@KbowlZee asked: Any idea how many spell slots the gang has left?

Rough estimate based on where we inferred each character’s level, but things could be a lot worse from the spell slots side of things. They’re not in a good way by any means (that HP, man), so, for many, many reasons, we can only hope that Ashley can join this week.

Grog can rage 4 more times, raging only in the battle against Anders. He has not used any Frenzied Rages, and therefore has no levels of exhaustion.

The real rough side of things is the items that were spent. A couple of potions are sad but necessary; the rest of the items have proven their worth in combat before, and will be sorely missed.

• Healing Potion (ep33p1, 1:30:00) Vax’ildan on Cassandra (noted as last in Vax’s inventory)
• Wand of Magic Missiles (33p1, 1:47:00) 6 of 7 charges spent
• Healing Potion (ep33p2, 0:48:30) Percy on Cassandra
• Scroll of Spirit Guardians (ep33p2, 1:23:40) Scanlan on Ghosts
• Boots of Haste (ep33p2, 1:48:00) Vax’ildan for three attacks and extra movement (not declared, just implemented)
• Blazing Bowstring (33p2, 1:52:30 and 1:53:32) Both uses, Vex’ahlia on ghosts

So, yeah, it should be interesting to see how few slots and remaining magic items they can use over the course of a full day before facing a couple that nearly killed two of them at full health. (Spells used below the break.)

Pike

• Holy Feast, 6th (ep32, 2:55:46)

Keyleth

• 2nd (ep32, 2:57:40) Skywrite
• 3rd (p1, 0:20:29) Dispel Magic
• 2nd (p1, 0:50:43) Enhance Ability on Percy
• 1st (ep33p1, 1:37:27) Healing Word on Cass
• 1st (ep33p1, 1:53:02) Healing Word on Vax
• 4th (ep33p1, 1:54:08) Grasping Vine on Cass
• 4th (ep33p2, 0:15:55) Cure Wounds on Vax

Scanlan

• 4th (33p1, 1:49:14) Counterspell vs. Anders
• 1st (33p1, 2:06:08) Thunderwave
• 5th (33p2, 0:54:23) Seeming
• 3rd (33p2, 1:50:03) Lightning Bolt
• 1st (33p2, 1:50:52) Healing Word on Vax’ildan

Vex’ahlia

• 2nd (ep32, 3:13:43) Pass Without Trace
• 3rd (ep33p1, 1:55:45) Cure Wounds on Vax
• 1st (ep33p2, 0:01:32) Hunter’s Mark on last Helmed Horror
• 2nd (ep33p2, 0:56:10) Pass Without Trace

Clarota Masterpost

Piece by the one and only Kit Buss. More art added below!

If you spend enough time around the Twitter Critters, you’ve probably run across @Clarota_Reborn. This entire article, from the data collection and commentary on the mind flayer we knew best, is fully their handiwork. Thanks, “Clarota,” and enjoy, Critters! (Don’t miss Clarota’s playlist on Spotify!)

Episode 3

• Spells/Abilities Used:

  • Wall of Force (between himself and Keyleth and Vex)

Episode 4

• Damage Taken: 28 total

  • 28 (from failed save against bulette jump attack)

• Damage Dealt: 32 total

  • 32 (from lightning bolt to bulette)

• Spells/Abilities Used:

  • Mind Blast (ineffective against bulette)

  • Lightning Bolt (against bulette)

Episode 5

• Damage Taken: 8, 28 with approx.

  • 20 from ballista bolt (This damage was not stated, but based on the description and average damage, I came up with this approximation)

  • 8 (from ballista bolt being pulled out)

• Damage Dealt: 5, 110 with approx

  • 22 (from mind blast to duergar general)(This damage was not stated, but a successful mind blast was used to stun the general when he ran and mind blast also does an average of 22 damage on a successful save)

  • 55 (from extract brain on duergar general)(This damage was not explicitly stated, but extract brain deals an average of 55 and must reduce the enemy to 0 to extract the brain and that was done)

  • 5 (to ooze from lava it was placed into)

  • 28 (from ooze to hook horror) (This damage was not stated, but each time a party member made contact with an ooze, they took 28 acid damage so it seems reasonable that the hook horror would take that same damage from contact)

• Spells/Abilities Used:

  • Detect thoughts (successful on duergar general)

  • Mind Blast (sucessfully stuns duergar general and deals damage)

  • Tentacles (no damage, grapple stunned duergar general as a free action)

  • Extract Brain (reduced duergar general to 0 hp)

  • Levitation (constant throughout all episodes, but specific mention here to fly over war camp

  • Lightning Bolt (causes ooze to split)

  • Telekenesis (lifts ooze and throws it in lava on top of hook horror)

• Enemies Killed: 2

  • Hook Horror (ooze placed on top of hook horror and acid dissolves it)

  • Duergar general (brain extracted)

Episode 6

• Damage Taken: 0

• Damage Dealt: 0

• Spells/Abilities Used: none

Episode 7

• Damage Taken: 0

• Damage Dealt: 0

• Spells/Abilities Used:

  • Invisibility (when searching the Emberhold with Scanlan)

  • Dominate Monster (Sucessfully used on enemy illithid in the throne room)

Episode 8

• Damage Taken: 28

  • 28 (from abomination’s acid cloud ability)

• Damage Dealt: 22

  • 7 (to abomination from lightning bolt)

  • 15 (from tentacle attact (plus grapple))

• Spells/Abilities Used:

  • Invisibility (Before taking the first watch)

  • Levitation (To cross the sea of glass and bone)

  • Blur (During the abomination encounter)

  • Lightning Bolt (very bad damage roll against abomination)

  • Tentacle attack and grapple (against abomination)

  • Levitation (to free himself from the grasping bones)

Episode 9

• Damage Taken: 0

• Damage Dealt: 12 total (lightning bolt to mind flayer)

• Spells/Abilities Used:

  • Lightning bolt (against mind flayer)

  • Detect Thoughts (Used on Queen Ulara)

  • Levitation (Constantly floating around)

  • Clarota constantly uses telepathy to communicate, but in this particular instance, he uses his telepathy to share his memories of the cavern holding Yug'Voril effectively creating a shared map.

Episode 10

• Damage Taken: 0

• Damage Dealt: 11 approx. total (avg 11) (Unspecified Half Damage from mind blast to cloaker) note: this was an error on Matt’s part because Mind Blast does not deal half damage on a successful save, but he included it so I decided to list it here.

• Spells/Abilities Used:

  • Invisibility (to escape from the cloaker)

  • Mind Blast (deals half damage to cloaker and does not stun it)

Episode 11

• Damage Taken: 0

• Damage Dealt: 47 total

  • 18 (Lightning Bolt to K'Varn)

  • 14 (Lightning Bolt to K'Varn)

  • 15 (Tentacles to K'Varn)

• Spells/Abilities Used:

  • Sleep (on Fomorian to keep it sleeping)

  • Sleep (again to keep fomorian asleep)

  • Levitate (pretty constant, but specifically used to approach the temple)

  • Mind Blast (Unsuccessful against K'Varn, no damage)

  • Lightning Bolt (Against K'Varn)

  • Lightning Bolt (Also Against K'Varn)

  • Tentacle Attack (Against K'Varn)

Episode 13

• Damage Taken: 88

  • 19 (Hail of Thorns from Vex, Sucessful Save)

  • 14 (22 to hit from Grog’s Axe)

  • 14 (22 to hit from Vex’s Arrow + hunter’s mark)

  • 19 (18 to hit from Vex’s Arrow + hunter’s mark)

  • 22 (19 to hit from Percy’s gun, killing blow)

• Damage Dealt: 59 total

  • 22x2 (Mind Blast to Scanlan and Pike; both stunned)

  • 15 (Tentacles to Scanlan)

• Spells/Abilities Used:

  • Mind Blast (Successful against Pike and Scanlan)

  • Tentacles

Lifetime Stats (Episodes 3-11 and 13)

• Damage Taken:163 (87 in final battle) explicitly stated; 183 with approximations

• Damage Dealt: 177 explicitly stated; 298 with approximations

• Fun Fact: Depending on which damage calculation is used, either 33% or 20% respectively of Clarota’s total damage was against Vox Machina.

• Enemies Killed: 2

Spells/Abilities Used in order of frequency:

• Levitate-constant effect

• Lightning Bolt-6

• Mind Blast-5

• Tentacles-4

• Invisibility-3

• Detect Thoughts-2

• Sleep-2

• Dominate Monster-1

• Extract Brain-1

• Wall of Force-1

• Telekinesis-1

Additional Notes:

It seems reasonable that Clarota is simply an Arcanist Variant Illithid as he never uses any additional spells or abilities outside of what is listed in the template. The only difference is that Clarota wears his unique metal skullcap that shielded him from the corrupted Elder Brain and grants advantage on Wisdom-saving throws. Interestingly, Clarota never rolled a natural 20 or a natural 1.

Updated: Favored Fanart!

Artist: T. Allen Sievers
Twitter: @TKM_Madness
Website: thekhazmodanmadness.tumblr.com

Artist: Sejii
Twitter: @elveneleven33
Website: sejii.tumblr.com

Artist: Kat
Twitter: @kwwins
Website: hankered-waistline.deviantart.com

Artist: Joma Cueto
Twitter: @ForgingMeanings
Website: forgingmeanings.tumblr.com

Artist: Sini Liukkonen
Twitter: @sinikivi
Website: kentti.deviantart.com

Monster Analysis: Clarota (Mind Flayer Arcanist)

Art by andrewkellerdraws

• First Appearance: 03 Strange Bedfellows
• Armor Class 15
• Darkvision 120 ft, Passive 16
• Speed 30 ft
• 10th-level Int-based arcane spellcaster
• 88 damage taken, 22 killing blow by Percy

Clarota was shunned from his colony as an arcanist, considered a deviant from the strictly psionic spellcasting abilities of his peers. This rejection from the colony also saved him from the initial assault of K’Varn, as well as prevented Clarota’s mental enslavement by way of the Elder Brain (thanks to his helmet). 

Clarota primarily favors Mind Blast, the most powerful ranged spell possessed by all illithid. In addition to standard mind flayer psionic spells, however, Clarota also appears to have the complete standard list of Mind Flayer Arcanist (wizard) spells at his disposal (MM 222). These spells are shown to be more useful than many psionic attacks against many creatures of the Underdark, including the bulette and K’Varn himself. However, Extract Brain proves to be adequately useful against the General, and Mind Blast works rather effectively against the gnomes when Clarota is once again brought back into the fold of his colony.

Interestingly, Matt stated in a Q&A that Clarota’s inclusion was originally intended to be another encounter for the party, an Easter egg to show off the abilities of a magically enhanced but physically weakened mind flayer before the party entered the capital of Yug’Voril itself. Thanks to the diplomatic approach of the party’s flying carpet renegades, Vox Machina found a temporary ally with at least one common goal, someone who provided some knowledge and much support on the path to defeating K’Varn.

Monster Analysis: Mind Flayers and the Elder Brain

• Illithid First Appearance: 03 Strange Bedfellows
  
• Armor Class 15
• Darkvision 120 ft, Passive 16
• Speed 30 ft
• Advantage on saves vs. spells
• Average/Max HP: 71, 117
• ep04: 79 taken, 8 dagger to the maw by Vax
• ep07: 90 taken, 8 dagger to the eye by Vax 
• ep09: 94 taken, 20 Fireball by Tiberius
• ep13: 86 taken, 8 poison dagger by Vax

Mind flayers (also known as the illithid) are psionic tyrants, who have a long, long history of subjugating entire races of humanoids as slaves to their empires across dimensions. The eventual resistance from their thralls eventually forced those who took residence on the material plane to settle in the Underdark, where their schemes to reclaim their former holds.

Illithid value the power (and taste) of the mind. Their entire hivemind network is founded in telepathic communication and psionic abilities (rather than the arcane). They subsist on humanoid brains for sustenance, using the enzymes and psychic energies to fuel their own bodies. They also occasionally will save a brain to be turned into intellect devourers, which are used to hunt and obtain more brains. Their ability to devour brains (and subsequently kill without saving throws) caused them to often be the first target for the respectfully terrified Vox Machina.

Illithid are willing to allow their thralls to complete their physical work for them, especially when a foe proves more powerful than anticipate and a hasty retreat is in order. The mind flayers Vox Machina encountered seemed somewhat more willing to do their own dirty work, but frequently exercised their daily Plane Shift when battles turned unfavorably.

• Elder Brain First Appearance: 10 K’Varn Revealed
  
• Armor Class 18 (at weakest), 20 (before party flees)
• 320 damage taken and “not on death’s door yet”

The Elder Brain is the collection of brains from all of the colony’s past generations of mind flayers. The center of the hivemind, it telepathically directs all illithid within 5 miles of it, and is capable of holding a complete mental conversation with each individual mind flayer at once. It has its own psychic field that keeps it in position and deflects attacks. It can also defend itself offensively by a physic pulse (which, thankfully, the party was just out of range for it to be effective).

The sheer volume of it, built by generations of illithid brains, made it an extremely potent and extremely hardy being to take out. The difficulty is amped when the party is under the time pressure of hundreds of illithid looking to both defend their heritage and claim a celebratory meal in their new-found independence. While the Elder Brain is probably significantly weakened (one would hope after it has been smashed, ripped apart, dehydrated, fireballed, and shot multiple times with bullets and arrows), as Taliesin said: “It’s never going to forget us!”

Of course, none of these describe a certain mind flayer who might be considered the savior of the illithid despite being cast out for his arcane persuasion…

Monster Analysis: The Broker

• First Appearance: 25 Crimson Diplomacy
  
• Armor Class 18
• Speed 30 ft
• Trickster Rogue, Int-based caster
• Tiefling, Hellish Rebuke available
• 194 damage taken, 21 HDYWTDT overkill by Percy
• Old woman: 75 taken, 31 killing blow by Tiberius
• Masked monk: 60 taken before incapacitated 

The Broker was a reward and custom character for a contest winner in the chat the day before the episode aired. In game, he was a bounty hunter, hired in this case by Lillith’s sisters (who there seems to be no love lost after the pale tiefling did something to her face). His defeat ending the tracking spell placed on Lillith, giving her another chance to flee from her sisters’ advances.

For the Broker and his associates’ sakes, it was most unfortunate that they stumbled upon Vox Machina with essentially all of their spell slots intact and a strong sense of frustration over not taking the Briarwoods. These factors resulted in what can only be described as overkill, with The Broker dying before the first round ended, and his elderly female associate dead without having cast a single spell or attack. The only PC to take any damage was Tiberius, who swallowed the Broker’s reactionary fire attack for a measly 4 damage.

The encounter with these bounty hunters form a noticeable deviation from the pattern of the battles Vox Machina fought up until this point. First of all, this is the first battle since the show started streaming that has taken place in a public location, within city limits, under the dominion and protection of a lawful government, with a group of otherwise lawfully present individuals. All other encounters to the death had been either with notable menaces to the city (e.g., the naga abomination in Kraghammer), a definitive act of war against a government whose rule the party did not recognize (e.g., the duergar and the illithid), or far from the view of the public (e.g., the rakshasa battle). The mental toll of fighting so many battles outside of civilization skewed the perspective of several members of the party, all who were eager to obtain some sense of victory from the evening. This naturally backfired, causing many of the allies in Emon to question their reliability. (It also didn’t help that the Briarwoods have already infiltrated Tal’Dorei’s political system, or that war has been brewing outside the walls of Emon for some time.)

Dimension Door Debate

During the livestream rebroadcast of “07 The Throne Room,” there was some debate in the chat about Queen Ullara’s use of Dimension Door on Grog (3:40:26). Specifically, Dimension Door states: “You can also bring one willing creature of your size or smaller who is carrying gear up to its carrying capacity.” (PHB 233) Since Grog is huge and duergar are short, clearly Matt took liberties?

Here’s where we play rule lawyer: Duergar and Goliaths, despite their height and weight differences from Humans, are both Medium Sized. By this definition, a gnome could also still transport a slightly-taller halfling.

If we were to go by the stringent “goliath is bigger than a dwarf” logic, at what point do we draw the line for what qualifies as bigger? Technically, Lady Briarwood would be smaller than Lord, yet it still makes sense for them to go together. For simplicity, it’s just easier to use the general Size description for the use of the spell; your DM’s mileage may vary (and the street goes both ways!).

Monster Analysis: Hag

• First Appearance: 20 Trial of the Take Part 3
  
• Armor Class 17
• Darkvision 60 ft, Passive 14
• Speed 30 ft
• Average/Max HP: 82, 121

First thing to get out of the way: we’re not sure what kind of hags Forsythia or her sister Trista actually are. Her ability to cast an illusionary appearance suggests that she is likely a green hag (as above stats assume), but since she seems to prefer the inner walls of Vasselheim instead of a swamp and she and her sister were created when the game was run in Pathfinder, it’s probable that her actual identity, stats, and abilities are enhanced and an amalgamation of various types of hags.

Hags are arrogant, magical fey who consider themselves more cunning and intelligent than any other mortal creature. They are willing to make deals with mortals who treat them with the proper respect, but these deals are almost always made with the intent to drag the other party into the evil that consumes their own dark hearts. They embrace the disturbing, and their lairs tend to demonstrate their perverse natures.

Hags form covens to enhance their own knowledge and arcane power. They value these alliances (to the extent that they can exploit them) and are loyal to the oaths they make with their sisters (assuming they don’t make them with crossed fingers). They are all equals within the group. They usually meet in threes to resolve conflict between two of them; any more usually results in argumentative chaos. While they are all near each other, each hag becomes a 12th-level caster who all share the same wizard spell slots (uses Int mod; notable since they usually cast using their Cha). They can also work together to form an artifact called a hag eye, which can be used for scrying by any member of the coven.

Tiberius’s desperation to complete his quest and Vax’s deal for mere poison provided the perfect opportunity for the hags to mettle. Between the eventual return of one fiend with stripes and the “favor” hovering over the rogue’s head, a stroke of bad luck will eventually find its way to Vox Machina.

Monster Analysis: Frost Giants

• First Appearance: 19 Trial of the Take Part 2
  
• Armor Class 15
• Immune to Cold damage (usually)
• Speed 40 ft
• Average/Max HP: 138, 204
• “Ace”: 167 taken, 54 cold damage from Rimefang
  
• “Gary”: 123 taken, 15 killing blow by Grog

Frost Giants attack first, and don’t bother with questions later. Their culture is one of war and brute force, and they value combat prowess over craftsmanship. Any fine items they obtain are either bartered with other giants or taken from villages crushed in their wake. Their pecking order is determined by the strongest of their numbers. Since they value strength, it’s not surprising that they bow to the will and might of Rimefang, even unwillingly.

As guardians to Rimefang’s lair (their former home), their thrown rocks and axe attacks served as a proper scare and a minor warm-up before facing the real big bad. The giants’ forced cooperation was convenient for navigating the caves and saved a few spell slots and HP as well. Despite their ineptitude in combat against the dragon and even with Grog needing to dedicate his full final turn to finishing Gary, Ace was useful for soaking up the direction of a Cold Breath, and Gary’s lone 24 pushed Zahra’s 9 to the (absolutely magnificent) Hellish Rebuke. (Usually, they would be immune to Rimefang’s Cold Breath, but considering Ace’s face was already mostly disintegrated, that much cold from an angry dragon still makes some sense as a killing blow.)

Monster Analysis: Worg, Ogrillon, and Orcs

• First Appearance: 18 Trial of the Take Part 1
  
• Worg Armor Class 13
• Darkvision 60 ft, Passive 14
• Speed 50 ft
• Advantage on Perception checks
• Average/Max HP: 26, 44
• 40 taken, 12 killing blow by Grog

Worgs are large, cruel predators who delight in malevolently hunting and killing weaker prey. They usually associate with goblins as mounts, but will also partner with orcs. Victims of its bite attack must make a strength save or be knocked prone. Fortunately, a raging goliath looking for playmates has little trouble against such a creature.

• First Appearance: 18 Trial of the Take Part 1
  
• Ogrillon Armor Class 12
• Darkvision 60 ft, Passive 9
• Speed 30 ft
• Average/Max HP: 30, 48
• 66 taken, 21 killing shot by Percy

Ogrillons are half-orc, half-ogre are exceedingly dull-witted, only slightly smarter than their full-ogre brethren. They are fully willing to work with their orcish brothers to assist in raids, using their brawn as directed by the warlike strategy of orcs. That said, the average damage rating of a single half-ogre is still fairly trivial compared to what Vox Machina is capable of… Especially when their gunslinger is rolling critical after critical.

• First Appearance: 18 Trial of the Take Part 1
  
• Orc Armor Class 16
• Darkvision 60 ft, Passive 10
• Speed 30 ft, bonus action to move speed toward hostile
• Orc 1: 53 taken, 19 killing axe by Grog
• Orc 2: 45 taken, 45 Chained Lightning by Lyra
  
• Orc 3: 76 taken, 12 killing blow by Trinket
  
• Orc 4: 74 taken, 30 killing blow by Percy
  
• Orc 5: 17 taken, Decapitated by Grog after interrogation
  
• Orc 6: 51 taken, 17 killing Agonizing Blast by Zahra
  

Orcs are barbaric, aggressive individuals who shun civilization in favor of roaming tribes. They lust for power, ignoring race in favor of recruiting and swelling their numbers with powerfully built individuals (ogres included, as we can infer). Orcs commonly pillage and scavenge from villages, and have an unquenchable thirst for slaughter. Vasselheim is guarded enough that this band of orcs seem to have little interest, but travelers who are found in their hunting grounds find they must meet strength with strength to fight them off.

This battle was basically a random encounter for the party, showcasing an animal Lyra had claimed to have killed, giving us the start of Percy’s ridiculous crit count (as well as his trademark buttflap pajamas), and satiating Grog’s blood lust before the party encountered the lair of Rimefang.

Thanks to @thesingingbadger, @starstuff84, and @dragonmustang01 for tracking the damage totals for this fight.

Monster Analysis: Dire Ape

The dire ape was just a corpse by the time Vox Machina got to it (killed by Aldor’s party, presumably eaten by the hydra), but in the interest of logging ALL creatures in the world of Critical Role, we’ve logged the stats of the textbook ape, then customized them to make them DIRE. Edit: @thebidbagboogie reminded us that Giant Ape is in the MM, negating the need for custom stats. Here’s the stats for Giant Ape, compared next to that of a standard ape. Thanks!

• First Appearance: 17 Hubris
  
• Armor Class 13 (12 for ape)
• Speed 40 ft, Climb 40 ft (30 ft, 30 ft climb for ape)
• Giant Ape Multiattack: (3d10+6)x2 bludgeoning
  
• Ape Multiattack: (1d6+3)x2 bludgeoning
• Giant Ape Average/Max HP: 30, 48
• Ape Average/Max HP: 19, 30

Monster Analysis: Hydra

• First Appearance: 17 Hubris
  
• Armor Class 15 
• Darkvision 60 ft, Passive 16
• Speed 30 ft, Swim 30 ft
• Advantage on saves vs. blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, stunned, or being knocked unconscious
• Head removed when takes more than 25 damage in a turn
• Regains 20 HP and 2 heads on turn when missing a head, per head
• Average/Max HP: 172, 255 max
• 459 damage taken, 80 HDYWTDT by Tiberius

Hydras are what remains of Lernaea, a rival dragon god slain and scattered across the word multiverse by Tiamat. Although they stem from an evil dragon god, their behavior is more bestial in nature, aligned only to its own ravenous appetite. It prefers wetlands, moving fluidly through rivers and swamps.

Multiple heads gives the hydra many advantages. When it sleeps, there is always one head awake to keep watch. It has an equal number of bite attacks per turn as it has heads, as well as an equal number of reactions for attacks of opportunity. This means a five-headed hydra can use five attacks of opportunity at once, then attack five more times on its turn (max of 150 combined piercing damage!).

If it receives more than 25 damage in a single blow, one of its heads will die. If the wound is still open at the end of its next turn, it will regain two heads and 10 HP per regained head for each dead head. Dealing fire damage before its next turn will cauterize the wound, preventing this effect. Killing all heads kills the creature.

Vox Machina’s ambush provided a much-needed surprise round that trapped the monstrosity, giving it only two attack rounds. The hydra and the lure of a reward for slaying it put them at odds with Aldor and his approved party. By the time they arrived, Vox Machina had already dealt 215 damage. The rival cleric and ranger dealt the only damage to the creature for their party, for a total of 60 of the final 459 damage. Tiberius’s double-fireballs were cast out of the desire to outpace the rivals, which… definitely happened. (This also marks the largest amount of friendly fire damage Tiberius has dealt in a single turn: 140 to Vox Machina, 360 if we include Aldor’s team.)

By killing the monstrosity before the approved hunters could fell it, the party’s fate was forcibly crossed with the Slayers’ Take (and conveniently, gave us the opportunity to meet a slew of amazing guests!).

Monster Analysis: Bulette + The General

• First appearance: 04 Attack on the Duergar Warcamp
  
• Armor Class 17, reduced to 14
• Speed 40 ft, 40 ft burrowing
• Darkvision 60 ft, Tremorsense 60 ft, 16 Passive
• Average/Max HP: 94, 135
• 350 damage taken, 40 HDYWTDT by Grog

Bulettes are voracious eaters, attacking groups of any size without regard for anything except their own appetites. They tunnel deep underground, sensing the tremors generated by moving prey before launching themselves out of the ground at them (earning their nickname, “land sharks”). Its bite deals an average of 30 piercing damage. Its powerful legs allow it to leap 15 feet, forcing victims in the landing zone to make a save or be knocked prone, along with taking an average of 28 slashing and bludgeoning damage (half on save and pushed back 5 feet, not prone).

After the wild success of the slain mind flayer and the otherwise dominated General (and his men by extension), the bulette (a gift from the chatroom) provided a little more than a wrinkle to the party’s plans. Even though Scanlan took a little damage earlier from the duergar, the bulette was ultimately responsible for nearly killing the gnome (avoided by a series of VERY lucky athletic checks from the cleric). It also greatly softened Percy up from full health, allowing the General to get the knockout blow on the tinkerer.

Speaking of the General, we might as well throw him, his men, and their poop-covered ally in the mix:

• First appearance: 04 Attack on the Duergar Warcamp
  
• Armor Class ~17
• 70 damage taken before having his brain consumed by Clarota
• 7 Duergar soldiers
• 1 dagger’d while stealthing in
• 3 killed by Stone Pillars
• 3 killed between episodes
• Illithid: 79 taken, 8 killing blow by Vax

The absence of the mind flayer (brought to you by Surprise Rounds and Assassin Rogues™) made the initial battle more of a nuisance than the terrifying assault the party all feared before the strike. However, as backup to the bulette, the opportunistic duergar were a bit more dangerous. Fortunately, their numbers were still fairly easy to thin.

Despite having two PCs near death, this battle did result in two great spoils: Grog’s new Firebrand Warhammer, taken from the General, and Trinket’s new armor, skinned from the Bulette.