Critical Role Productions
Critical Role Productions LLC is a Limited Liability Company founded by of a group of professional voice actors. The company produces the webseries Critical Role, as well as several other webseries, books and other media.
History[edit | edit source]
The original cast of Critical Role had been playing a Pathfinder campaign together for two years (since December 2012) before they converted their home game into a live-streamed Dungeons & Dragons webseries. In 2014, they were approached by Felicia Day to stream their campaign live on the Geek & Sundry twitch channel.[2] On March 12, 2015 they began streaming their first live episode, "Arrival at Kraghammer" (1x01).
Critical Role Productions, LLC was incorporated in May 6, 2015[3] by the members of the creator-owned streaming show and applied a registration of the phrase "Critical Role" as their trademark on May 27, 2015.[4] The company moved to their own studio space in 2018, and started putting out new shows on their own Twitch and YouTube channels. In February 2019, Critical Role parted ways with Legendary Digital Networks, Geek & Sundry's parent company, and started to self-produce new shows and content under the name Critical Role Productions LLC.[5] Eventually, the live broadcasts and VODs of Critical Role aired exclusively on Critical Role's channels. A new set of equipment was bought, mostly updating to newer generations of similar cameras/mics/streaming gear, added the camera slider called the Rhino Arc for the battlemaps, and installed Rosco LED Projectors with remote color control capabilities to change colors to suit the narrative (e.g, fade lights to red whenever the players roll initiative).[6] They used Audio-Technica AT875 Condenser Shotgun microphones.[7][8]
On 17 March 2020, Critical Role announced[9] that it was suspending all live broadcasts of both the D&D stream Critical Role and Talks Machina due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the hiatus, they produced new content, as well as re-imagined versions of existing shows that followed the COVID-19 safety guidelines. Critical Role returned in a prerecorded format on 2 July 2020 with the broadcast of "Hunted at Sea" (2x100).[10]
Critical Role Productions provided help to the production of Tales of Kenzera: Zau (2024), a video game published by Electronic Arts, where Abubakar Salim portrays the main character.[11]
Cast and crew[edit | edit source]
This is an incomplete list.
Leading positions[edit | edit source]
- Travis Willingham serves as chief executive officer[5]
- Ed Lopez as the chief operating officer[12]
- Matthew Mercer as chief creative officer[12]
- Marisha Ray as creative director[13]
- Elizabeth Schiff as senior manager and business development
- Megan Karnish as human resources manager
- Brittany Walloch-Key as director of events
- Aaron Monroy as art director
Production[edit | edit source]
- Vinnie Singh as head of production
- Maxwell James as senior producer
- Trevor Lyon as technical director
- Kyle Shire, Steve Failows, Ashley Middlebrook, and Kirby Winslow as producers
- Jared Deiro as production assistants and junior lore keeper
- Maggie Frace as production assistants
- Jeremiah Rivas as project and production Coordinator
- Michael Schmidt as cinematographer, camera operator, and photographer
- Eric Thompson as camera operator
- Tal Levitas as post production supervisor
- Matthew Key as writer and editor for Darrington Press
- Max Schapiro and Will Lamborn as editors
- Taylor Burke as assistant editor
- Alexandre Uboldi as game producer
Business development, and operations[edit | edit source]
- Ben Van Der Fluit as senior vice president of business development[12]
- Allyson De Simone as procurement director
- Nadia Dilbert as director of consumer products project manager
- Diana Jeanne Calalo as business operations manager, ecommerce & trademark licensing
- Adrienne Cho as product design & development manager
- Shaunette DeTie as licensing manager
- Niki Chi as licensing coordinator, initially working at Critical Role as an online operations coordinator
- Annie Krueger as development coordinator
- Sarah Marie Campbell as financial controller.
Marketing[edit | edit source]
- Rachel Romero as senior vice president of marketing[12]
- Brittney Austin as senior marketing manager
- Darcy L. Ross as marketing manager for Critical Role Productions' subsidiary company, Darrington Press
- Gary Thomas and Nicole Yonan as marketing coordinators, as well as frequent writers at CritRole.com.
- Jade Valkyrie as community manager since April 2024[14]
Miscellaneous[edit | edit source]
- Dani Carr as Production Coordinator until 2020, subsequently taking the position of the lore keeper.
- Jordyn Torrence as graphic designer
- Ian Phillips as freelance miniature and terrain consultant
- Dolores Verdiell as contract designer, doing "digital mockups for VOD and print; paying attention to design research and detail".
- Jennifer Veloso as customer service representative
- Mark Mangrich as "set programmer" responsible for "programming and troubleshooting audio/lighting/video playback systems, as well as their control systems and user interfaces for sound stage based sets for Critical Role".
Former team members[edit | edit source]
- Greg Gustafson was employed by the company as a camera operator until 2020
- Zach Wilson worked as technical director and executive producer until February 2020
- Stephanie Benjamin was the Online Operations Coordinator at least until October 2021.
- Christina Farber was the company's former marketing coordinator, briefly occupying jobs of the Design Project Coordinator and the Online Operations Coordinator, as well, working for the Critical Role Productions until June 3, 2022.
- Surena Marie joined the company as marketing & community manager in February 2020[15] and was promoted to Product Marketing Manager in March 2022[16] but eventually left CR in August 2022,[17] joining Quest Portal as the Head of Marketing & Communications.
- Sarah Leeper worked at the company as Assistant Editor until September 2022.
- Christopher Lockey was the Social and Content Producer until January 2023.
Cast[edit | edit source]
The main cast appears in every episode of the main series, Critical Role, with a few exceptions.
- Laura Bailey as Vex'ahlia, Jester Lavorre, Imogen Temult
- Liam O'Brien as Vax'ildan, Caleb Widogast, Orym
- Taliesin Jaffe as Percy, Mollymauk Tealeaf, Kingsley Tealeaf, Caduceus Clay, Ashton Greymoore
- Ashley Johnson as Pike Trickfoot, Yasha Nydoorin, Fearne Calloway
- Marisha Ray as Keyleth, Beauregard Lionett, Laudna
- Sam Riegel as Scanlan Shorthalt, Taryon Darrington, Veth Brenatto, Fresh Cut Grass
- Travis Willingham as Grog, Fjord, Bertrand Bell, Chetney Pock O'Pea
- Matthew Mercer as the Dungeon Master
The original cast also included Orion Acaba as Tiberius Stormwind. On October 28th, 2015, at 6:40 PST, it was announced live on the Geek & Sundry Twitch channel that due to a mutual parting of ways, Orion would no longer appear on Critical Role. Matt Mercer repeated the announcement at the beginning of "Stoke the Flames" (1x30). Orion last appeared in "The Path to Whitestone" (1x27).
Members of the main cast also host or appear in other webseries produced by Critical Role Productions. Outside of the main cast, notable recurring cast members have been Brian W Foster, the host of Talks Machina and Between the Sheets, and Dani Carr, who appeared in Talks Machina and hosted Critical Recap. Will Friedle, Babs Tarr, and Mica Burton have also hosted or co-hosted their own webseries. Special guests are frequent in Critical Role and other webseries, with some of them appearing multiple times across different titles.
When choosing the seating arrangements for on-set episodes, Critica Role Productions team allocate the edge seats for the people who "can hold their own", like Travis Willingham or Taliesin Jaffe, because most people's attention is focused inward and people closer to the table's edge have a significantly more difficult circumstances to comfortably role-play. The guest players are often seated closer to the middle of the table. Travis always chooses the outside seats, where a person of his size feels significantly more comfortable.[18]
Core values[edit | edit source]
The Critical Role website states the company's core values as follows:
- Believing in the positive impact of storytelling
- Sharing the love of games with others
- Staying curious and always Learning
- Leaving the world better than we found it
Critical Role's community guidelines encourage respect and inclusivity. The company works with sensitivity consultants who have personal and professional experience covering LGBTQIA+ issues and advocacy, gender identity, intersectional feminism, racism, colorism, neurodivergence and mental health, ableism, religion and other issues.[19]
Productions[edit | edit source]
Ongoing[edit | edit source]
- Critical Role: The main webseries produced by the company. It features a group of voice actors playing the popular table-top game Dungeons & Dragons (often abbreviated as D&D) in a world imagined by Dungeon Master Matthew Mercer. The series airs every Thursday at 7PM (Pacific Time) on Twitch, and new episodes are posted on YouTube the following Monday.
- Exandria Unlimited: Originally an eight episode mini-campaign GMed by Aabria Iyengar, the first season of the webseries was set in Tal'Dorei in 842 PD, six years after the conclusion of Campaign 2: The Mighty Nein. An additional two-part series, Exandria Unlimited: Kymal, was set shortly thereafter. The third miniseries, Exandria Unlimited: Calamity, ran for four episodes and was set during the eve of The Calamity. It featured Brennan Lee Mulligan as the Dungeon Master.
- One-shots: The cast will occasionally play a one-shot game, often with several guests, different game systems, and different Dungeon Master/Game Master.
- 4-Sided Dive: A monthly roundtable-style talk show with four guests, discussing episodes of Campaign 3 and answering fan questions. It airs the first Tuesday of every month on Twitch and YouTube with VODs posted to YouTube the following Wednesday. At the beginning of each episode, one of the guests is chosen by dice roll to be the Tavern Keeper and host the show without prior preparation.
- Critical Recap: Hosted by Dani Carr, it summarized the events of the previous week's episode of Critical Role, as well as offering her own thoughts on the events that transpired and what they might mean for the future. The recaps started with "Zemnian Nights" (2x11) and aired on the Geek & Sundry Twitch channel before the live streams. After the split from Geek & Sundry, new episodes of Critical Recap premiered on Critical Role's YouTube channel on Tuesdays. The final video was for "Unwanted Reunions" (2x88), with recaps thereafter appearing in written form on the Critical Role website.
- Bits and bobs: Included in this miscellaneous category are question-and-answer episodes outside the Talks Machina format, as well as Fireside chats, Critmas episodes, and information on the history of Exandria. (See also Panels)
Periodical or pasted[edit | edit source]
- Talks Machina: A talk show hosted by Brian Wayne Foster, with help from Dani Carr, discussing the events of Critical Role. The guests usually consisted of the regular cast of Critical Role, but guest players, behind-the-scenes people, and fans such as Andrew from CritRoleStats also appeared. The original run of the show aired weekly on Tuesdays and featured questions submitted by fans; however, due to COVID-19, the show came back from a hiatus in a bi-weekly, pre-recorded format, with questions written by Dani Carr. On 16 August 2021, both Critical Role and Brian Foster's Twitter accounts announced that Brian would be moving on from the company to focus on personal projects.[20][21]
- All Work No Play: Started as a sporadic podcast (2012-2017) where Liam and Sam (and an occasional guest) caught up over a drink. The video version sent Liam and Sam off on adventures, then meeting back up at Critical Role Land to discuss it, their lives, and anything else that might tickle their fancies. During the COVID-19 Hiatus, All Work No Play appeared in its third version — eight episodes of conversations with the cast of Critical Role plus Khary Payton discussing their lives during the pandemic.
- Between the Sheets: A show where Brian Wayne Foster interviewed in depth a different guest each episode.
- Critter Hug: The show celebrated the tabletop gaming community by highlighting its cornerstones such as artists, terrain makers, local game stores, indie RPGs, and more, with hosts Mica Burton and Matthew Mercer.
- #EverythingIsContent: A show with no fixed format, although most of the episodes have had sponsored gaming content. The show can also be something of a testbed for the studio to pilot potential projects.
- Handbooker Helper: A series of short videos hosted by various cast and crew members, covering various aspects of Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition).
- MAME Drop: Taliesin and guest(s) played old-school arcade games on the studio's MAME cabinet.
- Mighty Vibes: Begun during the Covid-19 hiatus, the series provides lo-fi music by various artists with a minimalistic animated scene featuring different Mighty Nein and Vox Machina characters.
- Mini Primetime: A show hosted by Will Friedle on how to improve painting techniques, specifically for Dungeons and Dragons miniatures.
- Narrative Telephone: Begun during the Covid-19 hiatus, the series featured a cast member relating a short narrative story, which was then retold by successive cast members.
- Pub Draw: Show where Marisha and others were taught how to improve their drawing by comic book artist, and Critter, Babs Tarr.
- Travis Willingham's Yee-Haw Game Ranch: Webseries featured Travis Willingham and Brian Wayne Foster (and occasional guests) playing video games.
- UnDeadwood: Four-part series in which Brian Foster GMed a game based on the HBO series Deadwood, using the Deadlands RPG system.
Podcasts[edit | edit source]
Many of the webseries created by Critical Role Productions also exist in a podcast format. Earlier episodes of Critical Role and Talks Machina are available via the Nerdist Industries podcast network, preceding the split from Geek&Sundry. All other podcast episodes can be found via the Critical Role podcast network. New episodes are available one week after they aired on Twitch.
Series available in podcast format:
- Critical Role
- 4-Sided Dive
- Exandria Unlimited
- All Work No Play
- Between the Sheets
- One-shots
- Talks Machina
- UnDeadwood
Comics[edit | edit source]
- Winter's Crest Festival: Marisha Ray and Taliesin Jaffe wrote a comic series with art by Wendy Sullivan Green. It told the story of Vox Machina's first Winter's Crest festival. The comic appeared on Geek & Sundry's website.
- Vox Machina Origins: On September 20, 2017, Dark Horse Comics released a six-issue comic series titled Vox Machina Origins Volume 1 covering how some of the members of Vox Machina came to meet each other. On July 10, 2019, Dark Horse began releasing Vox Machina Origins Volume 2, another six-part miniseries continuing the adventures of the fledgling group. A third series began releasing on February 10th, 2021, with the same creative team as Volume 2.[22]
- The Mighty Nein Origins: On November 10, 2020, Dark Horse Comics and Critical Role announced that a new series of hardcover Critical Role graphic novels, The Mighty Nein Origins, would begin on June 16, 2021. The series explores the backstory of each of the group's eight main characters, starting with Jester Lavorre.[23]
- The Tales of Exandria: On December 15, 2020, Dark Horse Comics and Critical Role announced that a new mini-series of four comics, The Tales of Exandria, would begin on March 17, 2021. The series focuses on side characters and stories, beginning with Leylas Kryn[24]
- The Legend of Vox Machina: The Whitestone Chronicles: A series of graphic novel published by Dark Horse Comics. It is a prequel to the events of the first season of The Legend of Vox Machina, an animated adaptation of Critical Role's Campaign 1; the adaptation, and thus the comic, has its own continuity different from the campaign.[25]
Books[edit | edit source]
- Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting: Reference book for D&D groups written by Matthew Mercer with the help of James Haeck. It was published in 2017 by Green Ronin Publishing in both hardcover and PDF formats.
- Explorer's Guide to Wildemount: An extensive 5th Edition campaign guide written by Matthew Mercer and a team of designers including Chris Lockey, James Introcaso, and James Haeck. The Wildemount campaign setting was released on 17 March 2020, published by Wizards of the Coast.[26]
- Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn: In January 2022, Darrington Press LLC released an updated and expanded version of the original Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting set about twenty years after the adventures of Vox Machina.
- Call of the Netherdeep: Critical Role's first campaign and adventure module was published by Wizards of the Coast in March 2022.
- The Chronicles of Exandria: Art books featuring artwork from the community. They also include backstories of the main party members as well as some of the NPCs. Two have been published covering the Vox Machina Campaign and one (to date) for the second campaign.
- The World of Critical Role: Released on 20 October 2020, the book is a non-fiction book, detailing the real-world history of Exandria and the series and featuring new art of, cast interviews, and behind-the-scenes insight into various moments in both campaigns.[27]
- Exquisite Exandria: Cookbook with 60 recipes inspired by the world of Exandria, accompanying photography, and the lore behind the recipes.
Animation[edit | edit source]
- The Legend of Vox Machina: Animated series funded by a kickstarter campaign of the same name. In November 2019, Amazon Prime partnered on the project and expanded it to three seasons, completing the Briarwood storyline and moving toward the Chroma Conclave arc.[28] The show premiered January 28, 2022[29] to general critical approval.[30]
- Mighty Nein (series): Animated series adapting the Mighty Nein campaign. It is produced by Critical Role Productions under its production company Metapigeon, Titmouse, Inc. and Amazon Studios and will be released through Prime Video. The series was announced on January 25, 2023.[31][32]
- Crit Recap Animated: The spiritual successor to Critical Recap. The series condenses Campaign 2 and Campaign 3 story arcs into short 5-10 minute episodes written by Dani Carr, Marisha Ray, and Kyle Shire.[33]
Charity work[edit | edit source]
Critical Role Foundation[edit | edit source]
The Critical Role Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to the mission of "leaving the world better than we found it". This foundation organizes fundraising campaigns for causes that the Critical Role team and the Critters care about. In addition, a percentage of all donations received are allocated to an emergency fund, to be used to provide financial help in the event of unforeseen emergencies, like natural disasters (hurricane, fire, and other tragedies).
The Foundation was first unveiled on September 24, 2020, with its first fundraising campaign aiming to support the First Nations' Native Youth & Culture Fund. The campaign goal of $50,000 was quickly surpassed: in the first 24 hours after launch, the Foundation had raised $98,000.[34]
Other initiatives[edit | edit source]
Throughout the years Critical Role has taken part in various charity drives. In addition, in December 2015, each member of the cast has chosen a charity to individually represent and encourage their fans to donate to them instead of sending gifts.[35]
- Ashley: Amnesty
- Laura: My Friend's Place
- Liam: The Planetary Society
- Marisha: The Nature Conservancy
- Matt: First Book
- Taliesin: First Place for Youth
- Travis: Operation Supply Drop (defunct)
- Sam: Pablove Foundation
826LA
During each broadcast, viewers were encouraged to donate to a charity, usually 826LA, and donators were thanked at the end of the session. During Hoomanism Appreciation Week in September 2015, the cast of Critical Role visited 826LA,[36] where they presented creative director Joel Arquillos with a check for $15,000.
Extra Life
Many of the cast members of Critical Role were involved with the Geek & Sundry Extra Life charity drive in October 2015,[37][38] including a special episode, "Critical Trolls for Extra Life" (OSx01) featuring the Vox Moronica crew.
Pablove Foundation
Sam and the cast had joined forces with Blair Herter, to help raise awareness and support for the Pablove Foundation. The Pablove Foundation is an charity dedicated to childhood cancer support through improving the lives of children with cancer through the arts, as well as investing in underfunded research projects. A few rewards were set up and reached:
- $20,000: "Crash Pandas: Too Trashed, Too Curious" (OSx24) with Sam as the Dungeon Master;
- $50,000: The ability to fund one research grant distributed to a credible research team actively working to cure childhood cancer;
- $100,000: "Fireside Chat with Sam Riegel" (Mx07) and a completely funded Shutterbugs Summer Camp.
Critical Role's 8-Bit Salute!
In November 2018, Travis and members of Critical Role joined forces with Operation Supply Drop (OSD)[39] Gaming Development Director, Jeff Bartom to raise money for their military community to provides Veterans with games and other entertainment items. In addition to this Supply Drop, they partnered with OSD with a goal to raise $50,000 for the military community.[40] As a reward for raising $25.000, Travis hosted a special live first-person shooter gaming session on the Critical Role Twitch channel.
In November 2019, Travis started another month-long fundraiser to help support our military community with OSD.[41] Travis Frederick of the Dallas Cowboys graciously offered to donate $500 per nat 1 (PCs only) rolled in November 2019.[42]
Red Nose Day
Critical Role joined the 2019 Red Nose Day campaign with Stephen Colbert to end childhood poverty, as part of which Matthew Mercer ran a one-on-one mini-adventure "Stephen Colbert's D&D Adventure with Matthew Mercer" (OSx29). Donors could support Red Nose Day by shaping Stephen's adventure through their donations. Donors decided Stephen's character class, his companion, his legendary weapon to be sought, and the villain. The story elements that gained the most donations were used in the mini-adventure. A total of $122,362 was raised to end childhood poverty.
In 2022, they partnered with Stephen Colbert and Red Nose Day once more, as part of which Matt ran "Dignity: An Adventure with Stephen Colbert" (OSx47). Donors could support Red Nose Day by shaping Stephen's adventure through their donations. Donors decided on his companion, the purpose of his quest, a starting magical item, a spell he could cast once, and which adventuring party he encountered. Over $190,000 was raised for the charity.[43]
Awards[edit | edit source]
Year | Award | Category | Result | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | Streamy Awards | Gaming | Nominated | [44] |
2018 | Streamy Awards | Live Streamer | Nominated | [45] |
2019 | Webby Awards | Video Series & Channels - Games | Won (Webby Award & People's Voice) | [12] |
2019 | Shorty Awards | Games | Won (Finalist & Audience Honor) | [46] |
Merchandise[edit | edit source]
Laura Bailey is in charge of Critical Role merchandise and often announces new releases at the beginning of new episodes of Critical Role. Since the initial airing of Critical Role, merch of all shapes and forms has been created, including t-shirts, hoodies, keychains, pins, collectible figures, plushies, dice, dice accessories, blankets, mugs and prints. Initially, it was distributed by Geek & Sundry, but since 2018 CR Productions took over the distribution of Critical Role related merchandise.
The first item of merch by Critical Role cast was a black t-shirt with the list of original Vox Machina members. They printed out 100 of these t-shirts and attaching each of them with hand addressed envelops. The also drew doodles on the envelops.[47]
In 2018, Steamforged Games(SFG) raised approx $1.2M in a Kickstarter campaign for a collection of miniature figures based on player characters (PCs) and non-player characters (NPCs) from both Critical Role campaigns.[48]
In 2020, a line of official Funko Pop figures of the members of Vox Machina was released.
In February 2020, it was announced that Critical Role had partnered with Hot Topic to sell branded apparel both online and in their stores.
Official merchandise is sold in five online shops to accommodate international shipping:
Darrington Press LLC[edit | edit source]
On October 23, 2020, Critical Role announced the formation of their own tabletop game publishing company, Darrington Press LLC, to develop and publish new tabletop games. It is headed by Ivan Van Norman. Matthew Mercer is acting as Creative Director, Darcy L. Ross is Publishing Marketing Manager, Brittany Walloch-Key is Director of Retail, and Spenser Starke, initially working as a producer at CR, now is a Game Designer. Their first four announced games, projected to release in 2021, are "Uk'otoa",[49] "Critical Role Adventures", "Syndicult", and "Guardians of Matrimonia".
Website[edit | edit source]
The official Critical Role website, [critrole.com], features information, links to episodes, podcasts, news, a schedule, and galleries of fan creations. The website also features links to the online store.
A gallery of art pieces created by the fans is posted every week, chosen by Liam O'Brien amongst pieces shared on Twitter with the hashtag #criticalrolefanart or submitted via the website. Similarly, a gallery of cosplay photography is posted every month. Fans can submit fan art and photos of cosplay to participate in the weekly art gallery and monthly cosplay gallery on critrole.com, and for Cosplay/Fan Art of the Week Contests for Talks Machina.
Sponsors[edit | edit source]
Critical Role has been supported by many sponsors over the years. Most will sponsor one, or a few episodes, but some have been consistently supporting the show for a large amount of time. See Sam's ads for a more complete list.
Backblaze
Backblaze, Inc. is a cloud storage and data backup company. One of Backblaze's representatives, Yev, is a fan of Critical Role, and he was invited to the set during the airing of "Umbrasyl" (1x55). He later appeared in Backblaze advertisements that aired during breaks.
D&D Beyond
D&D Beyond is the official digital toolset and game companion for Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition. The website hosts online versions of the official Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition books, including rulebooks, adventures, and other supplements; it also provides digital tools like a character builder and digital character sheet, monster and spell listings that can be sorted and filtered, an encounter builder, and an interactive overlay Twitch Extension. In addition to official D&D content, it also allows the use of original Critical Role content, and provides the ability to create and add custom homebrew content.
The main cast of Critical Role started using D&D Beyond's tools at the start of Campaign 2 to keep track of their character sheets. The Twitch extension allows viewers to see the player's health and status in real time.
NordVPN
NordVPN is a virtual private network (VPN) service provider. Sam's promotional segments for NordVPN evolved into an entire Nordverse.
Wyrmwood
Wyrmwood is a company selling handcrafted wooden tabletop gaming accessories and furniture. Since they began sponsoring Critical Role, they have provided accessories to the cast members, as well as crafting a custom gaming table and a DM screen for Matt. Wyrmwood products were also used as prizes for winners of Talks Machina's Fanart of the Week and Cosplay of the Week contests, until the COVID-19 pandemic made such giveaways impossible.
External links[edit | edit source]
- CritRole.com official website
- Critical Role on Twitch
- Geek & Sundry on Twitch
- Critical Role on YouTube
- Critical Role on Twitter
- Critical Role on Wikipedia
Community websites
- Critical Role on reddit
- CritRoleStats
- Omen Archive
- AO3 Critical Role fanfic
- Critical Role source
- CR Transcripts
- Critters RPG
- When is Critical Role? on When is Critical Role?
Articles
- How the voices behind your favorite games and shows are re-inventing live D&D | Polygon
- 2020 "turned everything on its head" for the D&D phenomenon
Gallery[edit | edit source]
-
The original cast of Critical Role
-
The cast of Critical Role 50th episode
-
The cast of Critical Role 2019
Trivia[edit | edit source]
- The LLC acronym in the company's name stands for Limited Liability Company. A limited liability company (LLC) is a business structure in the United States whereby the owners are not personally liable for the company's debts or liabilities. Limited liability companies are hybrid entities that combine the characteristics of a corporation with those of a partnership or sole proprietorship.[50]
- The Critical Role cast presented the Voice Acting and Writing categories at the 2021 Annie Awards. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the cast presented the categories directly from the Critical Role set.
- The YouTube viewership of “Critical Role” has increased by 125 percent since 2019, peaking at more than 188 million views on the channel in 2023.[51]
- A leak of Twitch data in 2021 listed “Critical Role” as the platform’s highest-paid channel, with more than $9.6 million paid out over about two years.[52]
- The cast said considering a possibility to branch out into video games industry, which is a part of a slate of interactive projects in their five-year plan.[51]
- "Flip This Bitch" have created a custom cabinet to store Matthew Mercer finished battle maps, fronted with a heavy velvet cloth.[53]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Critical Role Productions page on Linkedin
- ↑ Between the Sheets: Felicia Day at 53:10.
- ↑ Critical Role Productions, LLC page on opencorporates.com
- ↑ "Critical Role" trademark details on trademarks.justia.com
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Spangler, Todd (March 8, 2019). "Critical Role Team, After Record-Breaking Fan Crowdfunding Response, Vows to Make 'The Best Goddamn Cartoon Anyone Has Ever Seen'"Retrieved March 29, 2019.
- ↑ Critical Role Production Crew AMA with Dani, Max, and Vinnie! (August 2018) on Reddit.
- ↑ Critical Role Production Crew AMA with Dani, Max, and Vinnie! (August 2018) on Reddit.
- ↑ A map of Critical Role equipment and its workflow.
- ↑ Template:Handle=CriticalRole And Critical Role's website post.
- ↑ State of the Role: Critical Role Return Updates.
- ↑ Tales of Kenzera: ZAU World Premiere Trailer at The Game Awards 2023 at 0:10.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 "Critical Role". The Webby Awards. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
- ↑ "Watch ECCC: Critical Role cast talks about the animated series and reads a new scene". Syfy Wire. March 17, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- ↑ Jade Valkyrie (@JadeValkyrie) on Twitter: "new job alert 🗡️ i'm now a community manager for @CriticalRole you all are now contractually obligated to send me CR cosplays and other art" (April 9, 2024).
- ↑ Surena Marie (@SurenaXMarie) on Twitter: "If you watched today's episode of @RivalsWaterdeep, then you know it's official: Starting in two weeks I will be embarking on my newest adventure in LA as the Marketing & Community Manager of @CriticalRole" (February 9, 2020). (backup link)
- ↑ Surena Marie (@SurenaXMarie) on Twitter: "🌸 BIG NEWS! 🌸 I am excited to announce that I have been promoted to Product Marketing Manager at Critical Role. I am looking forward to further building relationships with our incredible partners and working closely with our phenomenal merch team! With that said..." (March 2, 2022). (backup link) Follow-up tweet: "I am ridiculously proud of the work I have done these last two years. From creating our weekly newsletter, Value Statement & Community Guidelines, numerous social media campaigns, and so much more. I am truly honored and excited for the chance to pass the torch. <3".
- ↑ Surena Marie (@SurenaXMarie) on Twitter: "Today is my last day at @CriticalRole! It's been a wild and wonderful ride over the last few years and I'm extremely proud of everything we've accomplished together. Here's to the friendships that I'll be taking with me as I embark on my next adventure!" (August 8, 2022). (backup link)
- ↑ "4-Sided Dive: Kiss and Tell" (4SDx16) at 1:05:49.
- ↑ The tweet announcing the hiatus and Critical Role's Value Statement & Community
- ↑ Critical Role (@CriticalRole) on Twitter: "Let's all wish @brianwfoster the best as he embarks on some wild new creative endeavors. We have nothing but mad love and support for our Cabbage Lord, and want to thank him for his creativity and contributions to CR over the years." (August 16, 2021). (backup link)
- ↑ Brian W. Foster (@BrianWFoster) on Twitter: "I've had the absolute time of my life making shows and playing games and traveling the world with my best friends. I'm grateful for their support and encouragement as I chase my own dreams. I'm excited to just be a Critter again." (August 16, 2021). (backup link)
- ↑ See Critical Role's announcement and an article on IGN.
- ↑ See Critical Role's announcement and a Polygon.com article.
- ↑ See Critical Role's announcement.
- ↑ Matthew Mercer (@matthewmercer) on Twitter: "The Animated Series is it's own "adaptation" with its own canon, though we include as much of the OG canon as we can. :) However, the actual campaign/stream still remains and is the original, core canon." (January 28, 2022). (backup link)
- ↑ See "Explorer's Guide to Wildemount" on Amazon
- ↑ Critical Role update on The World of Critical Role.
- ↑ Kickstarter update on 5 November 2019.
- ↑ "The Legend of Vox Machina crew squabble in exclusive clip as show gets new premiere date" (December 20, 2021) by Nick Romano at Entertainment Weekly
- ↑ See The Legend of Vox Machina on Rotten Tomatoes].
- ↑ Critical Role (@CriticalRole) on Twitter: "Curious beginnings indeed. Mighty Nein, from the brilliant minds behind Critical Role, is coming to @PrimeVideo." (January 25, 2023). (backup link)
- ↑ "Amazon Inks Critical Role to Overall TV and First-Look Film Deal, Greenlights ‘Mighty Nein’ Animated Series" (January 25, 2023) by Todd Spangler at Variety.
- ↑ See the series announcement on Critrole.com
- ↑ Critical Role Foundation (@CriticalRoleFDN) on Twitter: "FUNDRAISING UPDATE: As of this moment, we have completely smashed our initial $50k goal and have raised an unbelievable $98k in just 24 hours for our friends at @FNDI303 (First Nations)." (September 25, 2020). (backup link)
- ↑ A Critter's Guide To Critmas
- ↑ An Act Of #Hoomanism: Critical Role Gives Back To 826la
- ↑ #GNSLIVE Charity Drive – Keep Giving, Keep Playing
- ↑ The Season Of Giving – Where Your Extra Life Donations Go
- ↑ FUNDRAISER HYPE: JOIN OUR 8-BIT SALUTE WITH OSD!
- ↑ Operation Supply Drop
- ↑ Operation Supply Drop OSD FUNDRAISER: JOIN OUR 8-BIT SALUTE!
- ↑ Critical Role (@criticalrole) on Twitter: "EPIC THANKS to @tfrederick72 of the Dallas Cowboys for graciously offering to donate $500 per nat 1 (PCs only) rolled in November during our 8-Bit Salute with @weareosd, and a massive THANK YOU to everyone who's contributed so far! To donate now, visit: http://critrole.com/osd" (November 21, 2019). (backup link)
- ↑ See the fundraising page at Tiltify.
- ↑ 6th Annual Winners & Nominees. Streamy Awards. Tubefilter. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
- ↑ 8th Annual Nominees. Streamy Awards. Tubefilter. Retrieved September 25, 2018.
- ↑ Critical Role - The Shorty Awards. ShortyAwards.com. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
- ↑ Critical Role's Laura Bailey on Acting, Characters and the Future at 2:24.
- ↑ Christian Hoffer (November 25, 2019). Critical Role Limited Edition Miniatures Getting Re-Released on Black Friday.
- ↑ See IGN's article on the new company for details, in addition to the Critrole.com announcement.
- ↑ "What Does LLC, Inc., Co., Corp., and Ltd. Mean? Complete Incorporation Guide" on incnow (June 7, 2023).
- ↑ 51.0 51.1 Sarah Parvini (May 9, 2024). "As D&D booms, ‘Critical Role’ makes its own kind of nerd celebrity" by Washington Post.
- ↑ "A Twitch channel known for 'Dungeons and Dragons' earned over $9 million in the last 2 years, the highest payout listed in the data leak" by Business Insider.
- ↑ Matt Patches (November 18, 2020). "The challenge of Critical Role is staying on top of the fantastical details" by Polygon.
Art:
- ↑ The main cast of Critical Role from "Unfinished Business" (1x100). This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.
- ↑ Photograph of the main cast of Critical Role for Variety, by Robyn Von Swank (source). This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.
- ↑ Character designs for The Legend of Vox Machina, by Phil Bourassa (source). This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.
- ↑ Promo image for a Pablove Foundation fundraiser with Sam Riegel and Blair Hurter (source). This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.
- ↑ Promo image for an OSD fundraiser with Travis Willingham (source). This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.
- ↑ Screenshot of the Critical Role cast for Red Nose Day 2019 (source). This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.