Critical Role campaign one

The first campaign of the Dungeons & Dragons web series Critical Role premiered on March 12, 2015; it consisted of 115 episodes and concluded on October 12, 2017. It followed Vox Machina, a party of seven to eight adventurers, in their travels across the continent of Tal'Dorei. Campaign one broadcast live each Thursday at 19:00 PT on Geek & Sundry's Twitch channel, with the video on demand (VOD) being available to Twitch subscribers immediately after the broadcast. On the Monday following the live stream, the VODs were made available for the public on the Geek & Sundry YouTube channel.
For the first 27 episodes Campaign 1 had nine cast members: eight players and a Dungeon Master. This became eight from episode 28 to the conclusion of the campaign with episode 115.
In total, 13 guest players appeared in Campaign 1.
Additionally, the following guest players appeared in episode 12, which featured a one-shot rather than a traditional Vox Machina episode:
The Kraghammer story arc (16 episodes, 1–16) starts in medias res at the point in Vox Machina's story where the cast's original home game left off. It takes place primarily in the subterranean depths of the Underdark, and culminates in a battle between Vox Machina and a dangerous beholder by the name of K'varn, who is controlling an entire city of Illithid.
The Vasselheim story arc (7 episodes, 17–23) splits the party into two groups, who seek to prove their worth to the "Slayer's Take", a local adventurer's guild in the ancient city of Vasselheim, by taking on dangerous missions. This arc features multi-episode guest appearances by Felicia Day (Lyra), Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (Zahra), Wil Wheaton (Thorbir), and Will Friedle (Kashaw), adding a new twist to the now-divided adventuring band. This arc also includes the first episode (episode 22) that touches on a character's backstory, as Keyleth visits another druid tribe to continue her Aramenté, a journey to become the leader of her people.
The Briarwood story arc (15 episodes, 24–38) leads Vox Machina to Percy's ancestral home, the city of Whitestone, which was once ruled by his family. The party have to fight for control over Whitestone against Lord and Lady Briarwood, who are responsible for the demise of most of the de Rolo family and have taken the city as their own. The Briarwood's ties into necromancy and a secret cult make things even more dangerous, and Vox Machina must stop them from completing a ritual that threatens to endanger the entire kingdom. During the early stages of this arc, Tiberius leaves Vox Machina for good.
The Chroma Conclave story arc (46 episodes, 39–84) begins with the attack of four ancient chromatic dragons on Emon, the capital of Tal'Dorei, with the Sovereign and other important political figures falling in the onslaught. The dragons take control over and divide the kingdom, and in order to defeat them, Vox Machina needs more power than they currently have. They search for the "Vestiges of Divergence", famed and extremely powerful magical items from ages passed, which are scattered throughout the world. During the ongoing battles against the powerful dragons of the Chroma Conclave, the backstories of some characters are also further explored. Smaller arcs focus on Grog's herd that once exiled him, the last figure from Percy's traumatic past, as well as a strained family reunion for the twins, Vex and Vax. Episodes in this arc are broken up into 3 parts (39-56, 57–69, 70–84) based on Geek & Sundry's change of colour in thumbnails on YouTube.
The Taryon Darrington story arc (15 episodes, 85–99) begins with the departure of Scanlan from the group, whose use of "spice" (an in-campaign illicit drug) and disagreements with the group culminate in an argument that shakes the party. While traveling to Ank'Harel on the continent of Marquet, Vox Machina meet Taryon Darrington, an inexperienced aspiring author and adventurer. Adventuring together with Taryon, some smaller story arcs see Vox Machina helping Keyleth (who seeks to complete her Aramenté), traveling to hell, as well as dealing with Taryon's family, who reside in the Dwendalian Empire on the continent of Wildemount. It also features Taryon's coming out story. During this arc, which is loosely defined by Scanlan's absence and Taryon's presence in the party, Pike's family also makes an appearance and her relationship with them is explored. The arc includes a one-year time skip between episodes 94 and 95.
The Cult of Vecna story arc (16 episodes, 100–115) revisits the mysterious and dangerous artifact that was activated beneath Whitestone Castle during the Briarwood story arc. Scanlan finally rejoins Vox Machina, while the party now has to fight a cult which tries to summon the evil lich demigod Vecna, who seeks to ascend to true godhood and rule Exandria. His ascension actually succeeds and he becomes the only god on this side of the Divine Gate, which keeps the other gods from directly interfering in the world they created. With the indirect help of some of the prime deities who aid them with special powers, Vox Machina are the only group of heroes who can possibly stop the "Whispered One" in one gigantic final battle.
After the conclusion of the primary campaign, several one-shots have taken place using Vox Machina. These include "The Search for Grog" and "The Search for Bob", which portray an adventure on the plane of Pandemonium which was only briefly summarized toward the end of the final episode. Additionally, the "Dalen's Closet" one-shot portrayed the wedding vow renewal of Vex'ahlia and Percy one year later.
The Vox Machina campaign originated as the home-game of the cast, which started in 2012. While the adventures prior to the Kraghammer arc in 2015 were not formally recorded, some shorter recordings have been released by the cast.
The format and production values evolved significantly over the course of the run. The initial set, nicknamed "Felicia's Bedroom" by the cast, had a number of issues. They were seated at three tables which were located far apart from one another, the cameras got in the way of the players' eyelines, and the audio quality was very poor. The show moved to another set early on, which featured a "stony, moodily-lit backdrop".
Campaign one was originally broadcast live on the Geek & Sundry Twitch and YouTube channels between March 12, 2015, and October 12, 2017, for a total of 115 episodes. Starting in November 2016, it was also broadcast live on the Alpha streaming service from Legendary Digital Networks. The show on Alpha had a unique overlay that included "real-time character sheets, damage and heal animations, and visualizations". Campaign one's closed captions were transcribed by a fan group who submitted them to Geek & Sundry. Geek & Sundry then added these to the YouTube VODs. The VODs have since been uploaded to Critical Role's own YouTube channel. A number of cast members were absent during episode 12, and so Mercer ran a Dungeon Master workshop rather than a session with Vox Machina. Further workshop and DM tip videos would be released by Geek & Sundry over the following years but unlike episode 12 these were not given numerical episode designations.
An announcement segment was present through much of the run, usually with Mercer opening the show, followed by other announcements such as new merchandise or other projects from the cast. These would continue into the second campaign in a similar fashion. On occasion, guests would be present for the announcement segment, such as prop maker Kai Norman in episode 15. The opening and break sequences initially featured backstory videos about each player character- these used copyrighted artwork and had to be blurred out of the VOD versions. The clips were eventually removed from the introduction in favour of a live-action opening sequence with the cast. The first of these featured the cast in costumes, much of which were owned by Jaffe for use at ren faires. The second live action opening featured more elaborate costumes and make-up.
A segment informally referred to as "Critmas" featured cast members opening mail and gifts from fans. This originated as a pre-game segment in episode 5, later becoming a sporadic post-game segment through the first half of the show's run. Beginning in episode 3, fans would also order food such as pizza to be delivered to the studio; this would arrive mid-game and quickly became unmanageable so the studio set up a PO Box for non-perishables. From December 2015, Geek & Sundry instead encouraged generous fans to donate to a list of sponsored charities.
Several post-game segments were employed, particularly early on in the run. These included giveaways, Q&A sessions with the chat, and reading the names and messages of donors. Episode 11 featured a 45-minute dancing sequence after the game to celebrate reaching a subscription threshold. In the book The World of Critical Role, it was revealed that these dance segments came from a desire to keep the core game session to three hours, while filling the dedicated time slot on Geek & Sundry. These segments later fell out of use in favor of longer play times and were edited out of the podcast versions of the episodes.
In 2016, the show was nominated in the Streamy Awards for the "Gaming" category.
Critical Role has been credited by VentureBeat as responsible for making actual play shows "their own genre of entertainment", and has since become one of the most prominent actual play series. By January 2021, the first episode of Campaign One had been watched 15 million times on YouTube. Both the show's length and high viewership have been emphasized by multiple critics. Ben Kuchera, for Polygon in 2016, wrote:
Chris DeVille, for The Verge in 2017, stated Critical Role is "arguably the most popular and influential D&D liveplay series" and that "the YouTube archive of Critical Role's first episode has accumulated more than 5 million views – this for a three-hour video almost entirely consisting of pals sitting around a table and acting out whimsical characters. Two years and 114 mammoth episodes later, their imagined adventures have spun off a comic book, an art book, and even a line of merchandise [...] – all in addition to inspiring countless works of fan-generated art, music, and literature". Academic Emily Friedman, in the book Roleplaying Games in the Digital Age: Essays on Transmedia Storytelling, Tabletop RPGs and Fandom (2021), highlighted the length of the first campaign – "447 hours, 39 minutes" – which "outstrips the entire runs of long-running livestreams like Dice, Camera, Action (141 episodes and roughly 266 hours) and the first campaign of the prerecorded podcast The Adventure Zone (69 episodes, roughly 103 hours)". She commented that "for new viewers, 'catching up' on Critical Role is a massive task, and one that is difficult to compare to other linear storytelling forms". Jevon Phillips, for the Los Angeles Times in 2017, wrote that Critical Role "is bare bones. Mercer guides the narrative action as dungeon master, and a group of players [...] sit at a table and play out scenarios – sometimes for more than four hours". Phillips also wrote that "combining the two – watching people onscreen (online or TV) who are playing role-playing games – would seem to go a step too far in terms of our need to be entertained. [...] The fact that these shows can average hundreds of thousands of views is probably lost on those who don't regularly watch TV online (re: older viewers)".
Critics have emphasized the emotional story beats in the first campaign. Ryan Teitman, for Slate, wrote "sure, it's corny, but the actors sell their performances so well that you really begin to invest in their emotional arcs". Teitman highlighted the emotional impact of a devastating city-wide attack: "in the midst of the chaos, they search the streets, desperately looking for beloved friends and allies. And in those moments, I forgot that I was watching D&D—I only saw the anguish on the faces of each of the actors as everything their characters had come to love came crashing down around them. I wondered how they could possibly deal with so much death and destruction". Friedman, for the Los Angeles Review of Books, commented that Critical Role's "maximalist" production design allows the viewer to watch all players at once which can create "unexpectedly moving moments". Friedman highlighted one such moment towards the end of the campaign: "As other players take their turns in heated combat, we can also see, in one corner, Sam Riegel's puckish face collapse in grief as he realizes his character can cast a spell that will save the world, but at the cost of his plans to save the character played by his friend Liam O'Brien—who whispers 'I love you' in response to Riegel's 'I'm sorry'." In October 2023, Noelle Warner of CBR opined that "Scanlan's ninth-level counterspell is not only one of the best moments in Critical Role – it might be one of the best narrative moments in gaming, period. It's an instance of seemingly infinite complexity – somehow, one moment summarizes the relationships between Vox Machina, the players themselves, and themes of heroism, sacrifice, and found family. Suddenly, two men are crying at the table, and the magic of Dungeons & Dragons, tabletop games, and games as a whole is laid bare".
On where to start the Critical Role series, critics are divided between Campaign One and Campaign Two. Alexandria Turney, for Screen Rant in 2020, highlighted that starting Critical Role at all can be a "little daunting" and that campaign one's "quality is noticeably lacking compared to future episodes which can be off-putting for those not already invested", while campaign two is "highly recommended for new Critters to watch, as it makes it easier to fall in love with the cast, which then makes it easier to go back and watch some of the lower-quality sessions of the first campaign". However, Emily Duncan of Tor.com suggested in 2021 that new viewers begin with the first campaign because the viewer would know the exact time commitment compared to an ongoing campaign. Duncan also commented on the show's early production value – "the audio quality on the first twenty or so episodes is a little rough, and there's some expected awkwardness as the group takes something that had been personal and private into the public eye". Duncan highlighted:
Caitlyn Ng Man Chuen, also for CBR in 2023, similarly highlighted skipping the early episodes of Campaign One and jumping to the Briarwood arc since it can be "a little boring or off-putting" due to poor production quality and the in medias res transition from Critical Role's home-game. Chuen included the caveat that "the first campaign is still a great place to start, though, especially because it's a big part of why the show is so well-known now". She also recommended the animated series which adapts the campaign "for those that are even more pressed for time or simply don't want to take in a hundred episodes of old content". Warner viewed Critical Role as becoming a more polished show in subsequent campaigns and that "the first campaign feels like an epic tale told around the campfire at the end of a long day on the road. That's not to say that the more recent play style is particularly better or worse – it's simply different, and a viewer's enjoyment of one campaign over another will come down to personal preference. There are a lot of long hours at the table that are more worth skipping through than watching when it comes to the first campaign, but the chaotic, often confused energy is something special when fans revisit the origins of Critical Role. The show's change in tone and structure feels even more poignant when fans consider the early episodes' ephemerality".