History Podcast / CriticalHit

* CriticalFailure: Brian has these often, to the point where Steven joked about offering a service to listeners, where they could get some dice cursed by Brian's hands for $200.

* AnimatedAdaptation: The party's antics have inspired several of these from fans, most notibly the famous [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMsUKBqtK9w "Pupkin Incident"]] from Season 3.

* AnimatedAdaption: The party's antics have inspired several of these from fans, most notibly the famous [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMsUKBqtK9w "Pupkin Incident"]] from Season 3.

* AnimatedAdaption: The party's antics have inspired several of these from fans, most notibly the famous [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMsUKBqtK9w "Pupkin Incident"] from Season 3.

* AWizardDidIt: Well, technically some Insane [[EldritchAbomination Gods]] did it - the moon is explained to be livable only due to the will of The Void.
* ActionGirl: The Queen's Rebellious Daughter is a scientist who uses resonance to zap things. She's pretty handy in a fight.
* AdventureTowns: Moonhold, The Exilarchy of Cogs' city, Diamond Throne

* ActionGirl: Bao Bel-Bina is a tiefling Avenger who serves Erathis.

* ActionGirl: Two this season
** Trelle, an elf ranger that joined the party in the feywild, and the first Player Character.
** Kammis, an Eladrin wizard specializing in familiars and Orem's sister.

** After The Void's first attempt to [[spoiler:smash the moon into the Earth]], described by Rodrigo as constantly red, filled with clouds and roiling lightning.

** Smith himself, randomly spawning magic items from various points on his body. Painfully.

* HeroicSacrifice: Poor [[spoiler: Smith]]

* UnexpectedSuccessor: Orem becomes this in the eyes of Torq when [[spoiler: Moonhold's entire town guard with the exception of Torq die.]]

* AffablyEvil: Brian namechecks this in relation to [[spoiler: Ma and Pa]].

* BrickJoke: [[spoiler: Torq is now a priest of Corellon. They joked about him multiclassing to Cleric back in season one.]]

* CoolVersusAwesome: [[BigGood Bahamut]] the Platinum Dragon teaming up with [[BloodKnight Gruumsh]] the orcish god to fight She Who Slumbers In Agony the world-destroying EldritchAbomination. Personally and up close.

* GodOfEvil: Five of them. Interestingly enough, none of them is the BigBad of the series.

* [[spoiler:HopelessBossFight: The first fight with Spud. This was one of the most controversial things Rodrigo had done, with a wide range of reactions from fans. He later defended his choice, stating that you couldn't manufacture the "soul crushing defeat" he was aiming for in any other manner.]]

* {{Lunacy}}: The Void is a collective of insane moon gods, which fits the trope.
* MacGuffin: The Four-Facet Key for the first story arc.

* BreakingTheFellowship: [[spoiler: At the end of Season 4]]. It takes a TimeSkip and several episodes to put the party back together. [[spoiler: And some of them are gone permanently]].

* AchievementInIgnorance: The only thing Torq is trained to do is fight. However, Matthew often rolls incredibly high on skill checks, so this is the result.
* AffablyEvil: The Thing That Shatters the Sky.
** [[spoiler: Ma and Pa]] also get a namecheck as this, from Brian
* AGodAmI: The Thing That Shatters The Sky pulls this on all the other Gods of The Void.

* ArcWords: Ket: "I hate this place...", always under his breath, always punctuating an occurrence or explanation of something insane that is standard procedure in the Feywild.
** Also for the Lords of Feywild arc: "And they were never heard from again"
* AsLethalAsItNeedsToBe: The players can declare that their attack merely knocked the enemy out instead of killing as they land a final blow, at no penalty and regardless of the type of attack
* AudibleSharpness: Invoked with the Hogba's Black Mistress battleaxe.
* AWizardDidIt: Well, technically some Insane [[EldritchAbomination Gods]] did it - the moon is explained to be livable only due to the will of The Void.

* ActionGirl: Five examples, two of which are friendly [=NPCs=], and two PC.
** The Queen's Rebellious Daughter is a scientist who uses resonance to zap things. She's pretty handy in a fight.
** Bao Bel-Bina is a tiefling Avenger who serves Erathis.
** The third is Trelle, an elf ranger that joined the party in the feywild.
** Fourth is Orem's sister Kammis, an Eladrin wizard specializing in familiars.
** Little Sparkle is a Kenku rogue who recently joined the party

* AdventureTowns: Moonhold, The Exilarchy of Cogs' city, Diamond Throne, Sha Lai
* AlienSky: Two: One happens after The Void's first attempt to [[spoiler:smash the moon into the Earth]], described by Rodrigo as constantly red, filled with clouds and roiling lightning. The second is when the heroes are [[spoiler: transported to the moon,]] described as a bubble surrounding the atmosphere with a blurry view of the planet itself.
* AllJustADream: Used to devastating effect, [[spoiler: not once but twice, in the Demonweb ]].
* AllThereInTheManual: Rodrigo was kind enough to do an [[http://www.majorspoilers.com/critical-hit-first-arc-exit-interview interview]] after the first story arc, another [[http://majorspoilers.com/2012/02/03/critical-hit-season-3-exit-interview/ interview]] about the second, and a third after [[http://majorspoilers.com/2014/10/31/critical-hit-lords-feywild-exit-interview/ Lords of the Feywild.]] He also answers questions about Critical Hit in the same forum, and has a series of world building articles posted [[http://majorspoilers.com/critical-hit/critical-hit-world-building/]]

* AppliedPhlebotinum: Thoney's Airship floats because its hull is coated in "Astral Brine".
** Later on, many of Randus' ship designs are heavily powered by "Elasma", which can be vented, etc.
* BadassAdorable: Biium is a tiny, brightly colored colibri that can and will make the room explode. The Bravest Rabbit in his natural form is a small and rather adorable rabbit - and a competent fighter in his humanoid form.
* BadassFamily: The Rivendorn/Grayborn family from which Orem hails. Both of his parents and his sister are extremely competent spellcasters, and that is to be the case for the generations before him. This is the [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority reason]] why the family name carries some weight.
* BadassNormal: Torq definitely counts, being nothing more than incredibly tough and strong in a party of magic users. [[spoiler: At least initially, until he multiclasses into a cleric and becomes a magic user in his own right]]. Trelle also qualifies

* BigDamnHeroes: When the Torqletones shut down the tower in Episode 7.
* BigEater: 17 Funnel cakes, to go!
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: The Void are gods who see no problem with creating and destroying entire races at their will, and constantly vie for dominance over one another, not caring who gets in the way.
* BodyHorror: Plenty of examples, which is to be expected in a campaign full of Insane Gods.
** Some of the cultists who worship The Void allow themselves to become hosts to creatures from the moon that do this.
** There's also the little white creatures Orem and Smith fight - their eyes are misshapen, and their limbs are all different sizes, to the point where some walk on one hand and one leg because those are the two limbs who touch the ground.
** Smith himself, randomly spawning magic items from various points on his body. Painfully.
*** D&D Brian namechecks this trope when the Torqletones fight the Candle Heads for the first time.
* BreakingTheFellowship: [[spoiler: At the end of Season 4]]. It takes a TimeSkip and several episodes to put the party back together. [[spoiler: And some of them are gone permanently]]
* BrickJoke: [[spoiler: Torq is now a priest of Corellon. They joked about him multiclassing to Cleric back in season one.]]

* CelestialBureaucracy: Season 3 takes place in the goddess Erathis' City in the Astral Sea, which is definitely run by bureaucrats
* CliffHanger: Episodes frequently end that way

* CoolAirship: Thony's Proud Baroness.
* CoolVersusAwesome: [[BigGood Bahamut]] the Platinum Dragon teaming up with [[BloodKnight Gruumsh]] the orcish god to fight She Who Slumbers In Agony the world-destroying EldritchAbomination. Personally and up close.
* CriticalHit: Torq scores these often, interestingly enough, and Matthew is one of two players playing by remote. He gets paranoid that people will think he's cheating and has offered to have the DM roll for him.
* CursedWithAwesome: Smith "suffers" from some unique side-effects of the moon nearly crashing into the Earth.

* DealWithTheDevil: In season three, [[spoiler: Asmodeus tries to strike a deal with Ket, Torq, Seven Owls Wise, and Albrecht Ghostbeard. Asmodeus makes a different deal with Ket, becoming his sponsor in the Kobold Alley competition. ]]
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: The End of Season 2 has our heroes [[spoiler:defeat The Thing That Shatters the Sky.]]

* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: The party is tasked with averting this on at least 2 separate (though related) occasions
* EldritchAbomination: The Void are a group of insane, evil Gods who inhabit the Campaign World's moon, plus the countless number of creatures they create and destroy on a whim, often sending them to fight the heroes.
* EvilVersusOblivion: There are evil gods and other antagonistic forces in the series. However, when the Void, while not [[BlueAndOrangeMorality technically evil]], are going to destroy the world as we know it, nobody is pleased by such development, including the forces of evil.
* TheFairFolk: All over Season 4, which takes place in the Feywild.
* FiveManBand: As of Season 5
** TheLeader: Orem
** TheLancer: Ket
** TheSmartGuy: Randus
** TheBigGuy: Sekhar
** TheChick: Little Sparkle
** TeamPet: Randus' assistant and Ket's imp.
*** Discussed in episode 465, they agree Ket is always the SixthRanger, Randus is the SmartGuy, Little Sparkle isn't TheChick, and they don't have a leader.

* ForestRanger: Trelle, friend to all nature right up until it's killing her horribly.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: Trelle's interactions with all living creatures, Adriana refers to this as Trelle "Disney princessing it"

** Interestingly, Sekhar joined the Critical Hit crew with a hefty [[GenreSavvy fire immunity]]
* GameMaster: Rodrigo, Stephen, Brian, Sam, and Rob.

* GodOfEvil: Five of them. Interestingly enough, none of them is the BigBad of the series.
* GondorCallsForAid: A big chunk of season 3 consists of this. Unusually for this trope, the allies the players are trying to recruit are of less than savory kind, as the players need help of all the gods, including the evil ones, in order for their plan against the Void to succeed.

* HealingFactor: One of the side effects of Smith's... [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent issues]] is that he regenerates while bloodied in battle. A misreading of the rules in an early fight caused it to go UpToEleven for that fight, rendering him nigh-unkillable. Various monsters the party encounters also have regenerative capabilities

* HeroicSacrifice: Poor [[spoiler: Smith]] Also, as of the end of season 4 [[spoiler: Torq]]
* HighAltitudeBattle: With the Lunar Dargon in Episodes 27 and 28.

* [[spoiler:HopelessBossFight: The first fight with Spud. This was one of the most controversial things Rodrigo had done, with a wide range of reactions from fans. He later defended his choice, stating that you couldn't manufacture the "soul crushing defeat" he was aiming for in any other manner.]]

* InnocentBystanders: Sometimes present during the fights, and add an additional complication. If they are present, expect at least a couple to get eaten
* KickingAssInAllHerFinery: Mother Mantis is fond of wearing a [[PimpedOutDress fancy Renaissance-style dress]]. And of tearing enemies apart with her [[BareFistedMonk bare hands]] while wearing said dress
* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Smith at the end of season two.]]
* KilledOffScreen: [[spoiler:Bao Bel Bina dies when her ship is destroyed by She Who Slumbers in Agony. Thony dies of old age sometime before episode 239.]]
* KissDiss: Orem shares one with an Eladrin named Simmy in episode 84.

* LongHairedPrettyBoy: Orem, in spades
* {{Lunacy}}: The Void is a collective of insane moon gods, which fits the trope.
* MacGuffin: The Four-Facet Key for the first story arc.
* MagicKnight: Orem is steadily moving in this direction, even though he remains relatively squishy

* MeaningfulEcho: [[spoiler:Orem's sword saying "Kill your Friends!" becomes painfully meaningful during the first fight with Spud.]]
* {{Mooks}}: The Lizard-Monkeys, our first introduction to lunar monsters.
* MrFixit: Randus has to retool a lot of stuff, including himself which crosses over with his role as CombatMedic - just with spanners as well as syringes.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: The names of some of the Lunar Gods: She Who Slumbers In Agony, The Thing That Shatters The Sky.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Orem accidentally breaking a small town's protective spell with an overuse of Prestidigation.

* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: [[spoiler:Smith goes through various states of wolf, but most notably when bloodied in battle.]]
* PowerFist: [[spoiler: Randus early on loses an arm and replaces it with a metal one, it becomes his melee weapon.]]
* PregnantBadass: The queen of the Diamond Throne will not go down without a fight

* ProfessionalGambler: Ket, who gets his powers by gambling for souls. Aside of the magical applications, gambling is his favourite pastime, but he is not addicted to it and is exceptionally good at it

* RedOniBlueOni: Trelle and Ket often act as red and blue oni respectively towards each other in most of their scenes together. With Trelle favoring impulsiviness, openness and emotion vs Ket favoring caution, decorum and observation. Trelle and Kammis also fall into red oni/blue oni (with Trelle yet again being the red) to a lesser extent. Elves and eladrin in general can be seen as a case of RedOniBlueOni on the scale of the nation as well
* ReligiousBruiser: [[spoiler:Halston Thorkelson, newest anointed priest of Corellon.]] The cast of How The Other Third Live has those in spades too, especially Brenzin the Bold and Seven Owls Wise

* RulesLawyer: Rob is a LawfulNeutral example, pointing out all the rules that apply, all of them, whether it is to the benefit of the party or not
* RuleOfCool: Referenced by name as the reason why the Game Master allows some things and not the others

* ShipperOnDeck: Orem for [[spoiler:his sister Kammis and Trelle.]]
* SealedEvilInACan: Thony casually hands one of these to Orem. Well, it was casual until Rodrigo [[LampshadeHanging hung a lampshade from it]].

* StraightGay: [[spoiler:Trelle. She used to date Orem's sister Kammis, who this trope would also apply to.]]
* TakenForGranite: One of Ket's powers, which he uses in combat to sometimes great and [[TrialByFriendlyFire sometimes disastrous]] effect. Petrification is not supposed to be permanent and usually lasts a few turns at most
* TakeYourTime: Averted rather brutally in season 4. First [[spoiler: the party accidentally wasted several months because of the time-manipulating [[TheFairFolk Greater Fey]]. Because of that, the party's mentor concluded that their quest is lost, and [[DespairEventHorizon succumbed to despair]], which led to his death. Which, in turn, led to his own best friend [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds going mad with grief and almost taking over the world]].]] Second, at one point the party has about a year to prevent TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. Having to do it on tight schedule and having to decide which SideQuest to accept and which to [[ShootTheDog abandon]] provides much tension through the season, as the party cannot afford to stop and save everyone.
* TalkingIsAFreeAction: As per TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons rules, it is. The characters do not usually abuse it and restrict themselves to a few shot sentences (and if they don't, then the Game Master will step in). The players, however, are another matter, with quips, references and tactics discussions spanning the majority of the combat time
* TalkingWeapon: One of Orem's swords, that he never uses [[spoiler:well until he has to]]. Because all it does is tell him to kill his friends.

* TropesAreTools: Referenced by name several times (especially by Matthew) in the question and answer sessions
* UnexpectedSuccessor: Orem becomes this in the eyes of Torq when [[spoiler: Moonhold's entire town guard with the exception of Torq die.]]
* YourSoulIsMine: A rare heroic example, as it is the source of Ket's powers
* [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman What Measure Is An NPC]]: Joked about in the fight to save a bunch of panicky gnome villagers.
* WizardingSchool: The Cerulean Academy of Magic.
** Discussed and averted with the Sha-Lai University - Orem and the party assumed that it was a WizardingSchool which it was emphatically not, and in fact focused on civil engineering. Too bad that the party unwittingly led a bunch of monsters there hoping for a backup...

** Randus: A Crossbow, with lots of [[GadgeteerGenius crazy attachments and gizmos]]. Lately, he's also been using his [[spoiler:[[ArtificialLimbs Robotic Arm]]]] as a weapon.

* OneOfUs: Aside from obviously being gamers and geeks of a variety of stripes, the players often reference tropes.
** In fact, this very page was referenced in a Q&A session.

* ShoutOut: Considering this is a show with 5-6 nerds, pretty much every episode contains a few references to movies, whether it's something one of the players say, or something within the campaign itself. Matthew is particularly {{egregious}}.

* GameMaster: Rodrigo, Stephen, Brian, and Rob.

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* FriendlyFireproof: Averted viciously, as per DungeonsAndDragons rules. Torq in particular has lost count of how many times he was set on fire by his allies, but he is far from the only one to be on the receiving end of an ally's area of effect spell.

* TalkingIsAFreeAction: As per DungeonsAndDragons rules, it is. The characters do not usually abuse it and restrict themselves to a few shot sentences (and if they don't, then the Game Master will step in). The players, however, are another matter, with quips, references and tactics discussions spanning the majority of the combat time

* ProudScholarRace: The Eladrin of the Feywild, or downright snotty in case of young graduate Orem Rivendorn.

* ProfessionalGambler: Ket, who gets his powers by gambling for the souls. Aside of the magical applications, gambling is his favourite pastime, but he is not addicted to it and is exceptionally good at it

* PowerFist: [[spoiler: Randus early on loses and arm and replaces it with a metal one, it becomes his melee weapon.]]

* HealingPotion: It is a Dungeons andDragons game, after all. Potions seem less potent than the characters' own healing abilities, though

* GondorCallsForAid: A big chunk of season 3 consists of this. Unusually for this trope, the allies players are trying to recruit are of less than savory kind, as the players need help of all the gods, including the evil ones, in order for their plan against the Void to succeed.

The plot of the campaign follows a RagtagBunchOfMisfits as they try to stop The Void, a group of [[EldritchAbomination Insane Gods]], from invading their plane of existence. The first and second seasons had them racing to keep the [[ColonyDrop Moon from smashing into the Earth]], and in the third season, they've been recruited by a [[CelestialBureaucracy Higher Power]] to help cleanse a part of the Astral Sea of the remaining Lunar Monsters. For the fourth season, the party heads to the Feywild, Orem's home plane, in order to restore the balance tht was upset by the unnatural lunar activity of previous seasons. The group includes [[SquishyWizard Orem Rivendorn]] of the Eladrin, [[BigGuy Halston Thorkelson aka "Torq"]], [[GadgeteerGenius Randus du Thane]], and [[MysteriousPast Smith the Sorcerer]], [[spoiler:who has since been replaced by]] [[LoveableRogue Ket H'zard]] the Half-Elf Warlock. In Season Four, they're joined by an elf ranger, [[ForestRanger Trelle]]. Season five sees them joined by [[BirdPeople Little Sparkle]] and Sekhar Obleea [[spoiler:replacing Torq and Trelle.]]

* GameMaster: Rodrigo, Stephen, Brian and Rob.

* GameMaster: Rodrigo, Stephen and Rob.

** Little Sparkle is a Tengu rogue who recently joined the party

* BlondesAreEvil: The evil cultist the Torqletones fight twice is handsome and has long blonde hair.
** Averted with Orem, who has blonde hair, but is (almost) the leader of the Torqletones.

It does take occasional breaks to answer listener questions, and Stephen and Rodrigo have created a set of podcasts which focus on Game Mastering 101, with its own set of characters. (Episodes 58-62).