Web Video / Critical Role: Campaign Three

Campaign Three of Critical Role began airing on 21st October 2021. It takes place in 843 PD, a year after Exandria Unlimited and seven years after the end of Campaign 2, in the diverse and beautiful continent of Marquet, once marred by a vengeful god during the Calamity. The story joins the party in the bustling, sparkling Oderan Wilds capital city of Jrusar, carved into five rocky spires rising from the jungle and connected by bridge and cable, overseen and controlled by the Chandei Quorum.

The cast for Campaign Three:

• Matthew Mercer as the Dungeon Master.
• Laura Bailey as Imogen Temult, human sorcerer.
• Marisha Ray as Laudna, hollow one warlock / sorcerer.
• Taliesin Jaffe as Ashton Greymoore, earth genasi barbarian.
• Sam Riegel as F. C. G. (Fresh Cut Grass), aeormaton cleric.
• Ashley Johnson as Fearne Calloway, faun druid.
• Liam O'Brien as Orym of the Air Ashari, halfling fighter.
• Travis Willingham as Sir Bertrand Bell, human fighter and Chetney Pock O'Pea, gnome blood hunter.

Guests for Campaign Three:

• Robbie Daymond as Dorian Storm, air genasi bard.
• Erika Ishii as Dusk, elf warlock
• Aabria Iyengar as Deanna Leimert, gnome cleric
• Christian Navarro as FRIDA, aeormaton fighter / rogue / cleric
• Aimee Carrero as Deni$e Bembachula, dwarf rogue / barbarian
• Utkarsh Ambudkar as Bor'Dor Dog'Son, half-elf sorcerer
• Emily Axford as Prism Grimpoppy, elf wizard

---

Tropes for Campaign Three:

• Achievements in Ignorance: In the first battle against the Shade Mother, Fearne decided to use a sunlight spell because she couldn't see so well in the underground cavern. Turns out the Shade Mother was vulnerable to sunlight.
• Actor Allusion:
  • The villain in episode 11 deliberately dropping its restraints led to Liam commenting that it was just like Rock Lee. Liam was previously the dub voice of Gaara, who was famously Rock Lee's opponent in the fight where Rock Lee drops his weights.
  • In episode 25, Dusk (Erika Ishii) watches Chetney engraving the names on Fearne's gift, and points out that there shouldn't be an X. Erika just played a character on Dimension 20, Karen Keiko Tanaka, who also went by xXBrokenDreamXx.
  • Fearne attempts to calm a wolfed-out Chetney with "Hey, big guy. The moon's getting real low." It's a reference to the Black Widow calming the Hulk down in Avengers: Age of Ultron with a similar code phrase. Travis Willingham played the Hulk and Laura Bailey played Black Widow for several Marvel properties.
  • Robbie Daymond made a "Sailor Laudna" joke - he voiced Mamoru Chiba/Tuxedo Mask, Sailor Moon's love interest, for both the Viz dubs of the 90s anime and Sailor Moon Crystal. At the table with him are fellow Viz Sailor Moon cast members Matthew Mercer (Prince Demande) and Liam O'Brien (Nephrite).
  • Liam and Laura use their Akihiko Sanada and Rise Kujikawa voices respectively when promoting Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 without namedropping said characters. And although Sam does voice Teddie in Persona 4, he doesn't do his voice but instead delivers the ad. Matt calls it the "The layers of meta."
  • Sam Riegel has said that F.C.G.'s accent was based on that of Jack McBrayer. He got plenty of time to study it as the voice director (and voice of Emperor Awesome) for Wander over Yonder.
• Actually Pretty Funny: Ashton's response to Yu Suffiad's impression of them. When Yu leaves, they do so by mocking Ashton with a fake voice and flipping the double bird repeatedly at everybody. Once Yu is gone, Ashton admits it's not an entirely inaccurate impression of him, and chuckles a bit.
• Aerith and Bob: Dorian has to make up fake names for Orym and Imogen when infiltrating a classy event, and comes up with "Copernicus" and "Maude".
• Anachronism Stew: An in-universe example. At The Taste of Tal'Dorei, two of the waiters put on a show depicting how Zan Tal'Dorei defeated Warren Drassig and founded the Tal'Dorei Empire. However, the real Zan never fought Warren, she fought his son Trist, twenty-three years after Warren had already been killed in the Scattered War. Given how young Zan is depicted in official artwork◊ of her battle against Trist, it's likely that she was only a child when Warren died.
• And Now for Someone Completely Different:
  • The 2023 live stream from London, The Mighty Nein Reunion: Echoes of the Solstice, takes place just after the Apogee Solstice and depicts the events of what happened to Caleb and Beau after Ludinus activates the Malleus Key.
  • Episode 92 - At the mid-sesson break, Matt asks for everyone to leave the table... then leaves himself. Aabria then sits down at the GM's seat and we switch to the Crown Keepers, picking up a month after the Apogee Solstice.
• Animate Inanimate Object:
  • The first fight of the campaign sees the adventurers rush to investigate a crashed cart, only for living furniture to come flying out and attacking people.
  • In Episode 7, the party exit into an alley and battle a wall mimic.
• Applied Phlebotinum: Brumestone, which we first hear about as being the required component for the airships flying in and out of Jrusar. After the job from Eshteross leads to proof of brumestone smuggling, it's practically an arc word.
• Bait-and-Switch: Sam claims that he would only stick to reading Hit Point Press' ad script for episode 1. When Matt expresses disbelief that Sam's ad could be so low-key, Sam promptly launches into a full Broadway-styled skit, dueting with Mary Elizabeth McGlynn.
• Batman Gambit: Ludinus pulls one off as part of his Evil Plan for Ruidus. He lured Keyleth to the site of Malleus Key, and had Otohan Thull severely wound Keyleth with rapid sword strikes. However, Keyleth herself was not the target; the real target was Vax'ildan, who showed up as the Champion of Ravens to save Keyleth's life. Ludinus did this knowing that Vax wouldn't be able to resist pulling a Big Damn Heroes if it meant saving Keyleth, using her as bait. When Vax appears, he's used as a "piece of divinity" and the final ingredient to the Malleus Key.
• Beyond Redemption: Imogen repeatedly tries to get her mother Liliana to pull a Heel–Face Turn after it's revealed that she's been working with one of the villains, which comes to a head in episode 89. Imogen tries reaching out to Liliana in her dreams. Imogen succeeds, and tries to talk Liliana into switching sides once again. Liliana refuses, gives many excuses as before, and reiterates that she always just wanted Imogen to run from the conflict. Imogen finally has enough and ends the conversation by saying "Maybe it's your turn to run" to Liliana, showing that Imogen is done trying to talk.
• Black Comedy:
  • Episode 4 - Losing a player character this early in a campaign should be a more distressing affair, but you get our heroes going through his pockets and stealing his stuff, passing him off as alive just to move him elsewhere, and even after the session ends, Laura tweets the aftermath of the body being sent to Whitestone like the party were discussing.
  • In episode 5, the party almost lose FCG when they are taken down and they have no idea if their healing magic does anything for a robot. They go for it anyway, FCG revives... and Sam acts like FCG has been factory reset.
    • In a similar vein, episode 64 involves a messed up teleportation spell that smacks our heroes around like pachinko balls and nearly kills Imogen. When they come out the other end, a different Aeormaton (guest player Christian Navarro) is stuck talking in Spanish.
  • Imogen and Laudna's landlady, the elderly Zhudanna, is not exactly in bad shape (she often cooks and cleans for the girls), but the party constantly jokes about going on long adventures and coming back to find her already dead.
    F.C.G.: "I can't tell if she's breathing because she doesn't have a head!"
  • Episode 7 - one of the theater posters advertises "The Calamity: An Interpretative Dance".
    • At the end of the episode, the cast joke about how Travis' characters are all going to be killed off before long.
  • Episode 14 begins with a script supposedly written by an AI, which repeatedly insults Sam and his mental health problems.
  • Episode 34 finds Fearne, in the aftermath of the vicious battle with Otohan, faced with the impossible problem of picking between dead Orym and Laudna with just one Revivify. Ashley (out of sheer instinctual panic) suggests the remaining five characters vote for it, quickly backtracking out of horror at her own words much to the cast's amusement.
• Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: FCG's creator named her automatons after the smells she loves. There's Fresh Cut Grass, Oatmeal, Apple Pie, and Pussy.
• Brick Joke:
  • Episode 2 kicks off with Lord Esteross testing out our heroes by attacking them, leading to Bertrand Bell grabbing a drink off the mantle to hurl at Esteross. And he misses. Eventually the conflict is settled as Esteross makes his deal with them, then sends them on their way while he gets a drink... and then he pieces it together.
    Esteross: ... Shit.
    Bertrand: (panicky) Off we go!
  • Back in episode 1, Fearne deliberately swipes an earring off an elephant-man, only to lose it just after meeting Ashton, who swipes it off her. It's not until episode 9 when Fearne just swipes it right back.
• But Now I Must Go:
  • Chapter 14 has Dorian's brother Cyrus arrested and temporarily released, and forces both brothers to leave the group and fly out of Jrusar.
  • Episode 64 has Deanna, FRIDA and Prism leave Bell's Hells to find out more information on Ludinis and Predathos.
• Car Fu: When the party are attacked by brigands in Episode 30, Fearne's mother Birdie unwittingly does this when she falls unconscious from acid damage. Her crawler is still running, and she plows right over Maracris the brigand leader, killing him instantly.
• Casting Gag: Out of necessity, Matt Mercer takes over the role of Mister after having played his Sitcom Arch-Nemesis Dariax.
• Catchphrase: FCG greets people with "Smiley day to you."
• Cerebus Syndrome: The campaign is Lighter and Softer than the previous two for about the first 50 episodes, but the moment the truth about Ruidus is revealed and the campaign's true antagonists Ludinus and the Ruby Vanguard reveal themselves, the story not only becomes darker, but the morality a lot more blurred. The characters, both party and NPC, are forced to question the role of the gods in the world, and they're coming to different and incompatible answers.
• Cliffhanger: Episode 58 ends with the Chetney-Imogen-Fresh-Fearne party dealing with the Staff of Dark Odyssey, and Laura has to make a roll... but they never reveal the result. The next episode switches over to the Laudna-Orym-Ashton party instead. We learn in episode 64 that the teleportation spell failed, and they have to wait until the next day and try again.
• Cluster F-Bomb: The brigands that attack Bell's Hells in Episode 30 react this way when the party detonates a bomb on one of their crawlers and uses a lightning bolt to blow up the gun on another.
• Combination Attack: Episode 46 has Imogen, Laudna, and Fearne shooting out a Witch Bolt, two Eldritch Blasts, and Scorching Ray on one poor centaur (Laura, Marisha, and Ashley didn't realize that the other two centaurs and the tree were already dead). This is on top of Matt making one of the three roll a d12 with Laura rolling for the group.
• Continuity Cavalcade: Episode 36 sees Bell's Hells going to Whitestone. There are multiple references to Campaign One throughout the entire episode, including several members of Vox Machina showing up — Keyleth, Percy, Vex, Pike, and Trinket all make an appearance. Also, the adventures of Vox Machina are referenced multiple times, especially the encounters with the Briarwoods.
• Continuity Nod:
  • In episode 7, the group sees several show posters from previous attractions in the Dreamscape Theater, including one for "To Kill A God: A Scanlan Shorthalt One-Man Show".
  • Episode 80 involves a trust exercise where two of the Hells are replaced by doppelgangers, which becomes the perfect time for a nod back to EXU.
    Orym: What did Cinna Brightbow throw at me when I was tied up on stage?!
    Fearne: ...A pie?
    Orym: That's wrong but I still think it's you!
• Crisis Crossover: The Ruidus storyline sees Bells Hells teaming up with members of both Vox Machina and the Mighty Nein. By episode 51, this leads to the unique experience of all three of Marisha and Liam's campaign characters appearing in one session.
• The Cuckoolander Was Right: The heroes really should have deferred to Feywild native Fearne's judgement when they come across a cute little fairy. Except that it's not an actual fairy, and rather a carnivorous plant taking the anglerfish route, but they would've been better off having nothing to do with it in any case.
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • Episode 11 has the party vs. Ira Wendagoth, the Nightmare King, with the players on the receiving end. Though the party comes into the battle completely fresh on spells and abilities and gives it their all, the fight is still enormously in Ira's favor throughout as he tanks tons of damage and shrugs off their most powerful spells with ease. He ultimately warps away after he's done toying with them rather than out of any tactical need, and even passes up the chance to fire off one final spell that probably would've killed them all.
  • Episode 33 has Bell's Hells going up against Otohan Thull, a legendary war hero in Marquet. It does not go particularly well for the Hells. For one, the party is low on spell slots and HP just going into the fight. Also, Otohan has mind-reading powers much like Imogen and Fresh Cut Grass, but none of the restraint. During the fight proper, Otohan kills Orym, kills Fearne, almost kills Chetney, almost kills Ashton, and almost kills Laudna twice. The whole time, Imogen has to resort to begging Otohan to show them mercy, and it's only by unleashing Imogen's full power that the battle ends.
    • The party, already low on spells and abilities, once again battles Otohan in Episode 91. Imogen manages to separate Otohan from her backpack that summons her Echo Knights early on, but things become don't really get easier as Chetney is killed in the first round of combat, though is later revived, little of what the Bell's Hells utilizes makes much effect, and Otohan is able to power up some nasty new perks and abilities with her Exaltant Fury. It takes FCG making the Heroic Sacrifice of detonating his own core, killing Otohan and himself, to save the group from what very much seemed like a Total Party Kill.
• Deus ex Machina: Discussed but ultimately averted in Episode 33 when, during a dire battle, the party muse on whether Dorian can show up to save them in an airship named "Ex Machina".
• Diagonal Cut: Episode 5. Turns out Dorian's Moon-Touched Scimitar is capable of these, as he does such a thing on a shade creeper that attacks him.
• Didn't Think This Through: In Episode 30, Imogen blasts a Lightning Bolt up at a mounted gun that uses gunpowder. She does it to destroy the gun, which it does, but not before causing sixty shots to fire from said gun down at everyone on the field. Laura's face immediately plummets when she realizes what's about to happen.
• "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: "It's Thursday Night" was written by Sam Riegel, with music by Peter Habib, and sung by the entire core cast.
• Every Man Has His Price: The group is not above using bribes in order to "convince" people to do what they want. Ashton bribes a tavern owner for the name of a dwarf patron who visited the inn in the recent past, and Dorian bribes a Dreamscape Theater worker to give the group box seats to a play.
• Feghoot: During Episode 31, Matt breaks down when he realizes Sam may have (at least partially) created FCG's entire backstory as a build-up to one joke: the One-Eyed-Monster slew my Pussy.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: Occurs in Episode 28 after the race is over. Imogen uses Detect Thoughts on Dusk, only for Matt to say that it doesn't work because there isn't a mind to read on Dusk. This is just moments before Dusk pulls a Face–Heel Turn and reveals that she's a changeling who's working for an Archfey that wants the Calloway family line dead.
• Forced Euthanasia: Discussed. While talking about removing the gods, FRIDA likens them to Aeormatons that are kept "on" by people's worship, and after so many millennia, they deserve rest. Imogen is somewhat disturbed by this and points out that the Ruby Vanguard's goal is to annihilate the gods, regardless of whether or not it would be merciful.
• Fun T-Shirt: By this point it's a given that Sam Riegel will be breaking these out as much as the official merchandise announcements — one tshirt they're selling for real is a First Knight of Avalir one, and in a later session Sam is "selling" tshirts with a hideously photoshopped Ashley.
• Gods Need Prayer Badly: Discussed by Deanna in episode 52. She mentions that mortals are essentially batteries to the gods, as their faith in them is what gives the gods their powers.
• Heist Clash: Episodes 18-21 involve the group robbing a Museum of the Strange and Unusual while competing against a fellow heist team named the Verdict, as part of a wager between several rich patrons (one of whom is Ashton's boss).
• He Knows Too Much: Several people researching Ruidis and the Apogee Solstice have ended up dead at the hands of assassins, including the Lumas twins. It's suggested that powerful individuals or factions, such as some of Vasselheim's temples, are trying to suppress this knowledge.
• Hero of Another Story: As revealed in Episode 50, Caleb and Beau have been investigating Ludinus Da'leth too, and were part of the attack on the Key in the Shadowfell while the Hells dealt with the one in the Feywild. Keyleth also led a group of Ashari against an un-sealed elemental titan shortly before the Apogee Solstice.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: During the heist clash, Bell's Hells make judicious use of an Immovable Rod to keep the other team, the Verdict, from following them. In the final room, the Verdict manage to get their hands on the Rod and uses it to block off the Hells' escape.
• Impossible Theft: With a high enough roll in episode 1, Fearne is somehow able to pull a two-foot long earring off an elephant-man's ear without him noticing. Later in that same episode, her luck turns on her when Ashton rolls a natural 20 and somehow manages to take the same earring in broad daylight without Fearne or the six other people around them picking up on it.
• In-Series Nickname: Milo calls Fresh Cut Grass by the nickname "Letters". Several other characters eventually pick up the nickname, too.
• Instantly Proven Wrong:
  • Bertrand says that at Lord Eshteross's place, he is "expected at all hours". Then a woman opens the door and says, "I am uncertain the Master was expecting you."
  • Later on, Lord Eshteross asks Bertrand what the party has come to see him about (they were there to update him on the smuggling investigation he sent them on). Bertrand tells Lord Eshteross that the party is "perfectly capable of speaking for themselves." Fearne immediately jumps in, saying "we've come to kill you" with a creepy grin.
• Killed Off for Real: There is a poison in use during this campaign that prevents any known form of resurrection magic to avert Death Is Cheap whenever someone is killed for the plot.
  • Bertrand Bell & Ariks Eshteross both died permanently throughout the campaign, with Eshteross killed with the poison that prevents resurrection magic.
  • Orym lost his husband Will and father-in-law Derrig during an attack on Zephrah and the weapons that killed them had that same poison.
• Kitschy Themed Restaurant: The Taste of Tal'Dorei, a restaurant in Bassuras themed after the continent of Tal'Dorei, with waiters dressed as historical figures from there, such as Warren Drassig, Zan Tal'Dorei, and Errevon the Rimelord.
• Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Definitely suits the character dynamics of Imogen and Laudna.
• Lighter and Softer: While by no means devoid of dark or intense themes, Campaign 3 has so far been much more humorous and silly compared to the early parts of Campaign 2. However, this begins to change around Episode 50.
• Mechanical Lifeforms: Fresh Cut Grass, the small automaton cleric. According to them, there are at least three more made by the same creator: Oatmeal, Apple Pie, and Pussy. They are interested in meeting more like them.
• Metal Muncher: FCG asks Ashton's permission to eat some copper coins. They later reveal that they eat nails (and metal in general) to heal themself.
• Metaphorically True: A magic item in Episode 62 displays a vision that is truthful, but easily misinterpreted due to lacking context. Bor'Dor smokes an enchanted pipe that forms the smoke into visions of your proudest accomplishment. The rest of the party sees Bor'Dor, once lost, finding acceptance and a place with them. In truth, being accepted by the party is Bor'Dor's proudest accomplishment... because he's a Ruby Vanguard infiltrator aiming to kill them.
• Mid-Season Twist: Come into the campaign later than episodes 3-7, and you'd be spoiled with the twist of Bertrand Bell being killed and Travis switching to his real Campaign 3 character, Chetney Pock O'Pea. Come in later than Episode 11 and you'll be spoiled on Chetney being a Blood Hunter Order of the Lycan rather than a rogue.
• Mood Whiplash: A double example in Episode 51. First, Beau and Caleb are revealed to have been captured by the Ruby Vanguard, seriously dampening already slim hopes for stopping Ludinus's plan. But wait! Keyleth arrives along with some other Ashari to help Bell's Hells fight Ludinus. But oh no, Otohan launches a devastatingly fast attack against Keyleth that leaves her barely alive. But wait! Vax returns from the dead to protect Keyleth from Otohan. But oh no, this was all part of Ludinus's plan and he sucks Vax's essence into the Malleus Key to power Predathos' release.
• Mundane Utility: Episode 77 - when faced with the traditional locked door, Imogen summons a Reiloran through the keyhole on the other side of the door, and gets him to unlock it.
• Nails on a Blackboard: Sam's gas-can-drink-container was designed with an attachable magnetic chalkboard. In an early episode, Sam tried writing on it and caused a squeaky screech that had much of the cast screaming in pain. He hasn't tried to use the chalk since.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Early in the campaign, the heroes run into a Fey who is nicknamed "The Nightmare King." Later on, another player character speaks with a highly-placed member of the Unseelie Court of the Feywild, whose title is "The Sorrowlord."
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Our heroes' investigation at the warehouse ultimately goes butt-shaped when too many people notice them, and Imogen even ends up running into the warehouse manager Danas a second time. This gets Danas and even Bertrand Bell Killed Off for Real.
• No Hero Discount: Fearne tries to leverage the group's heroic defeat of some rogue furniture into getting the innkeeper to lower the prices of their room. The innkeeper answer with a curt "no" and ends the conversation right there.
• Oh, Crap!: The players have one in Episode 11 when the Nightmare King uses a legendary action. Since the group's members are only level 4 at the time, it leads to the Bells realizing that they're punching way above their weight class.
• One-Steve Limit:
  • Averted in episode 2. Upon introducing a character named Karrock, Sam and Laura both point out that they've met a Kerrek in a previous adventure. Matt points out that multiple people having the same name is nothing particularly strange.
  • There's also Ira the Nightmare King, who just happens to share the first name of one of the Somnovem from campaign 2. Justified as the whole Somnovem thing became The Greatest Story Never Told.
  • By sheer coincidence, Olly of the Green Seekers shares a name with Fearne's father.
  • There's a curious case of two different NPCs known just as "D", with explicit ties to two different player characters as well as previous campaigns. One "D" is Delilah Briarwood, who's the original warlock patron for Laudna; the other is responsible for Fresh Cut Grass being elevated to sentience, and heavily implied to be Devexian. Both are also The Ghost when they're first mentioned, although the first one does reappear, only to be Back for the Dead.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: For Vasselheim. In Episode 64, it's noted that a bunch of armed forces from across Exandria are gathering at Jrussar—including a large contingent from Vasselheim. To quote tumblr user rainbowcaleb:
  Vasselheim never leaves, and they never send aid abroad—and yet they are here.
• Otherworldly Technicolour Hair: Imogen and her mother are humans who both have naturally purple hair, implied to be because they are Exaltant Ruidusborn, gifted with abilities by the red moon Ruidus which is actually a prison for a god eater.
• Our Fairies Are Different: According to Fearne, fairies in the feywild are pests on the level of New York rats.
• Outliving One's Offspring: Ela Lumas lost her twin children because of assassins who attacked them in a manner similar to how Zephrah was attacked.
• Pizza Boy Special Delivery: Episode 44 starts with all of the party staging a fake (with real being on the table) porno shoot to throw off intruders, which immediately turns into the "pool boy" variety - except it's Chetney, the oldest pool boy you'll ever see.
• Point of No Continues: Episode 55 reveals after Ludinus' machinations at the Apogee Solstice, resurrection magic has stopped working.
• Power Nullifier: Post-Apogee Solstice, Divination magic has become weaker across Exandria. Any attempt to cast spells in the school ends in the caster getting hurt.
• Refuge in Audacity: It wouldn't be Critical Role without this, but just to name a couple:
  • The infamous basement porno shoot from episode 44, which started out as Chetney suggesting they do a Wounded Gazelle Gambit to explain their trespassing, but then going with the porno shoot just because it was funnier.
  • Chetney's past with Deanna involved them Making Love in All the Wrong Places, like up and down the length of a beach, leaving body prints in the sand that practically played out the whole process. Basically a porno From Here to Eternity.
• Replaced the Theme Tune: The campaign doesn't use either the Critical Role theme by Jason Charles Miller or "Your Turn To Roll". For the first six episodes, a snippet of the eventual theme tune, "It's Thursday Night", plays over the show's logo in flames. Per Marisha, this is simply because the opening title sequence wasn't ready at the start of the campaign, but also because Travis is in the intro, and his actual campaign character joins the table at the end of episode 7.
• A Rotten Time to Revert: When Fearne transforms into a rat to spy on some city guards, one of them accidentally steps on her, breaking the spell in full view of them. They're not convinced by her claim that she slipped in to warn them about some dire wolves.
• Running Gag:
  • Sam continues to play a small character whose race and class were chosen by Liam (automaton cleric), drink out of a comically large container (a gas can this time), and wear the same shirts he wore in corresponding episodes of Campaigns One and Two.
  • The game of "rollies", which is rolling dice to see who gets the higher number.
  • Thanks to an oddly high number of successful perception checks, Sam has taken to deliberately talking over the perception whispers by simply re-reading his Product Placement from before the session started, often with help from the rest of the cast. By episode 80 they actually have a designated "whisper sponsor" (meaning it might have gone unread if nobody got a whisper!)
  • Werther's Originals candy being either solely for old people or are hopelessly outdated.
  • Fearne and Ashton stealing from each other at every opportunity.
  • Whenever Laudna casts Message, the other players add creepy whispers and echoes to her statement.
  • When someone describes their character as "making their way" to a location (which happens surprisingly frequently), at least one of the others will jump in and start Waxing Lyrical with "Making my way!"
  • Sam referring to FCG having a "meat tongue", an actual tongue of flesh, which Matt vehemently refuses to admit into canon.
  • In the spirit of the Leaky Nip from Campaign 2 (the result of confusing two different eating places, the Evening Nip and the Leaky Tap), the Soot 'n' Swill in Jrusar is often misread into the Sit 'n' Spin.
• Russian Reversal: Prism Grimpoppy (guest player Emily Axford) is a socially inept apprentice mage, paired with Dynios, a much more powerful wizard sealed within her spellbook, who ends up giving her the You Are Better Than You Think You Are speech.
  Laudna: You're being read by a book!
• Sadistic Choice: Two in Episode 34. First (and somewhat simpler) is FCG choosing whom to Revivify between Fearne, Orym and Laudna; the choice is easier since he knows Fearne can use her own healing to help the others. The real gut kick comes when Fearne must choose between Orym and Laudna for the one Revivify spell she can use, toggling back and forth over Orym's self-sacrificial nature meaning he'd likely be willing to give his life for Laudna to live, and Laudna having already died once at the Sun Tree and potentially being able to come back again. In the end, Fearne's choice — decided by a coin toss — is Orym.
• Schmuck Bait:
  • While on watch in Episode 17, Ashton and Laudna spot a little fairy-like creature. And despite knowing they shouldn't mess with it, they give in to the temptation to try and make contact, even waking up Imogen and Fearne to aid them. It is, of course, a trap.
  • Ashton was warned multiple times that absorbing the shard of Rau'shan would almost certainly kill him, while anyone else would be fine and probably get some cool powers out of it. Ashton proceeds to trick the Hells into letting them absorb the shard anyways. He barely survives the ordeal, and the only things he has to show for it are a new arm made of volcanic rock, a permanent two point reduction of his Constitution modifier, and the destruction of every bit of trust the party had in them.
• Sentimental Homemade Toy:
  • The werewolf gnome woodcarver Chetney Pock O'Pea is a Grumpy Old Man (over 400, and proportionately grumpy), but as he becomes friends with the Player Party, he starts making each of them a personalized wooden toy.
  • In an attempt at extending an olive branch after his stunt with the Shard of Rau'shan completely broke her trust in him, Laudna makes Ashton a doll that looks like him. Ashton is so genuinely touched that he nearly cries, and promises to try to be better as he carefully attaches it to his vest.
• Shape Dies, Shifter Survives: Polymorphed creatures gain the new form's Hit Points; lethal damage ends the spell and transfers any extra HP loss to the original form. This causes some embarrassment when the City Guards Fearne is spying on in rat form step on her, causing her to revert in front of them.
• Shipper on Deck: Rare literal example when BH briefly become guests on a ghost pirate ship, and in very little time, realise that the captain and the navigator have potential to be together. Unfortunately this was just after Fearne seduced the captain...
• Sixth Ranger Traitor: In terms of guest player characters:
  • Dusk joined the party after being rescued and told everyone she was close with Fearne's long-lost parents. She was revealed to the audience to be working with the Unseelie and later revealed to the party to be a changeling named Yu, who was hunting Fearne's parents down over their theft of the Moontide Crown and used Fearne to lure them out of hiding.
  • After Bells Hells was split up on the Apogee Solstice, the half that landed in Issylra was joined by three guest players. After telling Team Issylra he was a simple shepherd with no magic experience and spending multiple episodes traveling and fighting with them, Bor'Dor was pressured by Deni$e into confessing his lies, immediately attempting to kill the group and revealing that he was one of the Ruby Vanguard who was fighting against Bells Hells on the Apogee Solstice. He became the first player character in the history of Critical Role to be murdered by another party member because of this. Even worse, according to Utkarsh, Bor'Dor's original plan was to attempt to kill them mid-teleport.
• Sole Survivor: FCG's previous party all died while investigating a silver mine, except for them. They woke up afterwards without knowing what happened. Episode 31 hints that there was a reason for that.
• Stating the Simple Solution: In Episode 4, the group needs to get the name of a dwarf that they're looking for, managing to track his last known location to an inn. While everyone is discussing how to get the name from the tavern's owner — mostly coming up with ideas that are either risky or illegal — Ashton suggests just bribing the tavern owner to tell them the name. Twenty gold and some sly wording later, Ashton has a name.
• Starts Stealthily, Ends Loudly: Their mission to disable one of the Malleus Keys ends like this. They manage to subdue two guards, sneak in stealthily, do reconnaissance, and come up with a plan on what to. But once they destroy some arcane orbs, the whole thing explodes and alerts the guards, who up until this point had been totally unaware.
• Stuff Blowing Up: The party are held up by brigands when they're on their way to the Calloways' hideout in Episode 30. Things go very badly for the brigands as Bells' Hells damages one of their crawlers with a bomb, Imogen blows up the main gun on another crawler with a lightning bolt that triggers its black powder, and Laudna blinds the driver of a third crawler, causing to drive straight off a cliff.
• Tempting Fate: Before rolling Laudna's final death saving throw in episode 34, Marisha says, "Fuck Ruidus," and rolls the Ruidus dice anyway. The red moon apparently didn't take kindly to her insult, as she rolled a natural 1, and Laudna dies.
• The Stinger: Played for laughs at the end of episode 29, when the party leaves Bassuras for their next destination and Matt calls an end to the session... only to restart it again when they realize they left someone behind, and go back to the city to pick him up before leaving again.
• Stunned Silence: When Laudna gets the killing blow on Fresh Cut Grass with her Hunger of the Shadow in episode 31, the entire table of players is silent and agape for several seconds—until Matt realizes he made a mistake with FCG's HP.
• Toilet Humor:
  • Sam's gas can, the latest in his series of comically large drinkware, says "I have gas" in the first episode.
  • Jokes are made of FCG getting a chamberpot dumped on them in Episode 1.
  • In Episode 5, Fearne finds a chamberpot in decrepit old house and decides to keep it, saying that she could clean it and use it as a big soup bowl. The rest of the party, already disgusted by her taking the pot at all, immediately shoot down the idea of using it for food.
• Turns Red: It turns out the big bad guy has been recruiting powerful people who have the ability to become "Exaltant" when subjected to near-death experience. That means that when fighting a random group of his minions, there's a chance one of them will start glowing and gain a whole bunch of new abilities to challenge the party with. This power also extends to the bad guy's Exaltant generals, giving an in-universe explanation for the bosses in this campaign to have a second phase.
• Visual Pun:
  • FCG uses Spiritual Weapon to create an official-looking paper. It's a cordial invitation to an ass-whooping.
  • FCG decides on a holy symbol for the Changebringer - it's a coin. Because it's the Changebringer.
• Waxing Lyrical: Many times during the campaign, if a spoken line can be remotely be linked to song lyrics, at least some of the cast will break out in song. The most common is the Running Gag of "Making my way".
• Wham Episode:
  • Episode 3 introduces a creepy villain, who cements his status by ambushing and killing Bertrand at the end of the episode.
  • Episode 14 ends with Dorian Storm (and his player, Robbie Daymond) saying "But Now I Must Go" to the group and leaving Marquet, exiting the show. Also, Imogen names the group as "Bell's Hells".
  • Episode 17 has a few lines for characters' backstories. Also, the characters leave Jrusar to go into the jungle and head for the Heartmoor.
    • Laudna: "My parents thought that getting an invitation to the palace, to the castle, to meet the lord and lady Briarwood was a great boon." This reveals that Laudna was one of the people hanging from the Sun Tree in Whitestone to serve as a warning to Vox Machina in Campaign 1.
    • Orym: "It's to help me remember my husband." When Chetney asks about the moon tattoos on Orym's arm, Orym reveals it's a Tragic Keepsake to remember his husband Will, who died in the attack on Keyleth six years prior.
    • Ashton: reveals his skin was not always made of stone, it slowly changed to stone when he was a child and he's not sure why, though he has theories.
    • Fearne: tells the party that the last time she heard from her parents was when they sent her a postcard from Aeor.
  • Episode 26 has some doozies. First, we learn that Dusk is secretly an agent of the Unseelie Court sent to kill Fearne's parents, and now is also out to kill Fearne to end the Calloway line. Then, we learn that FCG's creator Dancer might be alive after all. Then, we learn that FCG is really an Aeormaton from the Age of Arcanum.
  • Episode 31 sees a lot of developments, especially for one particular member of Bell's Hells. Ira makes off with the Moontide Crown, Imogen updates the Voice of the Tempest on happenings, Dancer telling FCG to leave her alone because he knew what he did, the first actual inter-party fight happens when FCG snaps and buzzsaws Chetney, and The Reveal that FCG was likely the "one-eyed monster" that killed their party and salvaged their parts in one such rampage episode.
  • Episode 33 hits extremely hard. A Curb-Stomp Battle with Otohan Thull killed Fearne and Orym. Thull manages to get Imogen to snap and give into her powers. FCG, the party's sole cleric, is now afraid of healing as he is unsure what it might do to him. The episode ends on a Cliffhanger, with Laudna between life and death, Letters trying to get to Orym in time for Revivify, and the party ending the episode seeing only "white". The beginning of Episode 34 also has Laudna die from this battle, diverging Bell's Hells into a desperate mission to bring Laudna back and to prevent Delilah Briarwood from taking her over.
  • Episode 51 is the Apogee Solstice, so it's the climax of the Long Game. Ludinus reveals that he was playing the Long Game with a Batman Gambit by using Keyleth as bait for his real target, Vax'ildan, who shows up in a Big Damn Heroes moment for Kyleth, only to be compressed into a sphere and used as the final piece. The Malleus Key appears to go off despite Bell's Hells best attempts at interference, sending Ashton, Laudna, and Orym to an unknown location of craggy rocks. At the same time, Chetney, FCG, Imogen, and Fearne are sent thousands of miles away into a snowy desert, meaning the party has been split. On top of that, Ira was banished back to the Fey Realm, Imogen's mother appears to have made her choice to stick with the Ruby Vanguard, the Silver Sun is destroyed in a suicide crash, and there's a beam going from the ground to Ruidus, leaving a lot of fates up in the air.
  • Episode 91 has perhaps the nearest Total Party Kill the cast has ever had as they face off in a rematch with Otohan Thull, Chetney outright dying in the first round of combat but being managing to be revived. In a final, desperate Heroic Sacrifice, FCG charges and detonates his core at point-blank range, killing himself and her. With just the head and a few other small pieces of the aeormaton body left in the aftermath, any chance of resurrection seems difficult if not impossible.
• Wham Line:
  • A meta one in the first episode, revealing that one of the Exandria Unlimited players would be joining as a Guest-Star Party Member for the start of the show.
    Matt: I would like Liam, Ashley and Robbie to come to the table.
  • Episode 6 has Laudna say that a Briarwood "lives in her head", suggesting that one of them is her warlock patron. Said patron communicates with Laudna later, where Laudna refers to them as "D", suggesting this patron is Delilah Briarwood.
  • During the fight with Ira in episode 11, Chetney drops an amazing one: "You think Gurge has a gift? (starts growling, voice deepens) Wait 'til you get a load of me!" What follows is him turning into a werewolf.
  • Separately during the same fight, Ira looks to Fearne and says "You smell familiar. Like home. Like...Calloway." Everyone theorizes he's had contact with her grandma, but episode 29 reveals he's been working closely with Fearne's parents.
  • Episode 11 has Imogen finally get access to the school library, researching dreams, red storms, and psychic gifts. She eventually find a list of names. On that list is the name of Liliana Temult, Imogen's mother.
  • In Episode 12, after Imogen uses Detect Thoughts to try and help FCG remember their past more clearly, Matt ominously tells Sam "you take 2 points." He doesn't specify whether that's damage, or a hidden character-specific mechanic, but there's clearly more to Letters than it seems. Episode 31 reveals that it is, indeed, a hidden character-specific mechanic, a "Stress Level" which grows high enough that FCG's eyes turn red and he attacks Chetney.
  • Played for laughs in episode 13, with just a word rather than the whole line, when one of the guests at the classy ball casually mentions that he was at one time "Lord of the Quad-Roads" of Vasselheim. Everyone slowly realizes that he was the drunken hobo that got his fortune from the Deck of Many Things thanks to Grog himself — Grog never caught his name so the word "quad-roads" was the only clue!
  • Special Guest Erika Ishii joins the table as Dusk, who just happens to have a locket with pictures of Fearne's parents, due to having met them. Come Episode 28 and Fearne's mother finally shows up, and...
    Birdie: (to Dusk) I don't believe we've met...?
  • In Episode 29, Birdie reveals something that ties Fearne (and the Feywild) into the Ruidus Myth Arc.
    Birdie: You were born Exandrian, before we took you back to the fey. You were born under a flash of that ruddy-ass moon, and since we brought you back, that moon's been showing through in the Feywild, where it isn't supposed to be.
  • Also in Episode 29, Imogen tries Detect Thoughts on Birdie and probes deeper. A failed saving throw prompts a long whisper from Matt that leaves Laura speechless, and she begins to convey what she learned to the party with one question.
    Imogen: (to Birdie) How do you know the Nightmare King?
  • Episode 36 sees Pike (from Campaign One) giving one of these as she attempts a resurrection spell. She has to stop the ritual to revive Laudna from the dead because of what else — or rather, who else — she finds in Laudna's spirit.
    Pike: There's two souls bound to this body, and I can't separate them. Not like this. [...] And one of them is Delilah Briarwood.
  • In Episode 51 amongst many tense moments, Keyleth endures a withering amount of attacks and damage from Otohan, only for none other than Vax'ildan himself to appear to her rescue.
    Matt: Otohan goes for a heart strike, and there is a dark flash in the air. You see where Otohan's blade was. Instead you see a cloak of feathers, black raven feathers. You see a masked figure with long dark hair who is now standing over and protecting her body, daggers in each hand:
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: This campaign marks the first real case of this trope due to two unlikely races in the main party for the first time, an undead (Laudna) and an automaton (Fresh Cut Grass). While FCG is often regarded with genuine curiosity, and sometimes mistaken for a possession of one of the other main characters, Laudna is almost always striking fear into anyone around them (though, to be fair, that is explicitly one of Laudna's racial abilities).
• The Worf Effect: Bell's Hells's first fight against Otohan Thull opens with her knocking Ashton unconscious in a single round, just to hammer in how hopelessly outmatched they are against her.

---