Critical Role campaign 4 has reached its 25th episode, bringing the first arc of the Schemers tale to a close. And boy, was it explosive. The major plots of a Sundered House have come to light, with both real and fake assassination attempts to deal with. The Schemers' strategizing may have turned the tide in their favor - and that's pretty much all thanks to Murray Mag'Nesson.
Episode 25 shone a light on Murray's power, and I predict she's going to be the strongest character of the entire campaign. Long-time players of D&D won't be too surprised to hear me say this. After all, Murray is a Divination Wizard.
Wizards are an undisputed champion of the DnD classes. There's definitely still some debate about the single strongest class, but everyone agrees Wizards are in the conversation. That's all thanks to spells.
Wizards have the broadest, most impressive spell list in the game. They may not have constant access to it like Clerics and Druids, but it gives them a versatility these other casting classes lack.
Unlike most characters, Wizards can excel in pretty much every playstyle of D&D. There are spells that can solve basically any problem you encounter in exploration, social situations, or combat. Plus, thanks to features like Arcane Recovery, they can cast more spells per day than other magic users.
In the episode's cooldown, everyone pointed out that, without Murray, the battle would have been a disaster. Murray's carefully-crafted glyphs allowed the party to see invisibility and wield an extra magical shield or two. Casting invisibility on herself allowed her to manipulate the battlefield - and even save King Gus' life - without even technically being present. And, after all that, she still had spell slots to spare.
Granted, Wizards don't start to feel really overpowered until higher tiers of play. Before level 10, martial Fighters and clever Sorcerers might feel like they have more impact - especially if they're blasting and striking every enemy in sight.
But, again, Murray is a Divination Wizard. This is a subclass that can fuck shit up from day one, and it's all thanks to Portent.
For the uninitiated, Portent allows Diviners to roll two (or, later, three) D20 at the start of the day. They can replace any D20 test they see a creature make with one of their Portent results.
Simply put, it's one of the strongest abilities in all of fifth edition. On a whim, the Wizard can choose to have an enemy roll fail, or a friend's roll succeed. When used at critical moments, it can completely change the fortunes of your party.
Or, as we saw with Murray, it can break D&D entirely. Using Portent on a death save that Brennan was only pretending to make allowed Murray to see, with perfect clarity, the stunt the Halovars were pulling. No one else is party to this information yet, and the fact she has it could alter the course of the campaign.
This one explosive moment highlights the true potential in Murray's skill set. The Diviner Wizard leans into what veteran D&D players call the 'god Wizard' strategy. They don't participate in combat directly by dishing out damage. Instead, they control the very conditions of the fight through spells like Invisibility, Hold Person, Web, or Counterspell. A fully optimized god Wizard decides whether the enemy side gets to attack in the first place - which is often a more effective strategy than rushing to the frontlines.
Murray's strength may be subtle, but it's immense. Marisha plays her with heart and skill, and she's one to watch for the rest of campaign four.
Want to talk more about D&D or Critical Role? We share daily articles to the Wargamer Discord - such as this ranked list of campaign 4 characters who are going to make me ugly cry.