Awesome / Critical Role Against The Chains

As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

Episode 70: Causatum

• Caduceus's question and speech during the conversation on whether they should return to the Bright Queen or not. He asks "Am I the only person who doesn't instantly assume they are the bad guy? Does anybody else here have any experience just being trusted, and doing the right thing? Is this so alien?" And the other members of the Mighty Nein basically reply with yes, with Beau outright saying that no one else in the group has had the experience of being the good guy and being trusted to do the right thing. Then, further in conversation Caduceus tells the group, rightly, that no matter what they did their best to stop the release of the Laughing Hand; whether they were there or not it was going to happen. At least now they have a chance to warn people and cause the enemy's plans to go awry. It's an awesome moment of leadership from a character who is normally content to follow the group.
• We get a glimpse of the person Caleb used to be while he interrogates the scourger, and he is confident and intimidating - a far cry from the Caleb we usually see. Liam chooses to drop the zemnian accent "because he wouldn't hear himself in an accent when he speaks in his native language," and the resulting conversation is thrilling to watch.

Episode 71: Family Gathering

• Beau successfully navigates her encounter with Dairon, and ends up forging an agreement where both can openly share information. It's an exciting chance for the Mighty Nein to have access to the Cobalt Soul's considerable wealth of research materials.
• After one Telefrag mishap that causes them to take Force damage, a 90+ roll on the second percentile die results in Essek's teleportation spell sending the Nein exactly where they wanted to go: right in front of the volcano. Matt reveals afterwards that he had several possibly failure scenarios for that spell, it could've sent them to an entirely different volcano in Exandria, or to the Savalierwood (which would've resulted in a much longer journey).

Episode 72: Clay and Dust

• Fjord comes clean to Jester about temporarily losing his powers a few sessions ago. This sparks another dream from Uk'otoa, who takes the powers away again. Fjord isn't having it this time. He goes to the pool of magma and pushes his falchion three inches into his chest (brushing against vital organs) in a bid to make Uk'otoa return his abilities. Uk'otoa does not, so Fjord holds the falchion over the lava, saying "You need me more than I need you", with his blood now streaming into the lava and boiling into smoke. After the only response is a mild numbing feeling, Fjord- refusing to be Uk'otoa's pawn any longer- withdraws his hand and casts his falchion into the magma, claiming agency for himself. For the rest of the episode and the foreseeable future, Fjord no longer speaks in Vandren's accent, but his own.
  • After this moment, Travis, mid face-palm, asks "What did I do?". Taliesin immediately tells him that he did something that Percy never pulled off. "You out-Percy'd Percy. Well done."
  • From the fandom: fan-artist Caio Santos produced this piece of artwork depicting the crucial scene... within an hour of the episode's end.

Episode 73: Uthodurn

• The grapple chain that saves a knocked-out Beauregard from the Remorhaz is quite something. Beau is being grappled by the Remorhaz, which dives underground to enjoy its meal. Fjord sees the tail end of it and grapples it with the whip he received from Jester the previous episode. Caleb sees Fjord starting to disappear underground, and drags him back with a clutch Cat's Ire. Through all this, Fjord has to succeed on a couple of Strength checks to maintain his grip and pull the creature with him, which he does with style, though Matt rules that due to the remorhaz being a size larger, Fjord takes a bunch of stretching damage as his shoulders pop and strain.
• Caleb does some quick thinking and casts Polymorph on the currently bitten and about to be eaten Jester. And turns her into a Mammoth. She is spat out as she is now a Huge creature and has 126 HP. She proceeds to go to town on the younger Remorhaz, crushing it in one turn. Her delight at finally being a damage-dealing tank is hilarious:
  Laura: So, whoa, that's 4d10 bludgeoning damage, and that's just my bonus action! That's 30 points of bludgeoning damage, and then I'm gonna gore it!
  (rolls dice)
  Laura: Oh, that's 28 to hit! Oh shit! It was 4d10 +7, I didn't add the seven! Holy fuck! And then the gore attack... (rolls again) that's 10, 15 plus 7, that's 22 points of goring tusk damage!
  Matt: You take 8 points of fire damage—
  Laura: Fuck it, I'm a mammoth, I don't care!
  (applause)
  Matt: And how do you want to do this?
  (LOUDER applause)
  • She proves to be still clutch when restored to normal form. Even with only 12 HP, she heals Beau to keep her alive and then follows through by managing to get the second HDYWTD on the adult Remorhaz with a 4th level Guiding Bolt.
• For a stealth check, Nott manages a 43.

Episode 74: Manifold Morals

• Reani shares multiple character traits with each of the Nein, and Mica hadn't even seen an episode yet!
  • Notably, talking to her angel Samiel drew clear parallels to Fjord and Uk'otoa at the most pertinent time yet in the campaign - and Mica had created Reani months in advance. Coincidence is awesome when it is so truly serendipitous.
• Beau manages to turn an initial lie into actual, possible information. Beau meets the representative of the Cobalt Soul in the library and he says he is researching the moon. Beau goes with it, claiming that she and Caleb are also there to research information on the moons. Everyone immediately expects her to screw up. Instead she ties the demon appearance to alignments and phases of the moon, and the Representative ends up sharing a ton of lore information.

Episode 75: Rime and Reason

• The crazy plot to get the dragon to breathe on the mythril works. Nobody is knocked to 0 HP, thanks in part to Reani's Ice Spider Queen form's cold resistance.
  Mica: I'm still a spider!
• Not only does the plan work, but the Mighty Nein is (barely) able to escape to safety. To put this in perspective, they are at level 9. Their quarry is an ancient White Dragon, which is CR 20.
• Nott also managed to steal a few pieces of loot from the dragon's hoard before they ran... while drunk.
• Despite Liam not being there, Caleb's abilities are still clutch. With Leomund's Tiny Hut to provide protection against the power of the dragon and a place for the group to retreat, as well as Teleportation Circle to GTFO at the end.
• While sneaking up on the ancient white dragon to get in position to get the mythril that was turned into iceflex back, they manage to all pass the stealth check against the white dragon's passive perception. Which is 23.
• Beau and Reani bravely provide a distraction so that Jester and Nott can slip in behind the dragon to grab the iceflex.

Episode 76: Refjorged

• Nott managed to steal two useful items from Gelidon's hoard; Elven Chainmail (Chainshirt) which Caleb can use to boost his measly AC to 15 (1 higher than it's ever been!) and a Dispel Crystal that, as a one time use, let's you take out ANY arcane effect.
• Though it's actually rather problematic for them, Nott rolling a Natural 20 to sneak attack a guard is amazing. With the automatic bonus shot from a Natural Twenty with her special crossbow, she dealt a total of 69 (Nice) damage to him! It did, of course, instantly kill the guard...
• Despite various tense moments and even a close call at the end, the Mighty Nein and Reani successfully steal not only the ring they were sent to retrieve, but a book filled with transmutation magic (which is some kind of Tome or Manual that provides a +2 to a stat that can go above 20; as Caleb handed the book to Fjord, odds are it's either a Manual of Gainful Exercise (+2 STR) or a Tome of Leadership and Influence (+2 CHA) that they snagged. With the Wildmother boost to his Strength, it's looking more likely to give him a +2 to Charisma, which would boost him to 22 and a +6). They failed to get the Wand (which might have been an actual Wand of Wonder) but what they did get was amazing. Both Caleb and Nott were rolling ridiculously well pretty much the entire time.
• Jester showed just how creative and awesome her Marvelous Pigments are here; aside from making a hole for them to enter the building into via the roof, she managed to make the hinges on a door actually rusty enough that it was easy for her to break it off.
• Fjord reaches out to the Wildmother on his own, without Caduceus' help, and he is able to reach her. She reassures him about his true path and he pledges himself to her service. The next morning he is awoken by the Nein, having been covered in a seaweed cocoon overnight. Not only does he have his powers back, but he is physically larger and stronger than he has ever been... which is good, because there is a minimum Strength score needed to multiclass into paladin, which he just did. Matt confirmed that it was a bonus gift from the Wildmother, giving him a free boost of +2 to STR to qualify for Paladin!
• Umagorn gets one as well, because he successfully reforged the sword. Judging by the size of the sheet Matt gave Travis, it is a doozy.

Episode 77: A Tangled Web

• Fjord decides to attune to Dwueth'var, allowing him to apply his Pact of the Blade powers to BAMF and summon the longsword at will. The only difference this time is that as before whenever the falchion was summoned, it was described as more-or-less a beckoning for it, snapping and waiting for it to appear in his hand. The summoning is now notably different as the power comes from within, causing the sword to not snap into existence but instead eject from within his hand.
  • Another detail of Cool Sword action, the water that used to emit from the blade when summoned is now freezing cold, and whenever it is bamf'd away, it turns to snow.
• When Beau is pressed by Dairon on if she's going to bring back the last beacon for the sake of the Kryn Dynasty, Beau not only stares her right in the face but also clarifies that it's not about sides anymore; she wants to end the conflict for everyone's sake. Even if it goes against everything that the Cobalt Soul stands for. She even throws Dairon's Exact Words right back at her, that she's seeking out corruption to bring it to the light and to trust no one (Aside from her "family" the Mighty Nein, that is), just as Dairon told her to do. That determination is what motivates Dairon to grant Beauregard Lionett a promotion to Expositor. The speech was so strong for Beau's character that Matt didn't ask for a Persuasion check, just letting the moment flow uninterrupted.
  • And later on, despite all her better judgment, Beau gives her symbol of the Bright Queen to Dairon, who is staying behind to investigate a possible lead as to whether or not there are plants within Rosohna tied to the Cerberus Assembly, in good faith that she might not have to use it. It's especially poignant because when it comes to Beau, trust is not an easy thing for her to give or receive.
• The cast are distracted for most of the episode by a fly buzzing around the studio. After a few false-starts Travis manages to swat it in mid-air with an electrified fly swatter. The cast are all suitably impressed by his timing.
  Liam: Dead for a ducat, dead!

Episode 79: Through the Trees

• During a scry, Jester sees Yasha zapping Obann with lightning when he tries to touch her. This is undeniable proof that not only is Yasha still Fighting from the Inside, but also that the Stormlord is helping her even in her altered mental state.
• The Mighty Nein came up with a really solid plan to foil Obann's schemes—fly ahead of Obann's group, claim the relic he was seeking, and teleport out with him none the wiser, avoiding combat entirely. Unfortunately, inopportune timing and unlucky dice rolls squashed the plan flat, and while the group failed to stop Obann or save Yasha, they managed to escape completely intact.
  • Fjord is almost singlehandedly responsible for the group's survival once the plan went to shit—first, by summoning a Barlgura to distract and draw away the Laughing Hand while the party fled to try and catch up to Obann and Yasha. And when the Laughing Hand got bored of the Barlgura and went to pursue the party with its summoned shadow hounds, Fjord pulled off a Charm Monster spell, turning the Laughing Hand to their side for an hour, allowing Fjord to convince it to call off the hounds and lumber off as far as it could go in the opposite direction. And when the party catches up to Obann at the end of the episode, he's forced to teleport away without the Hand, depriving him at least temporarily of his most powerful ally.

Episode 80: The Folding Halls

• The Nein travel to Yussa's tower, only to find he's disappeared into the "happy fun ball". His goblin assistant was told to contact a "friend" of his and the Nein encourage him to. Who does this "friend" turn out to be? None other than Arcanist Allura Vysoren! And one of her first acts is to instantly reveal exactly what the "happy fun ball" is.
• A Natural 20 Investigation check allows Beau to discern a room in Yussa's notes on the "happy fun ball" that could well house the Laughing Hand's heart! Obann might not be as out of their league as they thought.
• Caduceus and Nott accidentally discover a very effective tactic in the Froghemoth fight. The jungle room is full of flying mites that latch on to and electrocute anyone who casts high-level spells, but by casting spells from inside the Froghemoth's belly, they are not only shielded from the mites, they ensure the Froghemoth takes their damage. And for bonus points, Froghemoths, though resistant to lightning damage, are also weakened by it. The variety of effects don't all go into effect, as Jester lands the killing blow with Inflict Wounds!
  • Against the monster; Caleb pulls out a new spell, homebrewed by Liam and balanced by Matt - Widogast's Web of Fire; a 4th level spell that causes streaks of fire to snake across the ground towards a target before exploding into a column of flame!

Episode 81: From Door to Door

• The entire tense situation with the golem.
  • Round one, the golem catches up to them as they are trying to figure out how to get across the gears. Caleb and Fjord find out the hard way that is has an anti-magic ability (later to be revealed a cone of energy emanating from its head when it is blue in colour). What do they do? Well, Fjord jumps with Caleb on his back (Caleb having gotten on him in hopes of using the Fly spell on them both) and successfully gets on the gear. With Jester, beyond the cone of magic, in Giant Eagle form to catch them they jump off and, even when Caleb discovers the collar the golem put on him is a silence collar, they are rescued. They then fly over to the door to the Arcane Armoury, the rest of the party running on the other side, and now it's on to round two!
  • Round two has the golem reveal it can fly, though slowly. As the golem puts it anti-magic face towards the portal, it shuts down, leaving Fjord and Caleb stranded there with no escape. Caduceus then tries the one spell that can reach it, which turns out to be the clutch spell for dealing with the golem; the first level spell Command. "Off" succeeds and they try to take advantage of this, Nott being flung by Jester and with feather fall and Fjord's whip, successfully makes it across. The Golem comes on and Cad tries Command again, and "Off" succeeds again. Jester than goes Giant Eagle form to get Beau and Cad across. Should be noted, the golem has advantage on magical effects. So they all successfully get into the Arcane Armoury...
  • Within the Arcane Armoury is a trap, where if anything touches it, two magical crossbows will blast them. The golem is still coming for them, but they have time to prepare and get behind the trap, with Nott successfully removing the silence collar from Caleb, who puts it away for later. After flying across thanks to help from Jester still in Giant Eagle form, they look around on the other side for anything interest and prepare for battle When the golem does appear - currently with the anti-magic off as it can't get through the portal otherwise - Jester flies over, drops the Giant Eagle form...and Commands it "Off". And once again, it fails the saving throw and starts to shut off. What ensues is a fight made much more interesting by the giant magical crossbows that both Caduceus and Nott get into, providing extra massive damage they cannot do themselves to the golem (and the surrounding people...oops). Nott then manages to finally roll high enough on an Intelligence check and uses that knowledge to land the finishing blow, melting it with the acid shot (the only none wide-range shot the crossbows have). On top of that, the close quarters end up to their advantage, along with Beau actually managing to successfully stun it once when it rolls a natural 1 on its save, to make it so the golem only ends up with one turn, and only Jester and Beau are nearby for it to strike at. And even with the anti-magic cone, the limit to the size still lets Jester get off another successful "Off" Command, which allows Nott to deal the finishing blow.
• The group building a golem. Over the course of four hours (days on the outside) they create "Little Willy" a manservant and small sized golem, using the golem workshop and the help of the blacksmith golem installed there. They manage to succeed with a flourish from Caduceus who, despite his negative to intelligence, is able to roll 27 on his Religion check to use Sacred Flame to jump start the golem.

Episode 82: The Beat of the Permaheart

• The Nein find and destroy the Heart of the Laughing Hand, and it seems to have extremely adverse effects on the abomination on the outside, if Allura's scry is correct. This deals a major blow to Obann, and means the Nein have finally gotten one over on their demonic foe.

Episode 83: Dark Bargains

• Matts acting as a fiend gone mad with loneliness is amazing.

Episode 84: Titles and Tattoos

• Matt gives some fantastically detailed descriptions of the tattoos that Nott, Jester, and Beau receive. Nott gets a Mardi Gras style mask on her face, Jester gets one that looks like her old cape and which comes forward like arms giving her a hug from behind, and Beau's takes its cue from the All-Seeing Eye card that was the basis for one of Molly's tattoos. Each one also has a broken chain motif, showing their goal to break Yasha's chains.
• Beau is very quick to apologize to Archivist Zeenoth for the mess the Nein made the last time they came to Zadash, further showing off her Character Development.
  • Beau and Nott's conversation leads to Beau having a breakthrough about herself, giving her yet more Character Development and surprising most of the rest of the cast (and tickling Taliesin pink).

Episode 85: The Threads Converge

• Fjord hits Jourrael with a Banishing Smite, which deals 50 points of damage and banishes her to another plane for one minute. This gives the Nein and Pumat a minute to prepare before she returns.
  • Of course, some terrible rolls allow her to escape.
• Pumat Sol's shop is attacked by a powerful assassin working for the Chained Oblivion. He's a decently powerful mage but not much of a warrior. He would have every reason to want to forget all about the Mighty Nein. He chooses to help them find her. Doubles as Heartwarming.
  • Pumat tops it by going with the Nein to confront Obann and co. despite still being afraid of Jourrael. Doubles as Heartwarming.
• Taliesin makes an impressive number of high Insight rolls, getting a lot of whispers from Matt. It culminates in him getting an unusual whisper from Matt. It's unusual because Matt makes the cast cover their ears while he talks to Taliesin, so that the viewers can listen in but the others can't.
• Caduceus persuades the Gentleman to send an agent to his home to check on it, which segues into a conversation about family. Caduceus regrets not telling his parents some things, and the Gentleman reveals that he has a brother he doesn't talk to. Caduceus advises the Gentleman to tell Jester the truth.
• … which he does. He is her father. Jester finally found him! Laura knocks the moment and resulting conversation out of the park.
• Though it is fairly subtle, Jester's successful scry on Vence turns out to be very key; she gets important information on what the actual location of the goal of Obann and the Angel of Irons cult is after. If she hadn't done that they would have been distracted like the rest of the city!

Episode 86: The Cathedral

• Fjord uses the symbol of the Bright Queen to make a group of attacking Kryn soldiers leave them be. A high roll immediately sets them about their business, allowing them to completely bypass a planned encounter.
• A fireball from Caleb wounds Cardinal Respa and kills four of her guards with one shot.
• Nott gets the HDYWTDT on the Cardinal thanks to Jester hitting her with Guiding Bolt. Matt rules that a cloaked green hand helps correct Nott's aim, allowing the shot to pierce the Cardinal to the wall.
• Ashley Johnson returns, and makes her grand entrance by running around the table while the cast cheers (as do the viewers).
• Obann manages to use Dominate Person on Beau. She uses Stillness of Mind to immediately negate it, flipping him off as she does so. Special mention goes to her description, where she describes Beau actively countering the charm effect by going back to the first time ever she willingly meditated on the beach near Nicrodranas, all the way back in Episode 33. The table looks at her with equal confusion and expectation before she drops the Stillness of Mind bomb and everyone cheers.
• Ashley's first rolls of the night? A pair of Natural 1s. Somewhat on brand for her, but awesome because the CR team partnered with military charity OSD for the month of November, and Dallas Cowboys player Travis Frederick agreed to donate $500 for every Nat 1 that negatively impacted the characters. So, Ashley's bad luck earned $1000 for charity.
• Caduceus hits Yasha with a 5th level Dispel Magic, finally freeing her from Obann's control!
  • He then uses his bonus action to cast Spare the Dying on Beau, saving her life.
• Matt's description of Yasha's liberation is fantastic. As Caduceus destroys the glyph, the Wildmother's power causes the clouds above to cover the opening which led the Nein to the Chantry. Several bolts of lightning shoot out, striking through the stained glass windows, destroying them. The Stormlord definitely has not forgotten Yasha.
• Caleb casts Widogast's Web of Fire on the Laughing Hand, scoring the HDYWTDT.
  Caleb: Get the fuck away from my friends.
• Pumat casts Tenser's Transformation on himself, essentially hulking out (or, if you prefer, becoming Pumat Swole). He then is able to cast Whirlwind, pinning the Vrock and allowing the Nein to follow Obann.
• Taliesin figures out how to open the hidden door in the crypt. Not Caduceus, Taliesin.
• Caleb, with help from a Guidance from Caduceus, is able to dispel the charm on Nott.
• As the Caedogeist tries to flee from Beau, she unfortunately gets stopped dead in her tracks thanks to her Sentinel feat. What follows is the beautiful imagery of Beau essentially holding the Inevitable End by the throat and quite possibly leaving her utterly afraid of her.
• After a long battle, Yasha gets the HDYWTDT on Obann! With the help of the Stormlord, she rips his wings off and then thrusts Skingorger straight through his chest. He dies asking the Angel of Irons why he was forsaken. It initially seems negated, as Tharizdun punishes him by cursing him with a new form, but Matt confirms that Obann as he was is dead. This is just a final "fuck you" from Tharizdun for failing.
• The simple fact that, after their string of failures against Obann, the Nein end this episode with both him and the Laughing Hand dead for good and Yasha rescued! A victory that's been a long time coming.
• Matt's map game was very much on point this week, creating a few very intricate maps. Impressive on its own, but what pushes it into awesome territory is that the CR crew had a live show two days later, meaning that Matt had to create a number of maps for that show as well. The stained glass windows in the cathedral even light up!
  • His maps for the live show were also fantastic, so his doing so well with these is even more awesome.

Episode 87: Punishment and Politics

• Laura felt dejected over a bad dice roll, as she's had a few of those lately, and Matt immediately comforts her. That is exactly how a good DM is supposed to act.
• Caleb is swallowed by Obann the Punished. On his next round, he polymorphs into a giant ape, which is Obann's size, so Obann is forced to spit him out.
• Caduceus hits Obann the Punished with a Ray of Enfeeblement, causing it to do half damage on all melee attacks. This helps the Nein in the following round as they take half damage from its attacks.
• The Caedogeist gets the HDYWTDT on Obann the Punished, finishing off the man who dominated her.
• The Nein discovers that Pumat smashed the Abyssal Anchor while they fought Obann and company in the Fane.
• With the help of Allura, and some excellent roleplaying, the Nein are put in the position of going to the Bright Queen to negotiate an end to the war. Most notably it was Beau herself taking charge using her status as an Expositor to give weight to her words, including this shocking power play of a Mic Drop:
  Beau: "She really wants her fucking beacon back."
  • Also, she manages to do it without even hinting at the event that earned the Nein the Bright Queen's favour in the first place, namely their (well, Caleb) giving her back the original Dodecahedron they first had.