List of Critical Role episodes
Critical Role episodes split by campaign and then by arc, as well as one-shot episodes.
Series overview
As of November 2020, the cast of Critical Role are playing through their second Dungeons & Dragons campaign:
| Season | Party | Episodes | Originally aired | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | Network | |||||
| 1 | Vox Machina | 115 | March 12, 2015 | October 12, 2017 | Twitch, YouTube, Alpha (from 2016) | ||
| 2 | The Mighty Nein | 122 | January 11, 2018 | TBA | Twitch, YouTube, Alpha (until 2019) | ||
| One-shots | various | 34 | February 25, 2016 | March 16, 2020 | Twitch, YouTube, Alpha (until 2019)[1] | ||
Campaigns
Campaign one (2015–2017)
The Vox Machina campaign originated as the home game of the cast, played from 2012 to 2017; the show begins in media res with the characters regrouping in the city of Emon after approximately 6 months apart and the streamed campaign picks up where the cast's original home game left off. While the adventures prior to the Kraghammer arc (2015) were not formally recorded, some shorter recordings have been released by the cast. This includes audio from the first session of the campaign, which was released as a segment in the third episode of the podcast All Work No Play.[2] Additionally, Liam O'Brien released a recording of the magic carpet being discovered by the party.[3] Episode 36, titled Winter's Crest in Whitestone, features a summary of the pre-series history (starting 1 hour 35 minutes into the episode), with artwork created by Wendy Sullivan Green and voice-overs provided by the cast.[4] The comic book, Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins, is an adaptation of the group's game before the show.[5] The upcoming animated series, The Legend of Vox Machina, will also include a canonic story that takes place within the pre-stream time frame.[6][7]
Campaign one originally broadcast live on the Geek & Sundry Twitch and YouTube channels between March 12, 2015, and October 12, 2017, for a total of 115 episodes.[8][9] Starting in November 2016, it was also broadcast live on the Alpha streaming service from Legendary Digital Networks. The show on Alpha had a unique overlay that included "real-time character sheets, damage and heal animations, and visualizations".[10] Campaign one's closed captions were transcribed by a fan group who submitted them to Geek & Sundry. Geek & Sundry then added these to the YouTube copies of episodes.[11] The VODs have since been uploaded to Critical Role's own YouTube channel.[12]:0:41
Campaign one is spilt into the following story arcs:
| # | Arc title | Episodes | Originally aired | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | ||||||||
| 1 | Kraghammer | 1-16 | March 12, 2015 | July 2, 2015 | |||||
| 2 | Vasselheim | 17-23 | July 23, 2015 | September 10, 2015 | |||||
| 3 | Briarwood | 24-38 | September 17, 2015 | January 14, 2016 | |||||
| 4 | Chroma Conclave | 39-83 | January 21, 2016 | January 26, 2017 | |||||
| 5 | Taryon Darrington | 84-99 | February 2, 2017 | June 1, 2017 | |||||
| 6 | Cult of Vecna | 100-115 | June 8, 2017 | October 12, 2017 | |||||
Campaign two (2018–current)
The second campaign began on January 11, 2018, and follows the adventuring party known as The Mighty Nein. The story is set on the continent of Wildemount, which was briefly visited during the Vox Machina campaign. The Mighty Nein campaign is set about 20 years after Vox Machina's final battle against Vecna;[13][14] it takes place at a time where tensions are very high between the Dwendalian Empire and the Kryn Dynasty, two of Wildemount's major powers.[15]
Campaign two is spilt into the following story arcs:
| # | Arc title | Episodes | Originally aired | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | ||||||||
| 1 | Trostenwald to Alfield | 1-7 | January 11, 2018 | February 22, 2018 | |||||
| 2 | Zadash | 8-18 | March 1, 2018 | May 10, 2018 | |||||
| 3 | Northward | 19-31 | May 17, 2018 | August 16, 2018 | |||||
| 4 | False Serpent | 32-47 | August 23, 2018 | January 10, 2019 | |||||
| 5 | Xhorhas | 48-69 | January 17, 2019 | June 27, 2019 | |||||
| 6 | Angel of Irons | 70-86 | July 11, 2019 | November 21, 2019 | |||||
| 7 | Peace | 87-99 | December 5, 2019 | March 12, 2020 | |||||
| 8 | Rumblecusp | 100-108 | July 2, 2020 | September 3, 2020 | |||||
| 9 | Eiselcross | 109-122 | September 10, 2020 | TBA | |||||
One-shots
Some of the Critical Role one-shots are canonical parts of campaign storylines, covering events that occur outside the time frame of the respective campaign, but still feature some of the campaign's main characters. Other one-shots only have a tangential relationship to the campaigns, as they are set in the world of Exandria, but feature a different cast of characters, often in smaller scale adventures that may or may not be canon. There are also one-shots that have no connection with the campaigns or the world of Exandria at all.[16][17][18]
Canon
| Title | Dungeon master | Cast players | Guest players | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Critical Role Q&A and Battle Royale!" | Matthew Mercer | Marisha Ray, Travis Willingham | Will Friedle, Wendy Sullivan Green, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn | February 25, 2016 | |
| In the first half, the cast and guests answer questions sent in by the audience. In the second half, they use their Vox Machina characters in a Battle Royale-style player versus player game. | |||||
| "Critical Role Q&A and Battle Royale: Take II" | Matthew Mercer | Taliesin Jaffe, Ashley Johnson, Liam O'Brien, Marisha Ray | - | May 26, 2016 | |
| In the first half, the cast answer questions sent in by the audience. In the second half, they use their Vox Machina characters in a Battle Royale-style player versus player game. | |||||
| "Grog's One-shot" | Travis Willingham | Laura Bailey, Taliesin Jaffe, Liam O'Brien, Sam Riegel | - | November 2, 2017 | |
| Grog runs some of the members of Vox Machina through a game of "Bunions and Flagons" (an in-world version of Dungeons & Dragons). | |||||
| "Marisha's Honey Heist" | Marisha Ray | Sam Riegel, Matthew Mercer, Taliesin Jaffe, Liam O'Brien | Brian W. Foster | November 9, 2017 | |
| Titled on Geek and Sundry as Trinket's Honey Heist. Utilizes the one-page RPG system called Honey Heist. | |||||
| "Epic Level Battle Royale One-shot" | Matthew Mercer | Taliesin Jaffe, Liam O'Brien, Marisha Ray, Sam Riegel, Travis Willingham | - | December 7, 2017 | |
| The cast use their Vox Machina characters at level 20 in a Battle Royale-style player versus player game. | |||||
| "Honey Heist 2: Electric Beargaloo" | Marisha Ray | Sam Riegel, Matthew Mercer, Taliesin Jaffe, Liam O'Brien | Brian W. Foster | August 10, 2018 | |
| Utilizes the one-page RPG system called Honey Heist. | |||||
| "Honey Heist 3: Tova's Honeys" | Marisha Ray | Laura Bailey | Krystina Arielle, Dani Carr, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Noelle Stevenson, Brittany Walloch-Key | November 23, 2018 | |
| Utilizes the one-page RPG system called Honey Heist. | |||||
| "The Search for Grog" | Matthew Mercer | All main cast present | - | February 22, 2019 | |
|
Set during the final episode of the series, in this canon one-shot, Vox Machina head to Pandemonium to recover Grog's soul after his use of the Deck of Many Things. This episode was recorded live on January 19, 2019 at The Theatre at the Ace Hotel and premiered on Twitch on February 22, 2019 before being released via YouTube and Twitch VOD the following day.[19][20] | |||||
| "The Search for Bob" | Matthew Mercer | All main cast present | - | June 23, 2019 | |
| After reuniting Grog's soul with his body, Vox Machina must now find Bob to recover the items he took; the team needs these items to be able to leave Pandemonium. | |||||
| "Dalen's Closet" | Matthew Mercer | All main cast present | – | August 29, 2019 | |
| A year after the defeat of Vecna, the surviving members of Vox Machina reunite with the intent of Vex and Percy renewing their wedding vows. | |||||
| "The Adventures of the Darrington Brigade" | Matthew Mercer | All main cast present | - | November 29, 2019 | |
|
In the year 826 P.D, set roughly a decade after Campaign one and a decade before Campaign two, Taryon Darrington recruits a new batch of adventurers for his non-profit Darrington Brigade to join him on a new adventure in Wildemount. This episode was recorded live on November 23, 2019 at the Bass Concert Hall and premiered on Twitch on November 29, 2019, with the YouTube VOD being made available on December 1, 2019.[21] | |||||
Non-canon
| Title | Game master | Cast players | Guest players | Original air date | RPG system | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Critical Role at GameSpot livestream" | Matthew Mercer | Travis Willingham, Laura Bailey, Marisha Ray | Alexa Ray Corriea, Danny O'Dwyer | March 22, 2016 | Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition (D&D) | |
| Although not canon, this game features an early version of Jester – Laura Bailey's character for Campaign two.[22] | ||||||
| "To The Poop! - The Goblins" | Matthew Mercer | Taliesin Jaffe, Marisha Ray | Ashly Burch, Phil LaMarr, Ivan Van Norman | April 18, 2016 | Pathfinder | |
| A one-shot using the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game system. | ||||||
| "Deadlands One-Shot for MDA Charity!" | Matthew Mercer | Marisha Ray, Liam O'Brien, Laura Bailey, Travis Willingham | - | June 25, 2016 | Deadlands Reloaded | |
| A charity one-shot for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.[23] | ||||||
| "Critical Role EXTRA – Liam's Quest!" | Liam O'Brien | Laura Bailey, Taliesin Jaffe, Sam Riegel, Travis Willingham | - | June 30, 2016 | D&D | |
| The cast, playing as themselves, start in a mundane voice acting session when extraordinary events leave them struggling to survive in a Lovecraftian horror adventure based on popular movies and video games. | ||||||
| "The Return of Liam" | Liam O'Brien | Travis Willingham, Sam Riegel, Laura Bailey | Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Ashly Burch | September 1, 2016 | D&D | |
| Also titled as: "The Screw Job". | ||||||
| "Liam's Quest: Full Circle" | Liam O'Brien | All main cast present | - | April 20, 2017 | D&D | |
| Sequel to "Critical Role EXTRA – Liam's Quest!" | ||||||
| "Bar Room Blitz" | Sam Riegel | Liam O'Brien | Eric Bauza, Ashly Burch, Brian Wayne Foster, Mary Elizbeth McGylnn | August 31, 2017 | D&D | |
| A group of misfits find themselves swept up in a bar room brawl in a tavern on the outskirts of Jorenn Village near the Umbra Hills. | ||||||
| "Shadow of War Part 1" | Matthew Mercer | Laura Bailey, Sam Riegel, Travis Willingham | Darin De Paul | October 3, 2017 | D&D | |
| First part of a sponsored one-shot to promote Middle-earth: Shadow of War. | ||||||
| "Shadow of War Part 2" | Matthew Mercer | Laura Bailey, Sam Riegel, Travis Willingham | Darin De Paul | October 9, 2017 | D&D | |
| Second part of a sponsored one-shot to promote Middle-earth: Shadow of War. | ||||||
| "Thursday by Night Part 1" | Taliesin Jaffe | Laura Bailey, Matthew Mercer, Liam O'Brien, Marisha Ray, Sam Riegel, Travis Willingham | - | October 19, 2017 | Vampire: The Masquerade | |
| Taliesin acts as a Game Master for the first time, leading the cast (playing as themselves) through a Vampire: The Masquerade game set in the Geek & Sundry offices. | ||||||
| "Thursday by Night Part 2" | Taliesin Jaffe | Laura Bailey, Liam O'Brien, Sam Riegel, Travis Willingham | - | October 26, 2017 | Vampire: The Masquerade | |
| The Vampire: The Masquerade campaign concludes as the surviving cast members find their way through the outside world. | ||||||
| "Sam's One-shot" | Sam Riegel | - | H. Michael Croner, Yuri Lowenthal, Molly Ostertag, Noelle Stevenson, Amy Vorpahl, Stefanie Woodburn | November 16, 2017 | D&D | |
| Titled on Geek & Sundry as Once Upon a Fairytale Cruise | ||||||
| "Hearthstone One-shot" | Matthew Mercer | Liam O'Brien, Travis Willingham, Laura Bailey, Taliesin Jaffe | Jennifer Hale | November 30, 2017 | D&D | |
|
Sponsored one-shot for the Hearthstone game. Note: Titled on Geek & Sundry as Kobolds, Catacombs and Dragons (Oh My!) | ||||||
| "Liam's One-shot: The Song of the Lorelei" | Liam O'Brien | Laura Bailey, Sam Riegel, Travis Willingham | Erica Luttrell, TJ Storm | August 31, 2018 | D&D | |
| A werewolf adventure in Wildemount. | ||||||
| "Sam Riegel's Crash Pandas One-shot" | Sam Riegel | Matthew Mercer, Marisha Ray, Liam O'Brien, Laura Bailey, Travis Willingham | Blair Herter | September 21, 2018 | D&D | |
| Also titled: Crash Panda's Too Trashed Too Curious | ||||||
| "Critical Role and the Club of Misfits" | Laura Bailey | Travis Willingham, Taliesin Jaffe, Liam O'Brien, Sam Riegel | Brian W. Foster | October 25, 2018 | D&D | |
| At the magical school of Shmogwarts, five students escape detention. | ||||||
| "The Night Before Critmas" | Liam O'Brien | Taliesin Jaffe, Ashley Johnson, Matthew Mercer, Marisha Ray, Sam Riegel, Travis Willingham | Julie Nathanson | December 21, 2018 | D&D | |
| A one-shot following elves in Santa's Village in the North Pole. | ||||||
| "Stephen Colbert's D&D Adventure" | Matthew Mercer | - | Stephen Colbert | May 23, 2019 | D&D | |
| A Red Nose Day one-shot where Mercer runs a special one-on-one D&D adventure for Stephen Colbert. Colbert plays Capo, a half-elven bard, who sets out to solve mystery on the Menagerie Coast in Wildemount. | ||||||
| "Tails of Equestria" | Mark Hulmes | Ashley Johnson, Liam O'Brien | Markeia McCarty, Julie Nathanson, Roger Craig Smith | May 31, 2019 | My Little Pony:Tails of Equestria | |
| Mark Hulmes, Dungeon Master of the web series High Rollers, acts as Game Master for a special My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria adventure. | ||||||
| "Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Crystal Palace" | Taliesin Jaffe | Marisha Ray, Travis Willingham, and Liam O'Brien | Erika Ishii, Ashly Burch, and Phil LaMarr | July 29, 2019 | Call of Cthulhu | |
| Promotional one-shot for Call of Cthulhu. | ||||||
| "Feast of Legends" | Sam Riegle | Marisha Ray, Matthew Mercer, and Liam O'Brien | Ify Nwadiwe | October 3, 2019 | Feast of Legends | |
|
Promotional one-shot for Wendy's RPG system Feast of Legends. Note: This episode was pulled after airing.[24][25] | ||||||
| "Cinderbrush: A Monsterhearts Story" | Matthew Mercer | Ashley Johnson, Taliesin Jaffe | Erika Ishii, Ally Beardsley | February 14, 2020 | Monsterhearts | |
| Four teenagers take on the horrors of high school – hormones, social cliques, teen angst and supernatural monsters. | ||||||
| "Doom Eternal One-Shot" | Matthew Mercer | Sam Riegel, Laura Bailey, Taliesin Jaffe | Anjali Bhimani, Jasmine Bhullar | March 16, 2020 | D&D | |
| Game Master Matthew Mercer leads a horde of demons on an adventure based on the first-person shooter DOOM Eternal. | ||||||
References
- https://geekandsundry.com/critical-role-one-shot-trinkets-honey-heist/
- https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/awnp-episode-3-legacy/id583666188?i=1000129813548
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-M5NH9PGi4
- Winter's Crest in Whitestone : Critical Role RPG Show Episode 36 - The Story of Vox Machina (Youtube video). Geek & Sundry. December 18, 2015. Event occurs at 1:36:21. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
- Hoffer, Christian (July 10, 2019). "Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins II #1 Review: Capturing the Spirit of the Beloved D&D Web Series". Comicbook.com. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
- Francisco, Eric (October 18, 2020). "Critical Role: 2020 "turned everything on its head" for the D&D phenomenon". Inverse. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
- "Critical Role: The Legend of Vox Machina Animated Special". Kickstarter. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
... the first few episodes of our animation will focus on a brand new Vox Machina adventure, which takes place before our show began streaming live on Twitch.
- Ehrbar, Ned (February 22, 2017). ""Critical Role" takes Dungeons and Dragons out of the basement and online". CBS News. Archived from the original on August 5, 2017. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
- Teitman, Ryan (2016-02-22). "The Dungeons & Dragons Web Series Critical Role Is Flat-Out Great TV". Slate Magazine. Archived from the original on May 14, 2019. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
- Spangler, Todd (2016-09-28). "Legendary Digital Sets 'Alpha' Subscription VOD Launch Plans, With Nerdist and Geek & Sundry Programming Slate". Variety. Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
- "Critical Role Transcript Is the Champion of Closed Captioning". Geek and Sundry. 2017-09-25. Retrieved 2020-02-23.
- "End of 2019 Fireside Chat". YouTube. Critical Role. December 20, 2019.
- DeVille, Chris (November 16, 2017). "The rise of D&D liveplay is changing how fans approach roleplaying". The Verge. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
- Knox, Kelly (December 18, 2017). "Critical Role: One Chapter Closes, And Another Begins". Geek & Sundry. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
- Grebey, James (2020-05-01). "Dungeons & Dragons' latest setting, Wildemount, helps solve the problem of 'evil' races". SYFY WIRE. Retrieved 2020-05-04.
- Hoffer, Christian (December 11, 2018). "Vox Machina to Return in 'Critical Role' Live Show". ComicBook.com. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
- Kaplan, Avery (2019-10-03). "Here's how to watch the CRITICAL ROLE demo of the Wendy's tabletop RPG, FEAST OF LEGENDS". The Beat. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
- Turney, Alexandria (2020-09-23). "Critical Role's Harry Potter D&D One-Shot Is Wand-erful". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
- "[LIVE SHOW] Vox Machina: The Search for Grog The Theatre at the Ace Hotel [LOS ANGELES]". Critical Role. Archived from the original on 14 January 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
- Romero, Rachel (January 16, 2019). "The Search for Grog VOD Update". Critical Role. Archived from the original on May 5, 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
- "[LIVE SHOW] The Adventures of the Darrington Brigade". Critical Role. August 5, 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
- Blye, Ericka (21 December 2019). "Don't Call Me Ford: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Critical Role Characters". The Gamer. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
- "Deadlands One-shot With Members of Critical Role". Geek & Sundry. June 29, 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
- Williamson, Evan (October 14, 2019). "Wendy's expands its focus beyond food". Western Courier. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
the episode has since been taken down
- Zambrano, J. R. (2019-10-09). "RPG: Critical Role Faces Backlash After Wendy's RPG One Shot". Bell of Lost Souls. Retrieved 2020-09-13.
External links
- Critical Role at Twitch
- Critical Role at YouTube
- Critical Role podcast at Critrole.com