HEY, there might be some SPOILERS under the thing 0:20 Nathaniel Twenty pushes through an ad 5:25 Laura’s merch corner 7:20 Intro cinematic 9:10 EPISODE STARTS 11:10 Recap Ends 12:10 Inventing the floating hole 13:50 Finding the nail 18:25 Dariax hair 20:55 I don’t like it 26:35 Marisha’s fan 28:15 Shipping Pate and Mother 29:20 Travel day 1 36:10 Bor’dor is really smart 39:40 Prism is turned on by arcane magic 44:05 Milk the cow 47:30 Prism is ready to pass out surveys 52:10 Hender 56:25 Doubling back for jerky 1:00:00 Collecting the tooth 1:03:50 Twin Peaks 1:08:15 Styling Laudna 1:09:55 Prolapse 1:11:45 Bor’dor can’t read (Proleff) 1:20:00 Loam and the Leaf 1:29:50 A rap competition 1:32:35 Prism was almost dodgy 1:35:30 Proleff needs a hair cut 1:36:55 Massive Laxative 1:40:15 Laudna is coming after maypoles 1:43:25 I hear some Wizards will send Pinkertons after people who violate copyright 1:45:00 Cerberus assembly cards 1:48:00 Two unknown gods: Cheech and Chong 1:53:20 Abaddina 1:58:45 BREAK STARTS 2:06:35 Art Montage 2:08:45 BREAK ENDS 2:12:55 Prism really wants the Scry spell 2:22:25 Bordor misreads the situation 2:25:05 Talking about killing the gods, even if it destroys everything else 2:39:05 Abadinna can scry 2:41:25 Loose directions (figuring out travel teams) 2:48:25 The meeting 2:54:00 And then it gets pretty bad 3:02:40 Coming out of invisibility 3:06:50 Missionary operation 3:11:45 The ghost is very visible 3:20:05 Chad is not a good fighter 3:22:20 Orym curses for the first time 3:30:15 Borgor offers a joint 3:31:40 Strong Bad at the temple 3:37:35 Strong Bad gets his cold one 3:41:40 Chad can be a sacrifice 3:53:45 The Flameguide (and Orym’s speech) 4:00:25 That’s unfortunate 4:04:20 Demon is coming (guards out of commission soon) 4:08:25 Map out 4:10:45 Second map out 4:13:00 Episode Ends The in-game start date for the episode was the 23rd of Fessuran in the year 843. Marisha’s fan says “Where are we?” on one side, and “Hi Sam” on the other. Look, I’ve seen Midsommar, but also… maypoles are fun. Like, it’s definitely the kind of thing people did before actually fun forms of entertainment were invented, but they’re pretty and festive and summery. Any moments I missed? Feel free to post them here. Is it Thursday yet?
watching every muscle in Emily’s body tense as Bor’dor accepts owing a stranger a favor and then tells the same stranger his name says all I need to know about her level of genre savvy
1) She has played a campaign of political intrigue and a campaign of horror fairy tales under Brennan Lee Mulligan 2) She has played a short campaign of fey court shenanigans and intrigue 3) I don't know if there are any more mentions that contribute to this Conclusion: This woman has experienced some shit in D&D. However, she also definitely has made the GM experience some shit ^^ Emily is just great
@@Go-go_Godzilla She's probably referring to Silvery Barbs, which is a reaction spell which can un-do a critical hit by forcing the target to re-roll a successful attack. The concern with a paladin critting in particular is that the extra smite dice would be multiplied on a critical, making it much more impactful than the single extra die of damage just about anyone else gets.
@@leznets91 If she meant to say "Silvery Barbs", then that would make some sense. Thanks for the reply. My Lvl 9 Vengeance Pal would agree with your assessment of the Pally Crit. "TERRA PAX"
@@blueriverbane69 He gets some absolutely heartbreaking ones in the dub of MONSTER, too. Still one of my all-time favorite roles of his, across a very illustrious career.
@@JeremyOsborne1981 It's an old custom in some places, that a polite way to address an elderly stranger is as grandmother or grandfather. It's a token of respect, as grandparents are seen as wise elders and mentors.
@@alexandertiberius1098 In all fairness, given that 'dollar' derives from 'thaler' which dates back to the 16th century in Middle Europe (an appropriate touchstone for parts of Tal'Dorei and Wildemount), this is nowhere near the worst anachronism/out-of-setting reference they've used.
"I think that maybe illusion magic is being amplified." "Look, I don't know for magic, so can you say it in a way I understand it?" "Don't believe what you see." This legit feels like dialogue that would be in a movie I love these people so much.
The Cerberus Assembly having a baseball trading card game system is the funniest thing to me. Person 1: I’ll trade you my Vess Derogna if you give me your Trent Ikithon. Person 2: Only if you hand me your ultra-rare Golden Ludinus Da’leth. *evil smile* Person 1: *gasp* You wouldn’t dare!
Late reply-- but YES! My brother started watching at M9 and said he thought that Marisha was just playing herself. I had to be like, "No you don't understand. She's so different from last season. She just BECOMES her characters."
A while ago I had a dream where there are 10 people on each side of the table. Now that you're mentioning this, it feels like that has a slight chance to become a reality 😂
@@oldfrend i know it's realistically unfeasible for any single dnd table to have too much participants unless some rules are being adjusted and so, but one can dream and make fun of that dream. 😂
Everyone predicting Bor’dor is a god or will somehow betray the group, and I’m not wholly convinced this man isn’t a border collie turned half-elf sorcerer
@@loafbreed7246 I don't even know how someone can find THAT annoying lmao. If you're being annoyed by such trivialities, how do you survive in the world?
Yeah, but I wonder how fun Nana Morri would be if the party visited her not as Fearne's dear friends, but as shady strangers. Judging by those "sculptures" in her garden, not so much ;)
Can I just say that the unsung hero is whoever sets up the captions for these videos. Turn them on to just be amazed at the attention to detail and care for accuracy that goes into the work.
They really do an unparalleled job, and it shows that they're really doing their best for those audience-members who rely on them. I have to imagine it's quite the task to transcribe, so props to the crew.
As someone who relies on subtitles due to iffy hearing, I love accurate subs. There is transcription software that would do the bulk, but it still needs tagged with the players' names and lots of corrections.
@@nathane6368if I recall correctly the CR crew has outsourced the subtitles to a subtitle company in recent years (the subtitles used to be fan-created back in the day)... And Matt gives of all the correct spellings for names and locations. So it's a crew of people, sure. but they're doing a job that they're literally paid to do for a bunch of different projects and don't have any direct connection to the CR crew.
The episode where she 'looted' those dead bodies for like two minutes had me rolling. Marisha actively role-playing on the side by herself, while everyone else carries on conversation, etc. is honestly such a delight. It never gets old
@@Naro_Rivers Yup! 😂 Marisha gets so into it, that I'm so entertained watching whatever the hell it is that she's doing 😂 It's the fact she's committed to the bit that makes it so funny imo
I think Orym is the first character who actually speaks for the gods. The "are gods bad" question has been throwing around a lot. The wildmother has blessed orym with his sword, everlight has revived Laudna. Orym is not afraid to tell the druid elder that some gods are indeed good.
I'm no expert on Exandria - unless binging the first two campaigns makes me one - and I haven't seen any oppression besides the Dawnfather being somewhat a dick to Aabria's character in that call to arms, and the temple right now. I have seen way more examples of Sarenrei or the Wildmother being true forces of good and compassion, so I am not entirely sure where this all is coming from (and I don't get the amount of hate that I see the Matron of Ravens get on the net for not letting Vax live happily ever after, as if people couldn't grasp that she was under no obligation to allow him _any_ extra time in the first place).
I mean, they are varying levels of most likely liberal leaning voice actors playing a DND game in California for their own enjoyment and we as watchers are a second thought. It's not like religion is likely important to any of them in their personal life. The game/show is going to reflect their own personal beliefs.
and did you see the mug she had on the previous episode, like how does that thing even stay upright with such a tiny 'bottom ring' thing. She was really carefull seting it down thou :DD edit waitwait it was the Zelda one shot, turqoise mug
Emily Axford Appreciation post: 1. God this girl is funny, she is so good at coming up with unexpected retorts and hilarious comments instantly, but without hogging the spotlight. 2. She is also so on top of the game mechanics, already she has come up with extremely interesting spell uses and tactical ideas and you can tell she really knows the game well from how she instantly recognized the scry-well. 3. And Prism is such an amazing character; like she's a 9th level wizard but with absolutely no world experience or any of the normal intelligence arrogance that usually comes with it since she's been stuck as an apprentice the entire time. 4. She is also so attentive to the other players and just creates a great atmosphere by laughing at and really going along with other peoples jokes. 5. Her laugh is fucking fantastic! So glad to have her in the CR sphere, and I definitely hope we see more of her after this!
yep i get the feeling that she plays the game as a game too not just roleplay so she's not shy of doing some super tactical shit that most of the CR crew only does when shit hits the fan
Comments like this make me SO happy because she’s been my TTRPG inspiration for over a year now but I feel like she hasn’t gotten the roses she deserves because Dimension 20 and NADDPod are comedy shows (which I also think is a BS reason to dismiss their quality, but that’s another matter). Watching the other players acknowledge how tactically brilliant her plays are, and seeing chats react to her jokes, it makes my heart full.
She's so generous with her laughter and it immediately puts the other performers at ease. She's able to bring out some people from their shells without minimizing whatever it is they're feeling in the moment. She finds the comedy in the situation and really communicates it well.
It's probably been said, but this party division was really clever. They began with pre-existing relationship pairings: Laudna&Imogen Ashton&FCG Orym&Fearn By splitting those relationship pairings apart it forces the characters to rely on members other than their friend, while keeping them invested in reuniting the group.
honestly emily trying to rip and hand aimee some paper without interrupting matt made me laugh more than it should've plus aimee's nervous smile before she says "i forgot my notebook" lol. also, aimee yelling "NO! MATTHEW!" at 4:12:14 is everything to me
Emily is great at rules in comparison to other people who've been doing this longer tbh, I've listened to Naddpod for a while it's great. Honestly sub in Emily instead of Ashley and add Brennan to the main cast and you have the ideal podcast play group.
@@tylerreis-sanford5234 She didn't forget one spell component. She forgot how spell components work. She didn't need that component for her spell because it didn't have a GP value associated with it. Any first time player knows that.
@@transientanus "any first time player knows that" I think youre over estimating first time players here 😂, but more importantly, she was corrected (even if you think its incorrectl) by Matt in regards to her components. Shes a guest at this table, and respected a DM ruling (in this case, your component wouldnt reasonably be found within your pouch). Slowing play down to argue semantics seems worse to pace of play then just saying "ok no problem" and moving on. Also, if youve watched enough of this show, the main cast forgets MUCH simpler things so very often. Weird to have this kind of energy for her here.
@@transientanus The thing is Matt is wrong there. The material spell componant of Summon Greater Demon doesnt have GP value and thus should be able to be substituted by her spell casting focus. You only need the blood if you don't have a spell casting focus OR if you wish to take the extra optional step of creating a circle of protection from the summoned deamon. Matt insisting that Emily needing a blood vial was a bit suprising because he let Fjord cast this spell RAW many many times in C2 with no such requirement.
"What's a Robocop?" "Great Exandrian hero" on the other end of the world: "FCG, he's like Bruce Banner" "Bruce Banner was a notable murderer in the Age of Arcanum" like poetry, it rhymes
I love Laudna's point about the power vacuum. I feel like that's the most nuanced opinion we got out of Bells Hells so far. I understand that the situation is delicate and none of them have personal bonds with gods but they haven't been able to move past "What did gods ever do for me" in their discussions.I love the questions Matt is posing but it is a shame that the group doesn't have time to properly think or discuss anything in more depth with all the battles they have to fight. On another note, I keep thinking about what I'd do in this situation if I were a player, and I can't sympathize with these villagers much. They say Gods are oppressors and Gods have favorites but what they are referring to is the temple. And from what I have seen in these 3 campaigns, gods help those who try. Being a cleric or a paladin is no easy task you improve with milestones you go out of your way and devout yourself to a deity and work on it. Ofc those guys are gonna get rewarded more than you and even then if you sought their help you can find someone who'll help. Apart from the major events of the past that harmed Exandria, I can't think of the prime deities as more than just real powerful creatures who seem to be mostly benevolent, which is a huge thing. It is like the food chain and they are at the top of it. It is natural and they aren't out to get anyone. It is an arrogant struggle to try to take them down and it is foolish to unleash a monster on them. That will only cause further divine-level wars and end up harming poor little exandrians.
Glad I’m not the only one here that doesn’t resonate with the villagers point. I mean as far as I can tell. Their lives are unchanged. They just had a big community event. So they obviously aren’t stopped from living their life. They are just unable to accept a different tour of faith than theirs it seems. This town is definitely not a melting pot. And I wouldn’t have helped them without actually knowing more facts from both sides.
They have plenty of time to think and talk about the issue a lack of gods would cause. Power vacuum is one threat for certain but not the only one. Frankly, they just don't think about it, which results in things like oh... I dunno... Not thinking about it? Additionally, Paladins and Clerics in 5e are NOT bound to deities. Even in Exandria, they are NOT required to have them. Only follow a code of ethics. Deities and Patrons make bargains with their creations by employing the concept of Faustian bargains. They still learn magic, but it comes from using their own life energy aka divine magic. Considering the "good" option is to typically not "kill", which is considered the "evil" option. Druids and Rangers manipulate existing energy as magic, and that is Nature or Elemental Magic. Arcane magic is raw energy manipulation, forming it into something it isn't to create a desired effect. I get why it's confusing and rejected. It's how older editions handled it. They are basically a well known meme at this stage, 5e functionally changed that for the masses. Folks are still failing to wrap their head around that, despite it apparently being a thing in wotc newly released or releasing edition.
And what comes doesn’t seem better. The Betrayer gods use people for their pleasure. The Prime gods do try and help, but are often unappreciated. Ludinus thinks he is better than gods but will kill all who don’t see his view. Or experiment on them. Otahan enjoys harming and twisting. And the creature in Ruidus is going to eat everything
@@ricmthegm I do feel like if temple would just explain to them why they are there then it would help some. That’s the “churches “ downfall so far tho. They want to keep this whole thing a secret. It’s been a secret long enough. It’s time to explain to the world what is happening. I think more people would help them then fight against them in the end.
I appreciate that the negotiation route is exceptionally difficult to pull off. It was a nice idea, but also they're not bringing much leverage to the table and were expecting pretty extreme action on short notice. More so, I appreciate that Matt sets a threshold where attempting to talk it out further will have no added benefits. Players often try to keep forcing another Persuasion check by continuing to talk, so having it this way really demonstrates that you only get a person's attention for so long before their patience runs thin and their decision is solidified.
Yeah, it's actually pretty rare when Matt allows multiple tries on the same check, albeit with a higher DC. Most of the time it seems that his PCs understand there's only one shot so they really try to make it count when it feels important. However, there are also times when simply just saying or doing the right thing will turn the tide. But in this case, the person they are trying to convince seems incredibly ignorant and arrogant so there was most likely only going to be one shot and it was probably a high DC.
@@SolidSprinkles also gotta remember, they simply strolled up to the garrison, lied, bribed the sentries with booze, and then attempt to persuade the PIC to go against his standing orders offering information that the commander probably already knows, any person would be suspicious as hell. not to piss on their parade, but their strategy really sucked. the whole idea of persuading WARRIOS OF FAITH to go against their deity's interests is simply silly to begin with. it'll be weird if they actually manage to pull it without blood.
Yeah I get what Liam was hoping for, but I don't think this line of arguing would have ever made the temple pack up and leave. They'd send messengers to inform Vassellheim of the news and get orders (since magic messaging doesn't work), but there's nothing that can even be done if they're told they have HOURS to run across the ocean and get to the Hellcatch Valley. The persuasion roll was probably just to see if the Fireguide would try to capture them forcefully.
@@ohhi7168 They did. 'We come here representing Zephra and apparently your village' 'We have seen what's going on first hand and your efforts are better spend at a location other than 'with your boots on the neck of farmers' ' The implied 'there are people of powerlevel, 'faced Ludinus and lived', who will side with the village should you pick [suppressing a small village] over [try to save your god]' was present and rightfully not the main argument.
I am really, really a fan of the push for negotiation in this campaign. ...and when that fails anyway, we get Matt's crafted combat encounters. A win-win.
My homies out there, yes, some of the NPCs' voices change over the course of the episode. That's only natural; happens all the time. You can't seriously expect Matt to remember every voice he comes up with on the fly. Ludinus' voice is also very different from Campaign 2.
@@colinmorrison5119 I had an innkeeper NPC that I played once a month and never remembered his voice, so his shtick was that his voice was different every time because he used to be a performer and this was how he passed the time.
Orym has a good heart. He always stays true to his values and tried his best to solve the conflict peacefully through negotiation. Captain Exandria indeed. Too bad the dice were not on his side
Aimee is really RPing her socks off in this episode. Everyone else seems really distracted by the logistics, but she is always asking in-character questions and making in character decisions. I love her so much! We need so much more of her. ❤
I am loving Aimee and Emily together with this group. I've been wanting to see Matt DM a campaign with Emily in it for a long time. This is so good. She's just another level of player!
Yeah, it was a while ago for the players, but for the characters it’s been only a day or so since Orym watched Keyleth almost get beaten to death and now he’s half a world away and has no way to get in touch with anyone.
Basically everyone we've had from Brennan's table (himself DEFINITELY included) has been an absolute joy and a masterclass in simultaneously enjoying yourself and creating a great story. Love em to bits
It was also really nice to see Utkarsh getting to flex his social muscles, I was a bit afraid he was going to be a "I am bad at everything to cover for my inexperience with the game" type character, which can absolutely be funny for a while but will eventually turn a bit stale. But my worries were completely unfounded, he absolutely nailed the interactions in this one and is actually a really interesting character with the dichotomy of an illeterate farmer but also really socially adept guy, who then suddenly became a high level sorcerer over night and is reeling to keep up with everything!
It’s interesting how this group is being set up more against the gods (even though some of them don’t agree with that view) and then the other group is being set up more as definitely on the gods’ side (hello commanding vision from the changebringer and dawnfather) it’ll be interesting to see how their beliefs and actions interact when they get back together and (hopefully) all the new characters interact.
I am 100% convinced that Bor'dor is a dog transformed into human form. Not only would that explain some of the things he said in the last episode, but it totally fits a dog's personality!
This one of the best episodes since the split imo. Love the more serious vibe this group is taking right away. Christian and Aabria were really fun and brought their own kind of character based drama, but they way theses guys are just thrust into this morally grey and complex situation is really fun to see too. Really looking forward to seeing this arc play out!
Still catching up and all I see is Emily Axford in a thumbnail. Just here to show Emily some love. From Dimension20 to NADDPod, love all the wacky characters she plays.
She is such a great player. Picks up on things so quickly, moves the plot along so well, while simultaneously dropping hilarious lines. Brennan was 100% spot on with his assessment of her.
@kingofbeys I don't know the time stamps but I think she opened it up at some point "early" like first hour.... and again near the end. Sorry if I'm off base!
It's a tragedy that we didn't get a wizard walking through the forest followed by 5 floating heads (and also a raven, a flying dead rat and a talking book)
and then the portable hole catches on a snag and five severed heads roll to the ground. Remember Matt established that whatever's in the aperture when the hole closes gets cut in two.
Utkarsh is actually a really good roleplayer; he shows up with nothing, takes and barters with people, uses it to his favor when interacting with others. He's very resourcefull and makes do with the mundane with this character and gets really creative and I really like it.
Bor'Dor is straight up from like a family village, where everyone is family... I don't know how "brown" that is, it feels more like Utkarsh played Bor'Dor to be more of a small town guy type of deal.
As much as i loved the Wildemount crew, that bit of the campaign feels more isolated then i imagine this side being. That's also just given the location they were and all and it was a MUCH needed breather after the solstice, but the fact team Issylra are probably gonna end up in Vasselheim while getting an upclose look at the consequences of this eternal solstice... oo boi.
Dude she was HUNGRY for it. She had her little crab hands HUNTING for the D20. She was about to roll and then IMMEDIATE heartbreak. I’m glad she’s back and most importantly, I’m glad everyone’s (except Talesin, he looked very detached this episode) having fun.
I just remembered that from Campaign 2 there was an Archivist in the Cobalt Soul named Demid Sunlash who was heavily interested in researching the moons of Exandria, especially Ruidus. I bet he must be having a field day with the most recent events that have occurred in the world of Exandria.
I thought the "war room" phase of plannings was more focused than usual this round. Especially since the villagers didn't have a plan at all. Between Deni$e with her "actionable steps", Orym, Prism, and even Bor'Dor, things came together fairly quickly. It helped that Matt allowed some minor "Blades in the Dark"-style retcons. :-) And the kickoff showed how perfectly Marisha could read Orym, with her "Mirror Image" coming just before his "That's...unfortunate."
@@jmercedesd Yeah, well, Matt wasn't the one proposing them - but Matt did roll allow them. He's had to GM Candlela Obscura now, which takes a lot of mechanics from BitD.
God I loved Oryms speech, Liam is so damn good at going all in with a passion! And I also really loved Utakarshs reaction: "That was so cool. This should be a TV show!" It's so much fun to see that the guests are as much into it as the rest of us!
Fun fact; anthropologists aren't entirely sure maypoles are phallic symbols as previously assumed. Reason being that if you look at the arrangement of most maypoles (a cross-like construction with a ring on each side of the crossbar, and lines of flowers from the top to the rings) they kind of resemble...well...the _opposite_ of phallic (as in, the interior bits of a ciswoman). So they may have started out as part of _matriarchal_ religious rituals...
Interesting. A bit like the "is this horn-like symbol meant to represent male virility, or is it actually a stylized uterus?" thing I seem to remember coming across a few times.
The idea that maypoles symbolize any kind of human organ whatsoever is fairly recent. That line of thinking, and even other lines of thinking which connect it to the axis mundi or to pagan veneration of sacred trees like Thor's oak or the idea of the world tree, are apocryphal at best and have no known historical attestations. Seems all we indisputably know about them is that they symbolized the return of the warmth and comfort as cultural markers of summer.
3:22:01 sooooo, during the demon summoning talk, and Bor'dor says "I've never seen a demon". Such a quiet, casual off hand remark, but who else was shouting INSIGHT CHECK!!! I'm still gonna hold onto the thought he's more than he seems, even if it's just for fun
Such a great episode, and watching the tension ratchet up more and more with Team Issylra is just awesome. I'm dying to see the next episode! ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... And I just have to gush about Liam-as-Orym's confrontation with the guards and the Flameguide. We are so close to seeing Orym just finally break from all the tension and worry and anger -- gods, I hope that Ashton can pull him back from the brink. And Liam doing desperate, helpless anger and pleading is just pure pleasure to watch.
You guys don't know how much you do for people just by playing the game and having fun. I have ADHD and I can't do normal chores without having someone there to body double for me. But with you lot playing I can do the dishes, do laundry, clean my home. It might seem small to most, but to me that is the biggest thing in the world. Thank you
People keep saying this over and over, but I just don't see it? Where is the chaos? Shes extremely tame when compared to people like Sam, Travis, Laura, or even Ashley.
@@transientanus It feels like she is holding back being new to the table and group. Also, take into account that I said "this group." The group that absolutely does not contain Sam, Laura, Travis, or Ashley.
These guest players are just "da bomb"! I hope Matt is able to merge both groups into one super duper group to blast the evil Ludinus Da'leth and his minions!!
@@StarlitSunLight They've had time to set that up, I have no doubt. But you could also just set up monitors and have another table with cameras right next to the set.
I've honestly been enjoying all these split-party episodes more than I might have expected. The setup gives the characters room to breathe, and the guests have been excellent. My only complaint is that I keep hoping for a bit more Ashton focus.
"Love this, this should be a TV show" Quote of the episode. The faces of the original crew when this is said is amazing! love this channel so much. Still have to watch and listen to the C1/C2. I can't get enough of the story telling and voices of the character's. Favorite YT channel hands down. I hope one day I can meet Crit Role!
"The first mortal since the Matron ascended to truly fill them again with fear" I don't know, I would argue that they were pretty sppoked by Vespin Chloras and whatever god killing weapon Aeor was cooking at the dawn of the Calamity. Pelor, Sarenrae and Ioun did seem a bit worried as well when Vecna started to ascend and I'm pretty sure Melora was quaking when she felt Cognouza approaching from the Astral... All in all, the Prime Deities are easily affraid.
Yea but aeor got bitch smacked out of the sky easily, vecna was barely mortal at that point and im not sure what cognouza even classifies as either but more like baby great one than mortal
Every time Emily rolls a nat 20 (and there are SO MANY of those moments) I keep picturing Brennan Lee Mulligans walking off screen out of pure DM frustration and love for his players. I’m glad Mercer gets to experience her wonderfully mischievous personality.
49:10 this part where they enter the town comes across to me as if they're entering the hometown of Emond's Field, at the beginning of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time book 1, especially when they see Pride Rock and the May Poles. Just random adventurers stumbling upon the aftermath of tragic destruction.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd get to see Aimee and Emily play at the same table and I'm so happy. Also love Utkarsh on Ghosts and am so happy to see him doing some DnD.
2:35:54 Prism: "No commitments in just going to a meeting." Elder Abaddina: "No commitments." 2:59:50 Ashton: "We're outsiders. The very act of being at this meeting means we're in. There's no turning back, even from the moment we walked through the door." Bor'Dor: "Yeah. We already agreed." Laudna: "Exactly." Boy, that escalated quickly.
This week on Critical Role, the gang attacks a church because some villagers were uncomfortable and a fanatic gave a speech with information they knew wasn't true. Seriously, they didn't even talk with the clergy and just took the words of people who were extremely biased.
Honestly could have used someone that was not on the “Gods bad” train, maybe have them go speak with the church while the group did their business with the cult leader I mean wise woman. Idk, I do not feel like many of the players ordered much of a rebuttal to a woman who literally is all for taking down the gods and not just the church.
LMFAO! My mom watches this with me now, and the phrase " that's unfortunate" being the signal made her laugh she said " oh they're using your catch phrase" 😭😂
I'm so suspicious of these villagers. They don't want a god but they are like a cult with that elemental. They are not representing something different they are just on a different end of the spectrum. Abbadina is twisting the deeds of the temple to blame the gods and even if Dawnfather wasn't great I find it incredibly suspicious that she is willing to take the words that came with the wind and own it so quickly. I wonder if she is with the Ruby Vanguard. After all, the village is at a nexus point and I wouldn't be surprised if Ludinus placed or recruited someone for the nexus points to be used in his favor. He's been alive for eons the elemental might have been like Vo and Ludinus might have put him there ages ago. I'm turning into a conspiracy theorist but Ludinus is crazy and he managed to get his hands on the champion of the Matron of Ravens I wouldn't put anything past him.
HEY, there might be some SPOILERS under the thing
0:20 Nathaniel Twenty pushes through an ad
5:25 Laura’s merch corner
7:20 Intro cinematic
9:10 EPISODE STARTS
11:10 Recap Ends
12:10 Inventing the floating hole
13:50 Finding the nail
18:25 Dariax hair
20:55 I don’t like it
26:35 Marisha’s fan
28:15 Shipping Pate and Mother
29:20 Travel day 1
36:10 Bor’dor is really smart
39:40 Prism is turned on by arcane magic
44:05 Milk the cow
47:30 Prism is ready to pass out surveys
52:10 Hender
56:25 Doubling back for jerky
1:00:00 Collecting the tooth
1:03:50 Twin Peaks
1:08:15 Styling Laudna
1:09:55 Prolapse
1:11:45 Bor’dor can’t read (Proleff)
1:20:00 Loam and the Leaf
1:29:50 A rap competition
1:32:35 Prism was almost dodgy
1:35:30 Proleff needs a hair cut
1:36:55 Massive Laxative
1:40:15 Laudna is coming after maypoles
1:43:25 I hear some Wizards will send Pinkertons after people who violate copyright
1:45:00 Cerberus assembly cards
1:48:00 Two unknown gods: Cheech and Chong
1:53:20 Abaddina
1:58:45 BREAK STARTS
2:06:35 Art Montage
2:08:45 BREAK ENDS
2:12:55 Prism really wants the Scry spell
2:22:25 Bordor misreads the situation
2:25:05 Talking about killing the gods, even if it destroys everything else
2:39:05 Abadinna can scry
2:41:25 Loose directions (figuring out travel teams)
2:48:25 The meeting
2:54:00 And then it gets pretty bad
3:02:40 Coming out of invisibility
3:06:50 Missionary operation
3:11:45 The ghost is very visible
3:20:05 Chad is not a good fighter
3:22:20 Orym curses for the first time
3:30:15 Borgor offers a joint
3:31:40 Strong Bad at the temple
3:37:35 Strong Bad gets his cold one
3:41:40 Chad can be a sacrifice
3:53:45 The Flameguide (and Orym’s speech)
4:00:25 That’s unfortunate
4:04:20 Demon is coming (guards out of commission soon)
4:08:25 Map out
4:10:45 Second map out
4:13:00 Episode Ends
The in-game start date for the episode was the 23rd of Fessuran in the year 843. Marisha’s fan says “Where are we?” on one side, and “Hi Sam” on the other.
Look, I’ve seen Midsommar, but also… maypoles are fun. Like, it’s definitely the kind of thing people did before actually fun forms of entertainment were invented, but they’re pretty and festive and summery.
Any moments I missed? Feel free to post them here. Is it Thursday yet?
Oh....that's so fast.
Lightening quick as always!
Thank you, Mando!
Flando deserves their own merch at this point
Two minutes. That how early I was.
And still Flando is here. Someone give this guy a raise
Flando you absolute legend, what would Critters do without you?
watching every muscle in Emily’s body tense as Bor’dor accepts owing a stranger a favor and then tells the same stranger his name says all I need to know about her level of genre savvy
1) She has played a campaign of political intrigue and a campaign of horror fairy tales under Brennan Lee Mulligan
2) She has played a short campaign of fey court shenanigans and intrigue
3) I don't know if there are any more mentions that contribute to this
Conclusion: This woman has experienced some shit in D&D.
However, she also definitely has made the GM experience some shit ^^ Emily is just great
@@kingskelett6265 I think she's GM'd several times on her and Murph's podcast as well. She's a master at this game.
@@portsyde3466 Why did she mention counterspelling a paladin's crit (presuming she meant for a smite) at the end?
"TERRA PAX"
@@Go-go_Godzilla She's probably referring to Silvery Barbs, which is a reaction spell which can un-do a critical hit by forcing the target to re-roll a successful attack.
The concern with a paladin critting in particular is that the extra smite dice would be multiplied on a critical, making it much more impactful than the single extra die of damage just about anyone else gets.
@@leznets91 If she meant to say "Silvery Barbs", then that would make some sense.
Thanks for the reply. My Lvl 9 Vengeance Pal would agree with your assessment of the Pally Crit.
"TERRA PAX"
“Heart in right place, maybe. Hand, not so much.” That might have been one of the best pieces of improv from Matt ever.
I was so mad when it didn't get the appreciation it deserved from the table!
Timestamp please, it whooshed over me and now I’m on my third watch and still can’t find it 🥲
@@potatocorners 2:22:48
Paté- the familiar only a Mother could love.
but not mother...
@@ailliegove480I dunno, maybe if she’s hungry. 💀
I'm expecting Mother to pick at Pate's exposed entrails.
Liam is so good at dramatic speeches. I am glad the team split has pushed Orym to a more leadership role
Liam doing desperate, angry pleading is just... inject that straight into my veins, I need it.
I still haven't recovered from his Gaara speech before the Madara fight in Shippuden
@@blueriverbane69 He gets some absolutely heartbreaking ones in the dub of MONSTER, too. Still one of my all-time favorite roles of his, across a very illustrious career.
He was kind of put in a leadership role in the last two campaigns, so he was probably trying not to assume that role this time.
He's just a little guy! 🙂
Marisha holding up Sam's end with the fan, Emily holding up Laura's end with a dirty mind.
"Holding up her end", snicker
I love how similar Laura and Emily are in that way - oh, how I would adore to see them together 😂 (obligatory add of 'not in a dirty way')
@@allmountaintvI mean…
Prism calling the old man “son” so casually sent me
Elves man, everyone looks young compared to them.
I like that overly familial salutations became a running joke. "Grandfather"
@@JeremyOsborne1981 It's an old custom in some places, that a polite way to address an elderly stranger is as grandmother or grandfather.
It's a token of respect, as grandparents are seen as wise elders and mentors.
@@Pro_Butcher_Amateur_Human …is that why people keep calling me daddy?
@@spudthepug well played my friend
If Jester came across that sign for Endovar, you can bet your bag of gold she would have painted it to say, "Bend-over."
Just adds a little B, then probably some penises, lol.
Oh and butts.
I’m seriously disappointed they didn’t take the obvious bait and make the joke
That woulda been priceless
Laura and Sam would’ve jumped on that immediately
😄
Props to whoever writes the subtitles for including the dollar sign in Deni$e's name.
Every time she says, "A dollar sign instead of an S" I want someone to say, "What's a dollar?"
@@alexandertiberius1098 Right? 😂
@@alexandertiberius1098 She hasn't once said "dollar sign". She says "money sign".
@@alexandertiberius1098 In all fairness, given that 'dollar' derives from 'thaler' which dates back to the 16th century in Middle Europe (an appropriate touchstone for parts of Tal'Dorei and Wildemount), this is nowhere near the worst anachronism/out-of-setting reference they've used.
And for even putting a shave and a haircut in for the knock sounds!
"I think that maybe illusion magic is being amplified."
"Look, I don't know for magic, so can you say it in a way I understand it?"
"Don't believe what you see."
This legit feels like dialogue that would be in a movie I love these people so much.
The Cerberus Assembly having a baseball trading card game system is the funniest thing to me.
Person 1: I’ll trade you my Vess Derogna if you give me your Trent Ikithon.
Person 2: Only if you hand me your ultra-rare Golden Ludinus Da’leth. *evil smile*
Person 1: *gasp* You wouldn’t dare!
I can't wait for this to show up in a merch drop.
Wonder what a genuine Delilah Briarwood goes for these days. I have to assume they're discontinued as *hell.*
I’ve got 80 million power in Rise of Mages
Glad _Halas Lutagran, Archmage_ was only printed in the first Edition. Shit was OP as hell.
Still not worth the 100k+ it sells for on TCG sites.
Coming soon, from Darrington Press…
At some point Orym needs to get the ‘Inspiring Leader’ feat because my god would that just WORK for him
Every time Liam ends up in the de facto leader position, he leans into character in ways that are just stunning.
It helps that Liam has the feat.
For some reason I started watching Marisha while other people are talking, and I've come to the conclusion that she basically is Laudna at this point.
I remember watching her backcomb her hair with her fingers in one episode and ended up coming to the same conclusion.
She's always embodied her characters to the fullest. Did the same with Keyleth and Beau
@@EmbryW Agreed. It makes sense, she was pursuing physical acting long before she got into voice acting, this is like the perfect combo for her!
She role played taking the weapons and armor off of corpses for a solid 2 minutes while everyone else talked once lol I think it was ep 59
Late reply-- but YES! My brother started watching at M9 and said he thought that Marisha was just playing herself. I had to be like, "No you don't understand. She's so different from last season. She just BECOMES her characters."
Liam having to act like he knows nothing about being a wizard after playing Caleb fucking widoghast for years 🤣
Oh, he's eating it up. Same as how he had Vax be the slowest in the group to understand the concept of a ttrpg in Grog's One-Shot.
Caleb whose on the damn cerberus assembly no less
@@Froggeh92 caleb turned down being on the assembly, astrid's the one who is!
@@mydude5017 oh no way i missed that part. Ty
@@Froggeh92 Caleb appeared two episodes ago (Orym time) and was in obvious opposition to the assembly :)
Can't wait for both groups to meet up so we can see how many players can be smushed onto one table
A while ago I had a dream where there are 10 people on each side of the table. Now that you're mentioning this, it feels like that has a slight chance to become a reality 😂
@@Aozora210 combat turns would take forever, and matt would need to massively buff up the boss fights, which would make them take even longer.
@@oldfrend i know it's realistically unfeasible for any single dnd table to have too much participants unless some rules are being adjusted and so, but one can dream and make fun of that dream. 😂
I don't remember, did Deanna and FRIDA (FREDA ?) teleport along with the rest of the group? I thought the two of them decided to stay in Wildemount
@@alessandrosalomoni3213 they did go with them. But I’m 99% certain that they going to get separated from each other
Everyone predicting Bor’dor is a god or will somehow betray the group, and I’m not wholly convinced this man isn’t a border collie turned half-elf sorcerer
Thats hilarious
The ACTOR is a border collie, but the character... well that's the scary question
Reckon he's big bad's son: Dogson, as in son of dog, as is in son of cerberus...
I'm just now watching this and I'm thinking the same thing!
2:22:25 seems like a dog brushing against someone to comfort them.
37:42 I love how much Marisha commits to being in character, even when it's only the viewers that are noticing what she does.
She Peter Pan'd it
I think her commitment to hamming it up gets annoying very quickly.
i find it annoying, when folk go "i love this" and someone else feels the urge to go "i find it annoying" in response to that
@@loafbreed7246 I don't even know how someone can find THAT annoying lmao. If you're being annoyed by such trivialities, how do you survive in the world?
@@AdrianVM19 you need a wooden to go with that shit stirring?
i hope the fan stays, and when sam and marisha are both at the table again they have a little sparing match with fan and tanker
Ohh that would be so hilarious! 😂
I'm hoping she can get an old Sam headshot to decorate the fan.
Marisha is the table's collective revenge for years of Riegel's prop comedy.
They should all have fans. It added a lot to The Seven over at Dimension 20
@@UbuntuIrv - that shot of him from Les Mis would do it 😀
Nana Morri is the fun grandma we wish we had and Abbadina is the grandma we have to psyche up to see at obligatory Thanksgivings
REALLL
Way too real lol
Yeah, but I wonder how fun Nana Morri would be if the party visited her not as Fearne's dear friends, but as shady strangers. Judging by those "sculptures" in her garden, not so much ;)
Can I just say that the unsung hero is whoever sets up the captions for these videos. Turn them on to just be amazed at the attention to detail and care for accuracy that goes into the work.
My fav of all time is "Talesin: "eerily accurate crow noises"
They really do an unparalleled job, and it shows that they're really doing their best for those audience-members who rely on them. I have to imagine it's quite the task to transcribe, so props to the crew.
As someone who relies on subtitles due to iffy hearing, I love accurate subs.
There is transcription software that would do the bulk, but it still needs tagged with the players' names and lots of corrections.
My favourite is ‘Taliesen: (NJ-ish accent) Forget about it!’ Such a subtle burn.
@@nathane6368if I recall correctly the CR crew has outsourced the subtitles to a subtitle company in recent years (the subtitles used to be fan-created back in the day)... And Matt gives of all the correct spellings for names and locations. So it's a crew of people, sure. but they're doing a job that they're literally paid to do for a bunch of different projects and don't have any direct connection to the CR crew.
I love how Marisha pretends to eat jerky for 30 seconds for no reason. She's the best 😂😂
The episode where she 'looted' those dead bodies for like two minutes had me rolling. Marisha actively role-playing on the side by herself, while everyone else carries on conversation, etc. is honestly such a delight. It never gets old
@@tryingmybardest
Like the time Laudna got bored on watch so Marisha started playing with her hair?~
@@Naro_Rivers Yup! 😂 Marisha gets so into it, that I'm so entertained watching whatever the hell it is that she's doing 😂 It's the fact she's committed to the bit that makes it so funny imo
Then washes down the imaginary jerky with her real drink.
it’s just like when ashley kept rowing on that raft a couple of episodes ago hahaha. i love when they commit to physical roleplaying
I think Orym is the first character who actually speaks for the gods. The "are gods bad" question has been throwing around a lot. The wildmother has blessed orym with his sword, everlight has revived Laudna. Orym is not afraid to tell the druid elder that some gods are indeed good.
We just need a good old-fashioned Caduceus-type NPC at this point
It's nice to see him say that honestly. The idea that "religion is nothing but a tool of oppression" is REALLY overdone in modern fantasy media IMO.
I'm no expert on Exandria - unless binging the first two campaigns makes me one - and I haven't seen any oppression besides the Dawnfather being somewhat a dick to Aabria's character in that call to arms, and the temple right now. I have seen way more examples of Sarenrei or the Wildmother being true forces of good and compassion, so I am not entirely sure where this all is coming from (and I don't get the amount of hate that I see the Matron of Ravens get on the net for not letting Vax live happily ever after, as if people couldn't grasp that she was under no obligation to allow him _any_ extra time in the first place).
@@irena4545 I was talking about fantasy media as a whole, especially JRPGs. CR has been pretty good at presenting religion fairly.
I mean, they are varying levels of most likely liberal leaning voice actors playing a DND game in California for their own enjoyment and we as watchers are a second thought. It's not like religion is likely important to any of them in their personal life. The game/show is going to reflect their own personal beliefs.
Its weird watching them roll for travel/weather and not hearing Travis go "ANCIENT WHITE DRAGON!!!"
It doesn't matter what party, or where they are. Any time they roll for travel events, I kinda expect Geladon.
Lol it's okay, I said it for him. 🤣🤣
@@SuperMichael18 we all did.
It did happen once. With the meigtee neein
Some day...
emily is cracking me up just by being at the CR table with a whole ceramic teapot and a fishbowl-sized mug
and did you see the mug she had on the previous episode, like how does that thing even stay upright with such a tiny 'bottom ring' thing. She was really carefull seting it down thou :DD edit waitwait it was the Zelda one shot, turqoise mug
I hadn't noticed since as a Brit that's merely a "proper-sized mug" for me 🤣☕
I am Czech and that's a tiny teapot.
Gotta say that the laxatives in the beer was SUPER clever and didnt see it coming, very much love that level of creativity and on the spot craftiness
Emily Axford Appreciation post:
1. God this girl is funny, she is so good at coming up with unexpected retorts and hilarious comments instantly, but without hogging the spotlight.
2. She is also so on top of the game mechanics, already she has come up with extremely interesting spell uses and tactical ideas and you can tell she really knows the game well from how she instantly recognized the scry-well.
3. And Prism is such an amazing character; like she's a 9th level wizard but with absolutely no world experience or any of the normal intelligence arrogance that usually comes with it since she's been stuck as an apprentice the entire time.
4. She is also so attentive to the other players and just creates a great atmosphere by laughing at and really going along with other peoples jokes.
5. Her laugh is fucking fantastic!
So glad to have her in the CR sphere, and I definitely hope we see more of her after this!
yep i get the feeling that she plays the game as a game too not just roleplay so she's not shy of doing some super tactical shit that most of the CR crew only does when shit hits the fan
god yes this is all so well put and all i can do is agree!
Well said! She’s a great player AND a great team player :)❤
Comments like this make me SO happy because she’s been my TTRPG inspiration for over a year now but I feel like she hasn’t gotten the roses she deserves because Dimension 20 and NADDPod are comedy shows (which I also think is a BS reason to dismiss their quality, but that’s another matter). Watching the other players acknowledge how tactically brilliant her plays are, and seeing chats react to her jokes, it makes my heart full.
She's so generous with her laughter and it immediately puts the other performers at ease. She's able to bring out some people from their shells without minimizing whatever it is they're feeling in the moment. She finds the comedy in the situation and really communicates it well.
Sam and Laura must be proud of the work Marisha and Emily are putting in. The fan. The arcane affinity.
Honestly when Emily said "I'm willing to do dirty stuff" I thought Laura was still at the table.
Last episode she spent nearly 3 minutes miming remove apparel from bodies.
It's probably been said, but this party division was really clever. They began with pre-existing relationship pairings:
Laudna&Imogen
Ashton&FCG
Orym&Fearn
By splitting those relationship pairings apart it forces the characters to rely on members other than their friend, while keeping them invested in reuniting the group.
honestly emily trying to rip and hand aimee some paper without interrupting matt made me laugh more than it should've plus aimee's nervous smile before she says "i forgot my notebook" lol.
also, aimee yelling "NO! MATTHEW!" at 4:12:14 is everything to me
Time stamp? They're so cute together lol Emily was looking around for Aimee's nail too 😂
@@erikabautista7072 23:20 Aimee leans over and asks for paper and Emily starts a very delicate operation
@@hhylobates4098 Thank you for the time stamp! I didn't even notice that moment originally but it was hilarious.
I'm so glad the Critrole folks get to experience Emily Axford, and the effect she has on dice.
If only she knew how spells work...
Emily is great at rules in comparison to other people who've been doing this longer tbh, I've listened to Naddpod for a while it's great. Honestly sub in Emily instead of Ashley and add Brennan to the main cast and you have the ideal podcast play group.
@@tylerreis-sanford5234 She didn't forget one spell component. She forgot how spell components work. She didn't need that component for her spell because it didn't have a GP value associated with it. Any first time player knows that.
@@transientanus "any first time player knows that"
I think youre over estimating first time players here 😂, but more importantly, she was corrected (even if you think its incorrectl) by Matt in regards to her components. Shes a guest at this table, and respected a DM ruling (in this case, your component wouldnt reasonably be found within your pouch). Slowing play down to argue semantics seems worse to pace of play then just saying "ok no problem" and moving on.
Also, if youve watched enough of this show, the main cast forgets MUCH simpler things so very often. Weird to have this kind of energy for her here.
@@transientanus The thing is Matt is wrong there. The material spell componant of Summon Greater Demon doesnt have GP value and thus should be able to be substituted by her spell casting focus. You only need the blood if you don't have a spell casting focus OR if you wish to take the extra optional step of creating a circle of protection from the summoned deamon. Matt insisting that Emily needing a blood vial was a bit suprising because he let Fjord cast this spell RAW many many times in C2 with no such requirement.
"What's a Robocop?"
"Great Exandrian hero"
on the other end of the world:
"FCG, he's like Bruce Banner"
"Bruce Banner was a notable murderer in the Age of Arcanum"
like poetry, it rhymes
I love Laudna's point about the power vacuum. I feel like that's the most nuanced opinion we got out of Bells Hells so far. I understand that the situation is delicate and none of them have personal bonds with gods but they haven't been able to move past "What did gods ever do for me" in their discussions.I love the questions Matt is posing but it is a shame that the group doesn't have time to properly think or discuss anything in more depth with all the battles they have to fight.
On another note, I keep thinking about what I'd do in this situation if I were a player, and I can't sympathize with these villagers much. They say Gods are oppressors and Gods have favorites but what they are referring to is the temple. And from what I have seen in these 3 campaigns, gods help those who try. Being a cleric or a paladin is no easy task you improve with milestones you go out of your way and devout yourself to a deity and work on it. Ofc those guys are gonna get rewarded more than you and even then if you sought their help you can find someone who'll help.
Apart from the major events of the past that harmed Exandria, I can't think of the prime deities as more than just real powerful creatures who seem to be mostly benevolent, which is a huge thing. It is like the food chain and they are at the top of it. It is natural and they aren't out to get anyone. It is an arrogant struggle to try to take them down and it is foolish to unleash a monster on them. That will only cause further divine-level wars and end up harming poor little exandrians.
Glad I’m not the only one here that doesn’t resonate with the villagers point. I mean as far as I can tell. Their lives are unchanged. They just had a big community event. So they obviously aren’t stopped from living their life. They are just unable to accept a different tour of faith than theirs it seems. This town is definitely not a melting pot. And I wouldn’t have helped them without actually knowing more facts from both sides.
It is not arrogant to try to take them down, no hierarchy is Ok.
They have plenty of time to think and talk about the issue a lack of gods would cause. Power vacuum is one threat for certain but not the only one. Frankly, they just don't think about it, which results in things like oh... I dunno... Not thinking about it?
Additionally, Paladins and Clerics in 5e are NOT bound to deities. Even in Exandria, they are NOT required to have them. Only follow a code of ethics.
Deities and Patrons make bargains with their creations by employing the concept of Faustian bargains.
They still learn magic, but it comes from using their own life energy aka divine magic. Considering the "good" option is to typically not "kill", which is considered the "evil" option. Druids and Rangers manipulate existing energy as magic, and that is Nature or Elemental Magic. Arcane magic is raw energy manipulation, forming it into something it isn't to create a desired effect.
I get why it's confusing and rejected. It's how older editions handled it. They are basically a well known meme at this stage, 5e functionally changed that for the masses. Folks are still failing to wrap their head around that, despite it apparently being a thing in wotc newly released or releasing edition.
And what comes doesn’t seem better. The Betrayer gods use people for their pleasure. The Prime gods do try and help, but are often unappreciated. Ludinus thinks he is better than gods but will kill all who don’t see his view. Or experiment on them. Otahan enjoys harming and twisting. And the creature in Ruidus is going to eat everything
@@ricmthegm I do feel like if temple would just explain to them why they are there then it would help some. That’s the “churches “ downfall so far tho. They want to keep this whole thing a secret. It’s been a secret long enough. It’s time to explain to the world what is happening. I think more people would help them then fight against them in the end.
love bor'dor and his casual remarks and freaking out sm, missed the "npc thrown into battle" character trope
I appreciate that the negotiation route is exceptionally difficult to pull off. It was a nice idea, but also they're not bringing much leverage to the table and were expecting pretty extreme action on short notice.
More so, I appreciate that Matt sets a threshold where attempting to talk it out further will have no added benefits. Players often try to keep forcing another Persuasion check by continuing to talk, so having it this way really demonstrates that you only get a person's attention for so long before their patience runs thin and their decision is solidified.
Yeah, it's actually pretty rare when Matt allows multiple tries on the same check, albeit with a higher DC. Most of the time it seems that his PCs understand there's only one shot so they really try to make it count when it feels important. However, there are also times when simply just saying or doing the right thing will turn the tide. But in this case, the person they are trying to convince seems incredibly ignorant and arrogant so there was most likely only going to be one shot and it was probably a high DC.
@@SolidSprinkles also gotta remember, they simply strolled up to the garrison, lied, bribed the sentries with booze, and then attempt to persuade the PIC to go against his standing orders offering information that the commander probably already knows, any person would be suspicious as hell.
not to piss on their parade, but their strategy really sucked. the whole idea of persuading WARRIOS OF FAITH to go against their deity's interests is simply silly to begin with. it'll be weird if they actually manage to pull it without blood.
Yeah I get what Liam was hoping for, but I don't think this line of arguing would have ever made the temple pack up and leave. They'd send messengers to inform Vassellheim of the news and get orders (since magic messaging doesn't work), but there's nothing that can even be done if they're told they have HOURS to run across the ocean and get to the Hellcatch Valley.
The persuasion roll was probably just to see if the Fireguide would try to capture them forcefully.
I was confused why they didn't really bring up the farmers or say their demands
@@ohhi7168 They did.
'We come here representing Zephra and apparently your village'
'We have seen what's going on first hand and your efforts are better spend at a location other than 'with your boots on the neck of farmers' '
The implied 'there are people of powerlevel, 'faced Ludinus and lived', who will side with the village should you pick [suppressing a small village] over [try to save your god]' was present and rightfully not the main argument.
I am really, really a fan of the push for negotiation in this campaign.
...and when that fails anyway, we get Matt's crafted combat encounters. A win-win.
It's gotta fail, they got battle cam sponsorships after all.
@@DSas2300 They're season-long, there were episodes with no fights in them, so they're not obliged to show them in every one
@@DSas2300 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄
@@levindeed Sponsorships can have details prearranged, dontchaknow
My homies out there, yes, some of the NPCs' voices change over the course of the episode. That's only natural; happens all the time. You can't seriously expect Matt to remember every voice he comes up with on the fly. Ludinus' voice is also very different from Campaign 2.
I noticed he mixed up one voice, and thought "he is human after all!"
I'm amazed Matt's as consistent as he is. Voices are not easy to remember.
@@colinmorrison5119 I had an innkeeper NPC that I played once a month and never remembered his voice, so his shtick was that his voice was different every time because he used to be a performer and this was how he passed the time.
If Bor'Dor double crosses the group, I will happily accept betrayal
You know he has something going on. He is too suspicious
Bor’dor is either a polymorphed border collie or secretly evil. I will accept no other outcome
Erika did not chew all that scenery and jeopardize all those mikes for us to NOT be suspicious of future guests, is my stance.
3hrs 29 he rolls a 23 deception on not a nat20 so he has at least a +4 deception 🧐
@@PanicsMannequin from the way he and Emily acted, it seemed he rolled low. Guessing he has at least a plus 8
Orym has a good heart. He always stays true to his values and tried his best to solve the conflict peacefully through negotiation. Captain Exandria indeed. Too bad the dice were not on his side
Aimee is really RPing her socks off in this episode. Everyone else seems really distracted by the logistics, but she is always asking in-character questions and making in character decisions. I love her so much! We need so much more of her. ❤
I am loving Aimee and Emily together with this group. I've been wanting to see Matt DM a campaign with Emily in it for a long time. This is so good. She's just another level of player!
Man… thoughts and prayers for Orym, he’s really going through it. That line, “I don’t have anymore hard no’s” really struck me.
Ikr?! Glad I'm not only 1 who noticed that
Yeah, it was a while ago for the players, but for the characters it’s been only a day or so since Orym watched Keyleth almost get beaten to death and now he’s half a world away and has no way to get in touch with anyone.
Emily is such a juggernaut of role-playing. fucking amazing
I was truly enchanted the entire 4 hours, and it wasnt just coz she is a wizard
Right!?
Basically everyone we've had from Brennan's table (himself DEFINITELY included) has been an absolute joy and a masterclass in simultaneously enjoying yourself and creating a great story. Love em to bits
they slayed the thumbnail so hard
@@johnymey4034 i think they mean thumbnail either way not wrongg
It was also really nice to see Utkarsh getting to flex his social muscles, I was a bit afraid he was going to be a "I am bad at everything to cover for my inexperience with the game" type character, which can absolutely be funny for a while but will eventually turn a bit stale. But my worries were completely unfounded, he absolutely nailed the interactions in this one and is actually a really interesting character with the dichotomy of an illeterate farmer but also really socially adept guy, who then suddenly became a high level sorcerer over night and is reeling to keep up with everything!
I agree, he made some really solid choices this episode that added depth to the character.
It’s interesting how this group is being set up more against the gods (even though some of them don’t agree with that view) and then the other group is being set up more as definitely on the gods’ side (hello commanding vision from the changebringer and dawnfather) it’ll be interesting to see how their beliefs and actions interact when they get back together and (hopefully) all the new characters interact.
Yes! I was thinking that too-- by the time they meet back up, they may be on totally opposite sides of the conflict.
When Orym put the red and orange flowers in Laudna's hair, I instantly imagined La Llorona.
I love you, total stranger on the internet, know that 💐
Ay de mi llorona
Not quite La Llorona, she's not usually represented with flowers, but definitely La Catrina!
Emily Axford is to Nat 20's what Will Wheaton is to Nat 1's.
There is balance in the Force.
Imagine if they would roll one D20 together. Would it create an ever-spinning cosmicconstant or would it just rip a hole in space-time ccontinuum?
She borrowed Ally's Nat 20's and brought them over.
I would love to see Emily roll Die Will held but never rolled.
The plural of 20 is 20s, same site 1 to 1s. An apostrophe is never used to pluralize, only denote possession or a contraction.
Utkarsh/Bor'dor over here acting so harmless while actually being a total little sh*t... love it 😁
Those were some Grade 'A' Chaos Crew shenanigans.
My entire personality
I am 100% convinced that Bor'dor is a dog transformed into human form. Not only would that explain some of the things he said in the last episode, but it totally fits a dog's personality!
@@robinverkroost1912 HES A SHEEPDOG
Bor’dor Collie!
This one of the best episodes since the split imo. Love the more serious vibe this group is taking right away. Christian and Aabria were really fun and brought their own kind of character based drama, but they way theses guys are just thrust into this morally grey and complex situation is really fun to see too. Really looking forward to seeing this arc play out!
"get a hobby, don't decorate a pole" - quite the statement from the lady who crafted Pate into existence
Still catching up and all I see is Emily Axford in a thumbnail. Just here to show Emily some love. From Dimension20 to NADDPod, love all the wacky characters she plays.
our fungal queen!!
She is such a great player. Picks up on things so quickly, moves the plot along so well, while simultaneously dropping hilarious lines. Brennan was 100% spot on with his assessment of her.
The main Critrole cast is suffering from so much burnout she really shines here.
Whenever Sam does the Nat 20 bit they have a crazy amount of twenties in the first half
this comment needs more attention
It's so true
I literally looked for this comment! ^^
Marisha’s fan is fantastic - I did read it as “Here are we?!” for a bit, which I feel like also encapsulates the situation just as well
Sounds like a fan Caduceus Clay would make.
Timestamp please? I'm rewatching cause I listened to most of this episode on my work commutes. Everyone is talking about this fan.
@kingofbeys I don't know the time stamps but I think she opened it up at some point "early" like first hour.... and again near the end. Sorry if I'm off base!
It's a tragedy that we didn't get a wizard walking through the forest followed by 5 floating heads (and also a raven, a flying dead rat and a talking book)
and then the portable hole catches on a snag and five severed heads roll to the ground. Remember Matt established that whatever's in the aperture when the hole closes gets cut in two.
@@richardcrowe3091 What's life without a little risk?
Utkarsh is actually a really good roleplayer; he shows up with nothing, takes and barters with people, uses it to his favor when interacting with others. He's very resourcefull and makes do with the mundane with this character and gets really creative and I really like it.
52:15 Utkarsh calling random guy "Uncle" is peak brown
Woah what do you mean by peak Brown?
Bor'Dor is straight up from like a family village, where everyone is family... I don't know how "brown" that is, it feels more like Utkarsh played Bor'Dor to be more of a small town guy type of deal.
@@ihaveapipebombinmyass We South Asians call any older man "uncle". They can be total strangers.
@@NisansaDdS Russians do that too.
Matt’s “generic guard” voice feels so Skyrim. I want him to tell them, “no lollygagging” so much!
He used to be an adventurer himself, before he took an arrow to the knee.
I love that Utkarsh goes 'hello Uncle' xD like that's such a desi thing to do to an elder you don't know out of respect xD.
As much as i loved the Wildemount crew, that bit of the campaign feels more isolated then i imagine this side being. That's also just given the location they were and all and it was a MUCH needed breather after the solstice, but the fact team Issylra are probably gonna end up in Vasselheim while getting an upclose look at the consequences of this eternal solstice... oo boi.
"Its the curse of a wizard everything is effort" OMG Emily!!! why do I feel attacked by this, why am I crying... LOL
seeing emily at the table is SUCH a treat. I adore her playstyle. Also her laugh is so infectious. Really hope to see more of her in critical role!!
This group is so unpredictable, it is just too good! Love every second!
I love how Aimee was so disappointed at the end, hahaha. Watch her grab the dice and get ready to go, then nope. She was so keen!
Dude she was HUNGRY for it. She had her little crab hands HUNTING for the D20. She was about to roll and then IMMEDIATE heartbreak. I’m glad she’s back and most importantly, I’m glad everyone’s (except Talesin, he looked very detached this episode) having fun.
I just remembered that from Campaign 2 there was an Archivist in the Cobalt Soul named Demid Sunlash who was heavily interested in researching the moons of Exandria, especially Ruidus. I bet he must be having a field day with the most recent events that have occurred in the world of Exandria.
Considering that those twins were murdered by the Crimson Veil for knowing too much about it... wouldn't shock me if he was too
In my head, he's a Grim Veridi member.
Yeah and the party roasted the shit out of him for a good 10 minutes for being so into the moons. Matt getting his sweet sweet revenge this campaign
I thought the "war room" phase of plannings was more focused than usual this round. Especially since the villagers didn't have a plan at all. Between Deni$e with her "actionable steps", Orym, Prism, and even Bor'Dor, things came together fairly quickly. It helped that Matt allowed some minor "Blades in the Dark"-style retcons. :-) And the kickoff showed how perfectly Marisha could read Orym, with her "Mirror Image" coming just before his "That's...unfortunate."
I wonder if he was inspired by how Aabria ran the heist in EXU: Kymal?
@@jmercedesd Yeah, well, Matt wasn't the one proposing them - but Matt did roll allow them. He's had to GM Candlela Obscura now, which takes a lot of mechanics from BitD.
God I loved Oryms speech, Liam is so damn good at going all in with a passion!
And I also really loved Utakarshs reaction: "That was so cool. This should be a TV show!" It's so much fun to see that the guests are as much into it as the rest of us!
*speech
@@NeverUseAnApostrophe thanks
Fun fact; anthropologists aren't entirely sure maypoles are phallic symbols as previously assumed. Reason being that if you look at the arrangement of most maypoles (a cross-like construction with a ring on each side of the crossbar, and lines of flowers from the top to the rings) they kind of resemble...well...the _opposite_ of phallic (as in, the interior bits of a ciswoman). So they may have started out as part of _matriarchal_ religious rituals...
Interesting. A bit like the "is this horn-like symbol meant to represent male virility, or is it actually a stylized uterus?" thing I seem to remember coming across a few times.
You mean the interior bits of a woman?
A fun tidbit: the opposite of phallic is yonic
For all o yall acting like you know who your daddy is, the opposite of phallic is cillahp, everybody at the crick knows that. Even Pietyr!
The idea that maypoles symbolize any kind of human organ whatsoever is fairly recent. That line of thinking, and even other lines of thinking which connect it to the axis mundi or to pagan veneration of sacred trees like Thor's oak or the idea of the world tree, are apocryphal at best and have no known historical attestations. Seems all we indisputably know about them is that they symbolized the return of the warmth and comfort as cultural markers of summer.
Hender's "Carolina Tobacco Farmer" voice was perfect.
"I aint no charity case!" Floored me
@@Froggeh92 Midwesterner here, we can be like that, too.
3:22:01 sooooo, during the demon summoning talk, and Bor'dor says "I've never seen a demon". Such a quiet, casual off hand remark, but who else was shouting INSIGHT CHECK!!! I'm still gonna hold onto the thought he's more than he seems, even if it's just for fun
WEPLAYDUNGEONSANDDRAGOOONS
I hear it so clearly
WAWEWUWOWAWUUUUUU
Yes we do
I think you mean "Bunions and Flagons"
BE-BE-BE-BE-EUUUUGHHHHHH
Such a great episode, and watching the tension ratchet up more and more with Team Issylra is just awesome. I'm dying to see the next episode!
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And I just have to gush about Liam-as-Orym's confrontation with the guards and the Flameguide. We are so close to seeing Orym just finally break from all the tension and worry and anger -- gods, I hope that Ashton can pull him back from the brink. And Liam doing desperate, helpless anger and pleading is just pure pleasure to watch.
4:12:32 LMAOO Emily's passion as she plans for next week. God I love her on the table!
You guys don't know how much you do for people just by playing the game and having fun. I have ADHD and I can't do normal chores without having someone there to body double for me. But with you lot playing I can do the dishes, do laundry, clean my home. It might seem small to most, but to me that is the biggest thing in the world.
Thank you
Can i just say- "Thats unfortunate" felt like Orym's breaking point in a lot of ways.
Whoever does the subtitles for these is amazing 😂
At 2:42:28
AIMEE: (NJ accent) Forget about it.
TALIESIN: (NJ-ish accent) Forget about it.
Greetings, Monday Critter Crew!
I was on pins and needles for most of this one; enjoy!
Same
Monday Crew 🤟🏻
Still super psyched that Emily is at the table.
Her shinnanogans is purely ridiculous
Yo Emily is a legend.
Shinnanogans: for when even your shenanigans have ceased to catch the DM off guard.
@@ilmari1452 I think you mean shinnanonigans.
Campaign fours party is fully just come across these corpses in the middle of nowhere and theyll hear "I don't like it" and lost their shit
I love all the twitches and ticks and looks that Marisha creates all the time. She really gets into the part of Laudna. It's awesome
Emily Axford is the perfect level of chaos for this group.
People keep saying this over and over, but I just don't see it? Where is the chaos? Shes extremely tame when compared to people like Sam, Travis, Laura, or even Ashley.
@@transientanus It feels like she is holding back being new to the table and group.
Also, take into account that I said "this group." The group that absolutely does not contain Sam, Laura, Travis, or Ashley.
Emily Axford is the perfect everything, period" would have been true too
@@transientanus On Dimension 20 she's far more chaotic than any of them, but Dimension 20 is also a far more chaotic atmosphere than Critical Role.
That Speech from Orym was amazing, and easily one of my favourite moments
Love how Matt got the full taste of Axford's luck in this that Brennan has to always deal with
Her dice are weighted by fate.
These guest players are just "da bomb"! I hope Matt is able to merge both groups into one super duper group to blast the evil Ludinus Da'leth and his minions!!
I need to see Frida bust a cap in that old dude
I hope so too! But they don't have enough room at the table. Unless they get like a conference table for dnd 🤣
the only good guest player here is Emily axford, cause she actually knows what she's doing
@@hem9483 Utkarsh is playing a bit.
@@StarlitSunLight They've had time to set that up, I have no doubt. But you could also just set up monitors and have another table with cameras right next to the set.
I've honestly been enjoying all these split-party episodes more than I might have expected. The setup gives the characters room to breathe, and the guests have been excellent.
My only complaint is that I keep hoping for a bit more Ashton focus.
"Love this, this should be a TV show" Quote of the episode. The faces of the original crew when this is said is amazing! love this channel so much. Still have to watch and listen to the C1/C2. I can't get enough of the story telling and voices of the character's. Favorite YT channel hands down. I hope one day I can meet Crit Role!
"The first mortal since the Matron ascended to truly fill them again with fear"
I don't know, I would argue that they were pretty sppoked by Vespin Chloras and whatever god killing weapon Aeor was cooking at the dawn of the Calamity. Pelor, Sarenrae and Ioun did seem a bit worried as well when Vecna started to ascend and I'm pretty sure Melora was quaking when she felt Cognouza approaching from the Astral...
All in all, the Prime Deities are easily affraid.
Yea but aeor got bitch smacked out of the sky easily, vecna was barely mortal at that point and im not sure what cognouza even classifies as either but more like baby great one than mortal
Every time Emily rolls a nat 20 (and there are SO MANY of those moments) I keep picturing Brennan Lee Mulligans walking off screen out of pure DM frustration and love for his players. I’m glad Mercer gets to experience her wonderfully mischievous personality.
I NEED SAM AND EMILY AT THE SAME TABLE, MAKE IT HAPPEN
"I CAN DO IT! YOU DON'T KNOW ME!"
"Chad ... put it away ..." LMAO
So at 20:28 Liam definitely said "Kobold Soul" on purpose right?
what do you mean? Of course the Kobold Soul is a prominent organization which is definitely studying the Applebee solstice, why would he misnomer it.
He's talking about the Kobold leather soles of his shoes.
49:10 this part where they enter the town comes across to me as if they're entering the hometown of Emond's Field, at the beginning of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time book 1, especially when they see Pride Rock and the May Poles. Just random adventurers stumbling upon the aftermath of tragic destruction.
You know the players were all in, when Liam forgot to read the battle cam ad he was holding onto the entire episode
bor’dor calling hender “uncle” just put a smile on my face
Matt losing his mind when the dice gods want the players to succeed will always bring me to joyous laughter
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd get to see Aimee and Emily play at the same table and I'm so happy. Also love Utkarsh on Ghosts and am so happy to see him doing some DnD.
Ghosts ?
@@silentheroalphaking551 It's a sitcom; remade from a British show.
@@kevinallenberg6408 Thanks Bro !
2:35:54 Prism: "No commitments in just going to a meeting."
Elder Abaddina: "No commitments."
2:59:50 Ashton: "We're outsiders. The very act of being at this meeting means we're in. There's no turning back, even from the moment we walked through the door."
Bor'Dor: "Yeah. We already agreed."
Laudna: "Exactly."
Boy, that escalated quickly.
This week on Critical Role, the gang attacks a church because some villagers were uncomfortable and a fanatic gave a speech with information they knew wasn't true. Seriously, they didn't even talk with the clergy and just took the words of people who were extremely biased.
Honestly could have used someone that was not on the “Gods bad” train, maybe have them go speak with the church while the group did their business with the cult leader I mean wise woman. Idk, I do not feel like many of the players ordered much of a rebuttal to a woman who literally is all for taking down the gods and not just the church.
LMFAO! My mom watches this with me now, and the phrase " that's unfortunate" being the signal made her laugh she said " oh they're using your catch phrase" 😭😂
Matt giving Emily PREP TIME?? This fight is already over, she wins
I'm so suspicious of these villagers. They don't want a god but they are like a cult with that elemental. They are not representing something different they are just on a different end of the spectrum. Abbadina is twisting the deeds of the temple to blame the gods and even if Dawnfather wasn't great I find it incredibly suspicious that she is willing to take the words that came with the wind and own it so quickly. I wonder if she is with the Ruby Vanguard. After all, the village is at a nexus point and I wouldn't be surprised if Ludinus placed or recruited someone for the nexus points to be used in his favor. He's been alive for eons the elemental might have been like Vo and Ludinus might have put him there ages ago. I'm turning into a conspiracy theorist but Ludinus is crazy and he managed to get his hands on the champion of the Matron of Ravens I wouldn't put anything past him.
Abbadina was for sure giving off Ruidusborn Exaltant vibes the entire time