Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Contained A Critical Role Easter Egg
For many Dungeons and Dragons players, the 2023 fantasy blockbuster "Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves" is a near-perfect D&D movie. The film itself is a love letter to the iconic tabletop RPG, balancing high fantasy drama with the absurd chaos and humor that most players will find in the average D&D campaign.
Aside from being an incredibly faithful adaptation, the film is also chock full of references and Easter eggs that only the most avid Dungeons and Dragons fans may have noticed. A few of these inside jokes include Simon Aumar's (Justice Smith) frequent use of the iconic "Bag of Holding" and the entire character of Xenk Yendar (Regé-Jean Page), who perfectly captures how overpowered and annoyingly heroic a lawful good Paladin can be in D&D.
The film also contains a small reference to the popular D&D actual play series "Critical Role," name-dropping Sam Riegal's beloved Campaign 3 character "Fresh Cut Grass." During his magic show for the townsfolk of Triboar, Simon asks the crowd if they enjoy the "smell of fresh cut grass" and casts a spell to fill the room with that familiar scent. The incredibly specific wording of this line ought to have caught the attention of any "Critical Role" fans in the audience, particularly those with a fondness for Riegal's lovable little cleric of the same name.
Riegal himself confirmed this Easter egg about Fresh Cut Grass
Although it might seem like somewhat of a stretch to connect this throwaway line with a prominent character from "Critical Role," Sam Riegal himself confirmed the Easter egg's existence in a TikTok video promoting "Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves."
"I saw [the movie]... it's actually really funny; it's really great," Riegal says in the video, which was actually sponsored by the film itself. "And, spoiler ... there may or may not be a reference in the movie to one of my characters from 'Critical Role.'" As he says this, Riegal not-so-casually points to the pocket on his "Critical Role" T-Shirt, emblazoned with the emblem of "Fresh Cut Grass," aka "FCG."
This seems to confirm that the line was indeed a reference to FCG, who is one of the most popular player characters from Campaign 3. FCG is an Aeormaton (a robotic humanoid built by the ancient people of Aeor) who was activated and modified by an inventor named Dancer. Dancer actually created a slew of robotic humanoids, and like "Fresh Cut Grass," she gave them all the names of her favorite smells — including Oatmeal and Apple Pie. FCG currently serves as the cleric to "Critical Role's" adventuring party "Bell's Hells," rolling around the battlefield on the tiny wheel he uses in place of legs and frequently removing his hands to attach weapons or gadgets.