Steam and Conversation

is the ninth episode of the second campaign of Critical Role.

Announcements

 * The official sponsor for tonight's episode and all episodes to come (unless they vanish in a puff of smoke) is D&D Beyond.
 * Sam claims that most of the Critical Role audience is British, so he has tailored tonight's ad for the United Kingdom. Liam apologizes to Kit.
 * Matt also reminds about the new posts that D&D Beyond has been making, and James Haeck has been recapping past episodes.


 * Matt reminds Amazon Prime users about Twitch Prime: with a little button press, they can subscribe to any Twitch channel for free.
 * Talks Machina, hosted by Brian W. Foster, will be discussing tonight's episode on Tuesday, March 13, 2018 at 7:00 PM PST. Matt is tempted to mess up Brian's name every week.
 * Daylight Savings Time hits the United States this Sunday, March 11, 2018. For those unsure of whether this will mean Critical Role starts an hour earlier or an hour later (including the cast themselves), Matt asks that you go to wheniscriticalrole.com.
 * Last week's episode ("The Gates of Zadash") is now available on the Critical Role Podcast for your fine downloadable podcast purposes.
 * There will be no Wyrmwood giveaway tonight, but Matt wanted to congratulate them on the success of the Adventurer's Arsenal on Kickstarter.
 * "Vox Machina: Origins #5" of the Critical Role comic is now available. Travis thinks the beat-to-s**t Vax on the cover is f**king awesome.  Issue #5 can be downloaded from Comixology, the Dark Horse Comics app, and (according to Liam) LaserDisc.
 * Matt will be flying out tonight for Lexington, Kentucky, so he can appear at Lexington Comic & Toy Con this weekend. Laura asks if he's leaving right after the show.  Matt is actually leaving on a flight after midnight, because he has to run home and pack first.
 * merch update from Laura: The Vox Machina tarot cards are back in stock. Two new shirts are available: one inspired by the new Campaign 2 intro, and another that is (as Taliesin put it) "from the darkest timeline".  They will be in-stock and ready to buy next Thursday, March 15, 2018.
 * Laura is angry because everyone kept talking over her announcements. Travis tries to calm her down, to no avail.  Sam jokes, "You did this to me!"
 * The whole cast (minus Ashley, who is still filming Blindspot) will be at C2E2 in Chicago, Illinois for panels and autographs. Their full schedule will be released next week.
 * Laura announces that she chose only dice that she was given in Seattle, Washington (while she and Travis were at Emerald City Comic Con) to roll tonight. Laura gave a super-cool d20 to Liam, but only because she was "ordered".
 * The first episode of Key Question is available now on Project Alpha. Matt Key and Marisha Ray are talking about Deadpool.  You can get a free 60-day trial of Alpha with the promo code "QUESTION".

Player Characters

 * Beauregard
 * Fjord
 * Frumpkin
 * Jester
 * Nott
 * Mollymauk Tealeaf
 * Caleb Widogast
 * Yasha

New

 * Rheema
 * Claudia Sheed
 * Dolan Thryme
 * Wessec

Returning

 * The Traveler

Mentioned

 * Bryce Feelid
 * The Gentleman
 * Shakäste
 * Pumat Sol

Quotations

 * Claudia: "For well over a century now, the worship of various deities has been...controlled."
 * Nott: "I'll need to be plied with many drinks."
 * Beau: "You look attractive."
 * Fjord: "Oh, man, you look constipated."
 * Molly: "Groups of people are always idiots. Never trust a group of people."
 * Jester: "Have you heard of Our Lord and Savior, The Traveler? He sure is the coolest!  Everyone should worship him!  He's the best guy around."
 * Taliesin: "You're making Tijuana Bibles for your religion!"
 * Beau: "Are we about anything?...Do you *wanna* be about something?"
 * Matt: "In the hot tub, you see a pale-looking muscular woman..."
 * Yasha: "Took you long enough."
 * Fjord: "We're here to inquire about one of the postings...There's a roving beast that needs to be taken care of."
 * Sam: "Seven of Nein?"
 * The Traveler: "The more deeds you do, the more lives you change."

Trivia

 * The episode was originally going to be titled "Nein" as both a reference to the group's name (the "Mighty Nein") and the fact that it is the ninth episode of Campaign 2.