Critical Role gets animated in the entertaining, Kickstarter-record-setting The Legend Of Vox Machina
The hit Dungeons & Dragons web series is magically streamlined into a Prime Video series
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In 2015, voice actor Matthew Mercer livestreamed a Dungeons & Dragons campaign he and his eight friends—each a professional voice actors in their own right—were running from his home. Little did anyone know that in a few short years, the streamed event would grow into a huge entertainment and business venture—dubbed Critical Role—with fans across the globe tuning in every week to watch these well-known voices from games, anime, cartoons, and television roll dice, cast spells, calculate hit points, and otherwise shoot the shit with each other across hundreds of episodes. Critical Role fan art and animations exploded across social media, along with merchandise, cosplays, comic books and two official D&D campaign settings guides.
It was inevitable that it would lead to a full-fledged animated series. After all, much of the prep work is already done, with the setting, story, and characters already in place. (This Polygon article provides a brief but clear history.) A Kickstarter for a proposed 22-minute special netted $1 million within a hour of its debut; the campaign eventually expanded to encompass an entire season of The Legend Of Vox Machina, shattering the crowdfunding records previously set by Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Veronica Mars.
But before the series’ Prime Video premiere, a big question remained: How could The Legend Of Vox Machina possibly streamline its source material into a relatively scant 10 episodes, in a way that both eases folks not familiar with Critical Role into this world, and manages fans’ lofty expectations for what the world of Tal’Dorei looks like? The answer: Mainly by keeping things simple and straightforward, but very carefully escalating the stakes and opening up the cast via slightly rushed but expert pacing. The show absolutely works.
It begins with our heroes in the kind of over-the-top bar fight that audiences have seen before—tinged with boredom and scrappiness. But that simplicity is in this show’s favor: the voice cast is already so familiar with the rhythms and vibes of the characters that they immediately jump out as fully fledged and well-drawn, allowing the plot, characters, action, and comedy to play out comfortably and organically. There’s no wasted time with setup, exposition, table-setting, etc.; there’s no need to worry about being bogged down by excessive lore or detailed backstory. (After all, that’s what the first 115 episodes of the webseries are for.)
Vox Machina follows the characters of Mercer and friends’ first D&D campaign: Vex’ahlia “Vex” Vessar (Laura Bailey) and Vax’ildan “Vax” Vessar (Liam O’Brien) are sibling half-elves, snarky but level-headed, with Vex being the closest thing the group has to a “leader.” Grog Strongjaw (Travis Willingham) is your typical heavy, big but idiotic—the Drax of the group. Marisha Ray voices Keyleth, another half-elf with reluctant, nervous tendencies and unfamiliarity with social cues, and Taliesin Jaffe is Percival “Percy” Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III (a jokey name that doesn’t play into the show thankfully), an oft-silent human with a dark past. Finally, there’s Pike Trickfoot (Ashley Johnson), a gnome cleric struggling with her faith and magic, and Scanlan Shorthalt (Sam Riegel), a perpetually horny gnome bard.
There’s no explanation how these seven managed to meet, let alone decide to collectively half-ass their way through a bunch of quests for money. But there is an implied sense that these lost and pathetic souls just found and stuck with each other due to a lack of other options. The camaraderie and genuine connection between the characters is palpable—and that’s before a devastating event in the end of the first episode binds them together further. Vox Machina makes it a point to show these characters mean well, even when they’re drunkenly ruining a banquet or pondering betrayal and desertion. A character like Scanlan—who feels specifically built to be rambunctiously, sexually crude for comedic, ridiculous moments—is kept under control when moments grow serious.
That control is what keeps Vox Machina intriguing and moving at a brisk, efficient pace. The show doesn’t bog itself down with extensive lore, only revealing the details of its world when it needs to and allowing audiences to pick up on everything else. The action is well-animated, and while this is indeed an adult show—with plenty of curse words, sexual innuendo, and brutal violence—nothing feels overwhelmingly crass or unnecessarily gratuitous.
When things do escalate, it matters. In particular, the fourth episode is a sharp showcase of nuanced character beats, nerve-racking tension, and horrifyingly, putrid visuals. It’s good stuff, and perhaps most importantly, Vox Machina knows to let its moments–dramatic, comedic, or action-oriented–breathe for themselves instead of interrupting them with forced jokes or funky detours (looking at you, The Dragon Prince).
If there’s a criticism to be made, it comes down to how the show seems to be developing romantic pairings. Vox Machina is wonderfully comfortable with playing around with non-heterosexual and gender-fluid vibes, but the early love-interest pairings are both heterosexual and all of the same species. A show with such a varied cast should be able to work in more diverse relationships.
Don’t expect Game Of Throne levels of multi-continental political intrigue. The Legend Of Vox Machina has more of an Avatar: The Last Airbender vibe–narratively but efficiently pared down, complete with those background touches that made Aang’s world so unique and rich. (Two guards are caught hugging Vex’s cuddly but viscous warrior bear, Trinket; in another episode, two other guards exchange a silent moment that suggest some kind of deeper relationship between them.) The Last Airbender is a fantastic show, but there’s something satisfying about watching a more mature analogue that doesn’t go to extremes to prove its maturity. The tight friendship of the Vox Machina group, combined with sharp animation, funny jokes, rich action, and raw, honest drama, will win over new fans and satisfy old ones. The Legend Of Vox Machina is a critical hit.
66 Comments
I used to make fun of vidya streaming (Twitch and such). Now I watch it weekly. So I should recognize that some things can either grow on me, or be enjoyable to some but not myself.
However – as someone who’s done TTRPGs for most of their life (started when I was 10-11) – I cannot for the life of me fathom enjoying Critical Role. I know they’re accomplished voice actors, they’re funny, but just hearing/seeing people play an RPG…no thanks. I’d rather just play an RPG.
That being said, I’ll watch THIS because it’s an actual story and such. Plus the animation looks okay!
I think I’m right there with you. I’ve tried to watch “let’s watch people play games” videos a few times, and each time I just get bored almost immediately, even if it’s a bunch of people I really like. There’s got to be some meat to it aside from people more or less just hanging out with each other.
I couldn’t get into Critical Role mainly because of the video format, rather than just existing as an audio medium. I generally listen to D&D podcasts (Dungeons & Daddies, Not Another D&D Podcast, The Adventure Zone) on my commute to/from work. I’ve been told I’d still pick up 90% of it by just listening, but I just haven’t bothered trying. I do intend to watch this, though.
I love actual play podcasts, but Critical Role having four hours of it, three times a month, is a TON to listen to, especially when a lot of it is wildly decompressed. (If you like D&D sessions all about shopping, wait until you hear the player characters have a guided meditation in season two and then hire staff for their tower!)
It’s extremely well done, but it is a serious commitment. This seems like a much easier way to consume the content.
My issue with the TTRPG Podcasts is that it’s a bit hard for me to follow where all the players are when combat starts.
Definitely agree with this. I was able to listen to 100+ episodes of NADDpod, but I haven’t been able to get into Critical Role at all. Whenever I try it feels like it needs a lot more editing.
All episodes of the web series are in podcast format
Totally get what you are saying. To be honest I don’t get watching others play video games either. I feel like these are things younger people then I do because they have much more free time to blow on such things.
The thing to remember is that much of Critical Role is basically extremely skilled actors doing improv and reacting to scenarios that the gamemaster sets them in. The time commitment makes the show not for everyone, but the curious should check out any of the various highlight compliations to see if they enjoy the vibe. Watch out for spoilers, though.
Yeah, that’s the same reason I can’t really bring myself to listen to any D&D podcasts either.
Yeah despite a couple of attempts I’ve never been able to get into Critical Role. I did watch a couple seasons of Dimension 20, which I found a bit more fun and approachable.
D20 is the only one I’ve watched, mostly because it’s beyond funny, lol… But yeah, I do *not* get the whole watch other people play games when, yaknow, I could actually play the game? Plus it’s been about 25 years since I played any live action D&D. (I started 42-odd years ago, yes I do have the original Blue Box [weirdly I bought it in Ottawa! Complete with “dice chits”] and most of the hardcovers…) So I dont really get all this having a map and stuff when, in simpler times!, it was mostly all just in the mind, hehe.
Otoh I mean, I’d watch/listen to Laura Bailey in anything, so I’ll probably give this a shot.
I think Critical Role and related shows are most valuable as gateways for people (like myself) who are curious about TTRPGs but unsure whether they’re ready to commit to playing. I had no real conception of the D&D experience (aside from rolling dice and grid battle maps) before watching CR, and the sheer fun they were having along with the depth of collaborative storytelling they practiced was incredibly infectious. It wasn’t until last year that I finally found a group to play with, but I was hooked from the start!
Critical Role confirmed my fear that the only thing TTRPGs needed to achieve mainstream popularity was a way to experience them passively.
Active players have grown though too. I am going to be 44 in a month. I have seen the hobby evolve and change. Seeing Gencon change from a mostly male, mostly white audience. Mostly just pissing off the locals in Milwaukee. To now because this giant convention in Indy with a diverse group of players including families. In a city that not only puts up with them but actively embraces the convention. The first year in Indy, when restaurants were just playing around with specials and con themed food items was amazing. You never got that shit in Milwaukee
That’s true, and I’m thankful for all the growth and all the ways the hobby has opened up over the last 20 years. I’m just disappointed that the future of TTRPGs is watching people play rather than playing. I’m frustrated that a Kickstarter to produce a pilot based on a live stream based on a game takes in more money than the entirety of the TTRPG industry. I’m flabbergasted when players are more concerned with my production values and voice work at the table rather than having fun.There’s a whole DIY folk art aspect of TTRPGs I love and I feel is one of the most significant and vital elements of the hobby, and I see it eroding away a little more with every bit of mainstream relevance and every record breaking crowdfunding campaign.
A lot of people started playing TTRPGs because of Critical Role, so this is definitely a “why not both” situation. It’s also inspired a bunch of other fan creativity. Calling it a passive experience isn’t giving the reality enough credit.
(After all, that’s what the first 115 episodes of the webseries are for.)So I will be very out of the loop by the show?
Nope! The show is completely standalone, you don’t need to watch any CR to follow, only if you’re SUPER into the minutia.
The series actually starts before the beginning of the story as told on stream, and progresses through one of the earliest big storylines from the show proper. Definitely don’t need to be caught up on 115 episodes of lore to jump in!
Watched three episodes. Enjoyed and will watch more. And I’m glad the pacing wasn’t 6h per episode, haha. The Alucard (Hellsing) copycat with the plague doctor mask was interesting to focus on in episode three. I hope everyone get an episode like that to flesh them out a bit.
Not sure I’d call Percy a Hellsing rip off. His motovations and backstory are far too different, plus he acts nothing like Alucard. Alucard is an unapologetoc monster that kills for fun. Percy is significantly more conflicted, and wants to be good deep down. He is admittedly horrifying, butb there’s about where I see the similarities end.
copycat, not rip off. 😀
For the life of me, I will never understand the appeal of watching others play D&D. Turning that content into a show also seems odd. I know the Dragonlance books are heavily based on the campaign that they ran at TSR but Weis and Hickman admit its very loosely based and that much of the Dragonlance story did not come from the campaign.
Listen to it as a podcast. Critical Role is the outlier in how long each episode is. The Adventure Zone (especially the first few seasons), Nerd Poker, Dimension 20 and Not Another D&D Podcast all made me a believer. Fun to listen to while exercising, etc.
Honestly, it’s better to think of CR as long-form storytelling with a great deal of improv. It’d be one thing if it was just people rolling dice and defeating imaginary monsters, but these guys are talented enough to create a compelling narrative, a detailed world and compelling characters, with plenty of surprising plot twists. The running time is no doubt a barrier for many, but the entertainment value is absolutely there.
Yeah, I am a huge D&D nerd when it comes to playing, but watching? Ooof, no thanks. Very little of the fiction content produced adjacent to D&D bears any resemblance to the game itself, regardless of how much it tries. Even Dragonlance had to split the party.
Thank you for letting us you that you don’t like someone else does. I’ll note this in your file
Thanks. Please make sure it’s at the bottom of the “fun facts” section. I like to lead with positive facts like that I once saved a bus of orphans or that I’m remarkable well endowed.
I mean… watching the cast of Community play D&D was great. I might go watch it again. Wait. What?
Honestly I think that episode is what all of these “watch/listen to us place D&D” shows think they are doing but they aren’t. When they pulled that episode my wife bought me the entire series on DVD so we could still have it.
I’d really like some sort of sanity check on grades at AV Club. Because this only being slightly better than the last episode of Boba Fett does not fill me with confidence. (I think Boba Fett is getting graded way too generously, for the record.)
I don’t see a world in which an animated adaptation of an existing D&D campaign could achieve better than a credible B+, so I’m inclined to believe it.
You really can’t compare reviews across shows and especially when it’s different reviewers. Not sure why they even really bother with a scale since it will never be consistent.
That’s what I mean a sanity check. We should know that an A means that you should immediately watch something/put it at the top of your queue if you’re an average person, a C means it’s a decent watch if it’s free, and so on.
Grading terrible shows on a curve so that Wheel of Time gets grades similar to Breaking Bad doesn’t benefit anyone other than, I guess, the terrible showrunners of Wheel of Time.
I think an ‘A’ means something is genuinely good, and you should watch it. For stuff like this or Boba Fett mentioned above, a ‘B+’ means it is entirely serviceable and you may even like it if you’re into that kinda thing.
If it can portray the fun bits of fantasy RPGs without the tedious bits, then it might work. I enjoyed The Barbarian and the Troll but didn’t really enjoy Disenchantment, so I guess I’ll give this the standard 3-4 episodes to see if it’s my thing.
And where is this 115 episode webseries? Is it just the cast recording a D&D session(s)? I just don’t see myself giving that even 3-4 episodes.
Yeah it’s the live play. If you ever did want to try it I’d recommend starting with the third campaign. The fact that they’re now pre-recording instead of live broadcasting means that it runs a lot tighter and you don’t get an episode that is three hours of in-character shopping. It’s still easy to bounce off of if it’s not your jam but that has the easiest barrier to entry of them.
This is just a really fantastic development. CR is just an endless source of creativity and entertainment with some really gifted actors giving their all to characters they developed themselves. And Matt Mercer seems like a genuinely good guy who hasn’t let success go to his head on top of being extremely talented. Hopefully the show does well enough for them to get an adaptation of campaign 2.
On paper, this sounds like a cool idea but the art direction turns me off to considering it. It carries the stench of Young Justice and many others of the more recent DC animated outings.
“Vex’s cuddly but viscous warrior bear”is this a typo or is the bear like made of slime??genuinely hope it’s the latter bc that sounds awesome
I’m a little surprised you didn’t outright criticize them doing yet another muscle-bound idiot. For reasons that aren’t really worth mentioning, I once happened to be in a weird (like I had little reason to be there) meeting with the CR guys back when they were trying to get the animation off the ground with Legendary (months before the KS campaign), and even back then, felt like “oh, are we doing this particular archetype again?” But at the same time, I feel like most of this will get a pass because it’s based on an existing campaign, and the criticisms will be deflected with “go watch the source material and it makes more sense.” Good for them though, people seem to genuinely love all the Critical Role stuff.
I mean, all the main characters are archetypal in a sense, even though they were each able to add nuance over hundreds of hours of gameplay. It’s a fantasy adventure story, that’s kind of the deal…
Grog is a very fun muscle bound idiot though. Travis made zure he was very loveable but never shied away from how little regard Grog had for anyone outside his party. It alsonleads to some fantastic sequences later down the line.
As someone who is a backer of the Kickstarter, has seen all of CR, been to a couple live shows and would surely not be playing the amount of D&D/TTRPS I do without it – it is immensely gratifying to know that it works as an episodic animated show. This is, by its very nature, a different beast than the stream. I’m proud that they’ve come so far, they’ve been a very positive force in my life have real talent for what they do, and the fact that this has come together in its own way…well, it’s very cool.
Critical Role is great. That style of role play is not for everyone and tabletop players really shouldn’t try to emulate it unless their groups are up for it because I know very well not everyone in a group is a passable actor – and even fewer people have the acting and improv skills of Laura Bailey (THE greatest voice actress to currently work) and Sam Riegel (who is insane); and even fewer GMs have a mind like Matt Mercer. But it’s great and I recommend giving it a try. It’s easy to dismiss it as “nerds rolling dice, who cares”, but in practice it’s a long form audio drama with top shelf voice actors. Seriously, top shelf. You could fill a fucking phone book with the starring roles Liam O’Brien, Travis Willingham and Bailey did.It’s also weird to come into these comments and see people be so dismissive of this concept, since it’s not that niche – especially when it stars the two main actresses from The Last of Us Part 2 and it’s narrated/lead by the guy who eclipses Nolan North and Troy Baker as the go-to male voice actor and did so many years ago.My only real concern about this show is that this is A LOT of story and bullshit to cover, and I wonder about the things that will inevitably get lost in adaptation. It already feels weird that Tiberius Stormwind is not a part of this story – I 100% understand why and it helps that he’s not a particularly interesting character and Orion Acaba is a total asshole – but his character informed part of the later story in a very particular way and I wonder how those parts will play out without that connection. But it’s even the less important things that make me wonder. Like Grog’s bloodthirsty sword, which is a hilarious little arc but even then the comedy was mined from both the incredible mood whiplash it added to the proceedings and the cringe-inducing, car crash-witnessing nature of watching Travis Willingham flirt with a total party kill. Like, the jokes and scenes could be adapted verbatim and they are going to be funny, but there was also legitimate tension to that comedy that you just won’t have in a scripted series.Or just the fact that I have no idea how they’ll handle Scanlan later on. He is very much the “goof revealing a surprising amount of depth” kind of character, but the very format of a longform RPG session gave Sam Riegel the space to pump real, gradual pathos and intense gravity into that character, and I’m not sure you can do that justice in a more openly comedic, shorter format.
I’m not remembering any particular role Tiberius played later on? There’s that one episode containing his final fate and then he’s never mentioned again that I can remember.
Yeah, that confused me as well. Like, it was nice of them to give Tiberius some closure after the IRL split with Orion Acaba (they certainly weren’t obligated to if even half of the reported crap he pulled was true), but I don’t think he was ever really that integral to the story even when Orion was still around playing him (which was really only for the first 30 or so episodes of the 115-episode first campaign).I’m sure Tiberius as a character meant something to them, especially since, as it should be noted, they had been playing the campaign for a while before they even started live-streaming the show, so giving him some final in-world closure made sense in that regard. However, in order to avoid any potential IRL issues with Acaba, I’m totally fine with them just pretending Tiberius wasn’t a part of the main group, that’s essentially what they did throughout the remainder of the livestream show after Acaba left.
There’s a whole lot that’s been written about what happened with CR and Orion but the one thing that seems clear is that that particular relationship was dunzo. Just the way Matt and Marisha freeze when someone brings him up in a Q&A says it all. And let’s be honest, nobody really misses Tiberius that much except one diehard group of loud fanboys, most of whom are probably writing a three-paragraph screed in a YouTube comments section right this moment complaining about a time Marisha screwed up a spell five years ago.
It’s hilariously sad to read people regurgitate the same dumb shit about Marisha being durr such a bad player hurr when a) Keyleth was an airhead and b) she carried everybody’s ass in campaign 2 for a while thanks to her absolutely insane note-making. I can’t remember if some people were just as big dipshits about Laura/Jester often disregarding any sort of healing duty, but I imagine they would because God forbid someone does some character work.I don’t even wanna touch upon the personal stuff speculation that stems from a bunch of neckbeards being unable to fathom that close friends of X years hold hands and hug each other.
Oh, they got mad at the note-taking too. When Beau was putting together that the Tomb Takers worked for Vess Derogna, so many people were complaining in the Twitch chat that the scene was boring and going on too long that Matt had to come in and yell at everyone. Then the exact same thing happened with the BeauYasha date.And Laura didn’t get too much shit in campaign 2 probably due to Jester’s moe tendencies, but the bro gang was up in arms about Vex stealing the magic broom from whatever the name of Chris Hardwick’s character was in campaign 1.
Yep, sad but true. The double standards are super strong with that crowd. They see nothing wrong with Orion casually mentioning how something Vex did gave Tiberius “a half chub” (and he just *had* to make sure the entire group heard him say it), but heaven forbid Marisha doesn’t remember exactly how a particular spell or ability works while they’re in the middle of a super-stressful combat encounter.I hate to say it but whenever I read comments where people lament about how much they miss Orion and Tiberius, I can’t help but think to myself “really? why?” They think Marisha’s bad about her “boring” note-taking scenes? Do they not remember all the times Orion pulled focus and brought the group’s momentum to a screeching halt so he could go on a 45-minute shopping trip stockpiling magic items to ensure not an ounce of harm came to Tiberius? I get that Orion had a lot of heavy stuff he was dealing with IRL but that doesn’t excuse all the selfish (and in some cases plain gross) shit he pulled. And it’s even more sad cause you can tell in the early episodes of campaign one that Matt and the other players genuinely cared about both Tiberius and Orion, to the point where they always chose to be patient and accommodating as he got more and more insufferable with his Tiberius antics as the show progressed. I’m sure it wasn’t easy for them having to distances themselves from him, but it was definitely for the best.
You’re right – I watched some stuff back and I misremembered how large a role his final fate played as part of the group’s motivations and overall story.Let me just reiterate that this sentiment came from my bad memory and no attachment to either Tiberius McMarty Stu nor Acaba.
>Laura Bailey (THE greatest voice actress to currently work)Yikes, Jennifer Hale just called and did a perfect imitation of all of Bailey’s voices, and then cleverly hid her S-tier plagiarism with time travel.
I think they have two seasons ordered, so that’s 24 episodes. Yeah that’s only 12 hours (so like three episodes of the livestream), but there is so much that can be streamlined (good bye shopping episodes). Animated combat should flow exponentially faster than actual play combat, although it would be funny if once or twice they have a character unsure of what spell to cast just as nod to the livestream. And I see no reason to think that the show won’t be ordered for more seasons.
With all the diverse choices for characters in D&D, there’s three half-elves and two gnomes? Disappointing.
The thing with Crit Role was that for some of the crew, this was their first longform tabletop campaign. As such, the Mighty Nein can seem somewhat vanilla. By comparison, the Marquet crew features one human, one halfling, one gnome but also two Genasi, one automaton, one weird undead/curse-being hybrid and a possibly sociopathic Faun.Scanlan came to be because Sam Riegel asked Liam O’Brien what would be the shittiest character possible and he told him “idk, gnome bard”. Ironically by the end of campaign 1 Scanlan is practically the party’s most dangerous member thanks to Riegel’s bananas lateral thinking and his arc is possibly the most compelling.
Can we just get more Harmonquest please?
What the actual fuck is critical role?
I always thought I was a huge nerd and then something came along that was somehow too nerdy even for me. I cannot, for the life of me, understand in any way, shape, or form the appeal of watching other people play D&D. Like, cannot at at all. I don’t care how talented these voice actors are. It boggles my mind that this can be as popular as it is. Having my nerd credentials challenged so thoroughly has gotten my cosplay knickers in a bunch apparently.
It’s called 5th edition bc Matt Mercer created D&D over five years ago./sJokes aide: the D&D community owes Mercer’s productions a standing debt for great production and distributing the lure of D&D to a wider audience.
“If there’s a criticism to be made, it comes down to how the show seems to be developing romantic pairings. Vox Machina is wonderfully comfortable with playing around with non-heterosexual and gender-fluid vibes, but the early love-interest pairings are both heterosexual and all of the same species…”…and likely canonical to the original campaign.
No diverse relationships, really? So you missed the tension between Vax and Gilmore, did’t you? Maybe is not so evident in this part of the whole campaign, but later it will become a obvious thing ;D
Can we please crowdfund a series of Korgoth
Just watched the first episode of this. I wanted to like it, since I really like things like Harmonquest and NADDpod, but I found it super generic and not very funny. Without the improvisational verve of watching people actually play this just feels like a basic, generic fantasy thing. With swears, a few boobs, and gore. There was pretty much nothing about the characters that isn’t straight out of the players handbook.
Watch through episode 3. It takes a while for the story to get going, but I really like where it’s ended up.