owlmoose | Another look at CR Campaign 3

Now that this crew finally has a name -- Bell's Hells, which is a little wacky but really is it any wackier than the Mighty Nein? At least no one will ever ask why there aren't more of them -- I think it's finally time for me to set down some thoughts on each of them. Yes, including Dorian, who will always be a member of the team in my heart, and I suspect theirs as well. I'm so glad Robbie stayed for as long as he did, and while I would'be been thrilled to see him as a permanent presence at the table, I thought his exit was well-timed, and maybe this opens it up to bring in other long-term guests. (My dream: Aabria comes in as DM for a sidequest arc, and Matt takes a seat across the table to play Dariax. I have no idea if they could make that work within the context of a campaign, but I'd love to see them try!) Going around the table as usual.

Chetney: I'm somewhat relieved that Travis never planned to play Bertrand Bell for an entire campaign. Chetney is a much better choice for revisiting a previous character -- especially since he isn't exactly the same character as Chutney from The Night Before Critmas; he's more like an expy. The blood hunter reveal was pretty amazing, although we should probably have seen it coming, given how much we all know Travis has wanted to play as a werewolf. (I was quite surprised he didn't go that route in Campaign 2 -- not sorry, though; I loved Fjord a lot.) The crotchety old man act is funny so far, but might wear thin after awhile. I do wonder how the crew will manage without a true rogue among them. He's also the only character without an existing backstory connection to anyone else in the group, and I wonder how long his outsider vibe will last.

Dorian: I've said before that Dorian was hands-down my favorite EXU character, so as you might imagine I enjoyed spending more time with him. His bond with Orym and Fearne was so excellent; you could feel how strong and resilient it was, and how hard it was for them to let him go when the time came. I absolutely relate to the feeling of having to upend your life to support your brother, who made some ill-considered decisions. I dearly hope we see both him and Robbie again someday.

Laudna: The concept for this character is completely fascinating to me, both the undead angle and the discovery that her patron is almost certainly Delilah Briarwood. You can tell that Marisha is having a ball playing her. Sweet, funny, and creepy as hell: that's our Laudna. I am really excited to see how her backstory ultimately pays off.

Fresh Cut Grass: I enjoy how Sam brings a very different energy to FCG from any of the other character's he's played previously. They're almost the platonic ideal of a cleric -- and I'm really glad to see the most recent episode dealing with the fallout of being the type of person who always puts other people's concerns above their own; I look forward a lot to seeing where that goes.

Fearne: I often find agents of chaos tiring (time for a little truth: including, sometimes, Sam Riegel), but not Fearne. I think she's absolutely hilarious. Ashley picks her moments so perfectly, and Matt does a great job of rolling with whatever curveballs she throws. I hope we get back to EXU Narrative Telephone at some point, because I can only imagine what story Ashley might come up with. Anyway, as mentioned previously I think the friendship with Orym and Dorian is wonderful, and she also seems to be the person building the strongest bonds across the team. It's clear she knows more than she's saying about the Nightmare King and his connection to her family, and I can't wait to find out more.

Imogen: Speaking of mysteries in the backstory, although she's also the person we've gotten the most detail on so far, since she also seems to be the character in most dogged pursuit of learning more about herself and where her powers come from. Imogen seems to be emerging as the party's leader, and it's fun to see Laura growing into that role.

Orym: It seems that enough time has passed that Matt is comfortable allowing PCs with direct connections to Campaign 1 events, and I like that, because it gives me more of a sense that the world is a living, breathing place with a history that was created and affected by the earlier adventuring parties. It always seemed a little off to me that the Mighty Nein didn't seem to have any knowledge of apocalyptic events like the Chroma Conclave and Vecna's near rise, even though all or almost all of them have to have been alive at the time (although some of them were children). I realize that's due in part to distance, but the fall of Draconia happened in Wildemount, and the Briarwoods were active there before going to Whitestone. So anyway, it's good to have two characters with connections that are distant enough that they don't take over, but strong enough to be meaningful, and now I realize that I've spent most of my Orym section essentially talking about Keyleth, which of course explains why Matt didn't let them do it before. Orym is great, and such a departure from the more tormented characters Liam has played in previous campaigns. It's nice to have a team dad who isn't also running from a terrible mistake in his past. I also like that he's our first straight-up fighter class character, which I'm pretty sure we've never had in the main party before.

Ashton: Taliesin's "I just don't really give a fuck" energy is pretty amazing, as well as perfectly undercut by the very real care Ashton takes of their friends, especially FCG but increasingly the others as well. (Side note: it's pretty great to see a couple of non-binary characters in the group, although it concerns me that neither Matt nor the other players are at all consistent about using "they" pronouns -- Taliesin and Sam both seem to make a point of it when referring to each other's characters, but it doesn't feel like the others have caught on. I know both Ashton and FCG introduced themselves as "they/he", so it's not technically wrong, but it still catches me out, especially considering how firm Matt has always been about the players using they/them for nonbinary NPCs like J'mon Sa Ord. (I really, really hope we see J'mon Sa Ord at some point in this campaign.) Anyway.) Ashton's vibe has always been "I used to have some friends and I cared about them, but they screwed me over so I'm going to be very careful about who I consider friends in the future" and it's been nice to have that impression confirmed. I also enjoy how nonplussed they are whenever the rest of the group is clearly very bad at crime. I can't remember if I've said so before in this space, but Taliesin is my favorite player in the cast, so I'm always all in for whatever he tries.

Thoughts Overall: I'm glad this campaign has started out and so far seems to be settling in the city of Jrusar -- I like getting to know this one place instead of immediately setting out to visit a lot of different places. I always enjoy political intrigue, and this is the perfect setup for it. I've seen various criticisms of the campaign taking place in a SWANA (Southwest Asian/North African)-inspired setting with an on-camera creative team that doesn't include anyone from that background; I don't feel qualified to comment, but I have been seeking out the opinions of those who are. A Kotaku article summarizing the concerns got a ton of pushback from CR fandom, but I didn't see anything in there that struck me as overreaching or unfair. Unfortunately, CR fandom can suffer from toxic positivity, which is part of the reason I haven't gotten deeply involved. "Don't forget to love each other" is a fine credo, but only if we remember that criticism can and often does come from a place of love -- of enjoying a thing and wanting it to be better. And everything can always be better.