Critical Role Teases a Game-Changing D&D Choice for One Beloved Player

The beauty of Dungeons & Dragons is that, whether you love combat or role-playing, you can always expect your actions to have consequences. Critical Role’s Campaign 4 cast is no exception, as the latest episode shows the members of our new Seekers trailer quickly learning that the decisions they made during the Convergence era of episodes does indeed have far-reaching repercussions.

One player, in particular, felt this very keenly, so much so that it may change how their character’s class works forever.

Ed. note: This article contains spoilers for Critical Role Campaign 4, episode 32, “Road of Dreams.”

Vaelus (Ashley Johnson) was introduced at the end of Thjazi Fang’s funeral in episode 1, showing hostility towards the orc who assembled the 13-player cast. Her negative attitude was due to her theft of the Stone of Nightsong, a sacred artifact her order (the Sisters of Sylandri) tasked her to recover. However, her curiosity and affection for characters like Thaisha Lloy (Aabria Iyengar) and Occtis Tachonis (Alexander Ward) shifted her from her original mission.

The elf’s loyalty was ultimately tested during Convergence, when she had to choose between helping stabilize the bridge that would ferry the orc souls to the afterlife in the Dying Fields by destroying the Stone of Nightsong, or risking that stability altogether by keeping the stone intact. Vaelus ultimately chose to destroy the stone, a holy artifact belonging to the deity she has dedicated centuries of her life to.

The repercussions of that decision quickly became clear in “Road of Dreams,” where Vaelus — dreaming for the first time in years — came face-to-face with the Matriarch of the Sisters of Sylandri, Kyra. Not only did Kyra promise to find and kill Vaelus for abandoning her values and teachings, but, upon waking from the dream, Vaelus discovered she couldn’t cast any magic at all as a consequence of severing her connections with Sylandri.

Is Vaelus still a Paladin?

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Despite no longer having access to her magic, Vaelus’s stats have not changed at all, aside from the permanent +2 Wisdom buff she received during her time in the dream world. This means that Vaelus is still technically considered a paladin, but she seemingly has no way to access her spells or special features, such as the healing spell Lay on Hands or Vow of Enmity.

Magic works very differently in D&D depending on your class. Warlocks get their powers from an entity they’ve sworn themselves to, and wizards learn to communicate with the weave through study. Paladins, however, gain their power by swearing an oath. As long as a paladin follows that oath, their powers will remain.

Vaelus is also still labeled as a paladin during the UI sections of the episode. Granted, that doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but when it was revealed in previous episodes that Wicander Halovar (Sam Riegel) was in fact a sorcerer and not a cleric, the UI did immediately change to reflect that.

Is Vaelus an Oathbreaker Paladin now?

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Although Vaelus has technically violated her oath to Sylandri and the Sisters of Sylandri, it remains uncertain if she qualifies as an Oathbreaker paladin. Typically, Oathbreakers abandon their vows for evil motives or personal advantage — neither of which seem to apply to Vaelus’s behavior.

Furthermore, Oathbreaker paladins' spells and features are more necromantic in nature, with abilities such as animating the dead or cursing others. While it is still too early to know what direction Vaelus will take after learning she can no longer cast spells or use paladin features, the idea of Vaelus turning toward necromancy in any way — especially with House Tachonis, the house of the undead, considered major antagonists in Campaign 4 — doesn’t seem true to the elf’s personality or goals.

Another, more likely option is that Vaelus could find another entity to devote her conviction and loyalty to. Alternatively, Johnson could multiclass the character to help navigate her new powerless self. Vaelus’s relationship with both Thaisha and Hannan has revealed that she is at least interested in the different sects of the druidic order and in the Path that leads the dead to the afterlife. Could this mean she could go down a more druidic path? Only time will tell.

The Paladin is a popular class for D&D players, but it comes with some obligations. While past editions of the game were a lot more restrictive (such as being limited to the Lawful Good alignment), 5e and its 5.5 update still tie the characters through the Oaths system, which defines the tenets by which a Paladin should live. DMs can punish players for not following their Oaths, but sometimes, like in Vaelus’ case, there are good story-related reasons for that. What happens next, in terms of gameplay, is up to the DM and the players, usually, with the Oathbreaker being a somewhat extreme option to resort to.

Regardless of Vaelus’s next move, what is clear is that no longer being tied to the Sisters of Sylandri means she’s now being hunted by her former family. The lack of magical abilities thus comes at the worst possible time, but it surely makes Vaelus’s story even more compelling.