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utilitycaster · 9 months

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oh PLEASE tell us your thoughts about the Daggerheart speculations

So with the caveat that this is somewhat secondhand because I do not deign to go to the CR Reddit, from what I understand and from what I've seen reposted/expounded upon elsewhere, there's been a theory that the Campaign 3 plot is building to the destruction of the gods and a radical change in the magic system so as to support a switch to Daggerheart. Now: while I have my thoughts on where things are going narratively, this is mostly irrelevant, actually, because the logic behind this theory is so fucking stupid.

Critical Role does not, in fact, pay royalties or owe anything to WoTC (and in fact get money from WoTC for the Explorer's Guide to Wildemount; Call of the Netherdeep; and D&D Beyond ads). The reason the gods are referred to so often by epithets (eg: Wildmother rather than Melora) is explicitly to skirt WoTC IP in non-WoTC materials (such as in The Nine Eyes of Lucien or the Tal'Dorei settings). They do not have to kill off the gods to split off from WoTC and it would not be the gods that would be an issue had (for example) the OGL gone through as originally planned. The concept of "this is a fantasy world with gods" is, obviously, not a copyrightable thing. So this has nothing to do with avoiding WoTC fees. Any choice to move to a different system would be motivated by the cast's personal preferences (and, frankly, a desire to make their own money off Daggerheart).

There are reasons to stay in Exandria but it isn't necessary. I think switching systems or worlds will both come with a potential loss of an audience, but also the potential gain of a new one. You could just be like "we're doing Daggerheart in a whole new setting"; d20 and TAZ do this and there's no reason Critical Role couldn't.

It's entirely possible to switch systems within Exandria without killing off the gods; you're simply telling a different story. A Familiar Problem and the first two Honey Heist one-shots are, hilariously, essentially consistent with main campaign canon; they're just about a bunch of wacky animals from the perspective of said animals. What's more, not only have magic systems been indicated to have changed for various other reasons (including the gods introducing them, or just through research by wizards); in real life, the cast switched from Pathfinder 1e to D&D 5e in preparation for the stream, with no in-world reason given. They could just. switch.

Here's where I will admit I may be missing something based on my Reddit ignorance: from what I understand the reason this theory has recently collapsed is because Daggerheart is a 2d12 system, and for reasons I truly do not know, the proponents of this idea believed that for it to work, Daggerheart did still need to be a d20 system. Again: I have no fucking clue why this is; if it's a radically different magical system and a fundamentally altered world I don't see why the dice you use to tell the story can't be different (also the rolls you get with 2d12 are not in fact radically different from the spread of a d20 in the first place, so. bad at math as well as logic.)

Anyway: I think it's entirely possible that CR will, if they have a future long-form campaign (not a guarantee in and of itself), switch to Daggerheart. But if so: no guarantee or inherent need for it to be in Exandria, no guarantee or inherent need to change the fundamental cosmology of Exandria to support a system switch, and absolutely no reason that to support this hypothetical upon a hypothetical upon a hypothetical you would specifically need a d20 ttrpg system.

Anyway. I dislike wild speculation when it's portrayed as theory but if people are like "total bonkers guess based on nothing in particular" at least they're showing some self-awareness, even though I'm not personally interested in that kind of speculation. But a lot of "theories" are structured as an argument while relying on assumptions constructed from thin air (if that) and I think it's valuable to point that out; unfortunately people get really mad when you do because you are, kind of, calling them stupid. Which they are, but people don't like to be told that.

#answered #Anonymous #cr tag

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a-couple-of-notes · 1 year

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There's a lot about EXU Prime that is fascinating to think about in the context of C3 (like, for example - Orym and Fearne absolutely have experience with a party member being tempted to the dark side, so their reactions to Imogen make a ton of sense - that's basically how they reacted to Dorian taking the crown), but I keep coming back to this quote from episode 6:

"[Magic] is undifferentiated. It is not divine. It is not something wrought by man. It is not nature. It is whatever it needs to be. It is simply power. The decision, the deciding makes it a thing. [...] All of this place, all of Exandria, holds potential, holds energy, grabs it, takes it, makes it and gives it. But it is the decision of you reaching into a place, full and ripe, and deciding to bring something into being. That is the power that some call of the gods, that some call the arcane. It is power and it is beautiful."

Aside from it being beautiful on its own, this is effectively the thesis statement on power for EXU Prime as a whole. And I think it's really cool that we're seeing this theme woven, too, through Campaign 3: that it's about how you use the power, not where it comes from. It's about the power of choice. Even Opal's exchange after this quote, where she calls bullshit and questions whether she really has control over her own life, hits on a lot of the feelings Bells Hells (and Imogen specifically) have right now.

EXU Prime and Campaign 3 are different stories, and they do stand on their own. (I don't think EXU Prime gets near enough credit for how solid of a story it is--that's a post for another time.) But I really like how they build on each other, sharing not only a world but themes, philosophies. A party of NPCs in a wizard moon conspiracy, a party of level 2 chucklefucks carting around a Vestige in a pie bag. Corruption, darkness, power, choice. Family chosen and grasped for. Even more than being set on the same fantasy planet, it makes these narratives feel connected, and it helps me appreciate them that much more.

#exu prime #cr3 #bells hells #the crownkeepers #clickbait title: exu prime walked so cr3 could run #I overlooked a lot of the cool stuff in exu prime during my first watch-through #and it's been really interesting rewatching the series over the past couple of days #I definitely see the flaws and why it may not have hit for everybody #but the emotional threads of the story are incredibly solid #and surprisingly complex #and there are things about it I love more than calamity or the current campaign #maybe for another post though

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demenior · 1 year

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👻, 📗, and/or 💭 for the fanfic writer ask game!

👻 What is your wildest headcanon?

We talk primarily about Fealty, so I'll stick to the CrittyRole Campaign 2 scope for this one:

I can't think of anything that wild, so here's a few:

Fjord doesn't have a real birth date becuase the orphanage assigned all of the kids whatever Exandria's version of 'January 1st' is. Easier to keep track when all the kids gain a year at the same time. Idk if Exandria does birth certificates or social security or whatever, but that is his legal birth date. Jester and Marion make it their business to pick him a perfect

Trent trained Volstrucker in trios with the intention of only bringing two into the ranks. At the end of their training, when they've all proven themselves (killed ther families) and he's encouraged very codependant (or even romantic) bonds between them, their final test is for the two he has decided will continue will assassinate the third to show their skills at taking out an unsuspecting target, and prove that they will obey at all costs.

Caduceus is great at siblings, but actually not that great with kids

📗 Do you want to write something outside of fanfiction? If so, what about?

Like any good writer, of course I do! I'd likely stick to YA or Adult sci-fi/fantasy (similar to what I write in fic) as that's my passion!

My most developed story focuses on a secret organization that acts as basically Fantasy Cops in that they police all things Not Human and make sure those things Stay Secret from Humans. There was a mix of political intrigue as some of these Fantasy Cops were trying to organize a Big Arrest (read: kill) in order to become Ruler of the Fantasy Cops. There was heavy religious imagery involved and especially in how it was all about controlling people rather than actually spiritual. There was of course several other characters who were either born into the non-human side of things, or found their way there. Multiple povs, all intersecting to an eventual Cool Big Fight. Yes I was in high school when it started.

This blog is old enough (it started after high school) that there's a tag for this story (Amantes) but the posts are almost all 10 years old at this point so....

💭 What inspires you and your writing?

I'm ALL about characters, so it's usually something juicy to do with a character dynamic within themselves that I wanna poke at more (the Switch the Beat series was wanting to zero in on Shiro's drive to live at all costs), or the dynamic between several characters that I want to draw out (the a life of little things series (Fealty) is one of these).

Or I'm listening to a song and get hit with the visual of a Very Cool Scene/Moment and now I gotta figure out how to earn it. (To Exist Again's ending scene of Sam unleashing his psychic/magic potential despite Death himself warning him off, was inspired by the big finale of Ghost Love Score.)

#ty!#asks #replies

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demigoddessqueens · 2 years

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❤❤❤ another one. This time happy and maybe a tiny bit of smut if you feel up to it 😅😅😅

Just what about setting down. The life after last mission and how things happened. Do they have kids. Are they upp for settling down or would they rather travel around Exandria????

I know that it has been many request so just tell me and I will slow down 😅😂😂😂 will be here waiting as usual

Mighty Nein please. 😅😅😅

One sweet (and somewhat sensual 😉) coming up. Tags for implied sensuality

Caleb and Essek - you and Caleb stay loyal to your drow, even if romantic relationships don’t work out. The three of you help maintain magic and helping future students achieve their full potential and leaving no one behind.

Nott/Veth - you and Caleb both maintained close connections with Veth and her family, while also becoming pseudo-guardian(s) to the young one

Jester and Fjord - traveling with the tiefling and warlock was not short of adventures and shopping trips. You have thought of children, and despite countless times enjoying it, you all think it best to hold off for a while before permanently setting down

Yasha and Beau - the monk and barbarian always welcome your visits, and gifts (flowers or knowledge to preserve for the Cobalt Soul). Plus, swapping stories over any brawls you may have had along the way gets Beau interested. Or reading the cheesy romance novels in dramatic voices

Mollymauk/Kingsley - your other favorite tiefling to get rowdy with (just don’t tell Jester) on the high seas. As an added bonus, a late night swim (even without bathing suits 😉 😏) always leads to some fun.

Cadeuces - who knew a late night walk in the cemetery could be romantic? At least that’s what you tell Cad over a nice cup of tea with the moon glowing above as he sweetly admires that look you whenever you recount the tales from the road

#critical role #inbox asks #the mighty nein x y/n #the mighty nein #inbox answers #the mighty nein x you #the mighty nein x reader #inbox requests #headcanons #critical role x you #critical role x reader #critical role x y/n #inbox open #implied smut

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popopodogrev · 3 years

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Tharizdun and Exandria’s leap in progress

“Watching. Potential. Learn. Grow. Provoke. Consume. Reward. Patience”.

Uk'otoa "The Open Road" (2x05)

It was talked at length how the theme of hunger is prevalent in this campaign. And this hunger has many faces – from the literal hunger of Kylre the Nergaliid to the metaphorical hunger for wealth of Vokodo to the hunger for freedom of Uk'otoa. And many people theorize that it is the influence of Tharizdun, the Chained Oblivion that prompts the rise of insatiable hunger in many beings.

But I want to talk about another type of hunger which showed up time and time again.

The hunger for knowledge.

More importantly, I want to talk about how the rise of hunger in the world is associated with negative phenomena like corruption and madness– but at the same time, the coming of Tharizdun could also prompt (and already prompts) the biggest leap in technological and magical advancement in Exandria’s history – because it is Tharizdun that makes hungry minds search for answers.

One of the most prominent examples of it is the story of Fjord. Uk'otoa (the being whose “hunger” is speculated to be influenced by Tharizdun) in his dreams tells him not to simply obey or follow his commands – no, he tells him to use his natural curiosity and ambition to become more powerful – and to do so by learning. Note how in the beginning of campaign Fjord’s goal is to get to the Soltryce Academy to learn about his new powers – and when that doesn’t work out, he is still eager to learn what Uk’otoa offers him (in the "Stalker in the Swamp" (2x21) his patron saying “Learn” prompts Fjord to dive into the pool). Only with the help of Caduceus and the Wild Mother he is able to cope with his hunger.

Then let’s look at Fjord’s First Mate - Beauregard. She is the group’s Number 1 note-taker, researcher, theorizer, truth-revealer. Her whole story is tied to the Cobalt Soul monks whose goal is to seek knowledge...

But is it really?

The Cobalt Soul worships The Knowing Mistress, Ioun who was forever wounded by Tharizdun – and it seems to me that, with possibility of Tharizdun’s release Ioun make the Soul lean more towards their second goal – to root out corruption, of which the Chained Oblivion is both the main representation and the main source (note how Beau gets not some high researching position in the Order like an “archivist” – but the position of the Expositor).

But of course, we cannot talk about hunger for knowledge without talking about Caleb. From episode 1 he was curious, he had appetite for knowledge – but as we saw later, many times he was borderline hungry for it (and because of it, he was able to develop unique relationships with both Fjord and Beau who also very inquisitive in nature and face the same temptation as him – note how it was Caleb and Beau who read the eye-granting book of DeRogna). For many episodes his goal was to unravel the secrets of time itself – and now, when we all thought that he was finally able to keep that hunger in line, the secrets of Aeor – and Cognouza ward – proved to be his hardest test yet.

The same Cognouza ward which is speculated to be corrupted by the Chained Oblivion.

But theme of searching for answers, of desire to know runs like a thread through all of the Mighty Nein’s story. Clerics frequently use Speak with Dead, Commune and Scry – to try to learn new information, to gain advantage, to understand what is really going on (note how it was Jester who used the divination circle in Eiselcross).

And this is what really makes the Mighty Nein’s story different from Vox Machina’s – they must unravel the secrets of world, dive deep into the lost knowledge, theorize, search and learn to even try to defeat their enemies (and note how it was Molly who never wanted to know anything about his past – and where it got us).

But as I said above, not only Mighty Nein are prone to this hunger for knowledge. The whole world of Exandria and its denizens become more agitated. Take, for example, Yussa – Yussa, the great wizard, the owner of the Open Quay who lived for hundreds of years – but it is now that he cannot keep his morbid curiosity at bay and puts himself in danger time and time again (and note that he got stuck second time in Cognouza). We all joked that he is High Int Low Wis character – and while he certainly is, it does sound a bit strange that his desire for knowledge would overcome him like this.

Unless he too succumbs to the influence of Tharizdun like all those who seek knowledge.

But nothing can compare in terms of thirst for knowledge to what Essek did. When he decided to become a traitor to the Dynasty, when he decided to give Beacons to the Empire so he can research them he was influenced by a number of social and psychological factors – but at the very heart of it, Essek Thelyss, the Shadowhand, was hungry to learn – to learn the nature of the Beacons and the Luxon, the nature and possibilities of the dunamancy itself. After 120 years of life his natural curiosity, his desire to learn was too accelerated by Tharizdun – and to quench his hunger for knowledge and power, Essek starts a war.

And it goes without mention that dunamancy is like the perfect metaphor for that. Both Essek and Caleb are eager to find true limits of this school of magic and therefore spend a lot of time exploring the ruins of Aeor (and note the many signs of connection between Luxon, dunamancy and Tharizdun – the wording of 9th level spells “Ravenous Void” and “Time Ravage” yet again refers to the theme of hunger. Caleb and Essek wanting to master dunamancy quite literally means mastering the hunger of the Universe).

So, considering all the examples mentioned above (and so many things that I didn’t touch upon), we may say that the hunger of Tharizdun sips through every level of one’s live on Exandria, both on personal and societal scale. Twenty years ago, there were no guns in Exandria save for Percy’s inventions - now we have Hupperdook which is the Empire’s first industrial town and the main research center for the “new and volatile technology” of gunpowder and guns. Twenty years ago, the dunamancy was a mysterious to Kryn and unknown to Empire - now we have research centers in Rexxentrum and people like Essek digging for answers. Twenty years ago, Exandrians knew almost nothing about Aeor and the Age of Arcanum – now we witness the emergence of pre-Calamity robotic society of aeormatons which can spread the lost technology around the world.

So, it won’t be a stretch to say that, if the coming of Tharizdun is not addressed in this campaign, in the next twenty years Exandria will become the most technologically and magically advanced it has ever been in its history. In this context the Moon Theory and Spelljammer setting (hints of which can be found throughout the games) would make so much sense for Campaign 3 – as they are the perfect blend of high technology and magic to which Exandria is rapidly approaching.

#critical role #cr meta #cr spoilers #mighty nein #dungeons & dragons #i hope you can see how hard i was procrastinating writing my bachelor's theris

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maleficarum-and-mythal · 3 years

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Ok, a small part of me really wants to write a dragon age inquisition and critical role (campaign 2) crossover. Like there is so much potential:

Jester somehow befriends Solas because its Jester and if she can befriend a war criminal, a hag who cursed her friend, AND a chaotic archfey, she can honestly befriend anyone.

👏BLACKWALL👏AND FJORD👏BONDING

Beau not trusting Dorian as far as she can throw him until she finds out about his homophobic dad and he is allowed to join the Empire Siblings club™

Speaking of Empire Siblings, Caleb and Dorian bonding over magic. Also you cant convince me Dorian wouldn't love Frumpkin.

Caduceus and Iron Bull complaining about short doorways. Tall cow man solidarity.

Jester pestering Varric about his nicknames for people. He calls her Blueberry.

Veth adopts Krem. Thats it.

Also Veth "Is There a Mrs. Sunbreaker" Brenatto meeting the Iron Bull. Like shes a married woman and she knows better, but oh boy would she have a huge crush on him.

Caduceus offering Solas some wisdom and good tea, both of which Solas turns down.

Cullen is subjected to Jester's constant and unpredictable messages.

Yasha and Bull getting into a friendly brawl to impress Dorian and Beau

Cole takes a look a Calebs trauma and just.... the angst

Cole and Caduceus getting along really well and being the two weirdos vibing; talking about life and death.

Sera and Jester pulling the best fricken pranks in Exandria and Thedas.

JESTER AND VIVIENNE SHOPPING TRIP

Caleb taking an interest in Fade magic, and probably trading spells and magical knowledge with Solas.

Speaking of magic knowledge, Caleb shows Solas Widogast's Nascent Neinsided Tower

Cassandra and Jester swapping book reccomendations; aka Jester reads Swords and Shields and Cassandra reads Tusk Love

Fjord training with Iron Bull. And also Fjord telling the story of the Nightmare in Ivory (an ancient white dragon) hunting them across Exandria and how they almost killed it.

Jester wingmanning for Dorian and Iron Bull.

Ok but hear me out on this one: The Dread Wolf and the Somnovum being connected somehow. I mean, Aeyor and Elvhenan do have somewhat similar history.

Of course Lucien shows up to wreak havoc at some point and Sera, probably not even knowing that most of Luciens power come from his magic eye tattoos, just shoots him with an arrow in the face. Can't counterspell an arrow.

Also on opposite end of things, the Mighty Nein turn Corypheus into a turtle. He may be an all powerful darkspawn magister, but you cant argue with a failed wisdom save :\ It obviously only lasts for a little while, but it would still be kind of funny.

#dragon age inquisition #critical role #da:i #cr campaign 2 #crossover au

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thevalleyisjolly · 4 years

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Post 2x109 Thoughts

So Eiselcross was a floating pre-Calamity city, and there’s a living city in the Astral Sea. And Age of Arcanum stuff has been popping up throughout the campaign, from the Happy Fun Ball to the beacons...

What if, immediately before or during the Calamity, a group of mages from another city saw what happened to Eiselcross, and decided to plane shift their own city to the Astral Sea for safety? Only something went wrong and the city became alive. Maybe it absorbed the lives of everyone in it, or the mages merged with the city and became one with it. Or maybe the city was already sentient from so much magic happening in and around it. Maybe it recognized the destruction of its fellow cities and saw the calamity to come, and removed itself from the Material Plane. And of course that’s terrifying to any creatures in the Astral Sea, a living city full of unbelievably powerful mages that suddenly appeared in their plane? I’d run like hell.

The nine eyes...maybe part of a magical ritual in moving the city? Nine components that powered the spell...or maybe nine anchors keeping the city in the Astral Sea? Maybe the city didn’t go willingly, but was banished by someone, and the nine “eyes” are magical locks. There’s a saying, “eyes are the window to the soul.” How many beacons are there in Exandria? We know of five, but that doesn’t mean that’s all the ones there are. Like Essek said, there’s so much that the Dynasty doesn’t know/hasn’t bothered to research about the beacons. No one knows the full extent of their capabilities. They can hold and bring back souls, what else can they hold and potentially bring back? And we have so many NPCs who have repeatedly expressed interest in exploring the beacon’s other possible capabilities. What are you hinting at, Matthew? What else can the beacons do?

What if the living city is the “Lord of Light” that the Kryn Dynasty believes in? They believe the Luxon brought life to the world by its destruction, and the beacons are the parts of its body. Maybe a myth grounded in a real event? The city appears to be “destroyed” during, or even before, the Calamity, with the beacons being the only thing that remains. The beacons are able to facilitate consecution (that is, rebirth and life), which becomes a central pillar of Dynasty belief and culture. In all the chaos of the Calamity, the origin story for the beacons becomes mythologized, especially by a newly emergent Xhorhas forging itself from the legacy of Ghor Dranas.

There’s been a theme of powerful and ambitious mages this campaign. From Yussa to Halas to Trent Ikithon and the whole Academy, even Essek, and of course, we’re watching Caleb becoming a powerful mage himself. And apart from Allura, they’re all very ambitious, even arrogant at times, and are interested in world-altering level magics. The Age of Arcanum was full of mages like them. And repeatedly, we’ve been warned about how dangerous their projects are. What if Matt is setting the stage for Calamity 2: Electric Boogaloo? Someone experiments with the beacons in just a particular enough way, and the city -the Luxon?- returns. And we’ve already seen what happens when something (relatively) smaller like Vokodo breaks through the planes. A whole magical, living city smashing through reality? What effect does that have on the Material Plane? And if a hole is made, what else can come through?

#critical role #critical role meta #critical role spoilers

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criticalroletheoryhouse · 4 years

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Primordial Forces: The Chained Oblivion vs. ???

As we’ve had recently confirmed in Episode 83, “Dark Bargins” a great evil is on the rise. The Chained Oblivion, Tharizdun, is loosening his chains and seeking to restore himself to an unprepared world. Some implied ramifications of this were an increase in violence, hunger, and famine across the continents, as well as knowing that if the Chained Oblivion ever were released it would shatter the Divine Gate which currently prevents the gods from inflicting their petty conflicts on a powerless population. All in all not good.

To make matters worse, The Chained Oblivion is no regular Betrayer God. As we heard described in the most recent episode, The Chained Oblivion is described as being “a world” not a god which began to “spill through” when the Gods came to Exandria. There’s something primal about the Chained Oblivion, something fundamentally other in the core of it’s very being.

While at first blush the Chained Oblivion seems singular in its nature, there is another power that has had some major parallels to the Chained Oblivion in its history and description. This is the Luxon of the Kryn. When the Luxon beacons were first discovered and used by the Mighty Nein, using the mote of possibility invoked the image of a vast night sky full of stars and threads of possibility. Cloud-like shapes and forms of purples and blues drift by on a scale that Caleb, the one initially using the dodecahedron, couldn’t comprehend. The luxon seems to be far greater than a single God. The notion of vastness is a uniting concept for both the Luxon and The Chained Oblivion; as is the sense of something ‘other’ about their fundamental makeup.

The Bright Queen tells the party that the Luxon predates the gods and actually provided the elements of primordial creation when it scattered itself into the beacons. Some people have been saying that perhaps the Chained Oblivion’s bindings are the dodecahedrons, however I’m dubious of that.

The Luxon is linked to structure and society in its usages, directly opposed to the mad chaos that the Chained Oblivion perpetuates, and the cycle of rebirth that grants perpetuates also seems antithetical to the craven hunger that the Chained Oblivion has dominion over. Most importantly of all, it is implied that the Luxon has freed these Drow elves from a madness that the Chained Oblivion has been inflicting upon their brethren.

In fact, all the things that the Luxon is lord of seem antithetical to the Chained Oblivion, however their parallelisms seem deliberate nonetheless, which brings me to my theory: The Luxon is the opposing power to the Chained Oblivion.

DnD is all about balance, Chaos and Order are always balanced against each other, for everything Good there exists an Evil force to disrupt their workings and vice versa. Now we get meta. Matt Mercer is a god-like DM who is well and truly knowledgeable about not just 5e but also earlier editions of DnD where this sensibility about balance is emphasized even more heavily than in the current edition. Matt also goes out of his way to incorporate lore from earlier editions and handbooks into the new world of Exandria that he is creating.

Matt has been very clear in the campaign guide, talks, and the show itself, that The Chained Oblivion actually stands distinct from the Betrayer Gods as its own entity, something foreign and other that was drawn to this planer world by the conflict between the Gods. However there seems to be no other force that acts as a balance to the Chained Oblivion that we’ve seen so far.

This is where the Luxon comes into the picture. It has been implied that the Luxon has existed since the time of creation Primordial, but that in creating life on this plane the Luxon split itself into the beacons. The cycle of rebirth and granting of life is a force that seems directly opposed to the mad and greedy hunger and nothingness that the Chained Oblivion represents. In addition, both the Luxon and the Chained Oblivion seem to possess elements of both arcane magic and divine power.

The dreams of the Chained Oblivion give rise to the Abyss and all the creatures within it. Interestingly the creatures that come from the Abyss seem to have some element of arcane magic to them. Beholders are the best example of this, as they have an anti-magic cone, and their eyestalks are capable of producing known arcane spells such as disintegrate. Yet we also know that the Chained Oblivion can grant divine power as this strange void has legitimate clerics with the holy connotations that this implies.

The only other being which seems to possess this multiplicity of natures is the Luxon, another interesting parallel pointing to the potential duality of the Luxon and the Chained Oblivion. In many ways it seems as though the Chained Oblivion and the Luxon are set up to be opposing forces with natural dominion over the planes.

This does raise some questions, however.

1.If the dreams of the Chained Oblivion are powerful enough to give rise to a separate dimension and a whole host of horrifying monsters, why is there no similar occurrence from the Luxon?

There are several possibilities that could potentially solve this little riddle. We were told by the Bright Queen that when the Luxon created primordial life it split itself into the beacons. This would indicate that the prime material plane itself is the main creation of a bound Luxon with the Titan creatures as its dreamed creations.

A much more far-fetched possibility is that the dominion of the Luxon is reflected in its composition. The night full of stars and shifting cosmic beauty sounds familiar to one other location, the Astral Sea. Perhaps the Astral Sea, the very interplanar space itself, is the body of the Luxon, bound into eternal sleep. This is really based on nothing, but it would be cool.

2. The Chained Oblivion doesn’t come into the picture until the Calamity so the Luxon seemingly predates the Chained Oblivion by a bit; how could that be if they are opposing forces?

What we know about the Luxon comes almost entirely from the Bright Queen and a couple other characters making well-intentioned but vague comments. This means that our sources of information are very biased. The Luxon is said to have predated primordial creation as it is responsible for the first blush of life across the planes. The Calamity in contrast only appears well after the new Gods appeared and fought against the native life of this plane.

This could be for a couple reasons. It is possible that the Luxon somehow pushed the Chained Oblivion back—that by creating primordial life the vast and mad oblivion was pushed away. If they truly are antithetical forces, the Luxon coming into its power might have diminished the Chained Oblivion, and by extension as the God’s destruction of the primordial titans to make space for their own children might have “drawn it forth”.

Another possibility is that neither the Luxon nor the Chained Oblivion predates the Gods, rather they were byproducts of the new Gods violence toward the native life of the planes. When the titans were killed and primordial life driven out to make spaces for the Gods’s creations, the life that was taken became the Luxon dodecahedrons, capable of granting infinite rebirth and possibility, and the blood that was spilled became the mad Chained Oblivion, hungering to consume everything new that had taken over what once had been. While there is literally zero evidence for this, it is a fun possibility to think about, especially in the context of the Gods as we know them.

As always, only one man (*cough* Matt *cough*) knows the answer and as of right now he’s not telling. Let’s see what fate has in store for the story.

#critical role #the chained oblivion #the luxon #the kryn #The Bright Queen #The Calamity #The Divergence #Primordial Creation #Worldbuilding

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thefangirlshadow · 6 years

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Critical Role Camp 2 Thoughts

I am making this because I remember somebody making a post about a theory based on the worms Yasha saw in her dream, but now I cannot find it. While I am at it, I am compiling other thoughts I had.

First: Hunger. This theory isn’t entirely my own (thanks TVTropes WMG Page), but there has been a lot of either hungry creatures, or just in general feeding things as part of the story. For what the party has faced being hungry, we have: The Giant Eel thing that Beau, Fjord, and Jester faced. We have the Devil Toad. Then there was the Gnolls and the Manticore family. There was the spider underneath Zadash. and most recently we have the Crocodiles in the swamp. For backstory things and hunger, we have: Fjord and his patron saying “Consume” (we joke about Fjord Vjoring the Sjord NOW, but ...) Nott and Goblins eating babies, and a poisoned dinner was mentioned in Caleb’s story. For smaller off the side actions that feature hunger, we have: Jester and Pastries, the talk about eating the skeleton under The Leaky Tap (Was that it’s name?), eating the rats won at the festival, and feeding Kiri those seeds ‘n’ things. This is making me think that either there is some sort of hungry force out there that the Nein will have to go against. (Let me know if I missed anything you can think of that might also be related to hunger.)

Second: Worms. They were mentioned in Yasha’s Dream/Memory thing as covering the entire land or something like that. While I cannot seems to find the post, it mentioned there being a devouring - worm like entity. I did a little googling, and came up with “Yhidothrus, the Ravager Worm” from it, who ties neatly enough into the first point with the whole hunger thing. Now, granted, I am not an expert in D&D Monster Lore, or if this is better tied to something from the Exandria book, or if it is part of something CR’s Lovely DM Homebrewed, but that strikes me as something to look out for, and makes me wonder if there are also instances of worm like or wormy descriptions anywhere in the story so far other then the dream. The only thing coming to my head right now though is the eel from the lake. (If anyone can think of anything, let me know on this too.)

Last thing for this post, and mostly unrelated to the first two: Multiclassing. I didn’t watch the first campaign, so I don’t know exactly how they went down with this, but I have seen enough spoilers to know that it happened. While we are barely to Level 5 with everybody, and any instances of it are probably far away right now, I can’t help but wonder about it. For Caleb: While having it would be detrimental to his ability to get any of the high level spell slots, he has a lot of affinity for fire, and was noted to have “Great Magical Potential” in his youth. It makes me wonder if he could potentially be a little bit either Pheonix Sorcerer or Pyrotechnic Sorcerer. More likely Pheonix since the Pyro one came out more recently (or I was blind and never saw it.). Not to mention he is a natural ginger, which speaks to me of traces of something firey, perhaps deliberately so? He says he wants to bend reality to his will, and themes of coming back to life would be fitting, if bringing his parents back is the reason behind it. For Jester: Well, she calls herself “Jester”, which is also the name of the Bards of Satire. And she would no doubt be a good fit for the role too, as everyone loves her, she is the heart of the group, has a great sense of humor, and seems to be bad at lying (Jesters are about telling the truth and true stories, which, while Tusk Love probably isn’t true, she does tell that story to Kiri.). She mentions Jesters when trying to help that one member (Forget his name, but was the same one who did the suicide bombing thing.) of the Knight’s of Requital get back into the Tri-Spires, so she is aware of them. Probably also chose the name because of that. For Fjord: I can’t think of much else for the rest of the M9, but I wonder how much Fjord remembers/knows about his patron. Will he find something out that makes him not want to be a warlock anymore? What will he chose if so? Fighter? For Mollymauk: Considering he has already shown a desire to be nothing liek Lucien, I wouldn’t be surprised that if we learn anything more about Lucien, Milly will try to learn tricks that are different from what his former life did. I am not sure what, but depending on what “Nonagon” did, Molly will probably pick something different. For Nott: There actually hasn’t been much that can be determined at this time, but she does play with that chemistry set, so something in Artificier? Granted, that’s still in Unearthed Arcana, but if they can use it, that would be interesting. For Beau: Can’t think of anything, as the only thing I can think of is something acquiring knowledge related, but she hasn’t shown outright signs of being interested in Caleb’s magic stuff, so that narrows it down a lot. Will have to wait some more. For Yasha: She is perhaps the most Mysterious fo the group, and no doubt is a Zealot Barbarian because of what she is thankful for the Stormlord doing for her, so no signs of leanings towards anything have made themselves known thus far. Of course, I would like to hear other thoughts/opinions on all of these things.

#critical role #critical role campaign 2 #eclectic thoughts

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chaosgenasi · 1 year

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a quote that didn’t quite make it in that magic/leyline/luxon set but i can’t stop thinking about, especially regarding storytelling: “the dream of a cabin boy deck hand taken aboard a pirate ship to look at a flying city, and to say, one day, i could be at the helm of a great working of magic."

#basil.ramblings #it's about inspiration and creation and i don't think nydas was lonely necessarily but that yearning for stories and magic #and laerryn !! her engine & her life's work at the heart of the world & these leylines. i think those two had a lot in common like. the #desire for something More. to look to the skies and the stars and to floating cities and beyond and to say. okay even further #that probably would've been a good caption but the parallels between chaos and potential and shaping and creating and collaborating.#i just love it i love exandria happy thursday :')

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utilitycaster · 1 year

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Something I've noticed, and that I'd be curious to get your thoughts on, is that there's a subset of fans who were perfectly cool with FCG when they didn't follow a deity, but as soon as they decided that religion was something they wanted to have as a part of their life, these fans did a 180. As you said, it's fine if someone doesn't enjoy how FCG is exploring religion, but it seems to me like some people were a lot more attached to the idea of a goddless cleric than they were to him as a character who had the potential to grow and change

Oh absolutely I think this is the case, which is funny, because I initially could not stand that FCG was a cleric with no apparent source of power (and, to be clear, I am not bothered by clerics who have mixed or even negative feelings about their deities like Deanna and FRIDA, nor would I be mad about a cleric devoted to a concept rather than a god).

Like...this is also touching on what I want to talk about later but there are a lot of fans who just...hate that the characters (and, uh, by extension, the cast) have free will and are not just puppets to play out and validate their (the fans) own personal beliefs, but are instead here to tell a story, which is why they hate change (because they fixate on the characters most appropriate as these puppets in the first few episodes and so change obviously fucks with that perception and forces them to have to think).

I think it's just people who, as I said, haven't gone to therapy about their religious trauma or at least learned the basics of "how I feel about religion is not necessarily how other people feel, nor is it directly applicable to a fictional magical world" and who are mad that a character they believed would prove that they are right is instead exploring religion. Which already didn't make sense because even if FCG did remain godless, they probably would still have rushed in here. Not to tap the Brennan Lee Mulligan "personality pre-dates ideology" sign yet again but the martyr complex and the altruism both came well before the interest in the Changebringer for FCG. FCG already did not really trust himself to make decisions; he just now has a way to outsource it to someone else. Which makes their speech on the Grand Disc fascinating, because it is essentially FCG asserting that in the absence of a god, one must aspire to goodness on one's own. I mean...folks, that's literally humanism, in a world where gods objectively exist.

Speaking of Brennan, he told a great story on the WBN fireside chat this week. He said it was a Hindu parable although I haven't tbh been able to find it, but anyway, it's about an atheist who meditated constantly, with the mantra that the gods weren't real. Upon their death, they were taken to the side of one of the gods, upon which they said, essentially, "what the fuck is going on" to which the god replied "you never allowed the gods out of your mind. You are one of the most devout people who ever existed." I think about this a lot when it comes to people who are desperate to overlay their own atheism (which, I should note, is fully valid in the real world, just not in Exandria) because, truly, they are constantly thinking of the divine and trying to make stories about the gods being wrong instead of just hanging out and watching the story.

When we look at people who are taking out their religious trauma, they are often recreating many of the same harmful group dynamics of organized religion, just dedicated to ideals other than a deity. It's that old discussion of how ex-fundamentalists still practice so many of the same thought patterns unless they put in a lot of active work to relearn it; they think removing the religion will fix them when the problem was always the behavior that people used the religion to justify. It's why (for example), and this is getting rather harsh, people who would rightfully be horrified by conversion therapy will, without blinking, remark things like "wow, I hope Jester nearly getting killed will make her realize she's a lesbian". The problem is not a belief in god; it's the belief that one's sexuality can be changed; that only some sexualities are correct to have; and that it's completely reasonable to say that a way to change a woman's behavior to what you want it to be is to threaten her life. They have not unlearned any of those beliefs, and instead of making the slightest effort themselves to grow and change and heal they look for fictional characters to prove their own rightness in perpetuating the same harm that was visited upon them, just in a different direction. So yeah, a character like FCG, who is growing and changing and exploring religion in a nuanced and neutral manner is a fucking threat to them.

#answered #kerosene-in-a-blender #critical role spoilers

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