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"4-Sided Dive: What Bits May Come" (4SDx30) is the thirtieth and last episode of 4-Sided Dive, discussing episodes of the third campaign up through "Race to the Ruidian Core" (3x117) with guests Robbie Daymond, Ashley Johnson, Liam O'Brien, and Marisha Ray.

Synopsis[]

Liam O'Brien is the thirtieth Tavern Keeper for tonight.

What the Fuck is up with That?[]

  • The Malleus Key and Vox Machina. The band was (almost) back together.
    • Divorcees Pike Trickfoot and Scanlan Shorthalt are reunited. Ashley thinks there will always be some sort of dance with each other, like star-crossed lovers. Marisha can see both of them finally getting married as they get older an don't want to be alone anymore. They're also gnomes so they have time to explore their lives. Per Ashley, Pike is around the same age as Scanlan.
    • Marisha is very happy with her choices as Keyleth during the fight, as controversial as they may have been. Especially with Earthquake, it couldn't have been really bad but it didn't.
    • Robbie had some decision paralysis moments. Having never had that build before, Robbie wished he had more long range mobility. He felt cloistered to a certain area, because everybody's OP, he wanted to help several Vox Machina members but by the time it was his turn, the problem was already taken care of. But it was very satisfying to watch and participate in.
      • Marisha says it's an issue of level 20 combat combined with an eight players table. A lot can change with eight level 20 players in six or seven rounds.
    • Liam didn't do any of the things he thought he was going to do. Lieve'tel Toluse had two rods, one for healing for free, and one for helping everyone within a certain area. Instead he ended up running and playing hide and seek. There was also the possibility of Vax'ildan coming out, but Liam only did 15 feet with him then the battle ended.
    • Robbie compliments the cast on how fast they've played, even though it takes a long time between everyone. Technically, a round of combat is six seconds, but it's not how Liam thinks about it anymore. Marisha thinks the six seconds rule doesn't applied to their group, at least in an imagination standpoint. The Malleus Key fight was only five rounds, but it didn't feel like it.
  • One night.
    • Once the battle ended and they freed Vax from being an orb, Liam wonders what's going to happen between Lieve'tel and Cerkonos if the world doesn't end. Liam says we can expect Lieve is going to get on his body. She lives with death so often that she fully enjoys life, she has a very active sex life. That's why she loves silver foxes so much, she's been around so long, she's not putting up with 20 year old nonsense. Hence why she went for Bertrand Bell immediatly.
  • Cerkonos is really into Scanlan. Robbie says it was a pick on the fly, Cerkonos has no charisma, so him loving Scanlan made sense.
  • Vax is free! But they don't know what's going to happen next with the gods.
    • Ashley says the most heartbreaking thing was looking over at Marisha/Keyleth and seeing her devastated. Keyleth and Vax haven't seen each other for 30 years, and they just had one night together. They don't know what the future holds yet and Liam is nervous to telegraph what he feels or thinks about it because it's still playing out. He doesn't think there's one way that the story could end.
      • Liam recalls a moment in Campaign One when Percival de Rolo and Vex'ahlia's secret wedding came out to the others of the group while they were in The Dawnfather's realm. While it was happy news, it was also painful for Keyleth because her and Vax knew that's not what's going to happen. Marisha says that Keyleth's reaction was shitty because it was pure jealousy. Dani Carr says that Vex specifically told Vax to not get married during their year apart, but Vex ended up married with Percy while they were apart.
  • The Mighty Nein!
    • Liam asks what was the beef with Widogast's Nascent Nein-Sided Tower in "4-Sided Dive: The Tower" (4SDx29). Liam spent a lot of time in Campaign Two describing the inside of the tower, he wasn't going to do it a second time. Sam Riegel forgot that the tower is fixed in place, it can't be changed. Only the second floor is the room of requirement, it has nine closets and there were bedrooms inside the closets. People got confused because Liam said curtains to divide the beds.
    • One of the funniest thing that Liam made last minute is Caleb Widogast being a "C-Popper"[1]. Maybe Chetney Pock O'Pea's deal with Nana Morri made Caleb a "C-Popper".
    • Their battle with the Weave Mind. They loved the mechanics that Matt Mercer came up with. Liam was excited to use Time Stop and having the maximum number of turns he could roll. However, some of the things he did during that moment were pointless, only the Fireballs did something.
      • Robbie asks who in the M9 failed the most their combat. Dani says Beauregard Lionett because she kept failling her Stunning Strike until the very end. But ultimately, all of Mighty Nein did really well. Liam takes Beau's defense by saying that the Stunning Strike that worked was the most important one. It allowed Caleb to do an auto success with Disintegrate. In retrospect, Jester Lavorre's Blade Barrier was probably the worst.
  • Bells Hells and the myceits.
    • Big Princess Mononoke energy. Ashley loves when Matt does little cute creatures. Robbie do always like the potential for them to maybe be bad.
    • The slides reminds the cast fun little moments in their lifes in amusement parks or at home when they were younger.
    • Liliana Temult almost died if they had failed one more time their roles. Robbie feels like they were doing so well that Matt was a little tough on them in one sequence when they did on mid roll.
    • Marisha was wondering if Ashton Greymoore giving over the Brood Pit from the All-Minds-Burn might affect them in some ways. The myceits and the seed have now a beautiful relationship for the eternity or for the next 90 minutes. They're wondering if they had planted the seed sooner during their first trip on Ruidus, having the All-Minds-Burn have a psychic connection early on might have helped them in some ways.
  • Dorian Storm's Forcecage.
    • The four player turns thing before Imogen Temult's mom dies were scary. Right after Braius Doomseed took all the swings at Ludinus Da'leth and biffed it.
    • The Forcecage finally worked for Dorian! Robbie was so scared to use it because it never worked before. But he felt the moment was right, checked in with Imogen to have permission.
    • Liam thinks that if Liliana had died, Imogen's chances of picking dark choices would've gone up 45%. Robbie thinks Ludinus' chances of survival would've been even lower with a dark Imogen.

Tower of Inquiry[]

  • Loved seeing Zerxus Ilerez animated in The Legend of Vox Machina! I thought it was so seamlessly blend with some of my favorite plot points from Campaign One, and I was wondering what the conversations are around altering original campaign moments to include beloved characters of other campaigns? Are there any ideas around this that ended up not being used that you thought were cool?
    • There's always lots of ideas, they just don't have time for all of it. For example, they really wanted to have the Yenk versus Vorugal fight, so they got rid of the Spire of Conflux and put Yenk in the Nine Hells with Zerxus. A lot of the discussions were about Pike's presence to include her more in the series.
  • What do you think your character would be doing right now if they hadn't joined up with Bells Hells?
    • Fearne Calloway would've stayed with the rest of the Crown Keepers and probably being pulled to the bad side with Athion Zathuda. Laudna and Imogen would still be wondering together and maybe responding to the Ruidusborn call. Orym would've had a minor role although he would've been there with the Ashari in the final Malleus Key fight. Dorian, even prior to Exandria Unlimited Prime, he would've been in a high-level trouble, he would be down for anything and worked himself in a mess.
  • Which non-furniture realted mystery in Exandria is the biggest splinter in your mind from this campaign? Mine is the hidden eisfuura city that BH ended up in when one of their teleports misfired because I keep wondering if it's connected with Cerrit Agrupnin, Maya, and Patia Por'co's orb.
    • Dani says she gave the name of the city in her recap of the episode, it's Vol'antim. Liam wants to know what happened to the Shade Mother, maybe the Green Seekers took care of it, but where are they at? Robbie wants to know if Cyrus Wyvernwind was saveable. Marisha cannot stop thinking about FCG's Coin of delving that Orym dropped in a very deep tunnel beneath Jrusar. Ashley wants to know more about FCG's connection with Devexian.
  • For everyone, do you think any of the previously established characters from past campaigns (NPC and PC) are Ruidusborn?

The Deep Dive[]

  • Robbie: What has it been like as Dorian with Bells Hells and the Mighty Nein? Do you feel like the only human in a cast of Muppets? And if so, are you more of a Michael Caine or a Tim Curry? It was fun, unhinged, and delightful. Like watching a masterclass. Robbie is probably more a Michael Caine, because Dorian treat it very seriously.
  • Ashley, Liam & Robbie: Was it strange to see Opal while inhabiting the different characters? What would your Bells Hells characters have done if they had been there instead? They all would try to see if she's reachable. They would've gotten diverted and gone off target an it would've messed up so many things.
  • Liam: Talk about that clutch Desintegrate that took the Weave Mind down. He has been weighing it for a pair of rounds, it only worked because Beau set up the Weave Mind and gave Caleb a perfect shot. It felt good. Beau and Caleb have a combo where Beau uses "Debilitating Barrage" instead of "Stunning Strike", they used that on Uk'otoa.
  • Marisha: Beau is clearly still very guarded around new people, with her trust in the Mighty Nein above all. Has her time with the Cobalt Soul hardened her more? Her whole work is rooting out corruption. So obviously she's going to be extremely wary of other people because Beau only needs to rely on the Mighty Nein. On top of that, Beau has always been a little shit talker, nothing new there. Dani points out Beau putting a front for strangers because you don't want them to know anything about you, hence why Beau said she hated her wife the moment they met. Which is not true, Beau was crazy about her the moment she saw her.
  • Robbie: How did you approach playing Cerkonos for the table? The Wiki helped Robbie a lot for his build, he went back and revisited the Vox machina episodes, watching clips, and the rest was filling in the gap of what 30 years looks like for a guy like him.
  • Ashley: How does Fearne feel about the Ruby Vanguard treating her like a VIP hostage? They called her a 'prime acquisition'. Is it especially strange after the death of her father? Fearne doesn't really matter about that anymore, even though she's still thinks highly of herself, she knows that the Ruby Vanguard are not to trust in any way. Them treating her that way doesn't change the fact that Fearne and Bells Hells have a job to do. She's locked in.
  • Liam: What is it like for Caleb to mentor other young adventures like Imogen? To open his tower to those who might need it? Caleb is a little bit in his Allura Vysoren era. Liam loves Caleb as a teacher and he sees a lot of turmoil in Imogen, a person who's not sure what is right. That was gravitated towards that in a teacher/mentor fashion. He wants to help.
  • Marisha: How does Laudna feel about The Matron of Ravens now? What does their connectino mean to her? Laudna always admired people fo higher status like lords, ladies and regency. It's the same here but on a god-like scale. People always saw Laudna as an abomination, it felt extra good that the Matron acknowledged her as a victim and not a victim person, which is something that Marisha never thought would happen.
  • Robbie: Talk to us about the relationship between Orym and Dorian. Their scene of confession and how they are doing in this new romance. To Robbie, it's only the possibility of the love/the attraction. The passion is there, but for Robbie, a romance requires the time to activate. It was very freeing to finally confess and saying they'll figure it out later, it's not the right place and the right time now.
  • Ashley & Marisha: What were some of the dynamics that you two wanted to bring to Beau & Yasha Nydoorin's relationship 7 years later? So much of that was last minute. There was a lot going on with multiple characters in the way. However, it's easy for Ashley to slip in to just being in love with Beau, she loves when Marisha does Beau's frustrated face and behaviour. It's a comfort. They discussed a little bit in advance on whether or not they have adopted children already, but they have decided it wasn't the right time to talk about that.
  • Liam: As we move into the final phase of Bells Hells' Predathian journey, where is Orym landing on the god question? Where are they all right now? Orym doubts a little bit that there's is a 100% right answer. Because of their meeting with The Arch Heart and the Matron, he's at 95% sure. Marisha thinks there will be a moment where they'll have to decide what to do with Predathos and the gods. Dorian shifted from a a god hater to his utilitarian mode. Wherever it goes, as long as his friends end up on the right side of it, if the gods satys I'll stomach it, if the leave all the better. Fearne thinks that as long as her people are safe, the world can burn.
  • Marisha: What does Laudna think of the Liliana situation? That's basically Laudna's mother-in-law. There was a time where Laudna was not stoked about Liliana because she abandonned her daughter. But she's come around a lot to Liliana, especially after Laudna's situation with Delilah Briarwood, she now has a different understanding on the situation.
  • Marisha: How is Keyleth doing with the return of Vax? To have him back but only for one night is both a blessing and a curse? To clear the air, yes, Marisha was upset at the end of the episode but not because of how the story went, because of how intense and real these characters' feelings are in all of them. Keyleth is profondly sad of the situation, especially not having a sense of resolution. Liam and Marisha talked about it but they're waiting to see what the future holds to tell us. Keyleth is stuck in the worst case of grief, which is the inability to move on.

Tower of Inquiry[]

  • Many characters will at some point reach a major crossroad, where taking one direction or the other determines their path forward - class, personality, etc. Please look back on such crossroad for any of your characters - and tell us who they would be if they'd gone the other way.
    • Liam wonders what would've happened if Vax didn't trade his life for his twin sister. Marisha was stern about sacrificing Beau with Isharnai. Dorian could have easily walked off with Dariax Zaveon after loosing his brother. For Ashley, it's booking Blindspot a couple of weeks before they start streaming on Geek & Sundry, everything would've been so different if she didn't.
  • Which NPC from Exandria would you like to play in a slice-of-life style spin-off campaign?
  • When do you start connecting campaign story and character history when creating new characters before a start of a campaign. Does it go hand in hand or do you first create the characters and then find their place in the story?
    • For Liam it's the latter. Marisha says that's how it is for the core group in the main campaigns and guests will have a different experience and will be more of the former, but that doesn't have to dictate everything. It's also different with miniseries where you know what will happen in the end like ExU: Calamity or Downfall, you come to the table with an assignment.
  • The Matron of Ravens had the imp Slitch held in a glass amulet in Downfall, if your character could have any creature held in a glass amulet to bamf out at any time what would it be?
    • Ashley would pick an emotional support dog. Liam would pick either a dog or Grog Strongjaw. Marisha would pick an emotional support fish.

Dani knocked over the Tower of Inquiry, even though it doesn't count, Marisha still pulls a consequence ("See the Trivia section for the consequence)

Tower of Inquiry's consequence[]

Since it is the last episode, the consequence is split between the cast including Dani:

  • Whomever destroys the Tower of Inquiry on episode 30 must say five nice things about 4-Sided Dive.
    • Robbie likes the long-form podcast vibe. Ashley says it's been therapeutic to talk about things they don't get to in game. Liam enjoyed the show being just hanging out with friends. Dani really enjoyed working and collaborating with Kyle Shire on the show.

Marisha's final thoughts[]

Marisha concludes by saying that the show was a little bit of a scramble and they wanted to mix it up. They tried to be very experimental. Marisha gives a massive thank you to the audience for giving them that grace, even though she knows that some people didn't like it but she doesn't care, they had reasons to do this show the way they did. She thinks the format ended up growing on people over time and she believes that you can't always come out with the final product. If anything, it is a massive detriment to creativity because if you keep trying to come up with what you think is the final iteration of something, oftentimes you'll never release anything.

When they started 4-Sided Dive, so much of it was an experiment and it remained an experiment from episode one to episode 30. Marisha loved everything they did, the bits, the guest hosts, the cold opens. Shout out to Kyle Shire because the show is his baby. Kyle thanks everyone for giving him a playground to play in and experimenting.

Quotations[]

Trivia[]

References[]

Art:

  1. Thumbnail from "4-Sided Dive: What Bits May Come" (4SDx30). This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.
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