Typically, the live viewership for Critical Role dips after its break around midnight Eastern, as a good chunk of the audience heads to bed with plans to catch the rest of the Dungeons & Dragons actual-play episode later on. But last week’s session was so suspenseful that viewer numbers continued to climb until the very end. The marathon five-hour broadcast was must-watch TV for dedicated fans thanks to the return of a past adversary and a bold player move that felt as if it had been pulled from a different game entirely — because it was.
[Warning: This story contains spoilers for episode 91 of Critical Role’s Campaign 3, “True Heroism.” The video on demand is now available on YouTube, with audio-only podcast available on Thursday, April 18.]
For those of you who haven’t been keeping up with Bell’s Hells, the unlikely heroes at the center of Critical Role’s third campaign, it’s important to realize that just about every member of the party is a ticking time bomb — some more so than others. One entered the campaign bound to Vox Machina’s nemesis Delilah Briarwood. Two were born under Exandria’s red moon of ill omen. Two have absorbed shards of primordial power that nearly killed them. One has made a deal with a hag. And one rolls every day to see if he died in the night.
And then there’s Fresh Cut Grass, an automaton played by Sam Riegel. Normally he’s a healer with a sunny disposition, but under stress he gets a tad violent. How violent? Well, they killed everyone in his previous adventuring party, and even attacked the Bell’s Hells at one point in the not-too-distant past. But their path toward understanding the meaning of existence has revealed he has the ability to love, which is handy. Also? There’s literally a bomb lodged inside his chest.
Last week, at the end of the episode, that bomb went off — and that was just the final twist in a night full of wild turns.
While on a reconnaissance mission to Ruidus, the party ran into their longtime nemesis Otohan Thull, who nearly killed the entire party early in the campaign as well as attacking several of their mentors. The encounter started hot, as Otohan killed a character outright in her first turn. While clever maneuvering removed a significant additional source of her power, she was still formidable — and when damaged enough, she shifted to an Exaltant form that began taking only half damage from all sources. As the fight dragged on and on, many characters were down or barely able to stand. Making matters worse, the party’s resources, including spell slots, were very drained — just as Otohan was able to heal an astronomical amount of damage. Even Dungeon Master Matt Mercer seemed aware of the possibility that they could all die. “Sometimes it’s the end of the story,” Mercer said with wry encouragement, framing such a possibility to his frantic players as “opportunities.”
But Mercer was not prepared for what his players did next. Multiple characters were ready to die to save the party as a whole, but in the end it was Fresh Cut Grass who took the opportunity. When his turn came in the initiative order, he cast Guiding Bolt at himself, setting off the bomb within. Mercer made it clear that Fresh Cut Grass’ move was not something that they had previously discussed or designed, repeatedly checking in with Riegel to ensure he knew the gravity of what he was doing, before calling for the table to pool their dice for Riegel to roll the improvised blast damage.
But this wasn’t entirely improvisation — it was clearly inspired by Daggerheart, the new game the company is designing to facilitate Critical Role’s style of play, currently in open beta. As they came to realize what Riegel was doing, the table used the phrase “Blaze of Glory” multiple times as Riegel confirmed, “I’m Blaze of Glory-ing.” This was a reference to the death mechanics in Daggerheart, where players can choose one of three options: “Avoid Death,” which ensures survival but comes with a potential cost; “Risk It All,” where the dice control the character’s fate; or “Blaze of Glory,” where GM and player work together to “ensure that the one action they take is as meaningful as possible without breaking the integrity of the story.” The current playtest specifically mentions the possibility that the character “can deal a fatal blow to the foe, even if they had more HP left than a critical success could possibly deal.” Fresh Cut Grass did just that, leaving a smoking crater where one of their greatest enemies once stood.
The episode was a reminder of Critical Role at its strongest, where game mechanics provide meaningful constraints, the dice throw narrative expectations out the window, players rise to the occasion in surprising ways, and the DM deftly calibrates to reward gutsy choices. It is notable that both tears and smiles were present at the table — a real sense of loss, but also palpable joy at a story well told together. While Daggerheart is still in the process of open beta (and thus subject to many changes), it’s clear that there’s a real power in a Blaze of Glory, for both players and an audience.
It’s not clear what lies ahead for either Bell’s Hells or Daggerheart, but last week’s episode showed that there’s reason to hope — and to keep an eye on both.
