What did you think about the choices in the latest Critical Role? And are you down for a world of all Magic the Gathering Matt Mercer? Let us know!

''Fans are divided'' and its one of the best episodes of any campaign

I think its inspired
Wick couldve died, but his last thoughts abt Tyranny inspired a choice - does thinking of her allow him to hang on longer, or does he let go and let her go?
I think outside of the mechanicas of the game, its actually sort of narratively beautiful

Tbf, Hal landing that suggestion is the only reason Wick didn’t just immediately die in one or two rounds. Like, this combat would have been an absolute massacre if Hal hadn’t made that assassin stall the other one for all those turns.

Honestly with how unfair the situation was/is against the schemers I see this as a needed niceness. They managed to turn a turn 1 instakill into a full episode+ fight and the dice were so brutal the DM had to balance the scales

I saw it as Brennan had planned for Wicc to die, and Hollis Kinneywater was supposed to be there to banish him upon his dying moment after releasing Tyranny from her contract, similar to the initial death of Occtis. It could have happened earlier, and we would have got the same result. But Brennan left it in the hands of Sam, who decided to let dice tell their own story, and tell their own story they did.

And considering the responses from the rest of the cast at the table, he made the right call. End of the day, yeah sure we're the audience but the most imporant audience is the cast itself. Whitney was in literal tears. Luis was so amped up he had to go hug everyone after the big roll. Marisha and Liam both had to hide in the pillowfort as they do when things get too tense. THAT is the magic of Critical Role. That is the magic of D&D. If you gotta futz with the rules a little bit to create that, futz with the rules.

That shit was so stacked against them if you're really upset by that you may be missing the forest for the tree.

Feels like Brennan is doing exactly what he should be doing as a DM. He was harsh where be needed to be when it came to the fight and the outcome that the plays got was a hard won outcome. It didn’t come easy to them. Even with him giving Sam that last roll, it was at disadvantage and he had to get above 10 on both die. With how he’d been rolling the entire night, the odds were stacked against him.

Also, maybe it’s just me, but knowing Wic’s role and his connection to the celestials of that world, I personally didn’t see Wic’s death being treated in the same way as anyone else’s. Or at least not his first true death. I was predicting that he would die, but somehow resurrect like Yanessa did. However, his would be a TRUE resurrection as opposed to her fake, staged one. So this wasn’t exactly what I predicted, but I felt like his death serving as a part of his evolution and a narrative conduit definitely tracked. Maybe that’s just me though.

I liked the “like we rehearsed?” Quip somewhere in the middle of the episode.

I don’t mind Brennan affecting the plot if that was his intent. His DM style is much more active and involved than Matt’s as story is concerned. This campaign feels like it’s had a few fixed plot beats from the beginning and the players are creating variations within it. I quite like it.

Sam only had a 25% chance to make the extra death save at disadvantage. I honestly thought he was going to take the option to die while freeing Tyranny, and forgoing the extra chance to live would just have made it extra painful. And then when he went for the “have your cake and eat it too” option, I thought “Well, he’s probably going to regret this” right up to the moment he hit those rolls.

So for me, it didn’t lower the stakes — we got a narratively satisfying outcome that still never felt like a sure thing.

I fucking loved this episode, if you watched the cooldown you'll get what happened here

Nonesense, what Brennan did was giving players more options. He gave a chance for them to have agency and either get a small win or dig their graves even further. As a player I would love to have those kinds of choices presented to me, as they only serve to make the story more interesting.

Its not railroading when he gives choices to the players that ultimately land on a dice roll. Its perfect collective story telling in my opinion. Keeps the story going and it makes it interesting because of the decisions presented to the players. It's awesome!

I have been a dm for a few one shots through out the years and a player. I have learned that extending a little bit of grace when the odds are stacked against them is necessary sometimes. There is no story for a dm that is uncaring and frankly no fun if your character has been paralyzed by a hold person spell for like the whole battle.

Calling litterally anything railroading now. It was very clearly step up in the cold open that Tsul'rekshi had planned for Wic to go to the pit, she said that WHEN he met X'sharavi, not if but WHEN to have him take everything. And in that had planned for him to get sent there. Having an NPC who was specifically there under Tsul'rekshi's oders bannish him as part of her plan is just fullfling the story

I enjoyed the HELL out of this episode, but comparing Wic's death to Teor's is completely unfair.

Teor decided to do something insanely dangerous in a place they were way underleveled to even attempt safely and he ultimately paid the price.

Wic was in the theater pumped full of literal plot armor and magic, surrounded by a few allies and nothing but enemies.  If anything, him being a LITERAL half angel is what I am taking away from this.  

In the end, Brennan did a fantastic job, he still has 1 PC death under his belt, and more are sure to come.

Episode 37 of Critical Role Campaign 4 was an absolute masterclass in my opinion.  The absolute roller coaster that was this combat had my heart racing and I  couldn’t stop watching the episode.  It was truly that gripping of an episode.

Past two episodes have been absolute bangers in my opinion.

He had the NPC there from the start. I think that was the plan all along. From the opening scene of the episode with Tyranny, he's talking about "needing to get to the show", and the demoness talking about essentially exactly the same.  Him banishing Wick was always HIS plan, obviously.  What he needed was the moment Tyranny was there coinciding with Wick dying.

Brendan is so skilled and knows what will make for the perfect story that if you trust no other DM trust him to balance everything in real time instead of through prep alone. He isn't being bias he is being smart and you need to just trust that. I think he has done  more than enough in his career to earn this faith.

I trust him with rules bending even more than Matt. Brendan truly values stroy above all else. If he is doing something there is more reasons for it than you think since he is only one that knows everything behind the scenes.

While a little railroady I didn't find it an issue either.  I also don't think Wic was destined to survive.  I think the trick to the encounter was to keep him alive until Tyranny was within range at which point IF he freed her then he would be banished with her.  That was the railroad or hidden secret to the encounter, but if he had died earlier then that would have been it.  As others have mentioned he also didn't have a lot of agency in the fight even though he did try to prepare by opening spell slots, so in a case like that I think a good DM should twist things to give them a chance.  And honestly, I enjoy a little railroad ride form time to time as long as it doesn't go too long.

I don't usually finish an episode in one sitting but OMG THIS WAS INTENSE AND HAD ME HOOKED ALL NIGHT.  I was rooting for people, pulling my hair out, heart broken, and seeing the players go through the same was absolutely peak role playing and engagement.  
The fight was built around choices they had made which made it feel even more engaging.  The little Gnome to do the banish wouldn't have been there if not invited previously.  Tyranny needing to be freed to go to the pit wouldn't have been a combat plot point if she had gone to the theater instead earlier in the night.  The fight didn't feel "pre-packaged", but instead very built around their up to minute choices which made it feel all the better.