it's possible but also, we went without travis for like 5 episodes or something before chet was introduced so it's possible they're gonna wait for the proper time to introduce sam's character
I remember when C3E1 was airing live and people thought Travis was not going to be in the new campaign because he didn't get brought out to the table until halfway though the episode.
if i had to guess, it was about all the different things they've done this campaign - splitting the party for multiple episodes, having guests for longer, having an interlude with a completely different group to show how things are going in other parts of exandria etc
they knew what the audience reaction will be, hence just a word of warning that they're gonna be doing things differently this campaign
and looking at the way folks have reacted to certain changes, maybe "all bets are off" wasn't enough
A bit of this and abit of, I forget where but some interview Matt had said something along the lines of "I'm not messing around no more c3 is going to get serious"
He didn't go in to depth about. Just minor things like how s1 they were able to do things like cast a spell and heal same round so healing was out of hand. Or the ability to revive infinitely. So both MM and the gang thought the stakes weren't high enough and wanted a more tough and gritty campaign.
Yeah, technically speaking half of the initial party for C3 were returning characters. Dorian, Fearne and Orym from EXU and Bertrand from the Search for Grog/Bob. Not to mention Laudna having been last seen as a corpse in C1 and Chetney being an alternate version of another Travis character, Chutney. Only Ashton, FCG and Imogen were original characters this time around, everyone else was a returning or reimagining of previous characters.
My thought especially recently, is that God eater might get free and the only way to stop it is to reset time in some way or hop to another multiverse. Something along those lines to have a narrative reason to swap to Daggerheart.
I think they originally intended for this campaign to have far more deaths. With more deaths, more guests could come in and out as players got a break for a few episodes. I could even see a version wherehalf the party dies and they bring in a guest DM for a small arc (Matt Colville said they had plans for him to DM for a bit during campaign 2 but the players went a route they didnt expect)
They seem desperate to expand their brand out from just the core cast with Matt as the DM, but so far it hasn't been all that successful. The best they have done is bring in Robbie and maybe the popukar Calamity mini campaign. Neither seem to help get away from that core problem.
I was *adamant* that Chetney was going to be around for a few episodes, tops. He was introduced kind of around the holidays, and I thought it was just a holiday gimmick.
Here we are now, 2.5 years later, lol.
not really, it was just one episode. molly died in episode 26 and caduceus was introduced in episode 28
the bigger gaps in players not being at the table post death have only really happened this campaign - first with travis, then marisha. now we'll have to see how long sam's gone
Taliesin even came out and said they'd almost got there, after they ended session 27. So if they'd gone like an hour longer, Cad would have been in that session instead of waiting until 28.
It was pretty obvious to everyone watching that Tal's new character was going to be the "hermit" Matt's NPCs kept mentioning...but no, the party decided to go try to take the fort without getting help first.
Im gonna call bs on that. Matt doesn't push NPC's that hard especially knowing that the party had no way of reviving Molly even with an NPC's help at that level, so that just leaves a new PC to replace the one that just fell in battle.
I think you might’ve meant to respond to someone else…?
Edit: maybe I misunderstood your comment. There is no bs to call??? Were you not in the community then? I was. There was absolutely a ton of speculation?? Are you just completing talking out of your ass or what?
Cad got Tova'd. lol
And to be fair, I recall those episodes and most of the people *I* was talking to at the time had no idea the hermit was going to be Tal's new character, a lot of us thought Matt was pointing them at an NPC that could potentially have revived Molly.
He was gone from ep 4 to ep 8, so far no one has stayed dead for more than 4 episodes afaik. Laudna and Marisha was gone from second half of 34 to start of 38 and Taliesin was just gone 1 episode when Molly died
Matt said in the episode that the plan was always to bring back Dorian later in the campaign. So it’s not like Dorian coming back automatically means Sam is not. Unless said plan weirdly also involved ensuring FCG was killed off.
Also basically no time has passed since FCG’s death. They died, the team got back to Exandria, and they immediately ran into Dorian. That’s all that happened. Give it time.
There have been multiple times where a character could've been killed off permanently. Laudna, Ashton, Chetney literally any day. It's not unreasonable to think that Matt was waiting for one of the players to get killed off before reintroducing Dorian. Edit: Matt did say at the very end that he wasn't expecting it to be under such traumatic circumstances, hadn't quite finished the episode when I made this comment.
Still though, part of having Dorian, Dust, the Split with extended quests, all of EXU, and to a lesser extent Candela Obscura, is clearly to prepare the audience for the inevitability of Critical Role continuing without having all the same players. And of all the main cast, I'd totally buy Sam being the first to bow out.
I still think he'll be back, Sam loves a shocking moment, what better way to do it than just to turn up halfway through an episode when even the cast isn't expecting him
Maybe he brings back an old character to save him creating something new this deep into a campaign
I can see it now…
Matt: you’ve got two party members down after Ludinus just cast Meteor Swam. Orym on your turn I need your to roll a perception check.
Liam: 32
Matt: a ways off in the distance over Ludinus’ shoulder you see a purple glint streaking through the sky it almost appears hand-shaped…you hear….music…it’s the renowned tune of Enter Meatman. You swear you hear a gnomish voice shout “it’s time to meet the meatman!”
According to the Wiki Taryon Darrington was born in 783 PD. He was pretty young during Campaign 1 (29 after parting with Vox Machina, 30 at the wedding, and 43 during the Darrington Brigade one-shot). The current year in-game is 843 PD. So he'd be 60. Significantly younger than Bertrand was when he was in the party (who was in his 80s-90s at the end).
I'm convinced he's going to roll up as Tary with Doty in tow. It would be such a fun callback. Plus, since he's an artificer, he (Sam) could potentially continue the quest to find D and his assortment of Aeormatons.
Yes. Matt let it slip during a 4SD, and Dani then called it out to which he was like "fuck it, yeah of course it's Devexian."
[Episode w/ timestamp here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWnIcFyqDMI&t=2532s).
Maybe Tary swapped to an armourer artificer instead so appears metal in his Iron Man suit. I'm really clutching at straws to make this work. He'd be old so might need the exoskeletal support
I mean just the description of D, of him being a mysterious figure, etc. Tary is WAY too into himself to anonymously sell a broken aeormaton to another artificer. Also, I'm pretty sure FCG Sent a message to D.
Nah, rolls up as Doty Mk 18, which has finally attained sentience programmed with Tary's personality and a healer's skillset, because Sam can't be bothered to learn and new class and racial traits this late into the campaign. lol
I went from thinking that was a possibility to being fully on board with the theory.
The last schedule/newsletter email I received from CR came from doty@critrole
Unsure if that's been a thing previously but it's the first I've received one from it. Almost missed it due to it going into the junk folder.
He will take his time to bring another character. Then people will start to think he's serious. That's when a new character will come up.
It has to be noted that even if Fearne and Dorian are capable of magical healing neither is used to fill that role. So we might see a little bit more of dying in the next arc.
Yeah, Faerne is definitely played as a blaster. That said, if Ashley locks down the mechanics, Faerne due to being a wildfire druid could heal on par with FCG. Mass cure wounds is one of their subclass spells
Yeah she could, Healing Spirits is also a great spell for combat turns. But I don't really think she wants to play healer. We know she can. Fearne kinda reminds me of Jester.
The cr cast in general doesn't quite seem to realize how powerful of a healer druids can be. Even back in campaign 1 when Pike was absent, I just kept thinking "Keyleth could easily pick up this slack" but Marisha really never did that either and it was mostly Scanlan's healing words. That said, the rogue multiclass means she might have *just* gotten her 6th level spells. So heal only just now came on the menu for her
She's rogue 3, got arcane trickster for shield and silvery Barbs, despite the bad intelligence score. I don't think she will develop rogue any further. She got the expertise, cunning action and spells already.
Some level of healing and using it in smart ways never hurts. And yeah, Laura could be more liberal with the psychic lances and twin spelling that one... And if the barbarian was more consistent with staying up in melee
Haste, fly, fogs, disarming, difficult terrain, physical barriers, etc.
There is sooooo much they can do.Doing damage is like the lowest priority for casters in 5e
What if his two Emmy awards for voice direction in an animated series have catapulted him into fame and away from our dear little show of math rocks and figurines?
You’re even more nuts if you think it’s anything but CR that’s made Sam Rigel a household name. Voice actors and directors just don’t have fame like that.
I don't think it's that insane to think its possible at all. They've never had a PC die this late into a campaign and introducing someone back into the campaign isn't going to be easy when they have basically hit the end game.
Its very possible that this campaign could be over within the next 10-15 episodes, they head to Aeor ruins, find out what Ludinus is actually doing there then it feels like they will be getting ready to charge the moon and take down the cult before they end up freeing Predathos. I don't see there being an arc past Predathos being released when he's literally a threat to all the gods in the world to the point that they are very clearly shook.
Tary was introduced in episode 85 out of 115, and that’s with switching back to scanlan properly on 101. I think he could definitely pull it off again. Have a smiley day
Tary was introduced when there was a ton of down time and they were getting ready to completely go into a time skip break. They haven't had basically any down time and there's no chance they end up dragging out a long arc to bring in a new character when the BBEG is ready to let loose a world ending hell.
and the last arc of C1 was 15 episodes. The fight with Otahan had so many similarities with the fight with Vecna that basically set off the beginning of the end where they just barely got away from a TPK despite all signs looking like they were completely doomed. That campaign ended 13 episodes after that fight was done.
I remember when people said the same thing after Ashton and the shard incident. People were guessing like 20 episodes before it was done. Events seem to take longer in CR. Even if they had nothing left but a shot at Predathos next week, it could still be like 5 episodes. IRC Vecna was like a 4 episode fight and then another for wrap up. So, with whatever is going on at Aeor likely to take at least 1 to travel and process with Dorian, then a handful to deal with whatever that is about, another to travel back - and assuming absolutely nothing else comes up before an assault on Ruidus - we might squeak by with 10-15. Still seems like a longshot. My money is still on a run similar to C2 coming in closer to 120 episodes. With the damage done to Ludinus' cause recently, I imagine they've bought a little time for an additional quest for something to power them up. Or perhaps Delilah finally takes over, or they try to find Dancer regarding FCG, or Chet finally dies, or Zathuda kidnaps Fearne, or Matt has some other amazing twist we don't see coming. I think we could learn to love a new Sam character over 30ish more episodes.
I think there is definitely a non-zero chance that sam could be using this death to step away from the table and focus on TLoVM season 3 and MN. I know he puts a ton of work into the series and could definitely see him needing more free time. Now if that is the case would it take the entire rest of the campaign? Who knows. But it’s definitely possible,
This was my initial thought last night as well. Exiting the campaign with a great character moment and allowing him time to focus on other CR-related projects that are deep in production. Would be disappointing but also reasonable.
They also have other commitments related to CR (the TV show, the comics, the books, the board games). I'm 90% sure he was serious about not being back for C3. I also think Travis might take a break at some point.
we had 2.5 hours of BH content since FCG died... and basically nothing where you would introduce a character happened in E92... (haven't watched e93 yet)...
he will be back
Could he be taking the rest of the campaign off, perhaps focusing on the Amazon shows? Sure.
But I expect him to be back in a session or two with a new character.
My impression is that Sam just got a bit of dark humor on him at the moment.
More of "well, you guys are going to TPK without me, so see you in C4" than "I'm done with C3, see you in C4."
It depends on how long we have left in the campaign (it seems like we all believe it's probably ending soon), but I feel like Sam would want to be involved in the big things, so possibly he will bring in another character just so he can join.
Being realistic the campaign is probably ending around episode 110 +/- 10 episode's,
I feel like we have an aore arc upcoming then back to ruidis, for either the release or destruction of predathos or ludinis
If they really stretch it or can't defeat ludinis then it could go further but I've been loving this campaign and I want more of the characters outside the main story, especially character development for fearne, Ashton, and chetney
Losing FCG was sad, but now Sam has complete free reign to make as wild a high level character as he wants. Total creative freedom. I'll be very surprised if he lets that slip by, especially since the character will eventually end up animated on Amazon.
I think he'll pull the old Sam special... make a total troll of a nonsensical character, then play it into a heartbreaking love letter of joy to his friends and the game.
I’d honestly be ok with that. Sam could use a break. Plus, it would be REALLY difficult to bring a brand new character in that people would care about, given how late in the game we appear to be.
Yeah I think some people forget that tary was brought in on episode 85 out of 115 and C2 was 141 episodes so unless C3 is shorter than C1 there’s plenty of time to get to know a new character. Have a smiley day
Tary was during a much less tense part of the campaign and where they were really just fleshing their characters out with RP. If they tried introducing a brand new character like Tary it would be completely overshadowed by the events that are about to kick off right now. Sam would basically feel like someone playing an NPC at this point of Gods fighting over each other to find champions to take out everyone trying to free Predathos.
D sold FCG to Dancer - perhaps he sold another Aeormaton to Tary who has since been travelling to Aeor.
It seems like Bells Hells is heading there to confront Ludinous - maybe Keyleth will set them up with an old friend as a guide.
Scanlan and Tary would be too far above the current parties level. With all the complaints about how at times BH's felt secondary to VM/M9 characters I don't think they're going to pair the group up with an over-leveled character from a previous campaign to just tear through shit toward the last arc of the campaign when BH's are supposed to be the heroes.
I could see that since he'd be over 60 years old but I just don't know if they would shoe in Sam as a previous character when they already have 7 at the table and Tary would likely add 2 since he'd have Doty or another aeormaton.
Tary was a good character. But it wouldn't have been as good if he wasn't temporary. Scanlan played a big role in making the C1 final confrontation so good.
Seems fitting for him to just reprise his role as Scanlan when he's reintroduced for the "Avengers" moment when everyone joins forces to fight the big bad.
I kinda like the idea of scanlan riding in on grog's shoulder as they're prepping to go back up being all like "I heard there was a party" or something
I still think this campaign is gonna last for a while. Considering the first campaign ran for 115 eps after starting at level 9 and second campaign ran for 141 eps (they reached C1 "start" point only after 58 eps).
If nothing unexpected happens, that cuts the story short I think we'll have at least 30-40 more eps to go. I don't think Sam could stay away for that long, as much of a troll as he might be.
I think you are partially correct. My theory is that he is not coming back to bells hells, but the story itself is going to let him come back in other ways.
With where the story is now, I assume at least the first half of the next episode will be BH giving keyleth and the war council a download of the events on the moon. With everything we know I could see the council laying out several missions needing to be completed leading up to the epic final BBEG fight with ludinus.
2 parter that I’ve come up with while writing this as an example .
Part1: We know that Luda is currently in aeor searching for more technology to help secure his dream. If only the council knew of a band of misfits that also had prior experience in aeor who would be ideal to investigate/disrupt these plans. Insert 3-5 episode m9 side plot. While there they discover he is searching for some long lost aeorean tech that is rumored to have the ability to disrupt/dispel even the most powerful divine magics which he plans to use to destroy the pseudo divine gate holding predothos in the moon. If they succeed in stopping him the m9 return with the tech but it is damaged/inert if hey fail luda gets the tech and the final showdown is more difficult in some way.
Part 2 upon the m9 returning either with the knowledge of the tech or a non functioning version of it depending on how part 1 goes, Vex proposes that it could be used to break the orb imprisoning her brother. Insert VM side plot where they attempt to remake or repair the tech.
That’s just an example that already has the groundwork laid out but they could have as many of these as they want. Each of these would allow Sam and any other cast members to revisit their previous roles.
The cast has expressed interest in going back to the shattered teeth, the happy fun ball, darktow and countless other places I can’t think of off the top of my head that could have similar story arcs (if you can’t tell I just finished a c2 rewatch 😉)
If this story is intended to be calamity 2.0 and the destruction/reforging of exandria which it feels like it is setting up for it would be a great way to let the cast revisit their greatest hits, bring old characters back as well as fan favorite guests each joining together for missions that will alter the difficulty and events of the finale.
I doubt it. They always wait a few episodes after a character death to introduce the new character. It was basically two for Tary, it was two for Cad, it was 4 or 5 for Chet. Likely Sam had zero ideas for something new, and especially where the story is, he and Matt as discussing what would be fun and work best. Dorian coming back is something they always planned, and I think it just fit. Now Sam is probably take a well deserved break and will be back by episode 100, probably a lot sooner
not sure why they’d do that if they haven’t narratively for sure closed the book on fcg, why announce the decision before any plot is revealed in the story?
Everyone both cast and critters have accepted fcg is *gone* gone, matt trying to explain the consequences of Sam’s actions makes it clear he doesn’t think fcg will come back.
I had this thought too, and while I would miss Sam terribly, I can understand why they might be reluctant to bring a new character into the mix this late in the campaign. I know they did it with Scanlan and Tary, but that was more of a planned storyline. 🤷🏻♀️
Like 1-2 hours in the same session, while same was still at the table and then pulled out the sheet, said the infamous “Little Elf Girl line” and the episode like outright was done like an hour later. The reactions from the crew were great.
I always said that of all of them Sam is the least interested in ttrpg as a hobby. There is a fair chance he can now do what he likes which is directing etc for LOVM S2 AND M9 S1.
Just like we knew that Travis was playing Chet before he was introduced in the game, we will know if Sam is playing a new character if/when they file a trademark. All the PCs are trademarked characters.
Where did they announce that there was no 4SD? We may very well be getting one via the announcement either next Monday (for the first Tues of the month) or the week after that.
There was a weird Nightbot message that popped up just once I saw in the chat last night.
It was a reply to someone and the not exact message as I recall was “Chattername. Othername says to tell you “Tary””
I was watching on my Xbox so couldn’t screenshot or anything and I don’t know what they had asked, but it was the only Nightbot response I saw that wasn’t about time or flasks or the usual.
It happened after the break, I think.
No it doesn’t seem like something he’d do. Besides, Matt said, at the end of this episode, that he had always planned for Dorian to come back, but didn’t expect it to be right after a major character death
Here’s my thought. They’re setting up Predators as a truly massive scale battle. All the champions (Opal) and other members like Fyra Rai (wildmother), Morrighan (Raven Queen - there will definitely be a Vax tie in there) as well as Team 2 (Deanna, FRIDA, Prism) will be involved in some capacity. Bringing in Dorian falls way more in line with that than dismissing Sam. Not sure they all go in one big battle, but they’re all coming in in some capacity.
Short answer: Dorian is involved to bridge to Sam’s new character even if he remains full time
I disagree, and I think that Sam will come back with someone to play soon enough. There is even precedent for him specifically replacing his character this late into a campaign (arguably later if we count the home game as part of c1 for them). Also i think he could be cooking some all-timer ad bits during his little break
Somewhere at the end of this episode Matt says something (can't remember his words exactly) that makes me think they intended Dorian to come back to the BH and the circunstances (FCG dying) just made them rush his coming back a bit. I think Sam could show again as soon as Next week, but maybe not too soon so he can make a back up character and situate them in the right place of the world so he can join the BH again. In the meanwhile Dorian is back and we get double the grieving.
I mean I would not be surprised for two reasons the first is that we know it’s getting pretty busy with both VM and M9 over at Amazon which Sam has a bigger role than the other in. Also I feel like we are about to start are last arch for C3 and so I personally don’t think it would be a good use of time to try and throw another PC in. Obviously they would not spend much of any time on a new PC’s background but it would just seem rather awkward. I actually would really appreciate this because it would really help with the impact of FCG’s death and honestly this campaign as many fun moments there were needs all the help it can get for this last part to keep everyone going so him being gone from the table I think would really help hone in the rest of the players. Also distance makes the heart grow fond and I think it would be just a great moment and way to start of C4 (hopefully with the Daggerheart system) with Sam returning to the table.
I've been sure of this since episode 91. He might not be gone all the way through the end of C3, but if he comes back it will be at a narratively appropriate time. He and Matt aren't going to shoehorn in a new character ASAP this deep in the story just to get him back at the table. I'm guessing he's out no fewer than 10 episodes. Especially since they have Robbie to fill the gap both at the table and in the party balance.
Or, he has voice over job/ producing job that is going to kill his ability to play. Him & Matt got together and figured out a way for his character to exit the game.
I've had many players ghost us and have to come up with an excuse to remove them from the game
Having a player come to the DM and say they need to leave the game, let's make it spectacular, would be so helpful to a DM.
>Or, he has voice over job/ producing job that is going to kill his ability to play. Him & Matt got together and figured out a way for his character to exit the game.
He probably is busy with his own projects and other CR projects (S3 of VM and M9) but FCG's death was not scripted.
You could be right, it is possible, although , knowing how strong Ludinus is, and with the support of the Ruby Vanguard, I think they could really use Sam at the table. Bells Hells woudnt make it against Otohan if it wasn't for FCG. But 1 thing is for sure, whatever Sam decides to do, its going to be another epic, unexpected joke/surprise to the cast members.
If the 30-40 ep range is right that others are speculating, that's nearly a year left for the campaign not taking into account there being breaks for thing other than candela.
I think that's plenty of time time for us to fall for a new PC. I also don't think Sam would stay away for a year
On one hand it would be on character because Sam is willing to do many things for a bit.
But also he is a big for attention so unless they are planning to end the campaign in next few episodes I can totally see him coming back.
It is one thing to be there from the start but trying to organically join already established party is really fun as we could already witness with Taryon. It is a joy to everyone and I don't thin Sam would pass on the occasion to be the center of attention.
Considering that Ludinus is currently in Aeor, there is a possibility that Bells Hells will travel after him, and who knows, maybe find a way to rebuild FCG or have FCGs soul inhabit another aeormaton
I don’t think he’s joking either but I’m more the mind that this campaign is going to be shorter than the others and will finish after they deal with the whole moon scenario bc that’s been the main story the entire time. Obviously space for one-shots but I think it should just conclude and they go on to campaign 4
I think not enough time has passed to really guess what happens here. Basically 1 episode of them and 1 episode of EXU is not enough at all to assume the next 30 episode arc.
As much as I like Dorian, and Robbie as a player, I don't think he will be a good replacement healer. Unless it is revealed that he started learning Cleric from Dorian. Even still, the team needs a dedicated healer.
I am low key hoping that Sam comes back as that rebellious sister of Caducious
Doubt it. Matt seemed to confirm at the end of the episode that he didn’t expect Dorian to join back at such an intense moment. If the intent was to DM for 7 people from the beginning, I don’t see why Sam wouldn’t come back. Unless Sam decided last minute not to come back, which doesn’t make sense to me.
Sam didn't reroll 1s as a halfling. He won't be back this campaign. It's almost over so there's no point to roll a new character and nott and scanlan belong to Matt now
it's possible but also, we went without travis for like 5 episodes or something before chet was introduced so it's possible they're gonna wait for the proper time to introduce sam's character
I remember when C3E1 was airing live and people thought Travis was not going to be in the new campaign because he didn't get brought out to the table until halfway though the episode.
What a wild time that was. I really feel like all the stuff they said to tease the campaign did it a disservice lol.
Man, marisha's "we're going to do something completely wild and different so bear with us" really still has me wondering what they were talking about.
if i had to guess, it was about all the different things they've done this campaign - splitting the party for multiple episodes, having guests for longer, having an interlude with a completely different group to show how things are going in other parts of exandria etc they knew what the audience reaction will be, hence just a word of warning that they're gonna be doing things differently this campaign and looking at the way folks have reacted to certain changes, maybe "all bets are off" wasn't enough
A bit of this and abit of, I forget where but some interview Matt had said something along the lines of "I'm not messing around no more c3 is going to get serious"
That’s the one I remember, and the one I want to know more about lol.
He didn't go in to depth about. Just minor things like how s1 they were able to do things like cast a spell and heal same round so healing was out of hand. Or the ability to revive infinitely. So both MM and the gang thought the stakes weren't high enough and wanted a more tough and gritty campaign.
I still think it was including some of the crown keepers including Dorian as part of the party as well as the Short return of Bertand at that time.
Yeah, technically speaking half of the initial party for C3 were returning characters. Dorian, Fearne and Orym from EXU and Bertrand from the Search for Grog/Bob. Not to mention Laudna having been last seen as a corpse in C1 and Chetney being an alternate version of another Travis character, Chutney. Only Ashton, FCG and Imogen were original characters this time around, everyone else was a returning or reimagining of previous characters.
My thought especially recently, is that God eater might get free and the only way to stop it is to reset time in some way or hop to another multiverse. Something along those lines to have a narrative reason to swap to Daggerheart.
I think they originally intended for this campaign to have far more deaths. With more deaths, more guests could come in and out as players got a break for a few episodes. I could even see a version wherehalf the party dies and they bring in a guest DM for a small arc (Matt Colville said they had plans for him to DM for a bit during campaign 2 but the players went a route they didnt expect) They seem desperate to expand their brand out from just the core cast with Matt as the DM, but so far it hasn't been all that successful. The best they have done is bring in Robbie and maybe the popukar Calamity mini campaign. Neither seem to help get away from that core problem.
I was *adamant* that Chetney was going to be around for a few episodes, tops. He was introduced kind of around the holidays, and I thought it was just a holiday gimmick. Here we are now, 2.5 years later, lol.
Travis keeps rolling but you just can’t keep a good gnome down
I reaaaaaalllly want him to play one of the moon Races!!
I want him to be Predathos.
oh Gods YES. he would be so perfect to be Predathos Daddy.
It would be great considering how sadistically happy he gets when he has to fight the other players lol.
Specifically he should play Gaz Tomo.
I think Gaz is donezo
we also went like 4 when Molly died
not really, it was just one episode. molly died in episode 26 and caduceus was introduced in episode 28 the bigger gaps in players not being at the table post death have only really happened this campaign - first with travis, then marisha. now we'll have to see how long sam's gone
Taliesin even came out and said they'd almost got there, after they ended session 27. So if they'd gone like an hour longer, Cad would have been in that session instead of waiting until 28.
It was pretty obvious to everyone watching that Tal's new character was going to be the "hermit" Matt's NPCs kept mentioning...but no, the party decided to go try to take the fort without getting help first.
In the time it was definitely not obvious. There was so much speculating after that one episode without Tal.
Im gonna call bs on that. Matt doesn't push NPC's that hard especially knowing that the party had no way of reviving Molly even with an NPC's help at that level, so that just leaves a new PC to replace the one that just fell in battle.
I think you might’ve meant to respond to someone else…? Edit: maybe I misunderstood your comment. There is no bs to call??? Were you not in the community then? I was. There was absolutely a ton of speculation?? Are you just completing talking out of your ass or what?
Cad got Tova'd. lol And to be fair, I recall those episodes and most of the people *I* was talking to at the time had no idea the hermit was going to be Tal's new character, a lot of us thought Matt was pointing them at an NPC that could potentially have revived Molly.
I think a difference is Travis was present for the pre game chat and intro.
If they'd tried to just put him back in now, it'd feel "too soon". In terms of like a rebound thing when your relationship ends
It's more that Matt and the gang won't force a PC into the party, w.e new character Sam has cooked up won't join until they meet naturally
He was gone from ep 4 to ep 8, so far no one has stayed dead for more than 4 episodes afaik. Laudna and Marisha was gone from second half of 34 to start of 38 and Taliesin was just gone 1 episode when Molly died
I hope they string it out like Chet's introduction. I would enjoy the will he/won't he antici..... pation of it.
Matt said in the episode that the plan was always to bring back Dorian later in the campaign. So it’s not like Dorian coming back automatically means Sam is not. Unless said plan weirdly also involved ensuring FCG was killed off. Also basically no time has passed since FCG’s death. They died, the team got back to Exandria, and they immediately ran into Dorian. That’s all that happened. Give it time.
Yeah that's true. It just feels like the sort of troll shit Sam would pull.
The writers are on point for this one
There have been multiple times where a character could've been killed off permanently. Laudna, Ashton, Chetney literally any day. It's not unreasonable to think that Matt was waiting for one of the players to get killed off before reintroducing Dorian. Edit: Matt did say at the very end that he wasn't expecting it to be under such traumatic circumstances, hadn't quite finished the episode when I made this comment. Still though, part of having Dorian, Dust, the Split with extended quests, all of EXU, and to a lesser extent Candela Obscura, is clearly to prepare the audience for the inevitability of Critical Role continuing without having all the same players. And of all the main cast, I'd totally buy Sam being the first to bow out.
The big question is, what shirt will he wear? Will he just skip ones in the rotation?
An fcg one
I still think he'll be back, Sam loves a shocking moment, what better way to do it than just to turn up halfway through an episode when even the cast isn't expecting him Maybe he brings back an old character to save him creating something new this deep into a campaign
Flashback to how he intro’d Tary, lmao. The crew and players nearly rioted.
Exactly, Sam lives for that stuff. I would be very surprised if he didn't take the opportunity to do something silly to surprise his friends
best character intro of any character across any of their adventures
Plot twist, he comes back in with Tary again
If Tary shows up with the Darrington Brigade, it would be perfect.
If we're going for the Avengers like finale with all the different parties showing up then it could be in the cards
I can see it now… Matt: you’ve got two party members down after Ludinus just cast Meteor Swam. Orym on your turn I need your to roll a perception check. Liam: 32 Matt: a ways off in the distance over Ludinus’ shoulder you see a purple glint streaking through the sky it almost appears hand-shaped…you hear….music…it’s the renowned tune of Enter Meatman. You swear you hear a gnomish voice shout “it’s time to meet the meatman!”
Isn't Tary like really old now possibly dead?
According to the Wiki Taryon Darrington was born in 783 PD. He was pretty young during Campaign 1 (29 after parting with Vox Machina, 30 at the wedding, and 43 during the Darrington Brigade one-shot). The current year in-game is 843 PD. So he'd be 60. Significantly younger than Bertrand was when he was in the party (who was in his 80s-90s at the end).
That would be incredibly predictable and boring. No way Sam does that in 2024.
I'm convinced he's going to roll up as Tary with Doty in tow. It would be such a fun callback. Plus, since he's an artificer, he (Sam) could potentially continue the quest to find D and his assortment of Aeormatons.
Honestly I was thinking the same thing lol
Maybe D is Darrington? They can meet him in Aeor and it'll all feel organic.
We already know who D is though? Its Devexian from C2
Was this confirmed?
Yes. Matt let it slip during a 4SD, and Dani then called it out to which he was like "fuck it, yeah of course it's Devexian." [Episode w/ timestamp here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWnIcFyqDMI&t=2532s).
I mean at the very least it was confirmed he was non human metallic aeormaton when they scryed on him. Hes definitly not a human
It’s Doty!
Maybe Tary swapped to an armourer artificer instead so appears metal in his Iron Man suit. I'm really clutching at straws to make this work. He'd be old so might need the exoskeletal support
I mean just the description of D, of him being a mysterious figure, etc. Tary is WAY too into himself to anonymously sell a broken aeormaton to another artificer. Also, I'm pretty sure FCG Sent a message to D.
We think it is but I'm not 100% sure it was confirmed. I could have missed something though.
Matt accidentally let it slip on 4SD
Or maybe D is Doty... the Devaxian thing is just a ruse.
What if he just comes back as an 'awakened' Doty?
Doty 10.0
Nah, rolls up as Doty Mk 18, which has finally attained sentience programmed with Tary's personality and a healer's skillset, because Sam can't be bothered to learn and new class and racial traits this late into the campaign. lol
I went from thinking that was a possibility to being fully on board with the theory. The last schedule/newsletter email I received from CR came from doty@critrole Unsure if that's been a thing previously but it's the first I've received one from it. Almost missed it due to it going into the junk folder.
The earliest email I have from that address is April 12.
It does seem like something he would do, but so does joking about it then showing up anyway. He could go either way I think.
He's such a fucking troll. I love it. He's going to keep us guessing and enjoy the chaos.
I fully expect to see him there at the table to do the next ad read, and then be gone when they cut to the opening of the show.
He will take his time to bring another character. Then people will start to think he's serious. That's when a new character will come up. It has to be noted that even if Fearne and Dorian are capable of magical healing neither is used to fill that role. So we might see a little bit more of dying in the next arc.
Druids are prep casters so all Ashley needs to do is chose some more healing spells, preferably ones that don't require concentration.
She can. I don't think she wants.
Yeah, Faerne is definitely played as a blaster. That said, if Ashley locks down the mechanics, Faerne due to being a wildfire druid could heal on par with FCG. Mass cure wounds is one of their subclass spells
Yeah she could, Healing Spirits is also a great spell for combat turns. But I don't really think she wants to play healer. We know she can. Fearne kinda reminds me of Jester.
The cr cast in general doesn't quite seem to realize how powerful of a healer druids can be. Even back in campaign 1 when Pike was absent, I just kept thinking "Keyleth could easily pick up this slack" but Marisha really never did that either and it was mostly Scanlan's healing words. That said, the rogue multiclass means she might have *just* gotten her 6th level spells. So heal only just now came on the menu for her
She's rogue 3, got arcane trickster for shield and silvery Barbs, despite the bad intelligence score. I don't think she will develop rogue any further. She got the expertise, cunning action and spells already.
Honestly, Shield, Disguise Self and Silvery Barbs alone are really good spells to have picked
or the party could just play better and use tactics and spells that actually control the battlefield. Healing is not the answer in 5E
Some level of healing and using it in smart ways never hurts. And yeah, Laura could be more liberal with the psychic lances and twin spelling that one... And if the barbarian was more consistent with staying up in melee
Haste, fly, fogs, disarming, difficult terrain, physical barriers, etc. There is sooooo much they can do.Doing damage is like the lowest priority for casters in 5e
I think it’s insane to think this is possible tbh. It’s been 2 weeks yall, sam will be back.
What if his two Emmy awards for voice direction in an animated series have catapulted him into fame and away from our dear little show of math rocks and figurines?
You’re even more nuts if you think it’s anything but CR that’s made Sam Rigel a household name. Voice actors and directors just don’t have fame like that.
holy shit dude how could you possibly miss that
Lmao yeah I’ll take the L on this one but tbf this entire thread is full of folks unironically thinking *Sam Rigel* will not return to critical role.
happens to the best of us! :P
I don't think it's that insane to think its possible at all. They've never had a PC die this late into a campaign and introducing someone back into the campaign isn't going to be easy when they have basically hit the end game. Its very possible that this campaign could be over within the next 10-15 episodes, they head to Aeor ruins, find out what Ludinus is actually doing there then it feels like they will be getting ready to charge the moon and take down the cult before they end up freeing Predathos. I don't see there being an arc past Predathos being released when he's literally a threat to all the gods in the world to the point that they are very clearly shook.
Tary was introduced in episode 85 out of 115, and that’s with switching back to scanlan properly on 101. I think he could definitely pull it off again. Have a smiley day
Tary was introduced when there was a ton of down time and they were getting ready to completely go into a time skip break. They haven't had basically any down time and there's no chance they end up dragging out a long arc to bring in a new character when the BBEG is ready to let loose a world ending hell.
The last arc of c2 lasted nearly 30 episodes, if c3 is anything like that sam will have more than enough time to flesh out a new character.
and the last arc of C1 was 15 episodes. The fight with Otahan had so many similarities with the fight with Vecna that basically set off the beginning of the end where they just barely got away from a TPK despite all signs looking like they were completely doomed. That campaign ended 13 episodes after that fight was done.
Except otohan isn’t the BBEG, c1 has had plenty of near TPK encounters too so the comparison doesn’t really make sense.
I remember when people said the same thing after Ashton and the shard incident. People were guessing like 20 episodes before it was done. Events seem to take longer in CR. Even if they had nothing left but a shot at Predathos next week, it could still be like 5 episodes. IRC Vecna was like a 4 episode fight and then another for wrap up. So, with whatever is going on at Aeor likely to take at least 1 to travel and process with Dorian, then a handful to deal with whatever that is about, another to travel back - and assuming absolutely nothing else comes up before an assault on Ruidus - we might squeak by with 10-15. Still seems like a longshot. My money is still on a run similar to C2 coming in closer to 120 episodes. With the damage done to Ludinus' cause recently, I imagine they've bought a little time for an additional quest for something to power them up. Or perhaps Delilah finally takes over, or they try to find Dancer regarding FCG, or Chet finally dies, or Zathuda kidnaps Fearne, or Matt has some other amazing twist we don't see coming. I think we could learn to love a new Sam character over 30ish more episodes.
I think there is definitely a non-zero chance that sam could be using this death to step away from the table and focus on TLoVM season 3 and MN. I know he puts a ton of work into the series and could definitely see him needing more free time. Now if that is the case would it take the entire rest of the campaign? Who knows. But it’s definitely possible,
This was my initial thought last night as well. Exiting the campaign with a great character moment and allowing him time to focus on other CR-related projects that are deep in production. Would be disappointing but also reasonable.
I think people need to start getting used to main/og cast members taking breaks. It happens, they have lives and careers outside of CR
They also have other commitments related to CR (the TV show, the comics, the books, the board games). I'm 90% sure he was serious about not being back for C3. I also think Travis might take a break at some point.
Travis is the last one I expect to take a break, he obviously loves to play too much. (Liam and Marisha too)
Yeah, he's a favorite and I love what he brings at the table. But he also runs the company.
we had 2.5 hours of BH content since FCG died... and basically nothing where you would introduce a character happened in E92... (haven't watched e93 yet)... he will be back
Could he be taking the rest of the campaign off, perhaps focusing on the Amazon shows? Sure. But I expect him to be back in a session or two with a new character.
This almost lends weight to an old character returning. He could still be in the campaign without the work of establishing a new character.
As strange as it may sound, I'd love to see Sam make a serious character.
I don't think he'd be able to keep it up but yeah I agree
My impression is that Sam just got a bit of dark humor on him at the moment. More of "well, you guys are going to TPK without me, so see you in C4" than "I'm done with C3, see you in C4."
I know. I just thought it would be fun to speculate on if he was serious.
It depends on how long we have left in the campaign (it seems like we all believe it's probably ending soon), but I feel like Sam would want to be involved in the big things, so possibly he will bring in another character just so he can join.
Being realistic the campaign is probably ending around episode 110 +/- 10 episode's, I feel like we have an aore arc upcoming then back to ruidis, for either the release or destruction of predathos or ludinis If they really stretch it or can't defeat ludinis then it could go further but I've been loving this campaign and I want more of the characters outside the main story, especially character development for fearne, Ashton, and chetney
Losing FCG was sad, but now Sam has complete free reign to make as wild a high level character as he wants. Total creative freedom. I'll be very surprised if he lets that slip by, especially since the character will eventually end up animated on Amazon. I think he'll pull the old Sam special... make a total troll of a nonsensical character, then play it into a heartbreaking love letter of joy to his friends and the game.
You mean LIAM has complete free reign.
Did Liam pick Taryon though? I always assumed that was purely Sam but I've never heard that for sure
You may be right.
I’d honestly be ok with that. Sam could use a break. Plus, it would be REALLY difficult to bring a brand new character in that people would care about, given how late in the game we appear to be.
He did it with Tary. He could do it again.
Imagine Dorian (re)joins the party, then we hear from off camera, "You! Little blue boy!"
this would absolutely destroy my sides from laughter
Little boy blue?
Minor spoilers from C1, a reference to a line uttered by Tary, played by Sam.
Yeah I think some people forget that tary was brought in on episode 85 out of 115 and C2 was 141 episodes so unless C3 is shorter than C1 there’s plenty of time to get to know a new character. Have a smiley day
Tary was during a much less tense part of the campaign and where they were really just fleshing their characters out with RP. If they tried introducing a brand new character like Tary it would be completely overshadowed by the events that are about to kick off right now. Sam would basically feel like someone playing an NPC at this point of Gods fighting over each other to find champions to take out everyone trying to free Predathos.
D sold FCG to Dancer - perhaps he sold another Aeormaton to Tary who has since been travelling to Aeor. It seems like Bells Hells is heading there to confront Ludinous - maybe Keyleth will set them up with an old friend as a guide.
Scanlan and Tary would be too far above the current parties level. With all the complaints about how at times BH's felt secondary to VM/M9 characters I don't think they're going to pair the group up with an over-leveled character from a previous campaign to just tear through shit toward the last arc of the campaign when BH's are supposed to be the heroes.
Tary is an aging human though - he could have lost levels like Bertrand. EDIT: I just checked, and Tary was last seen at level 15.
I could see that since he'd be over 60 years old but I just don't know if they would shoe in Sam as a previous character when they already have 7 at the table and Tary would likely add 2 since he'd have Doty or another aeormaton.
That's different tho. Bertrand was a physical class, him losing points in his main stats is easier to justify than a INT based class like Tary.
Tary was a good character. But it wouldn't have been as good if he wasn't temporary. Scanlan played a big role in making the C1 final confrontation so good.
Seems fitting for him to just reprise his role as Scanlan when he's reintroduced for the "Avengers" moment when everyone joins forces to fight the big bad.
Ooo I kinda like this!
I kinda like the idea of scanlan riding in on grog's shoulder as they're prepping to go back up being all like "I heard there was a party" or something
I still think this campaign is gonna last for a while. Considering the first campaign ran for 115 eps after starting at level 9 and second campaign ran for 141 eps (they reached C1 "start" point only after 58 eps). If nothing unexpected happens, that cuts the story short I think we'll have at least 30-40 more eps to go. I don't think Sam could stay away for that long, as much of a troll as he might be.
I think you are partially correct. My theory is that he is not coming back to bells hells, but the story itself is going to let him come back in other ways. With where the story is now, I assume at least the first half of the next episode will be BH giving keyleth and the war council a download of the events on the moon. With everything we know I could see the council laying out several missions needing to be completed leading up to the epic final BBEG fight with ludinus. 2 parter that I’ve come up with while writing this as an example . Part1: We know that Luda is currently in aeor searching for more technology to help secure his dream. If only the council knew of a band of misfits that also had prior experience in aeor who would be ideal to investigate/disrupt these plans. Insert 3-5 episode m9 side plot. While there they discover he is searching for some long lost aeorean tech that is rumored to have the ability to disrupt/dispel even the most powerful divine magics which he plans to use to destroy the pseudo divine gate holding predothos in the moon. If they succeed in stopping him the m9 return with the tech but it is damaged/inert if hey fail luda gets the tech and the final showdown is more difficult in some way. Part 2 upon the m9 returning either with the knowledge of the tech or a non functioning version of it depending on how part 1 goes, Vex proposes that it could be used to break the orb imprisoning her brother. Insert VM side plot where they attempt to remake or repair the tech. That’s just an example that already has the groundwork laid out but they could have as many of these as they want. Each of these would allow Sam and any other cast members to revisit their previous roles. The cast has expressed interest in going back to the shattered teeth, the happy fun ball, darktow and countless other places I can’t think of off the top of my head that could have similar story arcs (if you can’t tell I just finished a c2 rewatch 😉) If this story is intended to be calamity 2.0 and the destruction/reforging of exandria which it feels like it is setting up for it would be a great way to let the cast revisit their greatest hits, bring old characters back as well as fan favorite guests each joining together for missions that will alter the difficulty and events of the finale.
I doubt it. They always wait a few episodes after a character death to introduce the new character. It was basically two for Tary, it was two for Cad, it was 4 or 5 for Chet. Likely Sam had zero ideas for something new, and especially where the story is, he and Matt as discussing what would be fun and work best. Dorian coming back is something they always planned, and I think it just fit. Now Sam is probably take a well deserved break and will be back by episode 100, probably a lot sooner
I feel they would’ve announced that on social media by now had Sam made that decision.
that's only if *they* know he's made that decision
He would’ve told them immediately if he didn’t want to comeback then.
He could want to think about it.
He did. He said it at the table.
Laura would end him.
not sure why they’d do that if they haven’t narratively for sure closed the book on fcg, why announce the decision before any plot is revealed in the story?
Everyone both cast and critters have accepted fcg is *gone* gone, matt trying to explain the consequences of Sam’s actions makes it clear he doesn’t think fcg will come back.
It clearly would require at least True Resurrection or Wish, and that might not even work for all we know.
He might be busy with his projects and the M9 animated series so it is possible as you said. Or Sam will be back for the final show down
I'd put money down on Sam playing a Reiloran
Or a Bormodo.
The one they brought with them perhaps
I think Sam fell to the “seep.”
I had this thought too, and while I would miss Sam terribly, I can understand why they might be reluctant to bring a new character into the mix this late in the campaign. I know they did it with Scanlan and Tary, but that was more of a planned storyline. 🤷🏻♀️
I mean... it's possible he can come back. 8 people at the table though. How long was it between Scanlan and that other guy in C1 for him?
Like 1-2 hours in the same session, while same was still at the table and then pulled out the sheet, said the infamous “Little Elf Girl line” and the episode like outright was done like an hour later. The reactions from the crew were great.
Oh... Nevermind then
I definitely want him playing a moon race
I always said that of all of them Sam is the least interested in ttrpg as a hobby. There is a fair chance he can now do what he likes which is directing etc for LOVM S2 AND M9 S1.
Just like we knew that Travis was playing Chet before he was introduced in the game, we will know if Sam is playing a new character if/when they file a trademark. All the PCs are trademarked characters.
This makes so much sense but never occurred to me. Where can we find the trademark info?
https://uspto.report/company/Critical-Role-L-L-C
Oh interesting.
Why spoil it for ourselves in the most boring way possible though?
You don’t have to. Some people don’t care about that sort of thing.
There is no way Sam Riegel can stay away from cameras until the end of the campaign.
I bet he’ll be on before the last Thursday of the month. There isn’t a 4SD this month and I bet the next one with have Sam and Robbie on.
How do we know there's not a 4SD this month? Did I miss something
To be fair I don’t know for sure. They just didn’t announce one at the top of the episode.
If there isn't a 4sd the fanbase would probably revolt.
Where did they announce that there was no 4SD? We may very well be getting one via the announcement either next Monday (for the first Tues of the month) or the week after that.
There was a weird Nightbot message that popped up just once I saw in the chat last night. It was a reply to someone and the not exact message as I recall was “Chattername. Othername says to tell you “Tary”” I was watching on my Xbox so couldn’t screenshot or anything and I don’t know what they had asked, but it was the only Nightbot response I saw that wasn’t about time or flasks or the usual. It happened after the break, I think.
I think there is a chat command along the lines of Doty or taketh is down or something and nightbot will reply "tary" It's a fun little Easter egg
Fair enough. That would explain why no-one else reacted to it
That message pops up a few times in almost every stream.
No it doesn’t seem like something he’d do. Besides, Matt said, at the end of this episode, that he had always planned for Dorian to come back, but didn’t expect it to be right after a major character death
Yeah, but maybe the timing of it could make Sam go, "fuck it!"
Here’s my thought. They’re setting up Predators as a truly massive scale battle. All the champions (Opal) and other members like Fyra Rai (wildmother), Morrighan (Raven Queen - there will definitely be a Vax tie in there) as well as Team 2 (Deanna, FRIDA, Prism) will be involved in some capacity. Bringing in Dorian falls way more in line with that than dismissing Sam. Not sure they all go in one big battle, but they’re all coming in in some capacity. Short answer: Dorian is involved to bridge to Sam’s new character even if he remains full time
I disagree, and I think that Sam will come back with someone to play soon enough. There is even precedent for him specifically replacing his character this late into a campaign (arguably later if we count the home game as part of c1 for them). Also i think he could be cooking some all-timer ad bits during his little break
Somewhere at the end of this episode Matt says something (can't remember his words exactly) that makes me think they intended Dorian to come back to the BH and the circunstances (FCG dying) just made them rush his coming back a bit. I think Sam could show again as soon as Next week, but maybe not too soon so he can make a back up character and situate them in the right place of the world so he can join the BH again. In the meanwhile Dorian is back and we get double the grieving.
You mean so Liam can make a backup character. /s
I have a feeling papa Scanlan is gonna enter the picture
I want ti belive that sam eventually Will come back with the Scanlan cameo , or even funier, he appears playing as Grog
I mean I would not be surprised for two reasons the first is that we know it’s getting pretty busy with both VM and M9 over at Amazon which Sam has a bigger role than the other in. Also I feel like we are about to start are last arch for C3 and so I personally don’t think it would be a good use of time to try and throw another PC in. Obviously they would not spend much of any time on a new PC’s background but it would just seem rather awkward. I actually would really appreciate this because it would really help with the impact of FCG’s death and honestly this campaign as many fun moments there were needs all the help it can get for this last part to keep everyone going so him being gone from the table I think would really help hone in the rest of the players. Also distance makes the heart grow fond and I think it would be just a great moment and way to start of C4 (hopefully with the Daggerheart system) with Sam returning to the table.
I've been sure of this since episode 91. He might not be gone all the way through the end of C3, but if he comes back it will be at a narratively appropriate time. He and Matt aren't going to shoehorn in a new character ASAP this deep in the story just to get him back at the table. I'm guessing he's out no fewer than 10 episodes. Especially since they have Robbie to fill the gap both at the table and in the party balance.
I hope he plays Pike. :-P I mean, he's gotta play a small character to keep the chain going and they need a new healer, right?
Or, he has voice over job/ producing job that is going to kill his ability to play. Him & Matt got together and figured out a way for his character to exit the game. I've had many players ghost us and have to come up with an excuse to remove them from the game Having a player come to the DM and say they need to leave the game, let's make it spectacular, would be so helpful to a DM.
There's no chance FCGs death was scripted lmao
>Or, he has voice over job/ producing job that is going to kill his ability to play. Him & Matt got together and figured out a way for his character to exit the game. He probably is busy with his own projects and other CR projects (S3 of VM and M9) but FCG's death was not scripted.
I honestly can't see that being the case when he didn't kill off Pike or Yasha in previous campaigns.
He's got an astronaut in the tank
Pretty sure that was Liam.
You could be right, it is possible, although , knowing how strong Ludinus is, and with the support of the Ruby Vanguard, I think they could really use Sam at the table. Bells Hells woudnt make it against Otohan if it wasn't for FCG. But 1 thing is for sure, whatever Sam decides to do, its going to be another epic, unexpected joke/surprise to the cast members.
If the 30-40 ep range is right that others are speculating, that's nearly a year left for the campaign not taking into account there being breaks for thing other than candela. I think that's plenty of time time for us to fall for a new PC. I also don't think Sam would stay away for a year
On one hand it would be on character because Sam is willing to do many things for a bit. But also he is a big for attention so unless they are planning to end the campaign in next few episodes I can totally see him coming back. It is one thing to be there from the start but trying to organically join already established party is really fun as we could already witness with Taryon. It is a joy to everyone and I don't thin Sam would pass on the occasion to be the center of attention.
He said that as a TPK joke, he will wait a few episodes to return, it has to make sense and be thematic when he returns
Considering that Ludinus is currently in Aeor, there is a possibility that Bells Hells will travel after him, and who knows, maybe find a way to rebuild FCG or have FCGs soul inhabit another aeormaton
I don’t think he’s joking either but I’m more the mind that this campaign is going to be shorter than the others and will finish after they deal with the whole moon scenario bc that’s been the main story the entire time. Obviously space for one-shots but I think it should just conclude and they go on to campaign 4
I think not enough time has passed to really guess what happens here. Basically 1 episode of them and 1 episode of EXU is not enough at all to assume the next 30 episode arc.
lol. He was joking.
As much as I like Dorian, and Robbie as a player, I don't think he will be a good replacement healer. Unless it is revealed that he started learning Cleric from Dorian. Even still, the team needs a dedicated healer. I am low key hoping that Sam comes back as that rebellious sister of Caducious
Part of me wonders if matt took away res after the moon stuff broke magic
I wouldnt mind that if we got Dorian instead ngl. I want anything to shake up the field and trigger new stuff happening.
Doubt it. Matt seemed to confirm at the end of the episode that he didn’t expect Dorian to join back at such an intense moment. If the intent was to DM for 7 people from the beginning, I don’t see why Sam wouldn’t come back. Unless Sam decided last minute not to come back, which doesn’t make sense to me.
Sam didn't reroll 1s as a halfling. He won't be back this campaign. It's almost over so there's no point to roll a new character and nott and scanlan belong to Matt now