"Freaky Thursday: A Bells Hells Charity One Shot" (Sx91) is a special non-canon one-shot broadcast live to raise funds for the Critical Role Foundation and those impacted by the recent California wildfires. "Two Elemental Royals have made a wager: Are modern mortal “heroes” as resilient and courageous as those of legend? Hearing of the recent, wild exploits of Bells Hells, these two entities pluck the troupe from Exandria and force a series of challenges to test their skills, wit, and ability… all while the Elementals subtly manipulate the odds between Order and Chaos to serve their bet. Weird magics weave throughout the realm, as onlookers from across the realms alter the dangers mid-contest, rending the battlefield or even swapping souls between the players! Can Bells Hells survive this series of clashes, and does either Order or Chaos truly carve the path of a hero?"[1]
Synopsis[]
Announcements[]
- All proceeds from tonight's livestream benefit the Critical Role Foundation, aiding the California Community Foundation/Wildfire Recovery Fund, the Latino Community Foundation, and Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation. Donations of $200 and over made during the livestream affect the gameplay by causing (among other things) advantage, disadvantage, damage, healing, wild magic, or a pull from the Deck of Many Things.
- Merch alert! A commemorative "Critters for California" t-shirt is now available for pre-order in the US shop, with partial proceeds going to the Critical Role Foundation.
- The Darrington Press YouTube channel will be hosting Daggerheart charity streams soon.
- The latest "State of the Role" was released this morning with details about the next month of programming. Next week, 6 February 2025, will be the final episode of Campaign Three: Bells Hells, and will start with a live celebratory pre-show one hour early.
Introduction[]
While the realms of mortals are historically driven by tumultuous change and radical shifts in societal power, and uncovered secrets of the past, the numerous realms beyond Exandria's planar veil can often feel rather stale to some, especially those who command station and opulence in their domain. Periods of peace (or some would say, stagnation) can lead to an urge to shake things up. Debates become wagers, and few things are as dangerous as powerful beings with a bet to settle. Bells Hells, deep in your rest preparing to return to Ruidus earlier in the campaign, what dreams currently hold your unconscious minds before an alien light in the dark seems to swell to consume your sleeping imagination, as you are pulled from your slumber to find yourself floating within a realm of endless purple and blue sky. Dynamic masses of cloud continents shift and swirl across this vastness, within gargantuan landmasses too vast to gauge in their immensity, floating like islands among the winds. At this point in time, you hear these two voices ring out.
Part I[]
Bells Hells are asleep, the night before their return to Ruidus in "Fractures" (3x78), when they find themselves pulled into a different Plane of Existence. They are welcomed by two strange elemental beings, Adrekor (a pale blue efreeti) of the Starcinder Citadel and Ventularis (a red-orange djinni) of the Torium Expanse where they now are, who inform the group they are to settle a dispute between the two of them about the nature of heroism: whether a hero is shaped by order, or chaos. Their trial will be shaped by many minds across the realms, and decided by five independent and impartial judges, who are introduced: Sid Farweather, Sone Redbrick, Ilara, Bugsy Angus, and Lord Oselor Norhorn. Bells Hells will be taken to two great battlefields containing many dangers and secret passageways, where they will need to work as a team to prove themselves. If they die, they will be brought back at half their hit points, continuing to be divided each time they fall. With that, the party find themselves elsewhere, with a stone temple nearby holding a guardian whom they must defeat.
Suddenly, a Tyrannosaurus rex appears before them and bites Chetney, who becomes a werewolf, breaks free immediately and runs for the temple. The others are caught in a massive spinning Maelstrom. Throughout the entire encounter, random damage from spells, healing, and surges of wild magic take place. Dorian casts Fly on Orym, who flies to the temple and finds a hidden entrance which he points out to the others, although most of them suddenly become invisible. Ashton uses the Shard of Ka'Mort and rages, but has to draw from the Deck of Chaos and becomes an intellect devourer, while Chetney suddenly transforms into a griffon. In his brainy form, Ashton stuns the T-rex and then absorbs its intellect, becomes a T-rex himself, and charges toward the temple, joined by Imogen. Chetney pulls from the Deck of Many Things, getting the Jester, the Moon, and the Star (a Wish spell and +2 to Strength), while Orym's pull gets the Sun (gains one level and a very rare wondrous item, which turns out to be a Belt of Fire Giant Strength). One of the judges casts Fly on Laudna, FCG, and Fearne. Everyone heads toward the door. Laudna sees a keyhole in it and becomes a pony, and Fearne picks the lock, opening the door. FCG uses the Staff of Dark Odyssey to Misty Step and dash inside, finding a room filled with fog.
Fan art of the t-rex in the Astral Sea, by Sabela Hisssqueak.[art 1]
Suddenly, everyone finds themselves in a different body and teleported 50 feet away. Chetney, in Laudna-pony's body, turns into a storm giant, leaps onto Orym (in Ashton-T rex form) and begins riding it, casting a lightning strike at Ashton (in Chetney-griffon's body). Dorian, in FCG's body, finds a trap door leading further inward and casts Pass Wall on it, but has to pull a card and finds himself the owner of a keep on the Menagerie Coast. Orym, in Ashton's T-rex form, breaks down the wall in another spot. Chetney's storm giant body becomes an elephant and Orym's T-rex is transported to the Astral Plane for a round, disappearing. Ashton, in griffon form, heads for the hole in the wall, taking a swipe at the elephant as he goes, but is too big for the hole and gets stuck. Imogen, in Orym form, attacks the griffon and Misty Steps far enough down the hallway to see another metal door leading further inside. Suddenly, their souls are shunted to other bodies once more.
Laudna finds herself in FCG's body and uses Stone Shape to remove a section of the wall around the inner room, releasing the fire elemental Guardian inside. Fearne in Orym's body whacks it with Seedling, then FCG in Imogen's body moves to the door and eats a mind egg he finds in her backpack. He then decides he wants to use the Ring of Remembrance, and despite Laura's desperate attempt to talk him out of it, goes forward. With 6 chances to roll the natural 20 Matt decides it would take not to die, he fails and Imogen's body is destroyed. However, her body (with FCG's spirit in it) immediately reappears where the party started, with only half her initial hit points.
Most of the party is then attacked by an Insect Plague. The fire guardian attacks the bodies of Orym and FCG (holding the spirits of Fearne and Laudna). Ashton's pull from the Deck is The Void and Laudna in elephant form disappears. The watching elemental beings, concerned, replace her with another hero, Beauregard Lionett. Ashton's spirit finds themselves inhabiting Beau's body. Chetney, in Dorian's body, runs forward and gets in position flanking the fire guardian, inspiring Orym. Dorian, in Fearne's body, flies into a hallway and uses Telekinesis (via Stonky's Ring) to rip the door off its hinges. A froghemoth randomly appears outside the temple, swallowing Orym in Chetney's body. Chetney, seeing his body swallowed, uses his Wish to summon a tarrasque for one round, which attacks and kills the froghemoth, releasing Chetney's body. Orym (in Chetney's body) sees the tarrasque looming above him, Misty Steps onto its face, and attacks with Turmoil. Ashton, in Beau's body, tries to bounce off the tarrasque toward a door but takes an attack of opportunity and is bitten and held in the tarrasque's mouth. Imogen is a T-rex floating in the Astral Sea when she begins glowing, attracting an angler fish-type creature who tries to swallow her just as she is returned to the battlefield. She bites the tarrasque and wounds it.
Just then, everyone switches bodies again. Beau, in Fearne's body, finds a locked chest which she lockpicks, finding inside a small metal box with a shard of wood emerging from it. She pulls it, and a ladder drops down. Her pull from the Deck is the Vizier, giving her access to information when she requests it. Fearne is now the T-rex and attacks the guardian, joined by FCG in Orym's body who finishes it off, catching its heart in his hand. The tarrasque disappears sending Beau and Chetney tumbling.
The party hears the two elemental entities applauding and asking the judges' opinions of what has taken place. Receiving mixed reviews, the elementals are unconvinced that this has settled their wager, and tell the party that they will be brought to another location to continue.
Break[]
- Ashley Johnson, on behalf of the Critical Role Foundation, explains the fundraising nature of the evening's livestream and lists the organizations it will help support. Links to donate appear through the balance of the break.
Part II[]
The party finds themselves in a jungle, facing a tower forming part of the citadel of Prince Adrekor, holding a pulsing green crystal at its summit. They are told the elemental princes will try to stop them freeing an artifact from crystal at the top of the tower. The various transformations and effects from the previous battle have faded, and Ashton has a Wish spell. Matt warns the players that the Deck of Many Things is more dangerous now, before Imogen picks Donjon and Chetney's body is transported to an extradimensional sphere, with all his possessions remaining behind. Therefore, Fjord joins the fight, currently controlled by Imogen.
Orym, inside Beau's body, runs over and starts climbing up the tower. Imogen, in Fjord's body, Thunder Steps to the top of the tower but injures half the party while doing it. The players all change character bodies again as a Cataclysm hits with Chain Lightning, severely wounding Fjord in Fearne's body, Dorian in Orym's body, FCG in Ashton's body, Ashton in FCG's body and Beau in Imogen's body, knocking both Ashton/FCG and Beau/Imogen unconscious. They immediately reappear, FCG's body now at 1/2 and Imogen's at 1/4 original hit points. The efreeti flies up and hurls flame at Fjord's body, and Ashton in FCG casts a Mass Cure Wounds. Beau's Deck pull results in a permanent -2 to saving throws. Fearne in Fjord's body creates an Arcane Gate to the top of the tower, which Dorian in Orym's body ignores and makes two 30-foot vertical leaps, using Seedling's Grasping Vines to get up next to Beau. FCG in Ashton's body rages, uses a chaos burst to hyper rage and seriously damages the crystal.
Suddenly, Ira Wendagoth appears in a spark of purple arcane energy, casting Steel Wind Strike on the party before crawling to the other side of the tower, hidden. Beau in Imogen's body takes the Arcane Gate upward, then meditates using her boon and learns that they must destroy the outside of the crystal then destroy an interior barrier, while in the proximity of its owner. The djinni creates a whirlwind pulling everyone on the top of the tower into it, including an invisible Beau in Imogen's body, and Fearne in Fjord's body. Imogen is knocked unconscious yet again, immediately coming back at 12 hit points. Fjord in Fearne's body uses the Spark of Rau'shan and goes through the Gate to the top, then leaps onto the floating efreeti prince and holds on.
The party switches bodies once again, and Orym finds himself in FCG's body. He rolls through the gate to the tower top and casts Sunburst on the crystal, shattering it and leaving behind a smaller, floating dark crystal containing a dimly-seen humanoid figure. Ashton in Fearne's body is randomly transformed into an ankheg still clutching the flying efreeti. Imogen, in Dorian's body, casts Feeblemind on the efreeti, who loses all language, then uses a gifted Wish to break the crystal and release a small teddy bear. The efreeti wordlessly attacks the ankheg clinging to him, who takes enough damage to become Fearne again. He then moves, wailing, toward the teddy bear. They gather that he bet against the party succeeding and now wants to incinerate the bear.
The party shifts bodies again, and Imogen in Ashton's body uses a gifted Wish to put the efreeti to sleep. Fearne-in-Dorian picks up the teddy bear, realizes she needs to get it into the sleeping efreeti's hand, and Dimension Doors to the ground where he is now lying.
The party immediately shifts bodies. Dorian-in-Beau tries to backflip directly onto the stomach of the sleeping efreeti, but misses. Dorian then beats the efreeti with Beau's staff as FCG-in-Dorian watches in horror and casts Force Cage on Dorian, taking him out of the fight. He then presents the bear while singing to the efreeti and manages to persuade him to accept it.
The judges all stand and the other Prince, Ventalaris, announces, "And with that, heroism has been proven right." He restores the mind of his fellow prince, and the party swaps bodies one last time, returning to their own familiar personas. As the party gathers, victorious, in the center of the field, a final cataclysm unleashes Chain Lightning and Ira casts another Steel Wind Strike. Imogen goes unconscious yet again, returning with 6 maximum hit points. Fearne also goes unconscious, and when FCG takes half the damage, he does as well. Ira then disappears. The judges overall seem to approve, and with a snap of the princes' fingers, are sent back to their respective realms. The djinn thanks the party for participating, and the efreeti asks if they have any words of heroic wisdom for them. Imogen shares she's glad they don't have to die anymore, so FCG hits her but only manages to do slightly under her current hit points. Power swirls around them, as a final card is blown around them. Laudna returns from the distant realm in which she was held, and the card floats to her. As the group steps through a portal leading back home, a dark ancient shadow entity apparates, with a skull face and carrying a long scythe, stalking after Laudna.
Featured characters[]
Quotations[]
- Imogen: Are we-- Wait, wait, wait, wait--
Ventularis: Begin![2] - Ashley: (trying to sort out the timeline) Dani said yes, it did happen.
Laura: (pointing to Sam) You're still alive.
FCG: What do you mean, "I'm still alive?" What does that mean? I die?!
Dorian: Does the name "Doomseed" mean anything to you?
FCG: What?![3] - FCG: As I struggle in the water, I'm just gonna yell out, "Is this how I die? Is it a water-based death? Can you at least tell me that?!"[4]
- Sam: Matthew, does that mean that Fresh Cut Grass has a keep, or Dorian?
Matt: Dorian does. It's his mind.
Sam: Damn it!
Robbie: Sorry! You're not going to need it. Trust me.
FCG: Wait, why? Why won't I need it?!
Dorian: Don't worry about it.[5] - FCG: (while in Imogen's body) Okay, first things first. I have a tongue, and I just looked in my inventory, and there's a mind egg.
Laura: Oh no. That's-
FCG: I'm gonna eat that.[6] - Dorian: (while in Orym's body) I've been waiting to do this for four years! 30 foot vertical leap!
Orym: You're not going through the magic gate?
Dorian: There's a magic gate? - FCG: (while in Ashton's body) First, I'm going to go into a rage. Yeah, fuck it, let's get weird. I'm gonna see what we get--Oh, that's not the one I was expecting! Oh, this one again? Okay, cool.
Marisha: Wait, why does your Ashton sound like your Orym?
Sam: I only do two voices. [...] Shit gets weird. Fuck. Fucking shit.
Trivia[]
- The events of this special non-canon episode took place approximately around the time of "Fractures" (3x78), the night prior to the party's return to Ruidus. However, they played as their level 15 characters, a level they didn't reach until "The Nein Hells" (3x111).
- The livestream almost doubled its original fundraising goal of $180,000 by raising over $350,000 through the end of the stream. Additional donations can be made through 28 February 2025.
- Pre-stream donations determined the monsters faced by the party (a Tyrannosaurus rex, Froghemoth, and Ira Wendagoth) and the cataclysm spells used (Chain Lightning being the top poller).
- The five judges of the party's performance were characters submitted by the first five people to donate $5000 each prior to the stream.
- Sam's jerrycan made a reappearance, with no word as to its condition after all this time: on the back was a large "Critters for California" badge[7].
References[]
- ↑
Join Our CRF Campaign to Support Those Impacted by Los Angeles Wildfires on CritRole.com .
- ↑ See "Freaky Thursday: A Bells Hells Charity One Shot" (Sx91) at 33:30.
- ↑ See "Freaky Thursday: A Bells Hells Charity One Shot" (Sx91) at 44:30.
- ↑ See "Freaky Thursday: A Bells Hells Charity One Shot" (Sx91) at 1:18:55.
- ↑ See "Freaky Thursday: A Bells Hells Charity One Shot" (Sx91) at 1:33:45.
- ↑ See "Freaky Thursday: A Bells Hells Charity One Shot" (Sx91) at 1:53:35.
- ↑ See "Freaky Thursday: A Bells Hells Charity One Shot" (Sx91) from 2:08:25 through 2:08:40.
Art:
- ↑ Fan art of the t-rex in the Astral Sea, by Sabela Hisssqueak (source). Used with permission.