Talks Machina 2: Brawl in the Arches

is the second episode of Talks Machina.

Ashley Johnson, Matthew Mercer, Marisha Ray, and Sam Riegel discuss with Brian Wayne Foster.

Discussing Vax's kiss with Keyleth while Seeming was still active
The clip from where Vax'ildan casts Heroism on Keyleth through a kiss is shown.

Brian says that he texted Marisha during the middle of the game reminding her that Seeming was still active, so Keyleth still looked like Vex'ahlia when Vax kissed her. Marisha hadn't realized it until she got the text. She says the blame for that is on Vax/Liam. Matt says that somewhere Garmelie is circling a page in his sketchbook.

Matt has seen several pieces of fanart for the "unintentional magical incest" moment.

Sam asks if disguising Vox Machina to all look like the twins actually accomplished anything. It did not, because pit fiends can see through illusions. Ghurrix was very unimpressed.

GIF of the Week
Winner: @Mobius___Strip (GIF) Prize: Critical Role T-shirt

Discussing the battle with Ghurrix in
According to CritRoleStats, the battle against Ghurrix was the longest in-real-life battle on Critical Role as of this episode. It ran for 2:37:12 in real time. Second place was the encounter with Umbrasyl in with a duration of 2:35:53, third place was the battle with Kevdak and the Herd of Storms in  at 2:32:19.

Ashley says they would be exhausted after fighting for two and half hours, but they all know that in D&D time the battle really only lasted for a minute or so.

Brian asks Matt how much prep he had to do, specifically for the battle map. Matt says that designing and constructing the map took about two hours. He made it out of Dwarven Forge pieces, some Epix Haven walls, and a Mage Knight tower. He wanted to make the battlefield interesting, and he hopes to use more light filters in the future.

Sam compliments Matt's design for the map, saying it was useful and the party ended up using most of it, retreating behind buildings and ducking down other streets for cover. Matt wants to set up his maps so the players can take advantage of their mobility, and also so their opponents can use it to their advantage.

Brian asks if that was one of the possible maps he's brought in during other episodes and ended up taking back home unused. Matt brought that map in along with several other maps that went unused. When it became apparent at the end of that Vox Machina was about to get into a fight, Matt took the map home and expanded upon it.

Brian brings up something Matt said at the start of the battle: "You guys are rolling really well tonight, it's frustrating me." Matt says that if the pit fiend had been earlier in the initiative he would have darted forward and locked down the battlefield to his advantage, but because Grog went before him and decided to grapple Ghurrix, he was forced into a reactionary position.

Ghurrix was smart enough not to spread his attack out; instead he focused on one target at a time, aiming to take the party members out one by one so that they would be forced to focus on keeping their friends alive.

This was also the first battle where poison prevented characters from healing which was a major problem near the end of the fight. Vox Machina did well with their initiative rolls; Marisha actually got a natural 20 on initiative.

The erinyes did have a name, but she would not willingly reveal it because names have power and many magics require the true name of a fiend to affect it.

Matt did not mention the general damage taken by Ghurrix (ie. "looking rough") because Vox Machina had never encountered a pit fiend before, a creature very alien to them, so they didn't know what to look for in order to gauge its health. Also Matt wanted to keep the tension level of the battle high.

Mythcarver's Awakening
A clip of Scanlan's Cutting Words rendition of "...Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears is played. Brian jokingly suggests that this is the reason for Mythcarver's Awakening.

The actual clip of Mythcarver's Awakening is then played.

Sam's HDYWTDT moment
The clip of Scanlan's How do you want to do this? against Ghurrix is shown.

Marisha points out how exhausted and stressed they all looked, since they didn't have a break during that long battle.

Fanart of the Week
Winner: Kent Davis @iDrawBagman (Art) Prize: Zebrawood Hero Vault from Wyrmwood Gaming

Wrapping up
Brian thanks everyone who helped with the Talks Machina intro, transition, set, music, chat room, etc.

There isn't a Critical Role episode next week, but there will still be Talk Machina. It'll be a free-for-all Q&A.

Brian reminds the audience to submit questions using the hashtag #AskTalksMachina. Sam decides that if you rearrange the letters in that you can spell "Stalk Sam AKA China".

Brian requests the fans' help with something special: send in a video saying what Critical Role means to you.

The cast can't stop laughing about the french horn music playing in the background.

The videos should be less than a minute and will be compiled and aired on December 20th. They must be submitted before December 15th.

Brian thanks his guests "Sam Regale", "Marsha Ray", "Ashley Jenkins", and "Mike Mercer".

Quotations

 * Sam: "Maybe that's what's going on at Daxio, [Matt]'s killing all the other NPCs so he doesn't have to voice them?" Matt: "Just wiping them all out!" Sam: "Allura: DEAD, Gilmore: DEAD...anyone with a complicated accent: GONE."