I feel like he has to have been prepared for this when he wrote Uk'atoa as a threatening and mysterious entity with unknown but likely destructive motives demanding to be released.
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Critical Role |OT| Is It Thursday Yet?
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I feel like he has to have been prepared for this when he wrote Uk'atoa as a threatening and mysterious entity with unknown but likely destructive motives demanding to be released.
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Prediction: All of Travis's future characters are going to be big strong dudes, and Laura isn't letting anyone snipe her class choice ever again
My head cannon is that he and Travis talked about Fjord being a manipulative or somewhat shady dark force in the background of all this - maybe even thoughts of convincing the party to help him amass power or to take up the mantle of chosen ones for the other beasts or something. But once our big groggy teddy bear got a taste of that life, he was a hard Nah.
I know Matt could throw something together that's pretty great at a drop and all the lead up with the wild mother probably gave him most of the ammunition he needed but it's still gotta be a lot of pressure.especially on fuckin critical role.
I can see why he rushed it - it's a show that still needs to be entertaining, it's a plot line that drags rather than pushes and most importantly, one of his players wasnt enjoying his PC.
A Steve Rodgers seaweed Wrap special is pretty good visuals tho yo. Thatll be fanart next week for sure lol
Godamnit Jester warlock with the traveller as a fuckin patron woulda been amazing.
What if travelercon is an elaborate ploy to select one person for additional supernatural ability. Jester gets a Trickster's Blast
Finally finished the episode. Hate to say it because Mica seems great but I agree with Pilgrimzero about Reani; I'm glad she's going. Wish we knew what the sword did before the episode finished! Gotta sit on my hands for two weeks geez.
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I really want to see this group do a battle royale. I think around level 10 would be an interesting time to do it. It would be cool if they banked one of those every few levels, and just had them for off weeks.
Only if she does a "jester trying to do a texan accent" accent when she uses it
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I love that both the people who took the class she wanted decided they actually wanted to be paladins anyway halfway through.
That's one of the things I figured could happen.
Would feel hella natural given the nature of their relationship and his over all hidden motives.
Would like to see some more multi classing happen.
So in the Twitter comments to the level-up tweet Matt confirmed that he bumped Fjord's strength up to 13 so he could qualify for Paladin. Someone suggested on twitter that the book Caleb gave him might've been a Manual of Gainful Exercise which would make a lot of sense (and would help Matt in not having to hand-wave away the strength increase with too much nonsense)
Matt already said on Twitter that the +2 strength is a boon from the Wild Mother, a Captain America moment. He hasn't spent enough time to finish the manual. It will either be charisma or strength manual. If it is strength, he can wear platemail after taking a feat.
Didnt Liam hate that turn to his character at the time? Seemed like It was way more a response to the story circumstances than some he actually chased like travis has here.
If he gets a boon AND a strength manual he should get some sort of reduction in another state but that's just me... I don't like people/players just being gifted everything despite not really earning it. Travis hasn't exactly done much for the Wildmother.
I've been watching some Travis Willingham's Yee-Haw Game Ranch, and while it's fun and funny (and the first time that I've actually liked Brian), but it stresses me out how bad they are at games.
They have no understanding of how Overcooked works. I mean, I haven't played it, but it's not hard to understand what you're supposed to do.
They have no understanding of how Overcooked works. I mean, I haven't played it, but it's not hard to understand what you're supposed to do.
I'm pretty sure he was going to go Paladin either way, but at the time he was interested in learning more about Sarenrae from Pike. It was the business with the Raven Queen that messed things up for him.
I kind of agree with you. I really wonder why Matt even bothered to enforce the Strength requirement for Fjord in the first place. My understanding is he is still going to be using his Charisma modifier for his weapon attacks because of his old Hexblade levels, so Strength is essentially a worthless stat for him anyway. The only RP reason for a boon I can think of is to reward Fjord for possibly destroying the Sword of Fathoms, or maybe holding the Ice bug in place when it had swallowed Caduceus. It's a pretty flimsy justification, but it's the best I can think of other than just labeling it narrative convenience.
I am also a little confused about how Fjord becoming a Paladin effects his leveling. Fjord is a level 10 character right now, but only a level one Paladin right? So does he get a boost to stats or a feat at level 12, or does he need to wait longer? I really need to look up what Paladins get at first level, hopefully it is something helpful for taking out the Laughing Hand.
He gets nothing much at first level of paladin, but he is a level 10 character (War9/Pal1) in terms of ASI/feat and the like. You're possibly thinking of of older editions where changing class made you 'forget' everything you knew until your new class level surpassed your old class level. Level 2 paladin is better, and level 3 is where the real fun starts...
In 5th edition, feats and stat increases are based on class level, not character level. He won't get a feat or stat boost until level 12 warlock or level 4 paladin. Also, level 1 paladin gives you basically nothing other than increased hp so at least he rolled a 9. You get detect evil and lay on hands that heals 5 whole hp or alternatively cure a disease. The real power comes next level where he will soon have 4 smites, 2 5d8 smites from his warlock spell slots and 2 2d8 smites from paladin spell slots. And he can get back his warlock spell slots with short rest so easier to get back smites than a regular paladin.
What would be really sweet is Fjord using booming blade plus smite when a creature tries to move away from him, ala warcaster feat. That would be weapon+cha bonus plus 5d8 smite plus 3d8 booming blade and if the target is hexblade cursed an additional 4 damage.
Regarding Fjord's damage output, this post was amusing:
He will get a boost to stats at paladin level 4, so it will be at level 13.
Considering how quickly Obann was able to return after being killed on the material plane, they really just need to wait until they can deal with him permanently.
I think Matt is going to make it hard for them to find the Laughing Hand and Obann right at the moment. They didn't attack Bazzoxan so it clearly wasn't a situation where a world ending kaiju was released and immediately started stomping around, they are going to go back into the shadows and continue plotting.
I think the earliest way for them to deal with Obann permanently is at level 13, when the clerics get Plane Shift (and Caleb if he wants but he would have to sacrifice some other spell while the clerics get it for free). They can knock Obann unconscious and plane shift with him to the abyss, killing Obann there would kill him for good.
Booming blade would actually do 5d8 total damage at level 11. 2d8 is the initial damage for the cantrip and 3d8 extra damage if the target moves, which since the movement is what triggered the attack he takes instantly. Jeremy Crawford has ruled that the creature hit with booming blade this way can choose to not move and not take the extra damage, but that would be good too as it basically functions as the sentinel feat.
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He clearly feels more comfortable with melee characters that can take a bit of punishment.
That's a lot of cheese right there if they are able to pull it off hahahahaha.
Yup, the Laughing Hand feels like its the start of something, not the endgame.
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The fjord character theming was from an old CBS western all along?
But this would be an amazing end to something like the Uk'otoa fight, if the stars align and they can pull it off just right.
kidding
sort of
maybe?
It was mostly a joke, but Vax seemed to be eying a Sarenrae internship at the very least before big RQ stepped in
If there's one thing this group is good at, it's executing a perfectly coordinated order of operations for maximum effectiveness. lol
But this would be an amazing end to something like the Uk'otoa fight, if the stars align and they can pull it off just right.
It genuinely seemed to bum him out whenever he was reminded his character wasn't a big strong dude, lol.
Hahahaha, just looking at their last encounter with the dragon, Beau cutting the rope with the shuriken at the worst moment; the faces of Travis and Tal when the Chaos Crew was planning how to take the mithril... In the beginnings of the first season I used to get frustrated with how much they fucked up their plans, but now I love it. Is always super-entertaining.
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It makes perfect thematic sense for Fjord and Caduceus to go around tag team smiting stuff for the wildmother though. Just a paladin with path to the grave backing him up alone is very scary.
I think you definitely need at least a few mess ups for things to be interesting and improvisational. I'm sure it's satisfying to plan everything out and execute it perfectly, or use the optimal spell or action each turn, but that's not very interesting or dramatic for a show. I think a lot of the hardcore D&D players forget this when they get mad at the group for stuff like that. I'm sure they enjoy their clockwork home games, but I promise they would be boring as sin to watch.
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So, I think what I don't like about the arrangement in a broad sense is that most people come to a religion because it resonates with them on a deep level. Like with the Wild Mother, I imagine most people who follow her are a bit druidic at heart. People into the harmony of nature, the primality of it, the cycles and how they fit into the ecosystem. Fjord doesn't strike me as any of that, and hasn't shown any kind of interest in nature the way Caduceus does.
Which makes it feel like an arrangement of convenience. But Fjord hasn't really done anything that would cause the Wild Mother herself to ask him to be her champion. I doubt most people who read a pamphlet about the Wild Mother get a personal invitation from her and the "Captain America" treatment. The difference between Vax and Fjord is that with Vax it was kind of a bargain, and that relationship came with a heavy price. I'm not saying the Wild Mother should have extracted some kind of similarly heavy toll in exchange for power and protection, but at least with Vax it felt "earned" through what he had to give up for it.
I would have preferred some new god/goddess to come to Fjord, someone that we could see a more personal resonance with. But I guess this speaks to the flatness of Fjord's character up until now -- we don't really know that much about him. He has been defined so far by what he seeks, what he has tried to emulate, what he feels ashamed of, but not what he is and what he has, or what is important to him. Matt tried to bridge that gap by making the Wild Mother scene very oceanic because at least we know Fjord was a sailor (whether he actually liked being on the sea, I'm not really sure). But I would've preferred at least to use some goddess of the sea. Or maybe a god that his ancestral orc tribes followed. Something that would make it feel like a spiritual experience for Fjord, something deeply personal, rather than the Wild Mother handing him a get out of jail for free card.
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This guy's Star Razor is pretty cool. I feel kind of dumb for not making the connection that the marbling effect Matt described on the sword looks like water caustics, but it's a good touch for sure.
I see what you mean. I would say wait and see how Matt handles tempting/threatening him with Uk'otoa going forward, but i kind of get the feeling he wanted to move on from any of the moral gray with Fjord, so I'm not too confident he will do anything other than have Uk'otoa essentially talk shit and get hit. There could still be some interesting stuff with other Uk'otoa cultists being sent to cut the orb out of Fjord (especially if Vandren gets tapped for the job), but I don't have high hopes for any shaken faith or the wildmother going back on supporting him.
I get ya, I can agree.
I FEEL like they were trying to set up logical outs to this. Cad said something like "IDK who you belong to, may not be the Wildmother, may be someone else" and he had the chance to ask the Wildmother if she may know god's path he was meant to follow before being plucked away from it but he asked some shit that got him some wishy washy sage wisdom.
Matt could have tagged onto the Wildmother scene a "I'll lead you to the one you're meant for" or just had her describe a different god's well and nature and connect them to him if he accepted ... like a match maker friend going "Soooo, do you like tall girls? Short hair, is it a turn off for you? Is physical fitness important to you? Tattoos ... yay or nah?" and matched him up with some other god he could learn about and grow a connection to as a PLD.
But it seemed like he was dead set on going the route of least resistance or has an idea for where he would like to take Fjord regardless of how undefined he's been so far. It's perfectly reasonable to expect that his relationship to the Wildmother will be different and unique and I feel like Travis is gonna use this relationship to redefine his character and goals.
Melora/Wild Mother is the goddess of the sea.
Here's a clip from Episode 33, from before Fjord even started exploring temples
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I accidentally clicked on this thread, decided to give it a look (started with this second campaign because the audio was terrible on the first one) and 3 hours later I think I'm in it for the long haul..
Have never played Dnd but all the role-playing makes it really enjoyable to watch.
Have never played Dnd but all the role-playing makes it really enjoyable to watch.
That's what happened to me. Watched an episode basically every day for a couple months. Just caught up to campaign 2 last week.
Also never played tabletop D&D simply due to living in a rural area where I don't know anyone who plays. But have always been interested, played most of the video games, and read a bunch of the source books and got into the lore.
Now I'm invested enough to deal with the shitty audio in campaign 1 to start watching that but I'm glad I started with Campaign 2 so I could join in with the current discussion.
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I'm hoping Matt will play up the fact that Cad and Fjord are representing different aspects of the wildmother. With all the speeches about how she's everything in nature and multifaceted, it would seem like a wasted opportunity if an ocean paladin and decomposition/grave forest cleric's magic—or even methods—felt that similar. It could be as simple as just different flavoring for what their spells look like, but it could be interesting if Fjord was being fueled by Melora, The Raging Sea and Caduceus is being given power by Melora, Carrion Bloom (not too get too Magic card-y, but I just did, so there). Seems like a good way to reinforce these gods (especially the goddess of nature) as vast entities, rather than one trick ponies. Nature isn't always passive chill vibes, and going with the flow. I'm sure she has some specific things she wants to feel her wrath. Some internal group conflict about how best to exact melora's will, etc, would be interesting
According to Matt on twitter, the bump to 13 str was so Fjord could qualify for paladin in the first place, since you have to meet stat pre-reqs when multi classing. (And Pally requires 13 STR and 13 Char, Fjord already having the latter.)
In the age of the internet, playing has never been easier. Check out online options such as FantasyGrounds and Roll20.
Also, I consider Campaign 1 to be far stronger than 2 (so far) overall, but the technical issues in the early parts of campaign 1 can be pretty tough to trudge through after seeing their recent output. I'd suggest setting them at 1.25x speed and working through them in the background until it grabs you. Once it does though, it won't let go.
I usually tell people to just skip the first major arc and start with Whitestone arc around episode 24 or is it 22? The audio in the earlier episodes is atrocious and they were still new with D&D 5th edition instead of Pathfinder. Plus, starting with later episodes, you can skip most of Tiberius since he leaves permanently with episode 27 or so. He was a bit too much of a camera hog, power gamer, and would just ignore how many sorceror points he had, ie, cheat (although cheating might not have been intentional since he was on drugs and just might not have been able to keep track).
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Oh Brashnir , I forgot to tell you I've been slowly making my way through Dungeon Run because of your recommendation. I wasn't sure about it at first, but it has a charm that I've really grown to like, and Jeff does indeed have great NPCs. CR should take notes on some of their production stuff too; that whisper side room is great, and a mindflayer muppet vamping with the audience for the break is a really good idea. Sometimes the audience participation is a little too aggressive for my taste, but it's just a different thing from CR. Thanks for bringing the show to my attention.
Though I was just checking Jeff's twitter today and it looks like he's having some very serious health troubles, so hopefully he recovers.
Though I was just checking Jeff's twitter today and it looks like he's having some very serious health troubles, so hopefully he recovers.
Glad you're enjoying it. And yeah, the audience participation is what it is. (and it's CRAZY once you realize how much that stuff actually costs. Seriously, it's like $50 USD to buy a card...) I'd prefer the show didn't have it, but if that's what keeps the lights on, so be it.
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Wow, I had no idea it was so pricey, but I guess it makes sense to not have literally every moment of the show be announcing audience stuff. It always seems to be the same people too, so at least they've found their wealthy benefactors.
I assume the candle thing is for smaller donations, and I like that as the viewers cumulatively building up to a random effect on the game.
That makes a lot of sense. I've never really considered why the Wildmother would choose Fjord, outside of the fact that her Cleric seems to like him. Maybe it is kind of a power move? The Wildmother has basically taken the chosen of one of her ancient enemies and turned him to her side. It seems like a petty motivation, but maybe Fjord will explore that side of her. Nature can be serene and in balance, but also chaotic and destructive too. It would also be interesting if he really is going to be gifted to another God, like Caduceus implied might happen.
i also really agree with you that Fjord hasn't really expressed what he wants out of life. He seems like someone who is used to being told what to do, and hasn't really had a lot of self reflection. I'm hoping as he moves towards taking his oath, that he really starts to reflect more. He has started opening up a bit more, and there a lot of characters in the party that could probably give him good advice.
Also thanks to everyone who explained how taking this class impacted Fjord's leveling and stats. It's a section of the PHB that I've often overlooked, and was pretty ignorant in.
You should (or maybe you shouldn't) see the episode where they attempt to play Cuphead. It's as if they're not even trying.
I thought it was pretty natural that the WM has chosen Fjord, not because hes earned some kind of reward from her, but because fjord needed help and has sincerely asked her for it.
People turning to faith in times of personal crisis is hardly an uncommon idea, and it makes total sense to me that a god as benevolent as the WM would extend a largly unearned helping hand on the faith that he in turn will become worthy of it.
Basically faith aint a reward, its a path to redemtion.
People turning to faith in times of personal crisis is hardly an uncommon idea, and it makes total sense to me that a god as benevolent as the WM would extend a largly unearned helping hand on the faith that he in turn will become worthy of it.
Basically faith aint a reward, its a path to redemtion.
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I started watching that one last night
*literally immediately after the parry part of the tutorial*
"What's a parry?" lol
Thinking about it- the orb in fjords chest is more than enough of a reason for the goddess of the sea to give him a boon and make him a champion. It's a direct effort to keep that nasty jetsam lookin ass fool outta her koi pond.
I'm becoming more upset the more I think about matt not making his warlock powers/eldritch blaaahhsst blue, tho! Shoulda been vibrant and reflective like the widest longest oceans and so on and so forth.
I'm becoming more upset the more I think about matt not making his warlock powers/eldritch blaaahhsst blue, tho! Shoulda been vibrant and reflective like the widest longest oceans and so on and so forth.
People have been talking about the one shot and bringing up Sylas kicking around. I was thinking that it could be fun if M9 run into him and he somehow convinces them he isn't a bad guy. Maybe tells them his story about an adventuring party that murdered his wife. You'd have M9 palling around with him while the cast knows who he really is.
From the Wildmother's point of view redeeming and bringing to your side one of the chosens of an eldritch evil that threatens your domain makes a lot of sense. I mean, Ford was not just a rando, but one of the main agents of Ukatoa that was almost successful on bringing him back.
Can tell she really wanted to be it as well. Doesn't seem to enjoy healing.
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Maybe Laura will just pick Paladin from the beginning next time to get ahead of everyone.
Could be cool, but honestly I feel like Marisha would be making insight checks every couple of minutes until they knew he was a bad guy, unless Matt kept everything except "people killed my wife" from the players.