Remember that fan project I mentioned earlier in the week? We can finally show what it is: Critical ReRoll, a podcast for critters, by critters!
I’ll be one of several rotating hosts for the show where we’ll discuss what happened in the latest episodes, what we think is on the horizon for Vox Machina, and what is going on in the Critical Role community. If any of that sounds interesting to you, check it out!
Sir Stonefell was already likely the easiest of The List to confront, a brutal surprise round notwithstanding. As the local (human) enforcer, his strength was in his guards, which were easily bypassed by Vox Machina’s earliness. His duel-wielding of swords and his use of Second Wind demonstrated that he had classes in Fighter. Unfortunately, due to the brevity of the battle, we were not able to see whether he preferred Champion or Battle Master (though his position with the Briarwoods and the means by which he obtained it sound more like a tactician than someone willing to do their own work.)
Master Vuukos also had class levels, specifically as a Trickster Rogue. This allowed him to use Disengage as a bonus action (undone upon reconsideration), but also cast spells.
In addition to Sir Stonefell and Master Vuukos, there were three thugs, who would have benefited from Pack Tactics had one not been killed in the surprise round, another not been dominated, and the last been any use at all.
However, the most important monster of the encounter was Percy’s demon, who granted the Pepperbox an additional d6 damage when the gun was trained on one of the names on the barrel. It’s unlikely that Percy’s corruption from lack of sleep has anything to do with his corruption concerning this entity, but it will be interesting to learn more about this being and its history with Percy.
itstheduganator asked: I am working on a special gift for the group and need to know some of their characters physical stats, such as height, weight, hair color, eye color, age, etc. Do you know these?
I don’t have the list for the full group anywhere (which is a shame, it’s making it difficult to have complete character sheets!). Most physical characteristics like eye color, hair color, etc. can be determined by looking at Kit’s images.
Height: Grog is stated to be 8′7″ (ep10, 3:21:35). We learned from Liam’s character sheet that Vax is 5′11″. If what he said about “Stubby” is true (ep22, 1:20:14), Vex is 5′9″. The specifics for the rest are unknown at this time.
Weight: We know that Grog is about 600 (ep29, citation needed). Thanks to Tiberius’s calculations for the travel across the Sea of Bone and Glass (ep08, 1:29:26) we have everyone else: Vax 155, Pike 75, Percy 190, Vex 120, Scanlan 75, Keyleth 125. (Incidentally, without Tiberius, everyone with Kima and the stone weighed 950. Since the dragonborn has to weigh at least 170, he got away with carrying more than 1000 lbs, heh heh.)
Age: They did discuss this in episode 29, but not everyone. We know that Vex and Vax are 27, and presumably Scanlan is a little older than that. Orion has stated that Tiberius is 26, soon to be 27. The rest of the characters will need direct input from the players (or really good memory of critters, if any of you remember them saying).
Hopefully that is somewhat useful, if not a good jumping off point. If other Critters have a better memory than we do or know where to look (or, even better, can obtain the character sheets), message us and we’ll work on a master post of sorts. (And maybe eventually have those promised character sheets!)
Anonymous asks: I was watching the episode the other day, and if I'm not mistaken when the banshee clawed at Percy it was called a Corrupting Touch? Do you think maybe that had anything to do with the corruption point? I'm unfamiliar with DND5e. I only really know pathfinder.
Naw, it’s just a fairly simple necrotic attack. The corrupting touch doesn’t have any additional side effects to it. Though that is a good point; Percy had all the rotten luck this week. At least his gun went back to critting instead of misfire after misfire.
xarph asks: How does corruption work? Are other members of VM succeptible from proximity or spending time in Whitestone?
Here’s the TL;DR version: No one is really sure what “One point of corruption” means. There are a lot of theories (a few we’ll discuss), but it’s not canon to 5e. Percy’s class and backstory were born under Pathfinder, as were a few other mechanics, so it’s likely Pathfinder is the source of the Corruption mechanics.
That’s the summary of what follows. Here’s our breakdown.
Read MoreBanshees are derived from cursed elves who used their beauty in life to control and corrupt rather than spread joy. The curse saps the life and beauty from the victim until the spirit is fully corrupted, forever bound to wander within five miles of its place of demise. It loathes the living and its horrendous appearance, with full memory of its life without willing to accept responsibility for its cursed state.
We saw all of the banshee’s capabilities at work in this episode. Her Horrifying Visage frightens all creatures within 60 feet of it who fail their Wis save (which was negated by Heroes’ Feast). Her trademark Wail (which must be cast not in sunlight) effects all living creatures within 30 feet; we saw it drop Percy to 0 hp on a failed Con save. Fortunately, she can Wail only once per day before she has to rely on her only remaining attack: a melee spell that deals necrotic damage.
Doors are usually benign constructs, common barriers used to prevent unauthorized entry. Most doors are easily traversed, though some are bolstered with locks, traps, or blockades. Even with these measures, most adventurers are trained to the point of trivializing their existence. However, the doors in Critical Role seem to activate meta-mechanical anti-luck capabilities when two factors are met:
In episode 29, the encounter between the door and Vax, Percy, and Scanlan lasted for 12 minutes. Here’s the play-by-play.
In episode 12, a door also nearly defeated Vox Moronica.
We also can’t help but notice that magically-guarded doors pose challenges for single individuals. The Guardian Door of House Thunderbrand in Kraghammer fended off the invading dragonborn with a series of runes before the Carvers arrived to back it up. The door to the Duergar lab in the Emberhold hid a sinister poison spray trap for Vex and Trinket.
We admit that two points of data are hardly conclusive, but we also don’t think it’s worth taking any chances. That said, as frightening as a door may be, there is a being that is significantly more terrifying: The Dread Gazebo.
@thisismegopointed out that the door in the Velvet Cabaret also was a source of strife to the party, causing pain to Vax’s formerly burned foot and forcing Thorbir to embed his axe into the wall before it could be circumvented. Doors, man.
UPDATE (as of Ep36): By now, the above hypothesis has been disproven by a series of other door encounters. That list can be found here.
anonymous asked: You're doing a great service to the critter community with this page! Tell us about yourself!
Thanks! While CritRoleStats is already a team effort (seriously, critters are amazing and we wouldn’t have half the knowledge we have without you), we’re slowly working toward becoming a blog with a little bit more input from the community beyond the odd request and assist. We hope to evolve from one individual turning input from volunteers into articles to a team of individuals turning input from volunteers into articles, very soon. I have also joined forces with Critters RPG and a few other critters for another upcoming Critical Role fan project. Stay tuned… :)
We try to stay about the show on this blog, since that’s the reason why most of you are here. I’m also a pretty private person, but, I suppose I can share a little about myself. I was made in a dice factory…
Okay, legit CritRoleStats stats. I’m Andrew, head of the CritRoleStats blog and voice of @CritRoleStats on Twitter. While I’ve always enjoyed RPGs, it wasn’t until last year when I really got into tabletop RPGs. Rather than reattempting to enter the complex world of D&D after a game in college left a sour taste, I started small as the GM for a Leverage RPG campaign. I was eventually coaxed into playing D&D with some coworkers, but grew frustrated that we could only play once a week, at best. I chose to satiate my RPG cravings by finally finishing Persona 4 (and replaying P3FES after that).
Meanwhile, my wife heard about this great show on Felicia Day’s company’s Twitch stream where professional voice actors played D&D. At first I let her enjoy it on her own, as I couldn’t really see myself drawn into someone else’s adventure that was 3 hours long each session. After hearing her rant about Clarota’s betrayal (such passion!) and realizing that a few of the voices in the games I was playing were actually at the table, I finally gave it a try. I had caught up within a week.
While I do enjoy playing (halfing rogue and human bard), I’m the kind of guy who enjoys solving the mystery before the denouement, and otherwise having knowledge of all. It wasn’t long before I was drawn into the DM seat (I’m currently running a live campaign in a world of my own design). After live-tweeting a couple of times from my little-used personal account with the MM and DMG open, I found that there were just as many people who enjoyed knowing what was going on as I did. Soon thereafter, CritRoleStats was established.
It has been great working with all sorts of critters of the community. Shout outs to Critical Role Source and Vox-Machina here on Tumblr; CrittersRPG, Critters Community, and the many, many amazing individuals on Twitter; Geek and Sundry and the cast and crew of Critical Role for letting us join them and being super-cool about it all; and special shout outs to the volunteers who have lessened this great (but nonetheless fun) burden.
hereticalteapot asked: Can we get some stats on that door please? This is very important.
Oh, do not worry, the Monster Analysis is already half-written. This is also not the first door in the history of Critical Role to cause a group of adventurers trouble… Pretty sure that three is the magic number to unlock doors’ anti-luck capabilities.
burzolog asked: Did Mercer tell Laura that the spell Delilah cast on Vex could have killed her instantly? The spell was almost certainly Finger of Death, and it could have taken her straight to 0 hp, but it couldn't have overkilled her by her max hp. Does the zombie animation effect override the normal process of going unconscious and rolling death saves? I don't see why it would work that way.
Matt explained that the spell was Finger of Death after Delilah cast it (ep25, 1:04:33). He also clarified in the latest episode (29) during the NYCC panel (11:36) that the spell would have killed her outright, had it brought her to 0 hp. The spell’s description does explain that it overrides the death-saving process, and the victim is immediately turned into a zombie in the next round under the caster’s control. No saves, automatic game over; specific rules override general rules. Vex was lucky Lady Briarwood cast it when she was at full health!
The good news is that it is unlikely Delilah can cast it more than once per day. The other good news is that no other necromancy spell has this property of bypassing the unconsciousness state. The bad news is that the bite of vampire can also bypass this state, provided it is the bite that takes the victim to 0 hp.
I’m not sure who’s crazier, me or you guys. I’ll say it again (and definitely not for the last time): Critters are amazing. Thank you so much, all of you.
And, to top it off, G&S is almost to 10k subscribers. Let’s see if we can get them there tonight! (Updated: They did!)
You people like your fights. I’m getting to the point where I’m going to be able to play broadcaster of the full fight without even needing to watch it. To prevent me from going that far and to cap off our commentary of the episode, let’s just go ahead and do the full play-by-play.
Round 1 (0:42:15) Grog DDT’s Kern over his shoulder (6) before raging. Kern responds by also raging, then monk-hitting Grog twice in the torso (9, 8). (Kern 6, Grog 17)
Round 2 (0:45:55) Grog elbows Kern in the nose (6) before attempting to blind him. He misses, but kicks Kern’s kneecap (7). Kern roundhouses Grog in the jaw (7) with a secondary kick to the side of the head (8). (Kern 19, Grog 32)
Round 3 (0:49:11) Grog misses three swipes. Kern crits with a solid punch to Grog’s torso, but Grog’s Stone’s Endurance absorbs the full impact. Kern attempts to kick Grog in the head again, but Grog catches the foot. (Kern 19, Grog 32)
Round 4 (0:51:58) Grog hyper-flexes Kern’s leg on his shoulder (8) before punching Kern’s exposed groin (8). Grog attempts to sweep out Kern’s other leg out from under him, but Kern leaps off Grog’s chest, putting distance between them. Scanlan sneaks in inspiration before Kern lands an uppercut (10). Kern then enters a dodge stance. (Kern 35, Grog 42)
Round 5 (0:55:47) Grog lands a flying kick (8) and is inspired enough to grasp Kern’s head, dig his thumbs in Kern’s eyes (6) and blind him for the round. Kern swings wide twice, but Grog’s chuckling gives away his position, allowing the third punch to land (7). (Kern 49, Grog 49)
Round 6 (1:00:25) Grog bites into Kern’s neck (8). He then picks Kern up and drops him over his knee Bane-style (14), stunning him. (Kern 71, Grog 49)
Round 7 (1:04:22) Grog rage stomps on his prone opponent, landing two blows (8, 8) before Kern rolls out of the way. Kern rolls to his feet, grapples Grog, and sinks his teeth into him (10), tearing Grog’s upper lip from his face. (Kern 87, Grog 59)
Round 8 (1:07:46) Grog breaks the grapple and attempts to headbutt Kern, but Kern throws off the attack by spitting Grog’s lip back in his face. Kern lands an uppercut and a haymaker (7, 8) and misses a backwards kicks from which he barely manages to recover. (Kern 87, Grog 74)
Round 9 (1:10:05) Grog misses a kick to the knee, but lands a punch to the face (8). The third attack leaves Grog exposed to a headbutt (9). Grog dodges another headbutt, but Kern lands the third (7). (Kern 95, Grog 90)
Round 10 (1:11:37) Grog uses the wall to launch himself at Kern (8), lands a foot into Kern’s groin to draw blood (7), and drives hit foot into the groin one more time (8). Kern grabs Grog’s leg in spite of Scanlan’s cutting words, dealing a solid punch and knee to the stomach (10, 12). Keyleth gets caught attempting a healing word, resulting in her and Tiberius getting dragged off by the Bastion. (Kern 118, Grog 112)
Round 11 (1:18:00) Grog drives his elbow into Kern’s chin (8), misses with the back-swing, and connects his heel to Kern’s kneecap (8). Kern’s resilience keeps him in the fight. Kern flies at Grog, pummeling the goliath (10, 8, 14). Grog’s relentless rage also keeps him standing. (Kern 134, Grog 144)
Round 12 (1:21:32) Grog attempts to finish the fight with three swings and a pair of one liners, all which fly wide. Vex raises her shirt to no effect, but Scanlan launches a clutch inspiration. Kern’s monk-punch is also short, forcing the half-orc to enter a defensive stance and summon his opponent to come at him. (Kern 134, Grog 144)
Round 13 (1:25:05) With inspired desperation, Grog launches his fist into Kern (8). A punch-drunk Kern is lifted in the air by the raging goliath before landing on his neck one last time, one more DDT to bookend the fight. Grog, victorious, stands over the body with leg on chest with the cry of the triumphant. (Kern 142, Grog 144)
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