Matt Mercer's Best Combat Ever? Vox Machina, Ep. 52 | Critical Role Demystified
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- Опубліковано 3 лип 2024
- Vox Machina confronts Grog’s uncle Kevdak and the Herd of Storms in an all-out battle in Westruun. This may be the most lessons we’ve ever had in an episode of this series.
CW: Coarse language, child death
Chapters:
00:00 - Intro (and Sam’s Shirt)
04:29 - Lesson: Some Herd Members are Surprised, I Guess?
06:45 - Lesson: Scanlan’s Strategy: Lock Kevdak Down
09:01 - Lesson: Correcting Held Bonus Actions, But Conceding Held Movement
11:00 - Lesson: Called Shots
13:33 - Lesson: Some Enemies Can Rage to Ignore Surprise
14:18 - Lesson: Is This Actually Matt’s Best Battlefield To Date?
15:36 - Recap: Okay, This is a Lot
17:46 - Lesson: Anything You Can Do, NPCs Can Also Do
18:32 - Lesson: Matt Makes the Math Easier
19:17 - Lesson: Vex’s Strategy: The Medivac That Saved Grog’s Life
20:02 - Lesson: Targeting the Spellcaster is Sound Tactics
20:37 - Lesson: Scanlan’s Alignment?
22:18 - Lesson: Greenbeard’s Strategy: Heal Kevdak, Become a Big Rock
23:54 - Lesson: Let the DM Be the DM
27:05 - Lesson: The Bad Guys Start Killing Hostages (on Kevdak’s Turn)
28:33 - Lesson: Grog’s Strategy: The Drop
31:09 - Lesson: Recruiting the Herd of Storms
36:02 - Lesson: Zanror or Greenbeard?
39:20 - Lesson: Saving the Young Boy… and Taking Him Where?
41:44 - Lesson: Celebrating Your Players’ Successes
45:37 - Outro
You can watch the full episode here:
Episode 52 - The Kill Box
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Scanlan casting a powerful spell to save Vax at the expense of innocent civilians is a VERY noteworthy notch on his character arc, and if you've seen the whole campaign you know exactly why.
can you share why? I haven't seen c1 in a while
@@horcerorbecause at the end, Scanlan chooses to save innocent civilians with his level 9 slot instead of saving Vax
@horceror Ep114 Spoilers:
I'm pretty sure it's about the 9th level counterspell, which Scanlan wanted to but couldn't use as a wish to stop Vax's deal with the matron.
@@horceror SPOILERS below
in the final fight sam was holding onto a 9th level spell in order to use wish to save vax from his fate. he did end up using it but hes visibly upset to the point that liam actually asks him if he was holding the spell purely to save him and tells him its ok that he couldnt save him and hes still happy with how things turned out.
@@Kat-queenofnerds it’s so heart wrenching to watch
The beginnings of a monster. Sam the Shirt maker.
Let's also applaud Will Wheaton for giving Matt those 6 Nat 1's ;)
He gets this one-this ONLY one lol
The FULL PARTY SCREAMING is my favorite part of TTRPGs ❤ When everyone is paying attention and fully invested in one character doing something cool, and it PAYS OFF.
Having been watching through MegaphoneMan's Critical Eyes, I think that is Orion's biggest disconnect. So often, everyone else is engaged, excited, screaming, tense, etc., and Orion is munching on food or looking at his phone or not even at the table.
That lootcrate joke same made during Talesin's intense mathing session was honestly super valuable and good to learn from. Making a well timed joke, player or GM, is a really good way to cut the tension if it seems like the stress is getting to your players a bit. You can see the whole cast immediately breathe a sigh of relief after Sam Riegel, Sam Riegels XD
Oh, absolutely. Reminds me of one of those moments, when Sam-as-Scanlan makes a joke in a very heavy atmosphere in "Passed Through Fire". The whole table cracks up, and Liam actually exclaims "Laughter! Laughter's back!" It's a tiny moment but really showcases how important a well-timed joke can be.
For being "bad at DnD", Sam ends up with a significant amount of clutch plays throughout all of the campaigns.
Of all of the players, a case could be made for Sam and Liam both being the most enthusiastic about leaning into the narrative consequences of their choices and rolls.
people say he's bad at DnD? wow, that seems crazy to me.
@@MeaganKC Sam has said it about himself in his usual self-deprecating way on a few occasions.
Most CR cast members are pretty bad at remembering rules especially when it comes to spells. That’s what I see them get the most criticism for.
@@Doncergio I mean I agree with you there. But Sam and probably Travis are the best in the group from what I've seen (currently on EP 58 of C1 first time watch). Sam almost never argues a DM ruling, he always has his turn prepped and he was the MVP for many fights.
@@MeaganKC I don’t disagree with you. Imo you don’t need to know the rules to be a fun person to play with, although CR has made some mistakes that really hurt me to watch (Marisha and the purple worm lmao). I was watching the last episode and Laura got a rule wrong, Sam discovered ritual casting and realized he had been using the wrong duration for a spell, etc etc. It’s kinda annoying sometimes.
So much good stuff in this episode, not mentioned here but Matt narrating Vax dashing to Kevdak and stabbing him while a plume of black feathers obfuscates an attack of opportunity along the way is another top moment.
weaponizing Wil Wheaton is a whole new level of shenanigans!
Sam and Travis are excellent players.They are also the two tactically minded players at that table.
it's wild how sam will play the whimsical idiot to the hilt and then pull shit like this
@@zippomage this is the first time on the stream he showed his tactical acumen. I did not see it the first time around as I did not know D&D since AD&D at the point, only with the PvP they did, did I notice.
@@zippomage I believe there’s an old saying that goes something like “it takes brilliance to act stupid.”
Pulling out the suit and going sports commentary wasn't what I expected for this episode, but it made it amazing!
i feel like it might come back for other full fight episodes. like thordak or something?
My favorite part of this episode was Matt's face when he realized what Vex was doing with the necklace.
34:25 One note about this moment: I watched this episode live, and when Scanlan started the "Strongjaw" chant, the entire chat was just STRONGJAW over and over again for about 30 seconds. I'm tearing up now thinking about that moment, it was absolutely incredible to witness live. Maybe it's time to start a rewatch (though I'm about 2 years behind on C3)
I LOVE this new combat breakdown style and you picked such a great episode to premiere it. BIG fan man keep it up
This is a good channel. This is a good series. I like Mike.
You can't like Mike. I like Mike. There can be only ONE!
You’re right. This is a great channel. And a great series. I also like Mike. Thanks Mike!
Mike is a good Mike.
This feels like a safe and supportive place!
I remember watching the Kevdak fight for the first time and it was INTENSE, really showcasing a lot of Vox Machina playing tactically and also quick thinking. Vex putting Grog in the pokeball was a highlight for me with the corresponding "Grog, i choose you!" to follow 😂
This whole series is basically CinemaWins for Critical role and I'm loving it! thanks for what you do!!!
By far, the single best HDYWDT in CR history- the energy at that table was fucking insane
I love this form of Combat Breakdown- not an easy undertaking
This is easily one of my favourite fights on the show. And THE most poetic HDYWTDT, sometimes the dice just line up to tell the perfect story, that's why I love tabletop games. And it accidentally saved their lives, as, like you said, Grog killing Kevdak was the ONLY way to get the rest of the Herd to stand down. Anyone else, and the bloodbath would've continued. (Actually one of my few gripes with the animated adaptation of this episode was how many more random Herd members got killed by VM. I know they were horrible people, but there was some satisfaction in the livestream letting a decent number of them have a second chance)
What I DO like about the animation is them moving Grog's "from my friends!" realization to HERE. In the stream, it felt like Travis just rattled off cliche answers to "where do you find your strength?" until he hit one that Groon accepted, and it wasn't until here that Grog truly SHOWED he meant that. Grog NOT having the answer in the Groon fight, and only realizing here, was a better fit for a scripted show. It's also interesting because despite VM, D&D and CR's heavily Western RPG/Fantasy influences, this always felt like a very JRPG or "anime" lesson for a character to learn. I find "the power of friendship" is often restricted to children's media in the west, even though it's an important lesson for adults too.
I completely forgot they did a resurrection ritual for the child! Resurrection rituals for NPCs is something with a LOT of narrative potential that I wish I saw more, for example if they'd taken too long finding Gilmore in Emon, I'd imagine the party would've done a ritual for him.
The commentary on the fight was really fun and unique. Works really well with such an important fight
The thing that gets me about this episode, that proves just how good Matt really is, is that even if Kevdak had 1hp before Greenbeard's heal, he should have had at least 7hp remaining. Knowing just how cool the narrative is that Grog, on 4hp, falling from the heavens, full-well knowing he wont survive the fall, just to finish Kevdak off WITH A NAT 20, he decides that it is the perfect time to have something so cool and thematic end that BBEG. His story-telling is second to none.
Call me an armchair GM if you want, but I'm pretty sure most GMs are capable of cheating the last few hit points for a fitting final blow lmao
Yeah I personally, in my own head that I never really talk about, call it something like "the percent rule." If a big damage attack, and especially a natural 20, and ESPECIALLY a narratively relevant moment, does X% (your choice) of the remaining, or total depending on what you like, HP of a creature; that creature is dead. Obviously you can be flexible based on circumstances, but something like a crit dealing huge damage leaving the enemy with
i really like the idea of of x% remaining! thank you very much!@@json_bourne3812
Omg I shrieked and started cackling @5:14. Commentator Mike is BRILLIANT! 😂👏🏻👏🏻
Amazing work as always. I agree on Kevdak's death being a particular highlight. Hell, I still remember after all these years nearly jumping from my own seat when he got split in half.
Such an epic battle. Great video breaking it all down.
Another interesting thing about this session was that Grog was much cleverer than he usually seems which is an example that even a low Intelligence score doesn't mean you are necessarily stupid, but just don't know much in some situations but when Grog was dealing with his own people, he was able to be quite the effective leader.
This episode was the first I was able to watch live after binging every episode prior for about 6 weeks. I will always love it to the depths of my soul.
Awesome recap! Really dug the “sports announcer” format for this one. Don’t know how well it would work all of the time, but it sure gave me a bigger smile and more laughs. I love watching all your videos and hearing your take on the games we play. Makes me a better player and gm even though I may do something differently. Keep up the good work and keep well! May the dice roll in your favor…
My guess is he might save this format to use mainly for covering the big big important fights. Like the Conclave and the final boss and such like that.
Another thing in regards to Matt's ruling on Pike taking those opportunity attacks: the Command Spell is a 1st level spell with specific command words, but that allows some level on flexibility for the purposes of fun. Matt was already being pretty lenient, as "attack each other" is notably more powerful than all the other effects which all basically boil down to 'don't do anything'. So I think he is well within his right to say "attack each other" does not meant the same thing as "never attack me ever please". Now they might argue that if Pike knew that she'd add it to the command, but again, that's asking a lot from a spell that for one, is specifically a "one-word command" and two doesn't work if the command is directly harmful to the creature (which this one is since the members of the Command are part of the 'each other'). So all in all Matt was being extremely lenient already, and giving it even more basically makes command the same as Dominate Person, which is a WAY higher level spell
strategically, you think it would have been better to command them to drop weapons, hopefully delaying their attacks or to drop and grovel?
I love the battle play-by-play it's so unique and interesting! Great video!
I did not notice your tie becoming looser untilt he very end lol
Yeah the microphone blocked more of my shirt/tie than I expected lol
Loved the initiative order on the side, very helpful for keeping track. Great video again!
I love these Critical Role breakdowns. They're awesome. I find them incredibly encouraging as I am a C- DM at best.
More of this.
I am a DM and I struggle sometimes with Combat.
This is a very useful breakdown. Many thanks!
This was honestly a masterclass in how to breakdown a dnd combat, definitely go with something like this in future big combats. I thoroughly enjoyed this episode of CR demystified.
Just now watching this and the mention of never seeing a supreme healing potion…holy hell, about that…
Great review on a great episode!
I love seeing these videos showing up on my feed
great episode man. fantastic show
Big fan of your content and I think this is your best video so far!!! Really enjoyed it!
LETS GO THIS BATTLE IS SO GOOD! Been waiting for this, you make weeks fly by Mike! Thank you!
Loved this recap.
I love your explanations!!
Learning how to appreciate someone else's brilliance is so cool!
The editing this video is so good! Best of luck on going back to full time! Can't wait to see you on stream
I've really been enjoying this series, and look forward to watching more!
So excited for this episode. Loved the original loved the animated version and I love this retrospective. Thanks mike
Maybe those NPCs that weren't surprised had the 7th level barbarian feature Feral Instinct?
Unabashedly did a little jig when I saw this video was out
What a marathon from you Mike. Good episode, well done on the effort. I'm just listening to campaign 1 for the first time and your videos go with the episodes so well. So glad I found you
I just started and I'm already in love with the combat summary bit 😂
I knew I could never put in the time to watch CR, so you're doing great work just as a replacement for that, but also I liked the Vox Machina show and I'm excited to see what happens after the events it covers!
Also, the actors seem like they have a good online presence (saw Matt and Marisha on Philip DeFranco), and I'm excited for Daggerheart (not as a D&D replacement but just like any other new game that I've gotten into).
OMG I didn't know Wheaton came and touched Matt's stuff before this game 😂That's too good.
The battle music. Perfect!
Happy to support you as you try and go full time again! You make great videos!
Thank you!
I love these vids. I’ve been using a lot of your lessons while setting up to run my first dnd campaign.
holy shit the production value is skyrocketing episode over episode
I like the round-by-round combat breakdown. Its been years since I watched this episode, this brought back the hype I felt for it at the time.
Your content just keeps getting better, Mike. 😃 Full-time or part, you're leveling up.
I always tend to zone out a little bit watching combat in D&D livestreams, but I remember very vividly being 100% focused watching this episode when it came out. It was that good. Great video, Mike!!
This was my favorite episode!
Loved this episode keep up the grind hope that you going full time works out for you much love
Love the way you did the play by play of the combat adding commentary about the game. Also great the costume change as if narrating a long game hahahaha
I've gotta say I love sportscaster Mike. That's a great approach for commenting on combats.
Excellent play-by-plays, best way you could handle a combatcentric episode.
Great episode!
Definitely my favorite fight in Critical Role history--I still get chills when I rewatch the stream or LoVM episodes.
Getting into character for the fight recap was brilliant. I'd love to see this style return for big set piece battles.
I've been dying to get to this analysis! Of all 3 campaigns ep 51 and 52 are my 2 favorite episodes! I've watched these episodes several times! Love your series and best of luck going full time!
This HDYWTDT saved my interest in critical role. I started watching it later (I think they were airing episode ~100 when I started), and the long episodes plus the post-Briarwood haze was really killing my interest. Until that moment. The energy, the highs & lows, the narrative perfection reignited my investment & overall enjoyment, and I'm so glad that it went down this way.
Also I really like how you did this breakdown, but it seems like it was probably a lot of work (and not very comfortable if the unsuiting is any indicator) so I'm not going to ask it to continue, just let you know that I appreciate it here
Omg im so excited!!! I was trying to catch up with these videos and finally made it! So many mornings baking bread with your voice and CR Demystified!
I love your channel Mike and this series is so much instructing for me as a DM myself. Thanks for your hard work and good luck in this new chapter of your life! We'll be supporting you.
(PD: sorry if I mess up with English writing im spanish and its hard for me sometimes. Love u Mike and this community! ❤❤)
Thank you so much!!
love this series
I found you channel last week and I've been waiting for this since then 😂 love your content!
Thank you!
Yes love this episode
really nice video, lets go full time!
I've been excited about this video, you were talking about doing something fun for a combat episode and I was not disappointed. Hopefully, we will see the return of sports-announcer-Mike when the time calls for it!
and MAN what an episode. The dice were really in on the drama that day. I was thinking on your lesson from the end of the last episode, about how Matt clued them in on some info about Kevdak. I really think you were right in that it kicked them into the mindset to use the time between sessions to plan and it really paid off. It's so clear that the cutting words-hold person start was very intentionally set up.
plus weponising Wheton, that was an important part of the plan too.
Minor pronunciation note: there's a yod before the vowel in "sinew," similar to, say, "menu" - [sınju]
Nice work
rewatching this cause it's fun and Kevdak almost definitely wasn't surprised because he's immune to surprise, Matt has pretty commonly used player classes for special enemies and I'm almost certain that I remember Kevdak using bear totem rage, and since it wouldn't exactly be a tough fight if he were under level 7 we can assume he'd have the feral instinct feature
"if you are surprised at the beginning of combat and aren’t incapacitated, you can act normally on your first turn, but only if you enter your rage before doing anything else on that turn."
this was my very first episode I caught live after catching up great episode to watch for the first time.
Omg im gonna love watching you play BG3 !
fun fact for myself, this was my first live episode of the show, I had been catching up, and once I did oooooooh boy, what a first live to catch.
Let’s go dude! Hope full time works!
I loved the sports announcer framing of this fight, I would love to see the format brought back for some upcoming big-bruiser battles!
Love the commentator thing you did for the episode! Big fights that cover the whole episode should be covered with some flair, and I don't mind encores for some big bad fights
I was like didn't I watch this already?? And then I remembered I got early access cause I'm a patreon member ayyyye
Was this the first appearance of T-shirt Matt?
Correction: "Mythcarver, the LORE BARD-specific Vestige of Divergence"... No, I'm not still salty that my DM gave my Valor Bard Mythcarver in our Tal'Dorei campaign years ago and wasn't open to homebrewing a different feature when we realized it keyed off a feature that only Lore Bards get. Why would you say that?
I really like the trade-off for Scanlan to break his cover or remain out of range for the Cutting Words. I'm sure lots of more narrative-focused games have a rule for tradeoffs, but I don't really see them in tactical, square-counting RPGs. I wonder if anyone has considered trying to hybridize these two styles of TTRPGs...
Verticality is such an important part of making combat interesting. My group has had a fair amount of urban encounters with buildings to climb on and push enemies off of, and they're so much fun. Weird how easy that sort of thing is to forget in literally every other biome...
Giving the Raging Barbarian pre-halved damage is really nice. I can't blame any DM for not having the mental load to do that, especially in this hectic of a fight, but if you can pull it off (and don't forget to communicate that you're doing so), it's handy for the Barb.
Aww heck yes, the next episode is the best titled episode in CR history.
30:26 ABSOLUTE TRUTH right there.
Definitely one of, if not the best, hdywtdt of critical role.
Of the 40+ systems I own masks is my all time favorite. The best of pbta and so much flavor packed into the mechanics
@09:01 Taliesin also reminds the cast of this rule in C3 e61 at 42:29 btw!
Love the announcer setup
This was a rough battle, but this wasn't a slog the way the Kraken was. There were ups and downs, and enough swings to keep it interesting without being exhausting.
STILL probably the best combat Matt has ever run.
Haven't started Campaign 3 yet, but I've watched all of 1 and 2 and all the one shots. Yeah.
I tell my friends who are DMing to watch this episode because it is so very epic.
That was a long fight but so entertaining. And dang, I didn't remember that Kvdak was almost a scarecrow during most of the fight, Sam did a great job there.
I watched this episode during binge watching of VM...I started with CR during cam.3...To me that was the dramatic pinnacle of the show. I marveled at the Nat 20's and knew how a campaign can turn so different on a roll of a die. That idea stuck with me as I watch campaign 3.
Missed opportunity to have a tiny sam wearing the scanlan shirt appear and then slowly grow to fill the over the shoulder space. When discussing the ads.
The best parts of this mini arc was Grog's rp moments imo. There may be other moments/other characters that come to mind when I think of Travis's best RP moments on the channel but I always feel the need to jump to Grog's defense when Travis makes fun of himself and his roleplaying as Grog, he has some really great moments! Love the series as always!
What is your favorite moment in this combat (BESIDES the “How Do You Want To Do This”)?
Am I allowed to say Grog's call to action because "vox machina fuck shit up" is iconic
Gotta be the Hold Person play - that's the kind of smart play and item use I grt a real kick out of as a DM
Honestly it’s the vibes and the energy that made this combat impactful for me the first time watching it
I’m not even done with the video I’m just excited
Matt's face when he realized what Vex was doing with the locket.
I know you've been doing this for a while, but I think you deserve some more props at improving and going off script and trusting your obviously great personality to shine in the videos, not just your brilliant writing! It is so impressive that you are so willing to grow and improve your craft! Best of luck! Next stop 100k subscribers!!!!!!!
Thank you so much!
This is one of the best episodes in all three CR campaigns
So excited to see you play baldurs gate.
I love that you get more dishevelled each round. Can't help but wonder if it would have been a funnier bit if you'd have incorporated a commentator lip mic (or a cardboard mockup of one - those things are pricey) into it, but... It worked as you presented it.
When I'm playing, I try to help the GM reference the official rules if it feels like they're trying to find them, and keep shut outside of that, even if a ruling isn't RAW. But, yeah, making sure I'm on the same page as the GM is useful.
Best of luck on this new leg of your “career journey?” and I hope the child is healthy!
The commentator outfit for initiative 😂 Amazing
Grogs speech after the fight gives me chills every time. Definitely should have been a “player gives you a nat 20” moment.