#obviously this benefits from being an after-the-fact analysis but still nydas laerryn and cerrit in particular are such fantastic builds

[utilitycaster]

you tend to have very interesting opinions about the intersection of character build mechanics and narrative in dnd- what are your thoughts on the builds of the brass ring?

They are all extremely good. I'll go through each PC although we don't have all the details on Patia's build:

Nydas has an incredibly cool build that explains his history, fits with his current state, and makes him particularly deadly in battle. His first few levels are in sorcerer, which explains how he was able to rise to his position (this was used as a device for Saccharina in D20's A Crown of Candy too and is in my opinion one of the best reasons to play a sorcerer), but he then gained the bardic skills to be a fighter and a leader. His connection to dragons fits his role in the Golden Scythe and his sword proficiencies and various forms of expertise make sense for a pirate-mage. Even his metamagic choices fit perfectly; he is both exceptionally quick to act and a very forceful, hard-to-defy person.

Patia is hard to pin down because we don't have any subclass features nor many feats, and she's otherwise a straightforward wizard build, but her spells paint a picture of a noncombatant, primarily interested in defense and obtaining information. The fact that many of these spells may be from her orb of power (and the ambiguity of whether this was standard at the time or something she had herself created) is also very cool.

Zerxus is a similarly very straightforward build and in many ways very classic paladin but the choice of redemption - a primarily defensive/deflecting build - and the degree to which he commits to that - as well as his incredibly powerful magical items - is a fantastic choice. I think it does a lot for story and worldbuilding to have the characters with divine powers be given the most powerful items and pivotal roles within the city while also having them be locked out from positions of true decision-making power. Inspiring leader was also a fun and fascinating contrast because on the one hand it complements both standard paladin abilities and specifically Oath of Redemption's focus on talking through problems rather than smiting first, but contrasts with Zerxus's incredibly serious and even somewhat bitter personality.

Loquatius, like Nydas, has a primarily bardic build with a few levels of another charisma caster, granting him some highly specific offensive capabilities bards lack but unlike Nydas, he is largely a support and utility character. The archfey subclass doesn't actually end up doing a whole lot mechanically, particularly since he's already a fey being, but it does put his choice to decline Elmenore's portal in a new light given that it's implied she's not just his queen, but the source of some of his powers. And, of course, eloquence is the perfect bard subclass for someone who is head of the state-run media and who in the end feels guilt over the damage his incredible powers of deception wrought.

Laerryn is by far the most min-maxed/optimized for combat: her high constitution, the tough feat, and her subclass are all designed to permit her to tank despite being a wizard. Eldritch Adept not only gives her additional armor as a cantrip; it also provides her with a way to game the system and recharge her arcane ward as Mage Armor is abjurative. It's a very cool choice, as well, to have her narratively be dedicated to something we often think of as conjuration or transmutative (planar magic/moving the leylines); to have her be the destroyer of some of the most powerful abjurative magic that ever was in that pursuit; and to then have her use that other skill set ultimately for a protective purpose in the end. The all-purpose tool is also very fitting and narratively earned in her role as someone who works on the infrastructure of the city. I also happen to just love the idea of using abjuration to refer to someone who is in charge of preventative maintenance rather than reactive shielding.

Cerrit has both a relatively simple build - martial, comparative restraint with the magical items - and a highly specialized one that tells the story of what the Eyes of Avalir are and how this non-magical group succeeds in a city of mages. Cerrit is built to be the anti-mage. He is incredibly good at seeing through quite frankly everything (expertise in insight, perception, and investigation); he is able to evade a number of magical effects and, failing that, outrun a lot of mages (150 ft in a turn of pure movement gets you out of range of the vast majority of spells); and the choice to have observant and mage slayer - and therefore to be a mostly melee rogue - means it's difficult for wizards to get around him. Inquisitive rogue also grants you the ability to get sneak attack without allies and to see through illusions. It creates, in effect, a character who will be in opposition of what we know to be the hallmarks of the age of arcanum, which makes his survival narratively very fitting.

#critical role #critical role spoilers #exu calamity #obviously this benefits from being an after-the-fact analysis but still nydas laerryn and cerrit in particular are such fantastic builds #ring of brass