Critical Role Cast Members Reflect on Record-Breaking Kickstarter Campaign

Critical Role, best described by Dungeon Master Matthew Mercer each week as a show where “a bunch of nerdy-ass voice actors sit around and play Dungeons & Dragons” has seen a seismic shift in this last month.

The company launched a Kickstarter to fund an animated special based on their Vox Machina characters featured in the first campaign of their livestreamed D&D game. Seeking $750,000 to fund the special, they amassed...over $10 million as of today, with just over 24 hours left.

In that time, the special has ballooned from an animated special to a 10-episode animated series. The Legend of Vox Machina fundraising campaign is, as of press time, the fifth most-successful Kickstarter campaign ever, and the CR fans, known as Critters, have continued to support the campaign and the show at every step of the way. And all of that support has left, as several Critical Role members told IGN, awestruck at the gratitude of their fans.

“We’re just awestruck. None of us anticipated this kind of reaction, we are so beyond grateful for this Critter community,” Critical Role cast member and Legend of Vox Machina executive producer Travis Willingham told IGN earlier this week.

“...Since the campaign launched, our whole lives have changed,” Sam Riegel, who will also executive produce the animated series and is a Critical Role cast member, told IGN. “So much has happened as a result of these amazing fans and people who are so passionate about Critical Role, the characters, the world that we and Matt [Mercer] created.”

“The shock and awe still continues,” Critical Role cast member and Creative Director Marisha Ray also told IGN, saying that the crew has “the drive to make this [series] incredible because of how incredible our community is.”

And that series will offer a 10-episode show animated by the studio behind Netflix’s Big Mouth, Titmouse, and written by Star Wars: Forces of Destiny’s Jennifer Muro. The first couple of episodes will be a never-before-seen story, while the bulk of the season will be an adaptation of the beloved Briarwoods arc from the Critical Role livestream show. Riegel noted that, while the original storyline can be whatever they want to make it, adapting Briarwoods comes with its own exciting challenges.

“We have to be faithful to the story we told and we played through,” Riegel said. “It's not like we can willy nilly change characters to make it an easier story to tell... but that arc and that storyline is so dramatic, it's going to make for some really good episodes.”

And in terms of remaining faithful to the source material of their own storytelling versus needing to adapt to 22-minute, scripted shows, Riegel explained the show is really going to focus on the story and the characters, rather than that this all originated from a tabletop RPG.

“What we've learned from the Kickstarter and this whole experience is, these characters and this world, the world of Exandria and the legendary heroes Vox Machina are strong enough to just stand on their own,” Riegel said. “...I don't know if we need to muddy the waters by pointing to a particular game or a dice roll or anything like that.

“We want to invite fans in to watch this show who have never seen it before, who have never played tabletop games in their life.”

While Critical Role is currently streaming its second campaign, focusing on the characters who comprise The Mighty Nein, the animated series gives the cast, which includes Mercer, Riegel, Willingham, and Ray, as well as Ashley Johnson, Laura Bailey, Liam O’Brien, and Tailesin Jaffe, a chance to revisit beloved characters. And its not just fans who hold Vox Machina in high regard.

“We have a special connection to these characters because they're the ones that started it all for us,” Riegel said. “Getting to play these [characters again], it's like going home.”

“Laura and I will talk to each other in our Vox Machina voices probably more often than we do in our regular voices, which is very confusing for our child,” Willingham joked.

The Critical Role cast will be able to take that love and depth of knowledge of this world and put it back into the animated series. Ray noted that “it's an interesting thought experiment to revert these characters back before they've had their full story arcs and their growth” for the animated series, given that Critical Role spent such a long time and progressed the group so much further into their campaign.

But that will give them all the chance to revisit beloved moments — Ray’s excited to explore a more “fresh-faced” Keyleth, her Vox Machina character, while Willingham is excited to see Riegel’s Scanlan transform into a triceratops. And Riegel said he’s excited for the “eye candy” that moments like a showdown with an army of undead will deliver on the animated show. The series will also offer the crew the ability to explore moments they may not have during the game, like the point-of-view of villains or backstory previously just touched on in exposition.

Beyond its storytelling opportunities, though, the animated series and this Kickstarter have crystalized the relationship the Critical Role team has with its fans.

“Being independent really gives us that opportunity to have that symbiotic relationship because no one knows our community and the Critters better than we do. So to be able to follow through with what we know we want to do and what we think the audience will enjoy...it's such a joy,” Ray said.

Willingham and Riegel, echoing that sentiment of gratitude for what the fans have enabled, are also excited for the potential of what this Kickstarter means beyond the 10 episodes they plan to produce right now.

“This Kickstarter has not just shown us their level of enthusiasm but it's also shown the world their level of enthusiasm. The mainstream entertainment industry has woken up to this,” Riegel said. “This is mainstream and here to stay.”

Critical Role's Legend of Vox Machina Kickstarter campaign will end on Thursday, April 18 at 11:59 p.m. PT. New episodes of Critical Role air every Thursday on twitch.tv/criticalrole.

Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's News Editor, PlayStation lead, Beyond! host, and a Critter, thanks to his girlfriend introducing him to the show. Talk to him about Critical Role and more on Twitter @jmdornbush.