Critical Role

Critical Role is a live-play tabletop role-playing show created and performed by a core cast of professional voice actors: Matthew Mercer, Ashley Johnson, Marisha Ray, Taliesin Jaffe, Travis Willingham, Laura Bailey, Liam O’Brien, and Sam Riegel.¹

What began as a home Dungeons & Dragons game grew into a livestream built around collaborative storytelling, improv, and long-form fantasy campaigns.^1,2 Alongside the main cast, the show has also featured guest players across its campaigns and specials.

Under dungeon master Matthew Mercer, the cast moves through long-form fantasy stories set in Exandria, with player choices shaping the direction as they go.² Critical Role later expanded into animation with The Legend of Vox Machina, which adapted one of its campaigns for television.³ As the audience grew, live stage shows became a larger part of the project.⁴

Score Critical Role tickets at AXS and see the cast build a story live, moment by moment.

Critical Role began in Los Angeles when a group of voice actors started recording their tabletop sessions for a wider audience.¹ The series premiered in 2015 as a livestreamed campaign and quickly attracted viewers drawn to its unscripted, character-driven storytelling.³

As production expanded, the ensemble maintained its core approach: extended sessions shaped by player decisions rather than scripted outcomes.² Its success led to the creation of an independent studio, including publishing projects and animated adaptations.³

Throughout its growth, the series has stayed focused on ensemble performance rather than scripted television structure.^1,2

Critical Role has received numerous awards and nominations within digital and streaming media.

• Webby Award – Video: Games (Video Series & Channels) (2019): Critical Role won this Webby Award, which recognized the series within the Video and Games category.⁵
• Webby Award – People’s Voice, Video: Games (Video Series & Channels) (2019): Critical Role’s series also received the People’s Voice Award in the same category.⁵
• Award Nominations: Critical Role has received nominations at the Streamy Awards for Live Streamer in 2018 and Best Gaming Series in 2016, as well as a Shorty Award nomination in the Games category in 2019.⁵

Critical Role’s most widely viewed episodes show how large its audience has become and the anticipation of every new campaign arc. Installments regularly draw millions of views on the official YouTube channel.⁶

• The Draw of Destiny – Campaign 3, Episode 1 (2022): This episode has surpassed 14 million views, making it one of the channel’s most-watched.⁶
• Trial by Firelight – Campaign 3, Episode 2 (2022): The second episode of Campaign 3 has drawn over 7 million views.⁶
• Excelsior – Exandria Unlimited: Calamity – Episode 1 (2023): The opening chapter of this limited series has reached more than 6 million views.⁶

Critical Role’s live shows move their tabletop game into large arenas while keeping the tabletop structure intact.⁴ Cast members perform extended campaign episodes before thousands of attendees, with character voices, audience reactions, and real-time dice rolls shaping the evening.²

Grab Critical Role tickets on AXS and watch the cast shape a campaign live onstage.