Among them,Critical Rolehas been the most prominent.
Fast forward to the present, andCritical Rolehas blossomed into so much more than its cast could have expected.
But what comes next remains a mystery to fans and the creators alike.
The cast of ‘Critical Role.‘Photo by Heirlume Photography
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Its safe to say that there are a lot of spinning plates in the air.
Matthew Mercer:I think for a lot of us this continues to be beyond our expectations.
We work so hard to make whats in front of us the most honest and best it can be.
And each time we get past that milestone, more opportunities open.
Its this perpetual momentum of looking up from our work and going, Oh, wait, whats happening?
And then following those threads.
To see the fruits of this labor pay off and continue to pay off, its extremely rewarding.
Were able to portray them.
Our DNA is all over everything that we do.
So in that way, its extremely special.
But it makes us hungry for more of our own stuff.
Marisha Ray:Id say were very protective with our characters and our IP.
Fans are starting to see some crossing of the streams between the campaigns.
What are the challenges of that, as players and creatives?
And Matt is so good at flipping from one character to another, to another, to another.
Hes got practice, but we are dumb at it [laughs].
Were so used to playing one character for three years.
Were getting to be those characters every week.
So, it wasnt like jumping in from ground zero at least with these last episodes.
What story beats do you decide to keep or add?
What do those conversations look like?
Mercer: I mean, its a protracted conversation.
Its a big challenge, but its also a really fun puzzle to piece together.
Its a wonderful puzzle to solve together.
Willingham:Ours is a very unique show in that we have a billion main characters.
Its a challenge for animation studios.
How would scenes work?
Do we need to reduce the amount of faces that are there?
Just so that the animation process is simpler.
Weve seen in seasons one and two was a more honest adaptation of the campaign.
Weve told that story.
And we want to replicate those if we can.
We want to unsettle them.
We want to breach their expectations and make them guess and become new fans as well.
I wish I could have recorded my reaction to Xerxes inThe Legend of Vox Machinabecause my brain broke.
[Laughs]
Willingham:Thats what we wanted.
As Campaign 3 draws to a close, theres a lot of buzz about what potentially comes next.
What can you tease about the next couple of years?
Ray:We have so many plans.
In terms of the channel and gameplay, were still going to be playing games together.
Were looking forward to maybe playing other games.
Of course, we haveDaggerheartthat Darrington Press has been working so hard on.
Were excited to show that off in meaningful ways and also working with other creatives and other storytellers.
Youve developedCandela Obscura,Daggerheart, and new ways of playing tabletop.
For a lot of people,Critical Roleis the blueprint.
Does that responsibility ever weigh on you?
Our first thought was, Oh, putting the thing you love on the internet is kind of scary.
Weve always approached this by inviting other people to play.
The heart of the goal is still there.
Liam OBrien:I love it.
And weve heard countless stories of friend groups, second families, like we are to each other.
That is such a huge gift and just makes me happy.
Like it was such a great effect of all this.
And I dont know why it happened, but it did.
Lets talk about the balance between innovation and preservation.
Mercer: Thats a good question.
Its trying to straddle two different diverging paths.
Were all just riffing on each other.
Riegel: The first audience for anythingCritical Rolemakes is the eight of us.
And if it doesnt, at least we got eight laughs out of it.
We have features that are in development, feature films.
We have lots of great, cool, amazing ideas.
Odds are in our favor.
If we have a 1 percent success rate, we have way more than a hundred ideas.
So something is bound to stick.
As voice actors,video gamesare your bread and butter.
So, is there talk amongst you of creating your own?
The Critters would like to know.
Bailey:Weve been talking about creating a video game since we first started playing together.
Willingham:I would say its an active pursuit on our end.
The last few years we have been having necessary conversations to figure out how to do that smartly.
Those are all things that weve been actively pursuing.
But its something weve definitely had our minds on.
You know, theres a lot of upheaval in the interactive space right now.
And weve seen studios sort of bear and weather those strains.
Its trying to become smarter about it and find out how we might fit into that larger ecosystem.
How have you changed as people and creatives?
What have you learned about yourselves and each other in this journey?
When we made him our CEO, it was because he knew how to incorporate our business.
And he took that responsibility, and hes just grown and grown and grown so much.
I want to cry right now.
Everybodys grown so much as a person that its just been so beautiful to see.
Ashley Johnson:Its wild to me.
Now Im going to get emotional too.
Youre all making me very emotional.
Put it in the article.
Let me ruin the moment [laughs].
But every step of this journey never gets old.
And thinking about the future with what were going to be able to do and what our plans are.
What advice would you give yourself from 10 years ago with the knowledge that you have today?
Riegel:There was a moment.
And I think weve all become, well,Ivebecome a better person as a result [laughs].
We pulled a reverse Ellen.
Weve become nicer, and kinder.
Taliesin Jaffe:Never forget the rough times.
It was a great run.
How excited should the community be about what you all have cooking for the 10th anniversary?
Jaffe:Its whatever delights us.
Thats whats coming up.
Its whatever delights eight people.
Ray:Our 2025 is packed.
And in time shepherd to the next generation of storytellers.
And we can be the distant creative grandparents to them and be proud from the shadows.
And I plan to be doing this till I am withered and gray.
New episodes ofCritical Rolestream live on TwitchThursdays at 10 p.m. EST.
