Sam Reigel blowing our minds again Breaking Point | Critical Role | Campaign 3, Episode 31 • Breaking Point | Criti... Watch more Critical Role videos bit.ly/3NI3Hr6 Thumbnail art by Skehriton / 1560525054407872513
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Yes this. I saw him play Gavroche (the comedy street urchin who sacrifices himself to get ammo for the students fighting) in Les Mis when he was a child actor. I’ve seen that play many times and Sam was definitely the best and most memorable in that role.
Sam has played a bard with family issues, a cursed goblin who was tortured in water, and now a robot with faulty programming. He’s really a master of emotions.
So Sam’s emotional damage on us this time is that FCG has a personality switch that can take over which is basically the embodiment of the “aren’t you tired of being nice? Don’t you wanna go ape shit?” Meme. GG Sam.
Not gonna lie, I kinda wanna run a similar character as an NPC to see how I go. Maybe start them out as a morally grey bounty Hunter robot (or cyborg, does Spell Jammer have that?) who switches personalities but there’s no rhyme or reason to it and they need some help (thus the bounty hunting job to make money). However, no one can tell which side of the person is asking for the help to remove the other. It could be an increasingly desperate cry for help, or an intricate plan toying with the sympathy of others. The party could either make a nice person, a folk hero for the people and the party to rely on, or make their BBEG. The dice decides their fate.
It was great when Nott was controlled and was on the Laughing Hands side. She acted like a saturday morning cartoon villain. As she turned to leave she said to her enemy "let's go, hand" lol
I love Travis' energy of being torn between "lol, I don't care what happens to this character. YOLO!" And "dammit, at least one of us players needs to make it to the double digit levels as a blood hunter..."
technically, one player has made it to that point with the blood hunter class. but it was a guest. It's Tova, the werebear dwarf that Vox machina met in the Hells.
This plus Ashton subsequently piecing together what might have *actually* happened to FCG's former group was legit one of the best twists this entire campaign
I know that people might have a problem with it, but I fucking love the way Travis plays. He sees a beehive on the ground and says "this looks like a good thing to kick". You can tell Sam and Matt were ready for this moment and he instigated it in such a great, in-character way.
Deck of Many Things? Neither myself nor my character have any goddamn idea what this is, but all your horrified meta cries has convinced me to keep it just to see what happens~
"You were never alive" There is so much to unpack with that line. Is that even relevant or specific to Laudna? Or did somebody exclaim that to FCG, and it stuck with them? Sam's ambiguity with the "hitches" in FCG's programming has been absolute class
Yeah that's exactly what I was thinking, and it's the samr with what he said about Fearne's parents not liking her when they obviously do and that really isn't something she worries about... but FCG's "mother" sure doesn't like him. It was pure weaponised projection.
As cool as that would be, I’m more inclined to believe that it’s more of a caregiver burnout type deal. They snap under the pressure of taking care of everyone else and lash out at the people around them. And because they’re people they’ve spent a lot of time with, they know exactly what insecurity buttons to push to hurt them.
@@IsaRican810 Absolutely. The things FCG says are too specific to each person. There's not enough overlap to suggest that it was some kind of programming glitch or projection, and if Sam had meant it to be like that, he would have said those things in a way that hinted at specifically parroting things said to/about FCG. Given that this rage mode activates as a result of building up too many "stress points" it makes much more sense for FCG's spiteful remarks to be just that; lashing out verbally and physically in spite due to an over stressed mind. Folks really do be overthinking things like a highschool literature teacher looking for metaphors in a poem that literally just describes a landscape.
Teccam explains there are two types of secrets. There are secrets of the mouth and secrets of the heart. Most secrets are secrets of the mouth. Gossip shared and small scandals whispered. There, secrets long to be let loose upon the world. A secret of the mouth is like a stone in your boot. At first you’re barely aware of it. Then it grows irritating, then intolerable. Secrets of the mouth grow larger the longer you keep them, swelling until they press against your lips. They fight to be let free. Secrets of the heart are different. They are private and painful, and we want nothing more than to hide them from the world. They do not swell and press against the mouth. They live in the heart, and the longer they are kept, the heavier they become. Teccam claims it is better to have a mouthful of poison than a secret of the heart. Any fool will spit out poison, he says, but we hoard these painful treasures. We swallow hard against them every day, forcing them deep inside us. There they sit, growing heavier, festering. Given enough time, they cannot help but crush the heart that holds them.” My heart hurts for FCG and the secret of his heart. It is so heavy that it made blood flow easier than the oil in his sockets.
I have to say Laura stuttering after reading his mind in a way that sounded like a glitch was AMAZING voice control if it was intentional. I swore the stream lagged for a moment before I realized what happened. One of the few moments that adds to the unsettling aspect of this scene
The therapist having Jeckle & Hyde switch and using the group’s baggage and twisting it to hurt them most? PERFECTION. INCREDIBLE DRAMA. IT HURTS AND I LOVE IT, THANKS SAM!
You know, the funniest thing about this is Matt knew from the start the party had a warlock with a psychopathic patron, FCG murder bot, and werewolf with lash out mechanics, without even counting the raging barbarian.
Ideas: Dancer overlayed some programming to make them a helper bot and it's making his core program glitch the fuck out. Their helper programming acts like a compulsion to fix everyone's problems, but when they can't.... well, dead people don't have problems. They were originally a murder bot and the helper bot programming is making them insane. Their lack of self-knowledge means they're neglecting some robot maintenance they need. Like defragging your hard drive. Dancer treating them like property psychologically damaged them to the point of flash rage.
Dancer fracked around with Aeorian Arcane Technology. Age of Arcana Technology: a melding of magic and science that LITERALLY brought the apocalypse known as the Calamity to Exandria. Like those Arcane users of old, Dancer that she could harness the power of the gods. As seen in EXU Calamity that never ends well
You remember in big hero 6 when baymax had two programming disks, the helper one and the combat one. Then the scene at the abandoned facility when the helper disk got removed? Thats what happened to Letters. His programs are fighting each other.
"Your parents don't like you that's why they got rid of you, and yknow what they were FUCKIN RIGHT!!!" I'm taking 99 points of emotional damage cuz holy fuck dude!!!
I like to think that Matt told them all to make characters with great emotional or physical trama in their backstories and they all took the opportunity to write these beautifully broken characters and slowly they will grow to be like those japanese artworks that are fixed with gold inlay to accentuate the cracks. But Travis misread the text and thought "my greatest trama in dnd is that I had to play characters other than Grog" so he just brought them back to troll the fuck out of all of them.
@@glenndallas7171That's fair. As a DM myself, telling your players to write something into their story is one thing but players actually making it a function (or dysfunction) is another. Especially newer players. Seasoned players make heal bots that snap when they take on too much of others suffering because of how many times they've been mistreated in the past. New players make PCs with parents that died in front of them and now they're on a quest to hunt down the murderer while being edgy to every NPC they come across. It's not a bad thing to use tropes but its understandably common. It does make for a great narrative thread though.
@@curtisgagnon2871 I try not to burden new players with too many requirements, since they have a lot to get used to. It's always fun to see what new paths they take with PCs later. (But still, healthy backstories are rare.)
i remember someone at some point early on in the campaign had said in the comments that FCG was the cyclops and was the one that killed his friends. so, props to whoever said that.
@@bestofcriticalrole Oh yeah. If normal people need therapy in order to process normal life stress, then you better believe that therapists need therapy in order to process everyone else's stress. I always tell my clients it's the same as Olympic athletes going to the doctor way more than most people.
No it would have been truly bone chilling if right after sawing up chet and telling him to shut up fcg just held up his buzz saw and said " I'm gonna have a smiley fuckin day!"
I love Sam/FCG using his therapy skills against the party to get at their worst fears. Now all of that watching them sleep DID turn creepy after all....
I knew it all along! Since we first met FCG, I was positive that there was something deeply wrong with them. Didn't need an insight check to tell me that one! Sam loves his twist characters, and Letters was waaaay too saccharine sweet to be genuine. Once we learned that they were the sole survivor of a massacre, and that it happened while they were unconscious, it was practically written flashing neon that FCG was a killbot. Also, kind of funny they're going with stress points, like in _A Familiar Problem._
Kinda crazy how quick they were ready to off FCG! It turned on a dime from “What happened to FCG?!” to “I guess we’re killing this robot!” If they didn’t have healing FCG would be done.
Chetney: wooden mallet tap to reset; a little bit, but not too much Ashton: gravity empowered grapple to make sure FCG can't move; gigachad Laudna: shadow hunger nuke; w. t. f. dial goes from 2 to 11 Fearne: heat metal; I mean, this is something Fearne would do even if FCG wasn't spazzing to be fair
Marisha (and Laura) have a bad habit of wanting to win DND instead of trying to roleplay it and make it okay. A prime example was Marisha rerolling a non-cocked die right in front of Matt in the Vecna fight.
@@gabrielbjornursidae She was roleplaying... She'd been told in-character 30 seconds before that her friends would betray her... Are you watching the same show? Gtfo with the random Marisha hate.
reminds me of people I know who are genuinely sweet and carting most of the time but can be the cruelest when pushed too far. They listen to your worries and passions and turn them against you when they snap. They are the ones who can bring you down with a single word.
I've noticed that a lot of professional actors who play the nastiest villains turn out to be the sweetest people in real life. It's strange how that dichotomy repeats itself over and over.
this is Vax getting stabbed by the Rhakshasa, this is Vecna's cultists being unmasked, this is Essek's reveal, this is Fjord making a *choice*... yeah.
My guess is that Travis did. Probably only when he heard the 4 points and FCG shut down but he likes to push the big red button and that seemed to be exactly what he did.
You gotta love that Sam took the role/trope of healbot... literally and added a shadow to it. I would think its along the lines of fcgs OS can boot up any personality and it learns from the people around them. So when they crash/overload and defenses kick in, they use all of that trust and confidential information against their "friends", its like their inhibitors just isn't there. I'm really intrigued if the name has a scrambled meaning like Sam's other characters.
its funny because the M9 was way more hostile and untrusting in the beginning, yet PvP wasnt a concern after Fjord's threat to Caleb (except the succubus mind control). In C3 though, everyone is a powder keg ready to go off at an unknown trigger despite not wanting to hurt eachother. It's wild.
There have been points in both previous campaigns where it happened too. The main difference here is those instances of tension in previous campaign were genuine moments of character conflict whereas in C3 it's happening because the characters have external factors forcing them into that conflict.
They weren't even together for an in game week before they were thanking each other for bringing them together and talking everyone up to anyone they met. PvP won't have any consequences even if there is real beef behind it, much like their casual noticed perusal of the minds of others hasn't had a consequence.
Part of me wonders, if the things FCG shouted at them were actually things that had been shouted at themself before but I’m not sure if it fits with the thing they shout at Fern
Hey, they got 'abandoned' by their 'mom' so, it feels like they're projecting a lil. But the "you were never alive" certainly fits. Maybe it's a kenku situation, where it's stuff they've heard before?
@Susanna yeah that was my first take watching the episode. When I watched this clip though, something doesn’t sit right with me about the thing they say to Laudna about never being alive. Plus it’s Sam Reigel so I’m always wary of a plot twist 😂 I was almost wondering if (like @Rosie_Cooper said) it was memories kinda like a kenku that they had stored from the traumatic experience in the cave. Maybe all of this was shouted at them which caused them to initially snap and kill their party….who knows! Either way I’m excited to know more!
I think you’re on to something! Maybe the more targeted insults could be feelings and thoughts they have about themself? The Fern remarks could be indicative of their insecurities about their relationship with Dancer, while the Laudna insult could be their own fears of not being actually alive? Really cool theory!
It could be FCG knowing their insecurities and targeting them, but it's probably sam wanting to really lean into it. Something similar happened in C2, spoilers below: Nott/Veth gets charmed by Obann and is forced to attack allies. When ashley's character, yasha was controlled, she seemed worried. When Sam's character was taken, I remember him saying something along the lines of: "Which one of you should I kill?" I think he just has fun with this stuff. I would too though lmao, it is dnd and he seems to like to play things up chaotically.
Fern, to me, is the most dangerous person at that table because she is the ultimate narcissist. Everything is about her. I don't know how Oyrem tolerates her without Dorian to help keep a check on her. She deliberately put those stones in Laudna's and Imogene's possession knowing it would harm them just for sick entertainment. Her prank escalated and probably put Laudna on a path we're she will become Deliah Briarwood especially if Hells Bells encounters the Servious Assembly which she was once a member. FCG was right to crack back because deep inside he knows Fern does not give a GD about him or the rest of the group. Kudos to Ashley Johnson on portraying a character totally devoid of empathy.
Hey, remember that 'Sam has an uncanny knack for taking a silly, goofy character and using them to EMOTIONALLY BLUDGEON US' comment I made a year ago? IT HAPPENED AGAIN.
I think that might be a hidden theme behind their characters, like during liam's rogue oneshot where he told everyone to have a secret. "Something about your character that might turn you against the party" seems to be a theme here
I think everyone in this party has the capacity to lash out...aside from Orym. He seems to be the only level-headed one but he wouldn't hesitate to kill another party member if they went too far. He's basically the only check and balance in this group.
@@viktorstagnetti7491 I don't think Ashton does tbh sure they are rough around the edges and really likes a good fight but they are also pretty pragmatic and caring. I think the only thing that would have them lash out is if they are forced to lash out or watch FCG or someone else they love get hurt.
So all that negative emotion, just locked up in there, with no way of getting out. Yeah, entities made from those are a giant pain to deal with. I.E Remember Me's antagonist.
I like it how in Critical Role every moment, every player is "WOOOOOAAAAAHHH!" AND "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" this is how my table is too. Also Matt: Roll Initiative Everyone: *Ape sounds*
This was the first episode of cc that I watched in its entirety and... I was such an exhausted emotional wreck after this. It was played out so intensely and the discussion afterwards was so honest and about trust and accountability. Just masterful.
Woah this theory just blew my mind because it's probably true. They never address anyone by name when they yells at them. We know that FCG has a catchphrase and likes to be there for people at their most vulnerable to talk them through things. It's very Likely that Dancer snapped at them and told them to "Shut your fucking mouth" when she was stressed or they said their catchphrase too many times. Its known now that FCG was for sale and Dancer bought them at auction. Maybe when FCG asked a about their past enough times Dancer snapped and yelled "your parents dont like you and that's why they got rid of you, and they were fucking right." The party keeps telling them that they have a soul and maybe they were once a person. Its likely FCG asked Dancer about the subject before one too many times and they told them out of anger "You were never alive." Maybe after all of these things and more, Dancer wiped their memory too many times to cut away the personality that they left bugs in their code causing them to have a forced memory wipe and recite things they had stored in corrupted memory files. Like saying things in anger and attacking people because that was done to them.
@@curtisgagnon2871 the other thing to keep in mind is when FCG first messaged Dancer, they did it very formal like mentioning designation and everything. It came across more like they were just a robot to her and not a friend. That's got to wear on you pretty bad
It's striking how the hurtful stuff FCG says comes out of a profound empathy FCG has for the others. He has a lot in common with the other members, and I bet they also empathize with him in return.... spoilers ahead? FCG and Lauda both doubt whether they are alive or not, and share an existential dread. Both try to be chipper although everyone treats them like weirdos and makes them feel out of place. FCG and Chetney both have inner demons that could burst out anytime and hurt the others around them. PRevious comments note how Chet really kinds of understands FCG's outburst. FCG and Ferne, and Ashton, all feel abandoned by their makers. They all havebsome sort of anger and regret when it comes to those people. FCG easily could have been projecting when he lashed out at Ferne. FCG and Imogen are both kind of empathetic/telekinetic. They pick up on other people's emotions and thoughts respectively, and it is overwhelming and sometimes hurts them. And FCG and Orym (bit of a stretch) kind of struggle to be good people that are conscientious and helpful, despite having deep wounds and anger that could send them over the edge at any point. Also, more superficially, they are both the ones that try to corralle the chaotic neutrality of their friend group.
Was expecting more unfair mean sentiments from fcg. Maybe to orym he’d say something like: You should be grateful to the assassins so He wouldn’t have to see you fail Him like this.
I think he did it right The problem with insulting characters like Chetney, Ashton and Orym is none of them would take it to heart. They wouldn't care what is said, just that FCG was being mean. Laudna and Fearne are the two who are most unhinged and able to be affected by the actual words. Imogen would probably have been the next target if it lasted longer i think.
To Ashton he could say something like: “Do you honestly think you deserve any friends?” Or “You’re in constant pain because you deserve constant pain.” I think there’s plenty of things sam could’ve said to get under Ashton’s armor.
Let’s also not forget that based on that “Hunger of Shadows” spell the reaction Marisha had when Matt said HDYWTDT, was a look of absolute shock and fear. So chances are the effect of that spell is similar to finger of death in that when a creature reaches 0 hit points they die.
i recoiled so fucking hard from the screen when fgc said “shut up” and then fully stood out of my chair and scuttled back in horror when he continued with “why don’t you shut your fuckin mouth!” sam literally how dare you do this to us
![[ˢᵖᵒᶦˡᵉʳ] FCG snaps | Critical Role | Campaign 3 Episode 31](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
