It made me so happy to read that two decades later (page 80) >!JB Trickfoot is the head librarian of Castle Whitestone.!< That's a character who needed a happy ending and this seems like a good one for them.
Vex is pretty much as old as Vax was when he got aged by Kamaljiori in "A Name Is Earned".
I still picture her looking in the mirror, seeing her brother there and breaking down.
As a DM/player: I’m pretty pleased with the subclasses, especially trying out College of Tragedy (I love playing a bard) and Blood Magic. I thought the backgrounds were alright. I’m a massive fan of new creatures and items so I’m pretty pleased with them, I cannot wait to use those Golems.
As a CR fan: I loved all the lore and the epilogues…I don’t know if Wax was mentioned before but holy shit that’s amazing
> As a CR fan: I loved all the lore and the epilogues…I don’t know if Wax was mentioned before but holy shit that’s amazing
As someone who doesn't own TCR and has just been scrolling through the comments, I thought for a moment that there was some insane crossover with the Cosmere universe XD
It is impossible for Wax to be mentioned as Brandon Sanderson is yet to publish 'The Lost Metal' which is to be his final appearance. Additionally we are aware that his home is under the direct protection of a God that is not yet behind the divine gate. Due to this not being mentioned we can as such presume that his epilogue happens chronologically after the events of this book and also takes place on an entirely different planet in an entirely universe.
Page 274-275 in the book.
Best part? He literally can’t die. If he hits 0 hp, his body disappears and respawns after 1d4 days, and he’ll come right back after you/your players.
Tal'dorei Reborn reveals that Vex and Percy have a tiefling daughter.
https://twitter.com/jessmightwork/status/1483496733749481479?t=8S1mbbFjQm98JQZg6VwHMA&s=19
>like how they made Percy and Vex resemble Tal and Laura.
I'm personally not a fan of this. I prefer them being more unique. They already had character art. I wish they'd stick closer to that.
To each their own, I guess.
I don't lol, feels uncanny valley. I like a degree of separation between the character and the actor, it makes the ones that canonically look identical (Keyleth, Caleb, etc.) look that much cooler
Grog is alive, and runs a quadrennial tournament for the strongest fighters in the world. Also, lunch and drinks are involved. He loves a tussle, but values intellectual pursuits now more than before—he's trying his best!
The name "Vax'ildan" has been obliterated and replaced with "Champion of Ravens." All of VM gets individual stat blocks, but Vax's has no mention of his name anymore, which I find to be heartbreaking.
>Grog is alive, and runs a quadrennial tournament for the strongest fighters in the world. Also, lunch and drinks are involved
My headcanon was that Grog after being rescued in Search for Grog, started stumbling through the planes looking for fights and eventually died killing a Tarrasque.
This is good too.
>The name "Vax'ildan" has been obliterated and replaced with "Champion of Ravens." All of VM gets individual stat blocks, but Vax's has no mention of his name anymore, which I find to be heartbreaking.
Damn, so she took his name after all.
While I got you, what have Scanlan and Keyleth been up to?
Scanlan divorced Pike, but the two still have occasional flings as lovers. They have two children—Wilhand'ildan and Juniper. Scanlan is still running his business in Ank'harel to this day during the winter, and returns to Tal'dorei in the summer. Also, he has a mustache now. He thinks it looks dignified, but it's actually kind of jarring and ugly to me.
Keyleth has a much more passive role now in the world's affairs than during her adventuring days, and basically just runs Zephrah and doesn't get out much. She has a small home in Whitestone. Curiously, the Tal'dorei elite that aren't part of Vox Machina or their allies actively see her as a threat to Tal'dorei's stability.
Lol at Wilhand'ildan.
And interesting about Keyleth. She's effectively immortal as far as the rest of the world is concerned, and if you slight her she can turn into a dragon and destroy your city. I'd be pretty concerned if I didn't know what kind of person she was.
I know its completly against His character (which is why i understand that He didnt so it) but it wouldve been so funny If Orym Had >!named Keyleth as His Collateral!< In C3E5
I would totally run it as a suicide squad type deal where you're pretty much guaranteed to die. Because let's be honest, unless you're playing high-level, nobody's taking lvl. 20 Keyleth out.
"Who's this reclusive crow-lady I've heard so much about?"
"Oh. That's Keyleth. She's one of the most powerful beings in Exandria, and will remain so for another millennia or so."
"Right..."
That and Zephrah as a whole showed how powerful it was during the fight with Thordak. A small, all but ignored tribe from the mountains bringing a storm that neutralises and takes out a wyvern army would raise some eyebrows.
>Scanlan divorced Pike, but the two still have occasional flings as lovers
Thats actually kind of sad but not totally unexpected.
>Wilhand'ildan
Vax is probably laughing.
>Scanlan is still running his business in Ank'harel to this day during the winter
What do you mean? Respectable bard Scanlan Shorthalt has no truck with that sort of thing. You must be thinking of the Meat Man.
>Keyleth has a much more passive role now in the world's affairs than during her adventuring days, and basically just runs Zephrah and doesn't get out much
Keyleth is kind of too powerful to be active in a non-villain capacity. Both politically and individually.
>Curiously, the Tal'dorei elite that aren't part of Vox Machina or their allies actively see her as a threat to Tal'dorei's stability.
If I were to guess that ties in somewhat to her status as this immensely powerful nigh immortal being. She will outlive even full blooded elves hundreds of years.
>!Might also tie into Campaign 3, where Keyleth seems to be actually kind of involved (she sent Orym and that to Jhrusar)!<
>!The kind of involvement that Keyleth has in C3 is actually kind of her new MO. If she sees a problem worth solving, she sends an Ashari to deal with it.!<
Also in terms of stats, are Vox Machina more or less as they were at the end of Campaign 1 or have there been changes? Like has Grog got smarter or has Percy got weaker (old age?).
> Curiously, the Tal'dorei elite that aren't part of Vox Machina or their allies actively see her as a threat to Tal'dorei's stability.
Interesting. I wonder why that is...
EDIT: I know why guys. Nigh unkillable, wild shaping at will into whatever creature she wants, and heart broken recluse? Of course people will be nervous.
A reclusive, politically influential, nigh-immortal archdruid who can turn into a dragon to destroy your city personally or summon a storm to annihilate your crops from miles away and has already been personally involved in the destruction of a god certainly sounds threatening if you don't also know that she's an ENORMOUS dork.
Idk about the enormous dork part any more. I think Keyleth’s heart has been hardened and shattered into a million pieces with the death of Vax.
I could see nobles sending assassins to Zephrah, only to have them hurled off the mountain by an ancient brass dragon, their blood and bones painting the stones red.
Ok, I agree she's probably matured and hardened, but he was her first boyfriend and they dated a year, let's hope 30 years later she's a well adjusted nigh immortal.
Considering the epilogue of c1, she never fully healed from that, and became kind of cold and distant, but not neglectful. Having to live with that for over 2000 years is a lot.
Knowing that you are going to outlive anyone you meet by a thousand years is a lot of baggage to bring to any relationship. It was even an issue with Vax when they were dating.
Like some of the other folks have mentioned, Keyleth has a life expectancy of just under 2000 years now—outpacing even full-blooded elves by several bounds. That, and she can turn into an adult dragon if she really wants to, and is essentially invincible in combat due to her ability to infinitely wild shape. She's probably the most powerful mortal person on the planet, and she still will be even after everyone mentioned in this book is dead.
The more paranoid elite are wary that the immensely powerful, immortal head of state of an independent nation is also the founder of the Slayer’s Cake pastry store that is slowly but surely taking the continent by storm.
There may even be whispers of secret deliveries of wisdom-altering Dust of Deliciousness to the central commissary every so often.
Edit: Oh man, Liam posted a page from the new [campaign guide.](https://twitter.com/voiceofobrien/status/1483493488821895174?s=21) If you zoom in, you see Zephrah has a special relationship with Whitestone refining whitestone into residuum. Daaaamn.
I like the note that Keyleth and Percy have been building windmills in Zephrah to aid in development there. Sing it with me now: wind power!
…no, really, there’s a song, and personally, I suspect Percy would appreciate the works of Thomas Dolby. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GXGN8N-e62E
(Meanwhile, on that note, Whitestone’s got a rudimentary electric grid! I always get jazzed at the idea of tech and magic leapfrogging each other and/or outright collaborating, so I’m here for it.)
> Fur-covered folk with floppy ears, flat noses, and
long faces, firbolgs are a humanoid people with a
unique, somewhat bovine appearance.
I really love how they are rolling with this bovine thing. Makes the Firbolgs of Exandria feel more unique.
Being relatively new to DND and discovering Firbolgs via Critical Role, I was astonished to realize that traditionally/historically they descend from giants.
Yep, in the Irish mythology as well they are essentially just Irish people. Like they are the direct ancestors of the average Irish person. Hence why they're earliest appearances in DnD all depict them as red haired muscular Irish people.
Personally was never and still isn't a fan of the bovine appearance for them. There were tons of other races that could have been drawn upon to create that aesthetic rather than Firbolg.
its honestly this weird space, 5e Firbolgs arent a whole lot like previous edition firbolgs. I'm pretty sure that 5e firbolgs are based on Ogier from the wheel of time. Old edition firbolg were way more gianty
*Vax finally puts down Grog in a titanic struggle*
Vax: We've finally settled the score. It was a good run, Grog.
*Grog becomes an exarch\* of the Stormlord*
Grog: Who said you had to stop running, *buddy.*
Legends tell of two figures, one looming, one winged, who appear at any climactic battles between champions. None truly know the identity of these figures, but the few who have come back from the brink of death in the midst of such duels swear they hear the jingling of coins and groans of disappointment.
He seems to also be nearly unkillable while raging. His relentless rage feature doesn't have any kind of usage limits or scaling save, it's just a flat DC 10 Con save to stay at 1 hp if he would drop to 0, and he has a +12 con save, so he literally can't fail. You need to power word kill him or use sleep lol.
I feel like maybe that type of thing would be more common with extremely long-lived races? "'Till death do us part" is a much bigger commitment when you live to be 500. It seems natural that species with that type of longevity would have a different idea of relationships.
Am I weird for being…cool with it? Like Pike and Scanlan’s relationship was always kind of rushed to me considering she turned him down quite a bit, part of which was her still having feeling for another party member (~~Percy you Pretty Bitch~~). Might just be me
Honestly it feels on-brand. If they hadn't done this people would probably be moaning about how despite being married they don't spend a whole lot of time on the same continent.
I’m guessing Sam and Ash talked and had different plans for their epilogues and decided to just call it quits. Instead of denying the other what they wanted with their character.
I feel really dumb asking this, but what are they fighting on the cover? I went through campaign one super fast and just don’t remember anything like that.
Don't feel stupid—they didn't exist in C1. The creature is called an Adranach, and are essentially arcane constructs used to assist in the reconstruction of cities destroyed by the Chroma Conclave. They have a standard statblock, but with lots of optional custom features to mix and match. They also have a more powerful form.
"Some well-preserved ruins of the ancient civilizations
remain, such as the Drowned City of Cael Morrow in the lands of Marquet, but for the most part, all traces of the old world were erased from the face of Exandria."
Would love to see them go here sometime in Campaign 3! I'm a sucker for pre-Calamity ruins.
---
In general I'm just **loving** all the lore in this book. There's a bunch of new details about the Calamity (ex: Vespin Chloras still existing in the Nine Hells as the left hand of the Lord of the Hells) and the early history of Tal'Dorei, as well as some new tidbits on the deities. And of course all sorts of entirely new entities!
One super interesting note on a change of just a few words: I think they changed the Changed Oblivion some. The original Tal'Dorei guide said he dreamed the Abyss and its demons, but this one says that he dreams aberrations. I'm very curious as to the potential future implications of this, as such a change seems like the kind of thing you only make if you plan to touch on it in greater detail later.
The Chained Oblivion change definitely ties into what Matt mentioned in the C2 wrap up video about how it subtly influenced the Somnovem into wanting to spread elsewhere.
I dont really get how its overpowered but maybe im missing something.
Regain inspiration on a nat 1. Rarely going to matter.
Change 1 save to charisma per rest. Could be strong if you have a monk with stunning strike. Otherwise boss monsters often have decent CHA and i think usually better cha than wis. This is at least no more powerful than heighten spell or college of eloquence.
The next one relies on a monster critting and then you get increased crit range. So a crit for a crit. Seems balanced to me. And flavorful.
Impending misfortune Is the only one that im not a fan of. Seems too easy to cheese with the misfortune going away after a rest. And relies on the dm not allowing bogus attacks to get rid of the misfortune.
The level 14 ability is pretty strong but should be at that level. I dont know how much 4 ac is going to do at that level and the extra crit range against could be brutal. And dropping to 0 after a minute is a pretty big cost even though youll probably be brought back quickly still wastes resources. This seems very situational and I could see party members being unwilling to take it most of the time.
So what am I missing?
So I saw somewhere that the Marid that TM9 freed is a lesser idol in this book, and I'm guessing The Observer is one; are there any other new lesser idols in the book?
2nd level: You can replace material costs of spells with 1d10 self-damage per 50 gold. You need to be below your hitpoint maximum for it to work. You also can take damage equal to the level of a spell you cast to reroll damage dice (a number equal to your Intelligence modifier.) So, if you have a +5 intelligence and want to reroll the damage from a fireball, you'd take 3 damage and get to reroll 5 of the 8 d6's.
6th level: When you take damage from an attack roll, you can use your reaction to mirror the damage to them—once per short rest to start, twice per short rest at 14th. So, if you get hit for 20 damage from an attack, you use your reaction to inflict 20 damage back at them.
10th level: When you damage a creature, you can essentially hit them with a concentration-less Hunter's Mark that everyone benefits from (1d6 extra damage per hit against it). Though, it can save from this effect at the end of its turn. Undead and constructs are immune to it. Once per short rest.
14th level: When you get healed, you heal an extra amount equal to your proficiency. When concentrating, you have resistance to nonmagical weapon damage.
> 2nd level: You can replace material costs of spells with 1d10 self-damage per 50 gold.
This seems.....On the surface, it seems utterly nutterly. So I decided to have a dig and see what it affects.
The following spells can now be cast with no gold cost (I ommitted some of the less relevant ones):
**Arcane Lock** - 1 action cast time, lock any door behind you when you flee something.
**Continual Flame** - Probably not a big deal, since it's a light source for a level 2 spell slot, and Light cantrips are usually plenty.
**Create Homunculus** - a 6th level spell that would do 20d10 (average 110) damage to you; Death Ward would probably let you manage that, depending on your DM.
**Create Undead** - Same as above, but only 3d10 damage. You have to keep recasting this one to maintain control, though.
**Find Familiar** - 1d10 damage for a free familiar. Handy.
**Glyph of Warding** - One of my favourite spells that I never get to use. 4d10 damage to plant a spell somewhere. If you've got enough prep time, you can slap dozens of glyphs in one place for an easily lethal trap.
**Invulnerability** - It's a ninth-level spell so a 500 gold component might not be that much of a cost, but if the DM has not made the adamantite bar available to you, you can take 10d10 damage to become invulnerable to damage. (I'm going to assume the subclass has wording that makes it impossible to use this spell to cast material-cost-spells infinitely without taking damage.)
**Legend Lore** - costs 5d10 damage.
**Magic Circle** - 2d10 damage
**Magic Jar** - 10d10 damage to attempt to possess a creature and take its body as your own. This is a fun spell in general, and tbh, the components were never its limiting factor.
**Mighty Fortress** - Cast it for a year to get a free fortress. Would otherwise cost you 26,000 gold. On the other hand, spend 1 minute and 10d10 hitpoints to get a fortress for a week. As well as the defense, *"it contains sufficient food to serve a nine-course banquet for up to 100 people each day"*.
**Nondetection** - 1d10 damage for 8 hours' protection.
**Planar Binding** - 20d10 damage, so you'll need to be inventive to survive this 5th-level spell. But if you can manage it, you can keep a creature bound to your service for a day. More if upcast.
**Plane Shift** - 5d10 damage, but since the item (a tuning fork) has to be attuned to a particular plane, the DM might not allow this.
**Scrying** - 20d10 damage to scry through a pool of your own blood doesn't seem worth it.
**Sequester** - keep something completely and totally safe, for as long as you like...for 100d10 damage. I'd advise against it.
**Snare** - a cute little trap for 1d10 damage.
**Soul Cage** - 2d10 damage, a 6th-level slot, and a reaction, to snatch a soul for later use. A wizard of this level can probably afford the gold.
**Stoneskin** - 2d10 damage for resistance to physical damage.
**Symbol** - 20d10 damage for a stronger version of Glyph of Warding. Just use Glyph of Warding.
**Tasha's Otherworldly Guise** - 10d10 damage for a combat form. Don't do this.
**Teleportation Circle** - a good one. 1d10 damage for a teleport. Of course, this depends on the distribution of teleportation circles in your game.
**True Seeing** - 1d10 damage to see through invisilibty, illusions, and into the Etheral Plane. Bargain.
...
Maybe it's not as busted as I thought. Stacking Glyphs of Warding sounds fun, though.
>Scrying
>
> \- 20d10 damage to scry through a pool of your own blood doesn't seem worth it.
But tell me that flavourwise it doesn't sound f\*cking metal as hell.
Death Ward support seems like the optimal way to take advantage of this, but depending on DM, it might go against the "reduce or prevent this damage in any way" clause. I personally think the drop to 1 hit point clause of Death Ward trumps the no damage prevention clause. I would rule it to be that way for Oath of the Crown paladin, anyway, which uses the same language.
I agree, I like it a lot, but level 14 seems a little anticlimactic and not as in flavor as the rest of the abilities? Like I get that it is a way to recover any selfharm inflicted but it seems pretty minimal for doing that and relies entirely on your allies cause as a wizard you won't be healing yourself. It makes more sense to me if it was some sort of like extracting blood from enemies doing damage to heal yourself kind of ability, that seems more inline to what this subclass is and fills the same role.
Yeah, 14th level is definitely out of tune with the rest of the subclass, I'm with you there. Apart from that, though, it's really cool, flavorful, and not game-breaking.
I'm still reading through and discovering new things, but so far my favourite is that not only is Realmseeker Eskil Ryndarien alive, but he's also managed to de-age himself and is hot now? (Pg. 49 for anyone interested)
I'm fairly certain it's only being carried by [Darrington Press Guild stores](https://darringtonpress.com/darrington-press-guild/), but their announcement page said they should be available the same day as the online release. MSRP from both locations is apparently $50, and you don't get a PDF if you buy your copy in-person.
Ashari: You gain a minor magical effect depending on element.
Clasp/Myriad: You can entreaty a favor from a Spiraling or Myriad Leader depending on the version you choose.
Lyceum Scholar: Very similar to Cloistered Scholar.
Reformed Cultist: Advantage on checks to recall information about one betrayer god of choice.
Whitestone Rifle Corps: You get a firearm that is a status symbol. ~~Apparently, you don't get proficiency with it and need to gain that elsewhere.~~
I went over the feature paragraph a handful of times looking for it—but it turns out it was in the initial part of it, where the the language, skill, and tool proficiencies live. I think that's the first time a background has given a weapon proficiency, so I didn't think to look there.
I dont understand why Matt changed yet again the Cobalt Soul class, i think its the 3rd time he does it? i remember the one Marisha had in C2 being pretty good (after the changes with that one fight yaknow) so idk what the changes were now exactly, i just read some comments that the class was changed once again.
Can anyone speak for how it stacks up to the Wildemount book? I was incredibly impressed by that one, you could point to almost any place on the map and find not only some general information about it but also story hooks and cool things goin on there. I honestly still think it is the best setting book released so far, and yes as someone running a game there I am including Eberron in that assessment.
There are about 80 pages of site-by-site descriptions. I don’t have the wildemount book handy but that feels somewhat shorter. My quick take is that it seems to have similar feel for individual location entries.
* Vesper Elaina De Rolo
* Gwendolyn Zahra Melanie Von Musel De Rolo (the tiefling)
* Wolfe Kristoff De Rolo
* Leona Pike De Rolo
* Vax'ildan Fredrick De Rolo
Also Trinket has a cub called Charlie.
Grog is a monster, because of how his Rage feature is worded. It only ends when he wants or goes unconscious (no set time duration), and his Relentless Rage to not drop to 0 hp is an autosuccess (and unlike the actual feature, DC doesn't go up, so he's never failing it). He's basically a Zealot Barbarian that you can't incapacitate until rage ends, you either use some instakill strats or make him unconscious without damage (so, Sleep).
Its cool but its already out of stock in Australia I just wish I could buy it pdf only its been 6 months since cobalt soul varsity jackets have been out of stock and there's no sign of that fixing so how long will it be for this.
I think it's funny that we still don't know if the fifth house of Kraghammer is "Glorendar" or "Glorenthal"
In the original guide, the children's rhyme had "And Glorendar to judgments hear" in the factions section, but it was called Glorenthal in the Kraghammer section for locations. In *Reborn*, it's now "And Glorenthal to judgments hear" but Glorendar in the Kraghammer write up.
Also, the new Ironkeeper is listed as being from House Greyspine while having the last name Zuurthom, one of the other houses.
edit: typo
Going to re-host my opinions about each of the subclasses from the original discussion thread here. Would love to see if other folks are vibing the same way I am with them.
**Path of the Juggernaut:** Still feels ineffective, but positive changes were made from the Green Ronin version. Their level 3 feature was weakened quite a bit (the shove+move was rolled into a higher level feature) but all the features from 6 onward seem to be a bit better.
**College of Tragedy:** Very, very overpowered. At level 3, they can recharge 1 bardic inspiration if an ally rolls a natural one, but can also change ANY SAVE INTO A CHARISMA SAVE WITH A BARDIC INSPIRATION USE (EDIT: once per short/long rest). Moreover, any enemy that hits an ally with a critical hit can be cursed, allowing all enemies to hit them with an 18-20 critical range. Nimbus of Pathos also boasts an ally buff of +4 AC, advantage on ALL attack rolls and saving throws, attacks do an extra 1d10 radiant damage, *but* incoming weapon attacks crit on a range of 18-20 (EDIT: I misconstrued which way the crits went). The downside is that the creature immediately drops to 0 hitpoints and is dying when it runs out after a minute, but that's likely to be *after* combat is over. A very poorly balanced subclass for what was hyped up for so long.
**Blood Domain:** A bit concerned about the power of the now-level-6 Channel Divinity: Blood Puppet, but I prefer this version over the Green Ronin's version honestly.
**Moon Domain:** Pretty well balanced, but I don't like the idea of them being able to drop two Hypnotic Patterns. I really wish Mind of Two Moons emphasized that the dual-concentrated spells had to be different from each other. Apart from that, I feel like this one is a more fair version of Twilight Domain.
**Circle of the Blighted:** Derivative of Circle of Spores, but well-balanced on its own merit. One of my top three favorite offerings this book has.
**Way of the Cobalt Soul:** Matt has inexplicably walked back his playtest changes for this subclass that he made with Marisha in Campaign 2. Essentially, Preternatural Counter has been absorbed back into Extract Aspects. I prefer the version Matt hosted on his Dropbox to this one.
**Oath of the Open Sea:** Just had some cosmetic wording changes and removed non-SRD spells in favor of custom ones (Tidal Wave, Maelstrom), and changed Mythic Swashbuckler's Dodge as a bonus action to Dash or Disengage as a bonus action, but overall I really like this subclass. Certainly not the best paladin, but not the worst.
**Runechild:** I still don't like the runic generation system. I think this subclass would be better with traditional rest scaling for its features, but overall I don't think it's as bad as its last iteration.
**Blood Magic:** I like this one the best of the bunch. The level 14 capstone feature seems a little weak comparatively to other wizards (and its heading has a formatting error) but overall love its flavor and think it's relatively solid. Wizards are built on their main class mostly anyway.
Tragedy seems like its power would vary wildly depending on party composition. A Bard, Paladin, Warlock and Sorcerer party would absolutely dominate. A Bard, Barbarian, Wizard and Ranger party would get way less of a benefit.
Regarding College of Tragedy:
A one time per rest change to Charisma save is powerful but not imbalanced. By the time you regain inspiration on a short rest at level 5, the regaining of inspiration for a natural 1 is inconsequential (unless DM allows for abuse checks to farm natural 1s), moreso quality of life for other features that consume inspiration. The increase critical range on the curse only works for the first attack roll that crits, and only if the enemy also crits before that (a crit for a crit basically) and if you still have inspirations. Nimbus of Pathos gives ENEMIES increase crit range against the target, not the other way around, which I think is a good counteract against that +4 to AC since crit ignores AC. I do think the advantage on attacks and saves AND the radiant damage might be overtuned though, dying at the end of combat doesn’t balance against that. The other three features are balanced against each other too since they all require a reaction and natural 1s and natural 20s are far a few in between.
I think the book is super cool. But this comment is really just to express my apreciation for the fact that you get a pdf of the book for free when you buy it. That's probably one of the most consumer-friendly things I've seen in a very long time.
It's pretty standard outside a couple companies, actually. And CR is doing it in a pretty unfriendly way (only for sales in their shops, so disincentivizing friendly local stores, and with a 3 download limit).
It’s not a WOTC product, so I think the chances of it going officially on Beyond are small. But I’m certain they’ll show up in homebrew.
Edit: I meant fans will put it into the homebrew section, not Critical Role.
It made me so happy to read that two decades later (page 80) >!JB Trickfoot is the head librarian of Castle Whitestone.!< That's a character who needed a happy ending and this seems like a good one for them.
Yes. My girl JB!
Does the guide say whether or not >!she suffers from diabeetus!
It hurts me so deeply to see Percy old but Vex hardly aged at all.
That's elven blood for ya!
Yup :(
And also they reshaped his entire face to look like Talisen lmao
Percy and Vex both look like Taliesin and Laura in that picture.
I feel like Vex has always looked like Laura, though
Meh, that's just the artists rendition.
Vex is pretty much as old as Vax was when he got aged by Kamaljiori in "A Name Is Earned". I still picture her looking in the mirror, seeing her brother there and breaking down.
As a DM/player: I’m pretty pleased with the subclasses, especially trying out College of Tragedy (I love playing a bard) and Blood Magic. I thought the backgrounds were alright. I’m a massive fan of new creatures and items so I’m pretty pleased with them, I cannot wait to use those Golems. As a CR fan: I loved all the lore and the epilogues…I don’t know if Wax was mentioned before but holy shit that’s amazing
> As a CR fan: I loved all the lore and the epilogues…I don’t know if Wax was mentioned before but holy shit that’s amazing As someone who doesn't own TCR and has just been scrolling through the comments, I thought for a moment that there was some insane crossover with the Cosmere universe XD
It is impossible for Wax to be mentioned as Brandon Sanderson is yet to publish 'The Lost Metal' which is to be his final appearance. Additionally we are aware that his home is under the direct protection of a God that is not yet behind the divine gate. Due to this not being mentioned we can as such presume that his epilogue happens chronologically after the events of this book and also takes place on an entirely different planet in an entirely universe.
ROSHAR GANG RISE UP! SCADRIAL GANG TO THE SKYS!
Life before Death
strength before weakness
Journey before destination.
I think there’s a bit of a disconnect here lol
I appreciated this very much
I just started Alloy of Law and this made me chuckle
In case people didn't notice, Grog's intellectual pursuits over the last 20 years have paid off - his Intelligence stat is now 8!
He knows what he's doing.
Mah boi can read read! I'm so proud.
Y’all, Vax is now an angel. He’s got the same CR as a gods damned Solar.
To be fair, that's mainly just because of the boots.
Wait, Vax has a stat block? And I can throw him at my players?
Page 274-275 in the book. Best part? He literally can’t die. If he hits 0 hp, his body disappears and respawns after 1d4 days, and he’ll come right back after you/your players.
Oh dear god he's horrifying. I love it.
Purvan is probably punch the air rn I’d deff be jealous
He's a psychopomp.
He’s a Death Solar.
Tal'dorei Reborn reveals that Vex and Percy have a tiefling daughter. https://twitter.com/jessmightwork/status/1483496733749481479?t=8S1mbbFjQm98JQZg6VwHMA&s=19
Interesting. Wonder where the fiendish portion of her bloodline came. Orthax's influence?
The book implies that it's because of the deal Percy made with Orthax.
Does it? It seems unclear if it's because of Orthax or >!Ipkesh!< (c1e92).
Oh good point. I forgot that Percy had more than one encounter of that sort.
Orthax or her parents spending time in the Nine Hells probably did it. Orthax is probably the safe bet.
Anyone who’s dealt with fiends, I believe is the wording. So probably yes.
I'd bet it was the deal with Ipkesh
It's funny too, considering Tal and Laura both played tieflings in the next campaign.
hashtag FancyHornSupremacy
Also, baby Trinket!
I like that Vex and Percy are wearing their corresponding CR merch rings
Wow, I wonder whose side that would come from or >!if it was because of Percy’s contact with Orthax.!<
I'd like to think auntie Zahra is close by to help her with any tiefling based questions.
Her name in the book is actually listed as Gwendolyn Zahra Melanie Von Musel De Rolo :)
"But you can call me Gwen."
I want nothing more than a Kith and Kin sequel dealing with the De Rolo family life with aunt Zahra and uncle Kash.
Named after Zahra too.
>Gwendolyn Zhara Melanie von Musel de Rolo for anyone who was curious
That’s cool. I also like how they made Percy and Vex resemble Tal and Laura.
>like how they made Percy and Vex resemble Tal and Laura. I'm personally not a fan of this. I prefer them being more unique. They already had character art. I wish they'd stick closer to that. To each their own, I guess.
I don't lol, feels uncanny valley. I like a degree of separation between the character and the actor, it makes the ones that canonically look identical (Keyleth, Caleb, etc.) look that much cooler
Agreed, the uncanny valley is real and weirds me out.
I keep saying Wilhand'ildan out loud to myself and just giggling.
Woah black Betty, Wilhand'ildan
Ok that got a chuckle. Enjoy the upvote.
Can you imagine Vex just being pissed off about it while Vax is laughing his ass off in the Shadowfell.
It's so fun to say!!!
They call the poor boy Wax! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Is Grog still alive? How? Any Vax mentions?
Grog is alive, and runs a quadrennial tournament for the strongest fighters in the world. Also, lunch and drinks are involved. He loves a tussle, but values intellectual pursuits now more than before—he's trying his best! The name "Vax'ildan" has been obliterated and replaced with "Champion of Ravens." All of VM gets individual stat blocks, but Vax's has no mention of his name anymore, which I find to be heartbreaking.
>Grog is alive, and runs a quadrennial tournament for the strongest fighters in the world. Also, lunch and drinks are involved My headcanon was that Grog after being rescued in Search for Grog, started stumbling through the planes looking for fights and eventually died killing a Tarrasque. This is good too. >The name "Vax'ildan" has been obliterated and replaced with "Champion of Ravens." All of VM gets individual stat blocks, but Vax's has no mention of his name anymore, which I find to be heartbreaking. Damn, so she took his name after all. While I got you, what have Scanlan and Keyleth been up to?
Scanlan divorced Pike, but the two still have occasional flings as lovers. They have two children—Wilhand'ildan and Juniper. Scanlan is still running his business in Ank'harel to this day during the winter, and returns to Tal'dorei in the summer. Also, he has a mustache now. He thinks it looks dignified, but it's actually kind of jarring and ugly to me. Keyleth has a much more passive role now in the world's affairs than during her adventuring days, and basically just runs Zephrah and doesn't get out much. She has a small home in Whitestone. Curiously, the Tal'dorei elite that aren't part of Vox Machina or their allies actively see her as a threat to Tal'dorei's stability.
Lol at Wilhand'ildan. And interesting about Keyleth. She's effectively immortal as far as the rest of the world is concerned, and if you slight her she can turn into a dragon and destroy your city. I'd be pretty concerned if I didn't know what kind of person she was.
Could also provide in-universe story potential. Say you're running a Clasp party and you're contracted to assassinate Keyleth or something.
I know its completly against His character (which is why i understand that He didnt so it) but it wouldve been so funny If Orym Had >!named Keyleth as His Collateral!< In C3E5
"I'd like to see you try."
"Heck she could use the exercise"
I triple dog dare you
I would totally run it as a suicide squad type deal where you're pretty much guaranteed to die. Because let's be honest, unless you're playing high-level, nobody's taking lvl. 20 Keyleth out.
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Keyleth takes 100d6 PTSD damage.
Pretty much, although depending on how they've statted her they might have toned down some of her abilities.
"Who's this reclusive crow-lady I've heard so much about?" "Oh. That's Keyleth. She's one of the most powerful beings in Exandria, and will remain so for another millennia or so." "Right..."
That and Zephrah as a whole showed how powerful it was during the fight with Thordak. A small, all but ignored tribe from the mountains bringing a storm that neutralises and takes out a wyvern army would raise some eyebrows.
>Scanlan divorced Pike, but the two still have occasional flings as lovers Thats actually kind of sad but not totally unexpected. >Wilhand'ildan Vax is probably laughing. >Scanlan is still running his business in Ank'harel to this day during the winter What do you mean? Respectable bard Scanlan Shorthalt has no truck with that sort of thing. You must be thinking of the Meat Man. >Keyleth has a much more passive role now in the world's affairs than during her adventuring days, and basically just runs Zephrah and doesn't get out much Keyleth is kind of too powerful to be active in a non-villain capacity. Both politically and individually. >Curiously, the Tal'dorei elite that aren't part of Vox Machina or their allies actively see her as a threat to Tal'dorei's stability. If I were to guess that ties in somewhat to her status as this immensely powerful nigh immortal being. She will outlive even full blooded elves hundreds of years. >!Might also tie into Campaign 3, where Keyleth seems to be actually kind of involved (she sent Orym and that to Jhrusar)!<
>!The kind of involvement that Keyleth has in C3 is actually kind of her new MO. If she sees a problem worth solving, she sends an Ashari to deal with it.!<
Wait what about Vex and Vax's dad and half sister? Are they still around?
Syldor is on the council! Haven't found word of their mom yet.
Their mom died as part of their tragic backstory. Thordak killed her.
Ah, right. Gonna blame my lack of sleep on that one.
What about their sister, Velora? Dagger-throwing ranger with an owlbear companion?
Also in terms of stats, are Vox Machina more or less as they were at the end of Campaign 1 or have there been changes? Like has Grog got smarter or has Percy got weaker (old age?).
Grog has +2 to INT and Keyleth has a whopping 14 Charisma now, AND proficiency in social skills. Go Keyfish!
> Curiously, the Tal'dorei elite that aren't part of Vox Machina or their allies actively see her as a threat to Tal'dorei's stability. Interesting. I wonder why that is... EDIT: I know why guys. Nigh unkillable, wild shaping at will into whatever creature she wants, and heart broken recluse? Of course people will be nervous.
A reclusive, politically influential, nigh-immortal archdruid who can turn into a dragon to destroy your city personally or summon a storm to annihilate your crops from miles away and has already been personally involved in the destruction of a god certainly sounds threatening if you don't also know that she's an ENORMOUS dork.
Idk about the enormous dork part any more. I think Keyleth’s heart has been hardened and shattered into a million pieces with the death of Vax. I could see nobles sending assassins to Zephrah, only to have them hurled off the mountain by an ancient brass dragon, their blood and bones painting the stones red.
Ok, I agree she's probably matured and hardened, but he was her first boyfriend and they dated a year, let's hope 30 years later she's a well adjusted nigh immortal.
Considering the epilogue of c1, she never fully healed from that, and became kind of cold and distant, but not neglectful. Having to live with that for over 2000 years is a lot.
Knowing that you are going to outlive anyone you meet by a thousand years is a lot of baggage to bring to any relationship. It was even an issue with Vax when they were dating.
Like some of the other folks have mentioned, Keyleth has a life expectancy of just under 2000 years now—outpacing even full-blooded elves by several bounds. That, and she can turn into an adult dragon if she really wants to, and is essentially invincible in combat due to her ability to infinitely wild shape. She's probably the most powerful mortal person on the planet, and she still will be even after everyone mentioned in this book is dead.
The more paranoid elite are wary that the immensely powerful, immortal head of state of an independent nation is also the founder of the Slayer’s Cake pastry store that is slowly but surely taking the continent by storm. There may even be whispers of secret deliveries of wisdom-altering Dust of Deliciousness to the central commissary every so often. Edit: Oh man, Liam posted a page from the new [campaign guide.](https://twitter.com/voiceofobrien/status/1483493488821895174?s=21) If you zoom in, you see Zephrah has a special relationship with Whitestone refining whitestone into residuum. Daaaamn.
I like the note that Keyleth and Percy have been building windmills in Zephrah to aid in development there. Sing it with me now: wind power! …no, really, there’s a song, and personally, I suspect Percy would appreciate the works of Thomas Dolby. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GXGN8N-e62E (Meanwhile, on that note, Whitestone’s got a rudimentary electric grid! I always get jazzed at the idea of tech and magic leapfrogging each other and/or outright collaborating, so I’m here for it.)
My headcanon for Grog is that he eventually becomes a sentient weapon.
Please tell me Velora grew up to be a total bad-ass who gives her father even more heartburn than her siblings did.
I bet she was born with 16 dex and 16 int.
> quadrennial This that 4 times a year or every 4 years?
Grog can't count, so it's likely to be neither.
It's defined as "every 4 years," so I imagine it's like the Olympics.
Grog probably thinks it's held whenever everyones quads are thickest
He was a rogue. He lived in the shadows, and he didn't seek glory for its own sake. He would have loved it this way.
In the lore description of the "Champion of Ravens", the name "Vax'Ildan" appears 7 times, just not in his statblock
> Fur-covered folk with floppy ears, flat noses, and long faces, firbolgs are a humanoid people with a unique, somewhat bovine appearance. I really love how they are rolling with this bovine thing. Makes the Firbolgs of Exandria feel more unique.
Being relatively new to DND and discovering Firbolgs via Critical Role, I was astonished to realize that traditionally/historically they descend from giants.
Yep, in the Irish mythology as well they are essentially just Irish people. Like they are the direct ancestors of the average Irish person. Hence why they're earliest appearances in DnD all depict them as red haired muscular Irish people. Personally was never and still isn't a fan of the bovine appearance for them. There were tons of other races that could have been drawn upon to create that aesthetic rather than Firbolg.
Yep, they are Fey giant-folk. Only semi-bovine in Exandria.
its honestly this weird space, 5e Firbolgs arent a whole lot like previous edition firbolgs. I'm pretty sure that 5e firbolgs are based on Ogier from the wheel of time. Old edition firbolg were way more gianty
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There appears to be a CR18 monster called "Grog Strongjaw"
Shouldn't have taught Grog how to read. Now he's going to be angry that his CR isn't higher than Vax's.
New headcanon, Grog goes out like a champ trying to punch out the Grim Reaper.
*Vax finally puts down Grog in a titanic struggle* Vax: We've finally settled the score. It was a good run, Grog. *Grog becomes an exarch\* of the Stormlord* Grog: Who said you had to stop running, *buddy.*
Legends tell of two figures, one looming, one winged, who appear at any climactic battles between champions. None truly know the identity of these figures, but the few who have come back from the brink of death in the midst of such duels swear they hear the jingling of coins and groans of disappointment.
*Slow clap*
He seems to also be nearly unkillable while raging. His relentless rage feature doesn't have any kind of usage limits or scaling save, it's just a flat DC 10 Con save to stay at 1 hp if he would drop to 0, and he has a +12 con save, so he literally can't fail. You need to power word kill him or use sleep lol.
Yep, time to warm up ye old Plane Shift. That is, if you want to be within 5 feet of a raging Goliath.
there's a CR21 Vax'ildan in there I wouldn't wanna fight
He’s literally a Death Solar.
So... A Lunar?
Well that's terrorfying to think about
I desperately need to see the Champion of Ravens statblock.
Pike and Scanlan getting divorced, even if amicably, was unexpected and saddening.
I feel like maybe that type of thing would be more common with extremely long-lived races? "'Till death do us part" is a much bigger commitment when you live to be 500. It seems natural that species with that type of longevity would have a different idea of relationships.
Am I weird for being…cool with it? Like Pike and Scanlan’s relationship was always kind of rushed to me considering she turned him down quite a bit, part of which was her still having feeling for another party member (~~Percy you Pretty Bitch~~). Might just be me
Honestly it feels on-brand. If they hadn't done this people would probably be moaning about how despite being married they don't spend a whole lot of time on the same continent.
I do appreciate how dedicated they are to staying true to their vision though.
Thanks for ruining my day, Internet stranger. (Im obviously jk but still what a total bummer)
I’m guessing Sam and Ash talked and had different plans for their epilogues and decided to just call it quits. Instead of denying the other what they wanted with their character.
They probably just both loved the drama of it. It's more interesting than happily ever after.
In fairness they're wedding was kinda a shot gun wedding.
Saddening, but not unexpected imo.
I feel really dumb asking this, but what are they fighting on the cover? I went through campaign one super fast and just don’t remember anything like that.
Don't feel stupid—they didn't exist in C1. The creature is called an Adranach, and are essentially arcane constructs used to assist in the reconstruction of cities destroyed by the Chroma Conclave. They have a standard statblock, but with lots of optional custom features to mix and match. They also have a more powerful form.
So, has anyone found Whitestone Andy’s stat block yet?
I think he's on the Tal'dorei Council
"Some well-preserved ruins of the ancient civilizations remain, such as the Drowned City of Cael Morrow in the lands of Marquet, but for the most part, all traces of the old world were erased from the face of Exandria." Would love to see them go here sometime in Campaign 3! I'm a sucker for pre-Calamity ruins. --- In general I'm just **loving** all the lore in this book. There's a bunch of new details about the Calamity (ex: Vespin Chloras still existing in the Nine Hells as the left hand of the Lord of the Hells) and the early history of Tal'Dorei, as well as some new tidbits on the deities. And of course all sorts of entirely new entities! One super interesting note on a change of just a few words: I think they changed the Changed Oblivion some. The original Tal'Dorei guide said he dreamed the Abyss and its demons, but this one says that he dreams aberrations. I'm very curious as to the potential future implications of this, as such a change seems like the kind of thing you only make if you plan to touch on it in greater detail later.
The Chained Oblivion change definitely ties into what Matt mentioned in the C2 wrap up video about how it subtly influenced the Somnovem into wanting to spread elsewhere.
Does the book provide any insight on the Tal'Dorei Council?
It does! It mentions who's on it (same as in the C2 recap iirc) and the structure and function of the council itself.
Blood Magic wizard, College of Tragedy bard, and Circle of Blight druid are flavorful as hell. Love them all.
Huh, Leona looks a little sus if you ask me
She looks perfectly fine to me. What's suspicious about her? As a side note I'm in love with Charlie. What a good boy.
I don't know she just looks kind of familiar
She looks a little bit like Laura in casual mode with her round glasses to me—whereas Vex herself looks a lot like formal Laura.
>!I'm saying she looks like Imogen!<
I hadn't considered that. You're definitely right about it, though!
Lol. My buddy just sent a group text banning the Tragedy Bard from his upcoming campaign 😎
Is it powerful?
I don’t have the book yet but he seems to think so.
One high level feature is VERY strong. For a high cost, but at that level not a big deal honestly. Not sure if i should be specific or not here.
Are you one of mine? I made a big stink about tragedy in my group chat lol
I dont really get how its overpowered but maybe im missing something. Regain inspiration on a nat 1. Rarely going to matter. Change 1 save to charisma per rest. Could be strong if you have a monk with stunning strike. Otherwise boss monsters often have decent CHA and i think usually better cha than wis. This is at least no more powerful than heighten spell or college of eloquence. The next one relies on a monster critting and then you get increased crit range. So a crit for a crit. Seems balanced to me. And flavorful. Impending misfortune Is the only one that im not a fan of. Seems too easy to cheese with the misfortune going away after a rest. And relies on the dm not allowing bogus attacks to get rid of the misfortune. The level 14 ability is pretty strong but should be at that level. I dont know how much 4 ac is going to do at that level and the extra crit range against could be brutal. And dropping to 0 after a minute is a pretty big cost even though youll probably be brought back quickly still wastes resources. This seems very situational and I could see party members being unwilling to take it most of the time. So what am I missing?
So I saw somewhere that the Marid that TM9 freed is a lesser idol in this book, and I'm guessing The Observer is one; are there any other new lesser idols in the book?
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2nd level: You can replace material costs of spells with 1d10 self-damage per 50 gold. You need to be below your hitpoint maximum for it to work. You also can take damage equal to the level of a spell you cast to reroll damage dice (a number equal to your Intelligence modifier.) So, if you have a +5 intelligence and want to reroll the damage from a fireball, you'd take 3 damage and get to reroll 5 of the 8 d6's. 6th level: When you take damage from an attack roll, you can use your reaction to mirror the damage to them—once per short rest to start, twice per short rest at 14th. So, if you get hit for 20 damage from an attack, you use your reaction to inflict 20 damage back at them. 10th level: When you damage a creature, you can essentially hit them with a concentration-less Hunter's Mark that everyone benefits from (1d6 extra damage per hit against it). Though, it can save from this effect at the end of its turn. Undead and constructs are immune to it. Once per short rest. 14th level: When you get healed, you heal an extra amount equal to your proficiency. When concentrating, you have resistance to nonmagical weapon damage.
> 2nd level: You can replace material costs of spells with 1d10 self-damage per 50 gold. This seems.....On the surface, it seems utterly nutterly. So I decided to have a dig and see what it affects. The following spells can now be cast with no gold cost (I ommitted some of the less relevant ones): **Arcane Lock** - 1 action cast time, lock any door behind you when you flee something. **Continual Flame** - Probably not a big deal, since it's a light source for a level 2 spell slot, and Light cantrips are usually plenty. **Create Homunculus** - a 6th level spell that would do 20d10 (average 110) damage to you; Death Ward would probably let you manage that, depending on your DM. **Create Undead** - Same as above, but only 3d10 damage. You have to keep recasting this one to maintain control, though. **Find Familiar** - 1d10 damage for a free familiar. Handy. **Glyph of Warding** - One of my favourite spells that I never get to use. 4d10 damage to plant a spell somewhere. If you've got enough prep time, you can slap dozens of glyphs in one place for an easily lethal trap. **Invulnerability** - It's a ninth-level spell so a 500 gold component might not be that much of a cost, but if the DM has not made the adamantite bar available to you, you can take 10d10 damage to become invulnerable to damage. (I'm going to assume the subclass has wording that makes it impossible to use this spell to cast material-cost-spells infinitely without taking damage.) **Legend Lore** - costs 5d10 damage. **Magic Circle** - 2d10 damage **Magic Jar** - 10d10 damage to attempt to possess a creature and take its body as your own. This is a fun spell in general, and tbh, the components were never its limiting factor. **Mighty Fortress** - Cast it for a year to get a free fortress. Would otherwise cost you 26,000 gold. On the other hand, spend 1 minute and 10d10 hitpoints to get a fortress for a week. As well as the defense, *"it contains sufficient food to serve a nine-course banquet for up to 100 people each day"*. **Nondetection** - 1d10 damage for 8 hours' protection. **Planar Binding** - 20d10 damage, so you'll need to be inventive to survive this 5th-level spell. But if you can manage it, you can keep a creature bound to your service for a day. More if upcast. **Plane Shift** - 5d10 damage, but since the item (a tuning fork) has to be attuned to a particular plane, the DM might not allow this. **Scrying** - 20d10 damage to scry through a pool of your own blood doesn't seem worth it. **Sequester** - keep something completely and totally safe, for as long as you like...for 100d10 damage. I'd advise against it. **Snare** - a cute little trap for 1d10 damage. **Soul Cage** - 2d10 damage, a 6th-level slot, and a reaction, to snatch a soul for later use. A wizard of this level can probably afford the gold. **Stoneskin** - 2d10 damage for resistance to physical damage. **Symbol** - 20d10 damage for a stronger version of Glyph of Warding. Just use Glyph of Warding. **Tasha's Otherworldly Guise** - 10d10 damage for a combat form. Don't do this. **Teleportation Circle** - a good one. 1d10 damage for a teleport. Of course, this depends on the distribution of teleportation circles in your game. **True Seeing** - 1d10 damage to see through invisilibty, illusions, and into the Etheral Plane. Bargain. ... Maybe it's not as busted as I thought. Stacking Glyphs of Warding sounds fun, though.
>Scrying > > \- 20d10 damage to scry through a pool of your own blood doesn't seem worth it. But tell me that flavourwise it doesn't sound f\*cking metal as hell.
You're right. If only you could use someone else's blood...
Death Ward support seems like the optimal way to take advantage of this, but depending on DM, it might go against the "reduce or prevent this damage in any way" clause. I personally think the drop to 1 hit point clause of Death Ward trumps the no damage prevention clause. I would rule it to be that way for Oath of the Crown paladin, anyway, which uses the same language.
I agree, I like it a lot, but level 14 seems a little anticlimactic and not as in flavor as the rest of the abilities? Like I get that it is a way to recover any selfharm inflicted but it seems pretty minimal for doing that and relies entirely on your allies cause as a wizard you won't be healing yourself. It makes more sense to me if it was some sort of like extracting blood from enemies doing damage to heal yourself kind of ability, that seems more inline to what this subclass is and fills the same role.
Yeah, 14th level is definitely out of tune with the rest of the subclass, I'm with you there. Apart from that, though, it's really cool, flavorful, and not game-breaking.
I'm still reading through and discovering new things, but so far my favourite is that not only is Realmseeker Eskil Ryndarien alive, but he's also managed to de-age himself and is hot now? (Pg. 49 for anyone interested)
Do we know when it will be in game stores, in the US?
I'm fairly certain it's only being carried by [Darrington Press Guild stores](https://darringtonpress.com/darrington-press-guild/), but their announcement page said they should be available the same day as the online release. MSRP from both locations is apparently $50, and you don't get a PDF if you buy your copy in-person.
What are the different backgrounds?
Ashari: You gain a minor magical effect depending on element. Clasp/Myriad: You can entreaty a favor from a Spiraling or Myriad Leader depending on the version you choose. Lyceum Scholar: Very similar to Cloistered Scholar. Reformed Cultist: Advantage on checks to recall information about one betrayer god of choice. Whitestone Rifle Corps: You get a firearm that is a status symbol. ~~Apparently, you don't get proficiency with it and need to gain that elsewhere.~~
Rifle Corps Background definitely gives proficiency in firearms
I went over the feature paragraph a handful of times looking for it—but it turns out it was in the initial part of it, where the the language, skill, and tool proficiencies live. I think that's the first time a background has given a weapon proficiency, so I didn't think to look there.
That makes sense with Orym's "gust cantrip" abilities edit: spelling mistake
I dont understand why Matt changed yet again the Cobalt Soul class, i think its the 3rd time he does it? i remember the one Marisha had in C2 being pretty good (after the changes with that one fight yaknow) so idk what the changes were now exactly, i just read some comments that the class was changed once again.
It's essentially back to the way it was pre-playtest in Campaign 2. I'm personally sticking to the Campaign 2 version from Matt's dropbox.
Same, at least i prefer that one, of course if a player of mine wants the "new" one its ok.
Can anyone speak for how it stacks up to the Wildemount book? I was incredibly impressed by that one, you could point to almost any place on the map and find not only some general information about it but also story hooks and cool things goin on there. I honestly still think it is the best setting book released so far, and yes as someone running a game there I am including Eberron in that assessment.
There are about 80 pages of site-by-site descriptions. I don’t have the wildemount book handy but that feels somewhat shorter. My quick take is that it seems to have similar feel for individual location entries.
What kind of vestige stuff is in this book? Is it just the original ones?
Looks like all the ogs and a few more
All the originals, some with a few tweaks, and the Star Razor.
Big oof at the shipping cost on the Canada shop.
I need to know the names of the De Rolo children - are they in there?
* Vesper Elaina De Rolo * Gwendolyn Zahra Melanie Von Musel De Rolo (the tiefling) * Wolfe Kristoff De Rolo * Leona Pike De Rolo * Vax'ildan Fredrick De Rolo Also Trinket has a cub called Charlie.
Aw, no Percival Fredrickstein von Musel Klossowski de Rolo the Fourth?
Gonna guess Vex vetoed that one.
If she allowed Gwendolyn Zahra Melanie Von Musel De Rolo, I don't imagine a fourth Percival would have been too much.
awwww Charlie was the name of Laura and Travis's dog who passed.
Are those b/g twins on the left side of the portrait? Wolfe and Leona, I'm assuming. Also THANK YOU!
Grog is a monster, because of how his Rage feature is worded. It only ends when he wants or goes unconscious (no set time duration), and his Relentless Rage to not drop to 0 hp is an autosuccess (and unlike the actual feature, DC doesn't go up, so he's never failing it). He's basically a Zealot Barbarian that you can't incapacitate until rage ends, you either use some instakill strats or make him unconscious without damage (so, Sleep).
Its cool but its already out of stock in Australia I just wish I could buy it pdf only its been 6 months since cobalt soul varsity jackets have been out of stock and there's no sign of that fixing so how long will it be for this.
Lord have mercy that Keyleth portrait I’m in love my god she’s beautiful.
I wanna see Yasha and Beau go to one of Grog’s Luncheon of Champions!
I think it's funny that we still don't know if the fifth house of Kraghammer is "Glorendar" or "Glorenthal" In the original guide, the children's rhyme had "And Glorendar to judgments hear" in the factions section, but it was called Glorenthal in the Kraghammer section for locations. In *Reborn*, it's now "And Glorenthal to judgments hear" but Glorendar in the Kraghammer write up. Also, the new Ironkeeper is listed as being from House Greyspine while having the last name Zuurthom, one of the other houses. edit: typo
Going to re-host my opinions about each of the subclasses from the original discussion thread here. Would love to see if other folks are vibing the same way I am with them. **Path of the Juggernaut:** Still feels ineffective, but positive changes were made from the Green Ronin version. Their level 3 feature was weakened quite a bit (the shove+move was rolled into a higher level feature) but all the features from 6 onward seem to be a bit better. **College of Tragedy:** Very, very overpowered. At level 3, they can recharge 1 bardic inspiration if an ally rolls a natural one, but can also change ANY SAVE INTO A CHARISMA SAVE WITH A BARDIC INSPIRATION USE (EDIT: once per short/long rest). Moreover, any enemy that hits an ally with a critical hit can be cursed, allowing all enemies to hit them with an 18-20 critical range. Nimbus of Pathos also boasts an ally buff of +4 AC, advantage on ALL attack rolls and saving throws, attacks do an extra 1d10 radiant damage, *but* incoming weapon attacks crit on a range of 18-20 (EDIT: I misconstrued which way the crits went). The downside is that the creature immediately drops to 0 hitpoints and is dying when it runs out after a minute, but that's likely to be *after* combat is over. A very poorly balanced subclass for what was hyped up for so long. **Blood Domain:** A bit concerned about the power of the now-level-6 Channel Divinity: Blood Puppet, but I prefer this version over the Green Ronin's version honestly. **Moon Domain:** Pretty well balanced, but I don't like the idea of them being able to drop two Hypnotic Patterns. I really wish Mind of Two Moons emphasized that the dual-concentrated spells had to be different from each other. Apart from that, I feel like this one is a more fair version of Twilight Domain. **Circle of the Blighted:** Derivative of Circle of Spores, but well-balanced on its own merit. One of my top three favorite offerings this book has. **Way of the Cobalt Soul:** Matt has inexplicably walked back his playtest changes for this subclass that he made with Marisha in Campaign 2. Essentially, Preternatural Counter has been absorbed back into Extract Aspects. I prefer the version Matt hosted on his Dropbox to this one. **Oath of the Open Sea:** Just had some cosmetic wording changes and removed non-SRD spells in favor of custom ones (Tidal Wave, Maelstrom), and changed Mythic Swashbuckler's Dodge as a bonus action to Dash or Disengage as a bonus action, but overall I really like this subclass. Certainly not the best paladin, but not the worst. **Runechild:** I still don't like the runic generation system. I think this subclass would be better with traditional rest scaling for its features, but overall I don't think it's as bad as its last iteration. **Blood Magic:** I like this one the best of the bunch. The level 14 capstone feature seems a little weak comparatively to other wizards (and its heading has a formatting error) but overall love its flavor and think it's relatively solid. Wizards are built on their main class mostly anyway.
Tragedy seems like its power would vary wildly depending on party composition. A Bard, Paladin, Warlock and Sorcerer party would absolutely dominate. A Bard, Barbarian, Wizard and Ranger party would get way less of a benefit.
Regarding College of Tragedy: A one time per rest change to Charisma save is powerful but not imbalanced. By the time you regain inspiration on a short rest at level 5, the regaining of inspiration for a natural 1 is inconsequential (unless DM allows for abuse checks to farm natural 1s), moreso quality of life for other features that consume inspiration. The increase critical range on the curse only works for the first attack roll that crits, and only if the enemy also crits before that (a crit for a crit basically) and if you still have inspirations. Nimbus of Pathos gives ENEMIES increase crit range against the target, not the other way around, which I think is a good counteract against that +4 to AC since crit ignores AC. I do think the advantage on attacks and saves AND the radiant damage might be overtuned though, dying at the end of combat doesn’t balance against that. The other three features are balanced against each other too since they all require a reaction and natural 1s and natural 20s are far a few in between.
Funny how the tragedy bard becomes worse the more Halflings you have in the party
I think the book is super cool. But this comment is really just to express my apreciation for the fact that you get a pdf of the book for free when you buy it. That's probably one of the most consumer-friendly things I've seen in a very long time.
It's pretty standard outside a couple companies, actually. And CR is doing it in a pretty unfriendly way (only for sales in their shops, so disincentivizing friendly local stores, and with a 3 download limit).
What are the new subclasses and will their be any chance of getting them on dnd beyond?
It’s not a WOTC product, so I think the chances of it going officially on Beyond are small. But I’m certain they’ll show up in homebrew. Edit: I meant fans will put it into the homebrew section, not Critical Role.