Critical Role C2 e55- Caleb's not good, terrible very bad day

[@ilessthanthreeu99]

Nott: Caleb, are you okay? Caleb: So good, so good Nott: HE'S MIND CONTROLLED!! CALEB WOULD NEVER SAY HE'S OKAY, LET ALONE 'SO GOOD'!!!

[@davidm1926]

"I am enjoying a momentary lapse in my otherwise perpetual existential dread, what's up?"

[@monomoonchild8066]

It might me Caleb's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, but Liam's having the time of his life.

[@dr.zespert]

Nice username

[@Angel_9907]

True but that's also pure karma on full heat...

[@stingerjohnny9951]

@@Angel_9907 Hehe “heat,” i see what you did there 🔥

[@bmsqqq]

I love that Matt says "Oh you prepared Revivify? Good!" As he thinks to himself 'good, that means I'm free to kill someone'

[@Quadraxis]

That was the best call Laura could have made that day.

[@ashleycook300]

I like that I play a life cleric, cause I always have revivify prepared. If only our DM would let us find a shop that sells Diamonds. :/

[@vcagande7998]

I’m DMing a campaign with a bunch of my chaotic friends and they have no cleric They’re gonna die

[@andrewdoidge5370]

@@vcagande7998 same

[@yooooo8600]

Any cleric/druid should always have revivify prepared

[@tokatstorm9270]

Just imagine how much worse Caleb's PTSD would be if he had killed one of the Nein, or even just Nugget

[@mantis1s1k]

Still, he was once again bent to do the will not his own and caused harm to them... he's probably pretty screwed up right now.

[@tokatstorm9270]

Oh yeah, I expect Caleb'll be a mess for quite a while. With LOTS of apologizing to Jester.

[@DaniGeez]

Tokat Storm he also has to deal with the news on Astrid’s letter

[@mantis1s1k]

Also, what the hell do you mean "JUST" Nugget???

[@kitparsons6680]

@@DaniGeez yeh that wasn't really addressed was it

[@VenhedisKaffas]

Matt and Liam were having so much fun here. Caleb? Not so much.

[@PalleRasmussen]

And Travis. He loves the chaos and the fighting.

[@madelinegreene8031]

Matt: Can I see your spell list real fast? Marisha: *grabs Liam and Travis so she doesn't fall out of her chair*

[@palisadepaladin8522]

4:55 I love that little moment, Beau running over and making an emotional plea to Caleb, and he just looks her dead in the eye and coldly remarks: *"And that's the end of your turn."*

[@Sleepless_Wannabe]

Nott: your puny and weak Caleb: decimates the entire party in one shot

[@carmenblankespoor1905]

i love travis' reaction to Liam helping Matt: "this is great"

[@dig8634]

Travis is the hype man. He gets hype even when Caleb is forced to kill his friends. Totally get it though, this was honestly such an awesome moment, and super heavy hitting emotionally, since Caleb's already been through the whole "kill someone you love while manipulated" deal.

[@kristytrinh817]

oh my god you can see caleb's expression change at 3:00 as breaks himself from the charm for a split second at the mention of astrid and then revert back... liam's acting never ceases to amaze me

[@bitter-bit]

8:52 Travis' unbridled excitement hoots give me life.

[@claduke]

Carolyn S. “Excitement”

[@kitparsons6680]

that was the moment when he realised it was ride or die

[@krasotabella9675]

‘light them up pretty’ DAMN DAMN DAMN

[@enwarrior8163]

I need art of that moment with caleb.

[@smartpuff7389]

@@enwarrior8163 Ik it’s been seven months but I can send a link to this BREATHTAKING small comic I found of that moment?

[@enwarrior8163]

@@smartpuff7389 yes please!

[@cryophile]

Poor Caleb has some serious PTSD.

[@armadaos]

I love that it was the Matt Colleville meteorite die that brought Caleb back ... Colleville taketh and Colleville giveth.

[@hepifin4941]

Very Colville-inspired episode that episode, the best ep of the campaign so far for me

[@dadadajasper]

Look at that eager DM smile on Matt when he asks for Caleb's spell list Awesome xD

[@petersenior5432]

This fight with caleb.... Everything just seemed to line up perfectly. He got amazing rolls because he was inspired by the fact his friends were attacking him. He resisted the control water and everything

[@kevingriffith6011]

I'm going to have to steal that mannerism from Liam, that with only a hand gesture you knew exactly what spell he was casting. Obviously it's not necessary for every spell (And obviously you should say what you're casting) but having it around for the big ones adds something for those moments you want to be particularly dramatic.

[@DraupDraupable]

He just has some iconic moves in every campaign. You know what Vax was doing if, Liam did 3 consecutive thorwing motions.

[@ColieBear18]

Hes such an incredible actor

[@BlacklistRitualz]

I've been doing it with lightning bolt

[@kuropotato8097]

His fireball is also pretty iconic. Grabs shits from his bags and smack his hands together "I cast fireballs"

[@imsorrythankyouplease7613]

Wall of fire is iconic

[@Oddypng]

God what I would PAY after this campaign is over (hopefully not for a while) to see Matt’s DM notes for these sessions! I know he put out some for 2 other sessions but these scenes I wanna know what he was thinkinggg

[@bmsqqq]

I'm pretty sure that he usually does not because he wants the world to be able to be used by other DMs however they want. For example, he has not and never will release anything related to hidden artifacts or the horns of Orcus because they are still out there in the world. And for other reasons.

[@Oddypng]

bmsqqq true true. But man what I would give to know what goes through his mind through these sessions haha

[@bmsqqq]

@@Oddypng right there with you.

[@dig8634]

@@bmsqqq I totally get the rationale, and I agree with it to a certain extent, but holy hell I want to know everything he has ever planned. I am never personally gonna run a game in someone else's world anyways, so for me it would be more for learning how he thinks and plans, and as inspiration for coming up with new ideas.

[@SuperGreenSmartie]

8:52 I have NEVER heard Travis make those sounds before in all my time watching CR.

[@chancellorally8766]

Do I hear anti-charm investments in this party’s future?

[@pierluigidipietro8097]

They are a lifekeeping must... Imagine, again, Yasha being controlled... She could tear to pieces anyone in just two rounds

[@sofialaya596]

Idk but they'll need some terapy sessions for sure

[@blackvial]

At least on Yasha

[@AlexPerez-tt9ru]

That sounds like a plan. They don't usually go very far into those lol

[@blackthrone6976]

@@pierluigidipietro8097 uh... bad news... watch the one where they found the tomb...

[@aganaom1712]

when rngesus puts you inches from death just to remind you who's in control of your character's fate. yikes dude

[@iridiumSerpent]

The Mighty Nein and the Quest to Get Caleb to A Therapist

[@carrotandpeas]

"Light them up, pretty~" is such a gross(but well acted!! I like it for the effect) line I immediately had to pause the video, shake my entire body, and go back to watching after hearing it-

[@tauntaun71]

I would just like to point out the difference between Pike’s deity Sarrenrae and the Traveler. In one of the early episodes of campaign 1, Pike slit the throat of a duergar, and had her holy symbol cracked. In this episode, Jester chopped up a corpse and stuffed it in a bag for “snacks.” Just a small difference. Side note: I have no idea how to spell her name, I didn’t watch all of campaign 1

[@demont7550]

DarthTauntaun Pathfinder god in the Pathfinder phb

[@ashleycook300]

It is their intention and domain's. Sarenrae is the goddess of mercy and forgiveness. Traveler is the god of trickery. The reason why Pike's symbol cracked was because she went against Sarenrae's very ideal's of mercy by slitting the throat of a defenseless man. They had also been killing a lot of people by that point. Pike's intention was to end this man's life. That intention went against Sarenrae's ideals. Jester killing demons who had attacked her, and then chopped them up to try to fit them in her bag would not have affected her connection to the traveler because he has no such qualms about killing in self defense and even her brutal mutilation of the corpses were done with pure intentions. She wanted to protect her friends and feed her pet. That is why you have to be careful when you play a cleric or a paladin because the slope gets slippery.

[@Boundwithflame23]

Wasn't the duregar almost dead anyway? From a different perspective it could be seen as a mercy kill instead of just letting it bleed out.

[@night4345]

@@Boundwithflame23 It definitely wasn't for mercy's sake. Pike just wanted to make sure the guy was dead despite him being unconscious and no longer a threat.

[@PalleRasmussen]

@@ashleycook300 Also do not forget who the Traveler really is and what he has done to a servant of The Raven Queen.

[@acomet2509]

The fact that Caleb almost single handedly killed his entire party is something that should have been exploited the shit out of. Imagine how shitty he feels after this, he was controlled again, "is this the day we've feared? Do I have to kill you?" which confirms that the nein doesn't trust him, he gave his friends terrible burns.

[@RandomMajin]

"SOMEONE CLOCK THIS FUCKING WIZARD!" God, I wish adventure league was this funny!

[@hexpsyche]

I would love to hear exactly what Matt said to Liam

[@WexMajor82]

Wall of fire can be cast on a wall. Extending into a corridor and leaving no safe space. They are lucky Matt never actually paid attention to the spell wording.

[@dig8634]

The only way this could have been used to any great effect would have been if Caleb used it before they entered the big donut, surely. If used at the same point as here they could still get out of it the same turn they did here, and if placed on a wall, it wouldn't protect Caleb from ranged attacks outside the range of the walls, since it wouldn't form an opaque wall between them. If placed super well, it could possibly be a bit more dangerous than it was here, but any placement I can see that doesn't include Caleb leaves room for the M9 to move, and without the physical wall between Caleb and the group, there is nothing discouraging melee attackers from moving forwards, because as long as they don't walk through the wall or end their turn in the effect, they don't get hurt again. Is there an official ruling on whether you can have it move from a wall to the ground? Walls and floors are usually considered different surfaces, even if made from the same material, and the spell states "a surface" singular? Cause the best placement I can see involves snaking from the wall behind Caleb to the right, down in front of him and back on the wall behind Caleb to the left. That would still leave a physical wall, while also making the effect extend an extra 5 feet into the room. Not a lot better than what actually happened, but covering more ground altogether while still protecting Caleb as intended.

[@Animedork2008]

Poor caleb, this is not a good day for him. Next episode I hope they don't be mean to him

[@PLGRN8R]

I'd be more concerned about Caleb being mean to himself.

[@Animedork2008]

That to :(

[@bitter-bit]

They all know it wasn't his fault.

[@PLGRN8R]

Caleb may not see it that way. Honestly, this is the closest the party has come to a total wipe; I think they were all below 20 if not 10 hit points at the end, Cad was briefly dead, Yasha damned near executed Caleb multiple times. Honestly the biggest factor that could have helped was how Fjord used up an insanely valuable spell slot when they were in the hovel in the previous episode to cast Shadow of Moil. A Summon Greater Demon would have been an incredible equaliser in their underground fight, taking attention off of party members for a couple turns. Add in the fact that he just sat in the tunnel and fired off Eldritch Blasts whilst refusing to come out of cover and commit to the fight really hurt their DPR, and I'm wondering if Fjord will acknowledge that he let his fear get the better of him.

[@Brim_the_Wizard]

PLGRN8R well there’s that and Shadow of Moil is a terrible spell that both requires concentration and depends on you getting hit to work.

[@HellMuttCoppersnake]

This episode summed up, Some poor planning and HORRIBLE dice rolls.

[@spliter3230]

just when I think avantika fight is worst enough....

[@bernardoribeiro7652]

"The rest of the cat is in my heart"

[@erbgorre]

taliesin was so done with this sh.t halfway through the fight ;D

[@spartan9110]

I think he was mostly frustrated at fjord because he literally did nothing for a good chunk of the fight.

[@invaderzam]

@@spartan9110 Granted, Fjord needs to stop being a coward, wasting his spell slots on thunderstep and get in the front line. However, Tal is trying too hard to be clever with his spells when what his team needs is for him to be efficient. When he thought that he didn't have "anything" for the situation (apart from his healing spells and his cantrips that hit as hard as Fjords) he was at a loss at what to do. Matt had to give him a timer that he ran out.

[@spartan9110]

@@invaderzam yup it's amazing that Tal still doesn't realize that sacred flame is a cantrip lol. Dude is being super inefficient with his warcaster feat.

[@EmilyRobinsonShotgunEm]

Travis making R2D2 noises will forever be my favorite 😂😂

[@Epscylon]

Caleb: “Uh... he got.. it.. she... they got in my head.” Liam, you sly fox you, did you actually slip all that potentially sensitive information about Caleb’s sexuality in there on purpose, on the fly, way back then?? What a legend.

[@hem9483]

I mean Vax was bi, Liam’s alluded to being bi, so I generally assumed Caleb was as well.

[@elizabethkblanco4620]

@@hem9483 it’s confirmed that he is bi.

[@credendovides20]

@@hem9483 Both Liam and Caleb are now canon. What a great time to be alive...

[@user-il1db4fr6t]

bi RIGHTS

[@annaemmons3490]

Matt’s eyes when Sam said he wrote a letter to Astrid 😂

[@isekaistation3682]

I first not was gonna say “ I stole one of your books” and then Caleb killed them.

[@bmsqqq]

I'm confused, what are you trying to say?

[@temotoes9182]

@@bmsqqq I think he said he thought nott said "I stole one of your books" and then Caleb killed them because of it

[@KineticObfuscation]

Everybody gangsta till DM starts walking

[@allicat994]

8:53 Travis's fucking shrieks I'm in tears

[@owendiaram3870]

"THERE'S A SECOND GAME OF D&D GOING ON BACK HERE!"

[@1steelcobra]

"What Would Rammstein Do?" Set it on fire. All of it.

[@iridiumSerpent]

Du Hast intensifies

[@steambladegunny9562]

I tuned in just in time to see Caleb and Deucy almost die and I started losing my mind! But that NAT20! I was literally raising my arms lending him my energy for that one! 🙌🏻🎲

[@Kalenz1234]

They really need to do campaign 3 with a chatroom where the players and matt can send private messages to each other. Imagine if grog woke up and matt told him half his beard is shaven and he had no idea what happened XD

[@heathercalvert6990]

Marisha’s reaction to Liam rolling is a whole mood. 😂😂

[@stingerjohnny9951]

She knows her husband, so when Matt asks for private rolls, she knows to be paranoid. XD

[@Neko141212]

Alway Liam's characters xD Vax - despite having freaking advangtage on the rolls - also ALWAYS failed them xD

[@hepifin4941]

FRIENDLY FIRE!

[@iridiumSerpent]

Literally

[@yukikofujiwara2144]

"SOMEBODY POP THIS FUCKIN' WIZARD!!" Ah, the glass cannon... It's all fun and games until it's pointed at _you._

[@tauIrrydah]

That was really the most stressful episode to watch.

[@misterjkplays3920]

Murphy's law was in full effect that day

[@OffbeatWorlds]

Meanwhile Travis is having the time of his life xD

[@XpVersusVista]

travis was the best thing of this whole video haha, i rewatched it 7 times to see everyone's reaction. fun thing i noticed, laura was making a pig nose right before he started hooting haha. Matt loved the fact that one of his players got so extremely excited and taliesin was HIGHLY confused by the end of it 😂

[@AutumnGirl17]

Caleb’s terrible horrible no good very bad day, first edition. (For second edition see episodes 127 though 129)

[@micahgarcia2280]

Travis just LOSING his sh*t is SENDING ME 😂😂😂

[@maj8979]

this was the first ep i watched live .... ah memories .......

[@claduke]

This episode was sooooo intense.

[@QuackEternal]

(It's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day but I'll give you a b for effort 😂)

[@DaniGeez]

Ash oh I know. I just I didn’t want to make it so long.

[@leolion_plantstar9462]

8:53 Travis little screams gives me life

[@RoastedPheasant]

THATS DIABLO 2 MUSIC IN THE BACKGROUND FUCK YEAH. ... and now to keep watching.

[@GRIMHOOD99]

6:20 Yeeah... Yeeah

[@RoxyGotMoxy.]

Caleb's theme song here is Das Sound Machine's cover of Fall Out Boy's Light Em Up 😁

[@PalleRasmussen]

I would sayRammstein's Ich tu dir Weh.

[@SolrSurfr3]

Marisha’s reaction gives me LIFE XD

[@annaemmons3490]

Jester: I’m making snacks! out of an enemy.... ok, you do you 😅😂. Mind you she had a smile when she said that

[@takeandbakejake3271]

Travis doing the classic dad ear tug

[@skateywatey]

yeah so. this was the first time i watched a live episode. never again.

[@Firan25]

That bad?

[@TheSfid]

@6:00 Matt casts Thoughtseize.

[@DrNeonGaming]

Grip full of burn, damn monored

[@dragonwithsword841]

all this needs is fluffing a duck by kevin macleod in the bg and its Perfect.

[@frejabrynjolfursdottir1412]

Beacon of Coke

[@kitparsons6680]

aka haste

[@tonyterrifies3959]

Travis the soprano, lol

[@sofialaya596]

Is taliesin ok though? he seemed too quiet all the episode, also like he didn't have much sleep

[@DaniGeez]

Sofia Laya today in talks he was pretty much a sleepy Caduceus and said it’s been a long week for him. Very very sleepy

[@PatrickQuake]

Dont fuck with the wizard

[@Gardienne96]

WAUW! WAUW!

[@bmsqqq]

So, listen to this. If Matt is playing the long game or wants to be a real madafaka, then Yeza is not in Jorhas at all. Remember that Yeza has no idea which way he was taken. There were many other tunnels out of his hometown. How would they know if one of them actually did not go straight back to Jorhas and instead went to a place where the Cerbrus Assembly met them and took him to a facility of their own, possibly within the empire. It fits with the Krin working with the Assembly, the many tunnels leading back, the Assembly mages trying to decipher and build on Yezas notes. The only reason I do not think that this is not the case is that I do not think that Matt would pull a "the princess is in another castle" move on them after they have put this much blood into it and died along the way.

[@TheCenturiarch]

I pretty sure that the Wildmorther told Cad that he was en route to Ghor Dranas

[@bmsqqq]

@@TheCenturiarch now that you mention it, you might be right. I can't remember when he may have done that, do you?

[@caitlynnhatch9254]

Now here is what I would do. Yeza is in Trent's home. They are being lead there to Jorhas(spelled for pronouncing purposes. Not looking up spelling) with Yeza's memory being modified (We know Trent can do this). With the notes, the Mighty Nein give to the Krin. Now they know Trent is playing both sides so he ends up on top no matter what. Trent is already there, and spots our dear Caleb with the Mighty Nein OR hears about the description of all of them and pieces Caleb( Bren to him) is amoung them. Trent's smart, he probably will. Now we are given an option Yeza for Caleb. Despite everyone's protests Calev probably will go with Trent for Nott. Now we give the dilemma to Beau and Nott, should they tell the rest of the Mighty Nein why Caleb feared being found by Trent. Why he is scared of him. Now this gives The Mighty Nein a true purpose: train and save caleb or go guns blazing. Now the Mighty Nein are forced to be part of the war, in order to save their friend.

[@bmsqqq]

@@caitlynnhatch9254 that might be interesting, but parts could be a stretch. Also, someone else pointed out that Cad may have gotten confirmation from his diety at some point that Yeza is en route to the Krin capital

[@caitlynnhatch9254]

@@bmsqqq True. Im gonna see if I can find the clip.

[@captainsnazzypants5767]

why is everyone cutting out the part where jester almost doomed the party by not picking up clay or Caleb! seriously the guy was just laying there and actually heals people but jester decided fuck it more spiritual weapon and guiding bolt. like seriously if Caleb doesn't get that Nat 20 the party might have been whipped

[@DaniGeez]

Captain SnazzyPants cause there’s a lot going on, the bull demon thing was really hurting and Laura thought she was going to finish it in her turn by what Matt had said. With so many players you sometimes forget what is where.

[@R3adybreck]

During this fight matts succubus hits a member of the nein. He rolls for the hit and the damage. Then seeing that the damage wont knock the member unconscious he decides to do something completely different for the succubus action instead. He then hits 3 members with aoe instead. Is this bad practice? (Sorry kinda new to dnd) it seems like he unfairly screwed them at this time

[@Psychoinnocent]

Matt tries not to kill his players at the table. In a previous session, their adversary fully intended to kill. However in this case, I assume he goes for it before thinking twice and decided to do an AOE. I wouldn’t call it a bad practice IMO- most DMs don’t want to kill your character because of bad rolls. There are some people who would say that it’s bad practice but like,, its their game and their table and they’re having fun. Plus the fact is that the dice gods were not on the party’s side. Matt was rolling well and the others were not. Its just how it is sometimes. And sometimes Matt fudges the rolls but, again, theyre having fun and not actively trying to kill a PC

[@InfinityZeroEX]

Gabby Escobar I don’t think Matt fudges rolls. I think he understands as a DM if he doesn’t want something to happen he can prevent it. He has that power, but where I think he steps it up is he also throws the logic of why it cannot happen at the players as opposed to just saying no without a reason. Even in combat from what I’ve seen he just goes with the rolls. If he misses he misses. If he crits he crits.

[@Hunterfalke]

To be honest, that is something I would have critiqued here. I only have 5 years of dming experience, but at my table, if you forget to do damage, you can't retroactively add it after your turn ended. The same goes for me as the DM though. After the die is rolled, the action is made. I would only retcon something like that if the taken action was somehow impossible, like if something couldn't see the target. It was really weird to completely disagree with Matts ruling for once.

[@PezzaTheFlezza]

I think he just forgot he had the AoE and was going to use it instead. Tbh Nott and Beau (both with evasion) were 2/3 of the targets, and an individual slash did more damage than the lance iirc, so tbh focusing jester down with all 3 attacks would have been nastier. I think it was just a “oh shit, i meant to do x” rather than a “here’s how I can screw the players”, but I also agree it’d be unlikely if Fjord had already hit with his Eldritch blasts and then decided that he wanted to cast another spell instead that Matt would let him.

[@squaidpro]

I've done it before for my group, I rolled to do a bite attack but changed my mind real quick.

[@PalleRasmussen]

I am fairly certain Caleb's anthem in this fight is kzbin.info/www/bejne/bIW1YmWHo7R0sKc

[@MyKingdomforAdRevenue]

Keyleth, cumulatively over the course of the entirety of C1, still did not fuck up as hard as Nott did in this one episode

[@kylelouthan4759]

Honestly, this is the first time that I felt Matt made a change that needlessly made the whole encounter more difficult than it needed to be. He changed the Succubus/Incubus Will Save DC from 15 to 16. This is already a pretty tough ability to resist and its effect lasts something like 24 hours, only allowing a reroll if the character takes damage. Adding a single point to a DC doesn't seem the big of a deal but as you can see it can mean the difference between success and repeated failure. Ashley's character spent most of the fight doing nothing other than attacking her allies. With all that said, Matt is an amazing GM and I love both campaigns. I am repeatedly amazed at how well he can on the spot reweave the narrative back together; regardless of the many, many tangents that his players go off on.

[@TheOrdainedOne]

Ashley's character has a - 1 wisdom modifier so Travis has to roll a 16 or higher to beat the DC of 15

[@8Bitnoobgamer]

@@TheOrdainedOne and she did a couple times, only a round or two into being controlled, remember?

[@kylelouthan4759]

@@TheOrdainedOne Which is my point. Early on, she rolled at 16 for a 15 with her -1 penalty. Under base rules she would have been able to join the fight then. But as he increased the difficulty, she failed and it took several rounds before she was finally able to overcome the DC. As I stated above increasing the overall DC by a single point was unnecessary. Considering there were two entities capable of charm and they could use this ability once per turn at will, its already pretty powerful and can be incredibly devastating . Raising the DC was not needed, especially when you consider the other enemies and possible mobs that could have joined the fight if the players were not paying attention.

[@lesslycepeda5247]

@@kylelouthan4759 I agree, raising the DC for TWO of them is over the top. Though Matt could have been more ruthless, during the fight they used Charm sparingly. It's also a good thing Fjord quickly snapped out of it or it would have possibly been over for them.

[@dig8634]

@@lesslycepeda5247 I am pretty sure they always used it whenever they didn't have a person charmed. They could have tried to double charm, but that only happened for a brief second I think. I agree that the DC was quite high and even a small increase can make a fight a LOT more difficult, but this fight was pretty well balanced. Every time I see people complaining about too difficult fights, I always question whether they watched the video. They got out alright didn't they? If they never had tough fights, I'd consider the show pretty boring. Matt rolled way above average while the M9 rolled pretty shitty the entire fight, so an average game at this difficulty would go fine. And that usually is the story when a fight is "too tough". Matt rolls well while the group rolls bad and they still get out of it alright. Why is a difficult fight a bad thing? People got pretty mad over the Iron Shepherds fight, but doesn't a difficult fight make for a better story? If he never gave them a "tough" fight, they'd never lose and we wouldn't have most of the most emotional beats both campaigns had to offer. If they get out in one piece, the fight wasn't too tough. It was dramatic. And I've already argued with a commenter immediately above this one claiming Matt was going too soft on them, and you can't both be right... I think Matt strikes the perfect balance between going easy on them and giving them a rough time. He doesn't want to "win", he doesn't want to go easy on them, he wants a good story. And you get that when the difficulty varies. When people complain about both, in an equal amount, I think you've done pretty well. You cannot please everyone anyways, and his players absolutely adore playing with him, so what more can you really want? Most of the tough fights are actually a result of less-than-ideal play from the players. Wasting turns trying to be fancy, bad strategic moves and the likes. Fjord is just the crown jewel of bad class optimization, he could do so much more damage per turn if he committed to either sword or eldritch blast. Now, keep in mind that there is nothing wrong with this at all. I love Fjord and I love how Travis plays, but all "tough" fights they have could easily be taken with an optimized team at their level. Except maybe the initial Shepherds encounter. They weren't supposed to fight them all together like that. It would take quite the strategy to beat that group in an open fight with only 5 members. But these guys don't care about optimizing, and therefore I don't either. Some fights are tough, others are pushovers. That blue dragon was easy pickings if the group didn't panic, but they did and we got the Traveler moving a shield to protect his little prophet and a dead dragon nobody saw and I loved every second of it.

[@pattap1234]

Personally I think this should have been a TPK, Matt could have just had Caleb use fireball again instead of wall fire. If he had then the party would have all been unconscious or less than 20ish health.

[@Erik-mz1ji]

Wall of fire also acted as a deterrent to get closer. With all the party spreading out, fireball would have to have been centered on Caleb. In order for Caleb not to deal damage to himself - thereby giving him a saving throw - wall of fire was the best choice.

[@johanlassen6448]

@@Erik-mz1ji Caleb was charmed. Charm can easily be explained as Caleb feeling that he needs to sacrifice himself to save his new friends. Whether or not he gets a saving throw after he casts the fireball is irrelevant. Demons don't give a shit if their charmed minions take damage.

[@FallstarFL]

It also blew his 4th level spell. He couldn't Hold Person at 4th level to pin everyone or Catapult at 4th level. Or Sleep at 4th level.

[@dig8634]

@@johanlassen6448 Except he could do more if he didn't ever take damage and instead kept fighting on their side. The Succubus and Incubus knows that taking damage gives him a chance to break out of it, so the less damage he takes the longer he'll fight for them. He doesn't need to sacrifice himself for them when the party doesn't even know where they are… That sounds more like a last ditch effort if Caleb or one of the demons were low, but none of that ever happened. Wall of Fire is objectively the better spell to use in this situation too. They had spread out, so a Fireball wouldn't get them all I don't think. Wall of Fire does less damage 5d8 vs. the 9d6 of a 4th level Fireball, but it goes several rounds and actively helps defend Caleb. Wall of Fire can also do the damage twice in one round if the players tries to cross from one side to the other. It covers larger ground too. It might not have done as much damage as a single Fireball that turn, but as a combat strategy, Wall of Fire would definitely be the better choice in almost all situations. Especially when playing for time like they were. They wanted to get that demon through the portal, and that might not have happened at all if Caleb hadn't stalled the M9.

[@johanlassen6448]

@@dig8634 I don't think either of the demons were interested in keeping him in the fight long. Caleb was going to get hit sooner or later anyway. Really, better as a combat strategy? How much damage did it actually do then compared to if he had just used a fireball?

[@daaabob9644]

Man I really wished matt trusted liam to choose his own spells, kinda ruined the whole encounter for me :(

[@KindaKaylaHQ]

He's under control. That defeats the purpose in a way if Caleb were to do it because he isnt choosing his spells in the first place.

[@dig8634]

@@KindaKaylaHQ Depends entirely on what commands Caleb was given actually. He could pick his own spells to a certain extent if the command was vague enough. He was told to "light them up", which would probably be interpreted to mean any fire spell, but if Matt wanted it to, it could mean only Fireball. There could also have been given a second command in-between his turns we didn't hear, since we never really see from the Incubus while Caleb is charmed. He had turns in there somewhere, but he doesn't do anything that we can see, and even if we did see him, he could give telepathic commands we just weren't told about. I still think Liam could be trusted to choose his own spells though. The Incubus doesn't know what Caleb can do at all, so being restrictive lessens his potential as a tool. Caleb would therefore be given vague commands to attack, which I would interpret as "do as much damage as you possibly can". Matt obviously did pick the spell that Liam suggested, which I honestly thought was a really cool moment, seeing Liam actively help kill his team, but I understand why Matt would take a bit of control, just to ensure no half-assed attacks were made, and that Caleb really gave it his all. While I would trust everyone currently sitting at the table to do their best if in this situation, I would still want to double check everything they tried just to be on the safe side. I don't think Laura would want to do it though. She would probably expect Matt to take the reins and thus offer up control freely anyway. I haven't watched either campaign to the end yet though, so I might be proved wrong in a currently unwatched episode XD

[@ilessthanthreeu99]

Nott: Caleb, are you okay?Caleb: So good, so goodNott: HE'S MIND CONTROLLED!! CALEB WOULD NEVER SAY HE'S OKAY, LET ALONE 'SO GOOD'!!!

[@coreyskuse9387]

This comment is stolen from yourself above. How dare you commit such blatant thievery. (Comment clones is a weird issue with YT.)