Is It Thursday Yet?

Episode 2 of Table & Talk features an over 1 hour conversation with Travis Willingham of Critical Role!

Would love to hear your thoughts on the episode :)

I hope you enjoy this conversation with Travis!

Table & Talk is a new conversational interview series with some of the biggest nerds around the TTRPG, acting, gaming, and nerd culture world talking about their passions! Upcoming Table & Talk guests include:

• Joe Manganiello (OUT NOW!)
• Travis Willingham (OUT NOW!)
• Devora Wilde
• Neil Newbon
• Mayanna Berrin
• Luis Carazo
• Theo Solomon

I thought it'd be nice to compile and discuss some of the stuff Brennan explained/clarified in his Instagram takeover for those who can't/don't want to go watch them all themselves for whatever reason. The ones that interest me the most are 2, 7, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, and 20.

1. Everything Brennan had planned for Thjazi got reworked when Julien spat on his corpse.
2. Druids have always believed in reincarnation, viewing the cycle of rebirth similar to how the cycle of water works, and the reason they want to find the afterlives is to allow those trapped in the afterlives to walk the Old Path.
3. Almonds? Yes.
4. Brennan thinks he would be a metalic dragon, specifically Bronze.
5. Brennan likes sandwiches (shocker!), if you wanna know what specfically go to Insta.
6. Brennan doesn't know how to set up music in Instagram stories.
7. The demonym for Dol-Majkar is Makjari, which would translate to Shielders.
8. If Brennan were a player in C4, he would want to play a character either identical to or very similar to Dr. Amry Talter, a Cleric of the Totality. (Which, so valid, Amry is the best)
9. His favorite ship is the Moray, the Tachonis flagship (he clearly knew what we meant by ship here but chose not to answer which I think is a good call LOL)
10. Brennan is still practicing spanish when he can, but he's very busy.
11. Brennan shared a fun fact about Owls :)
12. Being a sundered house does not mean you have a connection to a god, being a Sundered House is just whether or not your lands were partially or totally swallowed up by the Endless Night.
13. Tsul'rekshi = Center, Thjazi Fang = Point Guard, Josefir Einfassen = Shooting Guard, Tertia Tachonis (Deva Form) = Power Forward, and Sir Hawkins as Shooting Forward.
14. Nick Marini asked how the Druidic Circles differ, and Brennan explained that basically the only difference in circles is where they are located in the world and what problems they need to focus on (eg. A Circle in the Taiga would focus on completely different problems than a Circle in the Desert). Circle of the Hunt focuses on defeating dangerous undead, Circle of the Ancients focuses on reviving the lost customs of the ancestors of the people of Araman, and the Circle of Seasons focuses on healing the Barrowdells, just to name a few.
15. Brennan would love if some players eventually went to Venatus, the city located inside the Eternal Night. He has some really cool ideas.
16. Brennan gives a straightforward answer to a straightforward question asking what Truth is. :)
17. Brennan was confused at the question "Unlimited Bacon, but no games? Or No bacon, but no games." but chose Unlimited Bacon. (I think the question was written wrong because its meant to be games, unlimited games, but no games.)
18. Hounds of the King are born as hounds of the king, but much like human babies they take a little bit to learn to speak.
19. Goblins are not in Aramán (but he said this REALLY suspiciously so be on the lookout).
20. Shapers is a post-war term retroactively applied to the fallen deities. Before the war, they were universally called Gods, but after their defeat there was a push to not call them Gods anymore but instead call them Shapers.
21. Brennan thought Bolaire was going to die for SURE in the Convergence episode where he met with his sister. "THAT. NATURAL. 20."
22. The Sundered Houses are so powerful because of their magic (kind of a duh moment). Those from Obredimia specifically were so powerful there too, and since their magic is heritible they were basically unstoppable before the Shapers War. The Tachonis and Halovar (who lost all of their lands) houses had to pivot to being a Church and a Mercentile, with the Tachonis tripling down on their Arcane prowess.
23. Thjazi and Aranessa had already parted ways when the doors to Faerie closed, since they split near the end of the Falconer's Rebellion and Reapers Day was 4 years after the end of the Rebellion.
24. Brennan thinks the boss music for Enmity, Cruelty and Agony would be Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield.
25. The worst mulitclass Brennan has ever seen is an Armorer Artificer/Undead Patron Warlock (which was his character Citizen Doctor Abraham Mehermblur in a Roll20 stream.)

I planned to draw portraits of all the PCs from the 4th campaign, but something went wrong with Thimble and I ended up drawing a full-body illustration instead 💀✨

I started watching Campaign 4 last month, and it's my first time with Critical Role aside from the animated series.

I'm up to episode 24 right now, so if you have suggestions of scenes that would make for good animatics you're more than welcome to share !

"The sky above, the endless void underneath and you look and just go where is that light coming from, that horizon ?"

"It is the only source of light in this endless void"

"The coffin opens, the seam of light coming from the coffin of Olbalad"

This was the description brennan made around 2 hrs 13 minutes when Brennan was describing the final sequence before Bolaire wakes up.

WHY SPECIFICALLY OLBALAD'S COFFIN. And this nightmare/dream sequence was to some level real.

This final description just makes me think the stonks for the Olbalad is still alive and manipulated the deaths of the shapers behind the scenes feel real. I mean it always feels sus when a "god of trickery" dies.

This stood out so much why Brennan was so specific about it (despite Laura joking about his slit description lol)

Hi Critters! Is anyone going to London Comicon? I have purchased an autograph ticket for the wrong day that I am not attending! Would anyone wish to swap a Saturday slot to a Friday slot at all?

The signing is for the mighty mercer who has already sold out and I am so sad that my stupid brain did not select the correct dates

Also I hope there will be some great cosplays inbound :)

So the first part of the story is done, and the players did well. Particularly the schemer's table, who have cornered Tachonis pretty well and created connections, fighting forces and torn a hole in the propaganda pretty well. And conducted a revolutionary play.

But now the various houses will have time to assess and in some cases, hit back. Halovar is where it could get really dark. You have not just manipulative villains, but manipulative villains working hand in hand with demons while trying to put up a false religion. And their sights are set on Hal and the Theatre troop.

Now, considering the awful backlash from just threatening directly we saw when half the orcs in the city were ready to leap into the fray for him, targetting Hal himself is probably off the table.

However, Hal is particularly vulnerable in his extended group of loved ones. Including and especially his children. The dark but logical direction for a bloodthirsty manipulator like gramma Halovar would be to send the demons after one or both of them, as hostages or worse. It again can get really, really messed up depending on how far they're willing to go with the demonic aspect of the Halovar forces.

Hey fellow Critters, I just came to share with you all a little thing.

Some of you may be aware of the incredible What If Machina/Nein/Hells series by Eren Angiolini. They did a series of character portraits for each of the main cast's characters if they'd've chosen a different class.

Well I was inspired a long time ago by that series and did a small - FREE - D&D supplement with one item per character.

Well today I just released a Daggerheart version of that same supplement. Again it's totally FREE to download at the link at the top of the post. All I want is for you awesome people to enjoy them in your games.

Eren's art is included throughout both supplements with their permission. But can be found in full on their Instagram.

I hope you enjoy the items!

A quick theory on what Primus is planning at the Sea of Lachris. We know that House Tacchonis are looking to expand their power and also that the Tenebral Reaches are choked and overflowing. So how do they expand their power when the source of their power is already so full?

We saw in this episode that shadows from the Tenebral Reaches were trying to breach the barrier and strike at the crystal. This could be simply because the crystal is part of the new paths for the afterlife or it could have other reasons.

Throughout the campaign Tacchonis have been striking at House Royce and the golden orchard. Ostensibly this is because they are weak and Tacchonis wants to remove them from their alliance and take their lands. We saw in a letter that the strike on the Golden Orchard is in some way connected to the Sea Door so there is likely some greater plot involved.

So what is the Sea Door? We know the Drowned Men are connected to both death and fae. In order to become a Drowned Man you must ritualistic die by drowning and return with a fae contract tattooed on your skin. I suspect the Sea Door is a gate that connects Faerie, Aramán, and the Tenebral Reaches. This could be the mechanism that keeps the Drowned Men from being taken by Tacchonis and instead taken by their Fae patron.

The ritual Primus is undertaking involves using stone paladins to detect both undead and fae (possibly also friends?). It summons forth "the power of the living upon the dead" which could simply means resurrection but I believe it could be talking about granting access to the power/geography of Faerie to the Tenebral Reaches and ultimately House Tacchonis.

I think this could fit nicely with the subtext of Campaign 4 with whimsy and joy being corrupted and destroyed by empire and the pursuit of power.

I could be way off but what do you guys think?

HEY, there might be some SPOILERS under the thing

2:20 Critical Role Announcement Playhouse

2:40 Frat Sam and Travis

4:35 Blood fountain (Travis lifts Sam so easily)

9:25 Intro cinematic

10:45 EPISODE STARTS (Kattigan’s cottage)

14:00 Kattigan and his family

18:10 Good morning, Primus

19:50 Wolves nearby

26:05 Julien hates his shadow

28:25 Whimsical fairy sound effect

29:35 Thimble’s dream

40:05 Vaelus is eepy

41:40 Vaelus’s dream

43:10 Accidentally closed DnD Beyond, all is lost

44:10 The Scarecrow

47:55 Vaelus’s magic is gone

50:45 Maybe people aren’t like their souls

52:30 Vaelus’s sister

54:00 This game sucks

54:50 Julien’s dream

1:02:30 Julien sees everyone else’s dreams

1:03:50 Bolaire’s Theater/Dream

1:08:00 Julien enters Kattigan’s dream

1:13:30 Primus’

1:15:30 The really need some help with wisdom

1:16:35 Dame Seremai is mad

1:21:30 Calling for Occtis

1:23:20 Occtis’s dream

1:24:30 Occtis and Gaya

1:32:25 If you’re here, you’re fairy

1:36:00 Occtis’s soul is destroyed

1:37:15 Everyone back together

1:39:25 Thimble’s Dad

1:47:20 Vaelus’s boss calls her

1:52:40 Vaelus is rejected by her order

1:55:50 The Mother Superior know how to do torture

1:57:45 Jumping the Mother Superior

2:02:00 Grabbing the ring and getting wise (into the theater)

2:03:25 The Theater

2:07:15 No strings on me

2:12:15 Offering Bolaire a way out

2:14:35 BREAK STARTS

2:24:35 BREAK ENDS

2:28:10 Check your pants for Bolaire

2:29:10 Who knows about Bolaire again?

2:32:50 Bolaire doesn’t need a god to not kill people

2:37:00 Thimble enters the Miller’s Road

2:39:00 A weird road

2:52:00 An ambush for the Tachonis (what is my sister’s name?)

2:55:25 Bolaire the fox

2:58:25 Getting an excuse to visit Ulbid

3:00:45 Ulbid’s alarm (The Black Rabbits)

3:04:00 Rabbit vs. Pin

3:06:20 Weird people to introduce (Justin Julien)

3:11:10 Justin’s got jokes

3:13:35 Stay a while

3:17:55 Scanning the road

3:26:15 Argosia lore

3:36:00 Telling Ulbid about his daughters

3:37:55 Trying to persuade Ulbid to not come along

3:40:50 Bolairing Ulbid

3:43:55 Bolaire and Ulbid

3:51:40 Episode Ends

Any moments I missed? Feel free to post them here. Is it Thursday yet?

I have never played DnD, and going into watching Campaign 4, I knew VERY little about it.

Prior to C4, my only experiences with DnD had been what I’d seen in Stranger Things, a little background info from research Critical Role while watching Vox Machina, and some general knowledge about the game from conversations in nerdy circles.

So when I decided I wanted to watch a Campaign, C4 being my first, I was pausing in the middle of the first few episodes (and many later ones) every few minutes just to google and figure out what people were saying.

When C4 started, I enjoyed watching Players make decisions for their characters, and lay the framework for those characters’ personalities. And I noted to myself that there were two characters, and their associated Players, who were not fun for me to follow along.

Tyranny and Occtis.

Whitney’s surface-level portrayal of Tyranny felt incongruent to the depth of the world Brennan had created. Alexander’s portrayal of Occtis seemed meek and boring…a drag to get through.

As the Campaign went on, and as it led up through Episode 31, I realized how so very wrong I was. Whitney taught me that DnD can be deep and poignant and scary and thrilling, all while being FUN. Alexander taught me that, sometimes, characters and their brilliant Players will surprise you with their choices and their transformative arcs. That they will keep you on your toes when you least expect it.

I owe both of them apologies for, in my unfamiliarity with DnD and Role Playing, judging their characters and their skill as players so harshly before giving it a chance to teach me about the game.

As someone who loves storytelling and writing my own fantasy books, I feel like I want to find people to play DnD with! And maybe I could create a fun or unpredictable character.

Loved the first half of this ep so much. Brennan has a real knack for dream sequences

I ship them. And I know I’m alone on this island, but walk with me. I would absolutely love to see a slow burn of them developing feelings for each other, and then an even slower burn of them realizing it. It doesn’t have to be angsty (not every slow burn has to be a “we want to but we can’t/shouldn’t” or a bickering/breakup/get together again cycle!), just a slow development and subsequent realization of feelings. I feel like Bolaire would even be a little mad about it and have moments like, “Really, this is who I’m in love with?” whereas Murray would be exceedingly unapologetic.

I am the sole person on earth who feels this way, but critical role gods if you can hear me 🙏🙏🙏

Hi. Could someone help idenrify the music piece from Road of Dreams episode on Youtube? Starts around 43:30 and reaches its moment at around 44:10. I have a weird feelings I've heard it somewhere, but I can't place where.

Okay, so plan to make some bracelets and am gonna be making one for the Ring of Brass. I'm having trouble thinking of colours to represent each member plus Evandrin (not technically a part of it but I do want to try and fit him in, especially with how he impacts the members) so I'm coming here to help. The most I got so far is green for Patia and gold for either Laerryn or Loquatius, or maybe Zerxus.

Hello folks!

We're back again with the fourth installment in my ongoing series where I bake cakes inspired by Critical Role PCs.

Today, we have everyone's "favorite" gnome, Scanlan Shorthalt. I went with a red velvet recipe, as it felt the most "romantic," but dyed it purple instead of red. I then decorated with purple cream cheese frosting and royal icing.

I wanted the cake to look over-the-top and almost gaudy with the piping work, and I definitely feel that was achieved. Though, this was my first time doing any real piping designs, so everything is pretty sloppy. The coloring of the frosting is great- I wish the royal icing was bit closer to magenta than pink, but it's okay. The purple coloring in the cake, though, did NOT stay after baking, which sucks. It looks brownish gray, so I think next time if I want a bright coloring I'll go with a plain vanilla batter.

This was brought to a party and the reception was pretty positive. The cake was light and tasted fine, and I put a little less sugar in the frosting so it had a more cream-cheese taste as opposed to pure sweet like some frostings are. ​So the taste was good, just wish the pipe work was better! But all I can do is practice.

I'll rate this a 7.7/10- ​​did pretty well, I just need to keep at it!

This had me laughing out loud in the newest episode. Immediately knew I had to make this

I was a fan of unraveling history before cr and rewatching some videos recently I noticed Jester in a frame and looking more carefully I realised the whole gang is there