Critical Role - Shard Candy | 4-Sided Dive | Episode 19: Discussing Up To C3E78

Episode Date: December 12, 2023

Travis Willingham, Taliesin Jaffe, Marisha Ray, and Matthew Mercer (and sweet little Omar) gather around for our festive holiday episode of 4-Sided Dive! Tune in for cozy pajamas, questions from the Tower of Inquiry, and a special game of Candyland with a 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 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. Let's dive into the chaos. Oh, hi. Welcome to Foresighted Dive. I'm Matthew Mercer, your 19th tavern keeper, and I'm so excited to bring y'all a warm and fuzzy, comfy, cozy holiday dive. So put on some jammies like we did,

pour some hot cocoa, and pray that our producers don't hide creepy plastic Santa somewhere. I may have shattered Ashton into a million little pieces, but now he's back together, and Taliesin Jaffe is here to talk about it. Everything's fine. Ladna felt some kind of way about Ashton's actions, so she wandered into the forest and made a creepy doll while cuddling with a necromancer ghost lady in Richeray. Everything's fine, right?

Everything's fine. On a lighter note, Travis Willingham's Ford went full Fabio and finally proposed to Jester in front of a crowd of 10,000 people. We're talking about our live show! Everything's fine! And in the spirit of giving back, as your host for this evening, I'll be doing a little

Dungeon Master player interview, where instead of them begging me for intel, I'm gonna be asking them questions about the campaign thus far. Which for me will be a nice break from Dungeon Mastering nonstop and doing scenes with like five different NPCs all at the same time. Ah, humbug! What flimflammery is this?

It's the holiday episode of Force Had a Dive, Scrooge Matt. I'm hosting it. This silly little experiment of a talk show? What a ridiculous caprice. Come on, Scrooge met the folks at home. Really want to know more about Critical Role and what goes on behind the scenes. Ha!

What'll you be doing in the C Block? A hot dog eating contest while Danny asks you leftover tank and questions? No, we're playing our version of Candyland with a bunch of Critical Role twists. Ha! Good luck with that. Fine, have the day off.

Host your silly little talk show. I have to go back to sleep and run a one-shot with my ghost buddies, so, uh, keep it down out there. Welcome to Force Outta Dive! Let's do a fucking holiday show! Yeah! Woo! Welcome back! Let's begin the night with our open discussion segment.

What the fuck is up with that? What the fuck is up with that? What the fuck is up with that? I'm gonna grab my menu here that I keep in standpoint. They're so muggy and it's just... Look, this is the After Dark section here. Look at his little tail poking out of his long johns. It's like a little hairy nose. Look at his little tail poking out of his long johns. It's like a little hairy nose. Look at this.

Two eyes and a nose. I've already lost control. This is the show. This is why I'm not the host, normally. So, things that happened, a lot of things happened, actually. The shard happened. The shard?

Yes. Ashton sharded so hard that he died briefly. Twice. Really? I don't think so. That's what I've been saying the whole time. The shart of the Rau Shan. Never gamble on a shart. No. Yeah, the dormant shart that was within Ashton, and then the recovered spark of Rau Shan, and

then you put them both in. Yeah. How'd that go? Well, I mean, how'd that go, or how did we get there? There's a bunch of different questions there. Both. Both, please.

You know when you're in an escape room, and you figure out the puzzle, and then the puzzle's broken because the thing that's supposed to come off the wall is like stuck and you eventually pull the thing off and they're like what did you do you broke the escape room and you're like but that that was just all entirely in my head i had just found and like you can trace it back and you're like it makes perfect sense to get there but they're just watching going what the fuck is going on? So, yeah, I just went, and I was not alone. Like, Ashley came on that journey with me and was like, this makes total sense. And we were, up until the moment where it didn't, we were like, oh, okay, I can see how this would, all right. Literally, literally we were sitting there going, yeah, this makes total sense.

When was the, what was the, oh, what was the moment? When was the moment that you were like, uh-oh? Ten rolls. Oh, at the end of the ten rolls? No, at the beginning of like, so we're going to have ten rolls. And it was like, ten. Ten. Ten?

I feel like I may have misinterpreted. Oh, shit. Yeah. It was like, okay, we got, we got here in a weird way. So it was also nice because in the conversation that you and Fern had just before that, this attraction became at least clear to me for the first time. Yeah. That whole energy was up hopping. It was there.

Uh, and is usually also a very bad sign with this sort of person. If you've known anybody like this in your life, that's the moment that they find a gremlin partner is usually the moment everything goes really horribly wrong. And there was also some definite character hubris happening of like, you know, building up. There's the buildup of like, there's this destiny

and there's all this stuff happening and your parents and it's just like, oh, that's, oh, fuck, God. This is who I was supposed to be. Shit, fuck. And then it was, oh fuck, god, this is who I was supposed to be, shit, fuck, and then it was like, oh no, this is who I was supposed to be, which was a complete fuck up just like my parents. So. It was fascinating. Yeah. It was like.

There's some interesting personal parallels there too, but yeah, carry on. No, no, no, fair enough, fair enough. No, it was, it was interesting. From a GM standpoint. He's looking for crumbs. Oh, is that what he's doing? Eating the holly.

Yeah, don't eat the plastic stuff. Yeah, that worked great telling me that. I know. Ten rolls, ten rolls! Don't eat the short. It was fascinating because I because I don't know. For me, I was trying to set a very clear, like, this would be a bad idea.

Yeah. Without considering, as I'm always considering seven different characters, and one of the characters is the kind of character you'd be like, bad idea, bet. This is a bad idea. Yeah. Don't touch it. Anything can happen

And what's great too is The minute it began to turn Towards making The really dangerous choice In my head I went Oh of course why didn't I see this coming Why didn't I prepare for this Let's see what happens now

Cause oh no In my defense, in my, and thank you for that, in my defense, you have a character who is literally broken and has a thing in them, and you're like, this is the other half. Now don't put it in you.

I'm like, oh. Ah, I see. Oh, okay, okay, I'm broken. This will fix everything. Clearly this is a thing that's got, yeah, oh no. A missing Lego piece? Yes. And the odd lesson. Literally. The odd lesson the odd is so much like extrapolation and not though

But but we never heard you have a broken thing inside of you. We heard you have a thing that needs to be activated It's not a broken thing inside. He you are the broken thing literally broken. No, I know that. Everything about this character is damage. But I'm just saying that is, to your point, it is a fascinating little psychological experiment because all of us were like, oh, you've got to activate the other one by putting it inside, like, I don't know, fern. Sure. And then maybe the other one will, like,

wake up when it's done properly. And your self-loathing ass heard something totally different. Yeah. Ashton's self-loathing ass was, this is how I find out just how much was robbed from me. Ah, interesting. So now I'm going to be powerful enough to actually punish the people who ruined my life.

Uh-oh. And then you realize. Well, and then a lot happened. Maybe the call was inside the house. And then yada yada yada, here we are. And then there was like that, in the end there was the, I don't think I was actually robbed.

I think maybe I was saved from a, maybe on a certain level it was better. And maybe I've just been kind of projecting a lot. There was a lot that happened. Yeah. A lot's been learned. It's of projecting a lot, there was a lot that happened. Yeah. A lot's been learned. It's great.

I mean, I was gonna say, you say that, I've been this person before, so I'm definitely like, I've been like, yeah, no, I've been like the, oh, why have I been thinking that? And had everyone around me go, I don't know. Yeah, yeah. No, I'm not confused about any of that. Now I understand.

We know who it's supposed to go to. You know, it would've been fine. The shard is bigger than I am. Roll 10 times. Dead on the first one. Dude. His little heart couldn't take it. The minute that started going down in my head,

I was like, oh boy, okay. I watched. We've been here before. Okay. Taliesin, yeah. Are you, do I have to kill you again on, okay. It was so evident on your face. Yeah, no, you were not hiding it.

The amount of unconscious acting and communication that was happening in between your hairline and your eyeballs. Like, take away the eyes, a little bit of the breath. There was so much. It was like an LA Freeway sign happening. Yeah, you were like, oh boy, there's an accident on the 405. Are you? We're going to.

Okay. I was like, oh fuck, Matt's on a journey. Legit, like, it would have potentially needed half of the Botox in Los Angeles to stop that. Oh, I had forgotten. I forgot about that fucking ring of temporal salvation. Yeah, no, I was like, I was like sitting there going like, I think this might be the thing that gets me through this.

And yeah, so. Well, then like. Damn. Damn. Liam and Sam, bless their sweethearts, like running up and being like, do something. And I remember Travis and I looking at each other like, what? What do you want us to do?

Yeah, what do you want a dead girl with no healing spells? Stop it! Yeah! I'm gonna throw a tire iron at the fucking reactor that's melting down. Come on, you didn't have a tire iron. I'm gonna go. Ah!

His ears are blowing up, I was like, holy fuck. I can throw a healing spell at you. By the sixth roll, all I could think is, man, no one's going to remember how a lot of them fucked up this episode. That's just gone. Every dark bargain, we're like, nope, that's off the table now. I leaned over to you at one point and I was like, did I miss something? Is he trying to, is this it? Is this the end?

And you're like, I don't know. I'm pretty sure we were all on the same page. For once I had a backup character. Good, good. You actually do? Oh yeah. Oh yeah, well that makes sense. Yeah, only once.

You have a kitchen fire, you buy a fire extinguisher. Like, come on. It's valid. I should get a fire extinguisher, I guess. You should probably do that. No regrets, but yes. No, of course, come on. It's valid. Yeah. I should get a fire extinguisher, I guess. You should probably do that. Always do. No regrets, but yes. No, of course, of course.

I say, to that point, now that absolves itself. Yeah. With some consequence. I love it. There are some rippling ramifications in the group dynamic. I know. Which is really fascinating. About fucking time.

Sorry. No, no, it's, it's, it's, I, there's something really fascinating about the build towards the scope of this story and the trust that has been built. And like on the eve of stepping into the unknown, everything just gets a wrench thrown in it. Yeah, sorry.

No, no, it's, it's, I can't help but feel, it's an unexpected, like all the reasons we play this game, one of those unexpected, what the hell is happening now moments, and the narrative has taken such a left turn, and now, in a weird way, we get to relearn how everyone deals with the loss of trust

and the coming group therapy that's obviously going to be required to kind of get us back to a place where everyone feels confident going into the terrifying unknown. And I'm kind of loving it. And who they're going to be on the other end of it, because there's still some shit to talk about. It's not all mine.

I mean, I've got plenty, but there's other stuff. It was kind of like being in a forward staging area in The Lord of the Rings again to Aus Pia. I was like, on the fifth day, look to the east. I'll arrive at first light. And they'll be like, Rohirran! To the... We're not going?

He's blowing up? Oh, wait. All the orcs are down there waiting. We're like, fuck. Cap's standing there. All the portals start opening up and then Gabe, on your left, Jesus!

How many times have y'all said that every person in Bell's Hell is a powder keg waiting to explode? Yeah. And it kind of just took one little spark to kind of set the whole thing aflame. Now there's like two others that are just about to pop, and that's all lined up like dominoes. Yeah. Speak of that same point, a little interesting moment happening there in the depths of Whitestone Castle, having a direct conversation with your patron in the presence of two other

companions. How are you enjoying this chaos? You. It's great. It's great. It's great. I mean, having Fearne and Imogen down there to witness the little ghost moment, it was a little bit of that moment where

I imagine anyone in a horror film where for the first quarter or half, they're like, it's just in your head. We need you to go see a psychiatrist and get you some help. And then a ghost comes out and they're like, holy shit, you were right! It feels a little bit out and they're like holy shit you were right it feels a little bit like that like a little bit of that validation of like oh this has been in your head

the whole time and i'm like yeah not that of course this is not me you know saying that i didn't think anybody believed me obviously no it was not the case. Everyone went into my head to fight Delilah, so they knew it was there. But also, I was dead for that. I was dead for that. I was dead at the time. I just realized

there's a horrible face in the chest of that thing. Don't look at it. Well, I barely looked at it before. What the fuck? Speaking of horror thing. Don't look at it. Well, I barely looked at it before. What the fuck? Speaking of horror films. Y'all agree we stop looking in the rafters. Stop.

Nothing good ever happens. Why is that there? I don't like that. That's not festive. It's the hidden Santa. Look, his arms and legs are bound, too. If you look, he's very quietly swaying. Why is that there?

This is like our own Wizard of Oz documentary. Like, this is that thing that's hanging in the trees in the background. Should we get him down? Would you like us to get him down? That's terrible. Bring him here. No, I don't want him anywhere closer to me at all.

I don't want. That is genuinely awful. It's awful. I kind of love it. What's the matter? It's very, uh. I knew it, don't look at me. It's very Cronenberg,

or something we'd fight in Kingdom Death. It's not far from the atmosphere. If that moves or drops, I'm gonna be so pissed. I'm gonna be so delighted. Or I'll just be out, microphone pack coming with me. I would not. He's the one in the most danger right now.

Yeah, I would not put it past Schmidt. They would not attack that one. Put it on like a drop lever. I'm into it. I'll see the dropping, I will grab, twist, and pull. I won't even it past Schmidt. They would not attack. Put it on like a drop lever. I'm into it. I'll say the dropping. I will grab, twist and pull. I won't even make eye contact. On that same note, I think it'd be important to discuss

navigating inter-party conflict, given the fact that we've had it a handful of times in previous campaigns. This one, definitely an explosive moment of conflict and figuring out what paths towards resolution can be possible. What are some healthy tenets of that experience and that navigation that you would want to both impart to our audience, but also just to discuss in general?

Yeah. What's a tenant? A David tenant. A David tenant. I think it's, I think it is, it's always important to understand, I think with your fellow players and at any table, which isn't always the case,

especially if it's like a new group, I think. Like where is the very clear line that is understood between the character and yourself? Right, because there are some things, I'll just speak for myself, there are things that I like to do when I'm playing that are very button pushy, because I want to see what Matt made, right?

Even if it's bad. There are times, there are things that I want to do as a, like thinking in the character's mind because it's like story related or it seems like a challenge or something like that. And then there are other times where I think it's going to make the story better. And so I know it's a bad idea or that it's fucked up

or that it's wrong or that it is poorly motivated or maybe even like contradictory, but i'm gonna do it anyway yeah because i want to see what happens and that's also a little button pushy but it's kind of like there's a little voice in your head sometimes it goes like that would be the most fucked up thing to say to somebody in this case and i wouldn't do it in real life yeah this isn't real life it's an adventuring story so what you're saying is you're driven by intrusive thoughts at the table so very much so very much so i'm i'm gonna say i think i i think you saved the party last episode oh in my opinion at least for me by being like you should go that

was amazing and that was a terrifying moment i i fucking i it was like, oh, there we go. That's what I needed. I was like, it's just, there's too much, there was just too much weird, softer, like there was, also no one was like really, oh, how to put this, not that I'm going to like get into people's RP because that's not how this works. But like, it wasn't soft either,

but like, there was no, no one was either pushing too hard or reeling in too gently. There was no like slap to the face. It was just like

all this kind of, and like, you know, like things would get said and then things would get, but it was like no one's really, much like a normal argument,

like no one's actually talking or listening to anything. They're just venting for like episodes, these characters' episodes of like pulling shit together. That's why, normal argument like no one's actually talking or listening to anything they're just venting for like episodes these characters episodes of like pulling shit together that's why that's why our table is so fascinating to me and maybe it's obviously so near and dear to my heart but why it's so unique too is we all like listen to what's happening and even though all of us were

like what the fuck just happened there were a few people that started to like take the lead with that. And then Ashley or Fern just left. And I was like, I would follow. I would follow Fern. Plus, you can't let Fern go. I don't know what she's going to do. Somebody's got to keep it. And so I was just out of it.

And then it was like, OK, that conversation went where it was going to go. And if it I felt like if there was nothing else to be said, like nothing else would have been said. But it did feel like there was like 1% left. Something had to happen. Like Ashley and I had already talked a little bit about what was going to happen. Like we were already, she kind of like,

is it weird that I want to do this? I'm like, no, no, no, we're just fucking doing this. Yeah. Just in like general vibes of like, this is where I'm going to push it if that works. I'm like, yes. I think to the topic, too, that's a very good example of when there is party conflict,

ensuring that there is still trust and comfort on where it's going to go. We've been doing this for 10 years, more than 10 years, for instance, since the home game. And there's a lot of trust that we've gained with each other, and even then, it's still important every now and then to check in and be like, hey, do you feel comfortable if I push this button a little harder, if we make this conflict brew a little harsher, and not resolve it immediately? Are you interested in exploring where this can go, good or bad? And being like, yes. Or like, I don't know, my life's kind of tense, and I don't know if I can deal with conflict in the game too strongly because I'm going through stuff right now.

These are the important conversations to have for everyone's kind of mental health and well-being. Because if your game at home with your friends is your escape, and the moments of that game become extremely emotionally distraught, and that overlaps with challenges in your own life, that can be a very difficult thing to go through. So these conversations are very important to have. So I think it's cool that you guys,

still after all this time, can still check in and be like, is this cool if we keep pushing on this? I was like, thank God I had a couple. I was like, oh yeah, but thankfully there's a little time because we had the live. I was like, yeah, just give me a week to just be like, you know, get that out of my system. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

How'd that go again? That's fundamental. Schwarzenegger's total regal. I mean, like... This is a thing that has happened either... Like, this is a thing that happens in home games. Like, the weird thing here is I've never had this, seen this happen on the internet.

Yeah, live. Which is weird. Live in front of thousands of people. Yep. But it is a thing that happens where you accidentally pull the wrong brick, and you're like, oh, God, things fell down that shouldn't have fallen down, and now this is going to take a little bit to fix. And some games fall apart, and some games don't.

And it's, you know, maybe once before I've been the problem. Maybe once. But it is interesting seeing what happens to a game where something happens. And sometimes people do it intentionally. Clearly I did not do this intentionally. No, no. This was, oh boy.

It's a knockout. It's also not like... At all how I expected. It's so funny. It's not the problem either. In the moment, because there have definitely been previous moments in other campaigns where somebody will make a choice

and you don't agree with it or you're like, what the fuck? Afterwards you're like, I'm not ready to talk about this right now, right? Like you take that moment, but to your point, like there's the trust, there's the friendship, you come back, you talk about it and you realize that you're creating it together. And so really the question is like what do you do next like what's the follow-up yes right and that was

what was so beautiful is i mean i remember going like what the fuck is talison thinking and then after it was done and you look at look at where it is like all your personal biases aside it's the juiciest thing ever oh Oh, once you have it. So primed for a million different things to happen. Boy, someone's going to go one episode back of Foresighted Dive and see Ashley and I literally talking about this amongst ourselves about how we're going to do this.

And just having a great time, going like, we're going to totally, this will be amazing, it's going to be great. Giggling like fucking school kids. Oh boy. Yeah, there's a before and after if you want to go back to the good stuff. I'm going to check that now.

I'm going to have to. Liam actually texted me and he was like, I'm going back and I'm watching The Last of Us. Watch it. It's there. Yeah.

Oh yeah, we were like, we were so excited. Yeah, I think it's wild. We were kind of talking about this, you know, after the game. Like, the emotions are real and I think what you just have to do you know if you want to attempt to play a game like this in your in your home game is to just be cognizant and aware that while yes like

the emotions are real which makes it so gratifying you still need that one extra layer of like of um awareness to be able to separate you know the fact that while the emotions are real it is about fiction you know and to try and be kind of looking at it from that objective standpoint um And yeah, I mean, I think we were able to walk away from this one. First initial thought being like, what the fuck? And then second thought was like, well, this is going to be fucking fascinating

to explore next game. Isn't that great, though? I've never played such a dumb fuck before. That's the best part about it, is that people that don't get tabletop roleplaying games are like, I don't get it. It's not real. You're just best part about it, is that people that don't get tabletop role-playing games are like, I don't get it, it's not real, you're just making stuff up, right? And people that do get it are like, but it is real.

Like, you're telling a story and it's tangible to us, and because I'm upset, it means like, I care. I care about it, which is really wild. I mean, it's true. It's fiction. We are sharing memories of things and victories and triumphs and defeats and tragedies that are just words. It didn't actually happen to anyone, but it has. And it's happened to us and hundreds of thousands of millions of other people. That's fucking wild.

That's fucking wild. That's wild. And like, it's, I won't go into details for, you know, reasons, but like this came so on the tail of like me delving into some like personal shit in my past and finally getting into it that seemed really important and finally opening up that box and being like, this is just worthless. And it's been fucking you up forever. What is really like opening and going, this is what I've been having a fucking meltdown about for 30 years?

What the, oh God. Like putting some light on it. Oh. Totally changed. Was all that, it was just like, what the fuck have I wasted my time on? Woof. Could have written a book, I don't know.

Woof. Yeah, and then a week later this happens. I'm like, oh, there we are. That's the shit. Accidental therapy. You really nailed it. It was kind of terrifying, but- Fairly intentional.

I needed a fucking dare. Thank you. Stop talking to my psychiatrist. I needed a dare. I also feel like D&D games can be almost like a tarot card reading or a horoscope in that way, where you will end up finding and pulling out the meaning that you want to find.

Also valid. Whether it's necessarily there or not. It's all about your own reflection. I will also admit, I did build this character a bit about some shit that was going on, and it definitely has resolved in a very... What? That's so unlike you. I know.

That's why they're fun and why I get weird. But thank you, I needed a dare. And that was the dare. That was fun. I'll also say it was Fearne saying that finally broke it. Oh yeah. That was the, nope. I think to put like a, a, you know,

above-the-table, like, button on it, though, since that was kind of where the question came from. Good question. Like, if you do want to play this type of a game at home, obviously, like, open communication with your fellow players is incredibly important to all the things that Matt was talking about. But also it can be a very thin line sometimes between exploring dramatic, bold, fucked up character choices versus making selfish choices that ruin everybody else's fun at the table.

And so I think it is like, you know, and I think we've always had a pretty good balance at that. And even if it like through all of our campaigns, if it starts to skirt that line into like, okay, not fun anymore though, then we all talk about it and get past it. Genuinely, sometimes you don't see them coming at all. Like that's the crazy thing is when you end up in like, end up in the room like, oh, oh, I thought this was the bathroom, oh no.

I'm just gonna pretend I didn't see that. We're gonna walk, oh fuck, yeah. Yeah. Like, that's the weirdest thing is when you walk into that room and you're just like, this didn't even, I didn't even occur to you that this was weird. Yeah.

At all. Especially since you've been talking to someone else who's like, this seems like a great idea. Yeah, and then, oh no. It's all good. Speaking of weird. Yes, please. I've got this forever.

The Mighty Nein reunited. We had our live show at Wembley Arena. What the actual fuck is up with that? It still feels like a fever dream, like a shared hallucination. Yeah. Well, we also, we got back from London and just went right back into work the next day.

Of course. And haven't stopped going. What else do we do? So I genuinely don't think I've actually fully processed it yet. No. Did you ever have those moments? And I mean, you certainly did

because you were facing out, Matt, but we'd be looking down the table, and then every once in a while, I'd look out left, and I was like, don't look over here. Like, there's 10,000 people over there looking at us. You're like, that's not real. Yeah. I'm just going to keep looking at my friends.

Keep the bubble. I had three eye lines. I had table right, table left, and the black void. Yes. Where the lights were so bright in my eyes that all I could see was shadow outside of them. Where it was nothing, and every now and then I'd hear a laugh, but it was this terrifying nightmare

cackle of thousands of people at once, and I'd be like, that's not real. Okay, cool, keep going. Man, I was so nervous when that started. I was so nervous. I eventually got there, but like, it took me about five, 10 minutes to recover from just the noise of the stage entrance.

Yes! Yes, we were shell shocked. That auditory blast totally EMP'd all of my circuits. For sure. Like, you come out there and you're like, I'm gonna do some cool thing, you come out there and you're like, I'm going to do some cool thing and that sound wave hits you

and it's just... Yes. I don't know. My best description for it was like the scene in the Doctor Strange movie when the Ancient One

knocks the soul out of Stephen Strange for a second. Oh, God. That's what it felt like. Right. Okay, get the soul back in the body.

Oh, God. It's taking too long. Okay, I'm back. It's also, like, impossible to describe, too, because, like, you got that video when I got the how do you want to do this at the end, and so it's like this, you know, but it's from this, like, your cell phone,

which noise gates things. Sure. So every time I try and, like, play it to somebody, I'm like, it was, I promise you couldn't hear yourself breathe. Like it was so loud and it's like, people are like, oh, that's crazy. And I'm like, you don't understand.

Yeah. I think that was the thing I was expecting in some small way. And this is because I'm a terrible person, but because it was such a large venue that like there would be a disconnect or maybe we'd lose them somewhere, or the energy. They were fucking with us for every single word. Like for four hours, they were just right there with us. We would laugh, and like you said, there'd be thousands of people laughing with you,

and you're like, ah! Oh shit! And it was amazing. They were one of the best audiences, if not the best. It was just stellar I guess we just have to do it again A deeply core memory When Liam was having his like

Intense Caleb moment and it was just like silent and I remember looking over and I could see like the Stage cam ops like pushing in on him. It was just like 10,000, like there's an incredible force behind 10,000 people screaming, but then there is an equally yet powerful force between 10,000 people that are silent. And you're like, this is wild. Very heavy. Yeah. I almost want to get tattooed,

thank God I'm not first. The minute they turn, I'm like, oh good. I have a minute to breathe, figure this shit out. Oh. Thank God I'm not first. Now, as good. I have a minute to breathe, figure this shit out. We got him off first. Now, as far as the story for the live show, we got the Mighty Nein back together again, which is great. We had a kobold soul break in. Oh my god, Sloss.

And which our wonderful Daniel Sloss, who not just warmed up the crew at the beginning, but got to step in for, I believe might have beaten Chris Perkins for the By like 40 seconds or something. Yeah. The shortest guest run on the show. Yeah, spurt. Dude. What? He tried to hit that record. He tried so hard. He just kept going in. I was like, man. I remember I was talking with him, the character,

and I'm like, all right, cool. So, first off, would you be interested in guesting? He's like, I've never been more nervous about something in my life. Yeah, yeah. It's also level 20, and I already have seven players, so I can't keep you there the whole time, so I'll have to find an exit for you, whether that be you find your way out,

or you just charge into danger. It's up to you, but, you know, well, I can't keep you for the whole thing, so just find what exit feels right. I also set a lot of traps in there that were meant to affect level 20 characters. So a level five character was not going to last long, and I was hoping it would be something dramatic.

I didn't think it would be the disintegrate trap in your face. It was so good. When he turned around, he was like, that's good. You know what I'm talking about? He got big Lebowski'd. Yeah, straight up. He really did.

Well, he got the whole Mighty Nein dice roll gamut, too. He got a one, a 20, and a nine in his short run. So he's done now. He doesn't have to play a game ever again. Yeah, he doesn't have to do anything. He gets all his merit badges in the mail. He's good He's crazy. I mean we know this already, but he is such a sweetheart like he's so down-to-earth. He's so great His warm-up was absolutely hilarious and then afterwards. He was like that was the craziest thing

Like he was genuinely so excited. I just I'm the biggest fan of his. It's always wild because you're like, you have Netflix specials. Yeah, yeah. HBO specials. Several of them. And he's like, this shit was crazy. And I'm like, what are you talking about? He brought one of his teachers.

He brought one of his teachers to see the show. Yeah. Yeah. One of his teachers was a critter. Like, holy, like, yeah. His little entourage was adorable. Yeah. Come on, man. He's a good dude. He's the show. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, when he was teaching us as a critter. His little entourage was adorable. Yeah. Come on, man. He's a good dude.

He's the best. It's been, it was wild. A whole, man, I'm still processing that. And then, in this motherfucker, the 11th hour, Nice. like right before the denouement can kick in, is like, oh, and also proposal. So cute.

Just slap us in the face with it. We really had to be done. Like we really had to finish. And I was like, nah. Laura, Laura, before the show, she was like, are we married? And I was like, what do you mean? She's like, Ford and Jester, are we married? It's been like a couple of years since the Ukatawa one shot.

I was like, huh? No. She was like, oh, we're not. I was like, huh, no? She was like, oh, we're not? I was like, does that disappoint you? And she was like, well, yeah, how many years has it been? Seven years. Jester, you're a fine girl. We're enjoying ourselves.

Yeah! I was like, Yasha and Beau are hitched up, like, you know, we can't just jump into it. And she was like, well, I would think if they were in love, we wouldn't just jump into it. It would probably feel like a natural thing I was like okay Laura will not rest until she's married in all three 100% she's going to have three wedding episodes let's not even

as she deserves and I was fucking with her I was like well maybe we just get married during the London live show and she goes, oh yeah, okay. I was like, okay. And then afterwards, like everything was winding down and Sam said something that kind of teed it up and I was like, yeah, you gotta leave it somewhere. I gotta do it, I gotta do it.

Gotta do it. It was perfect. Plus, you never, it's hard to catch Laura like on her heels. Yeah. Like she looked pretty fucking surprised. Oh no, oh no, yeah, I was sitting, I heard like air came in, it was very. What was it like to propose to your wife again?

It was far more dramatic than the first time. I'm an actually, I'm a very private person, like we did it in private in Santa Barbara, on like a little balcony at sunset, very like intimate. I didn't do a big like flash mob or practical joke or something like that. So, you know, 10,000 people is a bit of a publicity upgrade.

Yes. There you go. It's a big thing. There you go, well done. And I also enjoyed being on the end because I could see all of your stupid faces react at the same time. You would like.

Yeah, you stood up. Matt had this amazing expression. Liam literally went, and Taliesin was in the perfect Caduceus reaction. He was like, what's the, what? And it was just

like this sonar that kept like sweeping for, and it was black. Where did that sound come from? There was a proposal I heard. Man, I think I told Laura and a couple people after the show, but the whole Trent narrative, it came about when thinking of a live show of this size significance tying in things

that were both Mighty Nein related, but still tangential to things that are happening in C3, but without... because we were technically going back in time, it couldn't be anything that affected the current narrative for the main campaign so heavily, and what felt like a good toss-in for this event, and that was where the Trent prison break idea came from, and I seeded it a little bit in campaign three. I mentioned it a couple times, like there was a prison break in Rexxentrum that was alluding to this. But my intent for it was, after the first half of the confrontation in the destroyed house, was he was going to take that ancient seal egg and jettison it into the middle of the village and basically give everyone a Sophie's Choice of, like,

you can come after me and get vengeance, or you can save all these people's lives and then get away. And I was going to let Trent continue to be a progressive antagonist in the world that might, I don't know, link up with Flutinous or find his own challenge spaces. And then fucking Laura Bailey comes in with the anti-magic shell of the field, right? And gets right up against him. And I'm like, fuck, okay. Well, it's only 10 feet, which means on his turn, I can have him back out of it

and go and still do what I was planning to do. And then both Beau and Yasha dart all the way across the whole fucking battlefield, get their two sentinel twins on them right there, and I'm like... Stay down, bitch. Yeah. And I'm sitting here, in my head, which we had to be out by 10.30 at the very latest, we were overtime twice to get where we were.

Because they shut the tube down, it wasn't a venue thing, we don't want people to get stranded. Yeah. And so I'm like, okay. It was 11, we had to be out by 11. We were not. We were not out by 11, we paid some fines, it worked out fine. It was worth it.

But the, in this moment, having to keep the pace going, all eyes are on me while trying to organize this combat, in the back of my head I'm like, what do I do? They fucked him over, fuck! Wait, wait, and I look up the spell real fast, and it says anti-magic field doesn't affect artifacts, and this is indeed an artifact, like, magic weapons of that power,

items of that power, and I was like, okay, okay, I'm gonna pull some Tears of the Kingdom shit, and he's gonna go ahead and take this item and take it into himself and transform into this massive beast that was just meant to be like a terrifying distraction, Omentus, and now he tethered himself to this entity. So whatever Trent's narrative is in the future,

if there ever is a narrative, he's bound to this ancient creature, Omentus. And then it went into a full-on kaiju battle, which was crazy. Yeah. Yeah, not just a T-Rex. As it should be. A T-Rex that gets enlarged.

Our secret word. Oh, T-Rex? T-Rex? T-Rex. A T-Rex that gets enlarged. Oh, T-Rex? Oh! You get to drink from the fire hose! I need my thing. Are we going to get slimed or something? I hope so. You have to pull from the tower. Oh, I do?

Pull from the tower. Get up, motherfucker. By the way, I would kill to do a few more Mighty Knights, even like dropping level a little bit, like down to 17 or something, just to make it a little less crazy. No, I like the crazy. You like the level 20? I do.

I mean, we were pretty efficient. We were, like, we work well together now. Like, that team is solid. Yeah, we also, like like what the audience doesn't know is we we had two three test Battles at level 20 before we did this to make sure that everyone was like what do I have? Nice

Like we had a lot of it. Like, yeah, I had a whole this backstory. I'm like, oh, never mind. Let's just peace out. That's fine. A little bit of time. Yeah, no. I would love to get to it,

and I also love not attacking. Like, just trying not to attack at all. I also had a whole ass, like, level, like, 19 ability that I didn't get to use. Yeah. Called, like, Em empty body or something. What? Where I can go invisible and also I'm just resistant

to like all damage. What? For a minute. Because Monk's broken. But it just takes an action to do and I was so For a minute. Dead set on just trying to do damage and pin him down that I just never did it.

Yeah, an invisibility that doesn't break. It's not a concentration spell. You just become invisible like the spell. I just... Monk's broken, man. You're just getting pummeled by a ghost. I can punch ghosts and I can be ghost who punches. You are a ghost punch.

Yes. Or a punch ghost. Yes. Either way, take your pick. The ghost punch has become the punch ghost. Yeah. Shit. Either way, take your pick The ghost punch has become the punch ghost Yeah Shit I like how Omar has lumberjack pajamas Yeah, yeah

He also has been snoring throughout this entire conversation Like right into my lav That's perfect With all the fur tamped down by the outfit He's definitely kind of given Comfy water bear vibes He is a little tardigrade. Little lumberjack tardigrade.

Sorry, we have a question, don't we? Oh yeah, no, you're good. I was just waiting. He is a little tardigrade. Okay, so from Kooky C. Kooky C. There have been a lot of callbacks and connections this campaign for both the players and the characters. From past PC cameos

to guests choosing to come on as characters with surprising connections to the current PCs. Has there been a specific guest or cameo that stuck out to each player? Ooh, good question. Goodbye. Goodbye! God. Man, I'm biased, so it's hard to talk to you with.

I'm biased, so it's hard to talk to you with. Anyone from Vox Machina is pretty fucking awesome. Percy's been great. Percy's been real great. I've been impressed with Percy. He's annoying every time I talk. Ashton and Percy's dynamic has been interesting to watch. Yeah, I finally got to just prove it. It's like, yeah, these were,

I got a lot of like Ashton is just Molly again. I'm like, no, it's just a similar, or this is a Percy, this is another Percy run. Yeah, but different ends of the spectrum. Different, very different ends of the spectrum on both ends, but it's like, it's a lot of the same issues, a different vibe, but like they're in a, they're in a very similar orbit. And I was like my god i actually get to talk to i will say like similar

round in the last game because we've watched ashton just be a douchebag yeah percy but then that one moment where you came up and you're like why'd you break all these windows windows. That was so good. So good. So good. So good. And then just, and then like the moment of like understanding between the two of you. Oh God. Where he gives you like good advice.

And I was like, this is great. That was, man, that was a full circle moment. It was really intensely full. It was, it was, it was perfect. I couldn't have been, couldn't have been happier. Yeah. Oh, that goodness. Oh.

Man. Yeah. It felt everyone. Very good. Vex is very contained. Like, she's very dignified. Yeah, where is my girl? Where is Vex'ahlia Dorolo?

Baroness of the First Hound of War. She's part of the Tal'Dorei Council. The point mistress of the Tal'Dorei Council. Where is she? She's in Tal'Dorei. She's with the... War. She's part of the Tal'Dorei Council. Point Mistress of the Tal'Dorei Council. Where is she? She's in Tal'Dorei. Look! She's got a budget. They're important people.

She's got a budget. There's things outside of Whitestone that they're also involved in. Yeah, but what about my feelings, Matt Mercer? Your feelings are very valid. Where's Vax, Matt Mercer? Tal'Dorei. We're not in Tal'Dorei.

Sorry, she's in Emon, and we're not in Emon. Frequent teleport miles only go so far. Guys, go to Emon. I want to see Vax. All right. And it's her. Okay, I want to go to Emon, too. It's been a minute.

I want to see the post-Thor deck. I want to see Matt play Clay. Sorry. It's on my list. I know. We haven't run into... Well, no, that's what you said. No, you and Caleb.

Oh, and Caleb. Yeah. We need to run into more Mighty Nein people. Seeing Vilya around was cool. Yeah. In this thing, it's like, in my head, we talked about it a little bit post-campaign, but Keyleth is the voice of the Tempest,

and her mother, while she failed her armamentae, is still a prominent supporter of her daughter and is very much, in my opinion, almost like an Ashari diplomat for the Air Ashari. Sure. And represents her daughter and the interests of her people. Diplomatic immunity. Diplomatic immunity. You're so distracting, Omar.

I know. It's wonderful. Get a job. I would love to see more of the Dorama kids, but thank you for my favorite. He's earning his keep right now. There's also a balance I have to maintain of like, you're going to a place, again,

that has so many characters that you already know. And it can't just be the me show. Oh, no, I'm just being me. Because I'm not being a real person. But we love it. I love it. We get to sit back. I don't.

And read our Werther's Originals. Yeah. Enjoy life. That's my job. It's the best. My job to sit back and watch you guys talk for two hours. Speaking of which, we're going to move on to the next section of topics. What the fuck

is up with that? Matthew interviews his players. Oh boy. Oh, a subsection. A subsection. Oh, what? Yes, I'm going to interview you. I don't have to answer any questions. You do. First question. How are y'all doing? How are you doing?

Oh, good. All right. Yeah, I'm doing good. All right, yeah, I'm doing okay. I'm a little tired, but okay. It's okay. Tired of taking a nap today, failed. I'm wearing comfy pajamas.

Comfy pajamas. Yeah, it's pretty dang comfy. I usually don't wear comfy pajamas at home because I run hot like a werewolf and ooze and sweat. I try and wear pajamas and then I'll wake up a sweaty mess. But these are comfortable. These are super comfy. We make good stuff.

We do. We also have the studio refrigerated for that purpose. Hey! Thanks, y'all. Thanks, everybody. Also, the fire's not real, that helps. All right, next question. What surprised you most so far this campaign?

Ooh. What, what? What surprised you the most so far in this campaign? Where do I start? Oh my god. The lewdness has just kind of been sitting in the background this entire time. That he's as old as the Calamity possibly, and we don't know what that means.

I have so many deep conspiracy theories about lewdness and the Matron and the Prime Deities, and I can't do anything about them. There's a lot. I think the moment of Vax getting turned into a marble. And that whole thing being like, when we realized afterwards that the whole thing

was a trap and a setup, and what happened with Orom and his backstory and the initial attack and then getting Keyleth and Vax and all of that was just part of the big master plan Fuck Fuck we walked right into that shit. Everyone did. Yeah. It's that moment of, like, there's always that moment in D&D that I feel like you're like, oh, okay, we're walking into a trap, right? And everyone knows they're walking into a trap, but the gamble is like,

but how bad is it going to be? And can we still, like, thwart it in some way, shape, or form? That's fair. I thought we were doing pretty well. Matt gave off that vibe that like, oh, you're doing very well in your descent into the key. You were. I was like, oh, great, great.

It could have gone far worse. And then you get there and you're like, oh, this isn't even about us. They're like, literally if we'd showed up, they'd be like, they don't have ID badges. Like that was the level of like, there was so much worse shit happening we were so low-level and insignificant that dude was just carrying out a one-act play and just didn't care like

there was a werewolf that jumped on his back at some point and he just was like yeah yeah when we dropped the airship bottom it was like, what the hell? When we dropped the airship bottom, it was like, this is going to be fucking awesome. Airship comes crashing down. He's like, fuck our airship. Oh, damn it, our airship. Yeah, sorry about that. Pretty good. Archmage, head of the Cerberus Assembly.

Airship's not going to scratch him too much. Yeah, well. It fucked up a lot of the Ruby Vanguard and definitely kind of set them back a bit, which is good. It's also old enough that there may have been that like, eh, fool me twice, pfft, you know. Also valid. You think this is a first time?

First air shit someone's tried to throw at me? Amateurs, read a book. Read a book. Sorry. It was the biggest escalation of 19 misses. Like a campaign one, swinging a 19 at the dragon when they attacked him on

and realized that missed. We were screwed and we had to get the fuck out of there. That was one thing. But he is as powerful as he's going to get. I guess he'll get a little bit more powerful in the coming days. And he stopped everything that we had,

plus an airship, plus some people from the Mighty Nein. It makes going after him a little daunting. A little daunting. It's a little worrisome. I'm horrified. Yeah, so it's like, I don't know, I don't know. Somewhere along the line, there's gonna be,

we'll find something, there will be something to exploit. I haven't seen it yet, but the journey to get there is gonna be fucking delicious. I just wanna go to the, I'm so seen it yet, but the journey to get there is gonna be fucking delicious. I am so, I just wanna go to the, I'm so excited to go to the moon. I'm so excited to go to the moon. It's not a, that's no moon. That's no moon?

Thank you. No moon. What about you, what's your big surprise? I mean, honestly, like, Marisha kinda knocked it, but I will actually say, mine are all Marisha kind of knocked it, but I will actually say, mine are all Marisha. Pulling that Whitestone lore out of nowhere, because I am very precious about,

I am very precious about Whitestone. I get very weird about it, as you know. You have a lot to say. And you finding a little corner where it's just like, how did you find a secret room in my house, and why is it this cool? Shit. It was like very, I was just like, fuck, that's good.

Oh, it's so good. I love it. We've said in the past, like, oh, yeah, there's like weird catacombs. There's all sorts of shit under there. So I'm like, cool. It's a haunted place. Like bad. Yeah.

It's just terrible people. Yeah. Yeah. Well, the idea, too, is like when the Briarwoods were ruling the place, they made their own modifications. Yeah. Made their own adjustments. And then what was once functional by your use had been since discovered by the family and bricked up. Yeah, that was cool.

What was it, like Nice Try or something like that? Very clever. Yeah, go apologize to your mother or something like that. Even in some of the textual stuff, every family that's come in there, and the marriages have not been good, and there's been, you know, the Vomusels and the DeRollos did not get all,

like, all sorts of bad things happen. Yeah. It's a weird place, and something weird happened that only you know, like kind of the epicenter of the whatever hell mouth that castle's built on. Yeah, all of Whitestone is built in a very tumultuous space which is why it's constantly pulled into turmoil and shadow. Just a giant Amityville horror house.

I'm definitely gonna build a vacation. Built on the gateway to hell. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. The Sun Tree is the only real beacon of positivity in that entire valley, which is why that's where the city was built around. This seems like a good idea.

Yeah. Forefathers came here. It's where the Knowing Mentor nearly died. Yeah. Where that very climactic battle between the Knowing Mentor and the Chain of Oblivion took place. Yep, when the Chain of Oblivion was essentially finally defeated and sealed

away, and that's kind of where that big scar of corruption still remains. And then it's just been further put forth with the Briarwoods corruption and all sorts of other things that have happened outside of that. Yeah, Parchwood, why would you live there? Yeah. Why? Vacation home, destination.

Money. Not really. Yeah, the white stone and the residuum, that's why. Yeah, money. Next question. Vacation home, destination, not real. The white stone and the residuum, that's why. Yeah, money. Well, next question. What do you still want to explore in Exandria and why? Shattered teeth. Always more shattered teeth. Fuck, I love the shattered teeth. Yeah, mine are shattered teeth

and the other two thirds of Vasilra. Yeah, we barely touched the stuff. Shattered teeth is the top because there are so many islands, I don't know why they move, why do they go in different directions, what is it, it's so full of stuff,

and we've only just, we got the penny to scratch off the lotto ticket, and then drop the penny. Yeah. The oceans are apparently the thing. Oh, we gotta go. I wanna know what the fuck that's about. The ocean nation, yes, yes. Oh yeah, the, The oceans are apparently... We gotta go. I wanna know what the fuck that's about.

The ocean nation, yes, yes. Oh yeah, well you dropped that at our London panel. So for anyone who did not see that, where Matt was like, oh yeah, all of the underwater nations. And we were all on the panel like, what do you mean underwater nations? On a previous episode of Foresighted Dive, so watch 4SD, y'all.

The one that also kind of burns my stomach perpetually is that on the Aeorian map, we only went to two of like five different things on a map, which kills my soul. All the ones in the question marks and stuff. Yeah, the HUD still has like things that you just didn't go to. Every clay pot, I get. I feel that.

I couldn't sleep until I fleshed out and unlocked all the depths and here's the kingdom. Also, I'm curious, because you are smart enough to know, is the moon a myopic civilization or is there weird shit going on there? Like on the dark side of the crimson like I want to know what the fuck's going up there do they have issues what do they eat I don't know

there's that and then what was the stop it what was the crater in the dwarf or the like the chasm the crater that like has all those weird weird illusions and things up in Eiselcross. Yes. That Dakin was telling you guys about.

Oh yeah. We never... Eiselcross. We didn't dive into that at all. I think about that. That's one I think about all the time because we almost did. And we were like, we don't have time to basically go maybe looking here to maybe find another beacon or they found a beacon there at one point or something. I don't know.

I don't remember. I don't know if it was a beacon. I'll look at my notes again. But they were finding Aeorian. They were artifacts and stuff that were being like. How many different beacons are there in the world, Matt? It's always worth a try. I know. I know.

Like, he'll just accidentally say it and be like, what? Why did I do it? Why did my defenses fall this one time? My defenses never fall, Travis. Circle of statues, the ones that aged just now. Oh, yeah, they're somewhere else in the world now. I know. That's the thing.

Like a Burning Man artist. I have a little bit of the inside knowledge on there, but I don't know. Are they like Carmen Sandiego somewhere? I'm so into that. I think about them all the fucking time. Yeah, Danny's one of the few people in this world that gets all the fun little tidbits of inside knowledge, but only some of it.

Only some of it, you keep a lot from me. Sometimes I just beg though, like I'll just send you texts and go, please, please, please, please, please, please. My hope is to one day when I'm like withered on my death bed, I can like hand you a scroll and you're like, what is this? You can open it up and it's like,

you must go to these 17 coordinates. Each one of these is the answer to one of the things I never told you about Exandria. You would do that. Yep. This asshole geocached everything. Fuck! Oh my god.

Yes. Asshole. He was on coordinates on his bracelets the entire time. Enhance, enhance! Hell yeah. It hands. It hands! Hell yeah. Cameras don't work that way, but sure. Make them work, make them work. Magnify.

Okay, okay, this is an interesting question. If you were in the DM's chair when Otohan cornered you guys, what would you have done? When Otohan cornered us? You mean during the fight when Imogen went nuclear? Yeah. Boy.

Well, we, so I haven't, somebody else go first. Whoa! I try not to ever backseat DM. I do not backseat DM, that's just, that way No! No, I don't want to I often I never think about what I would do but now I'm thinking about it I'm not sure God I so because we acted like such a bunch of slap dicks like we didn't run together

we didn't stay and fight together we like we did the mercury thing finally we're like we should fight and like three rounds had gone by and gave up any advantage we have or anything like that I might have taken a head just to like prove a point maybe killed killed one of us but the only reason I killed two of you for sure yeah three You did, for sure. No, three of you. Three. It was full, like, death spiral shit that went down. But you would have taken a full head? Oh, yeah.

But I also think Imogen being the focus was the difference. Because it wasn't just an enemy that we were, like, you know, not suited up to fight. There was a story there. And we still don't know what that is. Yeah. Yeah, that's true. I'm a big fan of, there are some battles

that are just fun battles to test out your abilities and do some crazy damage, especially after a level up to see what new things you're capable of. Some of it's just a fun little mini game that you can start on there. But then narrative battles, narrative combat elements, I want them to be as much of a puzzle as they are a strategic battle.

You might be able to win this with just sheer damage, but also be creative in the environment. Be creative in what elements the antagonist is resonating with around you. What are they saying? Ask questions about what they're reacting to or what in the environment looks like might be useful. I'm a big fan of finding alternative means of defeating it.

They're like... We did Biff that fight. I'll actually... It happens. I look forward to, in these last couple weeks, they've done this to me, I look forward to Bell's Hells fighting the way the Mighty Nein do. Yeah.

It's just, the Mighty Nein's a well-oiled fucking machine. We are so good at that. We've had our moments with Bell's Hells, but sometimes we just got caught on our... Yeah, we haven't quite, there's like... It took a while for even Mighty Nein to get there, too. Oh, it did,

and I'm looking forward to Bell's Hell having the full-on superhero moment of everybody just right where they need to be and reacting. Maybe it took a social shattering and some time to recover before they can come back. That sounds like bullshit, but okay. Of course it's bullshit. It's fun.

I still want to know, what is the deal with Otohan? What's so special about Imogen? How did she make her go nuclear? Did she go nuclear? Like, we don't know any of that stuff. No. No. Which is so good. No. God.

Well, maybe we'll go to the moon and find out. I wanna go to the moon and find out. Yeah, I very vividly remember us being like, we're running, right? And then half of us kept getting caught. And then there was that moment where Otohan cleared like 120 feet to get to one of us. And we were like, oh, we.

On the other side of an area of effect, something that somebody put down and we were on the other side of it. We're like, this is so bad. It was just heard two or three people. I was like, I have four hit points. I don't know what the fuck to do. I was like, ah, shit.

Yeah. What do we do? It's bad we're running, but it doesn't matter. There is no running. Speaking of no running, now it's time for the Tower of Inquiry. Tower of Inquiry! And we get to pull from the tower,

one by one, each of us can pull a block from the tower and read the number on it, and a very comfy-to-any card will read us the corresponding fan questions. And if the tower falls, there will be consequences for whoever is responsible for its destruction. Really super duper extra odious nasty AF make you want to take a shower kind of consequences.

If you're ready. And so with that in mind, Taliesin, because you blew up, go ahead and pull the block. Go magma arm. Airplay. Magma arm. Magma I go magma our airplane Magma My god hold on oh, that's right cuz we were being mean I keep forgetting One hand dude one hand almost all of y'all were in the last episodes y'all did this Not me, I go from the middle. You do it to yourself, you do. I'm gonna sue. I know.

Two seconds. You have to stay close to the song to get to it. It's true though. Are we mad about this? Nah. Ooh. It shifted. Oh dude, this is intense.

This is a tight one. I figured what the fuck. It shifted. Oh dude, this is intense. Yeah, I'm- She's a tight one. I figured what the fuck. She's a tighty. Oh. Oh boy! It's gonna go! Oh man! It's gonna go!

Think it's gonna go? Get the fuck outta here, you dick! It's gonna fall! Oh no. What the fuck? of here, you dick. It's gonna fall. He's doing it. He's doing it, Peter. I love how Omar didn't even. He's doing it, he's got it, he's got it. He's got it, he's saved him.

Saved him, he saved him. He's turning the whole thing. Shut the fuck up, Omar. He's turning. I can't see, it's gonna be a magic trick. Joe Trulio would be so proud of you. Oh! Look at that. Yeah, boy!

Flick, flick. What's the number? No! The number is ten. Ten. Well done. Dang. Nice.

All right. From Savannah. Savannah! Thank you, thank you. If your character was on Rumblecusp pre-Mighty9, what would they sacrifice to Vokodo? Barbel, Barbel Hells. Hells?

Yes. Pre-Vokodo. Matt, pick Allura. Oh, okay, Allura. Oh man, I don't know. That's a... What would we sacrifice? That's gotta be something precious, right?

Yeah. Jacket. Remind me, Danny, what were the... Jacket. It had to be something that mattered to you, but it also had to be, like, shiny and nice. Yeah, we gave, like... Yeah, it had to be, like, shiny and nice,

because... Because Caduceus tried to sacrifice something that was just sentimental, and he didn't care care because it was garbage. Yeah. Right. Damn. I know what I mean.

But it was like his shield. It wasn't like a nice shield, but it was sentimental to him. Yeah. Jacket's pretty fucking cool. I would have tried the jacket. Laudna doesn't own anything, especially before Bell's Hell. She's specifically just a fucking witch. We're all kind of trash people.

You got a rock hammer in your hair. I would have to give him my rock hammer or my scissors. What if you pulled a Ford and you gave up pate and then you just bamfed him back? I would, yeah, that's actually a good idea. Yeah, I would do that. We are gonna stay here. Don't worry, buddy, You have a greater purpose.

Whoa, they told me that at the Scientology Center. Ooh. I would try and give it chisel, but it's small. Oh, I would give the scythe, the big extended scythe. Oh, okay, okay. That has shatter in it. I would do that. It's shiny and awesome.

Allura would likely give up her second flying carpet. I knew it. Suck it! I knew it. The first one just disappeared somehow. Oops. I'm gonna wear that one. I'm sure it's fine.

I'm sure that it didn't get fucked up by acid at all. Not at all, not at all. Travis, go pull one. The sound of Marisha figuring out that that flu will haunt me for the rest of my life. Man, what a great home game moment. Yeah, that was great. We got a video.

Yeah, we did. Yeah, we do. Man. Travis, he didn't hear. Oh, it's Yeah, we did. Yeah, we do. That's right, we do. Man. Travis, he didn't hear. Oh, it's a fucking blurry carpet. Oh, I said chisels or? No, I mean go pull a block. Oh!

Fuck. I already pulled one. I got the magic word. You can go fuck with him now if you want. You can fuck with him like he did you. All right. Cool, thank you. All right.

Jeez. You got this, you got this. Go fuck up. Really? Really? Fuck up. Oh god, that's terrible. It's already moving. That's terrible. Touched it. What are you going to do about it? Are you really? This is what? Oh, yep. Oh, the other way.

Yeah. No, just pull. Ooh. Oh, wow. Oh! Wow, middle block. real cool, man. Cool. Look, I told you I'm a little bitch about Jacob's.

What's the number? 30. Thank you. That was impressive, hell yeah. And you said it so sweetly. 30. From Atmikray writes, as an artist, what fulfills you the most creatively?

What sorts of stories, plots, or big choices are you passionate about? Oh, wow. Wow, great question. Definitely passionate about big choices in general. Playing it safe, to me, is the least interesting. Yeah, yeah. I'm a size queen.

I know what that means now. I do, I do. I'm learning. Weren't we like at dinner when we had that lesson? Oh god. Like a nice dinner. The nicest dinners teach you about the side queen. I think I said it like too loud.

James Joyce? James Joyce. To James Joyce. To James Joyce. To James Joyce, thank you. To James Joyce. And the merry little cracks. Oh god.

Oh no, what have we done? This inside joke brought to you by... Go look him up. I like asking questions that don't have answers. I'm a big fan of not knowing what the answer's gonna be and figuring it out. Mine's gonna be a little bit more like above the table, behind the camera. Yeah, stories in general. I don't think it necessarily has to be a little bit more like above the table, behind the camera.

Yeah, stories in general. I don't think it necessarily has to be campaign stuff. Even just like what we do on the production side of things. And sometimes shit seems so chaotic and all the producers and everybody will be like, hope this comes together. And then when you get everybody like sitting down and we roll cameras and then you see that final product and you're like, fuck yeah, that's satisfying.

That's why I do this job. That's right. This is dope. I don't know. I was trying to figure out how to explain mine, but I, I love goose bump moments. I thought you were talking about goose bumps. I do love goose bumps. Travis just loves. I enjoy abump moments. I thought you were talking about goosebumps.

I do love goosebump. Travis just loves all the time. I enjoy a good goosebump. It's like the rest of them. I know what you're saying. Yeah. It's that, it's that, you're leaving a little bit. There was something so great about Avengers Endgame,

regardless, there were just so many moments that were so emotionally satisfying, but they had been earned over 10 years of movies, and that's such a rare thing. Not just because the music was perfect or the framing was great. We all had investment in those stories, and I feel like that's stuff that we kind of dabble with because we've just been doing it for so long.

But when you can tee off one of those and you feel the wave of goosebumps and you smile at the same time, that's like hit you somewhere, right? It's like caught you by surprise, so I don't know. Something about those. Something earned. Yeah.

Like stories about horses. Is that a Laura's answer? Yeah, maybe. I like horses. I like horses. I totally, someone's I like horses. I like horses. I like Tauros. Someone's getting national belt. Just being one of many, I love good occult horror, and it's so rarely done well.

Cheers. It's so rarely done well. Things like Hereditary, things like The Ritual, things like Empty Man. I was going to say, what was the one we watched at your house that was all strange, that started in the Arctic? That's Empty Man? Empty Man, yeah. Which is a little unsung horror film. Everyone should go watch Empty Man. It came out during the pandemic.

It's long, but it's great. Usher. I'm really enjoying it. I haven't seen House of Usher yet, but it's amazing. It's really great. It's making me happy. Okay. Yeah. Watching it in short doses. I'm really enjoying. I haven't seen House of Us yet, but it's amazing. It's really great. It's making me happy. Okay, yeah. Go ahead. Watching it in short doses. I'll also say I like stories,

and this was why I got into anime originally. I like stories where, about things I don't know, that are not, like things that are out of my range of knowledge. Yeah, yeah. I like being in new, different places, seeing new, different people, and in anime sense, like different act structures

and different ways of telling stories. Yeah. And different ideas about what an ending is. I love that. I echo that. Actually, I'll expand upon that, too. Things that break the expected format of media writing. I think Save the Cat structure is important to learn,

and I think it's a great means of telling a very standard narrative. I love artists that are finding through film and then other forms of media ways to break the expected hero's journey. I think it's important, but I think it's also very standard. You can't break the rule if you don't know the rule. Yeah, yeah.

It's important to learn, in other words. Wanna hand me Omar, so you can go pull from that tower? Unless Omar wants to pull and have consequences. Omar, do you wanna pull a piece? Omar! Omar! He's got a mirror, hold on. He's a kitty.

Meow! He's like, Travis, no. I wish, don't you just wish. We'll get the puppeteer back. Squirrel. Don't you wish you could see that squirrely? We'll get the puppeteer back. Squirrel. Don't you wish you could. We'll get the puppeteer back in a second. I'm sorry.

I felt him walking very slowly over there. Daddy is making me do it. So right. Come here, buddy. I know. Why you do this, human? Why you do this? We promise we didn't give this dog any Benadryl

for the job. This is just natural. And confirmed. He's in his comfy cozies. Oh, it is. There we go. Hi, baby. There we go.

Hi. Hi. I love this like bodyguard hold is really. Oh, and there, the eyes are closed. We're done. I love this like bodyguard hold is really. Oh and there, the eyes are closed, we're done. I love this talk so much. Man. You got this Marisha. I believe in you.

Oh no. Oh no. Oh yes. What are you doing? The woodpecker approach. Ruining someone's life. From where I was sitting there was no middle bar and I was like oh okay I guess we're just.

Just go on. Just breaking physical here. From where I was sitting, there was no middle bar, and I was like, oh, okay, I guess we're just... Just go on. Just break in physics over here. Go ahead, take both shards, it's cool. Seven. One, two, three, four. Oh, it is wobbly up in here. All right.

Wobbly. So, from Portfan. Portfan. Just walk away. What, if anything, do you have at the table from a previous campaign? Is it a superstitious item or a sentimental one? Oh, that's a good one.

I actually do. I still have my gill dice. My don't fuck me gill dice. Yeah, from way back in the day. I just have my one metal D20 from the Grog live show. Like the first one. The one that did two 20s. How could you get rid of that dice? Yeah. I just have my one metal d20 from the Grog live show. The one that did two 20s! How could you get rid of that dice?

Yeah. I'm sure a lot of people are like, you don't get rid of dice, period, but you do. Yeah. What if you send me into that Yang house? That's valid. I still have my underwater mind dice that I use for very special roles. Yes! I still have my underwater mine dice that I use for very special roles.

Yes. Still have that one. I still have a couple dice from my very first set of dice that I bought when I was in high school. Those like the yellow ones? The green ones. I love that your underwater dice looks kind of like the first nuclear bomb from Oppenheimer.

Oh yeah. It's got like the little electrodes sticking out of it. Intentional, actually. Uh-huh. I don't think I keep anything because I start with fresh dice. I tend to start with fresh dice per character.

Yeah. I even use different dice when I'm doing like one-shot stuff. Pens, notebooks, cups. Oh, there's a pen. Oh, there we go. There is a pen. Thank you for reminding me. It's usually hidden in my, I took it home. Notebooks, cups. Oh, there's a pen. Wow. Oh, there we go, we got it. There is a pen. Thank you for reminding me.

It's usually hidden in my, I took it home for a while, but it's the pen you and Laura got me for Christmas a billion years ago that was made out of the bullet casings. Yeah! Oh yeah! Oh yeah, still keep that fucker around. I'm a slinger. It's great. I love that. Love that pen, that pen was great.

I loved it, I still love it. It works very well. Thank you, Kooky C, Savannah McRae-Wrights, and Portfan. If you have an evergreen question for our Tower of Inquiry, you can enter it at critrole.com slash tower. Whir! Exclamation point, I have to. And now, in block B, it's time to slide in a deep dive.

Dani, can you get a round of some tankards filled with our beautifully thoughtfully worded questions, please? And now, in Block B, it's time to slide into the deep dive. Dany, can you get a round of some tankards filled with our beautifully, thoughtfully worded questions, please? Yeah. I'll have some of the pokey ones. They're harder to carry. They are, sorry.

Yeah, sorry. We do have pokey ones. Tankers. Oh yeah, this is all blue. Gotta catch him. You can set it. I'm just gonna set that here. Set that right here. I'll just going to set that here. Set that right here. I'll pull from here.

There you go. No. Can't disturb him. Hi, sweetie. Look at him. Cup of a cobbler. He's, oh. I wouldn't do anything for him.

I know. I know. All right. So, since I didn't pull, I guess I'll start with a question. Okay. It's only fair. All right. You can pull next time. I will, I will. All right. You can pull me anytime, Mad Merchant.

Matt, you've introduced two other characters who have their eyes on fate, Nanna and Avantrevere. How do the two of them differ from each other and from the Matron? What do all three think of each other? Indeed, I mean, fate has been a theme through all campaigns to a certain degree. First campaign definitely tied to the matron and Vax, like, very heavily. In this, I mean, in a world

of magic, fate is extremely powerful because it's essentially the ability to adjust what's to come in the future, whether it be by adjusting your behavior based on what you think is coming or trying to change fates before you anyway. So many people of certain levels of magical power are going to attempt to either look to whatever fates lie before or try and adjust it themselves. So to that degree, while it's not the specialty of most of the gods in the pantheon, there are a lot of creatures that in some small way like to dabble in fate, because it's like dabbling in the stock market for some, or dabbling in something that is weird and obtuse and doesn't make a lot of sense, but it has a big effect and profound effect on the world in a lot of ways. So some

creatures delve in a little bit, some larger than others. You'll see in this little bit, some larger than others. You see him in his GameStop, just. Yeah, I know, kind of. I'm not wrong. He's in his GameStop. Sorry. To the red moon! Ugh, I hate it.

Yvonne Trevyr, Nanna, and the Matron of Ravens know each other? Yes, I would say so. Not necessarily in a long point in history. Avantrever might have encountered the Matron before she ascended. Oh? But I will say that they differ in the sense that the Matron is essentially the weaver of the threads. Her entire station is the one who oversees

plucks and ties and knots and cuts, and is the keeper of the whole scheme of fate. Avantrevir is an entity that is, I mean, to use the right analogy, is a tree that's grown in the middle of the threads and doesn't really have an influence on them directly, but has a very, very keen view on the entire scheme. And kind of plays, lives in the gateway between the living

and those that come into their ending fate. And kind of... It's woven into the tapestry. Yeah. And Nana is just a fucking voyeur. Nana's just one of the... One of my stories hit, I was like, ah! Yeah. Oh, yeah.

Nana's the one that... Watching good reality TV. Nana's the one that peeks in every now and then and when nobody's looking like tugs on a string or like fucks It up a little bit. That's why she's the fate stitcher She does she doesn't weave the whole thing but every now and then she fucks with it and send to answer the final question Yeah, they don't all see eye to eye For the reasons I just Producer's mom and like if like every once in a while, she just like calls them and is like,

no, I need you to bring that person back, I really liked them. I just got a call from up top, I gotta do something. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's pretty great. Yeah. Oh yeah.

It was. Mm. He is out. As-do-do-do-do-do. Do-do-do-do-do-do. Mm. He is out. Ashton got some advice from Percy about making amends and mistakes. Do you expect to talk, did you expect to talk to Percy? What was it like getting advice from your own character? I did not expect to talk to Percy.

I was, honestly, there was a part of me going, maybe a lecture from Vex's is on the way. Like, that was my immediate thought was, I feel like that would be the person to yell at him. I was very shocked when Percy showed up, and like, well, I guess we're doing this. That was surreal, to say the least. What was it like getting advice from your own character?

It was honestly the advice I would have given on the other end of it too, which was interesting. Yeah, because wait, what was it he said again? I'm trying to remember where he was basically like, you can be damaged, but don't let your damage damage other people, more or less. It was an awful lot of like, it was really about take care of your shit

and then what the apology is is a constant, it's going to be a constant show that you're working on it because that's all you can do. You can't just do one big thing and everything's gonna be okay. It's just gonna be okay it's yeah it's just gonna be showing that you're

doing the work yeah it's almost like Percy has experience with that that was that was definitely and I was like

wow this is a yeah it was a very weird twisted tunnel of reality happening there and I really god I enjoyed

that interaction so much. I'm loving it, man. This is the shit I've been wanting to do the entire time I've been playing RPGs, is to have enough runway with the same players across multiple campaigns in the same world where we can do stuff like this.

Like, so I'm just, I'm living it. I'm living it. In a zone. All right, tankard question. Yep. Chetney knows what it is to lose control and endanger others. I do?

Does he truly believe that he can control himself at all times despite having fought Orym and Fearne and in the past, and bitten Frida recently? How dare. Speaking of. How dare you pull these receipts. Excuse me. This has been Ashton shutting the fuck up.

It's not going one down, we'll see how it goes. Yeah, for sure. You, you, you, Laura, you're fine. Yes, a couple likes. Maybe Fern, you're fine. No, Chetney does not think he can control himself at all times. Yeah, it wasn't about Chetney in that moment. It was two things.

One, it was hearing Fern say that she's got, she was like, I kind of like him, Chet. That was amazing. And then two, I think Chetney sees himself in Ashton and in that like a little bit of button push but also a little bit of like this might be dangerous but I want to see what it's gonna do consequences be damned and Chetney likes that but I think for him he wants to know like are you the head side of the coin are you the tail side of the coin if your head are you

willing to own own it if it goes bad and if you're on the tail side? Are you gonna cut and run if it gets hard? and so it was more about like a Drill sergeants the wrong word But like if I give you shit and if I push on you Is it gonna be like is it truly like just don't where it's like I'm gonna fuck it and just cut and run Because then now now is the time for you to go right but if you can take it and own your shit I think I said it in the game I was like that means something he's

still here in the morning yeah right so no Jenny in no way thinks he can control himself I mean the moon stuff is totally unanswered and yeah happens from time to time yeah a hundred percent so I I find just a wolf the whole time, I guess. Well, I'll just be blessed that way. It's fascinating, though, that Ashton literally does have just don't written on the back of their jacket. Mm-hmm. So it's like, can you grow past

what's written on the back of your jacket? Well, this was, I mean, I'm very excited because this was the core damage. Like if it hadn't been the core damage, I don't know. But this was the seed finally got smashed, so. Yeah. The last few times this happened in their life, it was, see what the fuckers did to me, so.

Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm, good pictures. Yeah. Mm-hmm, you're up. All right, all right, all right. Also for the record, I ran that question by Travis Mm-hmm You're up Alright also for the record I ran that question by Travis he was fine with it. Oh, yeah a hundred percent Lana has seemingly reverted to who she was just after waking up even calling herself Matilda

What can you tell us about her mindset right now are you worried about how this might affect her relationship with Imogen um yeah I mean I was kind of talking Flora about this after the game because she was like what the fuck and in my head when everything was going down and why, Laudna kind of has a hard time just even, like, controlling herself and her emotions, is because, like, as a person, I don't really see Laudna as someone who's really mentally or emotionally equipped to even have, like, a mature way of even knowing how to deal with something like this because she basically went offline she she has i mean ladna has arrested development and she kind of stopped maturing at a certain point in her you know in her youth and then was alone for 30 years. And yes, for the past like two, three years,

she's been with Imogen and she's gotten better and has been kind of like socialized and, and getting there. But that doesn't mean that when it comes to like some of these big monumental, you know, emotional moments that she's going to really fully have the faculties to to deal with it in like a in an emotionally mature way

And especially being this close to Whitestone and having like the influence of Delilah at her peak it's just kind of prime territory for her to just go back to what's comfortable which is kind of going back a little bit to that like childlike state for lack of a better term because that's yeah because we're like we're gonna take safe haven in the place of your greatest trauma. Yeah. Cool. Cool, thanks. Alright, yeah. And I think there was a time of thinking that Laudna had really gotten over it

and dealt with a lot of it after she died and came back and had that moment with the sun tree, but you know, it takes time. One of those little moments isn't going to help. And then when Ashton does something monumentally fucked up, it's going to like, you know.

Cinder reeling. Cinder reeling, yeah. Yeah, that's a... Healing is not linear. Healing is not linear at all. Yeah. I was getting your hand stuck in your own cup. Matt, did Pike lie when she said that she couldn't feel

anyone else but Laudna after her resurrection? Or was Delilah so diminished that Pike truly couldn't feel her? She couldn't sense her. There's a difference between saying, there's two beings that occupy this body that are at the forefront, and then one that has receded so deeply

into the soul of the other that you don't see a difference between the two. Ooh! Does that make sense? Yeah. Oh yeah. It's like, yeah, sure, you can see salt and you can see water, but if you dissolve the salt in the water, it just looks like water. And that's kind of what happened to Delilah

at the end of that encounter. As to how much truth there is to what she said is late is to be seen, but she definitely seems to be conveying the idea that the two of you are Sympatico. Sympatico. Sympatico. Attached and reliant on each other. Yeah.

Yeah, it's fucked up, it's fun. Inside all of us, there are two Briarwoods. Sorry. Goddamn it, Talos. I just tried to shut up, it just couldn't be done. Did you slash Ashton have any inkling that Fern had a crush on Ashton before she revealed those feelings to Chetney? What went through your mind when you heard that,

you're gonna hate this answer. It was clearly not true, and they rounded it down because it was like you'd have to be insane to have a thing for Ashton. Ashton knows that they're unlovable. They don't love themselves. Why would anybody else have to be fucking crazy? Interesting.

No, not at all. See, I was wondering, I think kind of the thing that Travis was, not to speak for you, where I was like, did Ashton know and went, ooh, I can use this to my advantage? No. Ashton, I think we had a, this came up like five episodes in? Someone was like, have you ever been in love? And I was like, probably not.

I don't think so. I don't know what that is. Like, what does that even fucking mean? So, yeah, no. That's not a thing. Yikes. Yeah. That sucks.

Yeah, love is adorable or ignorance. Because, yeah, you can't do, yeah. There was nothing there. Woof, woof. Let me answer for this chipper. He honestly has still not really absorbed that yet. No, fair enough. Yeah, they still haven't really computed it at all. Oh, hey buddy.

Hey. No. But look at that, you love that. Everything loves that. Buddy, hide your modesty. Chetney was very gentle with Fern, trying to make sure that she was okay. What was going through your mind while comforting her,

and what would Chet have done if she hadn't been amenable to his words? I would have bit her ass. One and done. You're up, Marisha. I got the wolf teeth with Chetney old man teeth. I got the harness away, which was the important part. Oh, let me just take...

No, I think he was going to check in. If she was going to run off and do some shit, I think he probably would have gone with her. I was pretty sure Ashley didn't have a plan with the harness, but if she did, I was going to go along with it because I like pushing buttons too. But when she was like, I'm just going to destroy it, I'm like, that's not fun.

Give me that. And if we have to, then we might somebody. These are both good. I'm looking. I'm cheating a little bit. Are you cheating? Don't cheat. You're the person at the buffet that's like, no, no.

No. I like everything. Are you putting that back? Just put it on your plate, it's a buffet. It's a ten second rule, if you haven't been eating it for ten seconds. You're swelling the good name of hometown. Shout out, hometown.

We still love you, Golden Corral. Yes! Golden Corral! How did Laudna feel meeting Gwendolyn de Rolo? What was going through your mind throughout that interaction? Yeah, Gwendolyn was awesome. I think both Laudna and Marisha, to be fair, was like, ooh, spooky girl of Whitestone. Spooky girl of Whitestone is going to love other spooky girl of Whitestone. Oh, no, she, uh-oh.

Oh, she's afraid of me. Oh, fuck. Oh, no. Identity crisis. Identity crisis. Yeah, yeah. And, um. In fairness, Delilah does not like her. Yeah. and um in fairness Delilah does not like her yeah well it's so much of that too was because like

the whole campaign literally episode one first like 10 minutes of this campaign of Bell's Hells was Laudna trying to be nice to children because Laudna loves children but she knows she's a monster um so I thought she like in this moment she was like cool this girl says she kind of like she's a little goth girl she's gonna be into into spooky stuff and then she went like ah i feel hatred in you and i'm afraid of you and didn't want anything to do with ladna which for her was like this massive confirmation of her worst fear. Yeah. Which is like, oh, I am the monster that I look like on the outside and also on the inside because I have this thing attached to me that I can't, you know, disassociate from.

So, yeah. That's my girl. Yeah. Anyway, another downer one. Matt, pick it back up again. I'm sorry that you're playing a dead girl and it's hard for me to ask nice questions for you. It's also not like

it hasn't been some intense shit the past couple of games. Audience, I try to think of really sweet and nice questions for you guys. Sometimes, and sometimes they're dead. The jester dress is really nice. The jester dress is so cute. One more speed round, thunder round.

All right, I'll jump in here. Thunder. Thunder. Thunder. Thunder. Now, what's it like having Nana and Allura meet. They both know of each other. Has Nanna heard about Allura? That was fun. I was like, oh god, this is going to be an interesting meeting. Allura, as part of her life experience and her position with both the Arcana Panesophical and

the Tal'Dorei Council, is to research and know about a lot of folklore and a lot of mysticism and a lot of magic in the world. And her knowledge of Nana is probably the kind of knowledge that she's studied when she was at the Alabaster Lyceum when she was young and has read in other books and has heard spooky tales about, but doesn't think about her because it's not a thing that she's ever going to encounter in life, but it's just good, weird to know. It's like being like, yeah, I've heard about the chupacabra, you know? And then suddenly, like, one's on your doorstep, and you're like, oh, okay!

Your nana is the fate stitcher. That was good. Baba Yaga? Yeah, kind of, yeah. And so, you know, Allura, I mean, Allura also has been entangled with some weirdos like Vox Machina and even just her previous life with Kima before that as adventurers. There's a part of her that's like, oh god, of course, and just accepts it and goes along with it. And then getting to meet her, it's a wonderful odd. Two very different individuals, two entities across Exandria.

I do think Nanna knows of Allura, but I feel like Nanna is less the kind of person that has the knowledge of everything, but when they see a person, she suddenly understands them upon seeing them. It's part of her odd magic and enchantment. It's not like she read about Allura beforehand or had the knowledge, but as soon as Allura walks in, she can read her history a little bit. And it's like, okay. That's cool. Interesting. You have a unique past behind you, intriguing.

And I think that what could be more disturbing than encountering a creature like Morgan the Fate Stitcher for the first time, and she looks at you with recognition. So that was fun to contemplate. Hope you enjoy the next three weeks. Yeah. Why only three? Why three?

What's happening after three? I think that's the first time we've seen Allura kind of shaken, though, so that was cool. Yeah. All shooketh. Ashton told Ladna that he had never had a doll before. How did they feel about having received such a personal gift from Ladna? What does he think about her suggestion to embrace his inner child?

Uh, he, toys were not a thing that made sense in a public house full of kids. That's how you start fights is when somebody has more stuff than the other, so they were very discouraged. There really isn't an inner child in there, so that's a tough thing to embrace. And honestly, clearly, I think their inner child is kind of a problem if they build one. We'll see.

Yeah, it kind of got uh in a kind of intense way yeah uh very intense way i was not expecting um and we'll i don't know it may end up relating to uh no that's a that's a that's a that's a spoiler i'll say i have that pipe that says you're the thing that you did that's most heroic. Y'all better start thinking about what happens if we smoke that pipe. Just that's all I'm gonna say. Put that in your head.

Oh shit, it's me. Yep, just saying. It's been some time since Chetney trained with the Gorgine. What exactly was the boon that you received from that experience? Did anything change for him mechanically? Yes!

There's a thing where I can just ignore, it's kind of like rage, but I can choose to go into a crazy blood frenzy when I'm in my wolf form, but it's dangerous to anything, kind of. Oh, it's like can cause collateral damage. Yeah, I need to kind of be off by myself with a foe. I haven't found the perfect time to give it a run yet.

Yeah, it's a tactical intent to put you in a position where you can really embrace it. So you haven't used it yet? I haven't used it yet. You have to be around a certain hit point level, and then if you miss on an attack, the next thing has advantage, so that you're building on your attacks.

It's got some fun stuff. God, I want to fight werewolves. But it's also like... I mean, go for it. Yeah, it's going to happen. I'm going to bite you before the end of this thing, so I'm Rocky Werewolf. Robot werewolf, rock werewolf.

Rocky Werewolf D&D show. Yeah. Robot werewolf. Rock werewolf. Rocky werewolf D&D show. Yeah. Why does betrayal hurt Laudna so much? Read it. Is it because of how Delilah has linked betrayal to being alone again? Yeah, that's fascinating. Probably true. I haven't thought about it like that Danny

um what um yeah I mean this once again I think kind of goes to a little bit of what I was touching on earlier which is like I kind of still view Laudna as being pretty immature

um and she's a pretty trusting and open person out of the get-go because I don't think she fully understands, like, oh, if you open up to the wrong people, those people can use those things to hurt you later if you're not careful, if you're not guarded in the ways that you should be guarded um so anytime that those things backfire on her she takes it like extremely personally uh because she doesn't know how else to take it. And yeah, it's not like she hasn't really had the reps at bat

with some of these things throughout her life. And yeah, the first really big ultimate betrayal was trusting Delilah and her parents, because she thought she was going to go into this thing that was, you know, she trusted her parents to go with her and that she was going to have this, like,, you know, she trusted her parents to go with her and that she was gonna have this like amazing experience and learn how to be a wizard and she didn't. Hey, it's gonna be really cool

when people get to learn more about that in the Laudna book that's coming out. In the Laudna book. All right. That's right. In the Laudna book coming out. We're so excited. It's true. I love you, bye.

To the next. By the way, it's time for another pull from the Tower of Mystery. Oh boy. Oh, shit. Hey, Travis, while you're there, can you pull a block? Guys! Oh! It's funnier that way. Look at this.

This sucks now. Should I try the shitty one? Look at Sisyphus sucks now. Is that what you said? No. I was... Did you get it? No way. I was out of body experience. Smooth as hell. Should I try the shitty one? Look at Sisyphus sucks now, is that what you said? No.

I was... Did you get it? No way. Smooth as hell. Pretty nice. Smooth as hell. It's a half nice. Oh no.

This is bad. This is real bad. Leslie B. asks, if your character found themselves in a Freaky Friday situation with another character, current or past, PC or NPC, whose life would they most enjoy trying on for a while, and what do you think would ultimately make them want to go back?

Oh, jeez. Freaky Friday. Which bodies with a character or an NPC or basically anybody. Anybody. And why would you want to return eventually? Chetney would want to switch with Plane Rider and feel what it's like to be

a lesser qualified plane rider. That lack of power would be enough to drive him back into his own body. I think for Laudna, it would probably be like Lady Vex'ahlia or a Lady Allura, because that is the person she ultimately dreamed of being. She just wants to wear pretty dresses. She wants to just wear pretty dresses. That's all I'll ever want to.

Oh yeah, pretty much. So yeah, I think like a lady vex. See what it's like to be a lady and go to fancy balls. What would bring her back? What would bring her back? To wanting to go back to that life? Yeah. Uh-oh.

Yeah. Are you gonna possess Lady Vex'ahlia? Your love for Imogen. Oh, that's easy. I mean, the easy answer is Keyleth. Keyleth? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Power, immortality, health, and, yeah, just nothing.

Love it all. Body that doesn't break. Yeah, other power and a complete social life that is healthy and fixed and is completely set and needs no work. From the outside. From the outside, yeah. Yeah, but, like, a whole series of things From the outside. From the outside, yeah. Yeah, but like a whole series of things that they don't have, so yeah.

Is the question to bring it back to your original body? Yeah, why would you at the end of Freaky Friday, the movie, want to come back into Miz? Oh yeah, I mean probably like, I think Lana would get into Vex and be like, oh, I get to wear pretty dresses and go to fancy dinners. And then she'd be like, oh, there's, this is a lot of like bureaucracy and responsibility

and would want to go back to like living a simple life with like Imogen, for sure. Gotcha. Go back to her cottagecore lesbian life. Hell yeah. Nothing would be missed, but they would inevitably eventually fuck up and then they'd have to leave.

Okay, I like that. What would get them back is accidental. It would be someone else's problem. Keyleth has a whole lot of responsibility on her shoulders. I would actually be mad. Yeah, that would not go over well. And also a lot of damage. Yeah. Like you said, from the outside. Yeah, that would not go over well. And also a lot of damage. Yeah.

Like you said, from the outside. Yeah, no. Her true love has been vorbed. Yeah, I don't have a lot of complex feelings towards the marble yet though, so. That's true, that's true. The marble. The bocce ball.

Look out at that perch for that raven and be like, somebody's supposed to be here. I'm learning to play pinball. Sorry, I'll stop. Oh man, if we do ever make a Critical Role pinball machine, it has to be a black one. Oh yeah, it does. That's the special ball you get when you play pinball. Oh my god, that's really funny.

Pick an NPC I can answer this question for. Essek. Essek? Oh, yeah. Obviously, it's a mythic. I mean... For Essek, it would be anybody that could keep him from getting in trouble with the Bright Queen and the rest of the Dynasty. Yeah, for sure.

Can I headcanon at you? I can see Essek wanting to switch with Yussa, because it's another wizard, but it's also somebody who has a little bit more of their shit together. So he could still do a lot of similar things. Yeah, maybe. Though, consider, wizard capabilities are based on knowledge. So in theory, if you're swapping bodies, the knowledge would carry over. So his strengths would carry over regardless of who he went to.

That is a good point. So I think he'd be more interested in somebody that either could have a lower profile to where he could get back to his research and not have to worry about constantly looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life, which is kind of how he lives now. And, or somebody who can't be harmed.

You switch with Grog. Plus you switch into his stupid body, you forget all your stuff, you're set. That's true. It's actually, you keep your minds. Yeah, Essek and Grog's body. Oh my god. From the ultimate vacation home.

The Grog timeshare. Yep. This is true, this is true. Oh my goodness, oh yeah, no, I mean, I don't think they've met, but when they do meet, that would be the choice, definitely, I think. That's where Grog's been this whole time. I got hot boy Grog, amazing.

Phrasing. Yes, phrasing. Do we want to pull another one, or are we to move on to the brain? That's up to you, Amat Mercer. You haven't pulled yet. No, but I got a dog on my waist. I can help you.

But you can transfer him right here. I'll do that. Here comes pup transference. This is only fair. Number two. Pup transference, man, he is out. Liquid dog. Audi 5000.

Liquid dog. There we go. All right, this is only fair. There's that. I'm gonna ruin this. This is bad, ruin it. Discord basket. Don't do it on purpose. Like I'm not doing it on purpose.

Liam did it on purpose once, we'll have to tell everybody. Liam sees a thing, he'll knock it over. Yeah. Like a cat. Like a cat. I'll make eye contact. There we go.

Yeah. Well, I'm not done yet. Okay, now it's time, 41. 41. Damn. I'm a burp. Sorry, I'm so sorry, that was gross. Was you?

Misty underscore Moonstone asks, throughout your characters' adventures as a group, what event has granted them the most insight into what it means to act as slash be on a team? That's a hilarious question for what just happened. Can we go to other teams? I feel like my answer is dumb at this point. You can do it.

I'll hop to Caduceus. Do it, yeah, be Caduceus. We just had the Mighty Man reunion. Well, you guys start it, because I'm gonna meditate on it for a second. What it's like to, so wait, what you've learned from being on a team? The power of friendship?

What event has granted them the most insight to what it means to act as slash be on a team? Oh, what event? What event has granted them the most insight to what it means to act as slash be on a team? Oh. What event? What event? I thought of Caduceus now. What event? Fjord and the Volcano. In the crematorium with the sword. Faberad?

Yeah. Yeah. I actually got out and have done work on the world. Like I was part of something that actually, it was less about the, you know, the hundred yards that I, that I inhabit and take care of and like, I have gone out and, and these people have allowed me to affect in this very intense way, the outside world, and as much as he would talk about fate and talk about how the Wild Mother works, this was a much more solid experience of that.

That's cool. Yeah. What about you? I'm trying to think. I'm trying to think of good, like, defining bells, hells, teamwork moments. Hop to another if you're having... I mean, I'm just, like... The recent moment in the volcano. I know these are two separate volcano moments different volcano getting the shard and we were we were fighting the the Ludinus simulacrum I feel like that one ended up being pretty good in terms of

trying to like trust everybody to do exactly what they needed to do in order to win that one hmm that's a good trust exercise yeah about you I think if it was in this campaign I think it was right after Dorian left and like the the feeling of wishing that he would stay. Like it was the first group that I think Chetney's been a part of. And I think there's something so funny when we create characters that have like, this is who this character is, this is what they've done, this is what their trauma is, this is what they like.

And then the players slash characters at the table see them a different way. Like you see yourself in their eyes and that changes who you built. And it's such a good allegory for life. And I think there was just something that was, I was determined to like mess with Ravi and mess with Dorian. And I just, I loved him so much.

And I think it was great to see a group of people that were like, hey, you're part of this now, little 400 year old man. And he was like, yeah, I am part of this. How could you be surprised after four centuries? It was cool. Oh, I love that. I like that. Thank you, Leslie B. and Misty Moonstone. Remember, if you have a question you want to submit to us, you can enter it at critroll.com slash tower. And with that, we're going to take a break. And for our podcast listeners, thank you so much for joining us. We bid you adieu when we come back from our break.

We'll be playing A Candyland. Candyland. Yeah, that classic general Candyland, but with some fun little CR twists. So stick around. Bye. See you soon. Bye. That's it for the podcast version of this episode of Foresighted Dive. Bye. 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. Bye-bye.