Critical Role |OT| Is It Thursday Yet?

[Pilgrimzero]

Also the episode would indicate that belief is what gives something/one powers who in turn can grant you powers.

Reminds me of 40K Orks who's weapons and vehicles work because they believe they do. Add red paint makes it go faster, and it does.

Didn't the old WoD work on the same principle? Monsters exist because enough people believe they do.

 

[timedesk]

I mean ... as far as the seance stuff goes it's a little strange to me to go in and goof on like ghosts and stuff super hard but then draw the line at a seance reading being too real or touching too close to home.
Like prior lives or re-incarnation or normal religion or ancient ghost stories or greek myths or whatever. It's all fake garbage... like go in and goof on it hard. Seance is just as silly and stupid as ghost houses and shit like that. I would of had a time of fucking with that lady either way. I guess it just came across as like .. wall to wall ridiculous. Why care/believe any of it honestly?
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The ending of this last game though. Like as soon as they noticed more and more people... and their stances being somewhat guarded .. and them some of them were angry or looking like they were defending themselves or whatever - you could see Cad's face starting to change and get more somber and then BAM ... family statues and BAM... Gorgon up in your face!
Enjoyed the shit out of this episode. I also low key adored Artagan's little display and comments about how easily he could wipe the M9 off the map completely. Like Beau especially but then everyone else wants so badly to kind of quantify or put the Traveler in the box so they can describe his power or presence in a more traditional specific way. Like the little punk monk goes to poke him.. like physically touching him would prove he isn't a god or something? And then he just immediately turns like 30 feet tall makes it very clear that if she ever laid a finger on dude it would be because he didn't care enough to stop her/kill her or whatever.
So fun - can't wait for the rest of these feels and the cave...

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Artagan's interactions with the M9 were kind of interesting. His immediate dislike of Fjord had some interesting implications. Was it just because Fjord kind of got a read on him a couple of episodes ago? He also seemed kin of dismissive of Cad, especially for his habbit interpreting things as sings from the Wildmother. I wonder if he is confused/uncomfortable with their brand of faith, or if he is wary of people connected to more "Prime" deities.

Beau trying to poke him was a great character moment. Artagan might have the powers of a god, but he doesn't really know how to act the part. Him growing in size and immediately being uncomfortable and changing back was a great example of that. He absolutely could probably kill all of them with barely any effort, but he's also not so godly that he can't use their help to workshop his big convention.

 

[Digital Dinosaur]

Didn't the old WoD work on the same principle? Monsters exist because enough people believe they do.

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Yeah. To the point that there were conspiracies to make people NOT believe in things in order to erase those things from existence.

 

[SilentMike03]

I mean ... as far as the seance stuff goes it's a little strange to me to go in and goof on like ghosts and stuff super hard but then draw the line at a seance reading being too real or touching too close to home.
Like prior lives or re-incarnation or normal religion or ancient ghost stories or greek myths or whatever. It's all fake garbage... like go in and goof on it hard. Seance is just as silly and stupid as ghost houses and shit like that. I would of had a time of fucking with that lady either way. I guess it just came across as like .. wall to wall ridiculous. Why care/believe any of it honestly?

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The ghost stuff doesn't hurt anyone. "Mediums" prey upon the emotionally vulnerable. They tell people they can communicate with their dead relatives while taking all their money. It's super fucked up.

edit: Shit, this news story is from January of this year. A psychic convinced some woman her daughter was possessed and scammed her out of $70,000.

Mass. Palm Reader Stole Over $70,000 From Client in Exorcism Scheme, Police Say

A palm reader in Massachusetts is being accused of stealing more than $70,000 from a client by telling the woman her daughter was possessed by a demon and she needed the money to relocate the spirit into a Barbie doll. Somerset police say Tracey Milanovich — who ran Tracy’s Psychic Palm Reader...

www.nbcboston.com

 

[Rytheran]

It may be because I've been reading a lot of the Dr. Stone Manga recently. But it really makes me wonder how a broken statue would work in DnD. Like I guess if you had your arm broken off and were unpetrified, you would be armless and probably spewing blood everywhere. But would there be a way to repair a statue before you unpetrified them?

Like could a spellcaster cast Mending on a statue before a Greater Restoration to restore a broken limb? What if they lost their head? If the statue was smashed to bits and pieces and you took several days to mend it back together? Would be interesting to see how a DM would rule that.

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I've been watching Campaign 1 for the first time and in one episode they come across a cartographer that has been petrified, with part of one arm broken off. Pike uses Greater Restoration on him and he turns back to flesh, but his arm was spewing blood everywhere and she uses cure wounds to fix that. Then someone asks if they could re-attach his arm somehow and Matt says something like, "You get the feeling that's something you should have done before unpetrifying him."

So going by that I assume it could be reattached somehow beforehand

 

[SilkySm00th]

The ghost stuff doesn't hurt anyone. "Mediums" prey upon the emotionally vulnerable. They tell people they can communicate with their dead relatives while taking all their money. It's super fucked up.

edit: Shit, this news story is from January of this year. A psychic convinced some woman her daughter was possessed and scammed her out of $70,000.

Mass. Palm Reader Stole Over $70,000 From Client in Exorcism Scheme, Police Say

A palm reader in Massachusetts is being accused of stealing more than $70,000 from a client by telling the woman her daughter was possessed by a demon and she needed the money to relocate the spirit into a Barbie doll. Somerset police say Tracey Milanovich — who ran Tracy’s Psychic Palm Reader...

www.nbcboston.com

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Yea sure if you believe them - which if you spend 30 minutes goofing on "ghosts" i'm assuming you don't. I'm not saying they aren't harmful or whatever I just think it's odd how like... isn't the concept of Ghosts insulting to him with his mother passing? Isn't the concept of Hell an insult? Why are ghosts silly but people whom talk to ghosts are not? Taking advantage of people is shit and your job is a charlatan... soooo spend the time this rip off artists is spending on you making fun of them directly to her face. Like with those guys on youtube who fuck with scammers and stuff. I know they would need her to sign off on a permissions form to use her in the show or whatever but like... meh.

Anyways - clearly a mediocre subject to base their 2nd episode on. More chainsaws pls and thnks.
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I'm thinking Artagan as an Arch-Fey probably thinks of the wildmother in a strange way. Like... she doesn't have any effect or sway over the nature/wild aspects of the FeyWild correct? So like - in his mind their Nature (and it's god along with it) might seem kind of... silly? I dunno. I like this teenage godhood angle Matt took with him. Perfect pairing for Jester and Laura is playing these revelations soooo well.

 

[SilentMike03]

Why are ghosts silly but people whom talk to ghosts are not?

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Because there's a wide gulf between "there's the spirit of an old boxer who haunts this house" and "I can speak to your dead mother/father/daughter/son/wife/husband and if you give me more money I'll tell you what they say".

 

[timedesk]

Because there's a wide gulf between "there's the spirit of an old boxer who haunts this house" and "I can speak to your dead mother/father/daughter/son/wife/husband and if you give me more money I'll tell you what they say".

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Yeah I agree with this. Haunted houses, and mystery spots are basically carnival attractions. Mediums are pretty much predatory con artists who target people struggling with grief. One is basically entertainment, the other is a targeted scam.

 

[SilkySm00th]

The why are ghosts silly was kind of rhetorical. Like clearly taking advantage of anyone experiencing grief like that makes you a shitheel. I have a weird time with peoples lines in the sand at times but this isn't one of them for sure.
Scam artists bad. I wish they would have used the opportunity to fuckin dunk on the idea of a seance or ghosts or past lives or any of that shit rather than like play along and jokes their way through it. Clearly wasn't received as well as the first episode. Hoping for indoor skydiving or something at some point in the future. I would love to see Sams "Dog with his head out the car window" face.
Anyways - nevermind all that nonsense...
It's thursday yo!

 

[timedesk]

Happy Thursday. Tonight should be fun, but I'm almost positive Taliesin is going to break my heart at some point this episode.

 

[Dream Machine]

Speaking of the traveler and party interaction, I kind of wish he had made himself a bit more formidable while still conveying he was kind of a mess who didn't know what he was doing. Like when Beau went to punch him or poke him he just unnaturally pops her arm off like a doll and says "you can have this back when we're finished talking", or temporarily sealed someone's mouth shut, or something. It just didn't feel very Archfey-y to me for him to be so open with the entire party the way he was with jester. I unerstand him being vulnerable with her, but being openly vulnerable with the whole party right after seemed like a lot. Also, everyone immediately having a kind of chauvinist or purist take on what gods count and which don't seemed odd as characterization for the group, and seemed like the kind of disrespect that would piss off a capricious archfey/demigod.

And on a very small moment, Beau laughing at Jester's real name kind of pissed me off, lol. It was just so unnecessarily rude and mean out of nowhere.

 

[SilkySm00th]

Happy Thursday. Tonight should be fun, but I'm almost positive Taliesin is going to break my heart at some point this episode.

Click to shrink...

I am so ready for this Gorgon. And maybe someone can help me with this - during the description i would have sworn that the cave was basically like... right up against the lake with the water running into it. Like they would need to go through the water to actually get inside the cave proper..

 

[Dream Machine]

I am so ready for this Gorgon. And maybe someone can help me with this - during the description i would have sworn that the cave was basically like... right up against the lake with the water running into it. Like they would need to go through the water to actually get inside the cave proper..

Click to shrink...

I don't think they need to go through the water to get to the cave. A couple party members asked for clarification on that. I think there is probably an underground opening that links the lake outside and the cave's water source.

 

[Deleted member 55966]

Speaking of the traveler and party interaction, I kind of wish he had made himself a bit more formidable while still conveying he was kind of a mess who didn't know what he was doing. Like when Beau went to punch him or poke him he just unnaturally pops her arm off like a doll and says "you can have this back when we're finished talking", or temporarily sealed someone's mouth shut, or something. It just didn't feel very Archfey-y to me for him to be so open with the entire party the way he was with jester. I unerstand him being vulnerable with her, but being openly vulnerable with the whole party right after seemed like a lot. Also, everyone immediately having a kind of chauvinist or purist take on what gods count and which don't seemed odd as characterization for the group, and seemed like the kind of disrespect that would piss off a capricious archfey/demigod.

And on a very small moment, Beau laughing at Jester's real name kind of pissed me off, lol. It was just so unnecessarily rude and mean out of nowhere.

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Seeing this gif is like driving to your childhood home. Glad you're back after two weeks in jail as Sensei would put it.

I agree that Beau laughing was rude, but I could see it coming from a 19 year old. I kinda buy what Matt was saying about his interpretation of Artagan, but yeah I feel like he should be a bit more weird. This dude presenting himself as an entirely different creature to Vox Machina and strangled Vax to death. I figured he would mess with them more than he did.

Also:

 

[Sensei]

Russian Doll | Thursday what a concept

www.youtube.com

 

[Wunder]

lets

goooooooooooo

 

[timedesk]

I will say Sam's doctor bit was better then the one episode of Grey's Anatomy I've watched.

Edit: Ooh this thing's got Legendary resistances, this thing is way stronger then the base gorgon.

 

[Wunder]

yummy legendary creatureee

 

[Sensei]

death comes hehe

 

[timedesk]

So, yeah this thing is way stronger then I thought it would be. I love it.

 

[Masoyama]

I will say Sam's doctor bit was better then the one episode of Grey's Anatomy I've watched.

Edit: Ooh this thing's got Legendary resistances, this thing is way stronger then the base gorgon.

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Gorgon is a challenge level 5 normally. Based on the party size, Matt probably raised it a challenge level of 13/14 ish

 

[Rygar 8Bit]

They are going to group up and just get hosed by Petrifying Breath.

 

[timedesk]

This thing has so many cool abilities, might be my favorite monster they've fought in a long time.

 

[Wunder]

ULTIMATE

POWERRRRRRRRR

 

[timedesk]

Caleb is going to turn Trent into a pile dust with that Disintegrate spell by the end of the Campaign. Calling it now.

 

[Wunder]

Caleb is going to turn Trent into a pile dust with that Disintegrate spell by the end of the Campaign. Calling it now.

Click to shrink...

*duel of the fates intensifies*

 

[Sensei]

here it comes

 

[Masoyama]

Do they not know how petrify works in 5e? That could be real bad, immediately.

 

[Sensei]

everybody: this is kinda worrisome im a little scared

enemy: *does something fucking awful*

everybody: *gets quiet*

 

[timedesk]

This thing could go bad, Beau is in real danger. She might have been better off letting Caleb get hit.

 

[Wunder]

*Nott takes 30 damage*

Twitch Chat: TPKTPKTPKTPKTPK

*More-gon takes 100+ in a round and will probably die in another round*

Twitch Chat: Silence

Stream hitching real bad for me D:

 

[timedesk]

Yasha's advantage ability is really strong. It might have saved Beau's life.

 

[killerrin]

Oh man. Matt has started breaking statues!

 

[Wunder]

tfw you're an aged wizard who has studied their entire life to unlock the arcane art of the Disintegration Ray only to have a small gobi lady do similar damage every round

 

[Sensei]

warlock sucks ass, all fjord does is shoot the eldritch things

 

[Wunder]

warlock sucks ass, all fjord does is shoot the eldritch things

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ain't nothing wrong with being able to do 3d10+15 damage from 120 ft away

 

[timedesk]

Jester actually hit with Inflict Wounds, I think that is one of the signs of the apocalypse.

 

[Masoyama]

Fjord looking BAAAD.

 

[Sensei]

attack fjord again and kill him

 

[Reinhard]

Hope Fjord dies ;p. So stupid that he didn't freaking smite it when it was in melee range. Instead, he ran away got Nat 20 damage on the opportunity attack, and then allowed the bull to do another trample attack, also taking the gorgon out of everyone else's range for damage...

 

[timedesk]

That half-orc ability is great. Such a great safety net.

 

[littleworm]

Here I thought Nott would be the one who would get the statues killed.

 

[TheMango55]

beau fixing to kill fjord if she attacks this guy

 

[Wunder]

Hope Fjord dies ;p. So stupid that he didn't freaking smite it when it was in melee range. Instead, he ran away got Nat 20 damage on the opportunity attack, and then allowed the bull to do another trample attack, also taking the gorgon out of everyone else's range for damage...

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He Fjorgot he had smite

 

[Masoyama]

Ohhh Taliesin just figured that Beau killed Fjord

 

[timedesk]

Hope Fjord dies ;p. So stupid that he didn't freaking smite it when it was in melee range. Instead, he ran away got Nat 20 damage on the opportunity attack, and then allowed the bull to do another trample attack, also taking the gorgon out of everyone else's range for damage...

Click to shrink...

I can't tell what he wanted to do with that. Maybe get some distance if it wanted to use that petrifying breath again?

 

[Sensei]

i hope they dont have anything to revive him hehe

 

[timedesk]

i hope they dont have anything to revive him hehe

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You're so mean, lol. But seriously, has Beau done more damage to the party with this poison stuff then the gorgon?

 

[Reinhard]

I can't tell what he wanted to do with that. Maybe get some distance if it wanted to use that petrifying breath again?

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I have no idea either. I mean he is a paladin with smite and semi-okay hitpoints. If he hadn't run, there wouldn't have been the 52 from running, plus the gorgon couldn't have done the trample + hoof that gave its advantage. It needs distance to do the trample attack. So freaking stupid on Fjord's part.

I so hope Nott kills Fjord hah.

 

[timedesk]

Someone needs to take those explosive arrows away from Nott. She only uses them when her party members are near the blast.