Critical Role Reveals Soldiers' Table and Motivations

The first of Critical Role's three tables has officially been revealed. Near the end of last night's episode, the Soldiers were revealed as Kattigan Vale (Robbie Daymond), Teor Pridesire (Travis Willingham), Thimble (Laura Bailey), Tyranny (Whitney Moore), and Wicander Halovar (Sam Riegel). The group's initial objective will be to track down the smuggler Casimir Gavendale, who betrayed a conspiracy to rescue condemned rogue Thjazi Fang and then left the city in pursuit of Teor's brother Cyd Pridesire.

Casimir's Crow Keepers (a thieves guild) had attacked Thimble immediately prior to the campaign, leading to her not delivering a glyph that would have transported him to safety. Meanwhile, Kattigan and Teor are old associates of Casimir, as they had all served in a mercenary group that rebelled several years prior to the start of the series. Tyranny and Wicander are joining the party as Casimir had dealings with Wicander's family House Halovar, and Wicander is seeking to rectify the wrongs of his family. Tyranny is seemingly loyal to Wicander, having made a pact with him to enter the Material Plane.

Two more tables will be revealed in Critical Role, presumably by the end of the next episode. One group, the Schemers, will likely look to take on the Sundered Houses and their growing influence on Dol Majkar, while the Seekers will likely be tasked with protecting Occtis Tachonis (Alex Ward) from his family and also exploring the state of the afterlife in the aftermath of the gods' death.

 

[Charlaquin]

Yeah, and Wic cannot possibly be a cleric, looking at his stats! Especially not if he built him with the intention of being a “soldier”.

So I’m guessing either he will be a divine sorcerer or ALSO a celestial pact warlock.

I definitely think he’s an aasimar divine soul sorcerer. That first the backstory and the stats, including his 20 HP at level 3 with 14 Con. That’s exactly right for a sorcerer if they’re using the standard max hit die at first level, half rounded up at each level after that. If he was a cleric he’d need to have rolled HP and rolled pretty low.

 

[Charlaquin]

More than names changed for sure but there are certainly similarities.

Far, far, far, too may differences of vastly too great importance to call it “Eberron with the names changed”, though.

I can see the parallel between the Shapers’ War and the Last War. But, it’s definitely an influence rather than a direct point of reference. Personally, it looks to me more like a deconstructed Middle Earth than it does a palette swapped Eberron.

 

[Charlaquin]

I don't watch or listen to Critical Role (I just don't have the time!) but I'm very interested in this season because I've always wanted to run a game like this.

How are they scheduling the different tables? Are they running three games a week or are people playing once every three weeks?

They haven’t explained the details yet. The first four episodes have the whole cast present and switching around who’s sitting at the table vs who’s hiding off-camera as the spotlight shifts between different subgroups. We’re just starting to get an idea of who will comprise the three main groups, and I’m guessing next episode we’ll have the characters divided into those three groups but still all together.

From episode 5 on, my bet is that it’ll still be once a week, rotating between the groups as a default, and then they might occasionally have individual cast members make guest appearances in other groups and/or absent from their usual group for an episode, as the actors’ schedules allow/demand. But that is just speculation at this point.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I definitely think he’s an aasimar divine soul sorcerer. That first the backstory and the stats, including his 20 HP at level 3 with 14 Con. That’s exactly right for a sorcerer if they’re using the standard max hit die at first level, half rounded up at each level after that. If he was a cleric he’d need to have rolled HP and rolled pretty low.

I hadn’t done the math so I’m glad to hear that it matches up with Sorcerer.

I haven’t watched all of episode 2 yet, but I heard a thing that backs up him being a divine soul sorcerer on top of everything else. Celestial bloodline, demonic pacts, and authoritarian ambitions. That family is one heck of an outfit.

I can see the parallel between the Shapers’ War and the Last War. But, it’s definitely an influence rather than a direct point of reference. Personally, it looks to me more like a deconstructed Middle Earth than it does a palette swapped Eberron.

Absolutely. Araman is even a place in the Silmarillion where the ancient elves went when they left Valinor heading for Middle Earth, and its description matches the icy rocky terrain they keep showing in the intro and stuff.

And of course a big part of the inspiration as stated by BLeeM is thinking about the orcs of middle earth and “what if they rejected and threw down Sauron”.

So while there is a decent Eberron influence, it’s definitely not the only one and I’d say probably not even primary.

 

[TiQuinn]

So I finishing up Episode 3 (I broke down and got Beacon):

• I already love so many characters in this campaign, but I love Sam’s the bestest.
• Matt Mercer’s PC is such a wonderful jackass! He adds that perfect amount of tension.
• I hate Guidance. Every time they say “take Guidance”, I cringe. Just...what an unnecessary spell, and doubly so in the context of the story CR is telling.
• There are certain people who really drag scenes out longer than they need to be, particularly towards the end when the five were setting off.
• These cliffhangers are insanely good!

 

[Seramus]

More than names changed for sure but there are certainly similarities.
Far, far, far, too may differences of vastly too great importance to call it “Eberron with the names changed”, though.

Absolutely. Araman is even a place in the Silmarillion where the ancient elves went when they left Valinor heading for Middle Earth, and its description matches the icy rocky terrain they keep showing in the intro and stuff.

And of course a big part of the inspiration as stated by BLeeM is thinking about the orcs of middle earth and “what if they rejected and threw down Sauron”.

Could be very intentional. Exandria has never been a "unique" setting. Instead, it takes some of the coolest elements of other settings and puts them in one place. It has the Dawn War, the Ring of Siberys, the crashed ruins of Netheril, airships, a savage land full of dinosaurs, a dragon rage, etc.

So this new campaign setting may be riffing off familiar elements from different settings in the same way.

 

[overgeeked]

I can see the parallel between the Shapers’ War and the Last War. But, it’s definitely an influence rather than a direct point of reference. Personally, it looks to me more like a deconstructed Middle Earth than it does a palette swapped Eberron.

Yeah. I didn’t mean it is Eberron with different proper nouns. But it feels really inspired by Eberron. The last war, picking up the pieces, the houses, the feeling of another impending war, the pulp action, possibly noir intrigue, etc.

 

[Charlaquin]

Yeah. I didn’t mean it is Eberron with different proper nouns. But it feels really inspired by Eberron. The last war, picking up the pieces, the houses, the feeling of another impending war, the pulp action, possibly noir intrigue, etc.

Yeah, I can see the parallels, for sure!

 

[Charlaquin]

Could be very intentional. Exandria has never been a "unique" setting. Instead, it takes some of the coolest elements of other settings and puts them in one place. It has the Dawn War, the Ring of Siberys, the crashed ruins of Netheril, airships, a savage land full of dinosaurs, a dragon rage, etc.

So this new campaign setting may be riffing off familiar elements from different settings in the same way.

As any setting does to at least a certain extent.

I liked how Brennan described it in an interview I saw on YouTube (heavily paraphrasing here): he’s spent a lot of years running D&D in a lot of settings that are pretty far removed from standard high fantasy. So being asked to run a game in an original high fantasy setting for Critical Role feels like a highly experienced, experimental chef being asked to make the perfect three-egg omelette for a five star restaurant. Which he clarified to mean, an extremely classic dish that everyone knows very well. You want to do such a classic justice, elevate it, and add just the right amount of your own influence to make it unique, without removing too much of what makes it a classic that it becomes something else entirely.

 

[Chaltab]

Apparently in the Cooldown for the episode, Brennan asked who everyone thought came closest to dying that episode, and everyone thought Travis’ character, but he said it was Marisha’s. Like, when he said “if you keep talking to me, I’ll kill you where you stand,” he meant it, she would have been killed right then and there if she hadn’t left immediately.

That was tense but also kind of confusing. Like yes, Marisha's character was rude to him, but she hadn't done anything to threaten him. It just escalated so quickly.