Rakshasaaaaaaaaaaaa.

Art by Jet

So, it’s probably about time we talk about rakshasas again. Big spoilers about what it can do below. If you’re a player, keep in mind that the following information can’t be unlearned!

The last time we did a study of what the rakshasa could do, Vax, Keyleth, Tibs, Kashaw, and Thorbir were hunting it among Vasselheim’s refuse. This time, let’s focus more on… well, what the heck it’s doing right now.

Life and Death

Let’s start with the tiger in the room: a couple of the players commented on it, and several critters have asked us: “That can’t be Hotis, right? He was dead, they took his eyes and stuff! Is that a mate, or what’s going on?”

Fun fact about fiends: fiends fought on the Material Plane don’t die. Instead, they are merely relocated to their lower plane of origin (Abyss for demons, Nine Hells for devils, etc). In the case of Rakshasas (which, as of 5e, are considered a type of devil), this transition period is incredibly painful, and can take as short as a couple months or as long as a couple years. During this time, they remain trapped in agony as their body slowly reforms, with nothing but the memory of their former life to reflect on.

Naturally, a rakshasa’s first thought would be that of revenge. Once the transition period is complete, a simple use of Plane Shift (which you’ll remember a rakshasa can cast once per day) can bring them back to the Material Plane, where they commence planning the downfall of the individual or individuals who killed them. In the event that their killer is already dead, the loved ones or descendants make an equally delicious target.

Another fun fact about fiends: fiends can only be permanently killed on their plane of origin. If a party could either convince a rakshasa to battle on the Nine Hells or track it down while it was reforming (all the while battling off residents and the effects of the plane), they could ensure that said rakshasa’s wrath would not come again.

Hotis Lives

Aw, he’s just being friendly! Art by Fl0werb0ys.

It has been 75 days between Vax slitting Hotis’s throat and Hotis planting his dagger into Vax’s side.

Several people have also asked if Hotis can be expected to be more powerful. We find this unlikely, as the lore states nothing of the subject. Rakshasas are very cunning, and will only engage in a battle they feel they have an adequate advantage for going in. Between his immunity to low level spells and invulnerability to nonmagical weapons, Hotis has little to worry about defensively, especially once the trap is sprung.

Offensively speaking, rakshasas are just as brutal in physical combat as they are effective spellcasters. Their claws carry a curse of their own, which are especially dangerous if the victim cannot escape and has no means to return damage. Even if the victim walks away, they may find that their dreams are filled with horrifying images that prevent them from getting any rest whatsoever for as long as the curse remains with them.

Hotis has clearly been watching Vax for a very long time, and has said as much. By inviting Vax late at night, gifting him a stylish robe, and locking them both up high, Hotis has effectively isolated, disarmed, and unarmored him. Vax can only hope that his Wisdom Saving Throw can beat a DC of 18 (with advantage, thanks to his elven heritage’s defense against charm effects). Besides invisibility, true sight, and plane shift, the most worrisome abilities Hotis has at its disposal is mind-control spells (Dominate Person x1, Charm Person x 3, Suggestion x 3).

BUT WHAT ABOUT GILMORE

We are going to refrain from publicly speculating about the current state of our favorite flamboyant arcane entrepreneur. We’re anxious to find out, just as much as everyone else!

Hag Deals

anonymous asks: Do you know what was the hag's trade with VM before stream/on stream? I know that she(?) gave something to Vax, but not what he did to return the favor.

Vox Machina has made deals with two hags.

The first was pre-stream. The Story of Vox Machina background video (0:08:22) speaks of the deal that Tiberius made with Trysta for his mending wheel. In Episode 20 (0:18:13), Trysta’s sister (who we’ll get to in a second) mentions that she can see the part of Tiberius that is still missing, and Tiberius responds that he, “still [doesn’t] know what that means.”  The rest of the party also bartered with Trysta to escape the island they were trapped on.  Here’s the transcript, provided by Matt to Critical Role Transcriptions:

Barely escaping, they eventually discover the base remnants of an ancient town, long toppled… and a small hut that contains a clever Hag named Trysta. Tiberius finds one of his prized artifacts, and makes a dangerous deal to acquire it.  The party barters for information on how to escape, which Trysta will give… in exchange for their aid in slaying a newly nested denizen that threatens her… work.

The party agrees, climbing to the very top of the Crystalfen Cavern to do battle with an Umberhulk!  The fight goes south when Grog is tossed from the cavern ceiling, nearly dying upon impact with the island… but victory is eventually theirs!  Returning, Trysta shows them a hidden staircase that exits into the Graveyard District of Emon.

The second deal took place during the Trial of the Take Part 3 episode. Vax, Tiberius, and Keyleth happen upon the tent of Forsythia, Trysta’s sister. There, after Tiberius purchases two Potions of Greater Healing and a vial of caustic liquid, Vax trades “a favor” for a vial of strong poison. He used that poison in an attack on Delilah Briarwood in Episode 34 (2:58:57), which allowed him to deal an additional 6d6 of poison damage.

Wheatoning.

anonymous asks: What were the rolls that Wil Wheaton made during his time as guest player, and what is the statistical unlikeliness of those rolls? Please also account for times when he rolled a 19 when desiring to roll low.

Given that Wil rolled a d20 54 times over the course of both appearances in the Trial of the Take, we would expect for the frequency of each roll to look similar to this chart, with minor variations (5% of the time):

Instead, the results actually look like this (data from these posts on Episode 20 and Episode 21):

Now, we do have the problem of having a very small sample size of 54 rolls for computing “statistical unlikeliness” (minimum acceptable would be about 1000 rolls). The difference between once and ten times rolled is HUGE when almost all rolls are in the single digits. If we were to boost the trials to 540 rolls, even with Wil’s luck, it’s unlikely he’d have 100 Nat1s and 10 Nat20s. This is the assumption we make with the data we have, in which a single roll can make a world of difference.

But, let’s just assume that this is a perfect representation of how Wil always rolls. Natural 1s made up 18.518% of Wil’s rolls, with a deviation of 73.37% from the expected number of times rolled. It should be noted that rolling any number only once (which is very reasonable for any number to be rolled with 54 total) has a 62.963% deviation. We also calculated the standard deviation, comparing scarily perfect dice to Wheaton’s dice. Again, not very relevant based on such a small sample size, but, hey, if you’re into it, knock yourself out.

The odds of Wheatoning

Earlier this month, we put together all of Wil’s rolls from the Trial of the Take and attempted to calculate how much he “broke math.” Now, actual statistician IsYitzack has sent in his analysis of the data (along with the numbers retrieved from Mathematica): 

If you’d like to see what else IsYitzack has calculated for us, check out the stats on Saving Throws and the odds of the second Kern fight!