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Critical Role is a Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) web series available on Twitch and YouTube. Each Thursday, a new episode is released, which continues the epic journey. The players are a talented cast of voice actors. First premiering in 2015, Critical Role is a popular fandom. Entering the Critical Role world can be daunting. With 240+ episodes and hundreds of hours, the world is immense. Multiple campaigns, changing cast members, and dozens of ongoing inside jokes make this world unique and special.
Matthew Mercer is the creator and Dungeon Master (DM) of Critical Role. He is known for his love of vests, articulation, and voice work in Attack on Titan and “Resident Evil.” Mercer is joined by “sleeves are bullshit” wife, Marisha Ray (“Persona,” Geek & Sundry) and sweater encased Ashley Johnson (Growing Pains, “The Last of Us”). Laura Bailey (Dragon Ball Z, Fullmetal Alchemist) is the merchandise extraordinaire; she joins her muscled husband, Travis Willingham (Funimation, Dragon Ball Z) as a part of the Critical Role cast. The colorful Taliesin Jaffe (Mr. Mom, Black Butler) and giggly Sam Riegel (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003), Ducktales) are also members alongside the scholarly Liam O’Brien (Naruto, Monster).
Campaign 1 — Episode 1: “Arrival at Kraghammer”
The first episode seems like the most logical place to start watching Critical Role. However, when the show premiered in 2015, it was a continuation of an ongoing personal game at the cast members’ home so the show starts in the middle of an existing story. Some watchers may want to start from the beginning but this can be daunting for the uninitiated. In addition to starting in the middle of a pre-existing game, the early episodes look vastly different from the setup the current cast plays with. The very early episodes have an extra player, Orion Acaba who played Tiberius Stormwind, who no one talks about.
Earlier episodes also have a distinct lack of epic CGI openings and many wrinkles which have yet to be ironed out. In the first campaign, the group is known as Vox Machina. Mercer is the DM and the voice of various characters. Bailey is a half-elf known as Vex’ahlia with a pet bear named Trinket, Jaffe is the gunslinging human Percival (“Percy”) de Rolo. Johnson and Riegel are gnomes, the team’s resident healer Pike Trickfoot, and a bard with a colorful past, Scanlan Shorthalt. Riegel also plays the rich but not humble human Taryon Darrington, Willingham is the 8′ 7″ tall goliath, known as Grog Strongjaw, and O’Brien and Ray are half-elves known as the dagger-wielding rogue Vax’ildan and socially awkward druid Keyleth.
The episode starts with Lady Kima of Vord asking Vox Machina to find a friend of hers, Allura, who was last seen near the Greyspine mines in the town of Kraghammer. As they venture into the mines in search of Allura, they find so much more. Mercer blends together voice work, maps, and immersive characters to flesh out characters they meet along the way. The viewer gets to see the great role-playing by the cast as they get the lay of the land. A meeting between the group and mine owner Nostoc Greyspine is broken up when a group of goblins and ogres leads an attack on the miners, leading to the first mention of the iconic Mercer saying, “how do you want to do this?” The saying, which fans love (and catalog) every mention of, is repeated throughout the series as a way Mercer allows the actors to narrate their character’s final blows against the big bad of the episode.
Campaign 1 — Episode 24: “The Feast” and Episode 25: “Crimson Diplomacy”
“The Feast” starts the Briarwood/Whitestone arc. Vox Machina are invited to a dinner with the nobility of the city of Iman, the Taldori, to celebrate a partnership between them and the current rulers of Whitestone, Lord and Lady Briarwood. Unbeknownst to the Vox Machina, the Briarwoods have a special relationship with one of the group, Percy de Rolo. Percy’s family had been the ruling members of the city of Whitestone before they were slaughtered by the Briarwoods for reasons that are currently unknown to Percy.
What follows is a tense dinner with the Briarwoods providing a clearly false story to the nobles of their rise to leadership in Whitestone. Following the dinner, in an attempt to learn more about the mysterious Briarwoods, Vax’ildan attempts to sneak into their room only to find himself face to face with the couple and seemingly no exit strategy.
Picking up right with the action, “Crimson Diplomacy” sees Vax’ildan using the prearranged code word “Jenga” while leaping out of a window to avoid the menacing Briarwoods. What follows is an exciting combat with both sides taking damage and the Briarwoods fleeing back to Whitestone. With questions mounting about Vox Machina’s attack on the Briarwoods and the desire for revenge that burns within Percy, the group sets out for Whitestone.
The Briarwood/Whitestone arc really demonstrates the character growth within Percy. This story arc showcases the great aspects of Critical Role. Friendships in and out of the game give strength to the DM’s ability to guide and the actor’s ability to play.
Campaign 2 — Episode 1: “Curious Beginnings”
In Critical Role‘s second campaign, the group is known as the Mighty Nein. Joining the Mighty Nein at the beginning is one of the easier places to start. The viewer is still jumping into a game amongst friends, but there are no existing character backstories or inside jokes to maneuver through. It’s also a great place for a D&D beginner to start as well. The gameplay is perhaps easiest to follow from the complete beginning. Not all the moves are explicitly stated, but everything is fresh and new.
Willingham plays the quiet but strong half-orc sailor Fjord, Riegel is the kleptomaniac goblin Nott the Brave. O’Brien and Ray play humans, the traumatized wizard Caleb Widogast, and the detective monk Beauregard Lionett. Johnson is the fiercely kind aasimar Yasha Nydoorin, Jaffe is the intriguingly complex firbolg Caduceus Clay and the vivacious and high-spirited tiefling Mollymauk Tealeaf, and Bailey is the freckled tiefling trickster Jester Lavre.
The second campaign of Critical Role is everything you could hope for. In the beginning of the campaign, these disparate characters meet through happenstance in the town of Trostenwald nestled in the heart of the Dwendalian Empire. It’s not long after introductions are made that this new band of adventures must work together to solve the mystery of a zombie attack at a passing circus. Finding they work well together, the group decides to travel north towards the city of Zadash but are waylaid when a group of Knolls attack the town of Alfield and capture its citizens.
Entering Critical Role Through The Current(ish) Episode
Jumping right into the current(ish) episode may be the easiest way to enter the Critical Role world. There are going to be portions missed due to existing jokes and arcs, but you can get a true feel for the show by just watching it. Critical Role is, at its heart, a group of friends playing D&D. This group of friends may be well-known, prolific voice actors, and the setup may be provided by big production sponsors, but the bond shared between the cast is real and genuine. The battles and monsters are still interesting and exciting; you are just viewing it from an already established point.
Currently, the Mighty Nein are preparing for a final confrontation with current big bad Lucien and his group of allies known as the Tomb Takers. Lucien seeks artifacts known as threshold crests in an effort to bring the lost city of Cognouza back to the prime material plane. It’s not all doom and gloom, though, as romantic feelings are in the air with Beau and Yasha confessing feelings for each other while fireworks light up the dark. Caleb arranges a date for the two love birds, complete with dachshund servants, Dark and Stormy drinks, and ninjas. Could there be a more inviting atmosphere?
How Do You Want To Do This?
Wherever you choose to enter the Critical Role fandom, you are entering a world of laughs, badassery, and creativity. With Mercer and Ray at the creative helm, Critical Role remains approachable. It’s a welcoming, supportive community that gives back through their Critical Role Foundation charity.
Each episode (averaging two to four hours in length) gives you the perfect escape from reality. Now just await the adorable dachshund puppy to bring you a drink and join the Critical Role fandom!