Vox Machina encounter 3 of Vecna's thralls | Critical Role | Ep 113

[@TalkingSoup]

laura going "i rolled four sixes!" and matt smiling like "haha holy shit they're gonna kill me for this"

[@555smo]

Imagine if kiki was able to open up the floor and drop them through. They would have never known they killed their friends and probably wouldn't have been able to find them after

[@AshleyTheSwift]

Matt Mercer confirmed for new alignment coming in 6e - True Evil.

[@AshleyTheSwift]

Also my favourite part about this are the reactions from every player. People like Travis, who aren't quite as extremely emotionally invested in the characters and don't get freaked out as easily by story beats, also had a huge dilemma to deal with when Pike had to waste some huge spells before the coming fight. Awesome stuff.

[@Pyramid132420]

@@AshleyTheSwift That's the thing though! It's because reviving them wasn't the best choice; it's because "wasting spells" gives us such a great story. The reason everyone loves CR isn't b/c of winning, it's b/c of the story.

[@SuperMcmonster]

the important lesson of knowing your enemy. Also not having the mentality of Kill on sight. Well played Mr. Mercer.

[@alexvillalobos8270]

was

[@TheIrishloon]

Nailed it. 100% right

[@Aplesedjr]

Killing on sight is always a good idea in the god lich’s tower of evil. Even here, because they still brought their friends back.

[@jgamer2228]

And yet nothing changes in campaign 2

[@jakisz]

Funny, given the last few episodes, everyone said they shouldn't be doing that. Vax had been doing that each time since they arrived, and everyone kept saying they should stop. Hope they learned their lesson after this.

[@blakemonway]

You know something was up when they were masked and entirely unresponsive, but hoo boy Matt knows how to pull some strings.

[@spartaneternal8423]

The look on Matts face when they start attacking is one of pure evil

[@spenceroneil4747]

11:00 the twins in tandem absolutely breaking down is heartbreaking. Both are so immensely invested in their characters. Holy shit Bravo you two

[@Clorgisclorg]

"Is that my baby girl?"

[@TurbosmoothOperator]

Love Sam, but that really cheapened the moment

[@Clorgisclorg]

@@TurbosmoothOperator I wouldn't really go that far. Or even close to that. But if that's how you feel, sure.

[@sidc2083]

it really felt like Sam was trying real hard to work through an emotional reaction he hadn't been expecting to feel.

[@FrumpybutSuperSmart]

It was so interesting watching Travis put it together after Matt described the lack of reaction after the nat 1.

[@camiart_casual]

It's easy to forget how smart Travis is, he and Laura (and sometimes Taliesin) are usually the first to figure these kinds of things out.

[@bladeric101]

Yeah, you can tell he's smelling something fishy.

[@maniakb416]

This is why I like Travis so much. Travis figured it out, but he knew that Grog wouldn't so he didn't react. That's good roleplay.

[@childofbacchus]

prideling n

[@ZackofSpades]

Honestly, I think he could have worked Grog figuring it out. He's been in enough fights to know that someone doesn't take a bad cleave into their shoulder and not budge. He likely just stayed out because most everyone else figured it out at around the same time, and Grog wasn't currently engaged. Good RP :)

[@Dorokill]

can not WAIT for this to be animated in vox machina

[@SnarkyRogue]

Liam's response to the scenario is incredible. I hope to one day play with a DM that can make me THAT invested in the story and npcs.

[@cara3566]

And in this moment all the mighty nein’s trust issues were born

[@killikhivemind2776]

Matt's face when Laura rolled the 4 sixes because he knew exactly what they were doing and how they would react. Kinda devious to have a plan like that but shit it was a good plot twist.

[@bravelatios]

everyone in the chat freaked the heck out from this last thursday. Luckiest natural 1 ever

[@SPACEHARICE]

Gilmore has pretty high Hp compared to the other 2 so they would have ran in anyway after the first 2 attacks

[@Galastan]

4:50 That's a face of a DM that knows that all those NPCs are *totally* dead.

[@Puckosar]

I don't know if Liam is just an amazing actor, or if he's THAT emotionally engaged in the story. Either way it's pretty incredible, I wish I could feel that strongly about a story

[@mikemcquarrie4113]

Seeing Laura go from total joy to being totally devastated is one of those DM joys, as a watcher heartbreak.

[@starfire4302]

It's messed up, but it's almost enjoyable watching Liam and Laura get excited about their damage rolls, while Matt and maybe Travis are like "Oh boy, here we go..."

[@csgamer89]

To quote Game of Thrones, "There will come a day that you think you will be safe, and your joy will turn to ashes in your mouth. And you will know the debt is paid." Mr. Mercer just paid back every bit of assfuckery Vox Machina has ever pulled, and then some, by doing such a dirty, underhanded, brilliant trick as this. We might hate you for this Matthew, but we love you all the same. :D Also, for those that are complaining about this being a spoiler, use a little common sense. It's a highlight video, it might not be labeled as such but it's not nearly an entire episode. That alone should clue you into the fact that this has spoilers for the newest episode.

[@ElyskeTheDonut]

I never realized it but Liam takes it real fuckin’ hard at 10:58 - I wondered where the noise was coming from because he tries super hard to keep it in. Just rage and sadness.

[@Eunostos]

People talk like the actor is the character disturbingly often in these comments :

[@jgamer2228]

I have no sympathy for Vax or Vex. Their entire attitude for the entirety of campaign 1 is self-absorbed arrogance and kill-on-sight for everything they didn’t like. Plus, death doesn’t really matter in this campaign. Not when they can press the reset button that is Revivify.

[@spacegremlin9972]

@@Eunostos I mean they get genuinely emotionally invested in these characters, so most of the emotion, probably is real here,

[@cara3566]

Can anyone imagine how horrifying this would be if we ever got it animated oooof

[@Rednetthall2]

**evil laughter!!!**

[@xboxman1710]

I think you mean WHEN this is animated, cause we got The Legend of Vox Machina now

[@pierrehurley]

Good thing he rolled that 1

[@garrettlaundry357]

Jeez! the look of guilt on Liam's face...

[@gavurkari]

Maybe because i was sleep deprived and tired but maybe because i have too much investment on this story that scene made me cry

[@AndreasPalmbladBt]

Gavur Karı no that was some really fucked up shit... really really sad to see Vax Vex and Scanlan.

[@mathewsmith2281]

9:08 hear no evil, speak no evil, speak no evil again

[@EthalaRide]

Thank the GODS for that nat 1! They would have just murdered them and walked right past otherwise! Oh, it makes my stomach sick thinking about it.

[@aurinsaint9058]

watching Matt face as they are preparing to attack and attacking. ...? He is enjoying this soooooo muuuuuch!

[@SnarkyRogue]

The only way Matt could've made that any more fucked up is if Vecna somehow got his hands on Velora. I can't imagine how Laura and Liam would've reacted. Probably would've been sobbing.

[@Parchisi2004]

What makes you think he doesn't have her upstairs with him?

[@SnarkyRogue]

I'm just saying in that moment.

[@Parchisi2004]

Ah ok I see that now. Let's hope he DOESN'T have her though.

[@stella1996able]

Uhm... That's creepy O.o xD

[@SnarkyRogue]

Well we called it... lol

[@alberthalliwel9273]

Sam: “these are big spells aren’t they” Talisen: “they’re massive” Me: “guys they’re level 3 spells...”

[@AmusinglySaunters]

Do you know what else is a third level: fireball and Counterspell

[@alberthalliwel9273]

Ryan Strauss she’s a cleric She can’t cast either of those. Get real.

[@jacobbabson6786]

@@alberthalliwel9273 Just the components mostly, and they were going against a literal GOD. By the end they were almost out of slots completely and they needed all they could.

[@High-LordHarza]

Not only did they need all the slot they could use, Revivify is the fastest way to revive someone, especially in Matt's rules.

[@rsrocha1984]

@@AmusinglySaunters not for a cleric

[@saintpoli6800]

“This is some seven shit” Indeed it is.

[@wrencole6272]

I’ll never forget the pit I felt in my stomach the second I realized what was going on…

[@StevenJQuinlan]

How quickly easy victory turns to bitter bitter defeat

[@aryadewalandra5536]

When he reveals those 3 characters I was like, "NO!nONooo! this can't be real!" (cries to the floor)

[@gloriabaquera5434]

God DAMN it Matt!

[@petersenior5432]

Their first hint should have been to see if they were undead. The lich, Vecna himself, would not have anything other than that under his employ.

[@hypergreedgaming9590]

I think that was one of the questions Joe asked when he did divine sense. No celestial, fiend, or undead

[@rodrigul3]

LUCKIEST NAT 1 IN HISTORY!!!!

[@ElfQuestComicDubFamily]

I WAS HOPING SOMEONE WOULD POST THIS CLIP YESSSSS

[@mattwilkes2214]

Matt's mustache is all I can look at and it's glorious.

[@nairocamilo]

Hey Liam, thank you for killing that Nothic! Now we can see Matt's weird and sadistic take on his NPCs!

[@tadious9415]

Vex celebrating rolling max damage there!! No Matt you're so evil!!

[@madamHoodie1]

as horrible as this is for the players, as a fellow dm, I bet this was a WONDERFUL moment for Matt lmaoo

[@kmerritt09]

Don't know what's weirder: Matt Mercer with facial hair, or Travis Willingham without it.

[@battyrae1398]

this was so fucked up. im impressed.

[@aslakjacobsen1517]

Vox Machina had at this point adopted a psudo murderhobo mentality of kill first, Matt certainly made them pay for it

[@jgamer2228]

Too bad nothing came of it and nobody learned anything

[@negiushegratte982]

Right in the feels man.

[@totallynotadogonacomputer8279]

I was going through just watching some old campaign highlights and completely forgot about bearded mercer...think I’m gay now

[@BearodactylRex]

Im watching campaign 2 and yet to find characters that would have the same affect on the crew as these ones. I really hope they do.

[@lillianconstencedoodles]

Kiri, Marion, Eventually Essek, the Brenotto’s, TJ, pumat sol, at least those are the ones I can think of

[@Dorokill]

critical role 2x104, just leaving that there

[@Matthew_Calmert]

Wouldn't it have been a minute and revivify not work based on all the dialogue they had?

[@free2breathe]

You are correct but no one dies on the show. The rules aren't followed extremely well so I wouldn't get caught up on it too much. It'll rage long time D&D players but I don't think the majority of the audience played D&D before. You'll notice they don't pay the diamonds cost for the spell either. Matt seems to have just not made them pay for spells for a long time.

[@BoltyLive]

That’s why Matt was rolling

[@Birthday888]

@@free2breathe Matt has homebrew rules on reviving people. You don't need to pay money to raise people, but you only get one shot at doing so. Paying money raises the likelihood of successfully reviving them, as well as attempting to do so promptly after their death.

[@free2breathe]

@@Birthday888 Matt does normally make them pay the cost to use the spell. Also Matt's only homebrew rule is the chance the revive doesn't work and additional revives of the same character makes the DC harder. Not paying the cost doesnt make the DC harder it's not supposed to be a choice to pay a component or not. 5e is really hard to die in and is why Matt added the rule to try and make death seem like a bigger deal than it really is.

[@kydnord5858]

Matthew Calmert I think it also had to do with the fact that a lot of that conversation was actually out of character. Sometimes they stay in their accents when they are speaking OOC and sometimes they don’t-sometimes they have sort-of-meta-half-canon conversations in character that they retcon or brush off as jokes, but that’s just the game. In a confusing, panic driven conversation like this I could see Matt estimating the amount of in-character dialogue and just assuming that a cleric as experienced as Pike would know that she only has a minute to cast the spells. I personally think it’s worth it sometimes to give the players a little bit of grace when something happens that requires a quick reaction. (19th? I haven’t watched all of this campaign) level PC reflexes > regular old human player reflexes. ButthenagainIdontknowwhatimtalkingaboutdontlistentome /endrant

[@DarksideGmss0513]

I hope they leave this part in the animated series

[@metalheaddave666]

Why is it an auto crit if they’re surprised? All surprise means is they can’t move they’re first turn? 🤔 advantage if stealthed yes...confused...

[@Shortlan]

metalheaddave666 home game, home rules.

[@metalheaddave666]

Shortlan just making sure I didn’t miss anything. Attempting to dm soon

[@Shortlan]

No worries, make it your own. Make it work for you. If that means interpreting stuff differently, go for it.

[@ianberry8895]

I thought it was because they were both Assassin Rogues

[@metalheaddave666]

Ian Berry oh maybe

[@Drakenx88]

oh god i was the 666 like lol

[@falfires]

Y'know, Shortlan, you could've waited until at least 5h from the youtube upload, to at least give everyone a chance to watch the episode before you post spoilers to the newest one. Or at least start the title with "SPOILERS EP 113" or something, instead of giving just plain spoilers in the title without any warning. Not trying to make you feel bad, just, y'know... Some of us can't watch the show live, but still like to remain spoiler-free until they can see it.

[@Shortlan]

I don’t get to watch the episodes live either being from the UK, and I do my best to make the titles as unspoilery as possible. I put episode numbers on too, so if you haven’t seen it you would know not to watch it. I’ve tried to be accommodating. I work 5/6 days and sometimes now is the only time I get to get something online. I am sorry if you got spoiled though. (Also the episodes up in less than two hours!)

[@mayorofe3]

dont worry about it too much shortlan, your title was non spoiler so if he clicked on this video he knew he was going to be spoiled and is just trying to blame you for it, you continue being awesome with these vids

[@kaukolsothy9919]

Let's click on a video clip and not except spoilers :D.

[@jordanmoore7340]

The episode number is in the title and everything... I don't know how you could expect to watch an episode 113 highlight without expending spoilers...

[@SnarkyRogue]

Normally I'd be inclined to agree but unless he's since updated the title, it's not like he posted it as "THE TWINS KILL KAYLIE AND CASSANDRA". The thralls couldve been anyone. The scene couldve been comical. The title doesnt give anything about the scene away and if you still watched it before the episode proper, that's on you.