"Critical Role Presents: A Daggerheart Critmas Story Live Show" (Sx89) is the broadcast of "Critical Role Presents: A Daggerheart Critmas Story" performed live at Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden, New Jersey near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 7 December 2024. It was based on the first episode title sequence for Campaign Two: The Mighty Nein.
Synopsis[]
Pre-show[]
- "Momlan" (Sam Riegel's mother) does a brief warm-up and introduces the cast.
- Critmas-themed call-and-response for Saily, an eSIM service app offering a 15% discount on data plans by using criticalrole at checkout.
- Second sponsor is Ravensburger's Horrified: World of Monsters.
- Pre-order Daggerheart now at Daggerheart.com.
- Stream or purchase Critical Role Presents: Winter's Crest, an album of Critmas music by the nerdy-ass voice actors.
- Moving to gameplay, the players begin with 2 Hope each, and the GM has 1 Fear per player.
Introduction[]
The holidays have come. A time of reflection on the year past and hope for the year to come forward. A time that gathers friends and family, a reminder of the communities we cherish. During the latter half of the 1980s, within the sleepy Midwest town of Springvale Springs, the holidays have also meant chaotic shopping, slushy road conditions, and small town drama. But this night, the eve before Christmas itself, a gentle snowfall blankets the river-wound little town as the afternoon sun glows gently behind the darkened clouds. This afternoon before the eve of Christmas carries a unique tension alongside the joyful excitement and anticipation, as neighbors play pleasantries while silently judging each other's decorations. Businesses prepare to close for the evening while parents dash around for last minute presents, and then the hush begins to fall across the water tower, the playground, the arcade, the mall. Christmas Eve is nearly here. But it is here, in this suburban cul-de-sac, within a modestly decorated home, this very, very nice abode that belongs to Mayor Cameron Blake and his newly-wedded bride, Iris Ginsburg-Blake, a central abode which is a beacon of hope for Springvale Springs. It is here that they've invited a small gathering of friends to this. As soft, incandescent light colored strings reflect across the snow, the first group begins to arrive to the door. But here within the house itself, gentle music plays, the rooms of antique furniture that is rarely ever used or sat upon all arranged perfectly to present an air of affluence and importance. After all, it is the mayor.
Part I[]
As the holiday party guests arrive at the suburban Blake home, the characters and several NPCs are introduced. First is the Blake family: Bethany Blake, popular and rich, her father Mayor Cameron Blake, his recent new wife Iris Ginsburg-Blake, and Bethany's neurotic stepbrother Ralph Bader Ginsburg. A few moments later, the Beasleys arrive: theater kid Trystan, his little sister Guinevere (Gwennie), and their parents Walton and Phaedra. Shortly afterwards, bad boy Dylan Brewster arrives with a supply of Bethany's secret vice, comic books, followed by Riley Sloan, a skateboarding tough-talking girl invited by Gwen, and Pelvis Resley Blake, Mayor Cameron's black sheep brother.
Official art of the kids opening the box, by Annalise Jensen.[art 1]
The group has a boring dinner, after which Pelvis presents his gift: a foot-square intricately carved holiday-themed wooden box of German origin that gives Bethany an ominous feeling when she touches it. Her father takes it to the basement and the party separates into the adults and the kids, who decide to break into the locked basement in search of the beer they believe is there. Eventually Dylan calls his contact, the much older Tanner "Trash" Codswallup, who brings over some beer for a high price. They notice the previously firmly locked basement door is now open and go down the stairs to escape the sounds of their parents' private partying in the parlor. Noticing the strange locked wooden box, Dylan lockpicks it open. Light explodes out, followed by growing ivy and holly, the sounds of music and laughter, and a glowing blue orb that sends out ribbons of light and color that wrap around and pinion each of them. Eventually it takes a tiny humanoid blue fairy shape and they feel themselves changing form: Riley into a wendigo, Tanner becomes a silverback gorilla cymbal-monkey, Gwennie a snowman, Dylan a yeti, Trystan becomes a hot and muscular Krampus, Bethany a tree-topper, and Ralph the Grinch.
When they move back upstairs, they find the house (and their parents) frozen in ice, and determine they need to recapture the blue fairy in order to reverse what has happened. Tanner grabs the box and they head outside, where the suburban street has been consumed by a Germanic forest. Riley realizes the fairy is headed for the water tower and they head in that direction, becoming slightly separated but reuniting before they reach the tower. There, they see the fairy muttering over a glowing runic circle from which a more than human-sized figure emerges, tattered and dirty with its arms bundles of sticks. Its head is split in two as if by lightning. The fairy welcomes it in German, telling it to "embrace the children" before flying upward, and the creature attacks. A battle ensues and it is eventually destroyed. The fairy tells them that although the creature probably deserved that, it must go see to its others and flies away. Bethany is able to communicate with it and watches it fly away to the Dork Dugs Arcade.
Break[]
- Promo for sponsor Saily, offering affordable digital data.
- Promos for sponsors Chronicles of Light: Darkness Falls and Ravensburger's Horrified: World of Monsters
- Pre-order baby Trinket life-size figure now.
- Critical Role Presents: Winter's Crest LP album available digitally now; vinyl release on pre-order.
- Excerpts from "4-Sided Dive: What Bits May Come" (4SDx30).
- Queen by Midnight Quarter Past now available.
- Unend and The Re-Slayer's Take Season 2 podcasts.
- Merch Alert! Scanlan boxers and sleep mask, Lavish Chateau bathrobe, plaid pajamas, green hoodie and jogger, Pike Trickfoot hoodie, Keyleth cropped hoodie, and Percy cardigan in all shops; Hope Blooms t-shirt not in AU.
- Check out all the Critical Role books at CriticalRoleBooks.com.
- Welcome to Tal'Dorei and Welcome to Wildemount Critical Role soundtrack albums available now on all digital music platforms. Critical Recap every Wednesday on CritRole.com. Submit fan art and cosplay for possible inclusion in the weekly online gallery.
- Beacon destroys a happy suburban family.
Part II[]
The troop of strange, festively transformed teenagers trek across Springvale Springs in search of the rogue Spirit of Holiday Cheer as it terraforms and terrorizes their hometown, vanishing somewhere in the direction of the arcade. Matt also has a clock running for Hans Trapp, whose pieces they have apparently brought with them. They decide to head toward the arcade, detouring on the way to stop in at the comic shop. There, they encounter Tex Sanderson apparently looting comics, and as she escapes into the night crying, "Von Trapps rule!" they nab her knapsack holding her loot. In the store, they find a collection of German short stories meant to scare children which they read while taking a short rest. The Trapp Timer runs out during this rest and they notice the bundles of Hans Trapp have pulled out of their bags and reformed as a massive burning scarecrow.
During the ensuing battle, when the room is set afire, the party sets off the sprinkler system in the shop. Ralph finally manages to destroy the scarecrow but the timer immediately resets. They realize the only way to permanently banish him is to get rid of the Spirit of Christmas blue fairy, so they continue on to the arcade, which is completely surrounded by a holly briar hedge. As they reach it, they see the Spirit burst out and head southward. Ralph nabs it with his Mystic Tether but she creates a barrier between herself and the party. Riley skateboards around it while Tanner throws a weed bomb through it, but the fairy escapes heading directly toward Springvale Springs High School. They notice the box's carvings speak of rain, emotion, and punishment before heading to the high school in pursuit.
There, they see the school is being consumed by the ever-growing forest and that the fairy is inside. They break in and while most of the group goes in search of the spirit, Trystan and Bethany head toward the German classroom in search of a dictionary, along the way finding a disemboweled security guard, now stuffed with hay. Inside the classroom are two furry horned demons (Straggele) who attack them, but Trystan hypnotizes them and they freeze in place long enough for the two to grab a dictionary and a book of German Christmas tales. As Trystan and Bethany flee, they hear Tanner's scream in the distance.
Meanwhile, Riley tracks the spirit through the forest taking over the school corridors. Tanner is briefly captured by the undergrowth but Ralph's Fireball releases him, slightly singed and screaming. Trystan and Bethany join them and they hear voices speaking in German, with the spirit assuring another that "more are coming" before saying, "I smell children." The group hides as the commanding voice orders its minions to "Find them!" While they're hiding, they translate the words carved on the box, learning the box needs tears to be activated, to absorb the emotions of punished children. Bethany immediately begins insulting Ralph, who sobs as the Straggele approach.
As he does, Perchta, a tall, hag-like woman with an iron nose and a swan's foot steps from the brambles, along with her Straggele. Dylan and Tanner attack her together, severely wounding her. She retaliates by marking Dylan as naughty. Riley makes herself cry by remembering her probably dead pet rat Gorbachev, adding her tears to Ralph's in the wooden box. Perchta attacks Dylan, wounding him seriously and trying to disembowel him. When she strikes toward him again, Bethany interposes herself and takes the damage. Trystan uses his dramatic abilities to make himself weep, which is enough to activate the runes on the box, now glowing with a golden shimmer. Ralph and Bethany work together to bring the spirit down to the ground, but Perchta continues to attack and wound the party.
They eventually manage to push the Spirit of Christmas back into the box, causing the Straggele and Perchta to flee as the encroaching forest dissolves and the group returns to their normal teenaged forms. The disemboweled guard comes back to life, confused. As they run from the school, they all decide to drink beers together in their secret tree house.
Featured characters[]
Player characters[]
- Bethany Blake - Clank guardian tree-topper
- Dylan Brewster - Orc rogue yeti
- Guinevere "Gwennie" Beasley - Dwarf druid snowman
- Ralph Bader Ginsburg - Dragonborn wizard Grinch
- Riley Sloan - Firbolg ranger wendigo
- Tanner "Trash" Codswallup - Simiah warrior cymbal-monkey
- Trystan Beasley - Satyr bard Krampus
Non-player characters[]
- Mayor Cameron Blake - father of Bethany, recently married to…
- Iris Ginsburg-Blake - mother of Ralph
- Walton Beasley - father of Trystan and Gwennie, married to…
- Phaedra Beasley - mother of Trystan and Gwennie
- Pelvis Resley Blake - younger brother of Cameron
- Tex Sanderson, a teen-aged girl
Mentioned only[]
- Major Hull - father of Riley
- Oma Sigrid - ancestor of Cameron and Pelvis
Quotations[]
Trivia[]
- Multiple other videos were released in connection with this live show:
A Daggerheart Critmas Story: Session Zero on the Critical Role YouTube channel
Daggerheart Critmas Story LIVE - Backstage Pass (subscription required)
A Daggerheart Critmas Story | VIP Pre-Show (subscription required)
- Much like "Candela Obscura Live - The Circle of the Silver Screen" (CO5x01) and the Campaign Three episode "The Nox Engine" (3x98), there is a different version of this episode available on Beacon called Critical Role Presents: A Daggerheart Critmas Story | LIVE SHOW EXPERIENCE!. This version provides a more cinematic experience with no overlay on screen, multiple camera angles, and close-ups on the players. This version also uses the line feed from the live show that the audience at the theater saw on the big screens.
- The character of Pelvis Resley Blake was a fan suggestion from the VIP pre-show suggested by Patrick Robichaud, suggested as "Pelvis Resley", who works at the gas station. Matt decided to make him the Blake siblings' uncle.
References[]
Art:
- ↑ Official art of the kids opening the box, by Annalise Jensen (source). Used with permission.