Quick Answers 44

How many times has…?

Due to the recent release of our word count posts, we’ve had an influx of requests to track more. The posts we’ve made are the result of nearly a year’s worth of tracking; required the effort of over 100 volunteers; and months of work on our part to coordinate volunteers, collect stats, edit, format, check, and post. 

With the sheer volume of content now, we decided that, once we were done tracking previously made requests, we would no longer take requests that require a full-show rewatch. Further, we no longer take requests for tracking a particular phrase or word. We have amazing volunteers, and we want to make sure we can make the best use of their time and energy as possible.

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Quick Answers 43

What level Wizard is Shaun Gilmore? And what wizard school does he study?

He’s a sorcerer, confirmed by Matt.

Where did Vax get the Potion of Invulnerability he used during the Thordak fight?

In Vorugal’s lair (Episode 72, 0:59:00).

Was it ever known where the cast used to play D&D before the stream?

According to Liam in episode 12, past games took place “in the dark and fantastical cave, also known as Travis’s dining room.” This doesn’t mean ALL games were there, but we can assume a good portion were there.

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Shop at Gilmore’s!

metrognomefamily asked: How many times has the group told people to go to Gilmore’s Glorious Goods?               

Fun fact: Vox Machina receives a 10% discount on all items from Gilmore’s Glorious Goods, and advertised for the store in 10% of Critical Role episodes! Updated to Episode 80.

Thanks to @allessier, @c_diercks, @ChrisVLinden, @dutchcritter, Eric R., @SilentEnGee, and other critters for their work compiling this list!

Times that Vox Machina advertised for Gilmore’s Glorious Goods: 8

24 The Feast

  • (2:17:37) Vex’ahlia: Also, Gilmore’s Glorious Goods!  Scanlan: Oh, yes!  Gilmore’s: if you’re ever Overdark, come check it out, it’s a great, great store.

25 Crimson Diplomacy

  • (2:34:02) Scanlan: One more thing before we leave. If you need any items, be they gear or blades, go to Gilmore’s; Gilmore’s Glorious Goods-today!  Tiberius: You don’t have to sell it.  Scanlan: We’re supposed to plug him, right? I don’t know.

31 Gunpowder Plot

  • (p1. 2:00:40) Sam to Laura: Don’t forget to tell them about Gilmore’s Glorious Goods [before shooting the guards]! We’re supposed to advertise!

37 A Musician’s Nostalgia

  • (1:43:48) Scanlan: Have a good day. And remember: shop at Gilmore’s Glorious Goods!

39 Omens

  • (2:04:35) Sam: If you haven’t read the comics, check ‘em out on geekandsundry.com!  Taliesin: While you’re there, spend some money at Gilmore’s Glorious Goods!  Gilmore’s where…all of your magical items…can be procured.

41 In Ruins

  • (0:31:05) Grog/Travis: Don’t forget to visit Gilmore’s Glorious Goods.  Sam: That’s not a real place, Travis.  It doesn’t exist.

42 Dangerous Dealings

  • (0:32:50) Travis: Remember to shop at Gilmore’s Ruined Rubble! […]  Taliesin: For all your reclaimed wood needs! […]  Travis: An endless supply of pavers and gravel.  Sam: Gilmore’s Building Supplies.  Travis: All your home improvement needs.

45 Those Who Walk Away…

  • (0:45:56) Vex’ahlia: Gilmore!  Gilmore’s Glorious Goods!  Wonderful place to buy all sorts of products, if it was still standing.

What Does Vox Machina Have Left? Raishan Edition

Here we are, fresh into 2017 and fresh out of the fire into the frying pan! Wait, that’s not how it goes… Regardless, this is how we enter tonight’s episode 80!

Thanks to @amandammcclain, @DNShraider, @TobilTop, @sketchingsprw, @doodlebugarts, @kiwiwola, @strayliger, @TheRequiemMan, @PettyArtist, @iorverth, @KirbishArt, @impishcomics, and @tresselorner for use of their artistic talents!

Vox Machina's Allies Against Thordak

Vox Machina isn’t alone in this battle against Thordak. Let’s take a look at who Vox Machina is glad is here with them. Here at the end of all things. Note: We confirmed all of these spellings with Matt, just to be sure!

Thanks to @amandammcclain@megzilla87@DjLeone85@PurpleStylusArt, @capefoxalix@Anodesu, @BChangArt, @BrinMataujall@firlachiel, @RobynAlyHope@jessejlarsen, and @iDrawBagman for use of their artistic talents!

Quick Answers 32

Can you track the times Percy puts on the mask?

As a reminder, we no longer track stats that require an entire show rewatch. From off the tops of our heads, however, here’s what is likely an incomplete list:

  • Episode 22 (2:21:09) Walking up the volcano to get to the Fire Ashari
  • Episode 25 (3:08:35) Overkilling The Broker
  • Episode 29 (3:22:38) Killing Kerrion
  • Episode 33 (p1. 2:01:59) Killing Anders
  • Episode 60 (1:48:26) Hats Machina

This might be asking too much of a fan theory question but do we know which Oath Vax is likely to take if/when he reaches 3rd level paladin?

We’re not going to speculate because right now it could be anything or nothing. We’ll have to see what the upcoming episodes have in store!

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Quick Answers 29

Did Pike ever actually order stealthy armor from Gilmore?

Yes…ish. Pike asked Gilmore in Episode 14 (2:59:24), if she could commission him to make her armor that would be very heavy and very quiet. He said it could be done in about a month, and for a cost of 8000 gp (not including the price of the armor itself). Vax commented that it was, ‘worth it,’ and after a brief discussion on how Vax wasn’t trying to use Gilmore to get a better deal, Pike commented ‘ok,’ and the conversation moved on. No money was paid as a down payment, and it wasn’t brought up again.

How close did the group come to defeating the Briarwoods in Emon?

Very close to killing Sylas, less than halfway to killing Delilah. They were so close to turning Sylas to mist the first time, we’re surprised he didn’t-he took 203 damage in both battles. Delilah, on the other hand, only took 93 damage in the first battle, and somewhere around 200 damage in the second round.

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Quick Answers 28

The questions keep on coming!

How much would it cost to enchant Percy’s Bad News so he can do magical piercing damage and avoid another situation like with the Golem and the Rakshasa?

We answered something similar to this a long while back about the Pepperbox (RIP). Using the Pathfinder ruleset, should Percy be satisfied with turning Bad News into a +1 weapon that deals magical, non-elemental piercing damage, we optimistically estimate that it would cost him 2000 gold plus the cost of enlisting a powerful mage to focus on enchanting the weapon for two days. If he wanted a more powerful enchantment, the time and gold cost goes up exponentially.

EDIT: To answer the question “What about enchanting the ammunition instead?”: it can be done, but for the time it takes, you may as well enchant the weapon that fires it, unless you put a very specific enchantment on the ammo, like dragon slaying.

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What We Know About Thordak: A Summary

Thanks to @_dovaquiin for the art!

Following Vox Machina’s meeting with the leader of Ank’Harel, there has been a lot of discussion amongst the Critters about what we know about The Cinder King. We compiled a list of all relevant quotations about him in a document you can access here. Below the cut, we summarize all we know about him. Spoilers up through episode 66; all facts, no speculation.

  • Thordak ruled in the Scalding Sands, an area that takes up nearly half of Marquet, for centuries. (Ep 40, 66)
  • He got greedy and attempted to attack Ank’Harel, the city that J’mon Sa Ord rules and protects, with his armies of lizardfolk and other serpentine followers. (Ep 40, 66)
    • Ank’Harel was around 100-150 years old by this point. (Ep 66)
  • J’mon and their forces defeated the armies and chased Thordak to the ocean where they mortally wounded him, saw him fall into the ocean, and presumed him dead. (Ep 40, 66)
  • Thordak survived, however, and in the intervening centuries ruled over the island of Viscal in the the south Lucidian Ocean, terrorizing the nearby beaches and passing ships. (Ep 40)
    • It has been about 400 years since Thordak was shot down. (Ep 41)
  • About 15 years ago, Thordak once again got greedy and began to raze the cities south of the Stormcrest Mountains and Verdant Expanse. (Ep 40)
    • This included Byroden, Vex and Vax’s home. (Ep 40, possibly confirmed again by Syldor in Ep 60 when he tells the twins to “avenge” her.)
  • After unsuccessfully battling Thordak, Allura called upon the Arcana Pansophical to help devise a trap with her and her adventuring party that included Kima, Drake Thunderbrand, Ghenn, Cyrrus, and Dohla. (Ep 40, 57)
  • This trap involved taking a Heart Stone from a primordial Fire Titan and made it into a Soul Anchor, that was supposed to anchor Thordak in the Elemental Plane of Fire. (Ep 40, 57)
  • With the Fire Ashari’s help, Allura’s group convinced Thordak that he would be powerful enough to contain a Heart Stone. (Ep 45, 47, 57)
  • Once he consumed it, the team was able to press him down and banish him to plane, they thought forever. (Ep 57)
    • While there, he got much larger and obsessed over his revenge. (Ep 40, 57)
  • About 4 years ago, a 15 year old woman named Raishan came to the Fire Ashari, seeking refuge. The Ashari took her in, taught her some of their magic, and treated her as one of their own. (Ep 47)
  • A year or a little more before the attack, Vox Machina found Brimscythe’s lair and heard the voice come from the jewels. They destroyed Brimscythe, who was a young/adult blue dragon. (Story of VM)
  • In the months before the Conclave’s attack, Raishan took to spending days at a time alone in the Cindergrove. (Ep 57)
  • During Winter’s Crest, Raishan tore open the rift between the Elemental Plane of Fire and the Prime Material Plane using very powerful magic. Old magic, even. (Ep 57)
    • Despite the use of Old Magic, the Conclave and its attack seem to be unrelated to Tiamat and her residence in Baator. (Ep 43)
  • Thordak, leading the Chroma Conclave, destroyed the city of Emon, and sent the remaining dragons eastward while he remained to lead over Emon, claiming mercy upon the surviving residents of the city and declaring their new purpose to be to serve him. (Ep 39, 40)
  • During the attack, Thordak, roughly twice the size of the other dragons, physically tossed Vorugal from Greyskull Keep in a show of dominance. (Ep 40)
    • White dragons, in particular, hate other dragons, and never forget a slight. (Ep 57)
  • According to Gilmore, the Heart Stone was still visible within Thordak’s chest during the destruction of Emon. (Ep 41, 57)
  • Since then, Thordak has made Emon into his new lair. The land is now volcanic, and he continues to dig and burrow. He’s enslaved sculptors to carve his likeness into the Cloudtop District walls, and he forces the residents to serve him and bring him gold. If they refuse, they die. (Ep 41, 57, 64)
  • Lizardfolk patrol the city as Thordak’s police and army. (Ep 42)
  • Every dusk, Thordak calls a gathering of the remaining population of Emon to worship him. Those that do not participate are eaten. He’s exceedingly vain, and Asum calls him “crazy.” (Ep 64)
  • According to Asum, Thordak has a set of gems similar to those they saw in Brimscythe and Vorugal’s lairs. (Ep 64)
    • Though it was stated in Episode 64 that they had seen similar jewels in Umbrasyl’s lair that were already destroyed, it was said in Episode 56 that they did not see them because it was not Umbrasyl’s original lair.
  • Thordak has an increasingly large network of spies. (Ep 64)
  • The day VM got back from the Feywild, something (we don’t know for sure exactly what this was- there are a couple of options or combination of options) made him angry enough to send the majority of his wyvern guard eastward. An army of wyverns appeared to buzz Whitestone with Vorugal later that same day; it is unknown if this was the same army, especially since the timing would be tight for a flight from Emon to Whitestone (6 hours). (Ep 64)

Speculation

Anonymous asked: Story threads that have been dropped/not hit on yet? For example: Kainan, Vax’s protégé?

Check out this post here for a number of the major ones.  Here are some others:

  • Did the entryway to the (possibly) Far Realm that Vox Machina caved in ever reopen?
  • Was Captain Damon single?
  • Why did it take Kima so long to go back to Vasselheim?
  • Why do Osysa and her mate have to stay apart? How did they meet?
  • How did Lyra’s parents die?
  • How did Zahra come to make her pact with The Great Old One?
  • Where is Keyleth’s mother?
  • Percy and Lillith didn’t come down to breakfast…
  • Where is Vouk (a.ka. the tongueless wonder) now?
  • How did Riskel, Sylas, Delilah, and Anders get involved with Vecna?
  • Where is Ripley and what is she up to?
  • What is the spinning orb of death?
  • What happened to Goran Vedmeyer?
  • Was the blue shard that VM traded to the Clasp to get to Daxio a piece of a threshold crest?
  • Who was the new owner of Krieg’s house?
  • There was an engraving on the bottom of the tea set that Vex took of L.M.-who is it?
  • How did the Chroma Conclave come to be and why?
  • What did Allura do with the skull?
  • Where is Kamaljiori now?
  • Is Craven Edge enjoying his vacation on another plane of existence?
  • Tales of Allura, Drake, and Kima’s days as adventurers.
  • Who is living in Greyskull Keep?
  • Who was Kerrek really?
  • Is Nala enjoying her book?
  • Did Garmelie really just want Tirelda’s hat for fun?
  • How are threshold crests made?
  • Who worshipped Orlan the ghost bear?
  • Where did the trees go that Vex saw drop out of the canopy? And how did they come back?
  • Why did Gilmore leave Marquet?
  • What is going on with the drug trade in Ank’Harel (and is fusaka part of it)?
  • The ruler of Ank’Harel, J’mon Sa Ord, has been there for way longer than should theoretically be possible- who or what are they?

Feywild Advice

Anonymous asked: What has the party been warned about in the Feywild and what advice have they completely ignored (from Gilmore, Garmelie, Mr. BadDad, Nala, etc)?

Advice Vox Machina has not ignored:

  • Garmelie: These are best to be avoided; they’re mandrakes. (Ep59, 2:55:50).
  • Tirelda: You’ll come upon [The Gilded Run] one way or another, unless you traverse the Green Sea, but that I would not recommend. (Ep60, 1:46:07).
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Quick Answers 19

The people are asking to hear our voice/over Pike’s mysterious romantic choice/if you were to ask us who we would promote….

(We will stop using Hamilpuns eventually….BUT IT IS NOT THIS DAY!)

What episode and time did Percy utter the immortal line “Your secret is safe with my indifference”?

Episode 45 (2:18:07)

Do you guys have any idea what spell Gilmore used on his assassin?

Matt answered that one on Twitter: a spell of the DM’s (and Gilmore’s) creation. It’s not the first time we’ve seen a special spell in use, either (Drake’s lightning travel spell).

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