In March of this year, Critical Role celebrated a solid decade of existence. What started ten years ago as an early foray into the Actual Play space—watching and/or listening to groups of friends (in this case nerdy-ass voice actors) play TTRPGs together, usually Dungeons & Dragons—has since become a true icon of the industry, and a rapidly growing dynasty of storytelling across myriad mediums.
In brief, the majority of Critical Role is set in the world of Exandria, created by Matthew Mercer. Exandria started as the swampy town of Stilben more than ten years ago, when Mercer ran a game for co-founder Liam O’Brien and some mutual voice actor friends as a birthday gift. And as Exandria grew in the telling and their home game became more expansive, so too did their opportunity to tell it. As they began to air their home game on Geek & Sundry, the heroic group known as Vox Machina were introduced to viewers. It didn’t take long for these nerdy-ass voice actors and their collective story to break out into the mainstream. And from there, well…
My goal here is to give a brief overview of the different Critical Role stories and their mediums. I’ll also leave a little verdict on how easy it is to jump in as a new viewer using the parlance of D&D: what’s the difficulty check (out of 30) on jumping in? Let’s, as they say, roll!
Critical Role Actual Play
Campaign 1: Vox Machina
The story of adventuring group Vox Machina, taking place mainly in the continent of Tal’Dorei in Exandria. Half-elven twins Vex and Vax, a rogue and ranger, with Trinket, infamous bear companion; Scanlan Shorthalt, lothario and Gnomish bard; Grog Strongjaw, Goliath barbarian extraordinaire and his buddy, Pike Trickfoot, Gnomish war cleric; Keyleth of the Air Ashari, a druid and burgeoning leader of her people; and Percival de Rolo, Human gunslinger with more inner demons than you can shake a stick at. Mercenaries who solidify into a found family, their Actual Play adventures begin in the Dwarven capital of Kraghammer. Vox Machina is searching for an old ally in the depths of the Underdark beneath the city but may have begun to uncover a rather dire plot in the shadowy caverns under the mountain. After their return, the series truly gains steam as we are introduced to the Briarwoods, the corrupted city of Whitestone, and the pursuit of Percival de Rolo’s quest for vengeance. We follow Vox Machina all the way to level 20, where they face the wrath of an undead archmage making a play for divinity.
Difficulty Check: 15. From the jump, you can see how Matt Mercer’s enthusiastic GMing, the cast’s effortless roleplay, and their mutual love and respect for one another made them such a dynamite hit. The only reason it’s getting a higher DC is due to some confusion as they begin en media res (with plenty of literature out there to explain what happened prior), and the inclusion of an ex-cast member whose presence at the table definitely introduces some too-real tension and unpleasantness until the start of the Briarwood arc, when he leaves the table and CR.
Campaign 2: The Mighty Nein
The story of the Mighty Nein takes place on the continent of Wildemount, trapped betwixt the forces of the Dwendallian Empire and those of the Kryn Dynasty. In the town of Trostenwald we meet Caleb Widogast, human Wizard with a burning past, and his companion, Nott the Brave, an alcoholic Goblin rogue intent on helping him achieve his arcane goals. Another group contains Jester LaVorre, a Tiefling cleric of the mysterious Traveler; half-orc warlock Fjord Stone, a former sailor whose sword talks to him in his dreams; and Beauregard Lionett, badass Human monk of the Cobalt Soul. With the circus in town, the crew is rounded out with Yasha Nydoorin, a barbarian with celestial lineage and blood on her hands, and Mollymauk Tealeaf, a Tiefling blood hunter with few memories of their earlier life, but plenty of panache.
With war between these geopolitical powers defining much of the landscape and campaign, the Mighty Nein’s adventures find them navigating the outskirts of the conflict until they find themselves smack-dab in the middle. We follow them to level 17, where they face a familiar foe whose obsession with redefining reality finds them within a living city. While this adventure ended their campaign, there have been a number of one-off adventures with the Nein at even higher levels, wrapping different threads years later.
DC: 5. A campaign that started fresh for both Critical Role and their fans, the Mighty Nein belonged to everyone from the moment we began in the town of Trostenwald. Players used this second campaign to craft characters with more depth, more tragedy, and larger story arcs. While Vox Machina celebrated many archetypal joys of heroic adventure, the Mighty Nein actively looks at the other side: broken heroes, out of their depth leaders, abused and abusing souls, and what it takes to grow out of such shadows and towards better days. Where Vox Machina is a found family in the traditional sense, the Nein’s bonds come together and solidify from loss, working to solve the problems of a morally complex world, and a kinship with those on the fringes.
Campaign 3: Bell’s Hells
A campaign years in the making, we follow the adventures of Bell’s Hells, a group of true misfits whose journey takes them from the continent of Marquet all the way to the second moon of Exandria, Ruidus, and back again for a showdown with the gods themselves. We have Halfling fighter Orym of the Air Ashari, Fey druid Fearne Calloway, Gnomish blood hunter Chetney Pock O’Pea, Earth Genasi barbarian Ashton Greymoore, robot cleric Fresh Cut Grass, telekinetic sorceress Imogen Temault, half-dead warlock/sorceress Laudna, and Dorian Storm, an Air Genasi bard played by new player and fellow voice actor, Robbie Daymond.
Campaign 3 begins as a disparate group of loners, oddballs, and scarred soldiers finds themselves with common cause, but it isn’t long before we begin to see the true weave of Fate in the hand of Mercer. Campaign 3 is a love letter to the entirety of Exandria and the stories Critical Role has told to this point, with an overarching story that takes threads from Vox Machina and The Mighty Nein and begins to pull them together with a cast of characters whose histories intersect with the world of Exandria itself. We follow Bell’s Hells to level 15 with more one-off adventures to come.
DC: 10. Long-time viewers will begin to spot the connections between campaigns quickly, and appreciate the culmination of threads, but new viewers may find themselves a little at sea. While easily solved by some googling or looking into the other campaigns, Bell’s Hells does run into the expected problems of a shared universe with a decade’s worth of history and storytelling. Still, there’s much to love here, especially as the ending of C3 completely upends the world of Exandria. For better or worse, remains to be seen…
Campaign 4
After a decade of playing in Exandria, Critical Role switched to something brand new. In fact, two new somethings. No, three! First, the one and only Brennan Lee Mulligan replaced Matt Mercer as Game Master. Mulligan is known for GMing the majority of Dropout’s Dimension 20 series, the podcast Worlds Beyond Number, and a ton of other gaming content—including several minicampaigns set in the world of Exandria. Mulligan introduces us to the world of Aráman, in which the tyrannical gods were slaughtered 70 years before the story begins, and now nobles, zealots, magicians, and others vie for power in the vacuum. A completely new world and setting, viewers new and old are on a level playing field when approaching C4. And last but not least, new cast members have entered the fray! Alexander Ward, Aabria Iyengar, Luís Carazo, and Whitney Moore have joined the cast, as well as Robbie Daymond coming on as a full-time cast member—plus Matt Mercer himself is able to sit on the players’ side of the table.
DC: 5. There has never been a better chance to try Critical Role, and to enter the beginning of a new story in a new world with new players, a new GM, and thirteen brand new characters. Mulligan will be running a West Marches style campaign wherein players make up their own tables with their own stories and agenda. So far, those tables are Soldiers (Combat and Exploration), Seekers (History and Investigation), and Schemers (Politics and Intrigue). Mulligan balanced all thirteen for a four-episode Overture where we meet everyone, learn the missions of the groups, and see what their ties were to the man who brought them all together: infamous revolutionary and rogue Thjazi Fang, now dead. His death has sent massive ripples through Aráman and the already precarious nature of this world and the Orcish city of Dol-Makjar in which he was hanged has begun to come apart.
It’s time for heroes to step in. Will you join them?
Critical Role Animation (DC 5)
The Legend of Vox Machina (Seasons 1-3)
Adapted from the first true arcs of Vox Machina’s story, the animated television series is a wonderful way to experience these fantastical tales that have been condensed down into a consumable format. Not everyone has the time for the three-plus hour long episodes of the original Actual Play, and so the animated series is a great way to enjoy Critical Role and Vox Machina in a timely manner. These seasons have been lovingly adapted, updated, and streamlined, keeping the essence of Campaign 1 while making it accessible to new viewers.
The Mighty Nein
Season 1 of The Mighty Nein just wrapped, and like The Legend of Vox Machina, it has been lovingly crafted. It is not an easy thing to take 50+ hours of Actual Play and turn it into 8 hours of animation. While there is a little more streamlining and shuffling of certain events, it still ends being an incredibly accessible and successful season, with a totally different tone and vibe than Vox Machina.
Critical Role Books (DC 10)
Kith & Kin by Marieke Nijkamp
The origin story of the twins Vax and Vex and detailing their lives before joining Vox Machina, this novel is a great path into Exandria and fills in a lot of backstory for the twins.
Vox Machina — Stories Untold
A short story collection featuring characters from Campaign One that have a chance to be in the spotlight, this is a great read for those who want to learn more about characters such as Gilmore, Kevdak, Kima and Allura, and others from the Vox Machina campaign. Writers include Sam Maggs, Nibedita Sen, Arabia Iyengar, and many more—including me!
The Nine Eyes of Lucien by Madeleine Roux
The great thing about a character who doesn’t have any memory is that it makes for a great novel! Mollymauk Tealeaf didn’t always go by that name; once they were known as Lucien, leader of a group of blood hunters called the Tombtakers, and they had dark goals all their own. A great book to jump into if you loved the final arc of Campaign Two with the Mighty Nein.
What Doesn’t Break by Cassandra Khaw
Laudna of Bell’s Hells is a tragic, lovable character whose origins reach back all the way to Campaign One with Vox Machina. Marisha Ray saw a chance to connect these stories in a heartbreaking fashion, and leave it to horror writer extraordinaire Cassandra Khaw to take these threads of Laudna, undeath, the Briarwoods of Whitestone, and knit them into something beautiful, dark, and haunting as we learn how Laudna came to be.
Tusk Love by Thea Guanzon
In Campaign Two, Jester LaVorre is enraptured by Tusk Love, an in-universe romance about a young woman named Guinevere and a Half-Orc blacksmith named Oskar. Jester immediately sees the parallel between her and Fjord, whom she is definitely crushing on at that point in the campaign. Tusk Love became a fun running bit from the campaign, and now acclaimed writer Thea Guanzon has brought the true story of Guinevere and Oskar to life in a new romantasy novel!
I came to Critical Role by way of the Vox Machina animated series then read the various books and comic books and actually started watching with EXU: Calamity. A lot of the one shots and shorter campaigns that are mixed through Campaign 3 are a great way to get to know the players and how they work together. In terms of newer things, if you’re looking for real horror, Candela Obscura is great while the Daggerheart runs are a little lighter. Campaign 4 is amazing. The fandom is also really welcoming, no matter how you found your way in.
I came in through the animation. By the time I started watching the Live Play, they were probably 1/4 to 1/2 way through Campaign 3. I started watching Campaign 1, got to about the end of the Kraghammer arc, then decided I wanted to catch up with the current campaign, and started with the beginning of Campaign 3. I caught up to live right about the time Sam had to take his hiatus, and followed that through to the end while starting to catch up with the earlier campaigns. I’m now about 1/3 of the way through Campaign 2, and keeping up weekly with Campaign 4.
And I love every minute of it (although I typically watch at 1.5 speed).
Critical Role Abridged episodes are a godsend for Campaign 3. Each episode is cut down to an hour, with most of the fluff axed. Makes it far easier to watch or listen, while still progressing through the important parts of C3!