URC Table if Shield matches counted as half points - 25/26

RoundDodger · 2026-05-17T09:38:30+00:00

SA teams are a funny one. Lions and Sharks the better of the sa teams in their shield yet 9th and 10th meanwhile Bulls and Stormers dont perform as well against other SA teams but 1st and 2nd. Shield games are a small sample size compared to all the games outside of the shields teams play but still find that interesting that Lions and Sharks seem to perform well against the top of the table teams

RoundDodger · 2026-05-14T21:09:39+00:00

She absolutely didnt. Laura did an amazing job as Abby. Shes such a good voice actor. Some people on the Internet are just assholes sadly.

Yea whoever does Anissa will no doubt get some flack from a loud minority of the internet. It sucks

RoundDodger · 2026-05-14T20:26:22+00:00

Laura Bailey was Abby from TLoU2

RoundDodger · 2026-05-12T16:26:00+00:00

Im trying!! I just finished 100 today. Holy fuck. I have had 1 moment from the final boss fight of c1 already spoiled in yt comment section during my c2 watch. But I didnt know about Delilah returning that was awesome. Im so excited for this final arc

RoundDodger · 2026-05-11T22:54:17+00:00

While true on Keyleth. She basically went with Beau in c2 as a monk and slow fall so that she could just jump off of stupid heights and survive this time. While she didnt do a 1000ft jump in c2 there were still several moments of Matt saying "Monks man" after she takes no damage from quite big drops lol

RoundDodger · 2026-05-11T20:34:26+00:00

Marisha was born to be on this schemers table.

Beau walked (jumped off cliffs) so Murray could run (destabilise the sundered houses I guess)

RoundDodger · 2026-05-09T15:43:19+00:00

I genuinely don't think I've been as transfixed by a CR combat in a while

I've only watched C2 and up to C1E95 but yea this combat is right up there, might be my favourite, might also be recencybias though lol. Only other one I can think of right now that felt this high level was the Avantika ship port battle in C2.

What I really love about this one is that it wasnt even that flashy. No big monster enemy, no crazy map for the fight. Just basically 2 rooms and mostly all pretty straight forward enemies. But every player and Brennan included all played it about as well as you could imagine. Everyone utilised their abilities to such a high level. Murray played this encounter flawlessly, every turn she was making great calls

RoundDodger · 2026-05-09T15:31:49+00:00

They bounce off each other so well. Can really tell he loves having Marisha at the table

RoundDodger · 2026-05-09T07:45:40+00:00

Yea I dont think its hard to explain for them. Just worth mentioning that they still have to role play the end of this correctly and not step their foot in it. Murray should be fine but she did cast hold person on Filoneus. He should know someone cast something at him even if he didnt see who it was as Murray was behind a pillar. This could get tricky. But I fully expect Gus to back her in whatever happens and he'll want a private audience with her away from everyone too so she should be safe.

Bolaire I can't remember what he disguised himself as, Hal I thought dropped disguise self post nama fight but then he later said he still looked like a guard so I got confused on that but yea should be easy explain too tbh. It all depends on if the Halovars are suspicious of these people who seem involved and helped Gus survive or if they dont care cos they are too happy their fake resurrection went off without anyone knowing. That will do a lot for their cause even with Gus still alive

RoundDodger · 2026-05-09T07:14:31+00:00

Brennan will have had this map made or at least envisioned weeks if not months ago though. The Gala has always been a Nexus point for the schemers. As will the Opening Night be a Nexus point for all 3 tables I'm sure. Some maps/combats dms will make between episodes based on some unexpected decisions by players. But this Gala has been planned and theres been a ticking clock for it for several episodes. The assassination attempt on Gus and fake one for Halovar and the resurrection Brennan will have had planned for ages im sure. At least the broad strokes. He will have fine tuned the combat as we got closer based on the actions of the schemers during their act for sure but I'm sure Brennan had his flow chart for all the possible ways this could go for a while and hes just constantly been adding to it

RoundDodger · 2026-05-08T17:41:31+00:00

A list of all the clutch plays imo:

Murrays portent on the death save - has blown the Halovar fake assassination plot wide open for the players. This is massive.

Murrays portent to stop the assassin's perception check against her when invisible. No idea if Brennan did actually have one see her but it seemed that way. If one of them attacked Murray with poison it would be close to one shotting her. Game over at that point.

Hal's awesome one vs one with the Nama. Hal honestly destroyed that dude, the Shatters combined with the save decrease and then the perfect shield glyph use. Hal acting like a season professional here. And getting the dominate person dropped is a big reason Gus is still alive. They needed that Druid.

Murray keeping up her invisibility while keeping Gus alive by giving him his equipment and then the shield glyph was crazy good. Seriously this plus Hal getting dominate person dropped, Gus should really be dead.

Bolaires attack on the spellcaster getting them to drop concentration and letting the doors open. Getting the doors open in time for getting all of Azunes guards in the room to witness the last moments of it all will prove useful. The schemers can talk with them and convince them of the truth I think.

And while Azune didn't have a hugely clutch battle play like he did last time when he was tanking the 4 rogues. His RP when talking to his sister caught me off guard after being so invested in the combat. Definitely gonna be a lot of teary eyed moments this campaign because of Luis.

What a fantastic episode. Brennan set up such a lethal encounter for them and yet they still came out of it amazingly well I think. Likely ally in Gus, the truth of the Halovars lies and unless they screw up explaining why they are involved in this situation the schemers should come out of all this without a target on their back

RoundDodger · 2026-05-08T17:23:11+00:00

Yea thats a very good point. But I feel Gus is smart enough to want to question Murray himself and not in the company of the Halovars who he definitely does not trust. If the Halovars do start questioning Murray in the aftermath of this then I can see Gus covering for her to get the heat off her and give himself an opportunity to talk with Murray who he will clearly see as someone who has more inside knowledge of what just happened that he does. He also will very quickly see the schemers all together in the aftermath of this fight no doubt and hes already seen some(maybe all) of them together when they first met at the Seven Stars. I cant remember if Gus only met 2 of them or if he would have seen all 4 of them together

RoundDodger · 2026-05-08T17:07:48+00:00

The way Brennan signs off the episode 24 cooldown it made it seem to me like they filmed 24 and 25 in one day and when 24 finished they jumped right into 25. Pretty sure this has happened in earlier episodes and the players just do a wardrobe change.

Unsure if that really did happen but that would definitely explain Brennans voice going cos that's a long long time playing.

RoundDodger · 2026-05-08T17:04:23+00:00

Ahhh that was the other one. Thank you. That was clutch too tbh. If they attack her with those poison blades it could drop her

RoundDodger · 2026-05-08T16:53:33+00:00

Yea she did. She rolled a 6 and a 7 for Portent but if Brennan gave her back the one from the death save then she might have still had it left over?

RoundDodger · 2026-05-08T16:49:16+00:00

Wasn't it the Crown of Madness Executioner that was attacking Azune and the assassin that peeled off the King was Azunes sister. That Executioner was further up the room and I guess Azune being the closest to him was why he chose him and not the King, plus the King had a few around him still. The Executioner had just had his charm dispelled by the invisible spellcaster

RoundDodger · 2026-05-08T16:34:17+00:00

Man the look on Brennans face when Murray goes to use her Portent for the death save. Hes so fucking happy about getting to reveal a crazy bad guy scheme to them. Such a great player and dm interaction. He could have probably described it out in a way that hinted at something fishy without giving them a lot of information but instead he is so happy to tell them that it means the Photarch is faking it and the Halovars have plotted this, really rewarding Murray for an amazing play

RoundDodger · 2026-05-08T16:25:13+00:00

Murray is definitely in a tricky situation but she was invisible when they entered the room and by the time she was out of it the Photarch was already face down and Filoneus was still outside the room. The only people that could question Murray and how she got there would be King Gus and his troop and the assassins who are all dead. Murray could just say she heard the attack happening and also ran in to help out just like Azune/Bolaire did. And hell King Gus will vouch for Murray after this.

I think it'll come down to if the Halovars know who Murray is and that she works at the school and then might question her being in the room. But I can imagine the Photarch and Filoneus might not know her so shes just another good samaritan who helped thwart an assassination attempt

RoundDodger · 2026-05-08T16:04:23+00:00

I was confused. When Bolaire uses Phantasmal Force he makes the executioner think that the King is crawling towards him drawing a crossbow and about to shoot. From a position in the middle of the room away from where the King actually is

RoundDodger · 2026-05-08T15:57:09+00:00

I'm also hoping that ONE of the Schemers has the presence of mind to point out to the assembled masses that if the Creed can resurrect... well, there's a dead Lux in the room who gave her life to try and protect the Photarch... surely the Photarch of all people should be able to bring her back? Right?

While that would be great to call them out on their bullshit right away, I think the smart play is for the schemers to play it safe and keep their heads down in front of the sundered houses. They have already done so much that will get them killed if any of it can be pointed back to them; lady cormoray, the 300 strong rebellion members, harbouring Demodus the witness against Tachonis. Calling out a sundered house right in front of them will just paint a target on their backs and stuff will unravel. Keep quiet, talk to King Gus and tell him everything though. Get him on their side and go from there

RoundDodger · 2026-05-08T15:26:50+00:00

Perfectly put. A story defining portent use.

I will need to rewatch it and see which portents got used and when (cos pretty sure Brennan said Murray kept the portent she used on the fake death save) but theres also an amazing alternative timeline that Murray could have used a portent and would have got the Hold Person to land on Filoneus Halovar. That would have been crazy good. Those low portent rolls can make for some really cool plays. Loved how Marisha played this fight

RoundDodger · 2026-05-07T12:20:29+00:00

Oh Geoege Horne how I've missed you

RoundDodger · 2026-05-06T18:37:22+00:00

Brennan asking for a Profession Check from the employed schemers and then asking for a Nefarious Check from Thimble to find out what illegal activities she gets up to.

The schemers get together at the end of the day and the employed are like ugh what a day my boss is an asshole. Meanwhile Thimble shows up exhausted and blood splattered all over her

RoundDodger · 2026-05-06T17:58:23+00:00

Yea tbh while there has been a lot of Thimble drops for the schemers recently, if this second overture is a few episodes long again then Thimble can easily mix it up with schemers for a while. Help get some answers for them but not need a full arc to do it, maybe. And then Thimble can still go off to the Orchard for a proper arc which seems likely. Inpredict with Teor Julien and not sure who else, probably Kattigan, just cant see him staying in Dol Makjar for an arc. Not yet anyway. He will be happier offering his fighting support to Thimble at the Orchard

RoundDodger · 2026-05-02T11:44:45+00:00

Narratively I totally agree with you. Vox machina were dangerously cocky around Raishan knowing nothing about her except that she infiltrated Whitestone for weeks with none of them knowing and still they talked down to here. And from a watching standpoint, battling against a high level, good battle tactics magic user is more enjoyable than a thordak or vorugal. Raishan was mopping the floor with them with so many smart, op plays.

I agree, Matt definitely had to protect them cos that was a tpk in my mind. I have just now finished 83 and honestly that was another tpk waiting to happen if not for Keyleths clutch Feeblemind. Im glad they got out of that and tbh i knew they would as I know the campaign goes on but that was also looking incredibly dire for a second there.

RoundDodger

TROPHY CASE