Between the sprawling scope of Critical Role Campaign 4’s story and its massive 13-player cast, the cards have always been on the table regarding potential player character deaths. Anyone could go at any time. We came eerily close in the opening moments of the campaign with Alexander Ward’s Occits Tachonis, but this time, there were no nat 20s or stones of nightsong to save the day in the eleventh hour, and *massive spoiler alert* in the final moments of episode 30, Teor Pridesire (Travis Willingham) became the first PC to die in Critical Role Campaign 4.
With Willingham absent from the table entirely in episode 31, there are no ifs, ands, or buts about it; Teor Pridesire is gone. But he didn’t leave without giving posthumous parting gifts to two of his fellow adventurers. What is a Death Boon, and what does it mean for Wick (and Thimble)? We break it down.
How Do Teor and Talcydimir Pridesire Die in Critical Role Campaign 4?
Converging in the city of Dol-Makjar and exchanging key resources and information, the Soldiers, Seekers, and Schemeres tables reshuffle in episode 28 of Campaign 4, forming three new groups to peel off and pursue new goals: Team Theatre, Team Spy, and the ill-fated Team Bird Watching. While Team Theatre attends opening night at the Hallowed Round and Team Spy attempts to sit in on a meeting of the sundered houses, the Pridesire brothers and the rest of Team Bird Watching Julien Davinos (Matt Mercer), Thimble (Laura Bailey) and Occtis) journey to Occtis’ family home of Obrimus Manor in an effort to find and rescue Mara the Wing, a druid ally of Thjazi Fang.
Unfortunately for Team Bird Watching, House Tachnois’ many dark bargains and arcane secrets mean Obrimus Manor is a literal haunted house, and as Occtis and Co. plunge deeper into the crypts in search of answers (and Mara), they inadvertently awaken the hoards of the undead, and the encounter becomes a desperate fight to escape the manor. Though Julien and Occtis successfully rescue Mara the Wing and escape with their lives, Teor and Cyd find themselves face-to-face with one House Tachnois’ many horrific experiments: the monstrous, re-animated corpse of General Raimond Davinos.
The once-noble general has been transformed into an unrecognizable, shambling creature, and though Teor and Cyd fight tooth and claw to escape Raimond and his zombie hoard, the brothers are overwhelmed, and the newly-reunited Pridesires die side-by-side in battle.
What Is a Death Boon, and Who Did Teor Will His To? (Wick’s Buff)
As GM Brennan Lee Mulligan has repeatedly emphasized, there are no resurrection or revivify mechanics in the world of Aramán. Instead, when a character dies, they can grant another character a Death Boon, a magical transference that grants the recipient some semblance of the deceased’s power. In his final moments, Teor chooses to give his Death Boon to Wicander Halovar (Sam Riegel), honoring their shared belief in a higher power and affinity for the divine.
The moment Teor dies, a lion head talisman appears in Wick’s hand, which Mulligan lets us know in the next episode, is symbolic of the boon Teor granted Wick: a permanent +2 buff to his charisma score, bringing Wick from an 18 to a maxed-out charisma of 20.
What Happens to Teor’s Killer, General Raimond Davinos?
Unwilling to leave her friend behind and unaware he’s already dead, Thimble rushes to Teor’s aid instead of fleeing with Julien and Occtis, and arrives to find the undead General standing over Teor and Cyd’s bodies. Risking certain death, Thimbles moves in for the kill and (thanks to the damage Teor and Cyd had managed to get in last session) successfully downs General Davinos with a single blow.
In destroying the zombified general, Thimble isn’t just avenging her fallen friend: after the encounter, Brennan tells the table that House Tachonis had intended to use their new undead abomination to hunt down and kill his own son – a cruel fate for both Julien and the General, averted thanks to Thimble’s impulsive act of bravery.
What Happens to Teor’s Body?
With General Davinos laid to permanent rest, Thimble was able to get to Teor and Cyd’s bodies, prompting Brennan to reveal the other half of the Death Boon. In addition to granting one character an ability, the dead can also will one item to a player character of their choice, and Travis chose to will Teor’s Bracers of Oak and Birch to Thimble.
Created by House Royce, the Bracers set the wearer’s strength score to 19 and give them the benefits of the Barkskin spell, while also allowing the wearer to carry/lift/pull one size larger than their normal carrying capacity. As a four-inch-tall pixie, the strength buff is particularly massive for Thimble, taking her from a -4 strength modifier to a +4.
In a heartbreaking first use of her newfound strength, Thimble uses her new carrying capacity to effortlessly lift both Cyd and Teor, moving them safely out of Tachnois territory so they can be laid to rest without worry of future re-animation.
Is Travis Willingham Gone From Critical Role Campaign 4?
Though Teor may be the first permanent departure from the Campaign 4 tables, that doesn’t mean Willingham is leaving with him: in the Critical Cooldown for episode 30, Travis confirmed he has a backup character prepared; due to the lethal nature of the campaign, Brennan had asked the entire cast to have a backup ready.
The question isn’t so much *if* Travis will come back to Campaign 4 with a new character, but *when*. Spoilers for Critical Role: Bell’s Hells, but the last time one of Willingham’s characters died, there was a four-month gap in real time between Chetney’s death and the introduction of Braius, his new PC.
Similarly, Campaign 4 has a break coming up soon: as of right now, there are no new episodes scheduled July 9 through August 13, which is when a new six-part mini Daggerheart campaign, Age of Umbraw: Sallowlands, is set to air. Between his absence from episode 31 and his historical propensity for taking some time away from the table between characters, it’s plausible we won’t meet Travis Willingham’s new character until mid-August when the campaign returns in full.
The Daggerheart premiere and Travis’ temporary departure from the table coincide eerily well; the six-week break from Critical Role Campaign 4 gives fans time to grieve the first fallen party member while Willingham and Mulligan work on the perfect way to slot this new character into the tangled web that is the world of Aramán.