#cr: task

[essektheylyss]

when you're hypercompetent and too busy to show up to the war council so you get voluntold into a stealth mission on the moon 😔

[blorbologist]

Y'know, I think I figured out why the Hells still feel like a new low-level party to me, even though they're level 13 and almost 100 episodes in.

I don't quite think it's the lack of conversations, or the fact half the party's plot hooks are big ties to past campaigns - though that definitely plays a part.

... Bell's Hells still primarily rely on quest givers.

Most of their goals are given to them and do not feel organic to the party, and constantly remind us that the Hells are pretty much never the most powerful people in the room. Which is usually something you see with a low-level party.

NPCs offering jobs is not a bad thing; it's a very common plot hook. Matt has been extremely skilled with using NPC quest givers in those two campaigns. Not only do they provide an obvious plot thread, but they can put the party in the path of others (say, the Nein running into the Iron Shepherds while doing a job for the Gentleman and everything that came of that). And the Hells had a solid start with it too - Eshteross was an excellent quest giver!

The problem is that Bell's Hells have never really not had a quest giver.

Maybe it's a byproduct of the more plot-heavy structure of this campaign? But while prior parties have felt like they decided on their course of action and what they prioritized, Bell's Hells feels less like level 13 (13! Level 13!) experienced adventurers and more like an MMO group clicking on the exclamation point over an NPC's head. Where does the plot demand we go next? Who do we report back to?

They're level 13.

At level 13, Vox Machina had just defeated a necromantic city-state to clear their name and Percy's conscience. And, you know, the Conclave just destroyed Emon. No one was explicitly telling the group to gather Vestiges and save the world (though Matt guided them there), and they were usually among the most powerful people in the room. They chose which Vestiges to prioritize, which dragons to tackle when, even if the over-all plot was pretty clear.

At level 13, the Mighty Nein were celebrating Traveler Con (another PC goal, I'll note) after brokering peace between two nations, accidentally becoming pirates and heroes of the Dynasty. The Nein regularly chose what to do based on personal goals, not grand ones. Though definitely smaller fish than Vox Machina at this level, they were very independent and gaining solid political clout.

While we're at it: level 13 is one level lower than the Ring of Brass, who had a huge amount of sway over Avalir. They ended the world, and also saved it, while in the grand scheme of things being only a smidge more powerful than Bell's Hells are now.

Can you really see the Hells wielding that amount of influence, when they're constantly being told what to do next?

The god-eater might be unleashed, so Bell's Hells have no time to do anything but what is asked of them. No time for therapy unless stolen from Feywild time, no travel on foot and late-night watches. They haven't even had time to grieve FCG. Percy was grieved in the middle of the Conclave arc. Molly was grieved when half the party was still in irons.

Matt is in the very unfortunate spot of not being able to give the Hells the same agency as the other two parties. Not only because of the world-ending plot introduced so early on; they are surrounded by characters they know (and the cast knows) are stronger and wiser than them - the familiarity of the past PCs and NPCs is to their disadvantage.

Why would the party reasonably ignore Keyleth's task that will help save the world and go off on a romp? Why would the cast when they know well Keyleth has to be sensible and with the best intentions in mind? The stakes are just too high.

It means that the Hells still feel like they're running errands instead of pursuing their own destiny. Their accomplishments are diminished as just being parts of a to-do list, and any stakes feel padded by several level 20 PCs/NPCs standing 5 steps away ready to catch them.

This isn't Bell's Hell's fault, nor is it Matt's. It could be amended, I think, if the Hells are really left to their own devices for a long period of time without support and shortcuts (like during the party split)... which would be really tricky to pull off at this point in the campaign.

They're level 13. They're big fish, but they're stuck in a pond full of friendly sharks, so they don't feel big at all.

[maryallenc]

now that c3 is ending, im looking back and figuring out laudna's arc as a whole. and if i'm remembering it correctly, marisha mentioned that she wanted to create a character that has gotten over and made peace with her trauma, and yet the narrative and the foundations say otherwise, and laudna pretty much became the complete opposite: a character whose most of her actions are so informed by it.

she kinda really regressed from that intention, hasn't she?

not saying it's not a valid type of character development. or that there was supposed to be only ever one specific trauma she can or cannot be over or not.

but it's fascinating in a way to remember that she started off serenely telling her death to orym, and stating that she could smile so happily because "the worst thing that could happen has already happened"...

...to lashing out at orym because of him picking up a sword that had killed her previously.

side tangent, but laudna and orym's dynamic are lowkey one of the more fascinating dynamics out of bell's hells. they may not be the closest, but i definitely find them more interesting than even laudna's closer relationships.

anyway, laudna's story was then concluded with essek's help. and delilah's locked inside laudna for good, and can't even communicate or talk to laudna. officially exiled to the back of laudna's mind, shackled within the valleys of her chest above her heart.

delilah is still in there.

and it feels like a mirror to how laudna started. everything's all fine and dandy, actually! she'll never have problems again.

and so there's that contradiction again. delilah has no power over laudna anymore. and yet, laudna... still kinda defines herself with delilah, from her clothes to the fact that she still can get power from delilah. just like how laudna started the campaign defining herself as the obviously dead woman.

and it makes me question if she has actually ever even changed, or was just broken down to her bare essence for everyone to figure out how she actually works, and rebuild again with some minor upgrades, with no substantial improvement. it feels like she's still stuck, even with the new experiences and connections.

the raven queen said it's possible for her to be alive again. and yet, laudna seemed like she might not even want it.

maybe because she actually has to change. move past the stage of death she has now defined herself in. to actually grow as a person. change, not only with the people she surrounds herself with, but with laudna herself.

would she, though?

[vaynglories]

laerryn coramar-seelie did nothing wrong actually. who among us has not known the pain of opening up task manager and seeing some fuckass Mystery Program eating up all their available processing power like hell yeah girl i'd have blasted that damn tree too

[slayerscake]

Good luck and to all those watching the C3 finale. Hope y'all have a great time.

And for those staying up to watch the entire thing, make sure to take a nap or something or else the evil lag will get you around 11am

[travalerray]

honestly never having watched CQL beyond the part where WN gets randomly possessed (???) at Biling Lake is pretty funny because I hear the most random of things about it later. what do you mean there's a conversation between Lan XICHEN and Wei Wuxian where LXC is all "Wei-gongzi pls come back to Gusu so that my didi can chill" in his previous life and Wei Wuxian wipes off Jiang Cheng's tears in the Guanyin Temple. How did the XiYao meeting end up as a sexually charged gift exchange. What do you mean they had Lan Yi and Baoshan Sanren as tragic lesbians. What is a Yin Iron. Why does half the cast know demonic cultivation. Why is Wen Qing getting dramatically threatened to spy in the Cloud Recesses. WHO MADE LAN WANGJI THE CHIEF CULTIVATOR

[undead-knick-knack]

Every episode Matt is fighting for his life trying to keep these motherfuckers focused 😂

[screechingfromthevoid]

Something I find deeply interesting about Percy setting Gwendolyn up as a spy in order to find the gods is that it comes on top of the layer of "I'm getting old".

Percy is constantly staring his mortality in the face and he is still so curious about the world. Which is a wonderful thing. Except. He is passing these curiosities on to his children. Going to the moon would be a fine thing to give them. But tasking one of them to find the gods? That is an obsession.

If this is what Percy wants for Gwendolyn, she is going to do it. She is going to hone her skills. She will get very close to her uncle Vax. She will meet gods and. Who knows what they will do with that information.

What is a human man going to do with the knowledge of the gods first reincarnation? Will he even live long enough to see their first resurgence? Will he funnel money to the gods and their parents. Some sort of Whitestone scholarship? Does he think something like that will matter once they come back to themselves?

[wlwitchofwhitestone]

Laudna's reaction being to get far away from Ashton makes perfect sense when you consider that the last time she was this angry she ate someone's soul. The reality of the situation is that she's not in perfect control of the lich in her head, who is ready to wield any lapse in Laudna's sense of self for her own gain.

[wardensantoineandevka]

okay but what is my boy Fjord doing rn, is he well

[pocketgalaxies]

m9 very very diligently spending a whole week turning a jungle into a disney resort.........it's so fucking soft...............

[wandering-trader-joes]

Ok critters, I see your “no one is a doppelgänger” theory and raise you this. There is exactly ONE doppelgänger when they were told there would be two.

[the2ndsanctuary]

Something about Shmilks vitriol towards the fairy king never let's go of me, reminding a lot of his tantrum after being offered friendship by Pure Vanilla. The idea of pre-corruption SM having history with elder faerie is so compelling to me idk man.

[anakinh]

hate it when i accidentally woobify my villains

[sad--tree]

keep saying i don't want 2 work another retail xmas but canNOT 4 the life of me make myself finish my goddamn fucking job applications !!!!!! death & dying & despair etc. etc.

[thxversatile]

task 004, @tbthqs — THE VERSATILE: files

TRIVIA

Nome Completo: Harvey Wang

Idade: 32 anos

Altura: 1,85 m ( 6' 2")

Porte: Atlético/Musculoso

ATRIBUTOS (-103)

Saúde: 20 (15 iniciais + 5)

Força: 15 (12 iniciais + 3)

Ataque: 14 (12 iniciais + 2)

Defesa: 15 (10 iniciais + 5)

Mobilidade: 5

Inteligência: 13

Estabilidade: 5

Perícia: 16

HABILIDADES (-50)

Medicina (-15): Adquirida em sua formação em Medicina.

Cirurgia (-10): Especializado em Cirurgia Geral.

Sex-Appeal (-10): Confiança sexual exacerbada.

Dissimulação (-5): Manipulador em sua dissimulação, não é honesto.

Condução (-15): Detém carteira de autorização para dirigir veículos automotores e motocicletas.

Esportes (0): Adquirido durante o evento bodyswap (Kai Pōmaika`i).

VANTAGENS (-22)

Destemor (-5): Não detém medos conhecidos.

Ouvido Aguçado (-5): Observador e ouvinte assíduo de todos os locais que frequenta (fofoqueiro).

Sorte (-15): Apesar da vida triste em 2024, detém sorte em absolutamente tudo que se propõe a fazer.

DESVANTAGENS (+50)

Megalomania (+10): Exagera em absolutamente tudo, principalmente em relação a si próprio.

Cobiça (+10): Inveja qualquer pessoa que detenha vida melhor que a sua.

Egoísmo (+10): Pensa apena em si mesmo. Ponto.

Deficiência (+20): Teve o Ligamento do joelho rompido aos 19 anos, cirurgia de correção.

ATUALIZAÇÕES (-)

5+ em Saúde;

10+ em atributos: 3+ em Força, 2+ em Ataque, e 5+ em Defesa;

Habilidade Esportes adquirida durante o evento bodyswap (Kai Pōmaika`i).