Trinket's Character Sheet

/

ryutesla asked: Where is Trinket's character sheet?

Geek and Sundry does not have a unique card for Trinket, so he’s not set apart in the Character Sheet page. If Laura would be willing to share her character sheet with us, we would be happy to display both her and Trinket’s stats. (That goes for the rest of the party, too!)

That said, it’s still a legitimate question, one that we can mostly calculate. As part of the Beast Master archetype of the Ranger class, Trinket is an extension of Vex’ahlia (PHB p.93). “Add your proficiency bonus to the beast’s AC, attack rolls, and damage rolls, as well as to any saving throws and skills it is proficient in. Its hit point maximum equals its normal maximum or four times your ranger level, whichever is higher.”

Without Vex’s proficiencies, if we assume that Trinket is based on the Brown Bear guide, he has 34 HP and a naked AC of 11. He already has multiattack built in with a +5 to hit, with a 1d8+4 piercing bite and a 2d6+4 slashing claw.

However, Trinket is not an average bear. Beast Masters are rarely able to protect their companions for long. The fact that Trinket has been around with Vex for over 11 levels is a feat in itself. Vex’s level brings Trinket to 44hp. The armor he wears increases his AC by a significant margin in addition to Vex’s bonus, and he knows a few more moves than the default bear (cannonball!). Information such as this requires more time to compute and organize, and probably another page to Vex’s sheet.

On a related note, we are slowly working toward recreating each character’s sheet. Real life and other projects on the blog has prevented this from taking priority, but eventually we will have them!

Grog’s Painful Math

/

In our quest to see how much money Vox Machina (i.e. Vex) has saved through haggling, we had to sit down and actually calculate how much money Grog gave away in his negotiation with the snake oil salesman in Episode 22.

We know that dragon’s teeth, while not exceedingly common, aren’t particularly rare, either. In Episode 14, Sherri tells us that each tooth is about 250 gold. With 14 teeth in the trade, that amounts to 3500 for just the teeth.

A vial of dragon’s blood doesn’t really have a “canon” value, but we can estimate how much the essence in a vial is worth by multiplying 50 times the number of hit dice used to calculate the dragon’s HP. In Episode 1, Vox Machina trades a vial of young blue dragon blood for Balgus’s Bloodthistle Wine, which had a price tag of 500 gold. Since the young blue dragon uses 16 hit die (plus some other modifiers), we can estimate that VM overpaid with 800 worth of (gelatinous) blood.

However, Rimefang had at least double the HP of the average ANCIENT white dragon, let alone an adult. For simplicity, let’s double the hit dice of an adult: 16 becomes 32. 32*50=1600 per vial.

Grog traded three vials. Plus 3500 worth of teeth.

Final total: 8300 gold worth of dragon parts for a potion worth about 2000, at best.

Ouch.

However, look what he did with that potion! After defeating Kern, Grog earned back 5492, Percy won 2000, Keyleth won 20, Vex won 2400, and Tiberius won 2448. Minus Scanlan’s loss of 100, that’s a total of 12,260 gold won. Vox Machina lost 2100 total in the first bout. 12260-2100-8300=1860. A net gain. UPDATE: @VeganCritter points out that technically, they only earned 9170 gold, as 12,260 included their bet. With that adjusted value, Vox Machina finds themselves once again in the red at -1230 gold.

Also, that trade sequence was just as amazing as it was mathematically unsound.

UPDATE: @thebigbadboogie pointed out that Team 1 was paid 50 gold for each tooth they redeemed for the contract. The 250 cited above was quoted from Sherri, though with this number, the amount given away is reduced to 5500. With the new totals of 9170-2100-5500, we end up with a net gain of 1570 gold.

Critter Appreciation

/

We’re over ¾ of the way through Phase 1 of the very, very, very big task of recording ever roll, with plenty other projects added into the mix. It’ll still be a while before the big tasks are completed, but I wanted to give credit and a huge thanks to all of the Critters who have been just KILLING it with their contributions (and saving my sanity, as a side effect).

Every single one of these individuals have been a huge help on a number of the projects we post here on the blog. Without them, we would not have a lot of the content available to you today, or have gotten so far on the daunting project that is average rolls.

On a side note, volunteers and submissions are always welcome! If you want to help with the current array of tasks or would like to share some information that other people would be interested in, you can contact us on Tumblr, on Twitter, or via email (critrolestats at gmail). If you just have a question about something about the show, Twitter or the Ask box is always open!

As a caveat to that, the blog will be on a week-long hiatus starting Thursday, as I will be on vacation. We’re still going to try to live-tweet the broadcasts (assuming we’ll be able to watch them), but communication Friday through Wednesday is going to be sporadic. If you send us an ask or a volunteer request, know that we love you for it, but we probably won’t be able to respond until we get back.

Thanks again, Critters. And a huge round of thanks and applause for our volunteers!

Nat Crits of 24: The Feast

/

Critical Wins

  • Tiberius (1:31:16) Farting while Vax sneaks off. Yes, really.
  • Vax’ildan (1:34:36) Stealthing to the butcher’s
  • Vax’ildan (2:35:33) Stealthing upon sleeping Grog (with advantage)
  • Vex’ahlia (2:43:00) Training Trinket to Cannonball (with advantage)
  • Vex’ahlia (3:39:37) Stealthily casting Hunter’s Mark on Lady Briarwood.

Critical Fails

  • Keyleth (0:59:15) Negotation vs. Sherri over books
  • Vex’ahlia (2:02:41) Checking for traps in the Thunderbrand basement
  • Tiberius (2:06:45) Persuasion vs. Master Thunderbrand to re-enchant the carpet
  • Tiberius (2:41:10) Con save vs. Percy’s test run of Diplomacy

DM Rolls

  • Lord Greyspine (Nat1, 2:15:00) Wis Save vs. Scanlan’s (reasonable) Suggestion

“Hi! I’m Tiberius Stormwind, from Draconia!”

/

As @CritmasElf pointed out Thursday, we needed the Tiberius introductions listed from this episode. Episode 24 currently holds the record with 8 introductions from the dragonborn sorcerer from Draconia. Here they are.

  1. (0:40:22) Liceum clerk
  2. (0:42:01) Gatekeeper Xanthas
  3. (0:44:44) Headmaster Atlum
  4. (0:46:50) Reminder to Headmaster Atlum
  5. (0:48:38) Headmaster Thunderbrand
  6. (1:28:30) Karen the Blacksmith
  7. (2:53:27) Seeker Emring
  8. (3:15:43) Assisting Sovereign Uriel

Commentary on Episode 24

/

This post contains commentary on events revealed in episode 24, which we recognize many have not seen yet. As such, the following contains spoilers, both for 24 and probably for events to come in episode 25. Proceed at your own risk!

To absolutely no one’s surprise, the Briarwoods revealed themselves to be vampires. Although Vax’s failed Wis save could have simply been the effects of a Charm spell, the spell results sound much more like Hold Person. We also think that, considering that the Briarwoods have been in planning stages for well over two years, it’s incredibly unlikely Matt stuck to the default vampire template for both of them. We’re thinking Silas Briarwood may have taken cues from the Warrior Vampire variation, and Delilah may have dabbled in the Arcane. Only time will tell what their true capabilities are.

Vampire Facts

Vampires are very tricky undead monsters. They are resistant to necrotic and nonmagical physical damage, and can transform into a bat or a cloud of mist at will. If they are defeated and able to transform, they will instead vanish in a cloud of mist and escape to their resting place, where they will be paralyzed in their humanoid forms until they can sleep it off. These abilities are stunted by the presences of running water, sunlight, or a wooden stake through the heart. They are also very charming creatures, among several other powerful traits. (We’ll save those for the official monster analysis.)

Simply being bit on the neck and drained entirely of life isn’t enough to turn into a vampire spawn. A vampire must either have its own crypt (which we presume the Briarwoods brought with them) or must be buried underground overnight, if they don’t have a crypt yet. This is a full 8-hour process, which can be interrupted.

All vampire spawn are the willing slaves of the one who turned them. If the source of their undeath is killed, the victim becomes a free-willed vampire. However, the soul in charge of the body is not the same one as before its undeath…

PCs as Vampires

Also to no one’s surprise (but to everyone’s chagrin), Vax remains reckless in his actions. From owing a favor to a hag over some vials of poisons, agreeing to train a naive (or stupid-like-a-fox) butcher’s son, to sneaking undisguised directly into the temporary abode of two powerful vampires, Vax has written a lot of checks that we’re not entirely sure how he plans to cash. (You’re going to be the death of all of us, sir.)

Conveniently, the Monster Manual has advice on what changes apply to PCs-turned-vampires. The player will continue playing the character with new strengths and weaknesses, including base Con, Dex, and Str scores of 18, vampiric damage resistance, darkvision, traits, and actions. These would be added to, rather than replace, class features. A vampire rogue… Let’s just say that Sneak Attack becomes a LOT less fun.

The big question here is, how much time will pass between this episode’s conclusion and the start of the next one? If Matt chooses to start in the morning without giving the rest of the team time to act, then it’s possible that Vax will have a change in alignment and abilities without the rest of the party realizing it. If, however, the earrings are working, the party may have time to respond before their rogue is killed, let alone turned.

How does one restore a vampire character to their mortal form?

  1. Kill the vampire, leaving the body intact. Cast Resurrection (7th level spell, Clerics only).
  2. Kill the vampire. Cast True Resurrection (9th level spell, Clerics and Druids only).
  3. Cast Wish (9th level spell).

In a Mercer campaign, Resurrection is difficult. A vampire is an undead and unwilling target. No one in the party knows any spells above 6th level. If Vax or any of the rest of the party is turned, it would be simpler to stake them and let the sunlight take care of them, or just let them play as undead with new motivations. Here’s hoping it doesn’t come to that.

Other questions left unanswered

What happened to the rest of the De Rolos? What of the Seeker, who Vax left waiting over the course of the dinner, and whose men have turned allegiances? What else did the Briarwoods perceive from the dinner? Who was that boy the party almost recognized when the Briarwoods arrived?

Vox Machina Knockouts

/

You all knew this was coming. Over the course of the adventure, our brave heroes have come across challengers more powerful than they. As a team, they are strong; Vox Machina does not flee. As individuals, however, KOs happen. Here they are, in all their glory.

Number of times knocked unconscious

  1. Scanlan (ep04, 2:37:00) Bulette
  2. Percy (ep04, 2:45:47) The General
  3. Percy (ep05, 0:54:30) Falling from the carpet
  4. Scanlan (ep05, 0:55:15) Falling from the carpet
  5. Grog (ep05, 2:44:46) Black pudding
  6. Vax’ildan (ep07, 3:46:46) Throne Room Lava
  7. Trinket (ep08, 2:29:00) Abyssal Abomination
  8. Grog (ep11, 4:01:34) K’varn the Mad
  9. Grog (ep17, 1:16:15) Kern the Hammer
  10. Trinket (ep17, 2:58:38) Tiberius vs. Hydra
  11. Scanlan (ep19, 2:52:26) Rimefang
  12. Percy (ep19, 3:16:22) Rimefang
  13. Keyleth (ep21, 1:31:20) Tiberius vs. Ghost

Honorable mentions

We’re defining unconsciousness as “incapacitated, drained of HP, making death saving throws on turns, and capable of stabilization with healing items or spells.” The following meet some but not all of the above criteria.

  1. Grog (ep02, 2:45:00) Intellect Devourer (coma)
  2. Tiberius (ep07, 3:09:57) Basilisk (turned to stone)
  3. Grog (ep11, 3:59:46) K’varn (prevented by Death Ward)
  4. Grog (ep23, 1:20:10) Kern (prevented by Relentless Rage)

Unconsciousness Ranking

  1. Grog 3 (+3)
  2. Scanlan 3
  3. Percy 3
  4. Trinket 2
  5. Vax’ildan 1
  6. Keyleth 1
  7. Tiberius 0 (+1)

Detailed Dice Analysis of THE REMATCH

/

The following analysis was provided by @IsYitzack, who has contributed odds and other calculations on Twitter. Below is his mathematical analysis of the dice for The Rematch between Kern and Grog.

I’ve worked out the odds of how many hits Grog and Kern can expect with the number of hits given and under the conditions given. I understand that Grog has an attack bonus of +10. I’ve guessed that Kern is at +8 based on the rolls in this match. Taking the first match into consideration would improve knowledge of his attack roll.

Grog attacked with advantage 4 times, even 22 times, and disadvantage 3 times. He applied inspiration to 2 disadvantaged attacks. He hit 16 times. We would expect that he would hit 18.43 times with a standard deviation of 2.53. He hit poorly to .96 standard deviations.

Kern attacked with disadvantage 3 times and even 22 times. Cutting Words was applied to an even roll. He hit 16 times. We would expect that Kern would get in 12.73 hit with a standard deviation of 2.46. He rolled hard by 1.33 standard deviations.

There were 5 contested athletics skill checks. 4 were initiated by Grog. That detail is important as tied contested rolls go to the status quo. Since we’re in a fight, the status quo is a default win by the defender giving the defender better odds. We were told that Grog’s athletics modifier is +7. We are also told that Kern’s athletics modifier is +8. When Grog defends an athletics contest, he will win 47.5% of the time. When he initiates the contest, he will win 42.75% of the time. Grog initiated 4 athletics contests and defended 1. He won 3 of them. We would expect that he wins 2.185 of them under these conditions. He has a standard deviation of 1.11. He rolled hard by .735 standard deviations.

All in all, the dice did not roll in Grog’s favor for the fight. But it wasn’t extreme. It wasn’t so far out of whack that I’d be wondering if Matt’s dice were loaded or otherwise faked.

I understand that there was some discussion as to what Kern’s last move should have been. There is an objectively correct answer. He could have attacked once and dodged or attacked 3 times. Since the single attack happens in both cases, we’ll only consider what happens after that, dodge or attack twice.

Kern will hit with 55% probability. Grog has +4 constitution modifier. The second relentless rage will succeed 40% of the time. The third will succeed 15% of the time. There is not a fourth relentless rage, the DC is out of Grog’s range. Grog did have inspiration at the time that could be applied. Since the application of inspiration is conditional on the player and the roll, I decided it would be better to ignore it here and apply it the strikes.

If Kern attacks twice more, Grog would go down 58.14% of the time. Grog would then have a 97.76% chance of hitting him. If Kern defends, Grog has a 89.96% chance of hitting him. In the end, if Kern attacks, he wins or gets another turn 59.07% of the time. If he defends, he gets another turn 10.04% of the time. The objectively correct answer is to attack. However, for the story and character of Kern, dodging is correct answer as he is now scared shitless that he may lose yet and that he should dodge instead.

If you’d like to see the rest of his notes for the calculations, they are available here. Thanks for the analysis, IsYitzack!

Nat Crits of 23: THE REMATCH

/

Critical Wins

  • Vex’ahlia (0:26:56) Sleight of Hand to Hunter’s Mark one of the Bastion
  • Grog (0:56:27) Flying kick vs. Kern (negated by disadvantage)
  • Vax’ildan (2:49:50) Persuasion on Kynan Leore (with Luck)

Critical Fails

  • Grog (1:06:31) Athletics check vs. Kern’s Grapple
  • Grog (1:10:25) Third Attack vs. Kern

DM Rolls

  • Kern (Nat20, 1:19:52) Third Attack vs. Grog to put him in the negative
  • Kern (Nat20, 0:50:56) Punch to the torso (halved by Grog’s Stone Endurance)
  • Kern (Nat20, 0:59:40) Blinded attack (negated by disadvantage)

Monster Analysis: Kern the Hammer, Round 2

/

Thanks to hankered-waistline for letting us use her sketch! Check out the rest of her sketches!

  • Episode 23: THE REMATCH
  • Armor Class 19
  • Full 1d4+6 per hit
  • Multi-Class: Level 10 Barbarian, Level 1 Monk
  • Feat: Tough (increased HP [PHB], decreased vulnerability [story])
  • 134 Damage before Relentless Endurance kicked in
  • HDYWTDT (Inspired Goliath Punch) by Grog the Victorious

Kern’s new style

In Orion’s words, “He monked up!” By multiclassing into a level 1 monk, Kern’s hits used the full 1d4+6 instead of the 1d4(½)+6. It also introduced the Patient Defense ability, enabling him to use an attack and then Dodge as a bonus action, rather than dodging under a full action.

While this increased his ability to brawl in a battle, the Monk option did limit the amount of HP he gained the next level. This limitation was offset by the Tough feat, but it also made the difference between 134 hp and 140. Strategically, though, “monking up” was a wise choice for a barbarian NPC who only uses his fists.

What went right

Grog approached this battle with significantly more strategy than the last battle. Drinking the Potion of Stone Giant’s Strength before the match, describing attacks intended to blind and stun, and using Stone’s Endurance to half a critical hit were all wise moves. Grog also remembered to use Relentless Rage to stay in the game this time around, and it was well-spent. Travis came up with creative solutions in the fight versus the mechanically superior abilities of Kern, keeping the damage race close in spite of the dice.

What went wrong

The dice. Kord’s Strength, the dice. Kern rolled three Natural 20s to Grog’s one. Both Grog and Kern lost their Nat20′s by disadvantage, and Grog wisely spent Stone’s Endurance to half damage from the first critical. Grog’s three attempts to finish the fight in the penultimate round also should have been the end of it. (Update: with a +10 attack modifier, his chance of success stood at 93.6%).

Grog had more attacks than Kern over the full fight by virtue of Grog’s frenzied rage and stunning Kern for a turn. His hit-to-miss ratio was significantly closer than Kern’s, albeit with weaker damage.

Grog forgot to add his increased attack modifier due to his rage. Matt pointed out that the battle may have ended sooner had he remembered, but we understand getting lost in the moment!

Our Take on the Final Rounds

As Matt pointed out to critics, Kern did not throw the match by taking a defensive stance. We have to agree with him; strategically, Kern had many more options than multiple attacks. Remember that turns take place only in the meta-game. The characters are merely trading blows when openings arise. When Kern (who does not have Relentless Rage) saw Grog come back from the brink of failure himself (and able to weather at least one more finishing blow), the half-orc was not going to go all-or-nothing. Kern looked for the weak spot, took a chance, then defended himself.

Matt allowed both Grog and the party to attempt to contribute to the fight, re-leveling the challenge while putting checks in place to prevent the scales tipping too far. (Three arrests, Keyleth! THREE.)  Grog explained in (rather graphic) detail what he wanted to do, and Matt described Kern’s actions and reactions. By doing this, the players AND the DM have a lot more impact on the direction of the story, rather than sitting back and letting a random number generator dictate what happens. If this was the type of campaign in which we cared about only the numbers, it would not have been popcorn-worthy, or have given so many of us alarming heart rates.

Travis didn’t specify he was going for the stun, but based on the described moves and the circumstances leading up to it, Matt found a situation where a stun was definitely plausible under circumstances set up by both the story and the dice. (This after explaining away that Tough prevented Kern from getting stunned the first time!) Also, lipless Grog was a psychological loss if I ever saw one.

Travis played this smart, and the dice did not reward him for it. Matt readjusted the challenge on the fly using the tools already in play. Sometimes the dice tell an unrealistic story and need to be reigned in. The referee has room for interpretation, and we agree with the final call.

Also, that victory was so damn sweet.

Monster Analysis: Kern the Hammer, Round 1

/

Sketch by andrewkellerdraws

  • First appearance: 17 Hubris
  • Armor Class 18
  • Barbarian Class and Half-Orc Racial Abilities
  • Returns to 1 hp when reduced to 0 or fewer (once)
  • 102 total HP + 1 bonus, 107 damage received

In anticipation for Round 2 of Phillip the Terrible vs. Kern the Hammer, we’re skipping ahead in our usual monsters to analyze the first round. While there will be some criticism on some choices on the part of Phillip, we want to make clear that we still applaud Travis for fully getting into the moment of the fight. Hind sight is 20/20, and even if he didn’t play to the full of Grog’s ability, damn if it wasn’t entertaining. (As Taliesin points out, “There’s not enough popcorn in the world for this.”) Even though he didn’t mean to lose, this fight ranks up there with Grog’s “haggling” in episode 22. Kudos on a stellar performance, Mr. Willingham. Story is more important that rules!

With that disclaimer out of the way, there were a lot of little things that could have turned the tide of the fight. The Intimidating Presence was a nice artistic touch, but even with a good roll, it would have been ineffective vs. another raging barbarian. That first turn would have been better spent dealing damage, thus buying Grog that last turn he needed. During the third round, he also used a full action to grapple Kern instead of hit him, again costing him two potential additional hits.

Travis pointed out after the show two Barbarian bonuses Grog forgot to apply: Stone’s Endurance and Resistance due to Rage. Stone’s Endurance would have kept Grog alive long enough to get that last hit. Counting his rage resistance would have made the battle a cake-walk.

With that said, we wonder if Matt was actually halving Kern’s damage. If he was, Kern only had 51 HP in the fight, which would not have been nearly as close. We get the impression that the fight was Grog’s 116 vs. Kern’s 119, and no damage was halved. If Grog does remember halve his damage in Round 2, expect a much easier fight.

Update: @majorroe and turtleperch confirmed that Matt did indeed ignore damage resistance so the fight wouldn’t drag on for too long. Therefore, it was a 116 vs. 119. Expect it to be higher for round 2, since Grog has leveled since then to 134. Kern probably has gotten stronger, as well! (Thanks, turtleperch, for the link to the tweet!)

This, of course, assumes that there will be a second round between these two. The DM works in mysterious ways, so there’s no guarantee that we’ll see another fight. Something more important could call the group’s attention, someone dethroned Kern giving Grog a new champion to worry about, etc. We’ll just have to see! (I’m making popcorn anyway.)

Monster Analysis: Gynosphinx

/

Thanks to andrewkellerdraws for letting us use his sketch! Check out the rest of his stuff if you haven’t yet, it’s pretty sweet.

  • First Appearance: 22: AraMente to Pyrah
  • Armor Class 17
  • Challenge Rating: 11
  • True Sight 120 ft, Passive 19
  • Legendary Creature with Lair Actions

Osysa was not an encounter, and actually seemed to lean Lawful Good over the textbook Lawful Neutral. However, since Gynosphinx is in the MM, I thought she would be worth discussing anyway for DMs who may be interested in placing a sphinx (andro- or gyno-) in their campaign.

They often are keepers of divine secrets, providing magical tests to guard both physical and intangible treasures as placed by the gods. Even if a sphinx is defeated or slain, the secret will remain locked away from the creature who fails the sphinx’s test. The lair of a sphinx can function in a time zone of its own.

Gynosphinxes value knowledge and lore. They tend to present puzzles that require a keen mind to overcome. Androsphinxes, the male equivalent, are equally noble, but tend to place value in courage and strength, with tests that require such. It is interesting to note that Osysa’s tests for the teams were a combination of courage and wits, perhaps in tribute to her husband.