The gang behind Critical Role, an immensely popular Dungeons and Dragons podcast, began playing together in December 2012. They started their show on Twitch via the Geek and Sundry channel just two years later. Since then, their success has come to define the “actual play” genre of podcasting, building on successive layers of momentum to attempt ever grander projects.
Critical Role now has its own production company in Metapigeon, publishing group at Darrington Press, and charitable body in the Critical Role Foundation. What began as an experimental Dungeons and Dragons podcast between friends has resulted in a hit Amazon Prime animated series, multiple tabletop game systems of their own design, and a nonprofit funding children’s programs and emergency aid around the world.
The legacy of Critical Role is expansive enough that it can be informally credited for shaping the nature of Dungeons and Dragons itself, and with it tabletop role-playing as a whole, and all while bringing an inclusive, altruistic, and progressive energy.
Preserving the Magic
“We want to make sure we can hold on to the passion, friendship, and unbridled creativity that we started with,” explains Liam O’Brien, a cofounder and cast member of the show. “What made us fall in love with doing this before it was a show. Our fans see that love in us when we play, so we try to keep that lightning in the bottle as best we can.”
It can’t be denied that there’s something special about Critical Role. The rare alchemy of award-winning voice-actor improv, a long-standing passion for tabletop gaming, and friendships over a decade strong has produced the gold standard for tabletop actual play.
“This is what everyone wants to replicate,” says chief executive and cast member Travis Willingham. “A deep experience and lasting relationships built with friends you want to know better. We proved that you can bring people into your space—even strangers—try something new with them, take risks, dream big, and find yourself. That’s the golden opportunity at the heart of TTRPGs.”
“Together, I felt my characters grow in the company of who they had to rely on,” remarks fellow cast member Ashley Johnson, president of the Critical Role Foundation. “Rather than defining their story like an author, I lived their character beats in the moment they occurred beside their best friends—learning, striving, growing, and ‘Oh, I’m in love with you now.’ I found that so irreplaceably special.”
“That’s Critical Role,” says Marisha Ray, another cofounder and Critical Role’s channel creative director. “Uh oh, I’m in love with you now.”
The irreplaceable Critical Role dynamic came to fill a demand no one quite understood before it—a bar that other D&D podcasts later strove to follow.
“We’ve read letters from all over the world from people who’ve told us we’ve brightened their day,” remarks O’Brien.
With fulfillment centers opening in the UK, EU, Australia, and Canada, as well as a drive to translate its content at scale, Critical Role aspires to build on its international success to reach its fans where they are.
English (US)