Critical Role

For other uses, see Critical Role (disambiguation).

Critical Role
The Critical Role logo in a dark blue-gray color. Horizontal and central is the text "Critical Role"; vertical and central is the silhouette of a sword, which bisects the text element, replacinh the letter 'T' in the word 'critical', and passing through the letter 'O' of 'role'. Surrounding the text is the outline of a twenty sided die, on a hand-drawn antique map background.
Genre
Based onDungeons & Dragons 5th edition
Starring
Theme music composer
Opening theme
  • "Critical Role Theme Song" (C1)
  • "Critical Role Too" (C2, episodes 1–43)
  • "Your Turn to Roll" (C2, episodes 44–141)
  • "It's Thursday Night" (C3)
Ending theme
  • "Twin Elms" (C1)
  • "Welcome to Wildemount" (C2)
  • "Welcome to Marquet" (C3)
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes
(list of episodes)
Production
Production locationsLos Angeles, California
Running timeApproximately 180–300 minutes per episode[1]
Production companies
Original release
Network
ReleaseMarch 12, 2015 (2015-03-12) –
present
Related
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Critical Role is an American web series in which a group of professional voice actors play Dungeons & Dragons. The show started streaming partway through the cast's first campaign in March 2015. Campaign one ended in October 2017 after 115 episodes, and campaign two started in January 2018 and ended in June 2021 after 141 episodes. A number of one-shots were aired in the hiatus between the two campaigns. After campaign two was completed, the spin-off limited series Exandria Unlimited aired from June 2021 to August 2021. The third campaign premiered on October 21, 2021.

The series is broadcast on Thursdays at 19:00 PT on the Critical Role Twitch and YouTube channels and the Beacon streaming service, with the video on demand (VOD) being available to Beacon, YouTube, and Twitch subscribers immediately after the broadcast on their respective platforms. The VODs are made available for the public on Critical Role's website and uploaded to their YouTube channel on the Monday after the live stream. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the show had broadcast live, but has been pre-recorded since its return for episode 100 of campaign two.

The cast own the intellectual property from the show, and the show also lends its name to the studio owned by the cast—Critical Role Productions. The studio has produced Critical Role since 2018. A number of licensed works based on the show have been released, such as several comic books and two official campaign setting guides. The Legend of Vox Machina, the animated series based on the first campaign of Critical Role, premiered January 28, 2022 on Amazon Prime Video. Mighty Nein, an upcoming animated series based on the second campaign, was announced in January 2023.

  1. ^ "Critical Role to Make Campaign 3 Announcement Next Week". ComicBook. September 23, 2021. Archived from the original on September 23, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
  2. ^ Romero, Rachel (June 18, 2018). "An Important Announcement Regarding Critical Role". Critical Role. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  3. ^ 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'". Variety. Archived from the original on March 29, 2019. Retrieved March 29, 2019.