Otohan puts Chetney through it | Critical Role - Bells Hells ep 91

Rest in peace Chet- Oh wait he's alive- Oh never mind... Wait?
Clip from episode 90 of Critical Role's Bells Hells campaign
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[@DnDAddictUK]

Its the "I almost got soloed in one round" and then Matt went "Action Surge"... perfect

[@kevinmclay9560]

Let them feel a lil bit of hope and relief then rip it away.

[@weaselwolf]

"Balanced Combat." -Sam

[@GhostWriter520]

I swore Travis had asked Matt to kill him this episode so he could run the real character he meant to play this campaign. Then I was like "oh no, she's just horrifically higher level, given an extra subclass (that they luckily got rid of), has a ton of HP, and a second battle form. Silly me"

[@MrZerakian]

This whole episode was dope.

[@kevinmclay9560]

Otohan was made to kill a party. This is the second or third time they have gone up against her. Why were they surprised?

[@andrewmarshall8811]

Even with Matt's dice luck, this was very much a winnable fight for BH. The "problem" (and it certainly isn't a problem in terms of entertainment or story) is that many of the PCs make suboptimal choices with either their spell preparations or action choices. Being bad at optimization--or even middling optimization--doesn't mean you're bad at D&D. Far from it. Obviously, the cast is good at many aspects of D&D. For about half the cast, optimization simply isn't one of them, and when presented with a fight that needed some level of tactics, they struggled.

[@atheistpriest6665]

Not to mention they were already hurting a bit and low on spells

[@andrewmarshall8811]

@@atheistpriest6665 Very true, but planning spells for these contingencies (being hurt between fights without time for a short rest is not an uncommon occurrence) is still important. Of the many baffling decisions, probably the biggest one for me is Ashton not grappling the hyper-mobile single target boss. He was beat up, but that problem could have been solved if Fearne had Aura of Vitality (terrible for in-combat heals, but really good for this exact situation)/rest-cast Goodberries for the post-explosion escape cut scene. Fearne casts arguably the best lower level Druid spell in the game, Conjure Animals--which I can't remember her ever casting--for a swarm of velociraptors or wolves to help Orym stab. Or Heat Metal, which is a spell she has used and Legendary Resistances don't really help against it. Orym started the fight with only two superiority dice left and Disarming Attack is a Strength save, but maybe with a little coordination (Silvery Barbs, Mind Sliver) he gets Ishta. High risk-high reward play. Laudna concentrates on a meaningful spell like Blindness (and saves Silvery Barbs for the Con save, since landing it vs. a fighter is tough) and blasts away, Imogen spams Mind Whip (an Int save, so reasonably reliable), Chetney dies in the first round (not much could have been done from a tactical standpoint in the moment to prevent this--you're giving Death Ward to the healer, not the werewolf), and FCG...well, I'd say casts Spirit Guardians, but I get the sense that Sam is avoiding this spell deliberately and don't want to start assigning wildly out-of-character actions...so he'll heal Ashton, who will be taking the bulk of the hits from the grappled foe.

[@lockskelington314]

Matt: yeah she has 700 hp, 4 attacks each turn with a bonus action attack, unlimited psionic dice, 80 feet of movement, legendary actions, a broken healing potion that restores half of her health, and me meta gaming knowing about her 2nd faze where she’s resistant to all damage But the fight is totally winnable guys you don’t need to run away you can totally beat her I don’t know why fcg decided to off himself for no reason she was so low only had 100 hit point left while three of you were unconscious!

[@jadencore]

I'm glad he finally stopped babying them and actually hit them with a combat encounter they couldn't run from. Season has been boring as hell.

[@lockskelington314]

@@jadencore While I agree he was babying them I think this was Overboard. Keep in mind this is how powerful she was and Matt thought they could beat her at lvl 7. She could have taken on Ukatoa 1v1.

[@wrecksgaming2326]

Nah this was fine, even if they played it perfect a few would have died which can still be narratively satisfying. What do you want a combat where they stomped, it’s 7v1 so Matt made a strong character that had to solo a 13th level party, with multiple casters and… he rolled well. This was cool and FCG making his play was in character and satisfying, deal with it, be sad not mad mate.

[@alexworoniecki7231]

Not going to lie 7 level 13 characters can fully make this fight possible. Just take a lot more planning and team play. I feel like this campaign the party is only playing off their own strengths and not setting each other up like they have in the past.

[@lockskelington314]

@@alexworoniecki7231 The Downside of not having a Party Wizard or Bard. Also Ashleys Fire form seemed to do NOTHING in this fight.