Talks Machina Special 5: Fireside Chat Q&A

is the thirty-third special episode of Critical Role.

Synopsis
This episode was for questions about the first campaign that weren't answered in the Talks Machina: Campaign Wrap-up episode, with a little discussion of the upcoming campaign.

Intro and Outro

 * Introduction
 * Thanks to Le Chiffre
 * Outro

General Questions about Player characters

 * To Travis: "What was one of the most memorable moments for you that (Grog's) negative intelligence made a situation go not the way you wanted?"
 * "What happened to Keyleth's mother?"
 * To Liam: "Vax originally planned to become a paladin of Sarenrae but was forced into the arrangement with the Raven Queen. After meeting both, which goddess did he favor more in the end?"
 * To Laura: "Did Vex know about Tary's feelings for Percy? If so, how did that affect their friendship?"
 * To Travis: "What was Grog's fascination with the lycans about? Was he just wanting to tap more into his primal side?"
 * To Sam and Matt: "Was there any discussion about how Doty was built?"

Items

 * To Liam: "Where/when did you first get Simon? What was the background?"
 * To Matt: "What does the Moonhammer do?"
 * To Matt: "Where and when did Sylas come into possession of Craven Edge?"
 * To Matt: "Did you have alternative plans for Craven Edge if Percy hadn't picked it up and given it to Grog?"
 * To Taliesin: "When Craven Edge killed Grog, how much guilt did Percy feel knowing it was somewhat his fault for giving him the sword? What would he have done if Pike couldn't bring him back?"
 * To Matt: "What were the specific triggers for the Vestiges awakening, and were there any awakenings we didn't get to see?"

Pre-stream adventures

 * Matt mentions that they had only 17 sessions in the pre-stream adventures.
 * To Matt: "Who was the mystery person who contracted the Clasp to abduct Vex?"

The K'Varn Arc

 * To Matt: "What were the plans of the illithid after Vox Machina's escape? Would they/did they consider taking over Kraghammer?"

The Briarwoods Arc

 * To Matt: "Could you share what happened to Cassandra between the time she took several arrows to the chest as she fled Whitestone and the moment when Percy found her?"
 * To Sam: "How much of [ Scanlan's one-man attack on the mansion as a triceratops] went according to plan and how much was improvised?"
 * To Matt: "Percy had gotten two points of corruption before having one reversed by Pike in ‘Against the Tide of Bone.’ [...] What would’ve happened if he had gotten more than two?"
 * To Matt: "You’ve mentioned that if Scanlan didn't destroy the gun, that there was more planned for Orthax. How would that would have come into play if the pepperbox have stayed around?"

Seeking the Vestiges of Divergence

 * To Taliesin: "In a way, Percy's greed and carelessness in the sunken tomb were responsible for Vax's ultimate departure. Does this ever plague him?"
 * To Matt: "What were your plans had Vox Machina entered the hag's house in the Shademurk Bog?"
 * To Matt and Laura: "What would have happened if Vex would have said yes to Saundor when she got her vestige?"
 * To Matt: "If the party hadn't summoned the goristro to fight Vorugal, what would the adventure to find the Spire of Conflux have looked like?"

The Dragons

 * To Matt: "Raishan was in it for a purpose, as we found out; can you elaborate on Brimscythe, Vorugal, and Umbrasyl? Can you elaborate on their motives and more of their characters as we barely had any time with them?"
 * To Matt: "Was Dr. Dranzel just looking to make a score? Or as a leader of the Golden Grin, did he have other motive for sending Vox Machina back to General Krieg's house?"
 * Marisha asks Matt: "What would've happened had we not told the Clasp to [...] fuck off?"
 * To Matt: "How are Shale and the Herd of Storms doing following the fall of Umbrasyl?"
 * To Matt: "Was there any exciting backstory, sidequests, lore, or loot tied to that ship in Vorugal's lair?"
 * Liam asks Matt: What would have happened if Vax hadn't interrupted Raishan's interrogation of Thordak's corpse, and what would have happened next?
 * To Matt: ""What is the relationship history between J'mon and Gilmore? They were having a pretty in-depth conversation after that Thordak fight."
 * To Marisha: "How cathartic was it for Keyleth to not submit to her vengeful desires and put Raishan in her place by killing what made her who she was, thus leaving behind a feral shadow of her former self?"

Relationships

 * To Matt: "What were your original ideas for Kynan? Did you have any plans for him had Vox Machina accepted him into their fold in some way?
 * To Taliesin and Laura: "If Percy's first death had not happened do you think that Vex and Percy would have spent their lives as really awkward neighbors without ever realizing that they were pining for each other?"
 * To Taliesin: "How aware or conscious was Percy of everything that Vex was doing and saying in an effort to help him out of his Orthax- and Briarwoods-induced darkness/stupor?"
 * To Marisha: "Marisha, over the course of the Conclave Arc we've seen Keyleth slowly overcome her hesitancy about falling in love with Vax, with moments like the talk with Vex in the hot springs and Pike trying to convince her to be more comfortable with him. [...] What would you say was the only thing that made her take that chance?"
 * To Sam: "Did Scanlan ever tell Kaylie that he let her win the flute competition?"
 * To Sam: "Was Scanlan really trying to learn what it’s like to be on drugs or was he just trying to find a way to numb the pain of the whole Kaylie situation?"

Between the Chroma Conclave and Vecna

 * To Matt: "Would it have been possible for Vex to call upon the help of Galdric while performing the trial to become Mistress of the Grey Hunt?"
 * To Matt: "What would have happened if Vex couldn't find the gray render or if it had escaped?"
 * To Matt: "What happened to the new Lord of the Quadroads?"
 * To Matt: "When the assassin created from the Fireside Chat was made into a baker, was it pure serendipity that Vox Machina in the downtime had founded the Slayer's Cake? Or had you influenced that at all? If they hadn't, how would she have been added?"

The Vecna Arc

 * To Matt: "Was there a way to avoid the fight with the gigantic forge guardian at the core anvil?"
 * To Matt: "Is Devo'ssa's cover story permanently blown now?"

What Comes Next for Vox Machina

 * To Matt (with follow-up for Liam): "How did Gilmore react to Vax's death?"
 * To Laura: "Vex promised the Raven Queen that she would destroy Orcus, in exchange for Vax returning after being killed by the kraken, as we know. Does she have any plans or concerns about upholding that contract?"
 * To everyone: "What happens with the Slayer's Cake? Does Vox Machina stay involved with it?"
 * "What are the names of Percy and Vex's kids?"
 * To Sam: "Did Tary strike everything off his list?"

General Questions about NPCs

 * Marisha to Matt: "What's with the sphinxes (Osysa and Kamaljiori) and why didn't they live together anymore?"
 * To Matt: "Might we learn more about Vesh in the future? Or could you tell us about her a bit more? You've said that things, as in who Vesh is et cetera, weren't quite as simple as Kash thought."
 * To Matt: "What exactly did Jarett do that forced him to flee Marquet?"
 * To Matt: "What was Dr. Ripley's plan, and what was her deal with the devil?"
 * To Matt: "Who were the people on Ripley's list?"
 * To Matt: "How many dead or permanently incapacitated NPCs who Vox Machina just missed are there?"
 * To Matt: Who is your favorite NPC, as a person and maybe to play as?
 * Follow-up: "Have you had that happen in other campaigns you've done, where you find an NPC or create one that sort of is an extension of yourself?"

Campaign 2: The Mighty Nein

 * Showing the poster for Campaign 2
 * Current challenges with character creation
 * "Who is happy with the way they rolled besides Liam?"
 * To everyone: "What are you guys most excited about? Any secrets among the group still?"
 * To Matt: "How are you feeling about the new campaign?"
 * To Matt: "You're in these weeks and these months preparing for taking on a new campaign, and luckily getting to start at low levels and you're not dealing with a lot of the massive stuff that you're dealing with at the end of a campaign, but you are thinking about the end of that campaign before it begins and how you map out and everything. What are the truths of storytelling that are the most important for you when you're thinking about something like this? Because obviously you know you can't be married too much to an idea and hold onto it in a place of preciousness too tightly, because you're with a group of people who can change that course at the drop of a hat or at a bad roll or-- some things, other things take a lot more time to mess up. You have to be malleable all the time in the storytelling. So what are the pillars for you of stuff where, 'This is definitely something that I have to keep'? Is that hard for you?"
 * To Matt: "Do you plan on, I don't want to say being harder on them, now that they're all gone. But this time around, since they aren't as much of a newbie as they were when they started before, do you plan on stepping things up a little bit or maybe challenging them more?
 * Closing discussion about expectations for Campaign 2.

About Being a DM

 * To Matt: "How much do, if at all, real events impact any of the storytelling that you do?"
 * To Matt: "What's the hardest thing for you to write? Are you struggling with anything right now that you're just like, 'It's not coming together'?"