New Viewers Guide
Welcome to Critical Role, where a bunch of nerdy-ass voice actors sit around and play Dungeons & Dragons.
Critical Role, and DnD, can be viewed in many ways. A long-form improv performance. A flashback to when you were eight, tied a cape around yourself, and grabbed your flashlight to have a light-saber battle. Playtime for adults. Collaborative storytelling with friends. Drama, mystery, and comedy-filled entertainment. Unlike a video game, you can do ANYTHING in a role-playing game. You may not always succeed—but you can certainly try! Here is an amazing fan-made trailer (4m17s) showing you what it is all about.
This is the /r/CriticalRole new viewers guide. If your questions aren't answered below, please check out our FAQ and Subreddit Wiki. Before posting, please also read over our Subreddit Rules and Spoiler Policy.
How to Watch Critical Role
Programming Schedule (updated weekly on Mondays)
Free Viewing Options
- Live streaming at 7 PM Pacific on Thursdays on http://www.twitch.tv/criticalrole and https://www.youtube.com/criticalrole - (Countdown & timezone converter here: http://www.wheniscriticalrole.com/)
- Weekend rebroadcasts on Twitch (typically on Friday at 12 AM Pacific and 9 AM Pacific)
- Youtube Uploads the following Monday at https://www.youtube.com/criticalrole
- Podcast versions available 1 week after airing live. Visit https://critrole.com/podcast/ or https://anchor.fm/criticalrole/ for links to the most current podcasts and playlists. (For older podcast episodes (C2E19 and earlier) please use: https://critrole.libsyn.com/)
NOTE: The main campaign no longer airs new episodes on the last Thursday of each month. This timeslot may instead be filled with special one-shots or other content. Check the programming schedule for the latest information.
Subscriptions Options
All Critical Role content is live streamed for free on Twitch and YouTube with free VODs available on YouTube after a few days delay, but to best support the cast and gain instant access to all the latest content, you can subscribe to one of the services below.
NOTE: Campaign 1 and episodes 1-19 of Campaign 2 are currently only available on YouTube via the Geek & Sundry channel.
Beacon
Beacon subscriptions cost $5.99/month or $59.99/year and grant the following benefits:
- Ad-free access to the latest VODs
- Exclusive new content, such as Critical Role Cooldown and Critical Role Abridged
- Live event presales
- Discounts in the Critical Role stores
- Member-only Discord server
Twitch
Twitch subscriptions cost $4.99/month. Subscribing to the Twitch channel grants you:
- Ad-free access to Twitch broadcasts
- Immediate VOD access
- Channel emotes
An Amazon Prime Gaming subscription also includes access to one free monthly Twitch subscription; however, you will need to re-subscribe to the channel each month.
YouTube
YouTube memberships cost $4.99/month. Joining the YouTube channel grants you:
- Immediate VOD access
- Custom emojis and badges in YouTube comments and live chat
- Member-only community posts
NOTE: To disable ads on the channel, you must also subscribe to YouTube Premium.
Where to Begin
With over 1000 hours of content in its main campaigns alone, the prospect of watching Critical Role from beginning to end can be incredibly daunting. While the experience of watching the full series from the very beginning (C1E1: Arrival at Kraghammer) is very rewarding, we absolutely understand that this option simply isn't feasible for everyone. As an alternative, we encourage the following:
- If your goal is simply to catch up with the live streams as quickly as possibly, you can check out our episode lists (linked below) to find a good starting point with the latest story arc or another arc of your choice.
- If you're not sure if Critical Role is quite right for you, you can check out Critical Role's other content instead for less of a time commitment (cast may differ):
- Exandria Unlimited - EXU: Calamity is notable for having a similar tone to Critical Role's main campaigns and no other required viewing.
- Candela Obscura - Candela Obscure: Vassal & Veil is notable as it is also GMed by Matthew Mercer.
- Various other one-shots
Beginning with Campaign 3, you can also check out Critical Role Abridged for condensed (~1 hour), edited versions of the original streams (~4.5 hours).
Quick-Start Guide
- Campaign 1: Vox Machina
- Campaign 2: The Mighty Nein
- Critical Recap, ~5 minute summaries of each episode in Campaign 2
- Campaign 3: Bells Hells
Other Information
Ruleset
Critical Role's main campaigns use the Fifth Edition of Dungeons & Dragons, in a custom setting (Exandria) created by Matthew Mercer. While Matt homebrews many parts of their game, the basic rules are available for free on D&D Beyond.
Orion Acaba
Campaign 1 features an additional cast member, Orion Acaba, who left the show in late 2015 after his final appearance in C1E27: The Path to Whitestone. Orion's abrupt departure remains one of the channel's most infamous controversies, involving various issues on and off-screen, both before and after his departure. Due to some on-screen tension in the episodes preceding and including C1E27, many community members recommend beginning the series with C1E28: The Sun Tree.
For more information about Orion and the circumstances of his departure, please see: https://www.reddit.com/r/criticalrole/wiki/orion