Critical Role |OT| Is It Thursday Yet?

IIFloodyII · Apr 30, 2021

A Sam Cleric could be great too, also Marisha Paladin would be great.

Reinhard said:
That and I doubt it is Arty's main body. He just has a part of his consciousness in a fey weasel that he can focus on whenever he wants, ie, Jester casts a spell where he participates a little or he feels like watching Jester TV.

Yep, I think that's how it works. Matt said Sprinkle is only part Archfey, so it's not the full Arty, who is somewhere else.

Anoregon · Apr 30, 2021

If anyone goes fighter for C3, I hope they go Echo Knight. Keep that dunamancy flare goin.

Frozen Viper · Apr 30, 2021

I know sorceror's are a sore topic since C1, but this episode is exactly how a sorceror could have been useful, a subtle spell to get one of the traps stealthily, maybe get a second one mid Lucian monologue, or go for broke and twin spell a dispel magic. But yeah, fighting Lucian in his home turf in the middle of the Astral Sea, with no way out as you closed the entrance behind you, while also dealing with a city that will try to drive you insane, is a super bad situation. I think the parties decisions definitely drove them to this corner, as it sounds like they had a really real chance of beating Lucian and Cree to the portal with the shortcuts they took.

I mean the Sprinkle reveal...is probably the most acceptable explanation for him living, and Arty creeping on Jester 24/7 tracks for his character.

I really hope someone takes sorceror in C3 as they need some love, they're my favorite class and the amount of flexibility to do whatever they want.

Reinhard · Apr 30, 2021

Frozen Viper said:
I know sorceror's are a sore topic since C1, but this episode is exactly how a sorceror could have been useful, a subtle spell to get one of the traps stealthily, maybe get a second one mid Lucian monologue, or go for broke and twin spell a dispel magic. But yeah, fighting Lucian in his home turf in the middle of the Astral Sea, with no way out as you closed the entrance behind you, while also dealing with a city that will try to drive you insane, is a super bad situation. I think the parties decisions definitely drove them to this corner, as it sounds like they had a really real chance of beating Lucian and Cree to the portal with the shortcuts they took.

I mean the Sprinkle reveal...is probably the most acceptable explanation for him living, and Arty creeping on Jester 24/7 tracks for his character.

I really hope someone takes sorceror in C3 as they need some love, they're my favorite class and the amount of flexibility to do whatever they want.

Did TCE give Sorcerors any love? At the very least they need "free" Domain spells like clerics.

timedesk · Apr 30, 2021

Frozen Viper said:
I know sorceror's are a sore topic since C1, but this episode is exactly how a sorceror could have been useful, a subtle spell to get one of the traps stealthily, maybe get a second one mid Lucian monologue, or go for broke and twin spell a dispel magic. But yeah, fighting Lucian in his home turf in the middle of the Astral Sea, with no way out as you closed the entrance behind you, while also dealing with a city that will try to drive you insane, is a super bad situation. I think the parties decisions definitely drove them to this corner, as it sounds like they had a really real chance of beating Lucian and Cree to the portal with the shortcuts they took.

I mean the Sprinkle reveal...is probably the most acceptable explanation for him living, and Arty creeping on Jester 24/7 tracks for his character.

I really hope someone takes sorceror in C3 as they need some love, they're my favorite class and the amount of flexibility to do whatever they want.

I was thinking the same thing last night. Subtle Spell would have been a big help. It would be cool to see someone take Sorcerer for Campaign 3 just to pull out a clutch metamagic ability in a tense situation.

Reinhard said:
Did TCE give Sorcerors any love? At the very least they need "free" Domain spells like clerics.

I think both new subclasses got free domain spells, and the Aberrant Mind sorcerer seems to have a lot of cool utility abilities. There was also a metamagic feat released with the book that let's you pick 2 metamagic options and gives you 2 sorcery points so you can take that too and increase your choices and point pool. I've been pretty tempted to try the Sorcerer class or try the Tempest Cleric/Storm Sorcerer multiclass combo sometime.

Sensei · Apr 30, 2021

ive never played dnd but i made up an aberrant mind sorcerer for if i were ever to play lol

BrightLightLava · Apr 30, 2021

Sensei said:
ive never played dnd but i made up an aberrant mind sorcerer for if i were ever to play lol

I hardly ever play, so for me making characters is pretty much the whole game.

And buying dice.

Anoregon · Apr 30, 2021

Reinhard said:
Did TCE give Sorcerors any love? At the very least they need "free" Domain spells like clerics.

timedesk said:
I was thinking the same thing last night. Subtle Spell would have been a big help. It would be cool to see someone take Sorcerer for Campaign 3 just to pull out a clutch metamagic ability in a tense situation.

I think both new subclasses got free domain spells, and the Aberrant Mind sorcerer seems to have a lot of cool utility abilities. There was also a metamagic feat released with the book that let's you pick 2 metamagic options and gives you 2 sorcery points so you can take that too and increase your choices and point pool. I've been pretty tempted to try the Sorcerer class or try the Tempest Cleric/Storm Sorcerer multiclass combo sometime.

Sensei said:
ive never played dnd but i made up an aberrant mind sorcerer for if i were ever to play lol

Yeah I think Aberrant Mind looks a lot of fun. I think Travis could do some interesting stuff with that.

killerrin · Apr 30, 2021

I still can't get my mind off of how clutch that Caleb teleport was this episode. That could have gone so bad. Like imagine if he just shot himself off into a forest somewhere. Or deep underground into the Earth she to Aeor magic shenanigans.

That he got off with just being turned into a sheep is amazing.

BarryBJeans · Apr 30, 2021

Here's my guess as to what the group will play next:

- Liam: Druid but he'll play a Wildfire or Spores one to throw everyone off
- Sam: Wild Magic Sorcerer or Devine Soul Sorcerer
- Marisha: Cleric or Paladin
- Ashley: Full bard for the lols
- Tal: Echo Night Fighter or Alchemist Artificer
- Laura: Warlock, Hexblade or Chain
- Travis: I want to say Battle Smith but I don't think he'd roll with a steel defender, so Armorer

Rrongfield · Apr 30, 2021

SilentMike03 said:
Marisha: Paladin.

She did play an Aarakocra Paladin in Dimension 20: Pirates of Leviathan in case you want to see her take on the class.

timedesk · Apr 30, 2021

Rrongfield said:
She did play an Aarakocra Paladin in Dimension 20: Pirates of Leviathan in case you want to see her take on the class.

I complete forgot about Sunny. She was a pretty fun character. Marisha should absolutely play a paladin again.

IIFloodyII · May 1, 2021

Another thing I'd really like in C3 is some type of a injury system, I think it's great for RP and just adds a risk to combat that isn't just death, which is pretty meh as far as I'm concerned. Also makes them being really hard to kill, like the M9, less important, as yeah you mightn't die, but you can always lose an eye if you go down and roll bad. I don't think Matt would, as it's always been something he's very forgiving with ( I think he's only ever done it once super early in C1), but I'd really like to see how they'd adapt to that.

killerrin · May 1, 2021

I just hope that C3 takes place on the Shattered Teeth. That whole Archipelago is just shrouded in near-absolute mystery and it'd be amazing to see.

IIFloodyII said:
Another thing I'd really like in C3 is some type of a injury system, I think it's great for RP and just adds a risk to combat that isn't just death, which is pretty meh as far as I'm concerned. Also makes them being really hard to kill, like the M9, less important, as yeah you mightn't die, but you can always lose an eye if you go down and roll bad. I don't think Matt would, as it's always been something he's very forgiving with ( I think he's only ever done it once super early in C1), but I'd really like to see how they'd adapt to that.

The big problem there is that it would go completely against how healing magic works in the Exandria setting. We know that simple healing spells can regrow limbs for example. So I think the only way this could really work is if they were on another plane or remote area of the Prime Material Plane where Healing Magic or knowledge of the God's is tabbo.

IIFloodyII · May 1, 2021

killerrin said:
I just hope that C3 takes place on the Shattered Teeth. That whole Archipelago is just shrouded in near-absolute mystery and it'd be amazing to see.

The big problem there is that it would go completely against how healing magic works in the Exandria setting. We know that simple healing spells can regrow limbs for example. So I think the only way this could really work is if they were on another plane or remote area of the Prime Material Plane where Healing Magic or knowledge of the God's is tabbo.

Ah, that's true, I guess he could just change it so only higher level spells heal actual serious wounds (doesn't necessarily need to be a fancy spell, just cast above a certain level) like broken bones and severed parts, it wouldn't be the first he made a big change after a Campaign. But I don't think he would want to anyway.

I also wouldn't want it to be a common thing, just a rare possibility, as I think it gets more annoying than fun if it happens all the time, I'd probably just want it to only be possible when hitting 0HP, so not super punishing, but occasionally it will cause some problems and inconveniences and they'd have to RP it and even get it fix by someone else at the lower levels.

MoonToon · May 1, 2021

People spit balling cool C3 stuff?

I don't have any thoughts about classes other than I'd love to see someone play a non-extroverted Bard who doesn't use music/ song. It's been the type of character I've always wanted to see or play since I found out how exactly free you are to make bards do bard stuff.

Anyway, my entirely selfish desire is for someone to play a Tabaxi ... simply because I love good furry art that would lock down years of great furry fan art made by this community.

BarryBJeans · May 2, 2021

MoonToon said:
People spit balling cool C3 stuff?

I don't have any thoughts about classes other than I'd love to see someone play a non-extroverted Bard who doesn't use music/ song. It's been the type of character I've always wanted to see or play since I found out how exactly free you are to make bards do bard stuff.

Anyway, my entirely selfish desire is for someone to play a Tabaxi ... simply because I love good furry art that would lock down years of great furry fan art made by this community.

Speaking of "Monsterous"/non-human races, I was kind of hoping some characters would have retired/died when we got to Jorhoss (Probably spelling that wrong). I lived the vibe of "outcasts".

Famassu · May 2, 2021

Has Matt & the gang implied that we're nearing the end of C2? I really need to catch up then. Want to be able to watch as much of a possible finale live as possible.

CoolOff · May 2, 2021

Famassu said:
Has Matt & the gang implied that we're nearing the end of C2? I really need to catch up then. Want to be able to watch as much of a possible finale live as possible.

They've had some loose discussion on C3. More like "for the first time acknowledging it as a concept". Since most of the characters arcs have kinda wrapped up, it makes sense. If that means post-Somnovum, or another 1-2 arcs with Uka'toa or the Assembly, who knows, but I'd bet we see C3 before the year is over.

Grexeno · May 2, 2021

I don't think Lucien/Somnovum is the final arc, they've basically been playing like Trent is the final boss.

Nif · May 2, 2021

I'm pretty sure they'll stop Lucien's plan and have a time skip again before the big bad and ending the campaign.

Senjuro · May 2, 2021

Time skip only makes sense if Tharizdun makes a surprise endgame comeback because after they're done with the Somnovum there's no reason to delay dealing with the only other final boss candidates, Uk'otoa and Trent.

killerrin · May 2, 2021

Famassu said:
Has Matt & the gang implied that we're nearing the end of C2? I really need to catch up then. Want to be able to watch as much of a possible finale live as possible.

As the others have said. We are nearing the final two arcs until the cast will be absolutely comfortable with putting the story to rest.

Those being:
Uka'toa
Cerberus Assembly/Trent

So depending on how things go, probably another 20-50 episodes unless something really catches their attention and they want to expand on it.

Famassu · May 2, 2021

Hmm. Ok, it's just kind of... weird. I haven't really felt things escalating in the same way they did in Campaign 1. Though I'm probably, like, 30+ episodes behind again, so maybe that's at least partly why

CoolOff · May 2, 2021

Famassu said:
Hmm. Ok, it's just kind of... weird. I haven't really felt things escalating in the same way they did in Campaign 1. Though I'm probably, like, 30+ episodes behind again, so maybe that's at least partly why

That's because Matt very clearly took them by the hand story-wise in C1. Even if Aeor is "ramping up" in some sense (I know that we've had long discussions here on how successful it is though), C1 was very much an old-school good vs. evil story with a clearer progression of antagonists.

Sensei · May 2, 2021

Famassu said:
Hmm. Ok, it's just kind of... weird. I haven't really felt things escalating in the same way they did in Campaign 1. Though I'm probably, like, 30+ episodes behind again, so maybe that's at least partly why

i think people are more just tired of the campaign that we have as opposed to it making logical sense to end soon. because it honestly doesn't make sense to end after lucien considering the plot threads we have now with certain characters, but people want a fresh start. this campaign has been spinning its wheels since the travelercon

MoonToon · May 2, 2021

Sensei said:
i think people are more just tired of the campaign that we have as opposed to it making logical sense to end soon. because it honestly doesn't make sense to end after lucien considering the plot threads we have now with certain characters, but people want a fresh start. this campaign has been spinning its wheels since the travelercon

I think it's more so a combo of things for me.

Thematically, I like the idea that someone had of C1 being a "get all the shit done" traditional run and this one being a "lots of loose ends" run so that in C3 we can see how these loose ends fuck the world and the new group has to clean it up. I also really like the idea of a PC becoming the final big bad.

On a player level I'm sure the group has realized that they've been spinning their wheels for a long time now, RP wise this seems to be Veth's final outing with the group and this fight is a big thing that has a number of them raising death flags (be it for drama or not). Hell, Caleb's even freeing his cat regardless of which way this goes.

IDK how close they are to a C3, but I could easily see this being their BBEG. Like, I feel like every other threat on the list is small compared to what their trying to stop here.

Seeing how everyone talks about C1 I really feel like I should watch that.

CoolOff · May 2, 2021

Also, they definitely aren't taking this as far as C1 level wise.

Famassu · May 2, 2021

CoolOff said:
That's because Matt very clearly took them by the hand story-wise in C1. Even if Aeor is "ramping up" in some sense (I know that we've had long discussions here on how successful it is though), C1 was very much an old-school good vs. evil story with a clearer progression of antagonists.

True to a degree. C2 certainly has more in the veins of trying to do morally grey characters (incl. the PCs), but there's still plenty of fairly black & white evil/bad guys stuff going on all in all. I wonder if they could've taken the ASOIAF road of having this world-ending magical threat looming over everything all the while humans (& humanoids) deal with their political games & stuff, and the job of the players would have been to try to dampen the flames of a full-blown war & everything going to hell, so that the world would be ready to face that magical threat. I still think it would be cool if that living eldritch hellscape city would pop up in this realm for some reason that is tied to things they've been dealing with so far and defeating it before the whole continent/world is wrecked would've been the end goal.

CoolOff · May 2, 2021

Are we still sure Lucien intends to "bring it through"? His speech last episode, and the fact that they went to the Astral Sea to go to the city, made me curious as to the true motivation. I'm still not fully convinced on who in the Lucien - Somnovem dynamic would be running the show in the end. He intends to ascend and join them, right? Why does he need the city to come to Exandria for that, is it a condition?

Digital Dinosaur · May 2, 2021

Lucien:

Trent and the Cerberus Assembly:

ArkkAngel007 · May 2, 2021

On the C3 talk, is there a region that any of you would prefer for it to be set in? My ordered preference would be:

1. Shattered Teeth: Has had no presence in either campaign and rather isolated, so no connecting baggage.
2. Issylra: Would be a fun monster fighting/dungeon diving campaign with some religious power struggles in Vasselheim, while also seeing the other communities outside of the city. Being the oldest setting of the world also makes for some fun possibilities.
3. Marquet: Tomb raiding an ancient, pre/early Calamity civilization. Seems a bit sparse outside of Ank'haral and Shammal though, so may have to settle in for location fatigue.
4. Wildemount: It's a very well developed setting and may be necessary depending on what happens in C2, but the focus would have to shift from a much different perspective such as the Xhorhasians or Blightshore to not feel derivative to C2.
5. Tal'Dorei: Unless Matt builds up the continent in the 20+ years since C1, I have little interest in focusing on Exandria's Middle Earth after the much richer and developed setting and dynamics in Wildemount.

MoonToon said:
Seeing how everyone talks about C1 I really feel like I should watch that.

C1 has its stretches of wheel spinning, even amid the otherwise well directed and executed third arc. Most say to jump into episode 24 or so to skip most of a problem player's time on the show and the worst of the technical speed bumps, but there's some good content from the very beginning as well that IMO makes it worth powering through the hiccups.

I also like the beginning stretch of C1 as a point of proof that these folks play 'real' D&D as much as the likes of MCDM and D20, and what is out there now is a culmination of years of playing together and building this brand across two companies and tons of fan support.

Doc Kelso · May 2, 2021

Famassu said:
True to a degree. C2 certainly has more in the veins of trying to do morally grey characters (incl. the PCs), but there's still plenty of fairly black & white evil/bad guys stuff going on all in all. I wonder if they could've taken the ASOIAF road of having this world-ending magical threat looming over everything all the while humans (& humanoids) deal with their political games & stuff, and the job of the players would have been to try to dampen the flames of a full-blown war & everything going to hell, so that the world would be ready to face that magical threat. I still think it would be cool if that living eldritch hellscape city would pop up in this realm for some reason that is tied to things they've been dealing with so far and defeating it before the whole continent/world is wrecked would've been the end goal.

Honestly I initially thought that this campaign would be something similar to this, yeah. An introduction to factions, learning about the war between said factions, learning about the looming greater threat, trying to convince the warring factions that they need to focus on the bigger picture, and then the result of convincing 1 faction, neither faction, or both factions in the coming conflict.

Rather it feels like they tried to go for a middle-ground between this style of story and a more open-ended approach. I think this group would have REALLY flourished within a campaign structured around heavy RP that has a very firm goal to it. I'm very much hoping that Trent isn't going to be an end-boss situation since his sort of antagonist is someone that's best done throughout an entire campaign as the primary antagonist since that sort of individual cannot be beaten through good ol' D&D fisticuffs.

Honestly, I do think COVID really fucked with things too. The cast is full of incredibly kind, sensitive people and they were clearly fucking miserable with the situation of not being able to see their friends and watching the world sorta go to shit. It's hard to want to play a D&D campaign that involves unhappy themes when real life sucks as it is. Even moreso when you still want to make something entertaining for the millions of people that watch your show.

I have high hopes for C3 since everyone is incredibly talented and DMing is nothing if not learning from your mistakes--even when you're an aspirational DM like Matt Mercer is.

Senjuro · May 2, 2021

MoonToon said:
Seeing how everyone talks about C1 I really feel like I should watch that.

YES.
But prepare for a rough start. Power your way to the mid 20's if you have to but it'll be well worth it.

ArkkAngel007 · May 2, 2021

CoolOff said:
Are we still sure Lucien intends to "bring it through"? His speech last episode, and the fact that they went to the Astral Sea to go to the city, made me curious as to the true motivation. I'm still not fully convinced on who in the Lucien - Somnovem dynamic would be running the show in the end. He intends to ascend and join them, right? Why does he need the city to come to Exandria for that, is it a condition?

Would have been nice to earnestly fish for those answers before being shamelessly antagonistic, but *gestures at Mighty Nein*

Cree spoke to Fjord, when informed of Lucien's death, about them only wanting to gain answers and secrets from the city. So it hadn't seemed like the intention wasn't necessarily to bring it back then, if Cree wasn't of course holding back. It could have been a condition put upon Lucien when they reassembled his shattered being in the Astral Sea.

Reinhard · May 2, 2021

MoonToon said:
Seeing how everyone talks about C1 I really feel like I should watch that.

Do yourself a big favor and read a summary of the first 16 episodes and start with their trip to Vassalheim after they have deposited an evil artifact (episode 17). The audio quality is too painful to the ears the first 10+ episodes and they really had 0 idea how 5th edition works since they were playing Pathfinder for so long. Plus, you get less of the annoying cast member who kept trying to hog the limelight and would blatantly cheat. Alternatively, start with episode 24.

timedesk · May 2, 2021

Nif said:
I'm pretty sure they'll stop Lucien's plan and have a time skip again before the big bad and ending the campaign.

I've wanted a time skip for a while. It's hard to see how one might fit given the current circumstances, but maybe living in exile from the Empire could work as a setup. If Trent's assassins are hunting the group they might feel like they have to split up for some period of time to protect their families and be a harder target to track. Veth could get half a year with her family, Caleb could have time to study time magic with Essek, Fjord and Jester could find a new permanent place for her mom or find Fjord's old captain and chill on an Island for a while. Beau and Yasha could seek help from a Cobalt Soul branch away from the Empire or try to hideout in Darktow or someplace seedy and off the grid. Cad could probably just go home as they already live pretty off the grid.

ArkkAngel007 said:
Cree spoke to Fjord, when informed of Lucien's death, about them only wanting to gain answers and secrets from the city. So it hadn't seemed like the intention wasn't necessarily to bring it back then, if Cree wasn't of course holding back. It could have been a condition put upon Lucien when they reassembled his shattered being in the Astral Sea.

I think the plan to bring the city back to their world came when Lucian was revived. He underwent the ritual to commune with the city, but was sabotaged. I think he got his new marching orders while Molly was controlling his body. So it makes sense that Cree wouldn't know about it at that time. If she had she probably would have tried to continue Lucian's work after the ritual had seemingly failed.

Famassu said:
Hmm. Ok, it's just kind of... weird. I haven't really felt things escalating in the same way they did in Campaign 1. Though I'm probably, like, 30+ episodes behind again, so maybe that's at least partly why

I think a lot of it is that Brian and the cast have talked about how the story feels like it is entering its final act on Talks a bit. Still, starting the third act and being on the verge of ending are two different things. It feels more like the plot is finally forcing the M9 to confront threatening and world changing plots now. Because of the ramping dangers characters are starting to act on their feelings more and figuring out what they really want, which makes the series feel like it is wrapping stuff up before a big finale. I still wouldn't expect C2 to end before November or so though. There are still a fair number of plots that could take center stage.

Kard8p3 · May 2, 2021

I imagine this is the beginning of the end, as stated by others there are still a good amount of things that need to be covered, so I don't think it'll end for many many months.

Real question is will Trent be the endgame or Uka'toa

Frozen Viper · May 3, 2021

I still think the Sonovium is the end game, just not this specific instance. With how it's going, I expect one of these two tropey things to happen:

1) Lucian has forced the party into the Astral Sea to have them witness his great victory/ascension. He will command the obviously evil and lethal living city to not harm the party so they can witness his final ritual because he is super duper self conscious and he needs people to see his victory or else no one will know it was him and he did it so that for him isn't a victory at all. Lucian will continue to monologue some more and the M9 will strike him down right before his great victory because his Ego level is 21 out of 10 right now and he'll let his guard down at the pivatal moment to allow for an RKO reversal, cue dramatic death but the M9 finds out he achieved whatever he achieved and the Sonovium is unleashed on Wildemount, most likely because Cree actually did the smart thing and finished the ritual mid-monologue.

2) Little bit same as above except Lucian totally completes his ritual and awakens/unleashes/whatever he is doing with the Sonovium, but as he releases it he finds out he isn't a king like he's been monologing about, he's been a pawn all along, and is absorbed/killed/done away with by the very thing he thought he had mastered. The now unchained Cognoza Ward follows Lucian's memories to Wildemount.

The now Big Bad Evil City is loose in Exandria and is consuming the world slowly or doing some wacky shenanigans like bringing on the apocalypse , and the M9 have to negotiate with the major powers to get them to band together in common cause to save the day. Bonus points it pops up over the Menagarie Coast and roasts the area for the big "Chroma Conclave" turn and the M9 have to recover their famlies and see the devastation and stuff. Along the way, they discovere they REALLY needed the Cerberus wizards to 'Assemble', but Trent is still the leader and has taken the entire organization underground to try and take advantage of all of the worldly chaos. Maybe they stage a coup on the Royalty, maybe they just got MIA, either way the team has to make Trent a cadaverific corpse to get their help and boom Caleb is tied up.. Afterwards, after some choice diplomatic meetings with the Dynasty, they are on board to go Kord and declare war on the bad city, but a large force of crazy tentacle fueled cultists are invading one of their port cities and they cant spare the men. Turns out through...somehow, the cloven crystal was obtained by Avantika by intermediary as Uka'Toa and the Cognoza Ward had a fun telepathic tea time over their love of consuming and subsuming. Turns out this port city is Vandrin's home port and he is the biggest lead as to what the cultists are looking for, and Fjord and him and the M9 team up to stop that from happening, boom biggest hook#2 sunk.

Then finally, with the non-Tal'Dorei side of the world united, they march on the Sonovium and that's the endgame.

timedesk · May 4, 2021

All the talk about what comes after this arc has made me think about the final interaction the M9 had with Lucian and Cree last episode.

So it seems like the portal Cree and Lucian were working on was initially open to the water plane. I don't remember it ever officially being stated, but that's where Uk'otoa is sealed away right? Lucian and Cree also had some kind of control over a massive water creature/elemental. Enough so that it didn't ever try to attack them. Neither Lucian or Cree have shown the ability to control monsters, if they had that they probably wouldn't have had to fight as many creatures to get to the portal. Lucian also specifically mentioned how interesting the cloven crystal was, but only presented it as an illusion, he never pulled it out despite having it with him.

What if he was able to give it to Uk'otoa. With a portal open to his prison Uk'otoa might have been able to make contact and come to an agreement. The water creature could have been a gift/reward for aiding him. Lucian wouldn't care about unleashing him because he believes the Somnovem can rewrite reality or something, so Uk'otoa isn't really a threat. So theoretically the third of Uk'otoa's chosen could be having a dream right now where their patron gives them the final key.

This is all just massive speculation, but I just have this idea for a scene playing out in my head. The M9 manage to defeat the city, and escape with Yussa. They wind up back at his tower and trying to figure out what to do next when a massive tidal wave hits the coast and they see the snea snake in it's full power erupt from the ocean. It's not quite on the level of the conclave, but it would be a cool way to transition into that next arc.

ArkkAngel007 · May 4, 2021

From Explorer's Guide to Wildemount:

...a series of temples built to Uk'otoa were corrupted with Zehir's infulence and used to seal Uk'otoa deep beneath the rock of the ocean floor, robbing the Ki'Nau of their patron.

The leviathan elevated the Ki'Nau to conquer the southern coasts of the continent until the jealous will of Zehir reached byond the Divine Gate and discovered the insolence of his creation, commanding his followers to seal Uk'otoa in the bedrock beneath the Lucidian Ocean.

So Uk'otoa is still on the material plane of Exandria.

Somewhere in the game where they spoke of the legend of those three entities implied they were still on the material plane in their prison, but can't recall when that was so figured that source works fine.

timedesk · May 4, 2021

Wow, I had no idea Uk'otoa was still on the same plane as them. That makes it weirdly creepier to me. I guess that kind of kills my theory unless Uk'otoa was able to Lucian while everyone was taking a long rest.

Belfast · May 5, 2021

Famassu said:
Hmm. Ok, it's just kind of... weird. I haven't really felt things escalating in the same way they did in Campaign 1. Though I'm probably, like, 30+ episodes behind again, so maybe that's at least partly why

I think the plot in C2 has largely been about existential threats that only a few people really know about. Aside from the war, the populace at large doesn't know a lick about the potential cataclysms facing them.

SilkySm00th · May 5, 2021

I still say Matt kind of expected someone from the group to actually step up and be a leader to help focus and drive some decision and goal making. Multiple people have had small opportunities and shied away hard.

A tongue tied eternally frightened face, shy and thoughtful barbarian and comically mentally regressive/depressed wanderers.
Their biggest button pushing shit talker is the God damned monk! LoL

But hey...this is how you get cancer cities floating over your hometown.

I think yall are right thought. Beginning of 3rd act maybe. I reeeeaaaally want Ukatoa to show up. Like so bad

timedesk · May 6, 2021

Looks like they leveled up after last session. They've got a video with everyone's HP rolls.

Fjord took another level in Warlock which let him take the Tough feat. Dude now has over 180 HP, and got a new Eldritch Invocation. Because he is now Warlock level 12 he qualifies for the Lifedrinker invocation which would let him add a flat 5 necrotic damage to every hit he makes with his sword, or he could take the Eldritch Smite invocation which he could make one of his strikes do some crazy damage and knock the opponent prone. So he now has more HP then Yasha and with Armor of Agathys he would have almost 210 HP, not quite Grog territory but still pretty solid.

Yasha has a little over 160 HP and can now keep her rage up so long as she isn't knocked out, which her Zealot ability prevents anyway, so it seems like she is even harder to kill now.

The casters all get 8th level spells, but Caleb is still under 100 HP. Veth gets another 1d6 to her sneak attack and gets proficiency with Wisdom saves.

I don't remember if Matt treats level ups like a long rest. So the party might be at full power now entering the Astral sea, or they could need to take a long rest for it to kick in. With any luck we'll get a real fight with Lucian tonight and then spend the next couple sessions dealing with the living city itself.

Senjuro · May 6, 2021

So they have 8th level spells now but I'm not seeing anything that will drastically change their super fucked situation. Closest thing is Clone but it needs 4 months to be useful. Feeblemind on Cree could be nice if they can manage it, she doesn't have legendary resistances.

StormBrute · May 6, 2021

timedesk said:
I don't remember if Matt treats level ups like a long rest. So the party might be at full power now entering the Astral sea, or they could need to take a long rest for it to kick in. With any luck we'll get a real fight with Lucian tonight and then spend the next couple sessions dealing with the living city itself.

If they do that, that might be the thing that makes me completely give up on the idea of threat or risks or tension in Critical Role. They're finally entering an interesting situation where they're low on resources and fighting against two foes that they should be able to easily defeat, but also with a huge unknown threat. If they look at that and decide "well, let's invalidate that and just restore everyone to full health and magic slots" then the traps, encounters, and everything will have meant absolutely nothing just so they can have this fight.

Hopefully they don't do that!

timedesk · May 6, 2021

StormBrute said:
If they do that, that might be the thing that makes me completely give up on the idea of threat or risks or tension in Critical Role. They're finally entering an interesting situation where they're low on resources and fighting against two foes that they should be able to easily defeat, but also with a huge unknown threat. If they look at that and decide "well, let's invalidate that and just restore everyone to full health and magic slots" then the traps, encounters, and everything will have meant absolutely nothing just so they can have this fight.

Hopefully they don't do that!

I did a quick experiment on DnD beyond. I marked off some health and spell slots and then leveled up. The level up restored all my health and slots, so unless Matt had them specifically mark what they were at, they might be fully restored. That would be a bit of a bummer, as you said, it kind of undoes the traps and fights from the last two sessions. If that's the case I hope Matt just bombards them with traps and enemies in the city to balance it out. Lucian still has a bunch of intuit charges and he and Cree might also get some boosts now that they are close to the city, so the fight might not be completely one sided. Also, if Lucian can take control of Beau and Caleb, that 8th level slot belongs to the enemy. One positive I guess is that the group won't spend a while debating trying to take a long rest lol.

I can't remember if Matt has ever had any party member level up in the middle of an encounter/dungeon before. Vax might have leveled up during one of the dragon fights, but I can't remember for sure. If Matt is giving them a level now it probably means the living city is going to be very hostile. Now that Lucian and Cree are at their goal he really needs to raise the stakes.

BrightLightLava · May 6, 2021

New on the shop. Temporary tattoos, and beanies. Really hitting the 2008 hipster demo.

SilentMike03 · May 6, 2021

Listening to the podcast of last week's episode and it does appear that the Aeor people were just running experiments on the beacons and didn't actually create them. So big mis-understanding on my part.

I'm assuming Matt is going to treat the city as another dungeon crawl, so I'm not too chuffed about them leveling up.

Critical Role |OT| Is It Thursday Yet?

Sorry for your ineptitude