Giving Thanks for Critical Role’s Undeniable Impact

Critical Role‘s Campaign 2 wrapped up a couple of weeks ago and while Critters like me eagerly await news about Campaign 3 I thought I’d look back and consider all Critical Role has done for me personally. Worry not — I am going to avoid spoilers for those not caught up yet.

My personal adventure with Critical Role

I did not get involved in watching Critical Role until the announcement of Campaign 2. At that point in Nerdarchy videos we were doing 5 videos a week and we decided making one of them a review of the previous week’s episode of Critical Role would be easy enough to do. Before this point, while I was in a number of online games, I was not watching any D&D online. I just did not understand it. I was about to go on a whirlwind adventure lasting years.

The names of the players involved were familiar but I had not seen any of the Vox Machina campaign and knew nothing of the original characters. Like so many others I fell in love with Jester almost from moment one. Laura’s humor and the voice she gave Jester was just amazing. It did not take long before I was totally hooked on the cast. The weekly dose was not enough and I needed more.

I was thankful an entire first 114 episode campaign lay before me — over 400 hours of viewing pleasure was there in its entirety for my consumption. I am thankful my job allows me to listen and enjoy such things as I began to eat away at those stories the cast unfolded for me, watching episode after episode and bingeing through numerous episodes each week.

With Campaign 2 over I’m looking back at all of the things Critical Role accomplished as a group, intentionally or not. I believe the wide audience Critical Role brought in to the D&D hobby paved the way for so many celebrities to come out and talk about their love of the game. Without Critical Role I truly wonder — would these household names be willing to share how they too roll funny shaped dice and talk in weird voices? Personalities like Vin Diesel and Joe Manganiello talking about their love of the game only makes it more popular. Those willing to follow in their footsteps can safely share their gaming stories without fear of reprisal.

But beyond sharing the hobby in general I found most if not all elements of a fantastic game incorporated into the campaigns of Critical Role as a whole on Dungeon Master Matt’s part. Let me break it down. In my early days of gaming most of my experience at the table was roleplaying between character and NPC. Other than talking tactics and the occasional dispute over direction or the split of the treasure our characters did not have the emotional connection you see developed on Critical Role. Maybe your table was different but without exposure to other gaming groups it is hard to see how others play and develop these connections.

Roleplaying is certainly not all there is to what made me an invested Critter. You want massive dungeon crawls? Critical Role has those. There are dungeons full of monsters and episodes where little but combat takes place all the time in those games. Are you looking for intense roleplaying and getting into serious emotions? Oh yeah, Critical Role has this as well. Whether characters dying (yes it can happen) or characters falling in love, Critical Role is full of scenarios where you are full of emotion and it has to explode out. Matt makes you care about the NPCs and the players give you plenty to fall in love with each of their characters and stories.

Matt seamlessly works in player character goals and deep rich lore exposing you to a full world ready to explore. Is Critical Role perfect? No. No one is perfect. I have decades of experience at the table and I still get things wrong or make a call others disagree with. Matt is no exception to this. Do I want to sit at their table? You are damn right I do. Like so many others I feel the one sided relationship with those stars after so much has been shared and observed through the games they share with the world.

As a DM I tend to be more on the side of the players when I run, and painful as it may be it looks like Matt tries to be impartial. He presents combat situations that outclass the party to see what they do. In the early days of D&D that was the way of things while much of 5E D&D seems to be more on the lines of only a challenge for the players. I take moments like this to try new tricks and things as a DM to see how my players react.

As a company Critical Role has also done so many incredible things. A massive Kickstarter and so much merchandise it will make your head spin only scratch the surface. They have clothes, books, Funko pops, comics, dice and so much more. They teamed up with Steamforged Games to make a line of miniatures and then later teamed up with WizKids to make even more minis. I personally have most of the SFG minis and all the WizKids minis and they are fantastic. If you want to grab yourself some Critical Role swag or minis check them out here.

Beyond the amazing games and community surrounding Critical Role they took a huge step towards truly leaving the world a better place than they found it with the Critical Role Foundation too. This nonprofit they created selects and partners with other outstanding nonprofit organizations to ensure every dollar raised goes toward programs and projects changing the world for the better. You can find out more including how you can help too at their website here.

I am eager to see the brand new Exandria Unlimited adventure featuring new voices and familiar faces when it premieres on June 24. It will be great to see Matt get a chance to play in his own world. I also eagerly wait what will happen with Campaign 3. Like so many others I am a Critter. I have some of those books, lots of those dice and all of those minis and I’ll continue to watch and support a group with such a great message. Come on, they end each episode by telling viewers they love them very much and asking if it’s Thursday yet! So to all involved from Critters to casual watchers and all the cast and crew of Critical Role: Thank You very much from the bottom of one viewer’s heart!

Thanks for reading. Until next time, stay nerdy!

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