Critical Role

Critical Role is the show that turned a group of professional voice actors rolling dice around a table into a full-blown cultural phenomenon. What started as a home game between friends like Matthew Mercer, Laura Bailey, Travis Willingham, and Sam Riegel has grown into something with over 410 episodes, four major campaigns, and a dedicated streaming platform called Beacon. The format is straightforward: long-form, unscripted D&D sessions where the cast plays completely in character, often for three to four hours at a stretch. These are trained performers, so the emotional range is staggering. One moment you are laughing at Sam Riegel's absurd ad reads, and the next you are genuinely tearing up over a character's sacrifice. Campaign 4 shook things up in a big way by bringing in Brennan Lee Mulligan as Game Master, stepping away from the familiar world of Exandria into Mulligan's own setting of Araman. The cast expanded too, adding Robbie Daymond, Aabria Iyengar, Whitney Moore, and Alexander Ward alongside the original crew. Episodes now drop in two parts each week. The production quality is top-tier, with professional sound mixing that translates surprisingly well from the video format to audio-only listening. If you have never experienced actual play D&D before, this is the gold standard that everyone else gets measured against. Fair warning though: each campaign is a massive time commitment. Start with Campaign 1 or jump straight into Campaign 4 for a fresh entry point.