The Chain of Acheron: Ep. 17 - Chain's King to Dragon Three | Matt Colville's D&D Campaign

[@jaredatkinson1071]

12 dragons more like 1 dragon and a bunch of wankers

[@natskis]

1 small dragon and a bunch of huge dicks

[@CosmicLatte1]

1 dragon, 11 gryffins, 12 wangrods.

[@Enkrod]

Led by commander dick piranha

[@helloMCDM]

We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did.

[@zanekenyon1950]

I certainly did

[@Regult]

MCDM enough to watch it live and on YT!

[@gmscott9319]

I hope so too! I can't know your enjoyment level, but it seemed high. I know I enjoyed it quite a bit!

[@caleboverman4464]

I loved it!

[@BiaXia]

man I feel like they missed a great opportunity to forge the document to say boots owns the pellet, maybe down the line they will start playing the game of politics instead of purely a mercenary group. keep up the great work and I loved the stream!

[@ComradeCrab93]

I can't believe they met the Riojan Power Rangers

[@StevoM08]

Glad I’m not the only one who thought that. xD

[@derekskelton4187]

Not nearly enough camp.

[@Tgaxgriffen]

I love slim. The level of hubris is unmatched

[@jerkokangasniemi3880]

Indeed. I love how Phil roleplays his character, it is just incredible.

[@ScyLancer]

I know it's been 4 years, but I still cheer when Mud and the Green Boots show up.

[@noblestrings]

Magical girl leech is truly a gift. Very big sailor moon energy.

[@DesmondDentresti]

Spoilers for this episode: Boots: "Should I tell her?" Chain: "Yeah." Captain of Red Falcons: "Yeah, tell me." Boots: "The job wasnt the kid." King: "That wasnt what we talked about..." Matt and Anna: "ITS TOO LATE NOW" This is D&D.

[@IndigoWraithe]

I have to say, this was such a dope episode from start to finish. The stakes got significantly ratcheted up, and the Chain gained a new ally in the Red Falcons. Best of all, there is a new and incredibly memorable adversary now in play - the Captain of the 12 Dragons. I am so invested in the day that wangrod gets his shit stomped in.

[@isupeene]

"How many were killed?" "Just you."

[@joebaker1]

😮

[@NPDGX]

I'm glad these are coming to youtube faster and faster. I hate fighting with the damn Twitch mobile app

[@birdybirdytiger]

I feel you. Tried to listen to the Twitch VoD in bed the other night and just ended up with overly loud adverts every 10 mins, so I just packed it in. Luckily this was up the following night, so thanks guys for reupping the vods so quickly.

[@azuraben5128]

Keep your friends close, but your spoilers closer 0:00:00 Shadow battle 0:00:38 Intro 0:01:00 Welcome to the show 0:01:20 When last we left our heroes 0:01:40 Lunchtime with Angel 0:04:05 Diplomat's limitations 0:05:38 Stall 0:06:07 Odie, the Scout 0:08:50 Librarian talking with Red Falcons 0:12:41 New fake contract 0:16:50 Distressed librarian 0:23:10 Consequences 0:31:50 Is it a bird? Is it a dozen? 0:34:30 Dome of teleportation (battle magic? Probably) 0:38:18 Slim reacts 0:43:37 Duel of honor 0:50:40 Reinforcements 0:58:36 Deathcount: 0 1:04:50 Arrested after all 1:10:22 Town of dickering 1:14:16 Changing the map 1:15:06 Announcements 1:16:58 Feature Fanart 1:20:01 Capital with changes (37) 1:21:07 When last we left our heroes 1:26:33 Pins 'n Crap 1:29:21 Orcs attack! With seals! 1:31:58 The Broadsheets spell war 1:44:07 In short, level up! 1:54:03 End of game, some downtime and knighthoods 2:12:03 Summary Let me know if I missed anything or wrote too much/little, happy travels!

[@thewaterbear]

The 12 Chains of Red Falcheron

[@Tgaxgriffen]

This was probably one of the most intense episodes yet with no dice rolled just some dope RP.

[@fratguide9835]

I really want Slim to get to 15th level and just cut captain dickopilis’ head off

[@StarWindEnergin]

Phil is a delight to watch. "Kill them!?!?" "no, no, this one, sealed lips" *Phil winks back aka yes commander I got the real message the first time*

[@carasc5]

I know it took me a while to get through this episode, but this is easily the most dramatic and entertaining session of DnD I've ever witnessed after a decade and a half as a DM, player or viewer. Well ****ing done Matt, and well ****ing done players. This was pure art and would've made a great novel on its own.

[@zarozinia1168]

1:18:32 Night out with the lads. seeing hubble's art of our characters on stream was amazing, groupchat went wild

[@DyrgeAfterDark]

A Pawn can become the most powerful piece on the board ~Duke Marco of House Vorona.

[@stevebytheway131]

There is always an insurmountable difference between a piece in the game, and the player though.

[@grave2501]

and what all forget a pawn can also kick ass

[@kereminde]

"Says who?" Still one of my favorite moments in the campaign thus far and that's saying something when stacked against Slim ;)

[@ethanholmes6306]

Agreed. Closely followed by “Who’re these assh*les?”

[@JohnStynes]

I am so loving this campaign: story, group dynamic, goofing off; I know the table are trying hard at making this something that is "watchable" but it all seems super organic and just what it is, which is a group of friends having a good time playing for D&D. I took some inspiration from your attempt to get a rise out of Slim and almost got one of the PCs in my game to blow their cover while talking to the villain, so double thanks for the inspiration =D

[@nickwilliams8302]

For me, the key to a watchable livestream is that the players _are_ just playing an RPG. There's far too many streams out there trying to be the next Critical Role without considering that the style CR uses was how a bunch of nerdy-ass voice actors actually played in their home game. I don't _want_ the group to _try_ to make the game "watchable". I want them to do what they are doing: play some D&D. The irony is, _that's_ what will make it watchable.

[@Chase-qb8zh]

LOVE the shout out for Dael Kingsmill

[@maledictita]

Oh!! What timecode is that?

[@theballadoflhii1009]

Kirsty Bolomey-Humbley 2:04:08

[@alexandergf8156]

This group is so good and entertaining but most of all its nice to see you all have fun. Matt's voice work in this episode is outstanding.

[@KyleTrek]

This episode ( considering the choice to move this game off camera ) id say was the highet of the show. The drama is so intense. If yall still read these messages on old videos i appreciate this so much as to this day it still provides such an imense amount of creative juice for me as a veteran dm. Even if the game itself is of screen i would still very much warch a campaign diary for the game if possible. I would love to hear about how the chain proceed with the faction game because as a dm having and example of more political moves would help myself ( and maybe others ) have a better idea on how to do simalr things in our own games. Im actually runing a game now thats one spaceship away from a spelljammer game and currently the main location with the most play has a war going on. The new economic power is at odds with an old military power and the country of the sands to the north waits to see who comes out on top so they can swing in a take whats left from either weakend power. I've had battles and incursions that my party have been involved in but for the behind the sceans stuff id love other ways then outright war to have control over citys change maily so that way i can have cities left after the war is over. Of course my players have had access to time travel scene the first session and havent bothered to use it so maybe i wont have to bother with it but incase they continue that current modusoperandi having more then a blood bath would help me plan better sessions.

[@chappyhall6682]

I just want to say that Phil is an amazing roll player, and Slim is extremely entertaining to watch!

[@SeiferVII]

King: "Have you been downstairs?" Flashback to a screaming Boots getting eaten by two monsters at the same time.

[@matthewturner5178]

*spoiler* that was a good bit of quick thinking to revivify the captain of the red falcons on king's part. That seems like it is going to pay dividends until such a point that said NPC suffers a more permanent fate. Also, I freaking love how the second the leader of the Royal Heraldric Society called Boots "your friend Shoes," Tom pretended to order Slim to cut the guy in half. Honestly, the guy might end up on Slim's blade yet if he keeps stonewalling and playing dumb.

[@vivivengeance5858]

If you're going to re-christen the Somnium Tenebrys, it has to be The Apple Cart.

[@nickwilliams8302]

Why?

[@mandodelorian4668]

@@nickwilliams8302 running gag since Ep 1

[@nickwilliams8302]

@@mandodelorian4668 I know it's a running gag. But renaming an in-game element based on a running gag? No. Just no.

[@glasswood2369]

How about the "Astrale Karamelwurst"? German for the Astral Caramel Sausage

[@josieuk2003]

Had a rough day yet Matt "That all seems entirely plausible, and not at all........ridiculous" plus giggle after "why would you say it like that?" in the intro had me with the giggles and everything seemed a lot brighter 😂😂😂

[@FlyingDominion]

4:00

[@chrisbovington9607]

@Matthew Colville: You genius! This was brilliant! Thoroughly gripping!

[@merrymerryjerry6736]

I love it when Matt slaughters important NPCs.

[@nickwilliams8302]

It's a classic way to establish how tough an NPC is. Just have them kill someone/thing close to the PC's level _easily._ If Matt hadn't done this, chances are that The Chain would have tried to fight the 12 Dragons. And (Bane voice) *that comes later.*

[@a.morphous66]

@@nickwilliams8302 See also: the Worf Effect

[@jfarrar19]

@@nickwilliams8302 The man who broke the Boot

[@justinbaskall8291]

This was excellent, I wish for a game with this much political tension, and how intense that moment before the scouts came in was, expeccially knowing what was going on behind the scenes a bit from the campaign diary. Can't wait for this week's recap. Fantastic.

[@coffeecaesar1443]

The crowd parting and revealing Commander Mud was such a cool fucking moment, oh my god

[@cosmoreverb3943]

I love the moment at 1:32:58, I keep going back to it after the campaign diary.

[@treed6038]

Captain Antanilla, or Captain & Tennille? If she breaks out into "Love will keep us together" or "Muskrat Love" then we know for sure.

[@MeanderingMikesManCave]

I was thinking this same thing! :)

[@theodorebellavia-frank5900]

Cap’n Antonia

[@mike122344]

This has been fun to watch. There are many elements that I had not considered to be some things that could be a part of a campaign. I look forward to, if health permits, watching more of these sessions. Thanks for entertaining me, I truly appreciate the distraction from life.

[@mandodelorian4668]

Hello fellow human, here is hoping that both You and The Chain have many, many wonderful streams ahead of you yet!

[@pafnutiytheartist]

This was the most dramatic episode yet. I love it. Please keep doing what you are doing.

[@maxbohnson1]

A: What color is that coliseum? OD: I don't know. I printed it in black and white. Hahaha.

[@mandodelorian4668]

OD is a treasure, lol

[@dylanloizeaux2865]

I love the group chemistry yall have

[@matthewsheppard4120]

"Slim, cut this man in half."

[@preacherman01]

That first hour was INTENSE!!!!!!

[@keithaszilagyi]

I love this kind of episode. To me, the heavy combat episodes are a bit boring. The political intrigue, on the other hand, captivates my attention.

[@man0fbronze79]

how tense was that first half! outstanding drama!

[@thetiny6482]

I love the sound of Odie flying so much! I'd steal it if I could make that sound.

[@nathansummers1655]

Slim reopens the Coliseum- starts the Capital chapter of 'Fight Club'...

[@theAV8R]

This was my first episode. I watched 'till The Heist, and decided to re-watch from the beginning. So glad I did. It's cool to see the players and characters develop over each episode. Great work!

[@ScoffMathews]

I usually can't spare 3 hours, so I catch the diaries instead. I was so pumped for this intrigue episode that I just had to blow off a bit of work to watch. Amazing game Matt!

[@gamefan1353]

He ignores Lady Antonia to adress the Lieutenant, huh? He seems to also hold some more "classical beliefs"...

[@nickwilliams8302]

Pretty good way to get the players to hate an NPC _instantly._

[@antonyspooner839]

Thanks for these, I literally started to learn about the game yesterday, first checking out your tips to DM and now observing how a game is played so that I can possibly create my own in the future, it's very fun even as an outside observer with little to no experience! Also, I roll a perception check for herbalists :']

[@GGSigmar]

Love the intro speech

[@patrickbuckley7259]

Part of me really hopes Boots ends up Prince of Capital... Might be a bit to extreme, but it'd be REALLY fun!

[@LiamStennes-jg9hp]

When the advancers walked out of the crowd a chill went down my spine, and my brain was like “…. Holy shit…. Holy shit” and when he mentioned that they were super elite troops it did it again. I hope to be able to give my players this moment sometime in the future. Just need to set up an epic moment like this.

[@stevenclark1662]

Already watched on twitch, but I wanted to come here and give a view and a like as well. It's certainly worth watching twice!

[@natskis]

This is like some early season game of thrones. More intreague, dialogue and politiking than fighting... but interesting as all hell. Brilliant stuff! The world is fantastic Matt. I'm captivated.

[@Hunterreaper4444]

1:18:25 *Mandolin music stops* don’t know why I find that hilarious but I do

[@6pointsROCKS]

That was a kick ass opener! also still gonna ask for MCDM and Critical Role crossover episode

[@MrTrilbe]

Meh, i hoping for a MCDM Cyberpunk 2020 game, Matt Colville's heavy lean to politic's in his games would work so well, Capital as Night City and the houses as Mega Corps, replace The Chain with Street gangs, yes multiple gang's with each player heading their own gang, for the extra politics and omg yes the awesome that would be. Ok there could be infighting but it's Cyberpunk

[@mandodelorian4668]

@@MrTrilbe Capital 2020 would be dope!

[@TheAgrimen]

an absolute blast and full of inspiration for the taking

[@wallpello_1534]

Best episode so far!

[@Armaggedon185]

Chain of Acheron is all very good, but this stuff is the best part. The politics of Capital is what defines this game.

[@RidenBiden]

This may be my favorite episode.

[@lokuzt]

nice predator countdown timer T-shirt, Matt!

[@Maladjester]

Red Falcons: Damn, that was close. This could be the start of a war. Chain: Damn, that was close. This could be the start of a war. Slim: Antonia, you suck at fighting, that is unacceptable. Phil wins this session.

[@Ash-ds2qz]

I hate the fact that I can never catch these live! It's so early UK time D:

[@rpgdissections8474]

Was really hoping they'd cut the document in half so they completed the contract to deliver the documentation to prove that one guy's ancestry without handing over the rights to the Pellet. Guess we still have time to see the Chain of Acheron start making more political moves. The Masquerade player in me has been giddy since they've arrived at Capital.

[@nickwilliams8302]

The document didn't "prove ancestry". It proved that the "one guy's" ancestors had been given the title to the Pellet. There was no way to complete the contract without delivering that information.

[@benjaminstorace6699]

me- reads description Obviously these players don't watch Shadaversity on KZbin. Because they failed to ask themselves; "WHAT ABOUT DRAGONS?"

[@mikegould6590]

I’ll be DMing a new campaign in two Weeks. And what do my players want? To be members of an outcast Mercenary Legion. Sound familiar? THEY chose that. And some have actually read the Black Company series.

[@stevenfernandez4372]

Gripping suspense and political intrigue here! Well done! And the Knight-Commander of the Order of the Twelve Dragons is portrayed as being deliciously arrogant and cocky. A classic villain worthy of boos and hisses. Yet another high instance of Matt's roleplaying talents. :)

[@RobinBaggett]

This week was so good!!!

[@Alex-fn2hl]

I honestly love the intro to this one. It's awesome.

[@z3djinn]

Do they ever think that Ajax might be behind the unrest in the city? It would make his invasion easier if the city was at war.

[@nickwilliams8302]

Behind? No. Behind one of the factions? Oh yeah.

[@jfarrar19]

Does "I think he arranged for the prince's death" count?

[@Sorenzo]

Waiting a week (or more?) for this show is torture. I just love the medieval politics. Even if Colville is just "filling in the blanks", in a sense, he does it very well. (I'm referring to what he said about how he creates factions.)

[@JacobL228]

1:45:23 Actually, it's bad luck to NOT rename and rechristen a ship after you acquire it from someone else.

[@seanhillman1016]

Damn I am sorry I missed the live stream on this. Great, great rp.

[@josephmort4039]

The War of Seven Spies... make this name a thing!

[@dennisjordan5917]

Arrows of hunters mark. Allowing copper to apply hunters mark and trigger it at the same time, and freeing up his bonus action for bigcat!

[@chedc28]

Lars is underrated!!

[@MuraKun]

This episode is really intense

[@lucasteichert1237]

I really want to see the Behind the Screen. This was awesome and I want it in my game

[@oscargarciahinde4247]

Well shit, I'm just sitting here figuring out how I can fit something like this episode in my game. What a masterclass in how to run TTRPGs!

[@danjal87nl]

Really wish they had used O'D to plant the rumor among the crowd that the Twelve Dragons were on their way to stage a coup on that district as a play for power.

[@stevenklinden]

If the diplomat's pouch only allows them to send notes addressed to a recipient with a diplomat's pouch, how did they send the contract that they retrieved? It's a written document, yes, but it's not addressed to Angel.

[@jfarrar19]

Write on the back "Angel this is the thing for the contract"

[@michaelmrozek604]

Four years later and I still wish we had more of Mud and the Advancers

[@raymonddeuel5212]

"Our blades will swim in his entrails". Fabulous line.

[@christopherfers1569]

I love Slim so much.

[@dmgallibond469]

I can suspend my disbelief only so far, Matt Colville. And taking The Chain to a police station mess hall that doesn't have prominent coffee and donut stations just breaks the immersion too much.

[@MarbleCaked]

I'm betting that the whereabouts of the prince's corpse and where exactly they are in relation to the vampire noblewoman is going to come in to play at some point

[@chriswalls546]

Every time Matt Colville says "be seeing you," I see Alfred Bester, the Psicop. Good ol' Chekhov himself. Intentional? Accidental?

[@kevincullen6627]

Good episode

[@tropism5193]

Great story!

[@Mathizsias]

I'm not sure if Matt has just seen the movie Warriors a bit too often or he is truly a madman. :)

[@LuvLikeTruck]

Can, You, Dig It!!!

[@fhuber7507]

@MCDM I downloaded Dael's Apothecary system. It is *EPIC*

[@fhuber7507]

Fun fact of fantasy Alchemy: Each alchemist tries different experiments and you can get almost the same result in several different ways. So, there an be many different formulae for using the Sin Metal to make the same basic sword. (+X vs creature type ... or whatever result is wanted) One formula might be more likely to have one side effect than another formula. The side effect might be positive or negative.

[@blizzard4224]

"Situation normal for the Chain of Acheron" God Damn is that a good line

[@TnTyson81]

More post game chat plz :)

[@masondeross]

Renegotiating a signed contract at completion, when the details in ink are all *even* technically valid, seems antithetical to the chain ethos. And this contract wasn't nearly as misleading as Lars seems to think... The motives of the person behind it are pretty irrelevant to Chain Law as it were; the onus was on King to *not* sign the contract if they disagree with the motives, and to dig into them ahead of time if that was a concern. If the contracted employer had lied about who they represent, that might be different; if they said plainly "We work for House Alvaros" and it turns out they are working for the Fulcrum, that'd be a breach, but not disclosing to whom they are beholden is totally different.

[@masondeross]

Just to be clear... I loved the session, but I think Lars the player is misremembering the contract.

[@joebaker1]

It is always important to know which Patrick Stewart you are talking about... 😸

[@halfpintrr]

God I love King. And Slim.

[@invisibledooley]

Judge: Hey, how are you doing Grumbles? Grumbles: Not so great. Judge. Judge: How about I heal you with Slay on Hands.... uh, I mean Lay on Hands?

[@lawrencekenworthy8918]

Blimey

[@alarin612]

I was surprised and impressed Lars knew it's bad luck to rename a ship. I think that's worth more ship knowledge points in one little quip than Critical Role managed to scrape together over the whole pirate arc. Well done.

[@Brokensnowball]

just put the diplomat pouch in the bag of holding and everyone can go to the astral plane

[@BiaXia]

man I feel like they missed a great opportunity to forge the document to say boots owns the pellet, maybe down the line they will start playing the game of politics instead of purely a mercenary group. keep up the great work and I loved the stream!

[@Heckel109]

BiaXia yeah but they have yet to confirm Boots’s noble heritage, so that claim might have been highly suspect considering he doesn’t belong to a house yet

[@BiaXia]

@@Heckel109 all they need is a forger and soldiers like matt spoke off a couple of episodes ago...and having the red Falcons have the chains back the princes knights STRENGTHENS the claim. it's all there and matt put it there for them to use