Grog Strongjaw

Grog Strongjaw is a goliath barbarian/fighter and a member of Vox Machina. He was played by Travis Willingham.

Intro
"Right, listen up. If you have ale, then you have a friend in Grog Strongjaw. A goliath of towering height and size, this barbarian has an appetite for the two great loves in his life: combat, women, and ale. Wait...

''Easily the brains of the group, Grog is often consulted for his vast knowledge of shapes, colors, and shiny things. Also ale.''

''In his early years, armed with his two-handed great axe, Grog often enjoyed proving his might amongst the ranks of his family's wandering herd. But after coming upon an unsuspecting elderly gnome in the woods, he objected to the killing of such an innocent life. A creature of impulse, Grog felt only pity for this terrified little thing. His disobedience cost him dearly. Beaten bloody and banished by the herd leader, his uncle Kevdak, Grog was abandoned and left to die.''

''Exiled from his herd, it was then that the relative of the very gnome he fought to save, saved him. It was the kindness of a gnome cleric named Pike that healed Grog, bringing him back from death's edge. And they have remained close friends ever since.''

''Most nights, Grog can be found challenging entire taverns to wrestling matches! Or accompanying Scanlan to the nearest house where you pay for, er, lady favors. Also ale."''

Appearance
Grog, being a goliath, is grey-skinned with tattoos all over his upper body and his bald head; he weighs upward of 645 pounds and stands at 8 feet, 7 inches tall. After having a phylactery removed from his body, a scar formed on his chest which remains a mark of the lingering darkness within him.

After donning the Belt of Dwarvenkind, Grog has grown a thick black beard, a feat thought to be impossible for him due to male goliaths having no body hair.

After joining the Slayer's Take, Grog has the brand of the guild on his right arm.

During Vox Machina's one-year break, Grog took the skin with the bear tattoo which he had flayed from Kevdak's chest and had it tanned. He then got an exact copy of it tattooed on his back, as a symbol that Kevdak and the events surrounding him are now behind him.

Personality
Jokes have been made occasionally about Grog being smarter than most barbarians when the group plays, as Travis does mathematical calculations faster than the other players. Travis sometimes jokingly calls his character "Professor Grog".

Grog's low intelligence score has proven problematic for the group in the past. On two separate occasions he has been completely incapacitated by creatures that made psychic or intelligence attacks, once when an intellect devourer's attack put Grog into a catatonic state, and the other time when a duergar, Queen Ulara, dominated his mind and kidnapped him (Travis was absent from that game).

Because of his low intelligence, Grog is illiterate and cannot read or write in any language. After being unable to read any of the runes written in Giant within the City of Brass, Grog expressed a desire to learn how to read, and asked for Pike to help him learn the Common alphabet. Since then, Pike has managed to teach Grog how to read words in Common that are up to five letters long.

Grog has shown himself to be rather impulsive, as seen often when he charges ahead of the group into an unknown area of a dungeon or map. He was also the only chaotic-neutral group member at the start of the campaign, and he is often more aggressive and less merciful than some of the other characters.

He does not like being bested in single combat, as seen in. He is willing to cheat to win, as seen when he drank a potion of Stone Giant Strength to defeat the half-orc Kern in.

Background
Grog was raised in the Herd of Storms, a band of nomadic raiders consisting mainly of goliaths. When Grog was younger, he and his group encountered a helpless old gnome and attacked him, but Grog took pity on the gnome and protected him. Because of this, Grog was beaten to nearly to death by the leader of the herd, his uncle Kevdak, exiled and left for dead. However, the gnome he had saved, Wilhand Trickfoot, sent his great-granddaughter Pike to help him. She saved him from death, and Grog was welcomed into the Trickfoot home. He and Pike became best friends.

Grog is physically the strongest member of Vox Machina and often attempts to take the majority of damage due to his high armor class and constitution.As of, Grog officially puts Kashaw to shame when it comes to genital size.

Before the Stream
Shortly after Vox Machina's adventures in Stilben, Grog left the group and traveled back to Westruun. After not hearing from him for several weeks, the rest of the party traveled there as well and met Pike Trickfoot for the first time. She told them that Grog had been acting strangely and had marched on his own through the Bramblewood Forest towards Gatshadow Mountain. Deep within the mountain, they discovered a mind-controlled Grog, the reanimated corpse of his father, Stonejaw Strongjaw, and a dying mage attempting to become a lich. The party slew the mage, but not before he embedded his phylactery into Grog's chest.

While in the Frostweald, Grog entered a portal alone to retrieve an item. A nymph, named Nahla, was on the other side protecting it. Instead of attacking him, she liked what she saw. After a while, Grog returned looking quite satisfied with himself while holding the item the group needed.

With the help of Eskil Ryndarien, the phylactery was successfully removed from Grog, although it left behind some lingering necromantic energy.

At some point, Grog inadvertently almost killed Trinket when he hit the bear's backside with the flat side of his axe, causing Trinket to charge through a heavily trapped area of a dungeon. Vex was not amused.

Grog was the one who decided to keep one of the penises of the trolls, that his teammates shot off, as a souvenir; it was later used as a distraction in an encounter.

Grog has previously been mentally dominated by another opponent, which caused him to turn against his group and almost kill a few of the party's members.

During a mission, Grog was fighting an umber hulk just like in. He ended up getting confused and, in an attempt to bull rush the creature, he fell 170 feet to the cavern floor. He was knocked unconscious and almost killed by the impact.

Grog and Scanlan managed to intimidate a group of hostile mages in a fighting pit when Scanlan summoned a pony, that Grog abruptly decapitated and smeared its gore on his body while screaming.

Grog was responsible for a blue dragon, Brimscythe, turning against Vox Machina when he found a treasure room and went into a "rage loot"; when the dragon emerged, Grog paused to acknowledge it before he continued looting the room. Grog's choice almost cost some members of Vox Machina their lives, but it also significantly increased their party funds.

Grog convinced the group that in order to find good security for their new keep, which they named Greyskull Keep, the potential guards would have to fight each other to the death.

On the road from Emon to Kraghammer, Grog successfully prevented a fight between a roving band of goliath barbarians, led by his uncle Kevdak's son, Zanror, and Vox Machina after he recognized his cousin. The truce was only temporary, though, and Grog left with the understanding that their next meeting would almost surely be their last—though this later turned out not to be the case.

Chapter 1
 Grog fell in the battle against K'varn, but was brought back to life thanks to Pike's Revivify spell.

Chapter 2
 When Vox Machina arrived in Vasselheim, they visited The Crucible, a brawling arena in the Braving Grounds District for the first time. Grog (under the ring name "Phillip") fought a ferocious bout against Kern, the reigning champion of the arena. After a long and evenly matched battle, Grog appeared to have won, but Kern's half-orc endurance allowed him to come back for a finishing blow. After losing his pride, and Vox Machina's gold, Grog prepared himself for a rematch.

 Grog returned to the Crucible and fought a furious rematch with Kern. This time, Grog benefitted from the help of Scanlan and a Potion of Stone Giant Strength. Even with such boons, the fight still proved difficult, as Kern's training endowed him with the multiclass abilities of a monk. Grog, barely remaining conscious thanks to his Relentless Rage, finally defeated Kern.

As the battle ended, it appeared that Grog had earned the approval or respect of a mysterious monk, Earthbreaker Groon. Vox Machina decided to meet Groon, so they entered the Trial Forge to seek an audience with him. At first, Groon was in a meditative trance as the Earthbreaker, instructing Grog to ask his questions, but Grog didn't really have any questions so instead offered Vox Machina's service. Groon emerged from his trance, smiled, and accepted Grog's piety—then revealed that dark times were ahead.

Chapter 3
 Grog approached Percy and asked about the sword that he recovered from the body of Silas Briarwood, offering to trade the Dragon Slayer Longsword for it. Percy agreed, and when he handed it over, the sword immediately spoke to Grog, offering him power which Grog immediately accepted. The sword called itself Craven Edge.

Chapter 4
 Grog returned to the Trial Forge after the Chroma Conclave attacked, and Groon put Grog through a trial intended to show the Goliath that he should trust his friends rather than the dark blade, Craven Edge.

 Craven Edge caused Grog's body to suddenly fall dead in the snow. Scanlan pointed out that his soul might be inside the sword. Pike cast Revivify, and the ritual was successful. When he came to, the party confronted him about the sword, and decided it would be best to get rid of it. After Pike severed Craven Edge's connection to Grog with a Greater Restoration spell, Keyleth banished the evil sword to the Dread Emperor's realm using Plane Shift. Due to the conflicting statements about the Dread Emperor's realm, it is unclear if Craven Edge is now in the Astral Plane, in a pocket dimension, or somewhere else altogether.

 Grog challenged his uncle, the leader of the Herd of Storms, Kevdak. With the help of Vox Machina, he landed the killing after being released from Raven's Slumber by Vex'halia, spliting Kevdak in half with his axe as he fell onto him from above. He fell unconscious from the fall right after, but was promptly revived by Scanlan's Healing Word and lifted into the air by Bigby's Hand. Grog declared Kevdak defeated, and encouraged the herd to aid Vox Machina in their battle against Umbrasyl.

Grog was given Kevdak's Bloodaxe and his Titanstone Knuckles, one of the Vestiges of Divergence. Grog then claimed that he would return the Herd of Storms to power; he chopped off the head of Greenbeard, the herd's seer, and had Zanror released, declaring that he was to be the one rule the herd. Later, Grog looted Kevdak's body, taking his skull and cutting his bear tatoo off of his skin to store in the Bag of Colding.

Chapter 5
 While visiting the city of Syngorn, Grog tries to act formal when Vox Machina meets with city officials, and mispronounces the phrase "good day" as "bidet".

Chapter 6
 While looting Thordak's lair, Grog found the Deck of Many Things. Grog pulled a card from the deck, which was at first misread by Matt as the Key card, and awarded him a rare magic weapon: Dancing Sword. The mistake was corrected in, and was retconned when Grog saw a medusa-like visage within the blade, felt a rush of pain in his mind, and dropped the sword which turned black and rusted. The card Grog pulled was actually Euryale, and he had been cursed to a permanent penalty to all his saving throws. The curse could only be removed by a god.

Vex took the deck back from Grog, and when attempting to draw a card herself, was warned by Percy of its dangerous nature.

 Grog tried to trade the Periapt of Wound Closure to Vex in order to get his deck back, but Vex tricked him by giving him a leather pouch with rocks inside. Vex made Grog promise not to pull anything from it: he could only keep it in its little pouch.

Chapter 7
 In the re-match against Grog, this time in a one versus one battle, Earthbreaker Groon initially showed to be impossible to hit. Instead of attacking Grog, he simply moved around and examined him, giving cryptic hints. Frustrated at his inability to hit him, Grog eventually just placed a finger on his torso, confirming that Earthbreaker Groon was present. Eventually, Groon managed to drop Grog down to 0 HP, but Grog used his Relentless Rage in order to stand back up. Groon, impressed by Grog's endurance, attacked him again but another Relentless Rage allowed Grog to keep fighting, causing him to win. When he won the fight, Grog's Titanstone Knuckles also reached their Exalted state.

When Scanlan woke up after his resurrection and yelled at everyone for not knowing him or his story, Grog was one of the only ones who didn't talk back at him, and simply asked what his mother's name was, saying he was sorry he didn't know. He immediately recognised that Scanlan's accusations had some truth to them, said that he meant a lot to them, and told Scanlan that whatever he wanted to do was up to him. As Scanlan got up to leave, Grog tossed his salt-lick rock to Scanlan, to remember them by. While Vex and Vax lamented his departure, Grog simply said that the only thing that mattered was that Scanlan was alive, and that they had to give him time. He later asked Percy if he could send anyone after Scanlan and Kaylie, to keep an eye on them.

 Vex admitted to Grog that she had secretly kept his Deck of Many Things. She gave him back the real one, feeling guilty for having lied to him. Grog completely failed to understand happenned and got very confused by her confession.

 Grog got bored in the peace that followed Thordak's defeat. Among other things, he went looking for Scanlan, but did not find him; he also got a copy of Kevdak's bear tattoo done on his back, "because that shit's behind me," and made Kevdak's skull into a mug. He then returned to Vasselheim and defended his title in the Crucible. He also did some contracts with the Slayer's Take, but did not find it as exciting as fighting ancient dragons.

While drunk late at night in the streets of Vasselheim, Grog found a random, also drunk, stranger and convinced that stranger to pull a card from his Deck of Many Things. The stranger pulled a card, said, "I wish that I was a powerful lord of the Quadroads," and then ran off in a carriage that suddenly appeared for him. Grog never got the stranger's name. Though Grog was extremely tempted to draw another card for himself after that incident, he convinced himself to wait until he could return to Whitestone and try it with Pike. Finally, Grog made a visit to the Frostweald, visited the nymph he knew there, and gave her a palm-sized ruby that he found in his bag.

Chapter 8
 Vox Machina made their way into the Core Anvil, the abandonned workshop of the Allhammer. Using the strength of the Titanstone Knuckles, Grog forged three Prime Trammels out of the beads of divinity provided by Ioun, Pelor and the Raven Queen, which were then completed by Percy's engravings.

 After Vox Machina retrieved the Sword of Kas from within Thar Amphala, it was given to Grog to wield in the final battle against Vecna.

 During the final confrontation with Vecna, Grog was banished to another plane twice by the god. When he was finally brought back, he attacked Vecna with the sword of Kas, opening three wounds in his chest. Hanging onto Vecna's chest, Grog managed to shove Pelor's Divine trammel into one of the wounds before being banished again. Keyleth attempted to place the second trammel, but failed. When Grog reappeared, Pike passed the third divine trammel to him, and he drove it into another chest wound.

When Vecna banished Scanlan with the Tome of Isolation, Grog broke his concentration with a hard blow, allowing the Rites of Prime Banishment to continue.

 After Vox Machina returned to Whitestone castle to finally rest, Grog stepped out to the front courtyard, checked that no one is watching, and pulled out the Deck of Many Things. Just as Pike returned from the forest, she saw him draw a card, The Void, and fall to the ground. Grog was left, catatonic, his soul drawn from his body, with an open deck of cards in his hand.

Epilogues
 Vox Machina discovered that Grog's soul was held captive on the plane of Pandemonium, sealed within a stone. The party tied Grog's body to the back of Trinket and carried it with them as they searched for his soul and fought with the Empyrean guarding it. When the stone made contact with Grog's body, he regained consciousness.

 After returning to Whitestone, when Grog inquired about the current location of the Deck of Many Things, Vox Machina lied that it had been left behind on Pandemonium. Pike cheered up the disappointed Grog by offering to make him a homemade (and decidedly NOT magic) Deck of Many Things.  Grog took it upon himself to taste-test the food for Vex and Percy's rehearsal dinner, making sure at least half of them weren't poisoned. The bride and groom put him in charge of clearing a path down the aisle and laying down petals. Grog teared up when they asked him. He swears that he will practice his petal-throwing skill all night.

During the rehearsal dinner, Grog was the only one, along with Derrig and Trinket, to remain conscious as the rest of the wedding party suddenly dozed off. While he fought off the vampires attacking them, he didn't notice that Vex and Percy were being taken. When Silas tried to escape in bat form, Grog striked him down with his Bloodaxe, forcing him back into the ground for Vex to deal the final blow.

Post-Campain
As revealed in, Grog returns to Vasselheim to turn himself in for punching a guard in a certain potion merchant's shop. However, he is recognized as one of the saviors of the city and forgiven of his crime. The merchant is initially indignant at Grog's release, until Grog offers him 8,000 gold to become his own personal reading tutor. He agrees. While in the city, Grog helps Earthbreaker Groon rebuild the temple of Kord, and occasionally has Pike join him in the Crucible to defend their titles there. He also adventures with Pike, and moves in with her into Wilhand's home. His next great challenge, however, is to improve his mind.

When Scanlan asks him for permission to accept Pike's proposal, Grog accepts. He gives Scanlan a black sapphire for Pike, and carries Scanlan down the aisle at the wedding.

Keyleth

 * &rarr; Main article: Relationship between Grog and Keyleth.

Grog calls Keyleth's sabretooth tiger form "Minxie", after the two of them (Keyleth in her cat form) attempted to intimidate somebody and Keyleth pretended to be Grog's pet. Keyleth and Grog have worked together on other occasions as well, such as creating a special combo attack referred to as the "Fastball Special", where Keyleth turns into a brawny creature, like an earth elemental, in order to have enough strength to throw Grog at a large opponent.

Grog was present when Keyleth was on the brink of attacking Raishan when the dragon revealed herself in the guise of Seeker Assum and explained to her the value of patience. When Keyleth, struggling with her anger at Raishan, asked Grog how he manages to keep his rage in check, he answered: "Family."

Lady Kima of Vord
Grog became infatuated with Lady Kima after the party freed her from a torture rack in Emberhold and she subsequently borrowed Pike's mace to bash the duergar who tortured her into "hamburger meat."

Pike

 * &rarr; Main article: Relationship between Grog and Pike.

Grog and Pike are very close friends due to Grog protecting Pike's great-great-grandfather Wilhand Trickfoot, and Pike's having saved his life after his uncle Kevdak banished him from his tribe and ordered the other tribe members to beat him near to death. The two often joke when working together, and Pike will often defend Grog from jokes made by other team members. After her death and resurrection, she has become more violent and bloodthirsty, sometimes even impressing Grog.

Scanlan

 * &rarr; Main article: Relationship between Grog and Scanlan.

Grog and Scanlan Shorthalt were best friends, occasionally pursuing the same things. After he left Vox Machina though, relations between the two have been strained. Grog seems to feel that he has been replaced by the "Bardbarian".

Vax'ildan

 * &rarr; Main article: Relationship between Grog and Vax'ildan.

Grog and Vax'ildan have a rather antagonistic relationship, the two of them occasionally playing pranks on each other. Aside from that, they are close friends who have each others' backs.

Quests
Grog's quest is not exactly known. However, it has been stated by Travis that he wants revenge on his uncle Kevdak for nearly killing him, which he managed to fulfill in.

One of Grog's short term goals was to beat the half-orc Kern, also known as "The Hammer", who beat him in the Crucible—a quest he has since fulfilled.

Current Items

 * Alchemy Jug
 * Amulet of Defense (+2 to AC)
 * Amulet of the Drunkard (allows Grog to heal HP when he drinks ale)
 * Bag of Holding
 * Belt of Dwarvenkind
 * Bloodaxe
 * Boots of Feral Leaping (traded for Percy's Boots of Spider Climbing and traded back )
 * Chain of Returning (made by Tiberius)
 * Dragon-Tooth Necklace (doubles hit points restored by hit dice; given to Grog by Shale)
 * Dust of Tracelessness
 * Dwarven Thrower
 * Firebrand War Hammer
 * Holy Oil
 * Titanstone Knuckles
 * Boots of Levitation

Former Items

 * Boots of Spider Climbing (received from Percy in a trade and traded back )
 * Bracers of Defense (given to Scanlan's Simulacrum in, lost in when the Simulacrum was dispelled by Vecna.)
 * Craven Edge (banished to the Dread Emperor's realm by Vox Machina in ))
 * Dancing Sword (originally awarded by the Deck of Many Things, but taken away through creative editing due to DM error on the draw)
 * Deck of Many Things(confiscated by Vox Machina after he pulled The Void card and they had to spend two weeks retrieving his soul from Pandemonium)
 * Gauntlets of Ogre Power (Now belong to Pike)
 * Javelin of Lightning (lost in Ank'Harel)
 * Sword of Kas (gains a +1d10 bonus to initiative, deals an additional 2 dice of damage to undead; given to Highbearer Vord)

Abilities
Grog has a few abilities that allow him to inflict more damage in combat and demoralize the enemy. The primal path of his rage is that of the berserker—his rage is a means to an end, in which his thrill is derived from the chaotic nature of battle. He later multiclassed into a Battle Master fighter similar to his uncle Kevdak, gaining use of Second Wind, the Great Weapon Fighting style, the ability to use Action Surge, and a variety of combat maneuvers.



Goliath Abilities

 * Mountain Born
 * Natural Athlete
 * Powerful Build
 * Stone's Endurance

Additional Features

 * Beard Growth (Belt of Dwarvenkind)
 * Darkvision (Belt of Dwarvenkind)
 * Dwarven Resilience (Belt of Dwarvenkind)
 * Elemental Resistance (Fire/Cold/Lightning) (Titanstone Knuckles)
 * Enlarge (Titanstone Knuckles)
 * Siege Damage (Titanstone Knuckles)

Feats

 * Great Weapon Master (taken at level 12)
 * Tough
 * Mobile
 * Mage Slayer

Class Features

 * Brutal Critical (3 dice)
 * Danger Sense
 * Feral Instinct
 * Persistent Rage
 * Primal Path: Path of the Berserker
 * Frenzy
 * Intimidating Presence
 * Mindless Rage
 * Retaliation
 * Rage
 * Reckless Attack
 * Relentless Rage

Class Features

 * Action Surge
 * Fighting Style: Great Weapon Fighting
 * Martial Archetype: Battle Master
 * Maneuvers: Trip Attack, Parry, and Disarming Strike
 * Student of War: Smith's Tools -
 * Superiority Dice (4d8)
 * Second Wind

Trivia

 * Grog has the highest strength score and highest constitution score of any player character thus far.
 * Grog formerly had the lowest intelligence score of any player character. However, Buddy the Ogre now possesses the lowest intelligence score with an intelligence of 5.
 * Travis often plays this aspect for comedic effect, thus giving birth to Grog's signature catchphrase: "I have an intelligence of 6, I think I know what I'm doing."
 * Occasionally Travis forgets himself and "Grog" says something clever, usually played off as a random moment of cleverness. However at least once it has resulted in Grog suffering pain and the DM assigning psychic damage for "attempting to think too hard."
 * Grog was the first player character to die after the stream began, and the second overall, after Pike.
 * "Grog" is a term for any alcoholic beverage, originally referring to a drink made with water and rum.
 * Travis didn't have a name for his character when he arrived at their first home game, so when Matt asked him for one he made it up on the spot. He cited his love of the game Monkey Island, where "Grog" is a popular pirate beverage that is 'one of the most caustic, volatile substances known to man'.
 * "Grog" itself originated from the nickname of Vice Admiral Edward Vernon (who first introduced the drink), Old Grog or Old Grogram, which itself stemmed from how Vernon wore a coat of grosgrain (also known as grogram) cloth.
 * In the Critical Role Major Arcana Tarot Card Set, he represents VIII - Strength.
 * In the 2017 video game "Mass Effect: Andromeda", there is a krogan warlord named "Strogjaw Grog". Strogjaw Grog is the leader of a refuge for exiled scavengers known as "The Flophouse" on the scorching desert moon of Elaaden.
 * In the Vox Machina Origins comics, Grog's title of "Grand Poobah de Doink of All of This and That" is erroneously written as "Grand Poobah of de Doink."
 * Interestingly, the final roll of the one-shot The Search For Grog (done by Travis as Grog) was a Natural 20; meaning that Travis ended Campaign 1 on a 'critical roll'. He would (previously) begin Campaign 2 with a Natural 20 roll.
 * Grog's design as a large, muscular man with pale skin, a bald head, facial and body tattoos, and thick black beard coincidentally gave him a resemblance to Kratos in the 2018 video game God of War. Additionally, Kratos also has the special ability to "Spartan Rage" in the game. Many Critters were quick to point out these resemblances across various social media such as Twitter and Reddit, with quite a few posts directed straight to Travis Willingham.
 * Grog is included in the Critical Role Pack DLC for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire.