Critical Role - Anxiety Game Gauntlet | 4-Sided Dive | Episode 18: Discussing Up To C3E76

Episode Date: November 14, 2023

Ashley Johnson, Taliesin Jaffe, Matthew Mercer, and Travis Willingham  catch us up on all the crazy shenanigans happening in the Shattered Teeth and play some anxiety inducing kids game with a fun Critical Role twist... 4-Sided Dive airs one Tuesday a month on http://twitch.tv/criticalrole and http://youtube.com/criticalrole Twitch subscribers gain instant access to VODs of our shows like Critical Role, 4-Sided Dive, and Exandria Unlimited. But don't worry: Twitch broadcasts will be uploaded to YouTube about 36 hours after airing live, with audio-only podcast versions of select shows on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & Google Podcasts following a week after the initial air date. Twitch subscribers also gain access to our official custom emote set and subscriber badges and the ability to post links in Twitch chat! "Let's Roll (4-Sided Dive Theme)" by Peter Habib and Sam Riegel Original Music by Omar Fadel and Hexany Audio Additional Music by Universal Production Music, Epidemic Sounds, and 5 Alarm

We're so excited to share a new addition to the Critical Role family with our podcast, Midst. In this semi-improvised audio drama, journey to the small desert planet of Midst and follow the lives of three complicated antiheroes as they deal with falling moons, unsolved murders, cult brainwashing, supernatural darkness, and a whole clusterfuck of cosmic problems. Look to the Midstle of the Week, aka Wednesdays, for new weekly episodes at Midst.co, your favorite podcast app or Critical Role's YouTube channel. Welcome to Foresighted Dive, Critical Role's monthly talk show featuring a roundtable discussion about the events and characters of our current campaign, alongside a heavy helping of hijinks. Foresighted Dive airs the first Tuesday of every month at 7pm Pacific on twitch.tv slash criticalrole and youtube.com slash criticalrole, with the VOD available on YouTube the very next day. And of course, each episode releases right here on the Critical Role Podcast Network one week after the initial broadcast.

Let's dive into the chaos. Hello, and welcome to Foresighted Dive. I'm Taliesin Jaffe, your 18th tavern keeper, and no, you did not miss anything. We do not roll to see who hosts tonight because we're not doing that anymore. You're welcome. End of explanation.

That's very, very tired laughing there. Now back to your regularly scheduled four-sided cold opening, gobbledygook. Now with a double-down dose of befuddled buffoonery, goonery, and tiny razor-sharp shards of cosmic nihilism for the lulz. Is anyone relating to this? I hope so. I hope not. I hope not. It's rough.

You know that awkward moment when you go splunk and dunk yourself headfirst into a pit of lava and your friends are all like, why? Okay, no? Well, I do, and more on that later. Tonight, the CEO of Critical Role and cartography nerd, Travis Willingham, talks about, he talks about why Grog hasn't shown up in Campaign 3 yet, which must be so awkward for you because Matt Mercer has now had, what is it, two of my former characters already.

Don't worry buddy, it'll happen to you eventually. Matt Mercer is also here, but you haven't seen him yet because format changes are fun, aren't they? It's fine. It's fine. We promise he's not a secret simulacra. The 160 pounds of ice backstage is just for a fancy little party Travis Willingham is not invited to. Ashley Johnson is here and invited to the party, and she is basically perfect.

10-10, no notes. You're doing great. And be sure to stick around after the party. And she is basically perfect, 10-10, no notes. You're doing great. And be sure to stick around after the break. We'll be playing Foresighted Dive's first official anxiety game gauntlet. They have all been unofficial anxiety game gauntlets, but we're calling it what it is now. Three of your favorite anxiety-inducing board games

from your childhood with some truly childish, critical role spins will be played. So welcome back to Foresighted Dive. Let's just do a fucking show. Why do you have to be like that? Welcome back! Let's begin the night with our opening discussion segment. What the fuck is up with that?

What the fuck is up with that? And our what the fuck is up with that menu. Let's talk about that great tree. We have so many great trees. We have so many great trees in our game, but we met a new tree. Yes, you did. So that was so exciting. I'm so glad you met the new tree.

Yeah, it's really, I felt like... But look how they spell it. Is that how you spelled it? Not at all. When I saw the true spelling, that is not how I wrote that. I started with an A. I got a V in there. Yeah, Evon Tremere. With Tremere, like the vampire clan. Tremere? spelling. That is not my wrote down. I started with an A. I got a V in there. Yeah, Yvonne Tremere. With Tremere like the vampire clan. Tremere? I had Yvonne. And then I veered, so I knew what it was.

I had E-V-O-N space T-R-A-V-E-R-E. You were one fella! And an apostrophe. I was pretty close. He always apostrophes. Still wrong! I know! It's all one name. Is that his first name, his last name, or both? He's forgotten part of his name. Yvon Trevyr is just the title of it these days.

I got it, got it, got it. It's what their friends called him. Or it was the last Starbucks coffee they got. This'll work. Fine. Is this Max Headroom Lord? Wait, is Yvon Trevire his name? Yvonne Trevire is his name.

There's something that he remembers. Correct. It's the portion of the name he remembers and kind of become the title of the Tree of Atrophy ever since. I gotta say, I love the Shattered Teeth so much. Me too. I love the Shattered Teeth so much, and everything we found there has been so wonderful i know it was like the perfect appetizer right it served the function of just priming your appetite enough to want to eat more and then we got shuttled off to something else we're going to go back oh i want to go back yeah we're going back like yes yes that's that's my my post moon honeymoon is is going to be a little tour of

the teeth oh man yeah i want to i want to floss the teeth, man. I don't know. Hey, yes. That came out real weird. I love Matt's hidden lore face, when he's like, yes, that's his name. Because there's a forgotten name behind it, and you know that Matt clearly knows the answers. Yeah. He's always got his weird stuff going. Then I always have my headcanon that I forget to tell him and then I feel bad about. So there's always weird little bits.

But you have a whole continent that you've more or less worked out with the teeth. More or less. I mean, like, loosely in places. You know, I can't, I don't develop and divine it all way in advance, but I have it loosely outlined and then as the story and the focus requires, I fine tune and develop ahead of you guys,

like laying the tracks in front of the train as we go. Can I ask a dumb question? So I know we've had the Sun Tree and other, what was the tree in Wildemount that was also massive out in the Wild Wilds? Yeah, the Wild Wilds. Thank you. I was thinking of those God-given trees,

but when I was listening to you describe this one, my mind went to Calamity and the tree that was in the middle of it. Did Calamity inform or change your plans for Avantraver or where it came from or its origin? Oh, Avantraver was developed in the shadow of Calamity. Like, this is part of the collaborative world-building idea of like, you know, certain events inform the next bit of world-building. So I had the idea of some sort of an entity that existed

due to the events of the Calamity that kind of represents the loss and the kind of regret of that era, but I hadn't clarified it yet. And then when we were developing Calamity with Brennan and the whole Gau Drashari history was tied into that. That was where the culmination of that idea came about. It was like, okay, cool, I can go ahead and now clarify this tree.

There are many great and powerful trees that exist in Exandria, and the tree is such a great symbol to utilize for not just extended and long life, but it is the central image of nature's vitality. And so seeing trees of different sizes and different levels of exuberance and that sort of changing the colors with the seasons, it gives you kind of a sense of powerful, natural, ancient capability.

And so to have a tree that is the tree of atrophy, it already gives you this darker shift of your expectation of an entity of nature. I was preparing for a fight. I know you were. And then I got in there and was like, this is so much better. Oh yeah, so much better and worse all at the same time.

I love how many escape pods, like cultural escape pods, we keep finding from the Calamity, of whole cultures that had gotten a bunker to wait it out, or shot themselves into space, or turned inward and turned into a tree of knowledge. It's really fascinating. I can't wait to find more little pockets of pre-calamity world out there. That's kind of one of the things that I was really excited about when I was developing Exandria was,

because a lot of this came from, and the impetus of the calamity came from the idea that I wanted gods and divine powers to influence the world, but I didn't want the gods to be present. Because if there are beings that powerful that supposedly have that much influence and investment in the world around you,

why would your shitty heroes ever do anything? I'd be like, well, things are bad, let's go tell the gods to fix it. And that's a challenge for me logically when trying to empower the rough and tumble up and coming heroes that form a found family and go to

against the odds. Why not just go to the gods to do the problems for you? In that logical space I had to find a way to pull the gods out of the world but still have their presence felt and that was where the Divine Gate and Calamity, all that kind of lore came about. But then in developing the Calamity itself and fleshing out what that did, it turned Exandria into essentially a post-apocalyptic history. It's a reset button on the world,

and some cultures survived and many didn't. All that is buried or slowly being uncovered and sometimes cataloged by the Cobalt Soul and others, or exploited and abused by others still. So it's a fun, ripe landscape for mining and developing. I never think about it as a post-apocalyptic game, but it really is. It is a post-apocalyptic fantasy game. And no one ever does that story 300 years later. It's always right after, or nobody recoversvers and it's just Mad Max type of environment. This is like enough time afterwards society has recovered for the most part. Those who survived.

Largely. Yeah. Very few people left who really know what the hell went down. And I don't think any of us in any of the three campaigns have cataloged which areas were rocked the hardest like i remember in some random research about whitestone that they like opened their their borders to try and allow like calamity refugees and i was like oh yeah was right because that was a whole thing too so like we don't even know what parts of the world got like hit the worst and others that might have been like spared a bit oh yeah well i mean the area where whitestone was just talking yeah no you start with where the area where whitestone was yeah the, those that lived there were wiped out

by the struggle between the Dawnfather, the Annoying Mistress, and the Chain Oblivion. And that was what eventually sealed the Chain Oblivion, but also mortally wounded, or not mortally, but heavily wounded the Annoying Mistress and sent her into hiding. Right. And she kind of still bears the wound from that battle.

But as part of the attempt to bring life back to the landscape that that battle had wiped out, that was where the planting of the Sun Tree came from and why it's a symbol of her growth and power in that space. While people have come and gone, the curses of the land have kept people at bay because even though the Sun Tree is powerful, there's still

a darkness that sits in the parchment around from that realm. And it wasn't until really the early Dorolos had come over and settled Whitestone that it kind of had regrouped and began building itself as a new society.

Right. Post-Calamity was kind of where Whitestone kind of got their shit together. Yeah, Vontrever was cool. Like, you can never have enough time with a tree like that. You want to, like, ask as many questions as you can before you, like, offend the great tree. Yeah, yeah. And it, like, squashes you for some reason.

I've been sitting on that pipe for so long, too. I've been waiting for a moment. I've only got to use that pipe once so far. What made you decide that? Twice, technically. Twice, yes. But they weren't there for that. That was a wild choice.

What made you even think of that? I'm... Well... Oh, boy. How do I... No, how do I put this? From what angle? No, Ashton is very much right now just deciding to befriend everything that doesn't seem like it should be befriended and piss off everything that seems like it should be taken care of.

This is a big tree made of weird zombie dead people and whatever the fuck is in here. and it's clearly off and weird, but it sounds pretty cool. The person we're talking to sounds really nice. I was like, okay, I can relate. I was like, yeah, come on in. You have trouble remembering things. I want to see a thing that maybe you don't remember. So cool.

Is that a departure for Ashton? Was it previously piss everything off? It was previously quietly and with a lot of, what's the word I'm looking for? Not acknowledging anything was why me? And of course I'm going to be the one to lose. And yeah, just a constant, I'm the person who loses. Got it.

Yeah, everything shitty happens, but now it's kind of the, you know, you're getting out and kind of becoming a hero and, you know, winning a little bit. So, yeah, it's, you know, it recognized a similar soul in that tree. Wow. Or that soul was recognized and Ashton was like, yeah. He's got a shard sitting in here. No bigs.

No bigs. No big deal. Whatever does that mean?ard sitting in here. No bigs. No bigs. No big deal. Whatever does that mean? I don't know. NBD. No big deal. Shard. We'll talk about shards.

Well, I mean, we can hop to that right now. Lava. Lava. Yeah. That was pretty intense. That's my red button pushing shit. I love that stuff. That's my favorite.

Please continue. Am I still talking about lava? Because we both jumped, but yeah. Well, you did, and then I panicked because you were getting real hurt. I was. And I was like, well, this is. Was it panic?

Yeah. I was just like, I think, because there's a part of me that was like, are you supposed to die in there? And then that's how you're supposed to do anything. I just got nervous. That'd be the most anticlimactic. Like, don't wait guys.

He knows what he's doing. Good luck. Just give him another 30 seconds. Hold on. Any minute now he's going to rise like a phoenix from the ashes. Smash cut two. Oh to, make sure you pick it up and go, uh.

You know, it's getting kind of hot in here. Let's just skedaddle. Yeah. How do you feel about it? I felt very good about it. I felt that that was the appropriate action to take. I will say, as a perfect example, I'm going to, you know. I will say it's a perfect example. Sorry, I'm going to let you finish. No, I was just, I was huffing and puffing. I didn't really have anything I was going to say. No, that's a perfect example of setting up a challenge without a solution in mind, which

are my favorite things to do in this game. Not every puzzle I have an answer for. I just set up a challenge and I'm like, figure it out. Oh. There was no right answer to that. There was not? Okay, okay, that's good. There were possibilities I thought of,

but there was no right answer. And it was just like, let's see what you all do. Because I was wondering that. I was wondering if there was a right answer and I messed it up by jumping in. No. And I was like, but I just, I don't know. I just was, it had to be done. I liked it. I liked it. It was great. I was like, I I just, I don't know. I just was, it had to be done.

I liked it. I liked it. It was great. I was like, I'll probably be okay, because fire, but lava's different. I don't know. We actually, I mean, it was actually a fairly good allocation

of responsibility in that fight. Like, we didn't bunch up. We got the, what the hell did Chetney have? And then I went invisible. What were we trying to hold onto? The shard. It was the actual shard, yeah. Oh, that's right. And then like once he was in, like you just went for it, which was great. Like there's gotta be a risk take on somebody's part. Yeah. There's gotta be. And I

feel like so much of there's, there's been moments where I felt like I didn't do anything of like moments of inaction where it's like, oh I wonder if I would have done this, if I could have helped them in this moment, or if I could have saved that person. So I think it was, it was a choice. I will say to that, like, rarely do you regret in tabletop games taking action.

Yeah, that's true, that's true. More often than not you regret not taking action. Yeah, that's true. More often than not, you regret not taking action. Very much. So follow that impulse. Yes, that is very true. Follow that impulse. Italicize and underline that. Yeah.

Even if it's not the smartest choice, it's still a choice and it drives the story in unique ways. And you accept it and you follow where it takes you. And that to me is really kind of like the joy and spice of these type of games. Yes. So watching you embrace that more and more, I'm like... Your chaos has been inspiring. Oh, yeah.

Oh, thanks. Interesting. And it was great also because there was, like, a choice to ignore the BBG, the BBEG in the corner. Like, Ludenus was still over there, or who we thought was still lewdness, in the room that was fairly small, and the lava, and all these other things,

and it was like, you just disregarded that and went for your friend, which was great. I mean, it's more important. I mean, I don't know. Friendship. No, no. Continue, please. I don't know. I don't know. Friendship. No, no. Continue, please. I don't know. I was just mumbling. I'll keep you on. Yeah. You go. No, we're a little machine. For that particular battle, too, because I knew the intent was to escape, so it was trying to build a conflict where it wasn't about

just trying to do the most damage necessarily, but for you all trying to find a way out and how to muck up that particular plan in the middle of it. We were actually a pretty, considering also that we were tapped, we were tapped. I had nothing left. I don't know about everybody else, but I think I was even out of rage. I had nothing left. I don't know about everybody else, but I think I was even out of rage. I had nothing left. Good to know. We were still somehow a reasonably well-oiled machine. I don't remember the last time that we actually worked with that much teamwork and strategy, like three campaigns through.

Yeah, that's what I mean. Eight years later, there's a little bit of teamwork. Yes! I agree! We eight years later, there's a little bit of deeper. Yes, yes, I agree. We're doing it, Peter. Yes, yes. She's starting to believe. Yes! Yes! I love you so much.

Yes! I mean, it was like a really fun fight. And I'm, yeah, I loved the, it just, it felt like such the perfect thing of like, of course I'm gonna jump into this now. Like, what else am I gonna do? It like such the perfect thing of like, of course I'm going to jump into this now. What else am I going to do? It's like the best fight. It's the best kind of like spicy food fight

because it's an interesting room. There's a massive obstacle. There feels like there's a puzzle element. There's no clear exits. And a massive target is on the map that's overpowering us with allies. So you're trying to clock the obstacle, how to get out, what is the puzzle or the solution

that Matt's trying to make you think about, and then there is a massive character on the other side that's making your heart race the whole time. And you can't really communicate like, Alpha team, go this way, Bravo, you go this way, Charlie. It was just a fucking free-for-all, but like we talked about, it kind of just happened organically and naturally.

Everyone seemed to know what they were best at and get into it. It was really fun to watch. Even when that tilt happens, right? Because there's always that tilt where like, we're okay, we're okay, we're not okay! And all of a sudden it's really trending downward. Oh shit.

Well it's funny because when you start a campaign, you know your character's strengths, you're getting to know your character's strengths. And once you get comfortable with what your character's capable of, then it becomes learning about what everyone else is capable of. Then once you learn what everyone else is capable of, then it's figuring out how you can combine those two things and both find comfort in tactics and know what to focus on and how you can adapt without having to communicate too intrinsically what things

are capable in that moment. Any battle where you get to watch that become a smooth, organic acceptance of what you're all doing as a team is really fun. When I roll really bad, that also helps. Did that happen? Was that what happened? I don't remember. The Counterspell? Yeah, yeah. Oh, that's true. But that happen? Was that what happened? I don't remember. So. The counter spell? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Oh, that's true. God, that was a good moment. But that was such a good moment. It was a great moment, it was a great moment. Oh, it was so good. Had to let things fall as they lie, and sometimes you're getting your ninth level to spell counter spell.

That's the most that lewdness has taken an offensive to us, right? Like, even at the key, he was... Well, at the key, he wasn't even paying attention. I don't even think he knew. I was hoping that he... You don't need to say it like that, bro. We had a lot going on.

I was really hoping that... He was multitasking. I was hoping that no one... This wolf's jumping on his shoulders. No one would have recognized us from that. I was really hoping that we made a clean getaway and just killed everyone who had seen us. Which was why I killed

that poor fucking guy. It was like, we can't have a witness. No, no. We're going to try and get out of here with no one knowing who we are. Clearly it didn't work. Damn, that was a fun one. Yeah. I know, I thought we had a... I was like, this is too easy, and then he turned into snow. It was a good test. And what a good peace out. That was a super good peace out. Yeah, it was a good test. That was a super creepy peace out.

Oh, it was a great peace out. Yeah, it was fun. He's a fucked up character. I love lewdness. Yes. I'm excited for you guys to maybe interact more. Oh yeah, it'll be fun. Maybe interact more? I don't know. He's so casual.

So blase. So there's a ticking clock, y'all. I'm sure we can turn him around. Make him see things your way? Yeah, I'm sure we can we can turn them around You think I'm see things your way Yeah, we can bring him back the power of friendship. Yeah obsession for a century. He's like, you know what? You know what you're right and give up on this Even though I have yeah the power of love we have one with the power of love before Yeah, our friendship and love has actually turned turned the tide. Yes. That's true. That's true

Not with this group of assholes. I doubt that will happen with Ludinus. This is not a lovable group. Who knows? Essek Thalys already warned him about the power of love. Try having friends. Actually, I will not do that. Oh no.

What do you know? I'm good, but thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. I have a puzzle waiting at home. I'm fine. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with that. I love a puzzle at home. Yeah. Yeah, other than we got a shard now. We have a shard, and there's so many different

things that we can do with it. I'm excited by it. Technically two shards. Yeah. What do they do? I don't know that we can do with it. I'm excited by it. Technically two shards. Yeah. What do they do? I don't know. You can't do that. No, you're not allowed to do that. You can't sit here.

I am excited about figuring this shit out, so I'm like. I know, me too. I'm happy to get weird one at a time. I wanna talk about it here, but also, I'm curious what'll happen. What do you think'll happen? Like, with the shards? Yeah.

I genuinely do. Well, we've only got hands-on in scene one. The other one is in them, right? You've been told that he is a bearer of the shards. He has Titanblood. So it's in there somewhere. There is one in there, supposedly. Bearer of the shards. Something like, yeah, because if I remember, at from my, there was like a portal open, they were doing a thing and I got sucked through, so some object or otherwise just sort of got all weird with me. Well, the shard was what the, you know, your father, essentially the leader of the Shari, had received from Yvonne Trevyr, and then used apparently for this ritual that created this, whatever you are now.

How very Macbeth. I know. Is Ashton just a teleportation gone horribly wrong? for this ritual that created this whatever you are now. How very Macbeth. Yeah, no. Oh boy, it is. Is Ashton just a teleportation gone horribly wrong? I mean. Transporter gone horribly wrong, just rearranging the molecules. I mean, you roll that D6 and it's all over the fucking place.

Oh, D4. D4, yeah. D4, it's not that bad. Relying on talents. Yeah, the whole basis of the subclass was him looking at the Wild Magic Barbarian and went, nah, this isn't weird enough. It really wasn't. It was an underwhelming subclass. I have opinions on that subclass. I still feel like, I still am curious if you're supposed to keep the shard. Both of them.

I think I'm supposed to do whatever I damn well please with it. That's true, that's true. No, yeah. You do you. Yeah, it's gonna be, I'm sure that something will happen. And I'm amused by the notion of the Wonder Twins. So, and I'm already pretty crazy. I don't know if putting more crazy in me is a silly good idea.

But wasn't the warning that if a single bearer has both of them that you will esplode? I mean, people say a lot of things. How would they know? Like, has anyone ever actually tried it? And gone, well, should write that down. Yes. That's an encouraging face,

and I, for one, second his encouragement. I'm willing to have this conversation. I'm kind of team pumping it all into Ashton. Yeah, touching the tips. Touching the tips, touching the tips. Touching the shard tips. But I know there was a warning. There was a conversation, but yeah.

Warnings all the time. Because I feel like it's your shard. Yeah. What if you guys fusion ha? What if you ever watch Dragon Ball where they're like, FUSION HA! We did it, yeah. And then you form one, but you have to talk in tandem.

On the count of three, say the first number that comes to mind. One, two, three. Nine. Shit. Dude, it looks so wrong! No entry! Maybe we'll abandon that idea. We we'll just let that one go. It's a lot, you could go wrong.

See? Nine. Oh no! I have stayed, Jorana. I have stayed. Oh no. Oh my god. Yeah, if you both have it...

I don't know, we'll fuck around. Yeah, if you both have it. I don't know, we'll fuck around. Well I don't think I'm supposed to have the shard. I still feel like I don't know. Well, we'll. Well, we'll talk about it. We'll figure it out. We'll figure it out.

I think honestly, when it comes down to it, I think it's just the two of us are the only people who should have a say in what happens to this shit. Well how come I get a say? Cause you're insane and fire based. Thank shit. Well, how come I get a say? Because you're insane and fire-based. Thank you. You're welcome. It's true.

That's a pretty good argument, concisely made. That's a pretty good argument, and I'll jump on that. Everybody else in the team is either distracted or damaged or both. And you are neither distracted nor damaged. Not at all. You're horrifyingly probably the closest thing to a sane human being. Well, with you is a close second.

Yeah, Chet's pretty close. I mean, it's disturbing actually that you are probably one of the sanest people on the team. Yes, something's gotta ground us. On a hard basis of reality and well thought back story. Auram's pretty, he's pretty, feels pretty solid.

He's, oh god. It could be. What an aloof piece of shit. He's going through so much grief. Yeah, that's a grief ball. Aurum is the, mm, Aurum is so messed up right now, you guys, please do not rely on Aurum. I know, that baby boy.

Aurum is good under pressure, but if you take that pressure away, there's just nothing but like, there's like 75% Percy happening in there. It's so bad. Yeah. And I don't mean don't rely on Oram. I mean just like, he needs a hug. He needs a hug.

Please give him a hug. He needs a therapist. He needs a hug and a therapist. If only there was one in the group. Oh, if only. If only I hadn't gone to the short shrew therapist as well. Woo! Woo!

I love it. And if only that therapist wasn't a homicidal maniac. Oh, boy. It's a perfect, perfect pairing. Oh, you all are a mess. I love it. I really love it. I love it, too. I love the combo of this group. It's a series of unfortunate sidekicks plus Jean Grey. It's really great.

Yes. Plus Jean Grey. Very much so. Yeah. It's fascinating. Does it say scrying? It says scrying. What's up with scrying? How does it work? Scrying! How does it work? During a launch review.

Who knows? My menu makes sense. It does. Yes, yes. You also don't have to look at it. No, we were just using it as an internal monologue. I still, one of my favorite moments is when you were like, no, you don't have to roll for that.

You don't roll for scrying. It was like, how, how, how after all this time do we not? It wasn't just that. If you've gone back and watched the clip, the best part is watching Matt for, I think, six minutes? Yeah, it's a decent amount of time. Just letting it happen. Letting the back and forth happen. Watching, like, the subtle facial expression.

The eyebrows come up, they go down. Disappointment starts to flood. Then resignation. Then enjoyment. He's thinking about what to order for dinner when he gets home. At some point, he's like, there's a good clock on this. I'm not going to stop it at all. It's not until I think Sam goes like, what does she add? You don't roll for Scry. Nothing. You don't roll for Scry.

When you've provided the information about how a certain rule functions multiple times, and then we get to this point, the best lesson is to just give them the rope to hang themselves with. I don't know what to tell you. The best lesson is the ones that leave a mark. That's my favorite. I think if we hadn't asked what you add, you would have rolled and he would have just told you, and not mentioned that you could roll. Oh, that's true. That would have been great. I roll a four, and then you go. it's like, a four was all I needed? You didn't actually need anything.

Yeah. Oh, my God, that was hilarious. We've got a couple things going on outside of the game, too. People are prone to having brain farts or anything. I mean, I have brain farts all the time, as we know. It's just this game, I can't seem to wrap my brain around it. To be fair, it is at times a very complicated game. Yes, it is. Yes, it is.

I think Fern is your most involved character, actually. Oh! I've seen you, in my opinion, crack out the most creative use of your spells, especially as a druid. Oh, thanks! Yeah, man. I feel like it's also really helpful to have consistency at a table.

That's it. Because you're like, oh, okay, I'm understanding how this works now. Yeah. It's good to have you here. Yeah, yeah. It's good to be, yeah. Because I always feel like I would like, you know, you need a couple sessions to kind of get in the groove, but oh, god, Fern's fun.

This group is definitely absolute chaos. I'm enjoying the chaos. And I love that we all sort of took that path of just, let's go a little bonkers. Yeah, I love it. Yeah, I've overclassified, and I definitely feel like Box Mocketer was very classically heroic and then

The mighty nine were almost classically villainous that just had a hard turn at some point Or they were almost like you could have seen that turning into a villain team really easily They're the guardians of the galaxy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and and then this team I like and like this team was like kind of the X-men or very much like everyone was kind of like X-Men, or very much like, everyone was kind of, the thing that I wrote is everyone was a sidekick. Like, you worked for... X-Men is written by Hunter S. Thompson. Yeah, like...

Everyone was a backstory NPC. Everyone was somebody else's backstory NPC. Like, every character is... Even Imogen as Jean Grey is Liliana's backstory in PC. I left my daughter behind so that I could have this life for us. Yes. Everyone has a backstory in PC. I'm like a mid-level hired villain in a video game.

You're running on like DC Comics Batman, you know, like secondary villain. I'm the one no one can get over. You were working for a mob, basically. You were like a low-level mobster. I like that I'm in Batman's world. Yeah, and a robot sidekick. We'll make you canon. Yeah. We'll figure it out.

Yes! Yeah, and there's a robot sidekick to a hunter straight out of Borderlands. It's all, and then literally a soldier of another PC character. But yeah, it's interesting. These are all people who shouldn't be anywhere. You're right, you're right.

It's like after two campaigns, the NPCs went, I want to crack at it. Yeah. Yeah. I want to be the... We are the titans. We are Lower Decks. This is fucking Exandria Lower Decks.

I fucking got it. I actually love that analogy. That is great. Me too. That is correct. I was gonna go the Lieutenant Barclay, but that's way better. Yeah, no, it's...

I love that. That's perfect. It's kind of the vibe. No more leveling. You'll have to stay here, because if you go any higher, you'll start getting command positions. Yes, yes, yes. Yeah, we gotta put a governor around that shit.

No more pips. We gotta limit ourselves. I think it's part of the fun of Whitestone. you'll start getting command positions. Yes, yes. Oh my god, yeah, we gotta put a governor on that ship. No more pips. We gotta limit ourselves. I think it's part of the fun of Whitestone. Previous campaigns, you'd be at the table, but at the time, Vox Machina was stepping into leadership roles as these things were happening, and then in campaign two, the leadership was

kind of the villain in a lot of ways, and removed, and you were working underneath society you know, in a lot of ways in Remove, and you were kind of like working underneath society and in secret in a lot of ways. In this campaign, you're working with the same heroes at the table of leadership that were there from campaign one, and so you're all kind of, you're kind of like the B team. Oh yeah, yeah. But the B team, that's probably the most important thing, because everyone else is so high profile and tied in with the macro problems and tangles of Exandria that you have the best chance at really doing anything. That's horrifying. Yeah, it's horrifying.

Not quite the West Coast Avengers, but not the Great Lakes Avengers. Yeah, you're right in the middle. The Flyover State Avengers. Yeah. The Defenders? No. I see shadowy hole is on there. Don't make me say that.

I love you, Danny. This was just an attempt to fuck with me. Don't think I don't know. Taliesin, talk about your shadowy hole. I was going to ask everyone's opinion about the shadowy hole. And like, how it, nope, not making a video. I want to, but no. Once Revere was in a big shadowy hole. He was in a big shadowy hole!

It's true. That is a testament to eight years of professional tabletop role-playing. Yes, and you made it. And I'm relearning how to play a barbarian, and part of that is reminding myself that physical damage is just part made it. And I'm relearning how to play a barbarian, and part of that is reminding myself that physical damage is just part of it. Like, okay, this looks stupid, and then just kind of...

You touch it for the group. You touch it for the group. Yes, 100%. Exactly, that's why I have healers. I still wonder, if we would've just jumped, you know, just not have planned anything, just jumped into the shadowy hole, would we have just...

You would have hit the branches of the tree. Yeah. Okay. It would have hurt. Pachinko'd to death. Okay, okay, okay. Well, no, you would have had to roll to see how much damage you would have taken, and it would have not been great.

It would have hurt a lot. You know, like if you swan dive a thousand feet off of a cliff into the rocks below. Yeah, it's gonna be rough. Yeah, it's going to be rough. It's going to be a rough landing. Okay. But I remember being in Vox, and there was like a spiral staircase down into the abyss, and we forgot to, like, I don't know, disable a magic glyph. And there were stairs that moved, and almost all of us died so fast

because we didn't know what the fuck was going on. There was actually actually a reasonable approach to what would have previously been an instant death experience. Yes, we figured it out a little bit in some ways. I think that was in the Necromancer's Laboratory when you were chasing after A'shaun. The whole bit with the going down the...h hiking in and getting stuck in between the rocks and the hiking in. That was stressful.

I hated that. That is something I despise. And me and Marisha still occasionally watch online videos of two kids that went hiking and went into this cave and got stuck when it flooded. They only got one of them out and the other was in there for 72 hours. We're like, why are we watching this? We hate this. We hate spelunking. We hate the idea of going into these tiny little cabinets. Watching The Descent is the most masochistic thing that we do every year for Halloween, but it's a great film. It's so good. Every time we watch those, the video finishes and Meemers should just go like, never. It's like, never.

No. Those terrible haunted houses that they make you sign a waiver, we will never do this to you, by the way. There are rules. The ones where they do the balloon pressure, like where you have to do the crawl space and then they like literally pressurize a balloon

to catch you and like. To push you in so you feel like you're being suffocated and collapsed on? No. No, like that's not even scary, that's just cruel. You can't just get off the, explain that a little bit more, just so I can not sleep today.

I will demonstrate, like you're walking and then you have like a thing where you have to crawl under like a vent, into a vent or something to get to the next room, but you have to get on your hands and knees. And then they have like a bouncy house above you that they just, that pressurizes and then pins you to the ground.

Oh god, I like Jean Jacket from Nope. Yeah, yep. Oh no! No power on earth. What do you mean? What do you mean? Like, does it suffocate you? It holds you for a little while and then lets you go

and then you- Oh, okay, just a little while? There are these like premium haunted houses houses like I know people have gone to we sign waivers in advance and it's like I've got a friend who works at one right now, and they were the one I have was I know it was scary This is years ago. That was years ago. During the first one. Yes. This was a very long time ago They did a fire one that I went to once and I'm you know, thankfully I'm okay with that But yeah, because you you, you go through alone. So that's what's, that's what's hard because you're, you're like,

you don't go with a group. So you sign the waiver because I mean, you could get really scared. Like, and then you go, you go through a lot and then you're like, why am I doing this? And then when you sign the waiver and you're like this is I'm volunteering to just do this why but then you just get curious you have to follow I'm gonna send you a link to the one that my friend is working in Anaheim which includes you can pay extra for them to like eventually pull you out put you in

a van and then drive you to a second location yeah yeah you're hearing from a What do you mean, pay? Oh, we were hearing from a friend who goes to one of these who was saying, like, at one point, they put a bag over your head and grab you into a room. Don't try this at home, kids. No, and then you like, I don't know where we've gone. You get told, like, you hear like,

you start getting shot at by running through something, and you feel even pelted, and what, well, you have a bag on your head. I actually even handled the Indiana Jones ride whenever it shoots air at you? I duck every time. And then they pull you up into another room and they take the bag off the head

and they hand you a paintball gun and you see them pulling other people through and you realize that it's just other people you're now shooting them with paintballs. And I'm like, why would you do this? Or later on they put them on like a vacuum table and like they, yep, suck it in and they just hold it until they start blacking out. What?

I'm like, why would you do any of this? This is, once again, I'm good. I'm going to stay home, I'm going to play video games. Critical role in the way that the dogs that use the free-to-play game. We don't do this stuff. Please do not take this as an endorsement of any kind. Go with your own risk.

To bring it back to the conversation though, the things that I would never do and that freak me out, I sometimes do bring in some way into our D&D games to make you all go, and it was successful and I'm happy. I was going to ask. So, very proud. And when you said, you were like,

feet first or head first? It was like, those both are awful options. Awful question. Yes. Like instantly your heart rate goes. I was like, well, I don't know. Second most awful question. Feet first or head first was really rough. The worst question is, are you weaker at the elbow or the shoulder? Yes! Like, instantly your heart rate goes. I was like, well, I don't know. Second most awful question.

The head first was really rough. The worst question is, are you weaker at the elbow or the shoulder? That's still, shout out to Brennan. I kept thinking about the town. That crazy guy who I love, who's building up the mining town. Oh, yeah. Who keeps going into the mines underneath this town, alone. Oh, yes, on that YouTube channel? Yeah, the guy who bought a mining town and is renovating it. I have to. I'm not here. He's turning it into a bed and breakfast, but in the meantime, he's just putting it together.

Exploring. Occasionally, he's like, we're going to go into the mines! Don't do it! We like you! It's Minecraft LARPing. We're just waiting for a creeper to come out. But he goes down alone alone and you're like, this is dangerous. What are you doing? These Danny's explosions are the same. I like the one where he found the box

where they used to keep the explosives. It was like, danger, don't go here. And he was like, oh, look at that. Let's see what's in there. Yeah, literally. I'm just looking for genes. And you're like, bro, stop it, bro. Look, a little bit of denim.

I think I'm on the right track. I'm like the right track. Once again, stay inside. Play video games. That's the goal. I'm not a risk taker at all. Yeah. You know, this has been fun.

I think we've all enjoyed this little bit of post-Halloween. I was doing fine. I brought my hoodie. I was just hanging out. We need to do another haunted house run. Travis and a haunted, I kind of want you to try one. Not in a premium one. I mean, they'll need to sign a waiver for when I fucking kick them in the head. Are you feeling some anxiety or something?

Yes! In that case, I think it's time that you pulled from the Tower of Inquiry. Oh, nice segue. So, just to, yeah. It makes us stop talking about this. I love y'all. Jester reestablishes, one of us pulls a block, reads the number, and the magnificent and disturbed Dani Carr reads us the corresponding question. Indeed. And the tower stuff happens if the tower falls.

It's a fresh one, too. Consequences and stuff. What is a fresh one? I feel like this partially separated brick is talking to me. The tower stuff happens if the tower falls. Consequences and stuff. A fresh one. What is a fresh one? I feel like this partially separated brick is talking to me. It's like, take the easy one. Nine.

Nine? Nine? Nine. Nine. Thank you, Travis. All right. I didn't fail. Great.

Okey dokey. From Squiggles. Describe your character's dream holiday if money was no limit. I think you already got an idea, Travis. Yeah. Travis. You instantly came up with something.

Do you have something you'd like to share with the group? It would be... It would be... What is it called when you go to the resort and it's all inclusive? All inclusive? Yeah, but it's in a nudist colony. And it's on the beach, but it's surrounded by redwood trees. And every evening I would chop one of those down

and then start to turn it into the high piece of art it was always destined to be, surrounded by beautiful naked people, deep into the night until the moon crested its full light into my eyes and I change! And then everyone dies. Wow. I was imagining it slightly up north too, so it was not just a nudist,

but like a nudist colony in the snow and everyone was very cold, but that was just me. I'd like to amend my answer. That's my headcanon. I know. That's tough. Yeah, it's rough.

Nothing against redwood trees. They're gorgeous, by the way. No, I mean, redwood trees are gorgeous. I mean, I was going to go the nudist colony route, but I feel like I want to give a different answer. I mean, by all means. You know, for as different as this group is, there are definitely some flow-throughs. There's some, yes. Common threads.

Y'all have gotten naked so many times together by now. Yes! I was going to say, team trauma over here should probably get naked so many times together by now. Yeah, that's true. Yes! Team, I was gonna say, team Trauma over here should probably get naked a few times at this point. It's been, yeah, team Sexy has been doing fine. Team Trauma could use some. Time for team Trauma to get naked!

Yes! Which team am I on? Time for team Naked to get traumatized! Team Naked! I thought it was on team Sexy. Okay, team Naked. Oh, wow. Team Naked, baby. Man.

It was radiated. I'm not arguing. 400 and put it out. What would Blake feel like would be Ashton's? I don't know. If I thought about the traditional punker answer, it's go into the woods, stay in a cabin, and find a little hobbit hole sort of thing and like live on a farm for a while. But that doesn't quite seem a good answer. Yeah. Like if you actually like like like a lot of punk rock kids just, you know, want to live in a bed and breakfast. Oh, really? Central California. Yeah. That is like weirdly

the vibe. I it. Yeah. Most that I talk to anyway. This is going to be such an annoying answer, but I feel like it would be really funny. And I feel like Fern would like to go to something like Coachella. There's so many people here. They're all dressed in nothing. There's music and food. How is Fern's aunt not Burning Man? I know I was thinking Burning Man,

but something in between those two. Right. She's more a festival in between those two. Right, more. Probably more Burning Man. She's more a festival kid than Art Kroll. Yes, yes. Art Kroll. Drunk people, the money easy to grab, and like yeah, good music, everyone's having a good time.

Who gave me these pills? Yeah. I don't know what these are. They said they're vintage. They're like, like um, like a Woodstock. I feel like Woodstock would be like a good middle. Like OG Woodstock? Or like 93 Woodstock?

Or like 99 Woodstock? Or Limp Bizkit Ruin the World? Wow. I forgot about that. The only time Freddend's had too much power. Oh my god. Wait, we've got to ask you one. What about a ghost ship pirate captain? If Monty was no object, what would be his ideal thing? Oh my goodness. Novos?

What's the name of the ship? Crimson? Crimson Abyss. Captain Novos would probably go to probably Nalen's closet. Nice and tempered, hard to make fog last too long there. He can get some of that warmth he's been seeking for a while. What would be the on-world equivalent of the Berlin nightclub scene?

Where would you go for a nice, not a falling-in-pilot industrial, but a nice city that has an art community? I don't know where that would be. Every major metropolis would have a night scene like that. Amman would. I mean, Hupperdook definitely. Hupperdook's more like a rave town, though. Something a little brutalist. I think that would be very much,

a lot of cigarette smoking, you know, would definitely be a question. A lot of black. I would put that probably... Movie Wings of Desire, basically. Dreamworld. I mean, Dundall and Empire, like, Rex and Trem would definitely have a brutalist.

Actually, I know that. That would go over real well. Rex and Trem have the college scene. Oh yeah, yeah, Rex and Rexxentrum would definitely have a brutal night. That would go over real well. Rexxentrum also has the college scene. Oh yeah, yeah, Rexxentrum would have a hell of a night scene. Done, done and done. Yeah.

Rexxentrum's got all those budding wizards, and they're like, oh yeah, I wanna, like, fuck with press digitization tonight, let's go. Yes. And Kymal's just straight up Amsterdam, like. Yeah. Have we seen you use your new ability from Captain Donnus yet?

No. Okay. Not yet. Not yet. I think that kind of covers that. Thank you, Squiggles. Thank you, Squiggles. It's just such a great name. And if you have an evergreen question for our Tower of Inquiry, you can enter it at

critrole.com slash tower,. I'm not going to say the exclamation point this time. Inquiry? Only Inquiry. Matt, do you want to come pull one? Yeah, just to make it fall down more. Let's pull one more. I'll pull one more. We'll do a lightning round. I'm not going to pull one block here. It's

bullshit. This thing will stand here for episodes. You got to pick a hard one. Pick a hard one? Pick a purple one. Or a green one. Oh shit. You're going... Ooh, yeah. Ooh, yeah. Yeah, this one's a... Oh yeah, you're fucked. You are.

No, Matt! That is a root canal. He's going to get it. Oh boy. The whole point is to get this and leave it extremely fragile for anyone else who comes through. Oh, that is so precarious! Number 21. 21.

See, the goal is to fuck it up while you're there. Not me. Unless you're the next person who has to come onto the game, the show. Then you just fuck it up even more. No, I'm into it. I'm into it. I'm here for you, Matt. You know I'm on your side. more. I'm into it. I'm into it. Bring the chaos. Look, I'm here for you, Matt. You know I'm on your side. I know. I appreciate it.

Ragazaga says, What are some of your top tips you have on improvisation when roleplaying? Talk to your people. It's so simple, but listen. It's so easy to feel like when you're in a performance space, whether it be actual play or with your friends at a table, you want to make them laugh, to be caught up in your head about your own ideas and to be thinking about what you're going to do, but that is the quintessential mistake that you make in an improvised space.

Listen to each other. Be open and paying attention to what people are doing, because that will inspire you. That will trigger ideas, that'll give you, they're gifts from your friends at the table that you can then take and run with and you really build that collaborative space. You get stuck in your head

and you end up pulling yourself back. Don't worry about talking too much or talking too little. Just, if you talk to, like, you don't wanna take up all the air, but you want, you know, and if you feel like you're falling back too far behind, talk to your other players and be like, I'm having trouble hopping in. Find somebody who just occasionally be like,

so what's the deal? Yes, yes. I don't do that. I think listening is the most important. I do too. Trying to think of my dumb tips. I think my dumb tips are, if you feel like you're getting,

if you're stuck or not saying enough, stop looking at people. My ADD brain, like, I will look away from someone that's talking so I can just hear them because it like frees up the rest of my brain. Usually if I'm watching them, I'm like watching their face move and then I am just totally fixated on what they're saying

and not doing any multitasking, which is weird. Oh, that's interesting. And then I think the other one is, like, make an ass of yourself. So, like, if you're worried about sounding cool or saying something good, don't do that. Sometimes it's a great icebreaker to, like, start singing randomly or talk talking a stupid voice or something that just kind of like get over the embarrassment yeah yeah ruin

the audition so the rest of it can yeah can be good that's good that is it I mean I feel like this is kind of expanding on the the listening but and it's the oldest advice but oldest tip is yes anding yes anding it's like you don't don't stop a conversation if somebody asks you something or is like, should we try this? You'll be like, no. You're like, well, there's nowhere to go now.

Cool. Yeah. Okay. And even if your instinct is to disagree with what they're saying, be like, I don't know if I agree with that, but how can we take that idea and transition it to something else? But the collaboration is building on it. Yeah, redirect and build upon it so you're still working with them

as opposed to just denying it. Yeah, yes, yes. I love a playlist to get into character. Oh, that's huge. I hate a playlist to get into character. I know you do. Thank you, Danny Carr. Good man.

I know, I feel like Taliesin and I could make playlists until the end of time. Thank you for the Nick Cave album, by the way. Do you like it? I'm digging it. It's so good. It's so different. It's odd. We had a moment. Yes, we had a moment. You like Nick Cave?

There's enough shit. I know, I know. But I love it so much. I got to send you some stuff. But yeah, you know, listen, make an ass of yourself, the whole thing. Yes, make an ass of yourself. Life needs things to live, and with that, thank you, Ragazaga.

Ragazaga. Never leaving that one down. Yeah, thank you again, sending stuff to the Tower of Inquiry, so Feel free. It's lovely. But in the meantime, let's do a deep dive. Let's slide into deep dive. Deep dive! Denicar, can you freshen up this discourse with some carefully crafted queries? I mean, I guess.

Tangerers! There you go. I got my pretty ears. Look how pretty yours is. Look at that wolf. The ears are always dangerous. I don't know what you mean. We're going to take turns pulling questions from our tankards. Sounds cool? Well, yeah, cool, great. I don't need your permission, but whatever. It's not how this show works. Hey, so Matt, let's start us off.

Your technique is exemplary. I'm not going to look! This is your technique! I was just like, there's no fucks in here. I keep waiting for the find of fucking you. I know. They fell out somewhere. We'll pick them up later. Love you. Jesus.

Okay. Matt. What spell was Ludinus going to cast on the group and what would it have done to them? He was casting a spell called Weird. That is a ninth level spell. Weird? Weird.

That essentially on the success, on all the targets that are hit, it draws all their greatest fears into their reality. And they basically, every single round, take a shit ton of psychic damage, and it makes it difficult for them to maneuver. And I mean, it's bad. Same level spell.

It's like bad drug trip. Yeah. And the death for a couple of days. Yeah, or like the top of your round, you all take like 40, 10 psychic damage or something. I'll look at the specifics again. Yeah, that would have been the enemy. What would have been their fears?

That would have been the fun bit, was me asking each of you, what is your deepest fear? Oh, you would have asked. I love that. Oh, yeah. I don't know that. They get to tell me, and then I get to spend it against them. And there might be future opportunities to revisit that, maybe.

I don't know. All the trees of the world are made of metal. Yeah, it is. Yeah, 40, 10 psychic damage. I heard what? At the beginning. How many? We're frightened. All of you become frightened, so you can't get closer of metal. Yeah, it is. Yeah, 40, 10 psychic damage. I am fired, but whoo! At the beginning. How many?

At the end, we're frightened. All of you become frightened, so you can't get closer to them. Yeah. And at the end of each turn, you have to make a wisdom saving throw or take 40, 10 psychic damage. Oh my god.

Whoo! So yeah, it's fun. It's fun. You all would've, it would've been bad. Glad that did not happen. That would've been really bad. It's meant to be, it's meant to be. Everyone would've had to learn, find out about my new character.

I will say, a lot of things in that battle went really in your favor. I was expecting you to have to try and flee. That was the intent of the conflict at that point. But like, bad dice rolls on my point, good tactics on your point. I mean, there was part of that where I wanted him to run away with you.

Because you can't teleport unless you have a willing target. Well, that's what would have happened. Hostage, yeah, yeah. He was taking you as a hostage, and he was trying to basically hurt all the rest of your friends to where you would agree to come with them. See, that's the risk, though. That's where it gets juicy. I know, and I would have. That's just like Vex with what's-his-name in the Fey Realm when he was in the tree.

He's like, do you accept this or not? Oh yeah. Sondor. She could have totally changed into the Archdark. I was going to say, we had a conversation about, that was one of the few things that you've ever told us, is a little bit of what might have happened in that fight. Yeah, after we did the episode. He makes that to the ramps. Just got to take them. Me? Best laid plans of the GM. You know, that's how it works.

I love my little cub too. So wonderful. He's very pretty. Ashley. Yes. Okay, what does Fern think about all these potential connections she has been making with various other entities?

She's the granddaughter of a hag, has a connection to a champion of the hells, a boon from a ghost pirate, and the potential of a primordial shard. Well, I think this... I think I'm just really in the mode of saying yes to everything. It's called Yes And. Laugh, live, love. An exandria. Yes. It's absolutely just literally saying yes to everything. It's the year of yes-ing. I'm just like, sure, let's give it a try. Year of the bull.

I'm just waiting for someone to show up and you having to do the, baby, I've said a lot of things, and I'm sure I said them to you. Can you hold your hair back? Okay, yeah! Yeah, it's interesting. I mean, I could put it that way. If Fearne survives this campaign, she could very well become that one canonic lore character who kind of knows everybody. I was gonna say.

You know? You know all the big names. Orym has the Tempest. Anybody else have big, big fuck-off people? No. Not really, and you got like seven. Does Delilah count? Who?

Does Delilah count? Delilah counts. Delilah counts. But then you know Laudna, who's connected with Delilah. You've now met people of Vox Machina and Whitestone. You have connections to the Fey Realm. You have connections to the Primordials, possibly. You have all these different, now the Hells. You have connections to the Primordials, possibly. You have all these different fathoms. Now the Hells.

Damn it! And just like, yeah, you may become the favor broker of Exandria if you wanted to. You could be like, what do you need? I got someone. Hey, I got something for you. You could have a flag on any party. Anywhere on the planet. Like a favor broker? Ooh! I mean, Nana Mori is a great censor.

That's right, you know. Kind of the people. So it could work. Nobody made a deal with your Nana yet, by the way. No. If we see her again, I'm gonna. I hope you do. We can both make a deal with Nana.

Amazing. Amazing. You guys are in a place of preparation, so do whatever you think you gotta do before you get ready to go. We're doing it. Yeah, Fern is just networking Girl bossing her way Furnace that is the person who's at artist alley just taking everyone's business On all of the accounts.

Yes. Follow for follow. Yeah. It's a little black scroll, is what you have. Yes, yes, a little black scroll. Little black scroll. That's my little black scroll. Perfect.

Mine says, you are always so delighted to get a new map. Yes, I am. What is it about the maps that appeal to you? They are wonderful. First, it's the appreciation of all the energy that goes into them, because they're all different textures, they're different materials,

the edges are all frayed differently, they've been stained, they've been burned. Sometimes they have like blood drizzle on them. And then you get into the map itself. Like sometimes they're very detailed, sometimes they're like roughly made the names change uh the a or map was really like the apex map for me because it had like the question marks the things you had to figure out and discover the a and a2 was a part of the

riddle with the tomb takers later and it was like that was just where it gets juicy so having it like in my hands i feel like I'm trying to, where's Waldo, that motherfucker, and figure out, look for the tiniest upside down tree and be like, I found it! I flipped it over, I held it up to the light. I just don't put anything past Matt. So having a tactile thing that could be a clue,

and especially when it's a small piece of a larger puzzle, that's the part that I'll go home and I'll look through the map and be like, it's this part of the Shatter Teeth because it looks like this, it matches this fan-drawn part of the thing. I figured it out! So is it the map, or is it having something tactile?

That's it, yeah. It's a little bit of both. I mean, I do love being the Vanna White of the maps, you know, and working it, but I also just feel like there's, I feel like there's always an answer in there, and sometimes I don't know what the question is yet, and that's the best part.

Some point I wanna hold one over a candle and see if a lemon juice. Yeah, like in the Shattered Teeth one, it had the previous locations of the islands, depending on when the map was drawn, and then where they had moved to in different directions. So it's a chaotic movement from what it looks like, but also I know he's trying to tell us something.

I want to make an animated version of the map that just slowly, that's like a... Yeah, because you hide things in maps. I do. We've seen it. Even back, like, like, way back when. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember there was a map at home campaign.

There was this whole, like, subterranean cave network that they were going through. And they were going through all these weird twisting caves with, like, stalactites. And I had drawn it out on the graph paper. And then it took a while for Taliesin to realize, oh, this is a body. We're in a giant fucking, yeah.

A giant's corpse, and you can see where the skull, and they were going through the interior of its skeleton. Gotta get the fuck out of here. It was cool. It was cool. That was a fun night. That was a good night. I want to go back to Eor so bad.

That was a long, oh man, that was so good. I loved it there. Should we go visit? Yeah, okay. Sure. Hey! Did you hear that? He's provoking us.

Yes, he is provoking. It's my job to provoke you, I love it. Shout out Debra Rue, by the way, does an amazing job. Yes! Debra Rue! Oh god, oh so good. There's a profound difference between how Ashton interacts with Percy and with Allura. What is his opinion on the Arcanist ally? Thank you, my god. And how does she compare to Lord Rollo in their esteem. Well, yeah, I've finally figured out. I was trying to figure out why Ashton and

Percy were not quite getting along, and I finally figured out it's because they are extremely similar people. Really? Yes. They have a lot in common. A lot of family trauma, a lot of ego and personal grievance, a lot of undealt-with emotional issues and a problem maintaining emotional issues. They also tend to think that they are the only adult in a room. It's just that Percy also has monstrous amounts of money and privilege on every conceivable level, and Ashton does not and thinks these things are terrible. It's just this one fundamental level of a dark mirror of what either of them could have become. Honestly, poverty and bad luck is what made Percy really terrible once he had finally gone anyway. It was living rough after he had been kicked out of Whitestone.

That made him turn into a vengeance monster. Really? Yeah, so there's a lot of weird, I think the similarities bother, definitely get underneath Ashton's skin, but it's also kind of like why he likes being there too. It is like being able to yell at a different version of yourself and be shitty to them. And Laura, yeah, Laura just seems like she's getting shit done and is not like, she just, yeah,

she seems like somebody who actually deserves their respect and actually is getting shit done. I don't have a better way of putting it other than like authority and respect must be earned. And, Mercy has not. Hold the question I have about Allura in there. What?

There's a question about Allura in there. Is there? It's a great segue. Should I pull that one out? Find that one. Sure. Find the Allura in there. What? There's a question about Allura in there. Is there? It's a great segue. Should I pull that one out? Find that one. Sure. Find the Allura question.

Cheat. She told me to do it. She told me. I'm cheating. I'm cheating. If I can hold this thing right. If Ashton allows you, then that might, because they don't want that. Of course it's the last one I pull.

I know. Every time. I'll give the other one to her. Get it back to fucking her. Come on. Do this for you, Danny. I'm very curious about what Percy thinks about Ashton, but that's for later. I'm going to Of course it's the last one I pull. That's always how it works. I'll give the other one to you. Get it back to fucking work. Come on. I'll do this for you, Danny.

I'm very curious about what Percy thinks about Ashton, but that's for a later conversation. We can talk about that later on. This is the third campaign that Allura has showed up to be an ally to the main party. What is it like to bring her in once more? Do you still think of her as your own avatar within the world? Yes and yes. The reason Allura came back the third time is because Allura is my avatar and is my one through line that's my little tether to Exandria. So I brought her into each campaign intentionally. No wonder everybody likes her.

I love it. I'm so happy. This is why everybody likes Allura, because it's Matt. It's me coming in to play with you guys for a minute. She really was the first NPC in Exandria that I spent a lot of time developing. Her and Kima and their history with Thordak, she was the first real person of perceived power and influence in the world of Exandria that took to Vox Machina. It was the first NPC that I felt a connection with and was like, there's a lot about this that I would want to be in this world, in Allura.

And because she had the connection with you guys so early in that campaign, it wasn't until a while I looked back and was like, you know, I think this is my self-insert, in kind of a way. And so, yeah, she's just fun to bring back. Also to see all your faces when she comes back. Yeah. It's the best. It's always the very slow description, like dropping little things,

and for me it's always waiting for the golden braids. And you're like, there she is! Oh, the best. So good. She's great. That damn alabaster tower. I miss that tower. That tower was so nice.

The tower was so cool. And it falling, and because we were trying to break in, and being sneaky, and fucking. It did not go well. I always feel like when Allura shows up, it's like, oh, we're on the right path. Okay, Allura's here, everything's good. Everything's okay now.

Yeah, yeah. Mom's home. And the adult's in the room. Mom's here, it's gonna be okay. Steve Rogers walks into the scene. Oh, it's that movie now, all right. Oh, God. I hear y'all having some kind of trouble.

Oh, thanks, Mom. Oh, good. You got your shield? Oh, okay, okay, we're good. Don't hold the cell phone. Everything's gonna be okay. Oh, God. All't hold the cell phone. Everything's gonna be okay. Yeah, yeah. Oh, God. All right, shall I?

Yes, please. Okay, Fern was used as a hostage by Ludinus. How did she feel being in this position? What was going through your mind while talking to Ludinus one-on-one? Hot, yeah, it was a little hot, right? Ooh, it was a little hot, it was a little hot. Did you try flirting? I'm trying to remember. Probably. Yeah, it was a little hot, right? It was a little hot. It was a little hot. Did you try flirting?

I'm trying to remember. Probably. Yeah. I know. I can't fully remember the conversation, but I feel like... I... I don't know if Fern wants the shard, weirdly enough.

Because I... Wait, no, that's not what this question was. I looked at another one. How does she feel about being... You can answer whenever you want to, though. Let your Fern out. I looked at another one. How does she feel about being one of you? You can answer whenever you want to though. Let your fern out. I feel like, cause you saying that Ludinus probably

would have taken fern, there was a moment where I was like, I almost said like, it's okay, I'll just go with you. Just don't hurt anybody. But, I was too scared. I was like, well I don't wanna anybody. But, um, I was too scared. I was like, well, I don't want to leave everybody, though, because Matt might actually say yes.

And then what? So I think... That's that regret. I know. And then you get a week off. Next time, say yes. Yeah. When Ford had his powers yanked, I went up to Matt at the mid-show break,

and I was like, I might just leave. And he was like, okay. I could just leave in the middle of the night and start wandering off to go find powers. And he was like, if you do, I'll just find a way to come back to you at some point. I was like, okay, let me think about it. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Yeah, let me, let me, yeah. Yeah.

I thought about it. But, yeah, I feel, Fern was very scared of lewdness but there's still that curiosity of like what is making this man tick I want to figure it out even though I'm scared of him because maybe if I can figure out who he is I can fix all this so there's a little bit of that there's a little bit of curiosity with like I can I can fix it. You can scry, right? Yeah. Maybe she's trying to reach out.

Yeah. That's interesting. We've tried scrying on him. So many times. Right. And he denies that. So finding other means of communication if you Yeah, but that was before the hot, hot abduction session.

Maybe he will accept the collect call this time. Yeah, excuse me, are you there? I just feel like any time Fern would be alone with somebody, it would be less them being a hostage with her and more of a you're trapped in here with me situation. Yes. Yes. You're in here with me.

Fern would just be like, this is fine. Yeah. Let's chat. Let's have a conversation. Probably. Probably, Probably. Oh, it's my turn. All your things.

Grog is one of the few, you son of a bitch, one of the few Vox Machina members to not have made an appearance yet. What do you think Grog is up to right now? His elbows. He could be in jail. Just for normal, everyday shit. Picking fights. I know he hosts a tournament. But he's a Grand Poobah. A Dodoic of all Dissidai? Yeah, he has a title.

It does not make him above the law. That's true. Diplomatic immunity. Diplomatic immunity. Diplomatic immunity. I'm sure he's been bailed out a maximum number of times, to which both Percy and Vex have said no more. No more. This is a fun one.

Chill out. He has probably gone searching for love. Like Joey from Friends, he'll never find it. Good it. You just haven't met the right sword, buddy. Yes, he will. That's right. It doesn't need to be bladed. All the blunt instruments need love, too. Charger Karker? What's the sword? The pirate. I know. Char, what? What's the sword? Grass to char. Grass to char.

I wanna make a weapon now, it's called Charger Karker. Charger Karker. A-ro-a-ra. Karker Charger. Aurora. Dude, I will never live that down for the rest of my life. It was one of my favorites. God, I loved it.

I also think he's so smart that if not properly supervised, he could have been swayed by parties unknown into unknowing nefarious activity. Oh no! Just saying. You know, with total intentions to do good things. Of course to do the right thing, but. There's a sucker board every minute.

Does it know? It grogs around every minute. Oh boy. They collect your buddy. Don't spoil what they fight on Ruidus. Oh my god! Welcome to the planet moon. How did you get here?

I don't know. This is my home. I am king of planet moon. Literally we just show up and you're like, I'm on the moon? I kind of planet moon. Literally, we just show up and you're like, I'm on the moon? I kind of love it. Is everything red to you guys? I love it.

Well, their eyes are broken. Uh-huh. You might have raged one too many times. I'm only seeing red. How does Ashton feel about fate taking notice of him after all this time? It doesn't feel like fate, necessarily, to Ash. It feels like history. I don't have a better way of... It doesn't feel quite like fate. It feels like... I'm trying to, very specific words for this. Fate is not necessarily something Ashton will ever really take a hold of,

even when it's shoved directly in their face, because it comes with too many complications that they do not have enough therapy to deal with. But the idea that they were more or less a mighty prince banished from the kingdom who has now come to reclaim the throne is a lot more romantic in their eyes of just like the notion of being given a path,

if not a fated path, a esteemed path forward to back to claim what is rightfully theirs. It feels more like a story that has an ending. Yes, absolutely. Even if you don't know what it is, it feels like, okay, this is going somewhere. Yeah, for the first time in their life.

It's, they're not, you know, their original belief of like, I'll be dead in a decade and no one will care. Certainly not me. So having like, oh no, I have shit that matters now and it's not about other people, it's about me and that's weird. And another good group again that, you know, probably not gonna peace out on me.

Yeah, it's, yeah. It's interesting. They're starting to, yeah, they never thought they would really care about where they came from. So, it's been fun. It's been. It's been. It's been. It's been. Why? Why?

Ashton even leapt into the water after Laudna. There's been a lot of taking care of everyone else that Ashton has been. As you say, it's the punk thing. Once you've made friends, it's like, take a bullet. Everybody else, throw that bullet back at them, you really don't care. Yeah, you make it a goal. You pick that circle and it is ride or die. Mm-hmm. Ugh, my heart. Thank you for understanding the punk. Let's do one more speed round. Let's just burn through this. This is now, this is a... Yeah, yeah.

Matt, the War Room scene was quite impressive in terms of talking to yourself. Oh, jeez. How was that for you as a DM? It was nerve-wracking. Setting up a scenario where logically there's going to be a lot of NPCs all talking to each other is a challenge. I don't want to mess it up or make it not interesting for the rest of you, because it's a scene where it's a lot of, like, sit back and watch other characters talk. I want to make sure that it's a good way of, you know, being exposition for things that are happening

in the world outside of what your experience is. It'll help inform your vision and choices of what's to come and kind of the macro scale of things that are happening, you know, across the world. So it's me wanting to convey information through these characters' eyes, but I want to not make it boring or the me show, because it's the last thing I want.

So it's a little nerve-wracking, but it's also an exciting opportunity to do just that, to be like, you know what you know from the world, and now this is an opportunity for different people who have different perspectives,

who have been doing their own investigations, all coming together and sharing what they've discovered, and then from that point, figure out what the next, you know, order of business is. So I hope it wasn't boring. I love it when you call them.

That's great. When I call them? When you call them? Yes, yes, yes. No! Yes. Yes, yes. Oh, jeez.

The council of mercy. Between them all, they get just enough sleep for one person. All right, how does Fearne feel about possibly taking on the Shard? Does she even want to wield its power? How does she feel about her fire abilities coming up in this way? Yeah, I lose complicated feelings with the Shard. Because, you know, Fern has seen a version of herself

that has gone down a very bad path in EXU and I still don't Fern still doesn't know which time is a weird soup so she doesn't know where in the timeline that Fern was and if every sort of step that I'm taking it's like is this gonna lead me down to that path to the bad fern so it's it's complicated on taking on new powers because it's like well I don't know if this is gonna be different and I mean it could be fun I mean there's I want to put on that harness so bad just to see what it does I mean we kind of know but I'm just like you know just because yes if there's anything yes I'm going full full steam ahead with with

being the button pusher because it's fun. But yeah, it's complicated. The shard is complicated. Plus it also doesn't feel like hers. We'll have a private conversation about the shard at some point before the game. Yeah, I'd love to roll around a few ideas. You want to roll around with me? Well, I mean,

that was also offered, so we'll get into that as well. Just roll around together and figure out what we're going to do here. Clever things to say, and then they died. that as well. Just roll around together and figure out what we're gonna do here. Clever things to say and then they die. And then they die. Those are my favorite interpersonal debates is the, We're just rolling.

Let's just roll, roll, roll in the hay. I love it. From Luca, Chetney has now received two visions from the Matron of Ravens. Does this goddess appeal to him in any way? Or does this feel more like a sign that his time is soon up? Especially with how close the Logrest D100 rolls have been?

Daily! Daily! Unbelievable! I love that you do that. That sounds like she's been paying attention to you, Chetney. Listen, I said it when we were outside. I have, I've done like test rolls of a D100 roll, like, 50 or 60 times.

I've never hit trip zeros. Ever. I have. Do you have done it before? Once. Okay. Once. Yeah, but, like, if you really do it, are you really dead?

Yeah, 100%. Yeah, we agreed to that. You did? Yeah. But then what? That's the whole point. New character. You've got to hold it. I did? Yeah. But then what? That's the whole point. New character. I don't know.

We'll figure it out. But to answer the question. Travis has seen you, so you have to take a break. I really like it. I don't know if the Matron. The Matron not appeals in terms of like a deity, but I think it's the first time that anything beyond the realm has like reached out

and given a gift or shown anything. So I think Chetney and his inflated ego thinks like, yeah, Matron's catching on to the hotness. Better late than never, sister. Recognize my importance in the end of days. Yeah, I think that the end of days. Yeah, I think that's part of it. But also, I'm not worried about it. Those trip zeros, this is gonna be the video they post.

Don't say that shit. Those trip zeros are never gonna happen. I was genuinely more interested in the vision question. I just thought that the triple zero, I just thought that the death rolls was funny. Yeah, I've done a two. I think I've done a one before, and I've done like 98 and 99. Yeah, you got real close.

I did like 98 and 99, I remember those. But close don't count. Not worried about it. Does not count. Not worried about it. All right, and the last kind of, I suppose it's, what is it like for you to explore Whitestone as a different character?

How does it feel getting to meet Percy's children? I am, uh, god, I love it. I love it so much. The D'Rolo kids? The D'Rolo kids, especially Gwen is my favorite. She and how you play her, I love her. Gwen is going to be Percy one day, Yes. Except somehow both better and worse. I'm really like, he is turning one of his kids into a nightmare. I am so excited.

Yes. I want a DeRollo kids one shot so bad. Oh, so bad. That would be amazing. That would be great. That would be great. I also, I'm kind of hoping that we get to have at some point a little bit of a Whitestone, like,

everything's spooky. Because all the spooky shit happens. Whitestone is the spooky town. If you're going to have someone build an undead Frankenstein, it's going to happen in Whitestone. If you're going to have the spirits of your weird ancestors come back, it's going to be in Whitestone. That's the game you GM,, like, Whitestone's perfect for that. That's the game you GM, because you know Whitestone so well. I overcook Whitestone real hard, especially when I'm on the spot. Actually, that's kind of a fun idea.

We'll chamber that. We'll chamber that, because there's a couple bits of Whitestone history that I'm so deep in, and they exist almost nowhere. I'm just gonna be on the side the whole time, just scribbling, like I do every game. I wanna get into Wolf Dorilo and that whole shit. I love the most.

Yeah. Great, great, great. I still wanna know more about Melanie. And Ivan? Oh, they got a vibe. Yeah, we'll get into that. Anyway, why don't we pull from the Tower of Inquiry? Okay. Me? You said K. Okay, okay, okay, okay.

It's okay. And then four more Ks after that first K. That's five Ks. That's a lot of Ks. That's a lot of Ks. I'm a chili bean, you guys. It's chilly in here. So you're a chili bean?

Yeah, I'm a chili bean. I don't want to go for this one because it's... Which one was I thinking? Oh yeah. You want to make it super hard? Yeah, you guys. It's chili in here. So you're chili bean? Yeah, I'm a chili bean. I don't want to go for this one because it's... Which one? I was thinking blins. Oh yeah. You want to make it super hard? Yeah, do it. Make it super hard, do it, do it. Chaos.

That looks like Elcindir. Have you moved it yet? Because once you've moved it... I did, so I gotta just do it. You gotta finish it. It's gone! Yes! Yes!

Oh no! I'm so happy. Wait, she's not out of the woods yet. She's not out of the woods. That's true. Oh, she's, oh, she's, uh-oh, oh, oh! No, you're doing it right, you're doing it right. Oh!

I saw that pulse at the end. I saw that pulse, Ashley Jenkins. So proud of you. Thank you. Killed it. Oh, I love this. I love this because I'm an animal person. Brody Heath asks, if you were an old wizard's familiar,

what type of familiar would you be? Shout out to Frumpkin. Mr. Brody, sir. I always just think of the pets from Strawberry Shortcake because those are all awesome pets. God. I'd be a dog. Wow. I would be a dog.

Yeah, what kind of dog? I'm gonna go golden retriever Attracts it's a good classic. Yeah, I'm gonna go I'm gonna go classic little doofy We'll give you a good snuggle. Yeah, they go floppy ears. Yeah, I'll yeah I'm somewhere between like a ferret and otter Yeah, well you can't be like, familiars are smaller animals, right? I mean.

They can vary. Yeah, you can get around and get weird. You're companion animals. I'm a Kodiak bear. So sorry. I'm a Kodiak bear. You can bring me into the supermarket, no problem. No one ever has an armadillo.

I'm sure it was Kodiak. I love the idea of an armadillo, because then you also just have, well, they can also roll. They can. So you can actually have a, you could have a. There were armadillos in the original Dracula movie,

and so I always imagined that Dracula has armadillos as familiars. Oh shit, that's right. Yeah, I love the idea of just an animal that you're like, well, this is weird. Oh, shit, it's going really fast. Armadillos, the original Dracula movie.

And the reason that I know that is because I really love the Monster Squad. You mean like Bela Lugosi Dracula? And they do armadillos in the Monster Squad and it's an homage to the original Dracula. Are you talking about Bela Lugosi Dracula or Nosferatu? No, I'm talking about Bela Lugosi Dracula.

Oh, okay, Nosferatu. Wow, I'm talking about Bela Lugosi Dracula. Nosferatu. Wow, I don't remember that. Armadillos are funny. I know, I love it, but it's not specifically. And how they walk on their little toes. Yeah, he's just a little. Yes.

Like with the right, with kind of like a cute wizard who's just kind of doing their thing, but is also really dangerous. You got a little cowboy hat? You gotta get my cowboy hat for an hour and a half. The worst witch. Like whoever the worst witch grows up to be from the Halloween special, the worst witch.

Yep, or constable. Little Texas Ranger. Yeah, Tim Curry in a little suit. Okay, yeah. Oh, I love that, yeah. Classic. Can look it up, look it up. Did you pick an animal? No, no, no, I didn't yet.

I would probably say... Duck-billed platypus. Oh, good one! Oh god! Because it's amphibious, it's kind of adorable, but kind of fucked up and weird. Yeah, with a little spike behind the eyes. Yeah, a little venomous fucking...

Unnecessarily dangerous for its design. That's a kit build from all the parts you have left out. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's the kitchen sink of nature. I fucking love it. What a great animal for you. I'm enjoying this one just because I really love animals. Yes, what are you gonna be?

I think that I would be a bird. I'd be some kind of like weird fucked up bird that can only like fly for like a little bit, but can also still like type with its beak. And so like I can still like, I can be like helpful in that way, but I can't go very long distances. So I'm really only helpful with taking notes.

Interesting. Pretty great. What's the first to do a little dance sideways? Backward, yeah. Just like scribbling like little like, like like claw marks on the things, but it's like, it's like a scribe or a notary. So it's like only, only intelligible to me.

I'm gonna try and pronounce this correctly. Thank you, Brody Heath, is what it is. Oh, remember, if you have a whosits, whatshadoosit, or whatever for a Tower of Inquiry, you can enter it at critroll.com slash tower. And thank you for not putting the exclamation point at the end of that, I appreciate it. We're gonna take a quick break, but don't go anywhere

because we're about to do our very first official anxiety game gauntlet after the break and answer. And some leftover tankard questions. We're already having anxiety about what that means. And if you're listening to the podcast version of this show or just don't like fun, well, bye. I guess this is not, yeah, I don't know.

What are you doing? Bye! Bye! That's it for the podcast version of this episode of Foresighted Dive. In the video version, we wrap up each episode by playing some games, which don't always translate well to an audio-only format.

Honestly, it's mostly yelling, truly. So be sure to check out the rest of the episode via the VOD for the full chaos. If you've enjoyed this deep dive into the campaign, be sure to drop us a rating and a review on whatever podcast platform you're using. Your thoughts may just encourage a new critter to take the plunge. Foresighted Dive airs the first Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. Pacific on twitch.tv

slash Critical Role and youtube.com slash Critical Role, with the VOD available on YouTube the very next day. And of course, each episode releases right here on the Critical Role Podcast Network one week after the initial broadcast. We'll see you again next month. Buh-bye.