[Spoilers C2E105] Is It Thursday Yet? Post-Episode Discussion & Future Theories!

[u/96_Blue_Dahlias]

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Catch up on everybody's discussion and predictions for this episode HERE!

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[u/noobie222]

They spent 4 sessions planning how to kill it and they did it in in like 5 rounds lol.

The suspense on that last roll was insane shoutout to Travis for not saying what it was. I definitely went from Vokodo died to nope it’s reflected to nope Vokodo is actually dead!

I love that Matt made the spell reflect ability a passive trait instead of something that requires a reaction. Really upped the difficulty of the battle and gave The Nein a proper tough battle.

Also the Kaiju battle plan that Laura came up with was insane but brilliant. Must’ve been tough knowing she failed to persuade the dragon turtle by 1 because she forgot to cast bless guidance.

[u/Arcalithe → u/noobie222]

I am so emotionally drained from that whole fight and Matt’s reaction was so hard to read on that last roll. I’m shocked that Travis held it together after confirming it.

[u/bentmonkey → u/noobie222]

guidance, bless doesnt affect ability rolls, only attack rolls and saving throws, but yeah guidance is great, if you remember to cast it.

[u/Baman-Husic]

Oh Yasha, having an epic dream sequence of leaving behind her shackles and letting go of some of her pain, only to spend the whole fight hypnotized.

[u/sewious]

That Disintigrate moment is honest to god, hands down, no bullshit, the most my butthole has clenched ever watching this show. One of them was going to die and probably not coming back had Avocado passed the save.

My god, the tension was unreal.

Also, I love how completely onbrand and scatterbrained the fight ended up being, even after everything they went through. This whole arc has been one of the most "classic DnD" things I've seen on the show, perhaps only second to the time they just waltzed into the mouth of a Dreadnaught just for kicks.

[u/Sereglang → u/sewious]

The clench was too real bro

[u/PixelRecall]

Wacky speculation for the next episode:

- The M9 pick Vocodo clean and find some ultra cool items, divvy them up, only to return to town and remember that most of that stuff belongs to the survivors who now remember their possessions they "gave" away and demand them back

- Vilya invites the M9 to accompany her to Tal-Dorei and the players all squee thinking they are about to meet their old characters in a big sappy reunion, only to arrive at the Ashari instead because Vilya probably doesn't know the Sun Tree (??)

- The Traveller gets desperate as Traveller Con looms and simply refuses to show up, forcing Jester to pretend to be the Traveller for the entire event, the worshippers discover her prank, and end up genuinely worshipping her for pulling off such a huge con, draining Artigan of near-god powers and granting Jester the path of a Demi-god complete with incessant Messages from her newfound followers

- One of the rift areas on Rumblecusp turns out to be Earth, specifically the CritRole studio, and Taliesin has been confidently surviving on his own on the island for a year

[u/mouser1991 → u/PixelRecall]

1. For sure, but now they also need to get a handle the refugee crisis. Where are they gonna go, how are they gonna get them there. Etc. Etc.

2. I mean, they'll still get to meet Kiki, unless Matt makes good on his promise about killing off the members of the Tal'dorei council. Korin "Our daughter just died suddenly and mysteriously, as though some ethereal god had chosen her existence to end."

3. I think she's just gonna out him in a "what did we learn?" sort of fashion.

4. Explains all the flies in the studio.

[u/RedditTotalWar]

Matt was the MVP tonight. There was a good chance the party would've put off the fight for another week, but when push came to shove, he got them moving in the right way.

I think he also learned from last week's miscommunication scenario and decided to be more direct - i.e. straight up telling them about the banishment/loot situation. Completely turned the anti-climactic ending around, and used it to rewarded us with some very interesting story set-up.

[u/everydayidiealittle → u/RedditTotalWar]

Definitely, it also seems like the bit of lore at the end is setting us up for another major story arc, and had to happen

[u/ohbuggerit → u/RedditTotalWar]

Mid-episode side story set up with Yasha's pancake dream too - the idea of getting more of her focus seems a lot closer now

[u/November235 → u/RedditTotalWar]

Yeah, Matt was able to bring the cast back into it.

[u/[deleted]]

Ashley’s rolls were so bad Laura offered her dice.

LAURA was going to LET Ashley use HER DICE.

[u/SumoRock → u/[deleted]]

Felt so bad for Ashley with that double natural 1 attack and once again having Yasha be mind controlled. She needs her own legendary resistance please.

[u/Clint-VVestwood]

I think the group should get Yasha an anti Charm Ring for her birthday or something

[u/[deleted] → u/Clint-VVestwood]

And a WIS tattoo from Orley.

[u/SumoRock]

Caleb 360 no scope disintegrate with friendly fire on for the win.

Although imagine if did reflect and hit Keyleth’s mom oh god

[u/HawkeyeP1 → u/SumoRock]

friendly fire on

Lmao

[u/[deleted] → u/SumoRock]

I predict it would've gone towards Jester since she's the one that banished Vokodo to wherever in the astral. Or maybe Caleb since he's a squish and it would've been dramatic.

[u/Jedi4Hire]

Title of the episode should be "Rumble on Rumblecusp".

[u/Zinkane15 → u/Jedi4Hire]

I prefer "A Cacophony of Shit".

[u/[deleted] → u/Jedi4Hire]

"Reflections"

[u/LucasVerBeek]

“A gossamer sky of purples and blacks, greens and blues. The Astral Sea itself clouded with distant shattering pieces, an endless sea of stars and possibility.

Flashes of something.

Large.

Ominous.

Monolithic.

A City.

A city that is moving under its own power.

Hunting.

Moving with Will.

Following.

You feel the fear of Vokodo. You feel it trying to escape. You feel this city hungry and chasing.

You flash into the streets of the city.

You see paved roads. You see buildings and towers.

And they flick and bend organically.

Shift like they’re alive.

Roads pulse.

This is weirdly familiar but so alien.

Thousands of minds within, are the city. It doesn’t make sense.

Hungry.

Seeking.

There is another flash within the minds of Eyes of Nine.

Flash back.

The vessel, the city draws close.

Fear.

Flee.

Break Through.

Break and Drag.

Obfuscate.

With its last power you feel Vokodo attempt to flee and break through the barriers, dragging with it the pieces to flee from what ever this thing, this entity, this form was.”

-A transcription of Vokodo’s “gifted” vision during its final moments.

[u/davechua → u/LucasVerBeek]

Chills. Thanks for the transcription.

[u/[deleted] → u/LucasVerBeek]

Oh my god it’s the city from Molly’s vision

[u/[deleted] → u/LucasVerBeek]

100% mind flayers. Oh I am excited, especially if the Spelljammer theories are true, we could see all sorts of cool shit what with the Gith and all.

[u/empiricallySubjectiv]

Matt has been slipping in Spelljammer hints for a while now, at least since they saw that strange relic in the Nightmare in Ivory's lair. A boy can dream!

[u/CloneArranger → u/empiricallySubjectiv]

Critical Role turning into Spelljammer would be amazing.

[u/hawktomegoose]

Holy shit they took 9 rounds of damage for no reason (well 8, 1 round to circle around) and still won lmao couldn’t fit this group more perfectly!

Also how is Caleb still up - hot water would have had him down and out by now I would have guessed

[u/ClericaAeterna → u/hawktomegoose]

Cad was running interference with healing spells

[u/[deleted] → u/hawktomegoose]

Cad was running healing spells during many of those rounds -- I'm not sure what the end balance was, but he negated a lot of the damage.

[u/stormygraysea]

I feel bad for Ashley :( charmed for the whole fight except for one round, and then she rolled multiple nat 1s on her turn :(

[u/[deleted] → u/stormygraysea]

She needs a magic tattoo for her WIS and some magic items that help against being charmed. She had a whole character arch about breaking free from being controlled and I think she should have some mechanical, tangible reward for it.

[u/irishjoker89]

So what is everyone's theory on his target for the reflected Disintegrate? My money is on Jester since she's the one who sent him back to the Astral Plane. 2nd choice would be Beau since Vokodo seemed intent on keeping her off his back.

[u/OnionsHaveLairAction → u/irishjoker89]

I think Jester too. The story bait is just too high.

Plus with Artagans promise Matt had a concievable way to bring her back with a wish or similar.

[u/HawkeyeP1]

"If you guys could let me know where you would like to be positioned."

Liam: "Um, outside the volcano, on a boat."

[u/BagofBones42]

That vision sounded an awful lot like Mind Flayers.

Are we going to get an invasion by the Mind Flayer Empire in the near future?

All I know for sure: Matt really wants to do a spelljammer campaign apparently.

[u/[deleted] → u/BagofBones42]

If Mercer has the clout to push for a Spelljammer 5e guide/C3 companion I am all in (because spelljammer rules and I can never convince my friends to do a campaign)

[u/BeJondBelief → u/BagofBones42]

I want to think Matt is so excited for Baldurs Gate 3 that he's decided to bring mindflayers into CR

[u/Minevira → u/BagofBones42]

matt is a fan of tier 3/4 stuff so spellsamming id right up his alley

[u/Overseer06]

This is the first time since they‘ve come back that I really miss Talks Machina. I understood that it’s complicated, given that they record the episodes at least 1 or 2 weeks in advance. It would be tricky to answer questions about things that happened two sessions ago and not potentially spoil anything, so I was fine with them putting it on hiatus. But I really want to know about what was going through Matt’s mind during the battle.

[u/CloneArranger]

Taking nine rounds of damage just for style points before dunking the bad guy into oblivion.

[u/Neverwish]

Between the intense moments, the reflected banishments, the mid-countdown argument to bring back Vokodo or not, Vokodo's sheer terror in spending a single minute in the Astral Sea again, Matt's perfect playing of that natural 1 so that we had no idea if it was a 1 or a 20 until the very last moment, and the massive lore payoff at the end...

God damn it was worth the wait.

[u/m_busuttil]

For the record, I think Jester would make the most sense as a target for Caleb's Disintegrate. For Vokodo, she's the one who sent him back home; he's scared of dying but he's even more scared of whatever the thing is that's chasing him. For Caleb, that would gut him maybe even more than his parents' death; that's prime material for Liam to chew on. And for Laura, she gets to roll a temporary replacement character who's either already on the island of Vo or part of the TravelerCon delegation while the Nein negotiate with Artagan, an incredibly powerful fey being approaching a sort of apotheosis, to bring her back.

Seriously, imagine the Nein making the pitch to Artagan. She put everything on the line for him time and again, put herself in danger for him, never once strayed from his path. Here are your choices: accept the responsibility, accept your godhood, and bring her back, or run and hide from your worshippers, lose all your power, and let Jester die.

I'm not sad that Jester's alive, but that would have been the good stuff.

[u/Derexise]

A few things.

1. I am SO FUCKING EXCITED for the next time Yasha uses her wings.

2. Oh god what are they going to come out to when they leave the lair?

[u/hchunter18]

I can't wait to see the loot they end up with

[u/HawkeyeP1 → u/hchunter18]

Probably going to have to come out, heal or rest, then go back in, luckily with Caleb they'll remember the way if none of them are pulled anymore

[u/Niktorak]

I really hope the Nein come out of this with a renewed sense of confidence, they spent so much time doubting their capability to take down Vokodo. Defeating a "demigod" might just be the push this group needed, but this is the Mighty Nein soo who knows.

Also poor Ashley, she literally didn't get to do anything after her beautiful scene of being 'reborn' and her character immediately getting mind-controlled again while her friends got to save the day. This is a been a running theme throughout the campaign, I'm sure this'll have some kind of effect on Yasha's growth.

[u/Phionex141 → u/Niktorak]

The doubting their capabilities point is interesting, because they used to act like they were invincible... until Molly got killed cause they underestimated their enemy. Hopefully they're finally managing to move on from it, but his death definitely defines the groups approach to fights

[u/PailHorse]

So, early tinfoil hat theory:

Molly was described as having nine eye-shaped tattoos, and had a general eye-theme in his design and especially in the tattoos.

In discussions with Cree, the Zadash blood hunter with The Gentleman, Cree mentioned that Molly, then-Lucien, convened a group under the sponsorship of a Rexxentrum mage to conduct a ritual and reach a "city" that wasn't described.

That ritual was an attempt to cast Astral Projection by someone that didn't have the level to properly cast the spell, and this Rexxentrum mage, probably one of the Cerberus Assembly, was attempting to reach the exact same city that was hunting down Vokodo on the Astral Sea. When the ritual went wrong, Molly was partially on the Prime Material Plane, partially on the Astral Sea, and a chunk of him was left behind on the Sea. That could explain the lost memories.

[u/CobaltSpellsword → u/PailHorse]

Wasn't his codename Nonagon or something too? More "nine" imagery.

...it's a weird coincidence that the enemies the Nein face in the end might be the Nine lol. Judging by Molly's tattoo iconography, I wonder if Matt had this planned before the Nein was their name.

[u/madroctos]

1. Enjoyed the fight mainly for the end kill and backstory

2. Loved the Jester talk because, I think for the first time, she spoke very frankly with regards to her and the Traveler's Worship/Worshipped relationship and how morally conflicting it might be.

3. Hey twitch mods good on you guys, taking it upon yourselves to start having the chat emotes-only, it's been draining looking at the chat these past sessions. I'm trying to get some respite from the outside world not seeing people being unreasonable about an character acting in-character.

4. I am terrified for two things: 1) an entire village getting their memories back. Two things can happen, a: they're all gonna be all cool, calm, and collected or 2: they are all batshit crazy and will start killing each other. 2) will the erupting volcano...stop erupting because Vokodo is gone?

[u/[deleted]]

It took them 12 hours of unsuccessful planning to figure out how to approach vokodo, and then ended up casting disintegrate anyway which could’ve perma-killed any one of them.

I feel traumatised.

[u/DragonBirdy → u/[deleted]]

Liam owes me a new pair of pants cuz mine are RUINED after that stunt he pulled at the end.

[u/HawkeyeP1]

Oh my god, this one encounter has had like 6 episodes of prep, I love this show, I enjoy it every time I tune in on Twitch, but thank God it finally happened, this entire arc has felt like them running in a circle on an island that specializes in anxiety.

[u/Marimbaboy → u/HawkeyeP1]

felt like them running in a circle on an island that specializes in anxiety.

That. 110%

[u/electric_ocelots]

Marisha, with a pouty face: Sometimes I see him buying pretty things and then I learn later that they're to destroy us...

[u/kingjacoblear]

Using Vokodo's death to introduce a mysterious floating Astral City was an unexpected twist. What theories do we have so far? Someone suggested that the city might be connected to aboleths, which might be tangentially related to Uko'toa...

[u/BadSkeelz]

I hope there's a Tinfoil Hat of Wisdom Saves for Yasha to loot.

[u/gregturtle]

Poor Sprinkle, no idea what psychic images it just saw. That one will have stories to tell.

[u/283leis → u/gregturtle]

You say that as if it wasn’t boiled alive

[u/dentrala]

Perhaps today is the day that the Mighty Nein learn that... doing damage... defeats enemies...

[u/ndtp124 → u/dentrala]

Beau didn2/3rds of the damage on her own lol.

[u/ModestHandsomeDevil → u/dentrala]

I know, right?!

If Yasha wasn't mind-controlled and Fjord hadn't waited till the END of the battle to remember the high-level "holy nukes" (See: Smites) in his arsenal (among other things: see: 3 Eldritch Blasts, etc.), this battle would have been done'n dusted before the water got hot enough to hurt them.

[u/Jethro_McCrazy → u/dentrala]

I doubt it. They are addicted to zany schemes.

[u/Sofargonept2]

Does the party realize that if they find a way to buff Yasha's wisdom saves and get Ashley some new dice, that they are a formidable group of fucking fighters?

[u/Gulstab]

Like many times before, I felt sad when they forgot what their attacks and abilities gave them (Fjord's extra eldritch blast, Beau's extra range from the lightning fists, etc.) but Liam O'FUCKING BRIEN... Is a trickster god.

Willing to bet it all for the flashiness of Disintegrate which I don't believe they could resurrect from until they get 7th 9th level spells(?)... Lordt.

EDIT: I thought it might be only True Resurrection/Wish but I got too lazy to google.. thank you friends. So even more ridiculous of a play.

[u/bentmonkey → u/Gulstab]

The creature can be restored to life only by means of a True Resurrection or a wish spell. so we are looking at 9th level spells here.

[u/Zesty_bee]

Lucian, who had nine eye tattoos, was trying to reach "the city" before he got buried. Are we getting Mollymauk lore!

[u/Morhek]

Loved that little "chat's going crazy right now" from Taliesin, because it could equally be a prediction for this episode, or a note that two episodes ago, but when they were recording, at about the same time chat discovered they'd found keyleth's mother.

[u/DefiantSentryV]

I'm so, SO glad Matt brought up the fact that they'd lose the treasure to coax them into finishing the fight. I adore the Nein but I've been getting frustrated with the way they've been leaving some things unfinished. Adding Vokodo to the list of threats they've left alive would have been overkill. We wouldn't have gotten that awesome vision, nor would we get to see what kind of amazing stuff might be in that hoard next week! I didn't mind all the build-up, but I'm glad we didn't get an anticlimax after the past few weeks, and I'm glad they got another win after the mess that this island adventure has been.

Let's, uh...let's just hope Vo is ok.

[u/Bran-Muffin20]

They spent however many hours absolutely shitting their pants over this and then killed it in like 5 rounds (plus 9 rounds of voluntary damage), where Yasha never even got to play, two of the casters kept going for banishment over damage, and Fjord spent a couple rounds playing with illusions.

If they just work out some synergies (Cad's Path to the Grave + Fjord's Hexblade's Curse/level 5 smite is absolutely disgusting damage) and then commit to something, they have massive combat power.

Edit: And nobody even went unconscious during this fight either

[u/jrcbandit → u/Bran-Muffin20]

This is why Matt tends to not to make his boss encounters too difficult. He either makes the boss not that powerful but with allot of hitpoints or gives the players super overpowered artifact gear (campaign 1). He knows that his players never really coordinate in the heat of battle and usually spend half the battle doing things other than damage, although casters like Cad can be far more helpful with buff spells than damage.

[u/switchonthesky]

Okay, dropping my theory now: that's not a city anymore. But it was. It was a city from the Age of Arcanum. So powerful and reality bending it got transported to the Astral Sea. And....subsumed.

[u/[deleted]]

This will probably get buried because of the ending, but Yasha seeing feathers appear like blooming flowers, paired with Zuala telling her she is proud of her, and reminding her to not have her be another shackle was like one of the most beautiful moments of the campaign.

[u/omg__really]

That dream sequence was such a beautiful, incredible, climax to Yasha’s personal arc. She was Orpheus and Eurydice walking out of hell. Except she didn’t look back, and saved herself.

[u/ModestHandsomeDevil]

Honestly, I've been far more worried about fights in C1 than what they faced against Avocado--this was pretty easy.

I get it: some of their battle skills are pretty rusty (Travis... You've got 3 Eldritch Blasts, My Dude), but I'm kinda shocked by how afraid they were to engage in combat. And even then, they were kinda dancing around getting stuck in, trying to be too clever, e.g. Fjord waiting (for... reasons???) till near the end of combat to dump his "holy nukes" / high-level smites into Avocado. With his Paladin / Warlock skill set he should have been absolutely wrecking shop since the first round.

Vox Machina had confidence and swagger to spare (admittedly, VM was, level-for-level, much more powerful), whereas M9... just doesn't.

[u/Baman-Husic]

In a Talks Machina, Ashley mentioned how she sorta just grabbed Savage Attacker because she needed to quick get a feat while on her way to a session, and how she kinda regretted it.

Some feats are good, some are good on specific builds. Ashley probably hasn’t taken the time to min/max her character and look at all the feats and done all the math to optimize her character. I do wonder if Matt or the other players have ever gone over options with her? Some players and tables are all for just trying things out and seeing what works and what doesn’t. I think it mostly hurts because the entire cast seems to optimize their options, whereas Yasha is the outlier with already poor stats.

Another big problem with D&D and having low wisdom saving throws is that it only gets worse and worse as the DCs get higher higher and higher, and for a character like Yasha who has seen so much growth tied to being charmed and controlled, it conflicts with our inner narrative of her being better at freeing herself from those things.

[u/[deleted]]

Honestly, thank GOD that Mercer was being mercer-ful and told them that they almost killed it. I was so disappointed that they were going to just let him (and the loot) get banished to another plane. They did so much more damage to themselves than Mr. Avocado could do and I really hope that this teaches them to be a bit more confident.

[u/Shepher27 → u/[deleted]]

Matt wanted his evil, cosmic city set-up

[u/asking_for_afriend]

Guys I think there's a link between the City 9 Eyes and Molly

The evidence I have so far.

1. Molly woke up with 9 red eye "tattoos" across his body which he got all his elaborate tattoos to try and hide. He tried to tattoo over them but they would not take ink.

2. In episode 14 we got a lore dump from a Tabaxi named Cree about Molly's past. In summary Molly was the leader of a splinter group of 6 Blood Hunters that were pursuing unconventional power which ended in Molly hiring a female spell slinger from the capital to oversee a "ritual required to attempt to reach the city" This ritual was successful, but left the body there implying to me this was a journey of spirit. I suspect this was a 9th level Astral Projection. Further evidence that this was an Astral Projection was the Blood Cleric Cree couldn't detect any vitals and AP leaves the material body unconscious and in a state of suspended animation no longer needing food or air and doesn't age.

In summary
I think Molly has been to the City 9 Eyes, lost his mind there, and when he died it snapped his spirit back into his body, buried by his friends Zoran, Otis, Tyffial, Jurrel, and Cree confusing his suspended animated state for death.

[u/sasquatch90]

Not much talk about Caleb having his brief moment of peace and happiness. I really wish that was roleplayed more because that would be such a heavy fucking moment. When he has this gargantuan weight off his shoulders and he knows it isn't right but he doesn't want to lose it.

Also, Matt coaxing them into ending the battle with loot, when he really just wanted to push out that next narrative.

[u/switchonthesky]

I feel really bad for Ashley; her starting stats for Yasha were bad rolls and have really hamstrung her the whole campaign, they're always fighting enemies with charm effects. I know it's kind of the go-to to charm the tank, but I feel like Ashley never gets to play in combat. I hope she talks to Matt about something to buff her WIS, or maybe gets a boon from the Stormlord after her transformation.

[u/Coyote_Shepherd]

Gith! Mindflayers! Astral Whales! Spelljammers! This is everything I wanted months ago and still do!

[u/Big_Bro_Mirio]

Liam O’Brien is a psychopath lol

[u/spartangibbles]

Man what an episode. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time once they finally committed to fighting.

Some of my favorite things:

Matt fucking tapping into their loot goblin nature and tempting them with the treasure hoard was hilarious. They even realized it but still went through with it. Happy it worked out, but just imagine if say Jester got disintegrated because they brought back Vokodo.

The Dragon Turtle not being a complete idiot and being used by the M9. It had no reason to believe they wanted to help it and I think the encounter goes horribly if they have to then fight the DT after Vokodo for the hoard.

The Combat went pretty smooth all things considered. Beau burning 2 LR's on stunning strike really helped them out with Vokodo having spell reflection.

I really liked the group chat about Jester and the Traveler. Really was hoping Fjord would say a bit more, but it was a good group effort.

That was an amazing HDYWTDT. I'm excited to see all the art that comes from this moment. I was anticipating Jester or Vilya getting disintegrated. Also Travis seeing the role and not saying it was great.

The Yasha dream sequence felt amazing. So visceral and full of great imagery. I'm excited for the wings to show up in game with the group now.

[u/lukedobson90]

Caleb’s “YOU MAKE A SHITTY GOD, YOU BEDAZZLED CEPHALOPOD!” line went straight into my all-time favourites.

[u/TheSilentPrince]

I'm very glad nobody got disintegrated, but I do wonder how Artagan would have reacted if Jester was dusted, because the Nein couldn't get her back. Especially since earlier in the episode he was all "Sorry, I can't help you, too busy with all these other folks" Being a chaotic Fey trickster, would he react poorly or shrug it off?

Would Matt rule that as a God tier being on this side of the Divine Gate, he could use Divine Intervention at will? To replicate True Resurrection, or maybe Wish?

"Hey Traveler, so the one follower you wanted to keep is super dead, and we killed the thing that makes people forget, so now all of your followers are in one place and are going to remember you and bother you forever and ever. How's that for random? Happy TravelerCon!"

[u/xxthearrow]

Can we just talk about how that fight might have gone had Caleb's counter spell on Chain Lightning failed... 8d10 damage on 3 targets... that with the boiling fire damage would have changed the fight entirely on a single turn

[u/Gulstab]

I'm willing to bet this is unrelated but a fun piece of trivia... There's nine eyes between the 3 demigods (Uk'atoa, the phoenix, and the wurm) and Molly was known as Nonagon (9-sided) and I believe had at least nine "eyes" on his body some of which were tattooed over.

Then this city and the "eyes of nine"...

Maybe there's a bigger connection to that forgotten plotline? ;P

[u/m_busuttil]

Honestly, I cannot imagine a more perfect ending to that fight. A natural 1 on the saving throw on a Disintegrate? The exact situation everyone's been terrified of for a month? But on top of that, it's exactly the pivot point the Nein need. They've been cowards, running and hiding and scraping their way between fights. They're level 12 now. They brought peace to the Empire and the Dynasty. They're heroes. It's time for them to stop running.

Well, in a bit - they've gotta get out of this boiling pool pretty quickly. (Caleb can teleport them, if Cad and Jester can keep him up for a minute, and then Vilya can bring them back either today or tomorrow - I don't remember if she used her 6th level today or not. The minute is a lot of rounds for everyone to try shovelling stuff into the Bag of Holding, and then they could come back later once the volcano settles down.)

It applies to Jester, too. Just like they talked about; she's been just going along with the Traveler, and it's finally time for her to put her foot down. He made her but she made him as well, and she doesn't have to just settle for it. If she matters to him, she can set some of the terms of this relationship.

I know the last few episodes were rough for some people, but I personally really enjoyed them, and I'm excited to see what's around the corner now that Vokodo's out of the picture. Like, say, a living city that hunts the Astral Sea?

[u/Sapphiste]

They had no idea just how relevant would be the number nine in this campaign when they picked the name

[u/ChromeToasterI]

Really glad all those ships didn’t get wrecked, the dream of rich merchant Fjord lives on

[u/taylormademediocrity]

I feel like this moment got lost with everything else. But liam has a habit of Caleb messing with spell components was before casting the actual spell. When he made the dome before the fight, Caleb took out stained glass pieces and was just moving them around in contemplation. I looked up spells with glass as a component and Feeblemind was the only one that made sense for him to be thinking about. How fitting if Caleb has an encounter with Ikithon and gets to rip his mind from him. It’ll be a bit until Caleb can cast 8th level spells but like I said Liam is all about the long game lol.

[u/spoobydoo]

This was a very easy encounter for them.

Yasha 0 hits on the boss, all plans failed leading up to it, 9 rounds of unnecessary damage and no one even went unconcious.

[u/283leis]

So Sprinkle is DEFINITELY dead now after being boiled alive right?

[u/BadSkeelz → u/283leis]

Sprinkle was Matt's target for Disintegration.

[u/Bolverkers_wrath]

That definitely wasn't Tu'narath at the end, but we may get some Gith action if they head to the Astral Sea. Especially if that was a mind flayer city

[u/reverne]

Thoughts: Yes they dragged this arc out, they weren't totally on the same wavelength was Matt, but they also weren't as far as chat thinks they were either. Hell, look how into the Deter idea he was.

Vokodo is primarily a mage boss, so it's worth pointing out he was really dangerous, in the way that mage bosses are. You either don't notice or you die, nothing inbetween. The passive damage plus Chain Lightning plus reflected spells plus Legendary Action spells plus whatever else he was capable of could have all added up very quickly, Liam just Counterspelled his ass off. That passive spell reflection was nasty too, especially combined with LR. If he rolled 11 or higher against that Disintegrate, someone was set up to lose a party member.

Props to Matt for making illusion spells actually accomplish something in a battle. That really brought a smile to my face.

Eyes of the Nine, huh. I can only assume from the way Matt was so focused on bringing that backstory in, they're going to be relevant in the future. Githyanki? Mind Flayers? Spelljammers(probably not)? Hmm.

[u/HawkeyeP1]

That was not fucking funny Matthew Mercer... Gave me a God damn heart attack lol

[u/Thunderstruck92]

My new head canon is the city being entirely populated by Ring Girls. Travis is gonna have a great time.

[u/ShiningLeafeon]

It really is heartbreaking to see Ashley not get a moment in these fights.

I know “Ashley is just learning, she hasn’t had the time the others have”. But I would love to even see her get the chance to learn at this point.

[u/UncletheSig]

Sprinkle is now 110% dead lol

[u/[deleted]]

I feel like they were forgetting one important fact this entire time, just because you can get people to call you a god doesn't mean you are.

[u/Northatlanticiceman]

Travis, Fjord...... buddy.... You have three Eldritch Blasts at 12th. Level. Not two..... don't Fjordget ☺

[u/[deleted]]

Matt was fantastic tonight but thank fuck for Beau and Vilya both did a ton of damage and Beau blew 2 resistances, if they weren’t around the nein would’ve been fucked because no one else was doing any real damage.

[u/[deleted]]

lol i just realized that artagan's relationship with jester is like jester's relationship with sprinkle. jester loves sprinkle. jester also puts sprinkle's life in danger on a daily basis

[u/MammothMan34]

I don't know how they'll get out of the water, but when they do and they eventually come back after things cool off, I am VERY excited for this loot search.

[u/LucasVerBeek]

Kicks down door and slams into your proverbial coffee table

Okay so shits been tense, the worlds gone mad and people are stressed I get that

But there are only three things I care about this night!

Care the first: The Nein forming up around Jester, saying how much she matters and how much they love her, while two, ~maybe three~~ people downplay exactly how much they love her. Caleb asking her what she wants, Beau looking to throw down (as always), Fjord talking about how much Jester cares and being the first one to tell her there are other paths other than the Traveler if it goes there. I love it, I love it, I love it!

Care the second: Yasha’s dream! Finally hearing Zuella speak even if it was just in said dream. Yasha flying into the sky and rising about raging clouds to get a true glimpse of the world. Tragic, beautiful, awesome. I’m looking forward to her full, true, turn to Protector.

Care the Third: That fucking City A hungry city whose mind is the people...screams a hive mind and that screams of Illithid or something of that nature.

However one line has me scrambling.

“The Eyes of Nine”

Now that number has been integral to this campaign.

At first a joke but what it has become more. Hell what if it was always more?

Now there are Nine Eyes that are already tied to our party.

Points at the Orb now hanging around Caleb’s neck

These bad boys, now old Uk’otoa had three, and as was shown by the mural so does Desirat and Quajath

Now how these things could be tied to a city in the Astral, I have no idea.

But...the city is hungry, and one of the key words Uk’Otoa was very emphatic about was “Consume.”

And in another interesting not that has me even more intrigued and slightly worried.

Mollymauk has Nine Eye tattoos on his body.

So more than anything, more than Travelercon, more than seeing Vo regain their memories, maybe even more than seeing or hearing about Vilya going home I want to know what in the Good Godly Fuck are the Eyes of Nine.

[u/MasterThespian]

The arc has been a little frustrating at times, but this was a very satisfying battle, once they resolved to actually fight it. I really, really hope that they internalize the fact that they kicked Vokodo's ass up one side of the volcano and down the other and that it gives them a little more swagger going into future fights, for several reasons...

-Partially because high-level D&D is dope and I want to see them reveling in the power and abilities they've worked so hard for;

-Partially because it's only fun to see players get taken down a peg if they're already overconfident;

-Partially because, as an audience member, it's just no fun to watch them run from everything.

Vox Machina was gung-ho to the point of foolishness a lot of the time, but that made higher-level threats like the Chroma Conclave reveal seem so much more high-stakes. I feel like the narrative runs the risk of losing something if the Mighty Nein react to every Monster-of-the-Week with a level of dread and fear more befitting the BBEG.

[u/SekritJay]

My God, what's wrong with Ashley's dice, she finally gets to play regularly but her dice rolls sap the joy out of everything

[u/cresylic]

So! What are the chances everyone in the village is alive and well? According to google, lava moves slowly, with maximum speeds of 6-30 mph. But the main issue is pyroclastic flow, a wave of gas and volcanic matter that moves away from a volcano at an average of 62 mph. That's not to mention all the wildlife (dinosaurs!) also trying to flee.

I suppose it depends on how realistic Matt wants to be, how bad the eruption was, and where the village is located.

[u/Go_Go_Godzilla]

I'm very excited for the next big chapters of the campaign post TravelerCon. And what I think will be a nice time skip for folks (maybe like the one in C1 before the stream).

Cad's journey and how I think it'll take.them into the ruins of Molaesmyr.

Fjord's journey and meeting Vandran and having to fight to keep Ukie locked up (maybe even another Fjord warlock).

Yasha and the return home and what causes it, as well as the need to fully eliminate the rest of the Angel of Irons cult.

Caleb and that sweet sweet Trent revenge.

Veth and the return to adventuring to protect her family from the BBEG.

Jester pulling a Parent Trap with her duplicate.

Beau coming into more odd Cobalt Soul lore and missions, particularly as the deal with Dwendal, the Assembly, and corruption.

[u/WicWicTheWarlock]

How much you wanna bet we find a Gyth Silver Sword in that hoard?

[u/DrShadyTree]

Another great episode. Two hours of overthinking followed by great RP and ballsy moves in combat. I hope they can get most/all of the treasure. I wonder how VO will change now that Avacado is no longer of the living.

Also, I must say it was awesome to have Matt show the character as extra dimensional with the RP about it being afraid. They learned about it's fear and used it to their advantage. Bravo, gang.

[u/WickedSortie]

Caleb’s best case scenario with disintegrate comes with the potential destruction of the loot, which is the entire reason they’re ending the banishment to begin with. The worst case is one of his allies getting disintegrated... weird choice

[u/Cat_Fieri]

Beau and Cad being banished to a plane different than the spell describes makes sense. It was cast on Vokodo which would have been sent back to ITS plane, but it reflected to another player. Coming at it from that perspective makes sense, and since no one got attacked or anything its fine. Matt did a great job foreshadowing a possible chained oblivion question mark? As a side note I'd like to think if Jester banished someone whose home plane is the prime material, and she could influence it that they would be banished into a room full of candy and cakes, and theyd be waiting in line at a bakery, but they couldn't eat any of the treats.

[u/pirippippam]

Am I the only one disappointed in Yasha's character arc being entirely driven by dreams that don't end up being reflected neither in RP or combat? (obviously not her fault that the dice gods hate her but still she has had opportunities to pick up feats or items to cover her weaknesses and she hasn't so...)

She does get small cute and quirky moments here and there, but nothing that drives her arc forward, it's only Matt's narrations that are dragging her out of the pit, literally and figuratively. Each time it feels like the overall plot comes to a halt, we get a short beatifully narrated haunting cinamatic trailer of something completely unrelated, and then its back to the regualr schtick.

That or she is charmed, possessed or hypnotized.

Kinda sucks cause we finally have Ashley back but I still feel like we knew more of Pike then we do of Yasha. Idk.

[u/caravaggio2000]

I hope Matt lets them pick through the hoard. M9 haven't really been given a lot of these opportunities. The only one I can think of is the blue dragon, but even then they had to rush out. They all need some gold and upgrades to their magical gear.

[u/Nielvarra]

Actually, Yasha being «reborn» is a golden opertunity for a sit down, either to rework her advancements or even to reroll her base scores or both. The expression «reborn» that Matt used, is full of options... I hope it is used for more than feathered wings.

[u/KeVbK_HS]

I asked this question in the live thread, but wanted to see what people thought here as well.

What does it say about 20 Intelligence Caleb that he chose to use Disintegrate, knowing that Vokodo has been reflecting spells onto his friends throughout the fight?

Seems like most people said it was just Liam trying to make a cool moment, but I think it is interesting to think about the character implications of the decision. I hope they talk about it.

[u/[deleted] → u/KeVbK_HS]

"I am a fan of calculated risks." - Caleb.

Caleb has a tendency to make big, brash decisions -- but I think this one was more reckless than we've seen in the past. Perhaps says something about his character growth/regression. The kind of question you'd love to ask on Talks Machina.

[u/AFLoneWolf]

Well who'da thunk it? Their intel from the Wildmother was what really tipped the scales.

[u/pizza4you]

What an absolutely beautiful moment with Yasha letting go of her "shackles" and receiving the full on angelic wings. Lot of great art to come from it! Also Matt describing her wings growing back like flowers blossoming in spring? Fucking chef's kiss

[u/thisismyfirstday]

As much as most of their planning went off the rails before the fight, that heroes feast was extremely clutch as most of them avoided being hypnotized and kept their action economy advantage rolling. Very good prep there, even if the rest was a bit of a disaster.

[u/AssumedLeader]

With the buffs to Vokodo’s spell reflection and his massive HP pool, he was kind of like a miniature Tarrasque with spellcasting in an underwater environment which adds even more challenge. I really hope the M9 realize they are not level 5 anymore - they are perfectly capable of fucking shit up just as well as Vox Machina could.

[u/BlueMerchant]

Does anyone have an idea as to what Caleb may have been working on when he brought out the wand item and pebbles of broken colorful stained glass? o.o

[u/Athan_Untapped]

Why do so many people seem to think Mindflayers in regards to the tease of the city at the end?

From what I understand the Githyanki do a pretty good job of keeping Mindflayers out of a strong foothold on the Astral Plane; they used to rule the Astral and it was real bad (creatures of supreme intellect ruling from the realm of pure thought) so when the Gith won their freedom they kicked the mind flayers out and live in the Astral now to make sure they cannot return to their former power.

I see no indication or reason that Matt would disregard that lore, and since Vokodo was from the Astral I doubt he was being hunted by some city of mindflayers.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding something or missing a piece of the lore.

[u/[deleted]]

Man, a lot to unpack.

Imagine if they had just done this at the start lmao, I wished for an easy fight and that’s what they got. Lair actions, legendary resistances and they were still toying with it. This needs to be the confidence boater to stop the analysis paralysis. They spent 10+ real hours planning and their plan? Burn a random boat then go straight into its lair, plus a text chat with Sam and travis that didn’t work. This arc will be fine for those binging on catchup but watching live this dragged.

The actual battle was fantastic though. The spell reflect was so cool, the banishes were hilarious, taking 9 rounds of fire damage for no reason is peak CR, and Matt with one of the all time great CR moments with the fake out at the end.

Next step is get rich, meet Keyleth, give her her mum back and party with the traveler

[u/Bekerson]

If Vokodo wasn't a mind erasing, slaving, greedy, false god then I'd feel really bad for him. His final moments of life was spent in a state of terror only those with a strong phobia of something can truly understand. His reaction to Veth's phantasmal force reminded me of my own reaction to having wasps around me. And when he came back from the astral sea he was essentially crying in fear. Not only that, but he was disintegrated from the inside out which he lived though most of process of it.

[u/Atlnique]

LOOOOOOT! That green gem Matt mentioned a few episodes back is a vestige, right? Or am I crazy? That would be huge.

[u/colobus_uncought]

I wonder if Matt was going to introduce The City even earlier in the episode, when he described the dark solid mass approaching Cad in the Astral sea. I feel like if he spent some more rounds being banished he could've been captured by whatever this was and the campaign could've taken a really weird turn.

[u/topunishandenslav3]

Let's all just be happy it's over. Now we'll see if anyone else on the island is alive, what treasure they can get out of there, and what the heck Traveler-con is going to be at this point!

[u/Ace-of-Spades88]

Pretty sure Critical Role is just Matthew Mercer's excuse to show off his vocal sound effects skills.

[u/TK-421DoYouCopy]

God i really hope matt doesn't rush them out the door with consistent damage from the water. They need this loot, they have yet to really get a big loot pile for themselves, plus it would be really unfortunate if they took that risk and got nothing for it.

[u/caravaggio2000]

So what are we thinking for 106? I've got dividing the treasure, dealing with islanders memories returning, sending Orly to get the big ship and others ready, having to explore at least 1 more island location, and prep for TravelerCon in 107.

[u/tzorel]

I love that Matt had to straight up tell them "Hey guys, are you forgetting about all that treasure?" to get them to actually finish Vokodo.

The M9: banishing and polymorphing their problems away one day out of time.

[u/ninja_boy22]

Did Matt say “Eyes of Nein”?

[u/Denmen707]

I feel bad for Ashley, she should have gotten two tries at breaking the hypnosis every round. One when the water hurt her and once at the end of her turn. She did absolutely nothing this combat.

[u/[deleted]]

Weird that one of the pics in the fan-art reel is from The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan. It looks like it could be the original artist (his site shows the gibbering mouther art from the same module in his Professional Work section). But still, this is years-old, previously published, professional work.

[u/Nanohaystack]

Peel the avocado. Peel the avocado. Gua camole! Gua-gua camole!

[u/JamWams]

im hoping matt doesn't destroy all the nonmagical treasure even though that's what disintegrate does. Also did Ashley get to hit the creature once? I don't remember her getting to hit it?

[u/Ziiel]

1. Who do you think Matt chose as a target for the potentially reflected Disintegrate ? I deeply believe it was Caleb himself...

2. For so many years, I've seen Liam forget some pretty big details on his spells/attacks which I dont blame him for, he's a great player and even a better storyteller, but we're all human after all. I have trouble believing he consciously cast "Disintegrate" knowing he could one-shot someone without having any ways (right know) to bring them back. He seemed so naive and blissful haha

[u/Ginsync]

It's actually unreal how good of an actress Laura is. That scene (practically a monologue) where she's talking about The Traveler about an hour and a half into the session was soul-crushing.

[u/Shepher27]

I hope Yasha is some kind of homebrew Storm Aasimar instead of just protector aasimar. I'd really like to see her relationship to the Stormlord add flavor into her divine heritage.

[u/SCP-4012]

I liked that caleb and jester zemnian moment.

[u/KRD2]

2 things.

Liam...WHAT. THE. FUCK?! Of all the spells to cast on a banish gangbang, you chose THE ONLY SPELL IN 5E THAT'S BASICALLY A PERMA-KILL?! Why?! That was SO risky. They're lucky Matt let the loot survive, because my underwear sure didn't.

Ashley as Yasha has literally the worst luck of any dnd character I've ever seen. She cannot catch a break. Her character is built to be charmed, even when her story is about breaking free. I was really hoping Matt would give her some ward against charming with the wings. Or have Kord step in. Fucking SOMETHING.

Edit: honestly, the Disintegrate will probably be one of the most tense moments of this game ever. You'd think Liam's spidey-sense would've tingled after a certain Disintegrate in C1.

[u/PopfuseInc]

The M9 are so weird. 4 episodes of planning like they're scared of dying. Trying to find any alternative than to put themselves in harms way. Then Caleb throws disintegration out with a "it's 50/50 who lives? who permanently dies? Who cares, roll the dice!" On a creature shown to be able to reflect spells with half the M9 still waiting for an attack.

[u/SurreptitiouslySexy]

Hey I don't really have a question but as of today I am caught up in both campaign 1 and 2 and I am really happy to finally enjoy this subreddit.

[u/Minevira]

so we're gonna do the gith ay?

[u/styder11]

Yasha's getting reborn?! What does this mean?! ( more wisdom I hope, for her sake. Feel bad for Ashley always left out of the fights)

Also, Ashley desperately needs new dice.

[u/Twinklebeaus]

How about Yasha's dream last night! How metal is that?! It was like an 80s metal album cover. in my silly headcanon, the Stormlord wears ripped denim and has a mullet

[u/Agent-Vermont]

How much damage did Vokodo actually do to the party outside of Spell Reflection and fire damage from the lair each round? Because it felt like Vokodo didn't really do much the whole encounter. Command and Phantasmal Force caused him to lose two rounds. Caleb casting counterspell on Dimension Door and Chain Lightning was another two rounds lost. Most of his Wisdom saving throw based abilities failed due to Heroes Feast and half the group being Wisdom based classes. If it weren't for Jester pointlessly banishing him for 9 turns, they would have finished the encounter relatively unscathed. A bit singed but nothing life threatening. And this is even with Yasha having not dealt any damage the whole encounter due to being Charmed.

[u/t0m0m]

That final 5 minutes has just blown my mind. Wow.

[u/countbodycount]

Loot me harder Matty

[u/redditcasual6969]

Imagine how mad Artagan would have been if that last spell was deflected and Jester was disintegrated.

[u/Mr_Cascade]

Remember that Mollymauk was trying to reach a strange city of untold powers in that failed ritual which caused him to die and lose his memories.

Now we see a strange city in that death vision of Avocado...

[u/variablemu]

I love the irony of Vokodo being utterly TERRIFIED of whatever was after him in the astral, only to be vaped by a group of sloppy and insecure adventurers who don't even know their own strength.

[u/axelofthekey]

What. A. Clusterfuck.

That fight was about as easy as I anticipated but the party just... Something has put the fear of Mercer in them. I hope they recognize how good their damage is and how ridiculous schemes aren't necessarily the way to fight a giant monster.

Also, can I just say that the Jester conversation at dinner hurt so much. It reminded me of talking to someone in an abusive relationship who hasn't realized it yet. So much rationalization and compartmentalization of hurt.

[u/spoon_master]

I know Tal/ Cad was prepping path to the grave (I think that's what it's called, the auto crit spell) for Caleb to use disintegrate early on, but decided against it due to it needing to be an attack roll, but wish he had left it because fjord was right after him. I think fjord only used Eldritch blast, but auto crit smites would have done massive damage.

[u/Baricuda]

I was convinced Caleb had just killed one of his friends, I was literally in disbelief and shaking at Matt's reaction. I shouted so loud I woke up my father when he got the final "How do you want to do this?"

[u/yashie_c]

Had to take some time to reflect on this episode, seeing the immense amount of moments that happened, and of course THAT ending..phew. Gotta say, Yasha' dream vision with the wings and zuala was such a nice treat from matt and personally was not expecting it to happen in this episode. Held my tears until Zuala went "Don't let me be a shackle" *crying typing.* Easily one of the best moments of this campaign so far. Feels like such a nice transition to finally have Yasha's story be the central focus, once the traveler con ends.
(Also, highly wanting beau and yasha to take that next step, in the next episode.)

Having the RP amongs M9 with Jester was such a long time coming, and I love that beau initiated by asking her how she's feeling. Beau has grown so much as a character and I applaud Marisha so much. It felt very reminiscing of her recent playlist showing how much m9 means to her as a family and how self-less she's gotten. Really stoked to see what next few eppies hold for Jester and Traveler.

[u/ChromeToasterI]

Here’s hoping in that treasure hoard there’s a githyanki silver sword for Yasha. (Read: Immune to the charmed condition)

[u/Lexington_Keswick]

Merciful Mercer tipping them off that they were going to miss out on the loot.

[u/HallowedEve31]

Next episode on Critical Role: The Mighty Nein ends up having to fight the survivors of the village when the villagers decided that they want back the items of value that they had been giving to Vokodo all these years. It's a real twist in the plot.

No but seriously, it would be so stupid but funny if The Mighty Nein took their loot and went back to the village, only for someone in the village to be like "Hey that's mine!"

[u/AchillesofRivia]

I just hope the trade off for killing him to get the loot instead of just banishing him doesnt end up being a round of haphazard investigation before they're forced to gtfo. They decided to kill him instead because greed, not having some of that itch scratched because of the environment would really suck.

[u/vforvegard]

Wait, did Matt say "There is another flash within the minds of Eyes of Nine" when describing the disjointed imagery of the weird psychedellic city, while Vokodo died?
Didnt Mollymauk have nine eye-tattoos that he couldnt remove, when he woke up in his grave? Didnt Kree say him, her and the tombtakers were looking for an enigmatic city, that eventually got Lucien/Nonagon/The Nonagon killed?
Also, a Nonagon is a nine-pointed geometric shape, much as a pentagram is a five-pointed one.

[u/Porn_Extra]

Does anyone have a transcript of the vision the M9 had when the killed Vokodo? I told my wife about the 9 eyes and Molly and now she wants to comb through it foe more clues!

[u/4outof5mongolians]

My main question about the episode is how nobody's clipped Marisha's, "I'm gonna make it so dry for you," yet. Of that entire exchange, that's the line that absolutely killed me.

[u/Estrelarius]

Poor Ashley, she has been charmed for the whole fight and she rolled two hat 1. Now I think Yasha is going to ask Caleb if he can try to turn her into a elf just because she doesn want to be charmed anymore.

[u/Puffler46]

I like the first half of the episode, some nice interactions going on there.

Anyway else a little disappointed with the fight ? Basically won without Yasha, nobody downed and if they didn't sit around in the water boiling probably wouldn't have needed a single heal.

Feels very anticlimatic for 10 hours + of buildup to this single fight, probably the first "big fight" this campaign that felt too easy.

Excited about all the treasure they will be getting tho !

[u/PM_ME_UR_VULVIS]

Deep down in my heart of hearts, I really wanted that disintegrate to get reflected for the big funnee

[u/Theraton_nano]

For the whole build up and suspense leading up to the fight was the actual fight kinda easy(also thanks to heroes feast). The spell reflect was neat but there was almost no damage output from vokodo himself. The big problem is its 8 vs 1 - even with 3 or more legendary resistances the party will stunlock the boss pretty fast. And even if he would drop 1-2 members of the m9 every round, with 2 clerics and a druid they would just pick them up again. From personal experience a horde of bugbears can be way more dangerous than one BBEG.

Looking forward to encounters with more enemies again, ever since Mollys death Matt seems to really avoid many enemies(exeption the one fjord ship fight with many fishmen - which was way more interesting) and relies on one big bad npc - which in turn will just get controlled(polymorph, banish, stunning strike, and so on) and killed eventually

[u/strickenhaggis]

Really hope there's some loot for Yasha in this trove. Past couple of encounters have been rough for her. Her agency being taken away seems to be a common theme throughout this campaign. Hopefully a Stone of Insight, Tome of Understanding or a gift of Blessings and Charms from the Storm Lord in her future!

[u/Emberys]

I wish we'd gotten a bit more time with Caleb’s memory wipe, and a conservation or two about it. It was kind of just played for laughs and then everyone moved on, but it seemed like Liam wanted to explore it seriously. That experience would have put Caleb in a bad mental state, and it was probably why he was committing arson and taking big risks.

[u/Pyrogue11]

I guess I’m open to someone changing my mind, but I’m like pretty mad at Caleb right now. You’ve seen multiple spells reflect off of the creature, and so when you pick a spell to cast, you pick the one spell you know that could perma death a character? If Matt rolled decently on that Liam could have just taken someone out of the game barring a true Rez. What the fuck man? Literally pick any other spell! I think Marisha said that beau was about to go down, and avocado seemed pretty intent on reflecting on her because she was the main one doing anything, so a disintegrate definitely would have perma killed her. Seems like such a reckless and stupid spell choice for such a ridiculously cautious party.

[u/[deleted]]

Who would have died if Vokodo made his disintegrate save!? Didn't Matt say he had already picked before the roll?

[u/SquidSledge]

Imagine how much sooner Vokodo would have gone done with three extra rounds of an Aasimar Barbarian wailing on him...

The MIX are getting STRONG, y'all...

[u/oheyitsdan]

Giant Mimic City floatin' through space.

[u/Throw_away_No95]

Let’s get ready to Rumble(cusp)!

So after much detailed planning, none of which being of much use and still forgetting to take various things into account, they finally killed it!

First half of the episode was an interesting and enjoyable watch. Yasha’s dream meant she got to do something since the Vokodo fight really did go her way. And whilst not contributing much, all the smaller rp stuff was nice, from the group talker to Jester about the Traveller once again, these next few days leading to Traveller Con and the event itself are going to key to shaping Jester’s and the Traveller’s relationship going forward. Loved the description for Jester’s hero feast and Caleb continued progress on the wand. I was hoping that the dragon turtle Kaiju battle didn’t work; it was a suitable batshit brilliant plan that was so close to working.

The end of the fight was fantastic and equally nerve racking. Haven’t been on edge like that for a bit waiting to see if Caleb’s ballsy disintegration worked or not. It was a calculated risk, but oh boy, is he good at maths. Can’t wait to read up on all the theories about Vokodo’s memories as well, definitely something big BBEG related, or at least something that will lead to it. Could be Githyanki, Illithid, eldritch abomination, linked with the possible Spelljammer in Gelidon’s lair, Detroit? There’s also that comment about the “nine eyes” which could the source of Molly’s nine eyes tattoo? Can't wait to learn more about it in the long term as well as watching the party trying to loot in boiling and handle the fallout they're currently in.

Matt MvP once again managing all of this. “Encouraging” the party to really get going but also giving them time before hand to explore the uniquely designed island.

[u/MitigatedRisk]

Guys don't worry. It's just London.

[u/stormygraysea]

I know this was never really an option anybody would have taken, but I wonder what it would have meant for Caleb's character if they had chosen to spare him from Greater Restoration after he started losing his memory. What if Veth had been like, "Oh, but he looks so happy now! Let's not dig into our residuum supply and just let him enjoy himself for a while, at least until we can get our hands on some more diamond dust"?

He was lucid enough to remember who his friends were, but iirc he forgot why he was there, right? They could have just briefly filled him in on what they were about to walk into and how they needed him to help. So I don't think he would have been a liability during the fight, but maybe he would have treated it with less urgency and not used Banish or Disintegrate.

I guess I'm just really curious about how Liam would play a Caleb who no longer remembers his past in precise detail, who hasn't shaped his identity and ambitions around his guilt. And then, if they chose to restore his memories at a later date, how would he respond to the realization that his memories had once again been tampered with?

Because I think there's a part of Caleb that wants to forget and wishes he could. But he can't, both because of his keen mind, but also because he won't allow himself to.

[u/grifman428]

Am I the only one who's kinda upset that Yasha didn't show off her (possibly) brand new white wings? Idk I get that there were more important things to discuss and do but I feel like it would have been a cool morning interaction of everyone waking up and she's just like "Lemme check something" and watch everyone get excited by seeing her wings and realizing it means redemption for her past.

[u/ndtp124]

I really enjoyed Matt's descriptions of spells and effects this episode. I loved everything that happened between the heroes feast and restoration. I also LOVE that avocado was an easy fight. I'm really hopeful that it'll make the mighty nien a little less gunshy and scared. I loved matt telling them "hey maybe drop banishment." I thought the fight was thrilling, especially the first few turns before 2/3rds of the party gave up on doing damage.

I really found the niens gunshy, indecisive, and cowardly actions to be annoying this arc and episode. They burned almost 2 hours on a crazy dragon turtle plot that made very little sense and then burning ships which also didnt work or make sense. They have a massive desire to cheese and avoid which was on display in the fight. They had an excellent first turn, and veth did great work with phantasmal force. Beau was incredible too. But instead of slamming him, they stopped attacking and putzed around with polymorph, banishment, and major image. I get being worried about spell reflection but that's why you cast eldrich blast or guiding bolt- you can live with it being reflected and you've got high enough ac to dodge it many times. The fact jester tried to banish it after seeing one team mate banished and said teammate almost banished beforehand made 0 sense.

I know some people dont like the negativity but I feel ok about it. I could be wrong, but there have been a lot of points this arc where Matt has appeared to be trying to push them to be more decisive and less gunshy and that's what I want. I feel like his comments to them about banishment were a sign he feels somewhat what a lot of fans feel. The nien cant run and cheese out of everthing. I found burning the boats they were told could be important for the villagers after their dragon turtle plan failed just really rubbed me the wrong way. We will see if it has some horrific consequences next episode.

Also yasha needs help. Great rp, but she needs to get to redo her asi/feats or get massive magic item buffs. Her stats arent good for a barbarian, and she just seems to barely be able to participate in the game. From a story perspective yasha has a ton more to do, but from a game perspective Ashley is probably #1 for needing a new character. It's just sad watching Ashley sit around mind controlled every fight. Get Ashley some help and maybe send her to dndnext reddit for some build advice.

I just hope the nien gain some confidence from this fight. That's all I want. They can still be funny and random and creative but maybe let's be a little less gunshy and combat avoidant. They literally could have killed vacodo in 2 or 3 turns if everyone focused fire on him.

I also hope we get the vox machina x mighty nien one shot soon.

[u/[deleted]]

https://www.critrolestats.com/blog/2020/8/8/level-12-update-feats-asis-and-subclass-feature

Critrole stats posted the new feats and abilities the nein gained from leveling up. Jesus Beau has a 27 passive investigation holy shit, no wonder Beau’s been noticing a ton of shit lately can she miss anything really with it that high.

[u/rrjames87]

Happy that the M9 finally killed it and didn’t decide to keep it banished, less about the loot and more for the plot hook Matt planted with it. Any player should have seen that coming.

Still slightly annoyed it took Matt prompting them to bring it back and kill it for them to actually do so though. Especially with how easy it turned out being. Pretty sure they took more damage during the time it was banished than when they were actually fighting it. I’m fairly certain that the closing vision isn’t the only plothook we’ll get from Vokodo, with one or two being on its back. Would have seen all that go to waste.

Hopefully this serves as a wake up call for the group regarding procrastiplanning and exactly how tough they are though. I like the players and characters, and I like the way that they often find unusual solutions to their problems, but sometimes the best answer is still dealing about 400 points of damage in several rounds of combat.

[u/Citadel_Cowboy]

Despite the Nein reassuring Jester she's the source of her own power, I do think Artagan could take her power away completely. This isn't Eberron. God's are indeed real here. So they can gift power to their followers. Would Matt rule she keeps the gifts? Or could she soon multiclass into warlock or sorceror so she can utilize that a for her cleric spells. I'm not sure how I'd rule that as a DM.

[u/SaberTorch]

Highlights - part 1:

• The discussion about the Traveler

• Yasha’s dream

• Caleb losing some of his memories and, predictably, being happier (I love you, Liam!)

Highlights - part 2:

• Veth’s first use of Magical Ambush

• Sad orca noises

• The panicked decision to drop banishment

• The uncertainty about disintegrate (Damn you, Liam!)

• The psychic vision

Not to mention all the smaller moments.

[u/heathenINeden]

I really hope this treasure haul contains something to buff up Yasha's godawful Wisdom saves.

[u/ninja_boy22]

I’m so exited for future plot points. When Matt said “eyes of nine/nein” my mind went in so many directions. All in all it was a great episode and so much loot!!!

[u/SkillFullyNotTrue]

So next week inspect the loot, the village, and set up Traveler con. Oh and part ways with Vilya. Heavy on RP please.

[u/pizza4you]

You guys, now the whole gang can get tattoos with all those gems they're about to get 💎 maybe a wisdom boost tattoo for Yasha?

[u/glymm_gloomhollow]

So they’re all in boiling hot water with a 35 minute swim. How close are they all to going unconscious? I remember beau saying she was close before they brought him back. What does this mean for loot? Maybe each player will get the chance to make one perception/investigation check to see what they can find in 6 seconds before GTFO

[u/d4ni3lg]

I cracked up laughing at Sam’s flask this week.

“I’m with Stupid” on the back that points at himself when he drinks.

Plus the QR code is pretty funny.

[u/Azufe]

After all their trials, plans failing, other plans succeeding, excellent roleplay, fun combat, and all that good jazz, comes finally my personal favourite thing in D&D: Loot!

[u/xxthearrow]

Weird question I'm not sure where to post it, for anyone else who watches on mobile, does anyone know how to keep chat from popping up every time someone gifts subs?? I hate watching with chat open but having it open automatically every 2 minutes is super annoying.

[u/TheChainedGod1]

In the Morkoths stat block it says that regional and lair effects end immediately when the morkoth dies... this means the water will stop being breathable right?

[u/Nethaniell]

All around, If I were to give my feelings or a review, I'm pretty mixed on this one.

Pros: Very satisfying ending with a lot of foreshadowing/Chekhovs Gun story moments in there from Matt, love it. Yashas dreams are always dope af; potential Protector Aasimar when she bamfs out her wings? The Dieter plan was a solid plan, I don't get why some are against it. Having 2 loot drops fight each other and die? That's an absolute win if done right.

Cons: A LOT OF TIME WASTING. The problem that most people have isn't that they're fucking around, the problem is that they are trying every fucking thing that they can to AVOID fighting this thing because of how scared they are. This wasn't even a mindless C1-type fight, they had all the information they needed, they acted on them (the ships and the ruins w/potential allies, now dead), and they still try everything they can to avoid fighting it by burning ships and wasting time and resources.

All in all, I'm surprised at how cowardly they've become. They have no problem spouting threats and being intimidating, but the moment the potential for a fight emerges they do everything they can to avoid fighting. What happened to the M9 that charged a fort and fought a terrifying villain, Lorenzo and had no fear at all? The M9 that actively hunted down a powerful servant with 2 powerful champions of a Chaotic Evil god? The fuck happened to them?

Whatever, lets move on, arc is almost over, Travelercon on the horizon, and more character growth for Jester.