damage, the works. Everything going poorly, hail mary wild magic, and bam

#

Murphy's Law after all, she's already gone blue and hairless, and regained all sorc points before expending much, so not very good for her so far

knotty hill
#

I need me some more Delilah shenanigans. This woman has the durability of a roach.

trim copper
ruby quiver
#

Bets on if the city starts falling tonight? Or does that come in the 3rd episode

knotty hill
#

Idk if this City fell. Like, aren't they landing it soon for the replenishment?

worn violet
#

That’s definitely the plan

#

But they’re also an unknown amount of time away from an absolutely world-shattering apocalyptic event.

ruby quiver
worn violet
#

So far, everything is “going according to plan”. Let’s see how well that works out.

slender fossil
#

I mean, a crash is just an unscheduled landing...

knotty hill
#

😄 Time for more "OMG EVERYTHING IS EXPLODING!!"

slender fossil
#

They all got fancy titles

hardy dagger
#

I just finished catching up on episode 1, and holy shit no one does atmosphere like Brennan

#

It has been a long, long time since I finished a CR episode with my adrenaline spiking

ruby quiver
#

oh boy more kids

hardy dagger
#

anyway, gonna have to catch the rerun on this one tomorrow because the partner's falling asleep - enjoy, live watchers

knotty hill
#

😄 So many children.

slender fossil
#

Makes me want to go back and start to watch some d20 now

hardy dagger
#

I'm re-watching Fantasy High with my partner, can't wait until we get to season 2 and Romance Partner Baron from the Baronies

ruby quiver
#

"move the entire city"

#

safe of course

knotty hill
#

…. Excuse me?

#

Yea, this is gonna go well

ruby quiver
#

oh shes an abjuration wizard

knotty hill
#

I think we’ve just seen the advent of the Threshold crests

ruby quiver
#

indeed

#

this continent...

knotty hill
#

And potentially the beginning of the schisms where the Ashari now guard.

#

Oh we doing some Tax fraud lol

#

TAX

#

FRAUD

ruby quiver
#

now what are the ashari doing

#

timeline starts to get real hard to think about rn

knotty hill
#

Who knows what the Dreshari want this for

#

Laerynn here certainly don’t give a care. We’re off to find wherever this thing is in the city and probably blow it up

#

She’s got a window and this thing is a rusty latch. It is coming out. Hehe

ruby quiver
#

and shes gonna do it and its gonna go real bad

#

also the way it had sounded in the first episode that the city had been up for way longer

#

the replenishment is once every 7 years but the last(?) replenishment is when this device was there

knotty hill
#

I'm guessing that Laerynn here is responsible for striking off the "Gua Dr" portion of the name.

#

Cerritt's gonna be bald before the end of the night.

ruby quiver
#

theres that hubris!

knotty hill
#

Right on queue!

ruby quiver
#

confirmation from the feywild nice

knotty hill
#

Patia, you don't know how wrong you be.

#

You think that the God's only distinction is being extra planar? You bout to get a crash course in what the distinction is.

ruby quiver
#

This is fine.jpeg

knotty hill
#

That is quite the thought, the Gua Drashari possibly making this to prevent the ascension of new gods.

ruby quiver
#

It's probably a pact they made

knotty hill
#

As long as this thing is running, it'll shave off enough magic to stop someone from getting stab happy with some divinity.

ruby quiver
#

Sounds like it

#

So is Sam a disgraced archfey or not brennan??

knotty hill
#

The hall of prophecy closing down is just pure comedy.

#

If the seers are getting wasted, then time is short lol

ruby quiver
#

She knew the raven queennnnnn

#

Wackkkkkk

knotty hill
#

I KNEW IT

ruby quiver
#

Confirms that people literally forgot her name

knotty hill
#

Just, gone.

#

There is only, The Raven Queen.

ruby quiver
#

Ok so sad boy paladin does also have some hubris going on

knotty hill
#

It's a party of hubris.

#

Matthew, we're amending the lore! lol

slender fossil
#

The risk of live play your settings past

ruby quiver
#

Insighting the world vc inciting the world gogogogogo

#

lmao jerk move brennan

knotty hill
#

So rude haha

ruby quiver
#

cool, she was "picked"

#

they saved purvon lmao

slender fossil
#

Was purvon at risk of not making it into C1? I missed a chunk there

#

From break to about 5 minutes ago

knotty hill
#

Just a bit lol

#

Our boy shall go on to be entombed and his tomb shall kill a woman!

ruby quiver
knotty hill
#

I'm still wondering if we'll see Purvon in action. Because I'm curious as to the power of his armor. Greater or lesser than its Vestige of Divergence future?

slender fossil
#

I do wonder how they'd resolve a major divergence (teehee) from Canon due to live play shenanigans

knotty hill
#

Like, were the Vestiges insane when the gods they're tied to were out and about in the world?

#

Or did they only come to power in the divergence?

ruby quiver
#

said they were made during the calamity so

knotty hill
#

GG Loquatious

ruby quiver
#

the tree of names

#

the tree from the vision im sure

knotty hill
#

....

#

When the Raven Queen rose to godhood, everyone forgot both her name and the name of the God she just replaced.

ruby quiver
#

indeed

knotty hill
#

And now we're looking for "The Tree of names" which is connected to her rise.

ruby quiver
#

central artifact of avalir

knotty hill
#

And I'm betting that this is what you need to Ascend

ruby quiver
#

or

#

the tree exists to prevent ascension

knotty hill
#

I think that's what the cortex is for.

ruby quiver
#

the cortex is over the tree

#

but lets see

knotty hill
#

I'm thinking that it is a giant shield.

#

That this power is being siphoned off, in order to make sure that nothing can ever get close to this thing again.

#

Jumping off the ledge for a bit hehe. Upon the tree is written the name of every God in the cosmos. And if you've got enough power, you can scratch out some names, and write in your own.

ruby quiver
#

his husband was wrapped up in some stuff

#

sam's character is just a big ol liar

#

tell me more sam you jerk

knotty hill
#

Loquatious... what do you know

#

The invincible liar vs the unstoppable investigator haha

ruby quiver
#

hate it

#

also "gwessari lusaris(sp?)"

knotty hill
#

Knock? PFT

#

Sure

#

FIGHT

ruby quiver
#

he definitely had googled it lol

knotty hill
#

DDB is so handy for this 😄

#

Do we know what flavor of wizard Patia is?

#

To whom is may concern, fireball.

#

Crispy archmage

ruby quiver
#

lmao

#

he was just a wizard

knotty hill
#

Yea, I believe she is carrying the entire City on her back lol

#

Yes, he is flat.

#

Vindication!

#

The cortex is a giant barrier between this tree and everyone else. Nobody gets to interact with this thing again

#

And I guess Patia is Scribe flavor.

#

Now I just want C3 to find Scrabbles somewhere lol

ruby quiver
#

oracle who saw too much and thus renounced magic

#

Oh yay fiends

knotty hill
#

Not fiends.

#

Fiends

ruby quiver
#

Also: Dominus may be an old name for wildemount or may be what the shattered teeth are now

knotty hill
#

Um...

#

UUM

ruby quiver
#

Hey asmo

knotty hill
#

Why you dying?

ruby quiver
#

This is fine again

knotty hill
#

Please do not heal Asmodeus.

ruby quiver
#

Please do

knotty hill
#

The devil god of the Hells is the master of tyranny and domination. His words are honeyed and carefully crafted, soothing and corrupting the mortal heart. Asmodeus rules his domain with an iron fist, and the punishments awaiting those that cross him are the basis of nightmares. Evil entities pay him tribute alongside his devils, and many warlocks are drawn to his power.

#

Zerxus, pls no.

violet falcon
#

This is gonna be good. 🙂

ruby quiver
#

Nono it's fine we know this ends absolutely horribly

#

So let's see it :]

knotty hill
#

WOOHOO, onto the corruption arc!

#

Zerxus bout to become some archdevil.

#

Repay cruelty done unto you with further evil. If others show you kindness, exploit it.

ruby quiver
#

This is great :]]]]

knotty hill
#

Zerxus, my man....

#

Good luck

ruby quiver
#

Yesssss

#

I love this

#

"Who betrayed who" indeed

knotty hill
#

Yea, I'm just watching this going "So, which of the Archdevils are you?" for Zerxus.

ruby quiver
#

Sam begins sweating

#

"Dominus was the smile". Like teeth?

#

Perhaps that get shattered?

knotty hill
#

Perhaps

ruby quiver
#

Lmao "from fey" everyone pointedly looks at Sam

#

Sam really about to be revealed as some sort of disgraced archfey huh

knotty hill
#

Oh yea. It's time

#

T minus countdown to the eradication of 2/3s of all life on Exandria.

#

Goodbye Magitech New York

ruby quiver
#

Juicy juicy juicy

#

Sam's secrets better be revealed before the end of this series I swear

#

Even asmo was calling him out

#

Woo!

#

Ring of gold/silver is coming after them!

knotty hill
#

We in a bad place now woo!

ruby quiver
#

This is where it gets gooooooooder

#

Inb4 Sam is artagan

polar falcon
#

what a cliffhanger Link_derp

knotty hill
#

We ain't even halfway through

polar falcon
#

I feel like the group probably accidentally killed zerxus's husband with their planeshift experiments, and when he finds out he's going full asmodeus champion

knotty hill
#

Yea, the Paladin running basically lvl 20 stats is gonna be a problem.

polar falcon
#

i love the way those scenes played out though, a godless paladin vs the king of lies... and it wasn't all a one-way manipulation game

knotty hill
#

Azzy gave him everything he needed to fall.

polar falcon
#

the give and take, truths mixed in with leading statements to get someone to come to their own conclusion that just happens to align with what you want... *chefs kiss *

worn violet
#

Huh. Gau Drashari. I wonder if there’s a connection.

polar falcon
#

proto ashari for sure

knotty hill
#

Yea, and based on Keyleth's brief recounting of their history, we are very close to when they became just The Ashari.

#

I'm still sitting in my corner here that the Tree of Names is actually the secret to Ascension. That all the rites of Ascension are are the method by which you get to scratch your name onto this tree, alongside the names of every other god.

worn violet
#

An interesting piece of lore to lose during the Calamity

ruby quiver
#

Very excited to have Zerxus join Asmodeus once he finds out that his friends (at the very least Laerryn) are responsible for his husband's death
(The others were most certainly involved in it as well. And if nothing else, Loquacious knew about it and removed all the files on him to protect Laerryn)

knotty hill
#

Oh yea, the mans is going to be a problem. lol

#

It's gonna go so bad

ruby quiver
#

I also love that while yea Asmodeus was manipulating Zerxus, I'm pretty sure he was also telling the truth

#

At least the majority of what he said

#

It was a matter of presentation

#

I definitely do believe the "our promises were to the Primordials and we were called betrayers" bit though

#

Mostly cause that line is just too good for it to not be true

knotty hill
#

Azzy here knew exactly how to appeal to this faithless paladin.
Appear in a state of weakness
Some light retconning about what the betrayers were
And for good measure, sow some doubts in Zerxus's allegiance.

#

Now he gets to just watch as Zerxus makes all the little leaps he needs, to get the story straight in his head, to lead him to "My friends are all my enemies and the Prime Deities are the enemy."

ruby quiver
#

Admittedly, I don't think the thing about his friends is wrong

#

Loquacious at the very least has been lying to him (if not a bunch of others)

worn violet
#

It’s interesting to think about exactly what in Asmodeus’s speech is a flat lie vs a contortion of words

#

Especially because (and maybe this isn’t the case with this iteration) Asmodeus historically can’t lie to people.

knotty hill
#

We know from the Wildmounte book why the gods became divided.

ruby quiver
#

We know the general reason why yea

worn violet
#

I also have a habit of reading the history of the setting as history told by the victor

ruby quiver
#

Same

knotty hill
#

The primordials were killing off all the people on Exandria, and the Gods got divided over what this meant.
The Betrayers went "Yea, everything's broken now, so lets just start over elsewhere."
With the Primes "No! We must stay and salvage this."

ruby quiver
#

What's told in wildemount also doesn't exactly... contradict what he said

worn violet
#

So I’ve always toyed with the idea of all the gods not being as concrete and black/white as the people of the world think they are.

knotty hill
#

The Betrayers siding with the Primordials to wipe out life on Exandria, so that the Primes would also come with them to a new world. Once the slate was clean, there'd be nothing to salvage.

worn violet
#

Yeah, if anything I feel like Asmo is either leaving crucial details out, or the winners of the conflict are.

#

Like in my Exandria, I never believed the Prime Deities decided themselves that they needed to go beyond the Divine Gate. That’s just what they want people to think.

ruby quiver
#

Double checking the exact lore in wildemount definitely makes me think it's written from the "perspective" of the primes, and more specifically how they want to be viewed

knotty hill
#

To do a bit of tinfoil theorizing. I think the Drashari Cortex is going to become the Divine Gate.

worn violet
#

Either way. A lot of interesting theories.

knotty hill
#

Like, I think this ends with them blowing it up, to wrap around all of Exandria.

ruby quiver
#

Especially because of this bit

Beneath the elements, unknown to the Creators beyond the ashen skies, lived ancient beings who had already claimed this world as their home: the Primordials.
We know this isn't true. We have been told in other situations that they did know about the Primordials

worn violet
ruby quiver
#

This is the bit said after the descriptions of the gods creating life and granting gifts

#

It's categorically false based on what we know from other sources

#

Which also causes it to fit perfectly within what asmo said

knotty hill
#

I'm still wondering if the Luxon is going to come into play here.

ruby quiver
#

It's gotta

#

Luis' name is under its symbol in the intro

#

And all of the other things in the intro are definitely directly related to things in the story

worn violet
ruby quiver
#

The calamity (the war) lasted for... at least a while

#

Per Call of the Netherdeep and other sources

#

We are definitely gonna see the kick-off

knotty hill
#

I'm wondering how many gods were gonna see in this.

#

We've gotten Asmodeus and Pelor thus far.

ruby quiver
#

Another fun bit from wildemount that lines up with what asmo said

Some gods were so full of grief and anger that they wished to leave this world behind and start anew. They tried to convince their divine kindred to join with the Primordials, allowing chaos to reclaim the realm. Other gods wished to remain and subdue the Primordials, to tame the land for the sake of their creations.

#

The Betrayers did truly believe that the evil things they gave to the creations were gifts (and in many ways, they were, as asmo said)

worn violet
#

I’m gonna scour through the Reborn guide a little later too to see what kind of stuff made it into that instead of Wildemount

knotty hill
#

Good idea 😅 I don't have that.

worn violet
#

Maybe not in grand detail

knotty hill
#

And what has become of our tree of names? Where did it go? Like, we know that somehow this thing is tied to the Raven Queen's rise.

worn violet
#

Tinfoil Hat: It’s the Sun Tree.

#

Pelor did something to it before dipping behind the Divine Gate to mask its real identity. While also using it as a sort of connection to the Material.

knotty hill
#

I think it'd be cool if we finally learn the Raven Queen's name in this story.

worn violet
#

Would definitely be interesting

#

Maybe a secret that dies with the party

knotty hill
#

I wanna learn more about what it means to Ascend to Godhood in this world. Comparing The Raven Queen to Vecna

worn violet
#

Yeah, I’m big curious as to all this divine shenaniganry

#

I also wanna know who made it even possible for someone to ascend, like… if the Tree of Names is the key to ascension, why did the gods make it?

#

If they made it at all.

knotty hill
#

I'm inclined towards they found it.

#

That this is what made them the gods of exandria to begin with.

#

Before this, they were all just bouncing around existence until they found this rock, and I think that this tree is what connected them to it. What made them Gods.

worn violet
#

The gods are just beings from the Far Realm that put their name on the tree lol

#

Maybe the Luxon made it

knotty hill
#

And if you ever wanted to see a Godless Exandria, all you'd need to do is chop down the tree.

worn violet
#

And the Circle of Brass learn this, making the gods very upset.

#

Adios Avalir

knotty hill
#

Well, Brass here wants to turn Avalir into a multi-dimensional floating city. What Silver and Gold are up to? Idk

worn violet
#

Also, I wonder if there’s some connection between Laerryn’s experiment and Syngorn’s ability to jump to the Feywild

knotty hill
#

Oh I'm dead certain we just saw the beginning of the Threshold crests

#

This tech is gonna get spread out to other cities like Aeor.

#

Bolo is actually an Aeorean Spy!!

copper minnow
#

man this episode was very dense with exposition, maybe a little too much

#

but, I enjoyed the brief combat scene. funny that the abjurer went for offensive spell while the other wizard tried to do counterspell/dispel magic

#

also man, Brennan really nailed how to play the prince of lies.

#

Everything he said was a manipulation, every truth twisted in a way to serve his needs

#

and so likable

untold pewter
#

what do you mean? He was clearly just a poor, wounded man asking for help 🤭

stoic leaf
#

I need Thursday

#

I also disagree with think asmodeus is manipulating

#

I think asmo is being serious and turthful

ruby quiver
#

He is definitely mostly telling the truth

#

But that doesn't mean he isn't not manipulating

stoic leaf
#

Oh definitely

#

I was SHOCKED when he cast protection

#

Taking everything asmo said with a grain of salt I wonder what became of the other gods and what their real story is

#

But also that hollow invited pervan to kill him

worn violet
#

Yeah tbh Asmo is someone not to trust

#

I think everything he has said is categorically true, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t hiding something else

stoic leaf
#

I disagree i kinda think its like a seven deadly sins thing (anime) hes the god of lies so he cant lie

ruby quiver
#

Maybe, bit even still, just because he's telling the truth doesn't mean he isn't manipulating

#

Cause that at the very least is one of the things he is known for in exandria

#

Manipulation and deception

zenith island
#

Do we know why Lucretia Hollow wanted to kill Purvan? Did I miss a clue or is it still unknown?

ruby quiver
#

His words are honeyed and carefully crafted, soothing and corrupting the mortal heart.
For asmo

knotty hill
#

Yea, like, I just cannot see him as anything other a liar and corruptive god. Because that’s what he is in Critical Role.

worn violet
#

That’s the thing I love about Asmodeus as a god. He’s very complex.

#

And again, I personally consider the lore out of the CR books as lore told from the common perspective. The stuff the Prime Deities want mortals to know. So this is a very intriguing plot to play around with.

polar falcon
#

much easier to lie to and manipulate someone with the truth thrown in as well

worn violet
#

Gotta say, I'm really enjoying the not-always-cooperative dynamic between the party members like

#

I think it's very on brand and on theme for the Age of Arcanum, an age with a lot of incredibly ambitious individuals whose ambition is likely going to lead to the end.

heavy lotus
#

Crit Role C1E97 ||I just got to Keyleth's legendary goldfish jump and I'm wheezing, I love her so much 😂||

knotty hill
#

It's fine, we're gods!

stoic leaf
polar falcon
worn violet
#

The lore drops that got dropped in 2 of 4 episodes of Calamity alone

ruby quiver
#

Next episode 1st rebroadcast is apparently going to be delayed to be being a longer episode

#

so somewhere between 5-6 hours

copper minnow
#

5-6 hourse? jeez

knotty hill
#

I’m feeling like combat occurs here

ruby quiver
#

well we know at least one does

ruby quiver
slender fossil
#

Just finished up Thursdays episode. Definitely loving the pacing and atmosphere of it all

#

Also, we've got two more episodes of Calamity, then the one shot on the 23rd right?
So normal CR back on Jun 30?

#

Or they gonna take that weekend off entirely I wonder and return July 7

polar falcon
#

c3 comes back on the 30th

knotty hill
ruby quiver
#

Thinking again about how Zerxus said he kneels to no God and then 30 minutes later he is kneeling for one

copper minnow
#

Well technically…he is kneeling -with- a god

slender fossil
#

Something I think I'm realizing about Brennans style compared to Mercer is that he seems to be able to keep the flow up a bit better than Mercer in the sense that there's no real dead air when a rules question comes up.

#

Like the counterspell question, he's still advancing things in the middle of looking it up

copper minnow
#

Brennan is certainly more used to a tight schedule. Dimension 20 edits out some dead air but it also often has shorter and less episodes so he always is moving things along

slender fossil
#

Spelljammer that he dmd too was super snappy.
Though he might be a touch long on exposition in the interest of keeping schedule, but it still works

#

The interplay in Calamity I'm finding for example is definitely a lot more intra character between the players, as opposed to with any npcs of note

ruby quiver
#

gotta set up that hubris

#

also its a bit of a thing with the way that the series is set up

copper minnow
#

I dont remember the exposition being this long in D20 so I assume its just the source material requiring more than ususal

ruby quiver
#

When the premise of the series (and the overall goal of it) is known, interplay is easier to happen

#

Also in this case: the PCs are the NPCs of note

slender fossil
#

Perhaps, I think his Spelljammer episodes too - the player interaction was definitely more than the npc too, at least compared to C1 and C3 CR in my opinion.

#

But like the whole of Brennans Spelljammer sessions probably add up to a long episode of CR

zenith island
#

I wanted to love the Spelljammer stream, I really did, but dear lord B.Dave talks too much.

#

But that's off-topic...

#

I need to watch all these Calamity episodes again. It's so dense with lore and clues that I feel I'm missing so much.

worn violet
hardy dagger
#

His exposition style is about in line with his last d20 campaign, Starstruck Odyssey, which shared the situation of having an established world

hardy dagger
#

Also probably owing to his proficiency at short term campaigns, I appreciate BLM's transparency with respect to which skill will glean the most relevant information in an investigative scene

worn violet
#

Yeah, he seems to be really transparent about which skill sets are more prudent

copper minnow
#

Brennan is often very transparent with DCs and rolls. the "Box of Doom" is a famous part of all D20 games and he basically did it as well with the counterspell last episode

worn violet
#

Box of Doom is a great tactic for those make-or-break moments

knotty hill
#

I’m honestly hoping he has one for calamity.

lapis storm
#

The way I always describe it is Matt's game is like a home game turned up to 11. He's basically the best home DM you can ever ask for, along with his story telling, his voice acting and his long game world crafting.
BLM is like a game show host. Structure, more pizazz and dynamics, and more of a kind of traditional entertainer. He grew up with improv and direct comedy as opposed to Matt's traditional performance background.
I absolutely love both and Calamity is in my opinion one of the best short term games I have ever seen so far

worn violet
#

I think he just didn’t call it his Box of Doom because it was his actual rolling tray and not The Box of Doom™️

polar falcon
#

My character in ExU Calamity is Zerxus Ilerez, a human oath of redemption paladin who is the First Knight of Avalir. The First Knight is a title given to a legendary hero of the city who is tasked with slaying monstrous threats and defending the city. He is not a native of the wondrous flying city of Avalir, but rather he is from a terrestrial town near Cathmoira. Almost 7 years prior to the beginning of our tale, he met the love of his life, a half elf man named Evandrin, who arrived in Cathmoira with an infant son named Elias. The two men were meant to raise the boy together, but an unknown illness took Evandrin’s life too soon, a loss that has weighed heavily on Zerxus. That loss coupled with the extremely isolated life of The First Knight has resulted in an often stoic and serious Zerxus, who’s demeanor is most often softened by the humor of his long time friend Nydas (played by Lou Wilson).
Little zerxus backstory info from Luis on the crit role site! (timeline seems a little off though)

#

i think it would probably mean 7 year prior to the last time avalir took off, so 7 years with husband + kid, and now 7 years after husband died?

knotty hill
#

?? How is the timeline weird?

#

He fell in love 7 years ago, and sadly in that time lost him as well

polar falcon
#

cause 7 years ago elias was 7, not an infant ^_^; at least according to the in-game timeline

knotty hill
#

Ah

polar falcon
#

not a big deal though, still tragic backstory leading to sympathy for the devil 😭

knotty hill
#

You just know that he’s gonna turn on the party somewhere.

#

The lvl 14 Paladin with almost 30 strength and max charisma…. OUCH. The man’s already a tank, but he’ll hit like artillery

trim copper
worn violet
#

And he’s up against mostly wizards/bards

copper minnow
#

I am very excited for the first real combat today of the series

#

travis, Luis and Sam havent had the experience yet of a BLM combat encounter.

knotty hill
#

Oh this is gonna go so bad.

#

I'm still sitting here, expecting someone to die

#

Only thing these mortals equal to the gods in is ego.

#

Brennan's upright, this ain't good

ruby quiver
#

pretty bird

#

yessss draconic spirit

knotty hill
#

Gotta go big

ruby quiver
#

Ooo necrotic damage

#

Does that mean that the original dragon was a Topaz dragon?

#

Confirmation of gem dragons (at some point) in exandria?

knotty hill
#

Gotta

#

Or possibly a Shadow Dragon? idk

ruby quiver
#

Hm maybe

#

Glittering dragon though

knotty hill
#

Ah, I missed the glitter

ruby quiver
#

Casual devil for the first time

knotty hill
#

Ah Fireball 😄

#

Goon removal at its most elegant.

ruby quiver
#

Enemy spellcasters who ready stuff in an ambush my beloved

#

Barbed devil?

knotty hill
#

😄 They think they'll see tomorrow.

ruby quiver
#

"The blood of the masters chosen, he lives"

#

Hate that

knotty hill
#

Yea, who is the master? And who is the chosen?

ruby quiver
#

Aw she does still love him

knotty hill
#

Oof. It's gonna sting when it's revealed that he is keeping some crucial info.

ruby quiver
#

Sam seems excited to be a bard again

worn violet
#

Sam is a bard and an actor irl, so I'm sure he's just happy to be in his natural element

knotty hill
#

I'm still waiting to find out what flavor of Warlock he is

worn violet
#

I bet fiend

#

To a certain manipulative Lord of the Nine Hells

knotty hill
#

I am getting that feeling

#

PAIN TIME

#

SMITE

#

Yea, ya'll just saw his resume for being the First Knight of Avalir

ruby quiver
#

getting called brother in infernal

#

hellooooo mister champino of asmo

#

incubus? 👀 ?

knotty hill
#

Paladins...

polar falcon
#

I thought erinyes for the flying lady fiend

worn violet
#

They're definitely the flying lady devils

ruby quiver
#

oh yea erinyes makes more sense

worn violet
#

They're also iirc stronger tha incubi/succubi

#

(Sidenote: Brennan's repping the Unsleeping City 😍 )

ruby quiver
#

so what are these spiritual weapon summoners?

worn violet
#

Maybe homebrew