Talks Machina 51: The Midnight Chase
"Talks Machina #51: The Midnight Chase" | |||
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Talks Machina episode | |||
Episode no. | Episode 51 (TM2x03) | ||
Airdate | January 30, 2018 19:00 PST | ||
Running time | 1:21:49 | ||
Starring | |||
Laura Bailey as Herself Liam O'Brien as Himself Travis Willingham as Himself Brian Wayne Foster as Himself | |||
Special guest | |||
Marisha Ray as Herself | |||
Episode chronology | |||
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Airdate order | |||
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List of Talks Machina episodes |
"Talks Machina #51: The Midnight Chase" (TM2x03) is the fifty-first episode of Talks Machina.
Synopsis[edit | edit source]
Introduction[edit | edit source]
Are we on the internet?
(Dani: Well did you pay the bill?)
Somebody must have, with all that sweet Alpha money. Good evening, and welcome to an all-new Talks Machina. My name is still Brian W. Foster and I will be your host for the evening. Tonight we will be discussing Critical Role Campaign 2 Episode 3: The Midnight Chase. We've got giveaways for Gif and Fan Art of the Week, and the following people will join me to answer your questions: Travis Willingham, Laura Bailey, and their friend Liam O'Brien.
(Liam enthusiastically boos himself)
Wait, Marisha, what are you doing here? You're not on the show tonight.
(Marisha: I missed you guys.)
Well that's really sweet. I miss my grandma too but you don't see me inviting her on the show. Get the fuck out of here, you're not on the list. We love you, we miss you.
(Marisha: Well, fuck you guys too. How about that? Fuck all y'all.)
And I walk away.
(Liam: Fuck off work addict!)
— Brian's introduction
Announcements[edit | edit source]
- Still no new opening credits yet.
- Vox Machina Origins #4 is out now.
- "The Midnight Chase" (2x03) podcast will be available this week.
- Dani does Critical Recaps in 90 seconds that air on Thursdays.
CritRole Stats for "The Midnight Chase" (2x03)[edit | edit source]
- Longest Mercer facepalm of Campaign 2 so far: 6.32 seconds
- This was in response to a creatively messy way Caleb could otherwise spend the hour needed to cast Find Familiar. The additional ten minutes required to cast the spell as a ritual would then instead be for "clean-up".
- Longest Mercer facepalm on record, from "Hubris" (1x17): 21.06 seconds
- This was in response to the "glowing gift" Scanlan left behind in Vasselheim's temple to Sarenrae.
- In "The Midnight Chase" (2x03), Nott rolled 7 crits: 3 natural 20s and 4 natural 1s.
- This count ties for second place with that of Thorbir in "Trial of the Take: Part 4" (1x21), in which he rolled 1 natural 20 and 6 natural 1s.
- The record for most crits in one episode belongs to Percy with a total of 9: 7 natural 20s and 2 natural 1s.[fn 1]
Part 1[edit | edit source]
Laura: How much do you think the group's poor rolling this week was because Sam taunted you, your wonderful dice, and the dice gods before the game? — @Jijino, 7:00
- "100%."
- Sam shunned the dice gods.
- Laura is not superstitious about D&D so much as she is superstitious about dice and ghosts.
Travis: How are you feeling about the fact that Fjord can actually contribute to the planning stages as opposed to how Grog just wanted the talking to stop? Do you enjoy it? — @BeccaEnterline, 9:25
- Planning and speaking intelligently is a whole different set of responsibilities, especially given that Travis needs to do so in stride now, as opposed to working on a delay as he did with Grog. He is enjoying exercising his brain as Fjord.
- Laura enjoys Jester's impulsivity the way Travis enjoyed Grog's.
- Liam feels that Travis would vanish behind Grog in Campaign 1 and that by playing as Fjord in Campaign 2, Travis has the chance to show himself more as he is (charismatic, charming, intelligent, etc.).
Liam: When Caleb managed to finally get those books, he was giddy. How much of that was you acting, and how much was genuine excitement? — Pawn315, 10:58
- Sometimes it's the same thing. Liam was happy to get the books, and Caleb was happy to get the books.
Everyone: You all make fun of Laura for her dice superstitions and rituals, and yet everyone believes in the power of the Golden Snitch to the extreme. Explain? — @absyntheana, 12:51
- Liam does not believe in the Golden Snitch's power, and claims its magic actually resides in Taliesin in that Taliesin wove the lore of the Snitch.
- Travis says that focusing one's "musk and magic" on a single die can give it power, but that a collection of random dice held in a bag together "is all... super important and should be respected". Laura glares fondly as he finishes this sentence.
Laura: Is drawing in your book part of the general worship of the Traveler? Or something you came up with? — @sethadamjones, 14:31
- It's something Laura came up with for Jester, as Jester is an artist.
Travis and Liam: We've seen Caleb and Fjord work together closely during the last two episodes. As the two arcane characters in the group, how do they view each other's magical abilities? — Axorfett12, 15:46
- Travis is super interested because neither he nor Fjord know much about magic, nor has Fjord ever met a wizard.
- Caleb has talent, but he worked and studied very hard for his skills, and is aware that there are those simply touched by the gods and given similar abilities.
- Fjord is taken by Jester's outgoing personality.
- If Jester had Prestidigitation, Caleb would be clean instantly.
Liam: Did Caleb know a lot of magical people before the start of the campaign, or is that something you're keeping really really tight? — Brian, 18:20
- "Pass." (No answer.)
GIF of the Week[edit | edit source]
Winner: @GuySniper; gif of shell telephone
Prize: Critical Role poster with a photo from the campaign 2 opening.[2]
Part 2[edit | edit source]
Everyone: Now that a few episodes have gone by and you're finding a groove, what surprised you most about your new character? — D20sorDie, 20:37
- Travis was surprised that Fjord talks like a cowboy.
- This was decided about a day in advance. Travis practiced at home with Laura.
- Laura was surprised that Jester likes pastries just as much as Laura herself does.
- This was decided when Beau asked Jester if pastries were all she eats.
- Liam was surprised by Caleb's dynamic with Nott.
- He planned Caleb a year in advance, but his collaboration with Sam started only a few weeks before the start of the campaign.
- Rather than falling back on prior character habits, he currently struggles with maintaining his present accent instead of reverting to past accents.
Laura: How does it feel have Jester be a huge flirt with Fjord? — @RandomIndy, 24:55
- It feels natural, and Laura hadn't initially planned on making Jester more flirty with Fjord.
Travis: Was the mustang joke we all loved aimed at Fjord's name only, or were you also having flashbacks to your FMA days? — @VBlaze421, 26:12
- It was a little nod to Fullmetal Alchemist fans.
- The name Fjord gives the horse, Shelby, is a reference to Carroll Shelby's variant on the Ford Mustang, called the Shelby Mustang.
- Carroll Shelby attended the same high school as Travis (albeit several decades earlier).
Liam: Caleb uses his School of Transmutation powers in the Money Pot scam in episode 2. Did you pick the school because it would complement your cons, or did the idea of being a scammer come from being able to do stuff like that? — @Lemuraben, 27:42
- Caleb's powers came first, and his cons developed from there.
Everyone: What made you choose your names? — @xelbiee, 28:10
- Travis insists Liam and Laura answer first, as he had several names before settling on Fjord.
- Laura says that Jester was always Jester, following the tiefling tradition of virtue names. Jester wants to be happy and wants to make people happy.
- Liam looked into lots of old Germanic names to dig into his German roots.
- Liam O'Brien is a lie, as he's not mostly Irish. He's mostly German.
- Travis had an inadvertent tendency to pick names that are already in use, such as Kaulder (Vin Diesel's D&D character), Arkhan (from Critical Role), and Tidus (from Final Fantasy X).
- Laura and Ashley both liked the sound of 'Fjord' before Travis settled on it.
Fan art of the Week[edit | edit source]
Winner: Anna Landin (@AnnaLandin on Twitter); Fjord invoking his Hexblade's Curse against Kylre.
Prize: As part of the Valentine's Day promotion over the next few weeks, you can get a message engraved in Elvish on top of the dice vault. She can pick the wood for one of four options.[3]
Part 3[edit | edit source]
Laura: Jester comes across as surprisingly gullible for someone in the Trickery domain. Is she naïve, just loves mischief of all kinds even when she is the target, or something else entirely? — RedDelphi, 34:40
- Jester is pretty wise and enjoys playing the "game of yes", in that she finds it more fun to believe in something than to not, even if doing so means she may get taken advantage of sometimes.
Travis: Were the details of the physical transformation of your falchion something you planned with Matt beforehand, or was it an improvised description? — @Immun3knowledgy, 35:52
- Around a month or so earlier over breakfast, Matt and Travis talked about the falchion extensively because it serves an important part of Fjord's Hexblade subclass. They discussed things such as what would happen when its abilities started to show, but Matt also kept other things close to the vest.
- Travis had a Belgian waffle.
A debate is had about Trinket's lifespan, much to Laura's dismay.
Liam: Caleb has been quieter than everyone else in the group. Is that his character, or are you still feeling him out? — @BlueManxCat, 39:30
- Liam is still feeling Caleb out and will continue to tinker.
- Playing D&D is like rehearsal: being able to try things and fail and make magic happen.
Everyone: How terrifying was that first fight? — @mathilde_draws, 41:15
- Travis was shocked at how little HP Fjord has.
- Laura emphasizes Vox Machina's healing abilities being split between Pike, Vex'ahlia, Keyleth, and Scanlan, and contrasts this with how the Mighty Nein, as a party of seven, are currently relying solely upon Jester and her three spell slots for all of their healing.[fn 3]
- Liam was sure Caleb was going to go down due to his proximity to every enemy.
- Liam rolled well for Caleb's pregame gold (100 gp) and spent half of it on the diamond Caleb uses for Chromatic Orb and the other half on a healing potion. The healing potion was used by Nott on Caleb when he went unconscious in their session zero.
Laura: We noticed you used more cantrips than you should have, and you addressed that you thought you could change them like normal spells. Do you know which 3 cantrips you're going to keep? — @amphrite, 44:55
- Laura weighed the pros and cons of certain cantrips, and it can be tricky to pick.
- In example, Spare the Dying is incredibly important and useful, but Jester does now have a healer's kit. Laura and Liam mention the healer's kit is not instantaneous in the same way as Spare the Dying.[fn 4]
- Liam emphasizes that mistakes are bound to happen, as this is a game of D&D and not The Remains of the Day.
- The couch cast discusses how helpful DND Beyond is when it comes to keeping track of their new abilities and traits and such.
Travis: Whether or not it is safe to assume that Fjord's patron is aquatic in nature, based on the most recent episode, is he fully aware of who his patron is, or is it shrouded in a degree of mystery? — Samjp910, 48:06
- "That is a great and well-worded question with many letters and punctuation." (No answer.)
Liam: Why haven't you been using Shield? Is it related to Caleb's backstory and/or character creation? — Sameal_Prince_of_Hel, 48:51
- Liam chose Caleb's current spell list for very specific reasons and is well aware Caleb does not currently have spells like Magic Missile and Shield and Mage Armor. He plans on picking up spells as the campaign goes on or, if Caleb dies before he can get such magic, he will get to bring out his next character, a halfling with "zero backstory".
- If Fjord dies, Travis will play a tortle bard.
Everyone: What lessons did you draw from that first boss fight about what role each character plays in combat? — @TP_Grant, 50:30
- Jester is the cleric.
- Travis notes how close their opponents got and how much ground Beau can cover, and the couch cast agrees that Marisha made good gameplay decisions. Travis also thinks the party could have done some pre-fight preparation.
- Laura notes that many of their characters need to stay away from melee range.
- Liam thinks Caleb knew ahead of time to hide and help as he can, but the fight didn't go his way.
Laura: How does Jester look at Nott? A partner in crime? A reflection of her own mischievous nature? Or something else? — @Wafflereck, 52:36
- Nott's a fun buddy. Their relationship is new and they get along.
Travis: How did it feel to get a killing blow with a spell for the first time? — Curtis Ryan Degraw, 53:32
- "It's pretty sweet." and "It felt damn good."
- Travis was thrilled about having a spell save DC and in his excitement needed Marisha's help to find it on his character sheet.
- Travis is still shocked about how little HP Fjord has in comparison to Grog.[fn 5]
Laura: How does it feel to be stronger than Travis? — TeaDrinker13, 55:53
- "It feels so good."
- When placing Jester's stats, Laura wanted to try something different from Vex's high-charisma-low-strength combination, and so Jester has high strength and lower charisma.
- Jester's strength is in her butt.
Everyone: What, other than imminent death by Mercer, are you most concerned about for your characters? — @VT_VoiceofAdam, 57:20
- Travis and Liam are concerned about backstory being revealed before they are ready for it.
- Liam wants to enjoy walking into things.
- Laura is interested to see how things related to The Traveler will come out in game.
Thank My Guests[edit | edit source]
- Traveler Save Me
- Have This Mustang Man
- Frumpkin Be Flyin'
- and I'm your host, One More Round of Trost, Sir
(Winning names by @heythistlewitch)
Talks Machina After Dark[edit | edit source]
Travis: Is this Super Bowl a nightmare for you as a Cowboys fan. — A Glitch Gnome, 1:00:53
- It's the first Super Bowl where he's praying for a 0-0 tie.
Liam: How fun is it playing a character who stays out of the fray after years of playing Vax? — UndercoverGoth, 1:01:58
- "It's so much fun."
- The cast are all actors playing characters in a dorky game together, and this new campaign is a way for them to further showcase their acting chops.
Brian: Which characters are you shipping? — ReeseMaster3000, 1:02:53
- Brian was interested in Beau and Yasha's dynamic, but acknowledges that this is very early in the campaign and the characters don't know each other at all.
Everyone: Favorite mechanic for new character? — AFringe, 1:03:55
- Travis is glad Fjord can talk and read.
- Liam loves Caleb's low strength and his familiar.
- Laura likes Invoke Duplicity.
Laura: Does Jester ever cast Duplicity just to talk to her duplicate? — Claim5, 1:05:37
- Yeah, all the time.
Everyone: What's your most nefarious Brian story? — REO Teabaggin, 1:06:00
- Before they knew each other well, Liam and Brian both attended Troy Baker's wedding. Much later Brian showed Liam a video from the wedding of Liam making a face as Brian walked by.
- The first time Travis played on Xbox Live with Brian, Brian used some incredibly colorful language.
- Laura's story involves gummy bears.
- Not a Brian story, but as part of the home game portion of Campaign 1, Liam and Laura liked to have slap fights.
Everyone: Did any of you consider playing a character of the opposite sex like Sam did? — King Bob of Dole, 1:10:50
- Liam considered it.
- He enjoyed playing as Jayne Merriweather in "Bar Room Blitz" (OSx12), and though he wouldn't want to make her his main character for an entire campaign, he can imagine playing her for a longer stint in Campaign 2.
- Laura did not. She always prefers playing a girl and likes making her characters hot.
- Travis didn't either. He doesn't think himself to be as flexible with "big jumps".
Everyone: Are you sticking with Taco Bell for your post-game food run? — BearWeek, 1:13:44
- Laura loves Taco Bell, Liam got Jack in the Box, and Travis got Wendy's.
Liam: Since Caleb has a photographic memory, does he steal spells when he browses in bookstores? — Gertrude, 1:16:18
- He has the idea, but circumstances haven't allowed it.
Travis: Will Fjord enjoy the shopping episodes, compared to Grog's hatred of them? — MadCapFox96, 1:17:32
- There is no way to tell, because this is a Travis trait.
- Liam is going to shooooop.
Liam: Who and what is Frumpkin, and how did you meet? — Dalek, 1:18:30
- Frumpkin is a Rules as Written Familiar. The first time Caleb summoned him, he was a cat, and if Liam does not specify his form, he will be a cat.
- Frumpkin was Liam's cat when he was four years old.
Quotations[edit | edit source]
- Brian: This Thursday she will talk about last week's episode and do a much better job recapping it in 90 seconds than I do in 90 minutes on this show, but I still get paid more because I'm a man.[4]
- Travis: I was Roy Mustang on Fullmetal Alchemist. It didn't have anything to do with that. I was strictly trying to give a tip of the fanservice cap to the peeps. Since there was a horse.
External links[edit | edit source]
Footnotes[edit | edit source]
- ↑ This count might correspond to "Umbrasyl" (1x55), and though accurate to that episode, CritRoleStats's VM PC Nat20s and Nat1s lists show that Percy's highest total crit count is actually 10: 7 natural 20s and 3 natural 1s. This higher count corresponds to "Reunions" (1x33).
- ↑ This may be the same 'ghost' that Travis and Laura jokingly named Pock O'Pea, after their son's early babbles.[1]
- ↑ By the end of Campaign 2, the Mighty Nein has five members capable of healing magic, including two clerics.
- ↑ Rules as written, both a healer's kit and Spare the Dying allow the user/caster to stabilize a creature with 0 HP without necessitating a Medicine check, and both take an action to do so. However, a healer's kit must be replenished after ten uses and costs 5 gold whereas Spare the Dying, as a cantrip with no material components, has no such limits.
- ↑ Fjord's hit points at level 2: 20. Grog's hit points at level 20: 277.
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ "4-Sided Dive: Fun Scary" (4SDx07) at 1:26:58.
- ↑ "Talks Machina 51: The Midnight Chase" (TM2x03) at 18:58.
- ↑ "Talks Machina #50: A Show of Scrutiny" (TM2x02) at 32:00.
- ↑ "Talks Machina 51: The Midnight Chase" (TM2x03) at 2:33.
Art: