#ikithon

[hanatsuki-esperanza]

I actually agree with you about Imogen. I just don't mesh with her and I think it's because she carries herself like a main character and D&D shouldn't have a main character over the other PC. Unfortunately, I think much like how C2 BBEG was tied heavily to Molly/Lucien from the start, C3 plot/BBEG is going to be heavily tied to Imogen which means her story will be center of everything. Which, for me, kind of makes it more of a campaign issue than just a character issue at this point. I don't care about the story because I don't care about the character leading it. Hopefully I'm wrong and Laudna or Ashton will have more pull in the plot because those two and their deals are more compelling.

The thing about D&D is there is no one main character; it is a group game and Chapter 1 of the PHB (page 15, section 6. Come Together) says as much. Characters who have "main character syndrome" naturally do not mesh in a game where each character is part of a unique group, because they see themselves as more important than everyone else. At that point, it's not D&D, it's an anime or similar show, where the main character has their own adventure while everyone else is along for the ride.

Tying a character's backstory to an arc boss is perfectly fine, it encourages a player to develop a fun backstory and encourages the dungeon master to integrate backstories. However, when a dungeon master allows one character's backstory to become more important than others', then it becomes a problem. Without the central character who is tied to the BBEG, it falls flat. It forces the dungeon master to give them plot armor to keep the BBEG relevant.

Vecna being the BBEG in C1 worked because no one character could claim him. It was built up slowly but couldn't stop, much like an avalanche. When Molly died, Matt was probably thrown for how to bring the party back to the Lucien and the Tombtakers.

So Imogen being made into the main character with the moon being the BBEG isn't necessarily Laura's fault. Instead, it falls on Matt to balance things out. Which given how things happened in C2, there's precedence for a repeat performance of C2, but it's too early to say either way.

That being said, Imogen isn't wholly innocent. It's one thing to be pulled into the main character spotlight, but it's another to carry yourself as a main character and disregard the others. There are tons of horror stories on r/rpghorrorstories, YouTube, and similar sites about characters who think themselves the main character and make it a problem for everyone at the table. High-profile games such as Critical Role are not exempt from this.

I would have to agree that Laudna (Delilah) and Ashton (Hexum) have more interesting backstories than Imogen, with the potential to shape C3 and the boss fights. Also, given the FCG Lore Bombdrop in Episode 26, there’s potential as well. That being said, given the precedence of C2, I doubt Matt will make them anything more than arc villains. I would love to be proven wrong, but...

If Matt takes one of the backstory enemies and makes them a throwaway, afterthought boss like he did with Trent Ikithon at the end of C2, then that’s going to be a problem. And yes, I am still incredibly disappointed by that. The Mighty Nein could have gone to Level 20 and then taken on Ickything, but no, Matt had him show up like an afterthought after the Lucien fight, because otherwise he would have been a loose thread at the campaign end. Matt could have even had a oneshot devoted to the Mighty Nein vs Trent, similar to the Search for Grog, but nooo, the Ikithon fight came out of left field the moment they took their amulets off...

[khalliys]

We're not so different, you and I. Part 1, Part2

From Critical Role C2 E92: Home Is Where the Heart Is

[venndaai]

Trent threatening Essek in Echoes of the Solstice.

[luminousstardust]

caduceus watching the kid he had to bring back from the dead 7 years ago from ONE hit trying to come with the nein:

[vethbrenatto]

^that meta i wrote but in gif form

[itseghost]

no idea if this has been done before when they went from rping chill garden conversations to joking about feeding trent mushy peas post capture i could not get this out of my head lmfao

original beautiful post that this is inspired by is under the cut

[critrolepolls]

[ Please consider reblogging to increase sample size! ]

[ariadne-mouse]

I think something I enjoy about all of this is that Ikithon was already defeated. When he escapes from prison a withered old man, hiding behind trees, ineffectually trying to leverage the trauma of a man who has already done so much healing and grown beyond his poison, then losing his treasured mind into the body of a Calamitous relic creature who is just mindlessly rampaging ("Ikithon is not home"). He was causing damage, he was pushing on old wounds, but his power is long gone. The victory is sweet, but it's the cherry on top of a larger fight already won.

[essektheylyss]

Because I'm going to be thinking about this forever, I do want to talk about how Caleb speaks, because I think there's something to be said for how his protectiveness (in general) actually presents itself.

Caleb uses epithets and allusions a lot. He refers to Nott as "my goblin friend," to Jester as "my blue friend," to Yasha as "my barbarian friend." Yussa is at one point "our wizard friend," and Essek is "my Kryn friend," in the two-shot.

He is also, notably, paranoid about being surveiled. He wears the amulet of nondetection for most of the campaign, and it's not unwarranted, given that Trent locates him and nearly burns down the Blooming Grove the moment he's able to get a lock on them. Trent in fact has been shown to use any and all information he can get ahold of about or from Caleb against him, to a truly extreme level. His seemingly single-minded goal is expressed to be to ensure that not a single aspect of Caleb's life and loved ones is safe at any moment, to perpetuate the threat of harm from any direction in order to essentially control and monopolize Caleb's every thought.

In Echoes of the Solstice, Caleb does suggest that he is not concerned with Trent being able to surveil him any longer, but Trent is not the only threat, and, timey-wimey plot nonsense aside, the Hells' inability to scry on him since then suggests that he is likely wearing an amulet at least by that point in the timeline.

The extent of Trent's focus on him and his ensuing paranoia is extreme, and even beyond when he may no longer feel that Trent is a threat to him, he seems unwilling to allow him to pose a threat to others, and people he cares about in particular.

Within that context, it's not difficult to read his use of epithets, particularly in referring to people who are not currently present (rather than using their name aloud), as a form of protection. Some of his manner of speaking implicitly or explicitly presumes that he is being surveiled, even outside of the context of protectiveness; after Vess Derogna's death, he frequently refers to Lucian only by epithets, most often, "our old friend," and at one point establishes "Lady D," (to Jester's glee) as a code name for Vess Derogna for the specific purposes of countersurveilance.

This method of protection, I would imagine, goes double for Essek; not only does Caleb have the habit of worrying over those who would use his loved ones against him, which is of course borne out in Echoes of the Solstice, but he also must consider that Essek has his own enemies, and a stray mention of his name in the wrong company or setting could get his partner killed. It seems even in that gifset, when Caleb says, "I am worried for Essek," after the encounter with Trent at Vergessen, that he first considers obfuscating, stumbling over allusory phrasing before acknowledging that Trent already has the information he needs, and at that point Trent is their only real concern about who might care, given Lucien is far too focused on reaching the Astral Sea to worry about hostages.

When Caleb answers Jester's, "And he's going to hurt Essek," with a silence and an oblique reply, it feels most to me like a further measure of protection, knowing that knowledge is power that can be used against him and his loved ones, and silence is the weapon he has against it.

[tatersdoesstuff]

♟️Empire Pawns♟️

a silly thought experiment/au on how a traitorous shadowhand, a leashed attack dog, a desperate alchemist, and an underpaid mercenary may meet differently through a series of unfortunate circumstance and timeline fuckery

[fatally-addicted-to-fiction]

My favourite Caleb Widogast moments:

"I was so sure. I was SO sure... Until I wasn't"

Caleb interacting with Lucien

Caleb being taught spells by Essek

Essek saying "They need you" when we all know it was an "I need you"

Trent using sending on Caleb after they escape

Molly kissing Caleb on the forehead

Yasha shaving Caleb

(Liam physically scratching his arms to show us Caleb's nervous habits)

When Essek (A WIZARD) pulls a HUMAN (Caleb) out from under a BUILDING

Look, his whole personality of a singed cat (similar to wet cat, slight difference) just makes me so interested in his character i focus on him for weeks at a time then forget abiut him for a month

[danikatze]

[ID in alt text]

They used such nice and dramatic camera angles and zooms during the show for this scene.. It got stuck in my head and I had to draw it

[jolyneart]

here are my villain illustrations for Critical Role’s CLUE! 

I’m very proud of these, because unlike the Mighty Nein, there weren’t set-in-stone visuals of them at the time, so I got to be more creative with my designs. I hope you all like them! ☺✨

[venndaai]

I do not trust- working with that man.

[merlevum]

Finally finished this piece!

[blorbologist]