If there’s one thing that I spend a great amount of my free time doing, it’s playing Dungeons and Dragons with my friends. Yes, very nerdy, I know, but it is one of my favorite things to do. I love sitting with my friends and making our way through different scenarios, fighting monsters, and being immersed into the fantasy world that we’ve created.
After I got into D&D, I stumbled across a channel called Critical Role. The channel features a group of “nerdy-ass voice actors who play dungeons and dragons,” according to the team, which consists of veteran dungeon master Matthew Mercer and players Marisha Ray, Ashley Johnson, Laura Bailey, Travis Willingham, Liam O’Brian, Taliesin Jaffe, and Sam Riegal. The group started playing in 2012 and have since built a massive fan base, with thousands of views on videos each week and live streams that pull viewers from around the globe to watch them play.
I was hooked instantly. The group has such a bond about them that is so pleasant and fun to watch. Even though I’ve only been watching them for a short amount of time, I truly love the work that they do and love seeing the fun that they have.
In a 2021 interview for Variety, writer Todd Spangler interviewed the cast. In talking of the outlook of where their show might go, this was the response:
“When they decided to turn Critical Role into a livestreamed show, Mercer says, “We thought nobody would care. And we thought, ‘Is that a good idea to put something we love online for the internet to tear apart?’”
Todd Spangler, Variety
Luckily for them, it was not torn apart. The group has amassed a following on several platforms, such as YouTube, Instagram, and most notably Twitch, where the group live-streams their playing of D&D every Thursday. Their most recent triumph comes from the airing of their new animated series The Legend of Vox Machina, which is based off of the first Dungeons and Dragons campaign that they ran.
They cast of Critical Role makes it evident that you can have fun playing a game that is stigmatized to be nerdy or not fun. The game is more about expressing yourself, letting your creativity flow, and being surrounded by a group of friends that allow you to do so.
You can check out more about the cast on their website, as well as tune into their live streams on Twitch to see the gang in action!
HCXO, Alexandra