Want to know how you can raise the stakes at your gaming table? Well you've come to the right place. Join us and our guest Spencer Wight as we dive into a discussion of what kinds of stakes we see in TTRPGs and the best examples we could find from Critical Role. We'll cover risking our lives, protecting the people we care about, losing our reputations and more! Since the ep is pretty long, here are timestamps: 14 mins: Intro to Stakes 24 mins: Player Character Death 48 mins: NPC 55 mins: Interna...
Feb 27, 2025•2 hr 58 min
Are you ready to unlock the power of your dreams? We are! Today we explore the potential of dreams & visions in Critical Role, showing examples that deal with the past, present and future. As always, we cover tips for players & DMs for how you can include this in your games. Since it's a longer episode, here are timestamps: 13 mins: intro to topic 25 mins: commune with a deity 48 mins: commune with the supernatural 1 hour: visions of the past 1 hour, 15 mins: visions of the future 1 ...
Jan 30, 2025•2 hr 3 min
Merry Critmas! This month's episode is a deep dive into a handful of heists across Critical Role's three campaigns. We talk about the naughty and the nice. We break down the five elements of every heist and offer examples of how you can pull off burglaries and break-ins at your own table (in fiction of course). This episode features the announcement of the winners of our holiday giveaway. We hope you enjoy! We know it's a long episode, so here are approximate time stamps in case you are interest...
Dec 26, 2024•2 hr 1 min
In honor of International Games Month and the holiday season, we decided to focus on the games the cast plays as their characters. From 'Bolder, Parchment, Shears' to 'Spin the Bottle' to the classic 'Rollies' we cover games from across the campaigns. This episode has the most clips yet. Grab a set of dice and a friend while you listen, cause you're gonna want to play!
Nov 28, 2024•1 hr 9 min
Boo! In this special Halloween episode we take one of Critical Role's scariest monsters: Hags! In this very fun and spooky episode we discuss the origins of hags, how to roleplay a hag, how to make a deal, and how to survive your encounter with these dangerous fey. We draw mostly on Campaign 2 with Dashilla, The Sea Fury and Isharnai, The Prism Sage, but also have an honorable mention of Nana Morri from Campaign 3. We hope to assist you in roleplaying your hags (if you're a DM) and surviving you...
Oct 31, 2024•2 hr 32 min
Our second episode in our Season 2 premiere is a debrief on Daggerheart. We invite Scott Mayfield back to discuss what we thought of this new gaming system. Topics include character creation, combat, and mechanics we'd adopt into other systems. As always, we include lots of clips from Critical Role! Let us know in the comments if you'd like us to do a part 2 of our actual play. Follow us on Instagram at criticalrolemodelspodcast. Follow Scott at skawtsalot.studio. And big thank you to Sa...
Sep 26, 2024•1 hr 26 min
We're back! Our season premiere is coming at you with back-to-back episodes on Daggerheart, Critical Role's new gaming system. In this first episode, we play version 1.5 with a few of our friends who are also podcast contributors: Scott (guest star), Sarah (composer), and Spencer (future guest star). Our one-shot explores the rules of Daggerheart and to try out the mechanics. Be prepared for lots of role play! On the run from some gym rats who want to turn our fungril companion into musc...
Sep 26, 2024•2 hr 3 min
Check out this short trailer to learn the changes we have for this upcoming season, our production schedule and refresh on who we are. Enjoy!
Sep 19, 2024•3 min
In the final episode of our season, we talk about rebuilding trust and improving teamwork. After the tumult of conflicts and betrayals, the resolution we want to see is a party who can overcome their differences and work as a team. We highlight some of Critical Role's best examples of teamwork across all three campaigns and showcase how Critical Role brings vulnerability and trust to their stories. We hope it'll inspire you for your own games! Enjoy, and see you in the fall for season 2....
Jun 13, 2024•58 min
In our penultimate episode of the season we are stabbing you in the back with betrayal! We focus on the betrayals in Campaign 3, specifically in two categories: guest character betrayal and player character betrayal. We will cover up to episode 81 for anyone concerned about spoilers. We chose Campaign 3 because every character has the potential to betray the party, making it extra juicy for us to talk about. Betrayal can bring a lot of drama to your table, so we hope you enjoy!...
May 30, 2024•1 hr 5 min
Do you remember when Grog attacked Percy over a skull? How about the infamous bowlgate? This week we start our three-episode series on player character conflict and resolution, and we kick it off with a bang with Conflict! We have lots of great content and clips from all three campaigns, so you are in for a longer episode, but boy is it chock full of goodness! We break down the elements that drive conflict and discuss techniques for safely approaching intra-party conflict at your table. So, get ...
May 16, 2024•1 hr 26 min
This is the last part in our Religion and Deities series with Ryan McLaughlin from D&D for the Deconstructed. We consider and discuss a world without gods mostly pulling examples from Critical Role's current campaign. SPOILER WARNING: This will spoil up to episode 65 of Campaign 3. You can follow D&D for the Deconstructed on IG at forthedesconstructed and find their podcast episodes on Apple Podcasts.
May 02, 2024•31 min
Ryan McLaughlin from D&D for the Deconstructed is back for part 2 in our series on Religion and Deities. This episode we are going to talk about Matt's view of the Gods in Exandria and we'll also focus on three different characters from Campaign 2, examining their relationships to divinity. This is a longer episode. We hope you enjoy the rich, theological discussion and connections to Critical Role. And maybe it will even inspire future characters and campaigns for you and your frien...
Apr 18, 2024•56 min
Ryan McLaughlin from the D&D for the Deconstructed podcast joins us for a three-part series on religion & deities. In this episode, we set the tone for the series by talking about how D&D can be a cathartic experience and used as therapy. Ryan provides an overview of D&D and religion, and shares his own experience using D&D to address religious trauma. This episode is light on Critical Role connections, but we dig deeply into Vax's arc from Campaign 1 in the latter half o...
Apr 04, 2024•43 min
In Homebrew Pt 2, we discuss monsters, magic items and classes, how to create your own and how Critical Role creates theirs. We talk about the aeorian baby abomination, Grog's cursed sword and our favorite classes from Critical Role. Which one would you play?!
Mar 21, 2024•42 min
Scott Mayfield is back as our guest star, and we're talking about homebrew! In Part 1, we focus on campaign settings and house rules, using loads of examples from Critical Role. In Part 2 we'll then focus on classes, monstahs, and magic items. The clip we use of Matt Mercer is from the Adventuring Academy episode on Campaign Settings with Brennan Lee Mulligan. Follow Scott on Instagram at skawtsalot.studio.
Mar 07, 2024•37 min
Love is in the air! This week we discuss how you can bring romance to your table like the cast of Critical Role. We use one example from each campaign to demonstrate how the cast establishes healthy communication and boundaries when embarking on a romance. We'll also talk about what happens when a romance doesn't work out and how to prevent character bleed. Romance is a daunting step to take in roleplay, but we are here to help you make it a success at your table!
Feb 22, 2024•1 hr 5 min
We finish up our discussion on Worldbuilding by talking about collaboration using examples of the three Critical Role DMs (Brennan, Aabria and Matt). Then we talk about map making, the advantages and disadvantages, and how you can get started. You can follow Scott on Insta: @skawtsalot.studio
Feb 08, 2024•52 min
This week's episode is extra special: it's the first time we have a guest join us; which leads to it being our longest episode to date; and worldbuilding is such a big topic we split it into two parts! Writer and cartographer, Scott Mayfield, joins us to discuss the many different aspects of worldbuilding, from balancing story view and worldview to not getting overwhelmed by the logistics or the details. The book we pull from is called Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imagin...
Jan 25, 2024•1 hr 5 min
We are starting off the year with an intense topic. Character death doesn't always mean the end, sometimes there is a rebirth. We talk about how Critical Role makes death a gift to the story and how you can do the same. This episode covers planned and unplanned deaths in Campaign 2 and early Campaign 3, and the significant experience it holds for the players at the table.
Jan 11, 2024•49 min
Prepare to get inspired this episode as we go over the many approaches to character creation, and we get inspiration from our favorite bards, the cast of Critical Role. We take a dive into how the cast of Critical Role has created their iconic characters and share a few ways we've done it in the past. We hope to get the sparks flying for you! Our next episode will release on January 11th, Happy Holidays!!
Dec 21, 2023•43 min
Critical Role has a number of communication strategies to keep each other safe, and we call those Safety Tools! They are ways that the cast make sure they are all having a good time no matter how dramatic or intense the role-play gets. From lines & veils to check-ins, there are a handful of key tools that we go over in our podcast that you can bring back to your own table. Get ready to get vulnerable! "Safety Tools in Critical Role" by Soda Wax: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-mj...
Dec 07, 2023•48 min
**Released early so you can listen while you travel to Thanksgiving** Can't think on your feet?! You don't need to be an actor to be able to do improv! We go over some common improv practices that Critical Role does and how you can incorporate them in your own game. We especially highlight Laura Baily's Jester LaVorre, because she is the master of improv. Also cause Dev loves Laura <3 The book we reference in our episode is called Improv for Gamers and you can find it here: https:...
Nov 22, 2023•43 min
What makes a compelling character arc? Josh and Dev highlight the development of some of Critical Role's greatest characters and discuss the components so you can adapt them at your table. This whole podcast is a spoiler, but this episode will specifically spoil the arcs of Scanlan, Fjord, and Caleb.
Nov 10, 2023•40 min
Who says you need to be a voice actor to be able to do a character voice? Josh and Dev talk about different techniques you can try, all while not needing to be a trained actor. We discuss topics like sustainable voices, how to practice and get comfortable doing voices, and creating NPCs on the fly. Using examples from Critical Role, we unpack the talents of the imitable Matt Mercer and the rest of the cast. Art by Amy's Art Animations @pastripink on Instagram Music by Sarah Vinci...
Oct 26, 2023•34 min•Season 1Ep. 2
In our debut episode, what better place to start than at the beginning. Our beginnings and also Critical Role's beginnings. We discuss how it's okay to be new at something and share our first impressions of Critical Role. We hope our episode gives you the courage to try something new! Art by Amy's Art Animations @pastripink on Instagram Music by Sarah Vinci
Oct 26, 2023•31 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Where two nerdy ass podcasters talk about how to play Dungeons & Dragons, by learning from the greats... Critical Role! Meet Josh and Dev who will discuss various topics in their bi-weekly episodes from Character Voices to World Building, this show covers a range of topics to help you level up your storytelling and role playing. These episodes will be released on Thursdays and are 30-45 minutes so you can get back to your Critical Role content. Art by Amy's Art Animations @pastripink on ...
Oct 20, 2023•1 min
