With the Critical Role cast having played Dungeons & Dragons together for decades, it’s easy to assume they’re experts who can handle every combat scenario Dungeon Master Matthew Mercer throws at them. Yet as every D&D player eventually learns, no matter how long you’ve played or prepared, sometimes the dice just aren’t on your side.
That was certainly true four years ago, in Critical Role Campaign 3, when the party, Bells Hells, faced something even scarier than battling demons in Hell, or an ancient black dragon in the mountains — something that, for the first time in Critical Role history, nearly led to a total-party kill (TPK).
What could possibly be scarier than those things? A level 20 human fighter called Otohan Thull.
The bloodiest battle in Critical Role history
To learn more about the goings-on in Ruidus and recover Armand Treshi on orders from their benefactor, Lord Eshteross, Bells Hells infiltrated the headquarters of the Paragon’s Call, a mercenary group that had captured Treshi.
Unknown to Bells Hells, the Paragon’s Call was also working closely with the Ruby Vanguard, including one of its most prominent members, Otohan Thull. During the party’s rescue of Treshi in Campaign 3, episode 33, “Blood and Dust,” Thull revealed herself, halting their escape from the Paragon’s Call headquarters.
From the moment Thull appeared, it was clear Bells Hells were in over their heads. Thull not only destroyed the sand crawler the party was using to escape in just a few hits, but she also downed Ashton Greymoore (Taliesin Jaffe) with a three-hit attack in a single move. Worse, she had an item under her cloak that let her summon shadowy warriors to fight the party. With Thull a formidable threat on her own, her minions spelled certain doom for the party.
As the fight progressed, the players found themselves torn. Thull was extremely powerful, but if they focused on her all at once, they might take her down for good and use the whipping dust storm as cover for their escape. Yet while some characters, such as Chetney (Travis Willingham) and Orym (Liam O’Brien), fought back, Thull quickly knocked them unconscious. Thull’s goal of getting Imogen (Laura Bailey) to give in to her Ruidusborne powers, along with her merciless attacks, made a handful of Bells Hells panic and flee.
This indecision and fear would eventually cost several Bells Hells party members their lives: Thull’s terrible blows took Orym, Fearne (Ashley Johnson), and Laudna (Marisha Ray). Others, including Chetney and Ashton, also fell, but only unconscious. Otohan fled only after Imogen failed a Wisdom saving throw and gave in to her Ruidusborne abilities, summoning a terrible storm that destroyed multiple buildings in Bassuras.
Thankfully, FCG (Sam Riegel) still had a Revivify spell, which he used on Fearne. Having spent most of her spell slots in the fight, she could save only one other Bells Hells member. With a single coin flip, she chose Orym, leaving Laudna to die for a second time.
How this near TPK changed Campaign 3
Beyond the emotional turmoil the fight brought the players, Bells Hells’ combat with Otohan is particularly poignant because Mercer values it as a Dungeon Master. So much so that in Founders Favorites, a mini-interview where each cast member talks about the best moments throughout Critical Role, Mercer calls it one of his favorites.
“Watching the fear in the players’ eyes and the realization that things were happening on a scope and scale beyond their momentary ability to tackle was delicious,” Mercer says in his Founders Favorites interview.
The DM also admits that, despite being a single figure, the Thull encounter was so dangerous that he knew from the get-go it could have led to a death spiral if the dice rolls didn’t favor Bells Hells. And they certainly didn’t.
Mercer enjoying this particular fight isn’t all that surprising. As the characters level up throughout the campaign, it becomes increasingly difficult to find new ways to meaningfully challenge players. However, the encounter with Thull so early in the campaign — and her role in the demise of so many of Bells Hells—still stuck with the party long after they met her again in a combat encounter in episode 91, “True Heroism.”
For one thing, the cast was far more careful about how they prepared for encounters, often reaching out to higher-leveled allies like Vox Machina rather than rushing into danger alone. Laudna’s death also helped Imogen realize her feelings for her were romantic, though Imogen didn’t act on them until 20+ episodes later.
Most importantly, the near-TPK served as a poignant reminder to the cast and Critters alike: in a game like Dungeons & Dragons, a single roll of the dice can turn victory into failure — or failure into victory — in an instant, and every choice you make matters more than you know.
Critical Role Campaign 3: Bells Hells streams on Beacon and YouTube.