#feat. liam (npc)

[marcussour]

EXU Divergence E03 random thoughts and bits

I can only imagine how chaotic was the ad recording session when they made all the ads for EXU:D

Sam Riegel, what the actual fuck? a fucking bug zapper man. What was he thinking man, I mean, shit was hilarious, I'm still laughing, but what is in that man's head

Is it me or the frames and the background are getting greener?

Look at that, Garen gained a feat instead of a level, so that was what the choice was all about

Kicking the shit out of anyone who rejects the notion of kindness? My guys

A grouse you say Brennan? Could it be a Greater Sage Grouse?

Oh, the notion of these remnants from a skeleton army just, wasting away, it's horrific but also, like the idea of nature reclaiming them while they still are alive in their undeadness, there's some kind of sadness to it

Gubbling the Goblin? Great NPC

"Well, if fate just ain't a bitch"

That was a great character moment for Garen, just, finding the block of stone that crushed his arm, and then, transforming it into something better

Oh, Erro

Add him to the long list of "Liam O'Brien characters that have made me cry"

Change is coming

Crokas you magnificent creature

Jasmine's finally rolling good

Seriously, that Nat 20 was so good that not only they found this amazing stash of things, but like, the odds of finding Erro's mother's shield

"This feels as impossible as meeting a moon man of Ruidus", OH YOU

Keep those nat 20s going

Why do good things even happen?

That's right, I actually hadn't make the connection that the bug from the Wildmother drove them there

See, even the hammer was from Garen's history

Agrupnin Vault? AGRUPNIN? Like Cerrit?

HOLY SHIT, THAT'S PATIA'S ORB!!

IT HAPPENED AND IT MATTERED!! HOLY CRAP, I'M HAVING A FLURRY OF EMOTIONS RIGHT NOW AND JUST, SOBBING (dammit Calamity was so fucking good)

Oh, so that's where the episode's name comes from

What's Liana's deal? Obviously something related to the Moonweaver

I like to see Brennan made the reminder not only of Nia's being the one that kept hope alive for everyone, but also, the amount of loss that she's endured, she literally lost people in every episode, of course she would react in that way

Also, Celia's acting, incredible

"Can you be disappointed in something you believe in, or is that a contradiction?"

Yeah, this debate, all around Nia, regarding the nature of faith and belief was, top notch, incredible stuff from both Brennan and Celia

Oh, so Liana was the Moonweaver's avatar

She kept her promise

Not strange, beautiful

I do have to wonder, is Liana the Moonweaver in the same way that the gods reincarnated as mortals in Downfall, or is this something different?

Is this the longer we've heard Crokas talk in a single scene?

Another Jasmine Nat20

Liam and Matt's faces when Alex spoke the name of "the orb of Avalir". Which actually, I think they only just realized that it was Patia's orb, because I don't recall them having the same reaction of recognition when Crokas first got a hold on it

Oh, so it gave Crokas a massive bonus in intelligence, which is why he's now so eloquent. Well played by Alex there

Took Liam a long time to figure it out and then... THE FLURRY OF EMOTIONS ALL AT ONCE

CERRIT AND HIS FAMILY!! PATIA!!!

Wait... Crokas is a monk, and he now has the orb, and the amulet from the Knowing Mentor, is Crokas the founder of the Cobalt Soul? Because we've all assumed since Calamity that the main theory of Patia's orb becoming the first stone, so to speak, of the Cobalt Soul, but seeing it now with Crokas, I'm starting to believe guys

Those nat 20s from Jasmine are the gift that keeps on giving

Downfall reference!

Something eternal wished to know the love of a mortal sibling

"I don't know if I like smart Crokas"

Oh, the Kephkedriel realization, hahahaha, and Garen changing his heart regarding if he likes smart Crokas

The march of the ents treants!

Would you like some magic nuts?

NUTS OF HEALING

DEEZ NUTZ

Man, the notion of a horde of unicorn going full Ride of the Rohirrim against an army of devils, Brennan was cooking there

Jasmine with a 4th Nat 20

One turn and Fiedra's already out

Imagine if Gubbling had been with them when they found the treants... GUBBLING DEEZ NUTZ

And now Nia's out. This fight is brutal considering how low level they all are

See, now Garen's out

"mash the nuts in her mouth", "put the nuts in her mouth"

NOTHING BUT NUT

"Laura Bailey would be so proud"

"the one in your mouth is not the only magical nut in this battlefield"

The unicorns destroying the devils is like, playing Robot Unicorn Attack Heavy Metal (which funny enough I was playing yesterday, because a friend reminded me it existed). Anyway, Blind Guardian's "Battlefield" plays in the distance.

Another horse girl in the CR Family

I AM LOVED BY UNICORNS AND THE MOON.

BY ROAD'S END??!! OH YOU. Look, I wasn't expecting for the origin of Byroden to hit me so much emotionally, but here we are. It's probably the significance and importance of like, being the City that mostly reflects the collaborative nature of the storytelling between Matt, Aabria and Brennan, can't think of another city or town that has gone through different iterations, one building upon the other, like Byroden (and the idea of Brennan being the latest one to put his mark on it while, simultaneously, being the one telling its origin).

On a similar note, I wonder if Torm's Hill will eventually become another settlement

"Would you like some nuts?"; "What are you saying? OH REAL NUTS"

Merfolk!

Talking Key!

Key humor! Brennan is just the best when it comes to these types of characters

"I wish I was still dumb"

To Vasselheim, hopefully with some pudding there

Brennan's inability to remember the "Is it Thursday yet?" will never stop being funny

[explorerspack]

thinking about the relationship between DMs and the characters in their parties. yes i’m aware this doesn’t make any sense as the characters are not real but hear me out,

[morningsound15]

let me just, for a moment, say something that of course has already been said but that i just can’t stop thinking about re: episode 126 like… i know a lot of people in fandom (myself included) might gush more about ashley/yasha but holy FUCK what marisha did last night was so good.

like ashely is obviously the quietest player, and she’s been around for the least amount of time because of all the eps she had to miss. you can tell (other players/characters have picked up on it too) that in some ways she’s still finding her sea legs (no pun intended) with the group. she’s much more likely to fall quiet in group settings, not strategize so openly, she’s not usually the first one to engage npcs, stuff like that. this makes sense for yasha's character, but it’s so clear in every moment where yasha does speak, or every conversation she’s in, that even though she’s quiet she’s still so attentive, always paying attention, and she’s clearly working through some shit during scenes, even if she isn’t speaking (her face the first morning after beau woke up with the eye… destroyed me). and when ashley gets a little bit of space and time to really get into the rp… damn she’s so good. she’s so good! her little nuances and her sincerity, i love how funny and awkward and earnest she is. her scenes with beau are obviously great, but also her scenes with jester, and veth. (sam and laura are both great at this also! they really draw players into the rp, they’re great scene partners but their efforts are also more visible)

but i just have to give so many props to marisha. i mean the way she really thought through everything about how she wanted the night to go, from the tower changes to the order of things to the softness. just asking questions, prodding for backstory, gently giving space for yasha/ashley to engage. it’s so clear that yasha’s been dying to talk to her, and it’s so clear that yasha’s still holding onto guilt! she’s keeping herself back, she’s trying to keep her distance, she doesn’t want beau to get hurt (all she wants is to protect the m9). yasha's still struggling with feeling worthy or love, with the fear of maybe being turned into a weapon again, and here comes beau ‘i’ve never been on a date or had a non-toxic relationship before like 1 year ago’ lionett, all grand gestures of romance (feat. flowers, drinks, dogs, ninjas, love confessions, unconditional support, and everything else that makes me tear up). and beau knows yasha so well! everything was really picture-perfect. yasha is this big scary barbarian who can fly and break creatures over her knee but also she scritches every dog she meets and picks flowers and speaks softly and plays a delicate harp and in every moment (except in battle) she’s really just so so gentle, and that’s how all of that date felt to me! just really gentle.

marisha/beau just put so much LOVE into it. (and of course liam! so much love for his friends.) and not just love for yasha, but love for ashley too! it’s vulnerable to go so big, to put your heart out there like that. beau made her feelings clear while also making it clear that her love doesn’t come with caveats or conditions. no expectations. every little gesture is telling yasha that she loves her, but beau also makes sure to tell her (and veth!) that they’re moving on yasha's terms. all beau REALLY wants out of their night together is for yasha to know how much beau cares for her, how much she trusts her, how much she wants yasha to trust her back. that’s so fucking SOFT. it’s just so lovely.

it just makes me so happy that they love their characters so much, that they care about giving them the space to explore this, that marisha carved out space for her and ashley to do a really long scene together, but mostly space for yasha to just breathe and gather the strength to say what she wanted to say. it was romantic, cute, funny, awkward, and just all around lovely. LOVELY.

it’s just so clear how much these folks all love each other! they just want their d&d characters to be loved and happy, and that is so sweet of them :’)

ANYWAY! the girls are in love! happy for them :)

[ghostblackberry]

Because I am stressed about my life have a list of every d&d character I've played:

Percy human monk because the person I was dating my first semester of college decided to try to get me to join advanced dungeons and Dragons original Tomb of Annihilation or as I like to call it Tomb of Annoyance. Hated him.

Also Advanced D&D: Philip Pillowthrow the gnomish acrobat circa 2011. Best known for absolutely hating and killing our evil cleric. The only time I have ever done player v player combat. I won.

3.5 Just one. 2013. Maggie the half Elf. My brother made me play a Bard. I do not like Bards to this day.

5e

Brie Tealeaf, stout halfling enchantment wizard. Regularly rode on the back of the barbarian absolutely fun.

Miriam, human. Played twice: once as a fighter once as a paladin. I literally just took the same stats and changed the class. Regularly used a flaming whip to pull an enemy in and then punched them in the face.

Waverly MacGullicutti, half sea Elf Tempest cleric. Known for being a bit of a drunkard in the beginning but eventually ended up in a two-way relationship with the Rogue and the paladin. Very weird game.

Waverly Lightfoot. Same stats as Waverly M. just switched her over to a lightfoot halfling for another game no romance.

Unimportant/Mackenzie winged tiefling Druid circle of the land specifically Forest. My baby girl I want to play her again. I'm very attached

Liam human Rogue assassin with one level of Warlock. Combat wheelchair user. Traded his memories for the life of his sister kind of sad

Axie: Fallen asimar another Rogue this time a thief. Has the wizard initiate feet and a cat. And a wizard NPC husband.

Claire variant human Warlock. Essentially written as a child prodigy. Probably should have made her a wizard not a warlock but whatever. Also it turns out I hate warlocks in combat heavy games patron Dynamics are excellent for RP games but not for combat games

Patrick "Trick" Buttonhill Jr. Firbolg forge cleric. Raised by halflings. Basically cross an Idaho farm Boy crossed with a lesser Hobbit from The Lord of the rings? And make him a very tall fae creature that resembles a sheep

And two babies that don't have games yet:

Scout Greenblood half wood elf artificer specifically an alchemist wasn't her original build but the more I was looking at her back story I was like fine I'll play an artificer.

And Dryden Lightmourn variant human wizard specifically a war mage combat wheelchair user. Lightly armored feat.

I want to play a ranger at some point but I haven't managed to make a build that isn't an NPC in a game I run and I thought about playing sorcerer but why be a sorcerer when you can be a wizard? I will never ever play Bard in 5e. Nope.

[justalittlebluetiefling]

What is critical role I’ve never heard of it until your blog

Oh anon, I know you don’t know this yet, but this is one of my favorite questions! Critical Role, in the words of Matthew Mercer, is a show where a bunch of nerdy ass voice actors sit around and play Dungeons and Dragons. 

Now, in the words of me, Critical Role is on (almost) every Thursday at 7pm PST. The show lasts three to four hours and is just… literally the best storytelling? Ever? Which is quite a feat, since it’s 7 - 8 people improving the story together. We’ve got: Matthew Mercer (the DM), Marisha Ray, Laura Bailey, Travis Willingham, Taliesin Jaffe, Sam Riegel, Liam O’Brien, and when Blindspot isn’t filming, Ashley Johnson. If you’ve played video games or watched anime or anything cartoony in the last 20 years, you’ve definitely heard at least one of them in something. Probably multiple of them in the same project. These nerdy ass voice actors are a real-life found family and I get really emotional over this on a regular basis.

Their first campaign, the story of Vox Machina, starts halfway through their story and ended up being 115 episodes long. They had already been playing together for a few years when they started streaming on Twitch. It’s so easy to fall in love with every single character. Even the NPCs voiced by Matt instead of the players. There are ships to ship and stories to love and cry over. I’m actually watching the Vox Machina campaign for the third time, because I miss them so much. I ended up getting into the show right after they ended their first campaign and literally spent all of my free time watching the episodes. By the time I was done, I was an emotional wreck and I had a hard time convincing myself to start the second campaign. All new characters?! And an all new setting?! How was I supposed to put up with that nonsense when I was still grieving?! But I did it and I fell in love with them way faster than I expected.

Their second campaign is the one they’re currently playing. It’s a bit different, because it follows the adventures of the Mighty Nein from the very beginning. Gone are the in-game found family dynamics. It’s a lot of awkward struggling to form alliances and tentative friendships and watching them grow to care for each other. Again, there are ships to ship and characters to love and the storytelling and worldbuilding by Matt Mercer is just off the charts phenomenal. Episode 71 just aired last Thursday and I’m going to try to FINALLY watch it when I get home tonight.

So, this show is a time commitment. But it’s so worth it. And you get consistent content all year round. The longest hiatus you ever have to deal with is about 3 to 4 weeks around the holidays, so that those lovely human beings can spend time with their families. OH. And speaking of those lovely humans. They really are wonderful. They have taken this game that they used to play with their friends and turned it into something huge. And they’re trying to use that success to help make the world a better place. They’re constantly involved in charities and promoting smaller projects on their individual Twitters. I think it’s a show worth getting into not only for the story, but for the people behind the story.

If you DO decide to give it a shot, let me know! You don’t need to know anything about D&D to enjoy the show. And if you do know anything about D&D, then you need to remember that Matt is the DM and it’s his world and he’s allowed to homebrew rules. Oh dang, and he homebrews some of the CREEPIEST MONSTERS. I hate it. There are a lot of easy ways to get caught up fast and I’ve actually become closer with a few people in The 100 fandom by bonding over Critical Role as well.

[loquaciousquark]

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E1-46 (Jan 8, 2019)

Happy New Year! Welcome to Talks for tonight, a looooong time coming. @eponymous-rose is off doing very cool science, so I’m stepping in tonight. Also Brian’s wearing a guitar-string bracelet that was once upon a time played by Meatloaf.

Announcements: Tuesday, Jan 15 at 4pm PST is the debut of Mame Drop, their new show ft. the Mame Cabinet. Wednesday, Jan 23 at 5pm PST, they’ll be doing Pub Drop, ft. art lessons with Babb Star; the next season of Between the Sheets airs Jan 28 at 7pm PST. Ashley will definitely be in Season 2.

CR Stats: “9,″ or “nein,“ has been said at least 733 times so far. Matt has facepalmed 80 times in 46 episodes. By this point in C1, he’d facepalmed 77 times. Beau has cast the highest level spell so far (conjuring the elemental). Caduceus has prevented 38 damage from critical hits with Sentinel at Death’s Door. Caleb’s smell has been commented on 49 times. Fjord -- and BWF segues to discuss Travis in Liam’s oneshot, which was a whooooole ‘nother thing, and you should definitely check it out if you haven’t seen it yet! We never come back to his fact, sadly. Jester has performed 35 pranks so far. Molly has been gone for 85 days in game. “Long may he reign,” says the cast, and they all toast him. Nott has cast Message 50 times. Sam: “Wow, I got a lot to say!”

The biggest challenge for them so far in terms of the culture shift between C1 and C2 has been the war. They do think about it a lot while they’re “chasing magic ocean orbs,” but they know the clock is still running while they’re doing other things. Nott would care if her homeland was gone, but she wouldn’t mind overmuch if the goblins were killed but the land was okay.

Jester is perfectly content with Nott’s motherly advice, even though it’s vastly different from what her mother suggested. Laura: “It’s weird that I can look at Matt and go, ‘Mom,’ and it feels...” Matt: “It’s okay, don’t worry,” but in the Ruby’s voice, and we’re all delighted.

Matt has had to reconsider some aspects of his preparation now that he has two PCs that can see everything and/or remember everything. He doesn’t believe in artificially upping the difficulty of his worldbuilding/checks just because people took certain feats, he just has to be prepared to answer their questions more than before.

Sam feels the alcoholism has added a bit of randomness to Nott’s character. It’s actually weirdly led Nott to be able to do more, since Sam had envisioned her as a very skittish, nervous character, but the alcoholism allows her to be brave in a way she is not otherwise.

Travis wanted to explore Fjord’s origins, but didn’t have any specific plans. “Growth? Yes. I think he’s taken a dive into a lot of things that he’d never experienced before, and had outcomes that he didn’t anticipate. I also think that he’s reeling from all these choices--it’s just one coin flip after the next, and that’s put him where he is now.” Both BWF and Matt express interest in the twists neither of them anticipated. Marisha, plaintively: “Please don’t kill us all.”

Caleb doesn’t think there was a specific turning point that made him trust the Nein as well as Nott; it was a series of small steps. The first time he shared his backstory with Beau was a screw loose. Liam enjoys the conflict between the group goals and Caleb’s goals.

Everyone has missed being their characters over the break.

Travis agrees with Liam that there’s a new possible viewpoint every 30 minutes--he has no ulterior motives, just is always trying to do what feels right in the moment. He’s seen some things online suggesting he has a bigger plan, but he doesn’t think that far ahead.

Beau was the first one to say “I love you” out of the M9. Marisha was most surprised by Beau’s opening up. Beau was a “deliberate asshole” to Molly, Fjord, and Caleb at certain points because she knew they’d leave her eventually; this way, she controlled the relationship and was the one doing the pushing away.

Taliesin had no plan for Cad’s future during the breakdown on the boat. He was dealing with the realities of Cad’s creation and trying to find an anchor for his “track,” and the two conversations with Nott and Jester were crucial for helping him find his path, and Tal’s plan for his future arcs.

Did Molly’s death affect how the cast relate to their characters? Sam: “I’ve been thinking of backup characters way more than last campaign.” It doesn’t affect how he plays Nott, though. Travis feels very guilty that we’re spending so much time in his backstory and still know hardly anything about so many others--he’d feel terrible if someone else died and we still knew nothing about them. Laura feels like if she makes a backup character it’s bad luck. Liam has a vague idea, but he’d rather use it for a future campaign. Laura and Travis have no backups planned.

Caleb has no regrets avoiding the legionnaire contracts back in Zadash. Molly (says Tal) would have also been happy they avoided it.

The Fjord/Nott prickliness started off as a goof, but Sam thinks it might be a touch of a real thing. Travis is all, “naaaaaaah, not a thing.” Fjord likes poking her. Fjord actually loves Nott--he’s messing with Sam more than anything, especially with the buttons, but everything has a shelf life. Sam suggests Fjord fundamentally does not understand Nott’s nature--is she a person? A thing? It has a touch of genuine suggestion by Sam, but Travis waves it away. He truly does love Nott, he says.

Fanart of the Week: @quortknee with a stunning portrait of Yasha surrounded by flowers.

Dani mentions to Matt that Jamedi was the first NPC in either campaign that was a critical part of a path--journeying through the woods as a guide--but did not participate in combat at all. Matt says he’s essentially a scout, amazing at tracking, but would never jump into combat with a hydra. Matt created the character’s personality first, then explored that in his actions later.

Tal’s super interested in more about Jamedi. Laura loves how cool he was. 

Travis compares Fjord’s journey to a kid getting dropped into a high school party: “There’s going to be beer and alcohol and you’re going to be tempted--no I’m not! I love Dr Pepper!” Travis laughs: “Fjord is the kid at the high school party” who suddenly succumbs to every temptation despite being sure he’d resist wholesale.

Laura teases Caleb for being a Debbie Downer. Liam, deadpan: “Life expectancy in Wildemount is not that great.”

Matt and Laura both are super excited to see how the relationship with the Traveler develops. Laura initially envisioned a very much big-brother relationship, but she’s found that she genuinely is struck with awe and a bit of fear every time the Traveler shows up. “I thought they were going to be way more familiar!”

Liam talks about how the idea of meeting Astrid and the rest makes his palms sweat every time.

Caleb was originally an Evocation Wizard--still level 2 or 3--in his backstory, but all the years of doing nothing meant he had to start over later.

Beau has latched onto the first mate position because she’s always wanted to prove herself, both to her parents and herself. BWF: “Flex. I gotchu.”

Nott does consider herself the mother of the group. She’s not great at it, but she does view herself as surrounded by a bunch of people who aren’t fully mature in any way, and she’s trying to “get ‘em to college.”

Everyone agrees Beau has changed the most out of everyone throughout the campaign. Caleb has begin to make small different choices in his behavior. Laura: “Fjord has changed a lot. Now he’s going to kill us all.” Matt’s enjoyed his shift from “I don’t know what’s happening” to “I want to know what’s happening.” Everyone comments on Fjord’s wild-westiness over the last few episodes.

Everyone misses Ashley and talks about her bravery in exposing Yasha’s heart in the last episode. Matt points out Ashley always reviews the VODs for this campaign and explores Yasha’s emotional journey offscreen, so that this episode was basically her check-in, showing how Yasha’s journeyed and grown over the last dozens of episodes.

BWF struggles mightily parsing “palenewmoon” as a username, and it’s hilarious.

Caduceus is not scared of his current situation; it’s a thing that happens and it’s gone, his moment of fear now behind him. He does feel far from home--not a wanderer. “A bit of a hobbit vibe.” Fjord doesn’t scare him at all. Travis: “He shouldn’t.” Travis says Cad is the one he’s the most interested in exploring right now.

Matt found Laura & Travis’s baby arrival one of the most unexpected events in terms of having to scramble for a plan. The docks of Nicodranas are a close second, especially since he was dangling all these other hints about the Menagerie Coast and the war only for the M9 to completely ignore them. Liam: “War sounds hard.”

The Darktow escapades also surprised him, since he’d imagined it would be more of a race with Avantika to the next orb. “You stayed one night and got kicked the fuck out. I had planned the next few days; there was a whole thing with Allison that could have gone on... All the pirates are distinctly like, ‘Don’t do shit to other pirates or we’ll kill you,’ and you were like, ‘Hey guys, let’s do shit to other pirates!’” Sam: “We’re terrible at this game!”

Travis didn’t anticipate the visions, especially the dream of water that destroyed the fleet of ships. Fjord wants to get as close to the goal line of releasing Uk’otoa without crossing the line. That sounds dangerous, kiddo.

Caleb thinks Nott is a much better being than he is since she has a good heart. He also feels like he’s letting his guard down around the Nein and allowing himself to have a circle of friends. However, the last couple of episodes have made him want to withdraw back to the Nott-and-Caleb against the world vibe. Sam thinks they’ve drawn closer together--they know they have each other’s backs, so now they can explore other relationships.

Most impactful moments so far: Molly for everyone, for sure. Fjord: hooking up with Avantica. Cad: staying on the boat. (Matt likes that this showed good commitment to both story and each other’s characters to have Jester check in on him.) Caleb: telling Beau and Nott everything, like letting off a steam valve. Beau: the plan with the Plank King, validating her strengths. (Everyone oohs and aahs over the “I...wait.” moment again.) Jester: the dragon fight, staring down death and wondering if Mom had been right after all.

Talks Machina: After Dog

In discussion of chicken noises made to amuse Ronin, Tal reveals he keeps feral chickens. Somehow I’m not surprised. 

Favorite activities over the break: Matt slept. BWF suggests karaoke, and Laura realizes everyone went to kigerumi karaoke without them because they had family in town. Laura & Travis and BWF (and Ashley?) went to Sam’s Christmas party.

Tal thinks the Gentleman will be dead by the time they all get back to him. Matt reminds them of the sequence that led to Port Dimali--just the name of a contact. Nicodranas is the only hanging thread at the moment, suggests Matt.

Funniest thing so far? BWF suggests Ashly Burch’s face while Molly was dying, because of the terror that was originally character terror becoming meta terror. Ashly told BWF later that she wanted to bawl her eyes out. Tal: “I’ve never felt so alive.” Other contenders: fluffernutter failing, the bug carrying the piece of bread. Laura says she had nothing in her brain at the moment and that was the first thing that came out. Sam loved seeing Travis being asked a simple boat question and realizing that his whole backstory was predicated on knowledge that he does not have. “I don’t know the answer to this test. I didn’t study!” Liam loved Travis’s face journey during the live show when Matt started his backstory. Somehow, the transcription of Liam’s statement got picked up by Travis’s Apple watch and sent to Postmates. It’s totally hilarious.

M9 character you’d never want to play as? Travis: Caleb, because he’s a wizard and squishy. BWF: Jester, because of the accent. Tal: Nott, because he’s not funny enough to pull her off. “You have a portal in your heart and I don’t know where it goes.” Sam: Orly, because of the accent.

BWF feels this campaign will go to 169 episodes. If he’s right, Sam offers to 69 him. “Denim on face.”

Everyone comments on Matt’s li’l scruffy beard. Liam’s the only beardless one now. Matt laments the next time they want facial capture they’ll make him shave his beard; Laura insists technology has advanced beyond it. Oh, voice actors.

BWF doesn’t know if he’ll be married by 2020. “It depends on if coughcancelBlindspotcough happens.” Sam looks forward to all the cool new shows on the Critical Role channel. Marisha’s excited to learn how to draw. Taliesin’s excited about things he can’t talk about. Liam’s excited for the live show and art gallery next week. Some of the fanartists will even be able to make it.

Travis very convincingly knows who he will be playing in the oneshot next week. Laura, in stark realization: “Oh, no.” Marisha points out that this oneshot will take place 24 hours after Vax’s death, and everyone’s a little nervous. Tal suggests scrapping the whole thing and having a shopping episode.

And that’s all for the night. We fade out on Laura being indignant about karaoke, which is probably the best way to start the year. Is it Thursday yet?

[dearsheroozle]

For the d&d asks: 3-8, 31, 40

oh hey there! sorry about the delay. i been at work and then i was cuddling my baby kitten boy so this was...put on the backburner. again, so sorry. i really wanted to do this earlier.

anyways!

dnd asks

this got long, so under the cut!

3. What two feats would you have? Next ASI I will definitely be having my character take Sentinel. Because opportunity attacks and DON’T LEAVE MY SIGHT, BITCH. But I really like Prodigy as well. Feats that work great mechanically and flavor-wise. That’s best of both worlds, babey!

4. What has been your favorite d&d character you've played? (NPCs count for DMs) I’ve played only one character so far in a campaign, which is Llyr, my half-elf Ancients Paladin (who just took one level in Archfey Warlock). I love her. She deserves good things. And she has a cool sword!!! Though, I really, really loved playing my lore bard/divine soul sorcerer Eirian for a one-shot. But I’d been wanting to play a bard for a long time.

5. Which of your d&d characters has been the most like you? Oh, probably still Llyr. I put a lot of myself into her, because that’s the easiest thing to do when creating a character... just draw from personal experiences! It’s not exactly emulating, but there are definite parallels. Physically quite different, but there are similar life experiences. The extreme of what I aspire to be, sometimes.

6. Which of your d&d characters has been the least like you? Hmm... Don’t think it counts if I didn’t technically make them, but Adrie (arcane archer) and Evie (swashbuckler rogue) are probably the least like me? Adrie has absolutely no shame or sense of secondhand embarrassment, and Evie is just... I think THE lowest wisdom character I’ve ever played? That was...hilarious... She walked right into fire.

7. How do you go about making a character or NPC? Uhhh. A lot of whining at my DM, tbqh. “Help me! Tell me what to do, PLEASE.” I usually have like very sporadic ideas that are entirely not cohesive, and tying them together is a whole Thing. So I ask people and talk through it and eventually ideas spring forth that aren’t quite terrible and I roll with it. The character develops as I play. Sometimes I like being given a couple Key Character Traits and building off of those. I’m still working on improving my approach, honestly. It’s... a process.

8. What is the most memorable natural 20 you've ever experienced? I think it still has to be the nat20 I rolled for Llyr to eavesdrop on another party member who was talking to her (ex???) girlfriend. It sounds bad. But, listen, the party was sitting in CAGES. We were KIDNAPPED. She had to know if we could trust this person. Anyways. Then she telepathically relayed everything she heard to another party member through the ring of telepathy and unfortunately misconstrued many, many things. Heh. I don’t remember many others tbh. Or if I do, I’m not sure if I’m remembering them accurately. Welp.

31. Tell me about your current party! Oh, boy. Well, SK5 (Saturday Knight Five. Yes. That’s what we’re officially called. Because we play on Saturdays and there’s Five of us) is made up of my ancients paladin/archfey warlock Llyr Pelydryn (half-elf), beastmaster ranger/rogue/grave cleric Mazithra (called Maz, shifter, played by @pensandperoxides), shadow monk/death cleric Ja’el Willow (half-elf, played by @dubcliq), wild magic sorcerer Erimenthea (sometimes called Minty, halfling, played by @hippoimonokerata), and lore bard Eldon Bushgather (halfling, played by @rincewindschest). Honorable fucking mention to Rubbish, Maz’s raccoon companion. The MVP, honestly. And a special, special shout-out to our DM (helmed by @amiphobic). For, uh, putting up with us. We’re disasters. But we’re trying. Well, most of the time. Currently on a quest to stop some fuckening cults from destroying the world. Yeesh. And none of us are straight, so jot that down.

40. What d&d deity would you be a cleric of? God, what a question. Llyr is a paladin of Caer Ibormeith, a homebrew goddess based on some Welsh lore. (Thanks Jem!) She’s the goddess of dreams in our campaign, and her clerics would probably be light or grave domain. She’s not official or super strong or anything, but it would maybe be interesting to play from the perspective of a cleric under her guidance one day. Kind of like what Liam O’Brien did with Vax and Lieve’tel for the Raven Queen, yeah?

anyways, thanks a bunch for the questions! it was a lot more challenging to answer than i expected!

[bloodwards]

feat and dungeon court?

Feat: What's one habit, trick, tip, etc. you picked up from another player?

I absolutely definitely knew I was going to get Luck at some point become of fucking Liam O'Brien lmao

I did get it for my divination wizard and it's been a blast! (as long as I don't forget to use it lol)

Dungeon Court: What's the worst D&D experience you've ever had?

tw abuse and SA mention under the cut

Oof. My second ever d&d group, my first session with them - it was me and another dude who were new, the rest of the group had been playing together for a long while. It was all going pretty well until one of the players just casually dropped some info on the background of the NPC kids that had been travelling with the party, some very uhhh potentially triggering info.

Mind you, no one talked with us, the new people, that stuff like that might come up (and it did, immediately). I felt really really uncomfortable but the other new guy even more so, he said that something similar had happened to him when he was a kid, said he couldn't do it and just dropped out of the call. Everyone was kinda shook by everything that had happened and the session pretty much ended there. I made an excuse later about my scheduling and never played with them again.

Our regular DM has actually done something similar like 4 years ago or something when there was an NPC we got to know got **** r*ped supposedly because the player character who was going to meet up with her failed to do so. Me, the other girl in our group and the guy whose character was "responsible" all were so distressed that our DM actually ended up later backtracking and basically retconning it by essentially saying oh no she just got roughed up and robbed.

Moral of the story - fucking communicate about these things, don't spring this on people. D&D might be a game but the well-being of people who are playing are very real.

[recoveryform]

Lol yeah. I think every DM has this experience. Especially with wizards, cause they're just so damn usefull.

(Squints judgmentally at my NPC mountain dwarf abjuration wizard who was supposed to be a minor bad guy, getting dragged along through the underdark and gifting the Elven Ranger PC who has a crush on him a spellbook for their ritual caster feat they just took. Has literally admitted to reading the parties thoughts and half of them are all just like 'Aww, look. He has anxiety! Totally understandable.')

In the wise word of Liam O'Brien - 'What's sexier than wizards? Nothing.'

Screenshot from my Twitter feed, posted without comment.

[lynnschiffer]

4 or 5 months ago my brother decided he wanted to play dungeons and dragons and I was very skeptical but I thought id give it a chance and it was a lot of fun  through this process my brother also introduced me to critical role.

this show has done so much for me I can see pieces of myself in each of these amazing characters and the wonderful people who brought them all to life 

and Matthew mercer who inspired me to write my own campaign  filled with dynamic npcs and beautiful settings  and amazing heroic feats painted by nothing more than words and dice 

watching each of these characters grow has helped me to do the same i got over my own anxieties if only for a brief moment and got to shine 

i got to share with other people my creative side that typically no one gets to see

so thank you Matt, Marsha, Taliesin, Sam, Liam, Laura, Travis and Ashely

and to all the tech crews that bring this show to us live every Thursday 

[nate-shaw]

when: november 26th & december 17th where: finnegan’s luxor france dorm room & the luxor new zealand campus what: the shaw’s, in all their.....whatever the opposite of glory is

november 26th, luxor france

Nate was sitting in Finnegan’s room, slumped on her couch, his entire attitude dejected, sulking despite his younger sister’s best attempts to convince him otherwise. Family being around was only sure to piss Nate off, even when it wasn’t his own. Though, of course, the rest of the Shaw family - Finny as the sole exception, only managed to make it worse. 

“It wouldn’t kill you to look at least a little less miserable, Nate,” Finnegan said over her shoulder as she was getting ready, knowing that the reprimand wouldn’t work on her other brother, but pushing him about it anyways. 

Finny turned from the mirror at the sound of a knock at the door, both Shaw siblings looking at each other, Nate’s eyebrows wrinkling ever so slightly - Finnegan’s roommate wasn’t there, so it was unlikely it was one of her family members, though it’s not like they were expecting anyone either. Finny was equally confused as she went over to the door, swinging it open, a mirror image of shock on both her and Nate’s faces when they registered who was standing on the other side.

“Finnegan. Nate. Meet Navy,” Liam said, a grin crossing his face, his usual expression of perpetual amusement, both of his younger siblings looking at him with blank faces, not sure what was going on, but knowing - knowing Liam, knowing that expression - there was something he hadn’t dropped yet. He motioned to the tall, lanky brunette girl beside him, who stayed half a step behind him. “She’s our half-sister. Dear old Dad never mentioned it, but…” he shrugged up his shoulders, eyes settling on Nate’s expression. 

“Hi,” Navy said softly, awkwardness brimming through out her entire body as she lifted on hand in a wave, eye darting between Finnegan and Nate, her nerves utterly obvious, even as she tried to shutter down her emotions on her face.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Nate said, not getting up from where he was sitting on the couch, his entire posture turning visibly tense as he stared between Liam and Navy. “She’s our age,” he pointed out, like she wasn’t even there, like she wasn’t a part of the conversation. 

“Yeah. Between you and Mel, actually. Meaning he cheated on Mom, but we all knew that anyways, didn’t we?” Liam said in response, his smirk widening. There was always an air of amusement around the eldest Shaw, as if he had no choice but to laugh at the shit they had been through. While Nate responded with resentment and aggression, Liam treated it all like it was one big joke. 

“I had no idea,” Navy said quickly, her expression turning sad underneath the blinds, stepping forward a little bit as she addressed Nate, the girl nearly laughing from the awkwardness. “It’s always been just me and my mother. She never pretended my father was anything but....I mean, a sperm donor, basically.” 

At the girl’s words, Finnegan let out a little noise of sympathy, stepping forward to lightly run a hand over Navy’s arm, warm and comforting in the way only Finnegan could be, a direct contrast to the rest of the Shaw family. “Even if you did, it has nothing to do with you. With any of us. We’re not our parents decisions,” she said lightly, making sure to punctuate the statement with a glare at each of her brother’s, both of them shifting uncomfortably under the gaze of their youngest sibling. Disappointing Finnegan was always different than disappointing someone else, her gentle personality the one thing that hadn’t spoiled in their family. 

“Where the fuck did you find her, Liam?” Nate spit, not even bothering to acknowledge the other girl, the newest Shaw, not able to deal with the emotional aspects of what it entailed. 

“Nate,” Finnegan scolded sharply, glaring at him over her shoulder before wrapping Navy in a hug. “Welcome to the family. Ignore them. They’re always like this,” she said, motioning her chin towards Nate and Liam, motioning for her to come further into the room, wisely not pointing her towards the couch where Nate was getting ready to explode, but instead motioning her towards the stools near their eating counter.

“No fucking way you buy this, Finn,” Nate protested, on his feet before he could stop himself, instantly going toe to toe with Liam. “You miserable piece of shit,” he growled in his brother’s face. 

“I’m not the one who did this, Nathaniel,” Liam said, not backing up from Nate’s menacing approach, letting his younger brother get in his face without so much as a flinch. “That’s all our father.” 

-

december 17th, luxor new zealand

Being in New Zealand only sent Nate into a spiral deeper than his usual disgruntlement, his expression perpetually sour as he stalked around the campus. It was too close to the country he had called home from five to thirteen, the part of the world his father - allegedly - was still lurking in, Nate’s irritation only growing as he continued to stew in it, of course heightened by the unexpected half sister Liam had trotted out at Thanksgiving. Being here was a reminder of those years, those miserable years, their mother having to travel half a world a way to finally be firm with their father, and the four siblings getting pushed to the side through it all. 

He had thought over what he would do to his father, what he would say - if he even bothered speaking before his fist swung for his face - if he ever saw him again, something that was honestly up for debate. The encounter run over in his mind a million different ways, so when he saw his father on campus, he was sure it was just a figment of his imagination. Nate froze, his expression not changing as he blinked a few times, trying to gather his wits about him, utterly surprised. He had never imagined that he would actually see the man, and he was sure that it was someone else, even as the distance between them closed. 

Nate just stood stiffly as his father spread his arms wide, Luke Shaw approaching his youngest son with a grin, Nate’s upper lip curling in a grimace. “What the fuck are you doing here?” Nate growled as a greeting, his shoulders tense as he backed away from the man, barely dodging the hand he tried to clap down on his shoulder. A fatherly gesture, between a normal family, but one that was filled with aggression and intimidation techniques, the Shaw men always fighting for dominance, none of them willing to acquiesce to the others. 

“Heard you were down under,” Luke said, emphasizing his accent - the accent he had given his children - as if he was trying to joke, as he flashed a smirk at Nate. It was a smirk that Nate recognized in his own actions more often than not, a gesture that was all too common for him. The realization hit him immediately, his stomach practically turning at the reminder that this man was half of what had brought him into this world, feeling like turning more and more into him as he went through his life, despite trying to fight it with everything he had, was an inevitability.

Nate’s nostrils flared, his eyes hardening with disgust as he looked at the man in front of him. “From who.” he said, the words not even a question, knowing that they would only illicit one answer from his father, the one answer he didn’t want to hear.

“Your mother, of course. Was hoping she was planning to pay you a visit but since it didn’t seem that was likely, decide to do it on my own,” Luke said casually, like he hadn’t disappeared in and out of Nate’s mother’s life one hundred and one times by this point, screaming fights and physical altercations, disappearances and returning when the family least expected it. 

“I thought I told you to stay the fuck out of her life,” Nate said, the voice low, menacing, clearly a threat - the same threat he had given Luke the last time he had tried to make a reappearance, three years ago. It had sent Nate on a spiral, bad decisions made after the encounter, all of the emotions and pain resurfacing from that summer as he looked at his father. 

“You’re not her guardian, son. You don’t make her decisions.” The words were too blasé as Luke spoke, the reminder perhaps meant to disarm Nate, but instead having the exact opposite affect. 

“Don’t fucking call me your son. I’ve had to act like a guardian. It’s not like either of you ever stepped up for us,” Nate said, shaking his head as his expression fell, finally giving in to showing everything that was going on internally. “Tell me, Dad, did you tell her about the fact that you have another daughter when you were speaking to her recently? Because Liam made sure to share that one.” 

At the accusation, Luke’s mouth fell open slightly, Nate suddenly knowing that moment that he had been utterly aware of Navy, that he had been even less present for her than he had for Nate and his siblings. Though with the type of human that Luke was, perhaps he had been doing Navy a favor. 

Nate swung first. He knew he shouldn’t, he knew it was a bad idea - the man who taught him how to fight, who to his brother how to fight, the two boy’s growing up using each other as punching bags. But he couldn’t help himself. 

He swung first. 

That first collision of his knuckles against his father’s cheekbone brought a sense of relief over him - it was the same reason why he always hit people. A release that he couldn’t find in another way, like he had been holding his breath and finally gotten a chance to exhale. He barely had a chance to bask in it - the moment that usually gave him the chance to start beating his opponent before the fight had even really begun - when his father swung back, an uppercut going straight into Nate’s gut before his other fist made contact with his face. 

It was a fight of people who knew each other’s moves, though it had been years since Luke had taught Nate - Nate had gotten better, and he was able to get the advantage over Luke, especially with the surprise he had by swinging first, but he also made the mistake of trying to back up first. 

And the man who was supposed to be his father showed no mercy. 

As Nate had done to so many people through his years of fighting, he saw the hesitation, the attempt to get out of it, and Luke went for it. He used the advantage that he had, and he took Nate down, his fists doing damage to the young man who he should’ve cared about, that he should’ve been being a role model for. Instead, he was beating the shit out of him. 

By the time he was making his way back towards the dorms, the bruises were already darkening on his face, the knuckles on his right hand swollen and split open, his lip busted with blood caked onto it. He ducked his head, letting his hair fall into his face as he dragged his feet back to his dorm room. It was one thing when the bruises were from a fight he provoked, a fight he won. They were a source of pride. He was standing up to something. He was good at something, even if it was just fighting. 

Bruises from his father? 

They weren’t the same. 

[smokescreen24]

50 DND Questions

1. What do you think your d&d race would be? Proabably human. If I get the choice, I’d like to be either an Elf or Dragonborn. I’d be cool with either of those. 

2. What class? Mostly likely a fighter? I’m not religious enough for a cleric, and not smart enough for a sorcerer or wizard. I like the idea of being able to throw hands. 

3. What two feats would you have? I’d want the Alert feat, and more than likely the Lucky feat. Alert means my initiative gets improved, and Lucky means that I can reroll a bad throw. Those would get used a lot. 

4. What has been your favorite d&d character you've played? (NPCs count for DMs) I’ve only got the two for now, but Liander’s been getting the most love. She’s probably my favorite. 

5. Which of your d&d characters has been the most like you? Oh, Liander, without a doubt. She’s pretty close to my baseline personality.

6. Which of your d&d characters has been the least like you? And that would be Cade. Cade is just this side of Chaotic Evil, so she’s a little harder for me to get into the right headspace for. Playing her takes a lot out of me, to be honest. 

7. How do you go about making a character or NPC? That’s hard to say - I give the session about an hour or so to feel it out, and let the personalities develop naturally over time. My playing style is reactive, so I let the situation dictate how said character would respond. 

8. What is the most memorable natural 20 you've ever experienced? That would be with Cade. I’d rolled to take out a stone giant, suplexed them (because she’s a barbarian and her strength stat is wild), then chopped his dick off with my battleaxe like I was swinging a golf club. It uh, made an impression on the rest of the party, and the rest of the enemies. 

9. Has one of your d&d characters ever died? How? Not yet, so don’t jinx me! I’m still attached to both of them, and would like to keep them around! 

10. What is your favorite class to play? So far, it’s been my ranger. She’s fun, and I’m digging the whole ‘animals as companions’ thing she’s got going. 

11. Have you ever fought a dragon? Yes. Between Cade and Paileous, we cut it’s head off. It’s currently a trophy back at home base. Got a lot of gold for our trouble, too. 

12. Have you ever fought a beholder? NO. Not entirely sure I wanna, either! 

13. Have you ever fought a mind flayer? No, but it’s coming up. My buddy is having us roll new characters for the Underdark campaign. I might try a cleric just for funsies. 

14. Have you ever had a romance with an NPC or another PC? Nope. I am here to tell you that neither of my characters is looking for any of that. Liander’s too busy, and Cade is a halfling barbarian surrounded by equally questionable Drow paladins and rouges. No thanks. 

15. Do you prefer to DM or play?  I have no desire to DM. I’ve only been playing for a little while, and I’m not creative enough to attempt it. I’ll stick to playing. I’m good at that. 

16. What is your favorite D&D pod/vodcast? I’ve been listening to Critical Role - I’m relistening to the Whitestone/Chroma Conclave arcs. I love No Mercy Percy so much. 

17. Who is your favorite "celebrity dm?" I only know the one - Matt Mercer. 

18. Do you use props/minis/terrain in your game? Very rarely. I think we’ve only had like, two sessions that actually had terrain and mini’s. 

19. How did you discover D&D? My friends. I sat in on one of their games, and just for the hell of it, they rolled me a character, and thus Cade was born. 

20. If you run a homebrew game, give an out of context spoiler. I’m not running it, but smuggling is a thing, and the dude we’re smuggling for is someone whose face is on a wanted poster in my pocket. 

21. Drop a picture of a mini you painted (if applicable) Sorry, I don’t have any minis. They’re all with my DM. 

22. Write a brief scene centered around one of your characters! Uh, hang on -  "That was nice. I didn't ask you to get it for me, and I distinctly remember telling you I can get my own. Not my fault you don't listen worth a damn." Liander says with a slight grin. She doesn't know why, but she likes poking at Chancel. Not many folks react the way he does, and the scowl he sends her just makes her grin wider. "Come on. I cannot possibly be the only one who's pointed that out to you." 

 "Yeah, me. Two minutes ago." Zulth mutters into his mug.

23. Do you have any art of your characters? Yeah, one of my more artistic friends drew a sketch of Liander for me, complete with her cat on her shoulder. It’s pretty cool. It’s also huge, which is why I’m not posting it here. 

24. Have you ever played any TTRPGs other than D&D? No, this is my first foray into TTRPGs. 

25. What is your favorite snack for d&d? I reach for Cheetos or Doritos usually. They’re good, crunchy snacks. 

26. If you could have one potion from d&d, which one would you choose? If I could just load up on superior healing potions for life, I’d be a happy woman. 

27. If you could cast one spell from d&d, which would you cast? Fireball. That’s a nice equalizer, I think. 

28. What is the most memorable natural 1 you've experienced? Oh man. That would be with Liander this time. She was trying to sneak into a well fortified part of the city, and tamper with the water supply for one family. Well, I had to roll to hop the fence to do so, rolled a natural one, my foot caught in the fence, and there was a dog right in front of me. Landed on my face, and got bitten for my trouble. Still got the mission done, though. 

29. Have you ever been drunk playing d&d? I’ve been buzzed. Does that count? 

30. Homebrew or prewritten? Both? Both. Both is good. 

31. Tell me about your current party! Which one? Well, for the Alagaesia campaign, there’s my character Liander, a dwarf named Thorin, a rouge(?) named Zulth, an herbalist named Liam, and the man who hired us, an NPC named Bjorn. We’re actually trying to accomplish something with this campaign, or so the DM says. 

For the Guardians of Gravenhollow campaign, I’m a halfling barbarian named Cade, there’s a drow Paladin named Varis, and another Drow rouge named Paileous. This particular campaign is just chaotic evil fuckery. 

32. Most memorable NPC you've encountered in a game you played in. Victor. He built a clock, I wanted his tinkering kit, and wound up buying both at a just criminally low price. I kinda feel like I ripped him off, tbh. 

33. Do you listen to music while playing? What kinds? Mostly the Skyrim soundtrack with a little Witcher soundtrack thrown in for funsies. Atmospheric stuff. 

34. Favorite accent to do for characters? I don’t really have one for either of my characters. Mostly because I’m bad at keeping it up. I forget. 

35. Favorite classic d&d trope Tragic Backstory(TM). Only one of my characters has it, but it’s damn fun to role-play.

36. What was your first d&d character you made? That would be Cade! She started out as kind of a throw-away, but she got mixed in with Paileous and Varis and she’s living her best chaotic life. 

37. What is the most recent PC or NPC you've created? That’d be Kahtri, actually! I haven’t played her a whole bunch, so I’m not really familiar with her yet, but it’ll be interesting to play a Drow cleric who doesn’t actually worship Lolth. (I don’t do spiders.)

38. Goblins or Kobolds? I actually haven’t dealt with either yet. I’m slightly more familiar with Goblins simply because of CritRole. 

39. Favorite villain you've defeated? Uh, I dunno if I’d classify her as a villian exactly, but Cade’s killed an NPC named Creed who was a servant to the god Grotz. Pretty sure he’s out for revenge now. 

40. What d&d deity would you be a cleric of? I am a cleric of the Drow deity Elistraee. (I had to double check the spelling on that) 

41. Give an out of context quote from one of your games! Liander - “I tried to stop him, but he fucking yote me across the room like I wasn’t even there. Is it weird I’m bitter about that?”

Thorin - *emerges from the wreckage of the crate we were smuggling holding dragon eggs* “I FOUND LIVING ROCKS!” 

Liander and Zulth in tandem - *knows exactly what he’s holding* “Oh for fuck’s sake!” 

42. Have you ever rolled turn into a potted plant on the wild magic table? No, I don’t think I know anyone who plays that particular class, so I’ve never seen it happen. 

43. Minis and terrain or theater of the mind? Theater of the mind, good sir/madam. 

44. Mulligan, Mercer, Murphy, or McElroy? Mercer! Mercer! Mercer! 

45. What is the longest session you've ever had? Oh, jeez. Like, fourteen hours, give or take?

46. What is the longest battle you've fought or run? Uh, that’d be the fight with Creed. It took us like two hours to beat her down with three of us. She was stupid powerful. The bounty was great, though. 

47. Have you ever played at level 20? No, my highest level character is a level 11. I’m working on it, though. 

48. Does your dm say "How do you want to do this?" Oh yes. The table just blows up when that happens, not gonna lie. It’s fun to hear, especially if it’s aimed at you. 

49. Have you ever played an edition other than 5th? No, I started playing last year, so 5th is all I know. 

50. Will you try to convince others to play? Already done so. I’ve added a couple people to the group - my husband, whose character is the best straight man to our fuckery, and one of our mutual friends whose lunacy works with our brand of crazy. 

[thethingiam]

ALL the critical role asks pls!!! :D #1-15!

Haha, thank you! ^^Here we go then, spoilers naturally.

1. Which episode is your favorite and why?

I don’t have one episode that I super love over all other, there are moments I love in every episode and moments I like a little less as well.But if I’m going to pick one I really love I’m going with episode 40 Desperate Messuares. It’s right after the Chroma Conclave attack everything is chaos and very emotional. And then there is the inter-party stand of about the skull, which is just such a wonderful exchange!

2. Which episode is your least favorite and why?

Once again, I have moments I don’t like in pretty much every episode but also things I love in them.I don’t know why but ep 98 The Mines of Many just didn’t really stick with me. I don’t dislike it, I just don’t love it.

3. Who is your favorite main player character?

But they are all so good! I do have a soft spot for Keyleth a lot. 

4. Who is your favorite guest player character?

But they are all so good!I like Kashaw, good balance between sarcastic asshole and genuine good dude.

5. What storyline do you wish they’d explored more?

I would have liked more deep delving into Pike’s story in general since she’s gone so much we don’t get as much over time with her. So I would have liked more, but I get why that is difficult to wrangle.

6. Who would you like to see guest on the show?

Can I nominate myself? Cause I would love to be on the show, that would be excellent!

But more realistic, Lin-Manuel Miranda would be awesome of course! Not sure the cast would actually survive it though. XD

I would also love to see any or all of the McElroy brother’s on the show.

7. What character would you like to see more of?

Once again, Pike!Also Cassandra and Velora. Bring on the little sisters!

8. Other than Gilmore, Allura, Kima or Victor. Who is your favorite NPC?

I love the Sun Tree, cool dude! 

9. Who is your least favorite NPC?

I literally can’t think of an NPC I don’t like right now. Matt does such a good job with all of them. 

10. Which character are you the most like?

Probably Pike. 

11. Do you ship any characters?

I’m very fond of Vax/Keyleth and Vex/Percy and Kima/Allura. Man. It’s so comfortable shipping canon couples.

12. Name a moment that stuck with you.

A bit of a meta moment. When the twins started fighting over something, I think it was the armor, down in the Underdark. Where Liam insists that they roll for it and Laura gets forced into it and then wins. I loved that moment!

13. Has Critical Role ever made you cry? When?

So many times! Not a huge feat, I start crying very easily.I know I cried when Scanlan left. Might have cried since then though. 

14. Which boss has been your favorite?

I liked Ripley a lot. It was fascinating to have a villain come back and become such a big deal. Also, the final battle with her was great!

15. Anything you want to see in the next campaign?

I’m mostly interested in seeing the cast develop new characters. Getting to see how they develop from the start will be interesting. 

[farfromdaylight]

critical role episode 90 spoilers/post-episode talk

as usual i have no idea how long this will be but i'm tired so it will probably be rambly

this episode was a weird wild rollercoaster and i loved it, oh man. it was one of those episodes where VM didn't quite know how they wanted to accomplish what they wanted to do it and it was delightful because as usual they are Terrible Planners

something that bugged me in the early bits of the ep was the fact that the NPCs didn't ask about scanlan's absence -- in-universe, the fact that one of their closest companions is simply missing is, uh, something to ask about. i'm a little confused about the greyskull staff in general to be honest; i had thought they had gone to whitestone after the initial conclave attack, and whitestone was pretty safe during the whole thing (save hotis's brief incursion), so i genuinely have no idea what happened to cordell. did he die coming back from whitestone to emon? did he die during the initial attack and it was never mentioned until now??? unclear. (as a note, i do get that this is just one of those things that doesn't really matter, but i just rewatched the first few eps of the conclave arc a few weeks ago so it's fairly fresh in my mind, and the pieces aren't quite matching up to me.)

the bit about natibe was hilarious though, good god.

the whole thing about doty being disguised was just. oh my god. oh my good god. this is what happens when scanlan leaves and they don't have seeming. and what a god damn result. the entire thing was fantastic. I CAN'T BELIEVE TARY CONVINCED SHAYNE TO CUT OFF HER HAIR. JESUS CHRIST. the fact that sam took persuasion as one of tary's skill is just. oh my god.

regarding vasselheim -- definitely a good choice to go there, glad they went. i'm glad the twins didn't give the book to the platinum sanctuary (NOT THAT THEY COULD HAVE SINCE THEY DIDN'T HAVE IT) but they definitely got a lot of useful information. all the stuff about demons and devils in this ep was fascinating and makes me think back to the bit in the history of vox machina ep re: the glabresu.

the library was REALLY cool, definitely one of the most interesting locations from a worldbuild perspective. and what a good place for percy to dump the dex book! there really would have been no better trade for it.

and then. tary and grog in the potion shop. oh my god. the entire thing was incredible. first the two of them on the street, with the guards. then inside the shop. the haggling. the EGG, OH MY JESUS CHRIST. THE GIFT WRAP. then DOTY FUCKING KO'ING THE GUYS. GROG PUNCHING THEM IN THE JAW. the immediate chaos. the aftermath. tary getting a natural 20 con save. tary puking outside. the entire sequence was just. this is why D&D is fantastic holy fuck

i super liked percy & vax at the RQ temple, although one gripe i have is that liam kept going on about vax being worried that he was going to have to stay at the temple, when the episode started with a dream from the RQ telling him he had time??? i seriously do not understand how he interprets very clear messages into "everything is terrible and awful." but the bit at the temple was really good, and i'm glad they took the book there, it was a solid choice. i also REALLY liked percy's line about how this was something he wanted -- once. very subtle but very good.

the tavern scene, or: "grog fucking killed two people." holy fuck. this is why this episode was a rollercoaster. i lost. my goddamn. shit. this is why grog is such a fantastic chaotic neutral. the whole thing was incredible.

AND THEN THE BIT OF THE EPISODE THAT FELT LIKE IT WAS ANOTHER EPISODE ENTIRELY FROM THE MOOD SWING LMFAO but it was really good and emotional? the entire ceremony felt very cinematic, and matt's narration was gorgeous. keyleth's speech was gorgeous, and i loved that she included scanlan and pike :( AND THAT BIT ABOUT PIKE BEING THERE IN SPIRIT HURT MY HEART. ah man the whole thing was so good. so so good. and i love that she got the inspiring leader feat!! U GO KIKI

idk where the next episode is gonna go (ARE THEY GOING STRAIGHT TO THE NINE HELLS??? IS THIS HAPPENING??? OH GOD THIS IS GONNA GO TERRIBLY) but I GUESS WE'LL SEE???????

all in all super great episode

[nochiquinn]

Episode 90: Towards the Iron City, Maybe, Eventually

I'm watching in my living room tonight, with the logic that being closer to the router will make the internet work better

(edit from the future: this actually worked, my roommates are doomed)

oh man they're 10 away from 100 episodes. wonder what they'll do for it

wonder if orion will bitch about not being invited again what who said that

I need sam's shirt, desperately

"I don't know, man, I like football"

"Gatling gun! Gatling gun!" "MISFIRE SCORE 20"

"ninth level spells!" "that scanlan could have gotten!"

I've been reading Dresden Files again so I keep comparing Mab and the Raven Queen but I am pretty sure they are 0% similar. Vax is not the Winter Knight.

discord: new dad is wearing old dad's skin

"HE TURNED INTO A HOT POCKET Y'ALL"

he's at a spy farm upstate

antlerception

"you haven't seen a door mimic yet, because I don't hate you that much"

like batman, keyleth becomes that which she fears most in order to strike fear into her enemies

"does he have an aversion to wearing pants?" doesn't everyone?

poopy diaper of dwarvenkind

"everyone else believes in you, why shouldn't you?" "I'm anxious and I have anxiety"

pls someone design medieval powerthirst

put him in armor and call him alphonse

mala: Matt: you guys dont have to do this VM: nah we're doing this

they make him a giant paper-mache head like that one mike posner video

THIS IS GETTING SO INVOLVED I love it

"I offer to buy her hair for 100 gold" me: popcorn.gif

critrole stats is this the weirdest thing they've ever asked of an npc

"it looks a little carrot top-y"

#secretgoatee

"makes it look like he's seen some shit"

necrome

I missed like all of this, we were making Raven Queen Mom Jokes

"it's like vox machina....has a hard time planning" the hell you say

"I used the book to make the wig"

"paper-mache of evil"

"it's my book in a box~"

covault

it's sheska

I missed like all of this we were making a vox machina soccer mom au

(someone mentioned "let me speak to your manager" haircuts and I immediately pictured keyleth and percy in the shitty metal bleachers with wine thermoses)

"you turned him into a country song" harsh

layer of eminem

do they have like arcane-sensing things. are tary and doti just like giant shiny wrongness.

"so buff. so full of leprosy."

how do they not recognize grog?

liam ded

"I literally told you about that one minute ago"

aurdsgay

"he's definitely a human man"

oh no

THIS POOR FUCKING SHOPKEEP

"PUKE ON THE FUCKING GUARDS"

discord: "what do we not know about tary?" he can deep throat like a champ apparently

this does not surprise me in the least

this year's ittd ad is better than last year's by sheer virtue of the fact I haven't started muting when it comes on yet

"you can read this, because your father forced you to do things!"

"godDAMMIT PITTSBURGH"

dress roll

now kiss

oh god it's like calling my dad

this is a fanfiction setup. that's all this is.

"you have to take the pregaming feat"

he unalived them

mala: TRINKET never killed two guards

I love everyone in this bar. literally for once.

discord: keyleth killed a kid. like doty is more a member of vm than tary at this point

makes a shirt out of "grog fucking killed two people

"you fucking DICK" "yep"

"I'd like an answer to the mystery of the vomit"

discord: grog is an unrealistic body standard

I have been nursing a theory that keyleth is leaving the game with this. I want to be wrong but sans a final TWEEST I don't see how she stays with the group at this point

discord: I can't believe keyleth is anime

matt improved that speech