As I am unable to wander suburbia playing PokemonGo (damn you, Tracfone), I’ve decided to spend my time working on art. When I’m working, I typically have some sort of podcast or music playlist playing in the background. Exhausting my go to background noise, I sought new stimulation that could hopefully inspire me to keep up my healthy habit of sketching every day.
After traversing the wilds of Tumblr, searching for the latest beloved show, I fell into a pit of D20s and “a squadron of illusionary, flying cows” known as Critical Role.
First things first. What is Critical Role?
Critical Role, according to its mother site Geek and Sundry, is a web show where:
“Voice actor Matthew Mercer leads a group of fellow voice actors on epic Dungeons & Dragons campaigns. These familiar voices bring the audience into the full experience of D&D, allowing imaginations to soar as the characters embark on adventures.”
Critical Role live streams on twitch every Thursday from 7-10 p.m. PST, but if you miss it, that’s okay! Geek and Sundry uploads the live streams to Youtube and to their website a few days afterward. The show has been around since March 13, 2015 (the date the first episode was uploaded), but the adventuring party of Vox Machina has been together for a significant amount of years now.
Who is Vox Machina?
Vox Machina is the collective name of the group of adventurers that are the protagonists of Critical Role.
What’s a Critter?
If you’re a fan of the show, you’re a Critter. It’s similar to Whovians (Doctor Who), Trekkie or Trekker (Star Trek), or Fanilows (Fans of Barry Manilow).
For those interested in diving head first into this fandom, here’s some things you need to know:
Don’t die trying to catch up.
When I first started watching, I became so enraptured with the plot, that I didn’t even realize that in just one episode 3 hours had passed. By the time I had finished episode five, it was already after two in the morning and I had wasted a whole day in the studio just watching.
My recommendation is watching an episode a day, maybe two, or just keep it on in the background and tune in every now and then. Something that I’ve started doing is watching highlights that Critters who have been watching for longer have recommended. After some searching in the comments of the Critical Role episodes, you’ll typically find a list of highlights that someone has written (probably as a guide for their own rewatch).
There aren’t really seasons.
Critical Role isn’t really separated into seasons as far as I can tell from watching on Youtube. But there are several arcs that happen and are happening as the episodes go on. If you start from episode one, you are beginning at the Kraghammer arc where Vox Machina is searching for an ally, while also dealing with otherworldly creatures in a dwarven city. The second arc starts around episode 17 and the third around episode 24.
The Critical Role Wiki and the Crit Role Stats Tumblr are your best friends.
Sometimes, due to DnD being a bit of a complicated game, it can get confusing trying to keep track of the characters and the battle scenes. I recommend utilizing these resources to make your understanding easier.
Have fun watching!
It’s really easy to be immersed in this world, especially due to the roleplaying talents of the cast. You will cry, you will laugh your ass off, and you’ll get frustrated with the situations along with Vox Machina. This show may even inspire you to take up playing DnD with your friends! A fun thing you can do is get a group of friends together and make an attempt to marathon an arc as if it were Lord of the Rings.
Some fun moments of Critical Role:
Scanlan’s Songs
One of the party members of Vox Machina is Scanlan Shorthalt, a gnome bard played by the wonderful Sam Riegel. Being a bard, he has the opportunity to inspire the party through song. Sam Riegel takes roleplaying to a fun level, by parodying or making up songs on the spot that is somehow related to the situation. Typically, they’re hysterical and will cause you to laugh out loud or sing along.
“How do you want to do this?”
You know it’s going to be a fun time when the Dungeon Master Matt Mercer utters this phrase. It’s our seven favorite words, especially when the battle has been a long one. When a party member makes the killing blow of a fierce enemy, they can choose how it will happen and how Matt will then describe it in heroic detail.
Special guests!
Critical Role features many fun special guests, from Wil Wheaton:
to Chris Hardwicke!
Shaun Gilmore
One of my personal favorite NPCs of Critical Role, he is the wizard merchant sponsoring our band of adventurers. He also has one of the most beautiful love stories with one of Vox Machina. A badass wizard that commands the room with his “Broadway” styled personality, every moment he appears in Critical Role is a time well spent.
Before I go on an even longer fangirl session about this show, I leave you with some links to help you get started.
Dungeons and Dragons Campaign Tips Episode
"How do you want to do this?" Highlight reel
So Critters, what are your favorite moments of Critical Role? Comment down below!
