Don't be suspicious: Group Stealth Checks in Critical Role - Comparisons!
Finally, we have reached the conclusion of this project. At least, this edition of the project, I may review it in 50 episodes time and update Bells Hells statistics. But for now, we have reached the final post.
If you read all of that and wondered what other posts I am talking about, I would like to direct your attention here, here and here. Those three posts take a look at the group stealth checks performed by each adventuring party that has been the focus of a Critical Role campaign, comparing individual party members, guests, how often they use Pass Without Trace and how much it increases their average!
One may think that by looking at those three posts alone, you can form a good basis of comparison between the groups, but that is where you would be wrong. Because the campaigns span wildly different levels, and I think we can all agree that it is unfair to compare a level 20 party to a level 3 party.
Unfortunately, as Vox Machina's campaign started streaming when they were approximately level 9, and Bells Hells have only just reached level 8, we cannot compare the two. But what we can do is compare both of them to the Mighty Nein! So that's what we're going to do, under the cut!
VM versus M9
One very quick disclaimer: Whenever I am talking about Vox Machina as a group of a certain level, that is an approximation, as unlike the Mighty Nein or Bells Hells, Vox Machina used experience based leveling rather than milestones, which ultimately means that they did not all level up at the same time. Generally, when I say "Vox Machina were x level" it means that the majority of the party were that level, and none exceeded it. I may have done my math incorrectly at some points, in which case please feel free to let me know!
Between the levels of 9 and 17, Vox Machina made 74 group stealth checks, and the Mighty Nein made 54. First, before we get into comparative averages, I want to take a look at how many of these were with Pass Without Trace.
As you can see, 60% of Vox Machina's checks had Pass Without Trace up, while only 53.7% of the Mighty Nein's did.
Now let's look at the comparison!
So it seems Vox Machina scored consistently higher on group stealth checks than the Mighty Nein, even when taking the levels and Pass Without Trace into account! Probably because they had 2 rogues.
M9 versus BH
Between the levels of 3 and 8, the Mighty Nein made 46 group stealth checks and Bells Hells have thus far made 30. Once again, let's first compare their usage of Pass Without Trace at these levels. For Bells Hells, I am simply going to copy over the chart from their post, so excuse the slightly vague title.
That is a huge discrepancy! Only 23% of the Nein's rolls were made with Pass Without Trace, whereas 43% of the Hells' were. Let's keep that in mind when we look at the comparison.
Overall, Bells Hells are doing better than the Nein did at their level, but the Nein performed better when under Pass Without Trace. Take these values with a pinch of salt, and consider the sample sizes here: Bells Hells have done 17 checks without PWT, while the Nein did 35. And the Nein did only 11 checks with the spell cast, but the Hells did 13.
Ultimately, all of the averages are relatively close together! Vox Machina are a little sneakier, but none of the parties are terrible, by any means!
Finally, because I meant to include this in the individual posts but completely forgot, let's see some records, shall we?
The most group stealth checks rolled in one episode of campaign one was 4, in four different episodes: e4, e47, e92 and e113. The averages for those episodes were: e4 - 18.47; e47 - 36.72; e92 - 27.41; and e113 - 25.68
The most group stealth checks rolled in a single episode of campaign two was NEIN! Yes, really. Nine group stealth checks were rolled in episode 68, most of them wen they were trying to cross that chasm. The average for that episode was 25.39
The most group stealth checks rolled in one episode of campaign three thus far has been 5 in episode 48. The average for that episode was 22.59
Thank you all for reading along this far, I hope you've enjoyed it, and I wish you all a happy Apogee Solstice! Let's hope Bells Hells make it through the night.
man, dot’s conversation with cleo about how they never heard from their friend after she became a mother is even more heartbreaking now that we’ve seen what she was like. if anyone could’ve been the exception to losing all previous attachments, it was dot’s friend—after all, she was able to break the rules all those other times. but if even she couldn’t do it, then how could dot hope that they wouldn’t lose cleo when they become a mother?
Felix was so disturbed by the possibility to the group had time traveled. Man was a hairsbreadth away from literally screaming, crying, and throwing up
A feature of my RPG designs, which was not intentional but has become clear to me in many projects, is how often I tie the fate a character mechanically to the decisions of a different player.
In "The Extraordinarily Horrible Children of Raven's Hollow" all the PCs (Horrible Children) are against each other. But as the children are eliminated their players continue on as Ravens. Ravens have kingmaker powers. Any player who wants to be the last child standing AND survive the mob of angry adults NEEDS at least half the Raven players' support.
In "Haunted" the murderer is at such a massive mechanical disadvantage they need help. Either some of the supporting characters need to start helping the murderer with their goals OR the murderer has to somehow win over the ghost of their victim OR the murderer needs to start making restitution for their crime AND the other players need to see and acknowledge that.
And now I'm working on "Variations on a Quiet and Lonely Hell" which features two GMs who are also in-universe cosmic forces and pretty much hold the Fate of the PCs in their hands. I describe the game as "God and Devil arguing over the worth of sinners" and the mechanics reflect that in that the player characters have to demonstrate to God and The Devil they are worthy of absolution for their crimes.
I think this is a subconscious reaction to how inflexible I find people in play. You tell two players their characters hate each other and they will just hammer that note for eternity regardless of what happens in play. Tell players that scenes should have conflicts and they will go out of their way to manufacture conflicts where none existed.
All my games end in blood, tears and tragedy IF NO ONE RELENTS from hostile initial conditions. If the players refuse to assess the fiction and change their positions everybody dies. If the players and by extension their characters aren't flexible in their perspectives, then the trains WILL crash.
When was the last time your character changed just because the fiction of the game moved you to have them change? Not because a meter filled up and you had to mark a trauma box or because you and the GM colluded on a story beat, but were genuinely MOVED to play differently?
I did love the tiny glimpse we got into Fiona and Jacob's current relationship when Quino asked about who they were to each other. Jacob quickly joking that they're "attached at the hip" makes it clear he means it metaphorically as well as literally. Fiona's affectionate exasperation at him making that same joke again, while referring to him as her husband. Just a delightful look at how their dynamic has evolved since Moonward.
STEP THROUGH THE DOOR - UNEND SEASON 3 IS HERE! 🚪 🚪 🚪
As our surreal explorers' desperate attempts to get back on course pull them deeper into the maze of reality, new threats and revelations await them behind every door. Even if they somehow manage to make it back home… who will they be by the time they get there?
Experience the opening episode of #UNEND Season 3 wherever mind-bending podcasts are found today! 🧡
LISTEN TO THE FIRST EPISODE ON YOUTUBE ⬇️
youtube.com/watch?v=qDd6rH9Pl9Y
FIND UNEND ON YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APPS ⬇️
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[ Season 3's sensational psychedelic artwork by instagram.com/natemoonlife 🎨 ]
