Critical Role campaign three

The third campaign of the Dungeons & Dragons web series Critical Role premiered on October 21, 2021; it is set after the conclusion of the second campaign and Exandria Unlimited. The series stars Marisha Ray, Ashley Johnson, Laura Bailey, Travis Willingham, Liam O'Brien, Taliesin Jaffe, and Sam Riegel as the players with Matthew Mercer as the Dungeon Master. Campaign three airs each Thursday at 7 p.m. PT on Critical Role Productions' Twitch and YouTube channels and the Beacon streaming service except for the last Thursday of each month.

The campaign is an actual play which follows the Bells Hells, a party of adventurers, in their travels across the continent of Marquet. The campaign begins two months before the Apogee Solstice, a celestial event which influences the ley lines of Exandria and magnifies magical abilities. The party gets drawn into the mystery surrounding Exandria's second moon Ruidus and the superstitions around the Ruidusborn, people born during spontaneous flares of the red moon. They eventually discover that the gods crafted Ruidus to imprison an ancient evil and that the Ruby Vanguard – founded and led by Martinet Ludinus Da'leth – seek to free this entity during the Apogee Solstice. The Bells Hells attempted to prevent this by targeting the Malleus Keys, magical devices built by the Ruby Vanguard to aid their ritual. The party interferes with the ritual and afterwards, Ruidus is locked in place over the Hellcatch Valley Malleus Key which allows people to travel between the moon and Exandria. The Bells Hells continue to work towards preventing the release of Predathos.

Main
Campaign 3 has maintained the previous Campaign 2 main cast members, consisting of seven players and the Dungeon Master.  The characters met in the city of Jrusar and later named their adventuring party the Bells Hells after a fallen member.


 * Marisha Ray as Laudna, a human (Hollow One ) warlock/sorcerer who was killed during the massacre that began the Whitestone Rebellion in 810 PD and was resurrected by necromantic magics; she has since occasionally heard the voice of the deceased Delilah Briarwood. She wandered for decades before meeting Imogen in the Taloned Highlands; the two later travelled to Jrusar in 843 PD. Laudna was killed by Otohan Thull of the Ruby Vanguard during a battle at the Paragon's Call fortress which led the Bells Hells to go on a successful quest to magically resurrect her. Later in the campaign, Laudna forms a romantic relationship with Imogen.
 * Ashley Johnson as:
 * Fearne Calloway, a Ruidusborn faun druid/rogue who travelled to the Material Plane from the Feywild to explore and find her parents. She can summon a wildfire spirit monkey named Little Mister. She met Orym and Dorian, along with other adventurers, in Emon and they formed the group known as the Crown Keepers. In the summer of 843 PD, she journeyed to Jrusar with Orym and Dorian to support Orym's mission.
 * Trist, a human paladin/cleric who is the mortal incarnation of the Everlight and infiltrates Aeor during the Calamity.
 * Laura Bailey as:
 * Imogen Temult, a Ruidusborn human sorcerer with psionic magic who has reoccurring dreams of a red storm. She and her companion Laudna travelled to Jrusar to investigate the origins of her psionic abilities and Laudna's necromantic abilities. Her mother, Liliana Temult, left when she was a child; the party's investigation into Ruidius leads them to discover that she and Liliana are Exaltant Ruidusborn who get power from the red moon. Liliana, as a general in the Ruby Vanguard, is working with the powerful elven archmage Ludinus Da'leth toward mysterious ends involving Ruidus. During the campaign, Imogen forms a romantic relationship with Laudna.
 * Emhira, a human warlock who is the mortal incarnation of the Raven Queen and infiltrates Aeor during the Calamity.
 * Travis Willingham as:
 * Sir Bertrand Bell, a human fighter who travelled with Vox Machina to the plane of Pandemonium in 812 PD and in the following decades, exaggerated his accomplishments. After an encounter with animated furniture in Jrusar, he introduced the group to Lord Ariks Eshteross. When he was separated from the party one evening, the dwarf Dugger ambushed and killed him – the party avenges him and later names the group the Bells Hells in his honor.
 * Chetney Pock O'Pea, a gnome blood hunter/rogue who is also a woodworking artisan. He left Uthodurn in search of aid for his lycanthropy. He approaches the Bells Hells to ask for help searching for a man; following this, he joins the group as a full member.
 * Liam O'Brien as Orym of the Air Ashari, a halfling fighter on a mission from Keyleth of the Air Ashari to investigate an attack in Marquet. This attack was similar to an attack on Keyleth in 837 PD which left Orym's husband Will dead. He travelled to Jrusar with other members of the Crown Keepers.
 * Matthew Mercer as:
 * The Dungeon Master who organizes the gameplay, describes what effects the player characters' actions have on the world and narrative, and plays the non-player characters (NPCs).
 * Dariax Zaveon, a dwarf sorcerer/bard and member of the Crown Keepers.
 * Taliesin Jaffe as:
 * Ashton Greymoore, an earth genasi barbarian who attacked Jiana Hexum's home in Jrusar with a group called the Nobodies and was gravely injured; they were abandoned by the group and have been paying off their debt to Hexum since. On a job, they discovered Fresh Cut Grass and helped the automaton bury their companions. They later convince the Bells Hells to take a job from Hexum which pays off their debt to her.
 * Asha, an elf monk who is the mortal incarnation of the Wildmother and infiltrates Aeor during the Calamity.
 * Sam Riegel as:
 * Fresh Cut Grass (FCG), an automaton cleric with ancient Aeorian design who was reassembled by the tinkerer Dancer in 838 PD. They are the surviving member of the party known as the Division of Public Benefit. They initially believe that they were built by Dancer but the party learns FCG was a pre-Divergence Harmonious Aeormaton named Faithful Care-Giver. While they don't have memories of this time period, FCG fears that they participated in an assassination attempt known as the Care and the Culling after learning that they repressed memories of killing the other members of the Division of Public Benefit during a panic attack. On the Ruidus scouting mission, FCG sacrifices himself to kill Otohan Thull and save Bells Hells so they can escape the moon. Following FCG's in-game death in April 2024, Riegel took a leave of absence from the show to receive treatment for cancer before returning to the show with a new character in June 2024.
 * Braius Doomseed, a minotaur paladin/bard who is a follower of Asmodeus. After infiltrating the Ruby Vanguard on a mission to kill Ludinus Da'leth, he joins Bells Hells in the ruins of Aeor as the party is also tracking Ludinus.

Guests
Additionally, the following guests have made appearances:


 * Robbie Daymond as Dorian Storm, an air genasi bard who travelled to Jrusar with Orym and Fearne and helped form the Bells Hells. He later leaves the group to help smuggle his brother out of Marquet and rejoins the other members of the Crown Keepers in Tal'Dorei.
 * Erika Ishii as Yu Suffiad, a changeling warlock/paladin who works for Sorrowlord Zathuda, Grove Captain of the Unseelie Court. They were tasked with hunting down Fearne's parents and recovering an object which they stole.
 * Christian Navarro as F.R.I.D.A. (Far Ranging Integrated Defense Aeormaton), an automaton fighter/rogue/cleric with ancient Aeorian design who is an companion of Deanna. Similar to FCG, they were brought back to life by a mysterious figure known as "D".
 * Aabria Iyengar as:
 * Deanna Leimert, a gnome cleric of the Dawnfather. She and Chetney are exes; after they broke up, Deanna married, had a family and died. Her husband went on a quest and found a cleric who brought Deanna back to life two hundred years later.
 * The Dungeon Master of the Crown Keepers, a party of adventurers who originally appeared in Exandria Unlimited.
 * Aimee Carrero as:
 * Deni$e Bembachula, a dwarf barbarian/rogue from Tal'Dorei who was mysteriously teleported to Issylra during the Apogee Solstice at the same moment that she found her ex-fiance Dariax, a character played by Mercer in Exandria Unlimited. After discovering that Dariax is desolate in Westruun, she acquires transportation there.
 * Opal, a human warlock and member of the Crown Keepers. During Exandria Unlimited, Opal donned the Spider Queen's Vestige of Divergence, the Circlet of Barbed Vision, and has slowly become corrupted by the evil goddess.
 * Utkarsh Ambudkar as Bor'Dor Dog'Son, a half-elf sorcerer of the Ruby Vanguard who was teleported to Issylra during the Apogee Solstice near the other party members. He murdered a farmer, burned his body, and stole his clothes to delude the party into thinking he is a simple sheep farmer. After his lies are discovered, he is killed by Laudna in revenge.
 * Emily Axford as Prism Grimpoppy, a shadar-kai wizard originally from the Shadowfell who was an apprentice mage at the Cobalt Soul. She was tasked by the Cobalt Soul to do a survey on experiences during the Apogee Solstice; the Cobalt Soul knew she would be transported. She also has a raven familiar named Mother in honor of the Matron of Ravens. After travelling with members of Bells Hells for a time, she decides not to return to the Cobalt Soul and steal books for Bells Hells.
 * Anjali Bhimani as Fy'ra Rai, a fire genasi monk who worships the Wildmother and is a member of the Crown Keepers. During Exandria Unlimited: Kymal, she discovers her twin sister works for the Nameless Ones who are enemies of the Crown Keepers.
 * Erica Lindbeck as Morrighan Ferus, a lagomore paladin of the Raven Queen who was originally from the Feywild. She joined the Crown Keepers during a heist in Exandria Unlimited: Kymal.
 * Brennan Lee Mulligan as the Dungeon Master for the Downfall arc of the campaign. This special focuses on the divine figures who brought down Aeor during the Calamity.
 * Noshir Dalal as The Emissary, an earth genasi barbarian who is the Lawbearer's Herald and infiltrates Aeor during the Calamity.
 * Nick Marini as Ayden, a human barbarian/druid/cleric/paladin who is the mortal incarnation of the Dawnfather and infiltrates Aeor during the Calamity.
 * Abubakar Salim as S.I.L.A.H.A., an aeormaton socerer/warlock who is the mortal incarnation of the Archeart and infiltrates Aeor during the Calamity.

Background
The story takes place roughly 10 years after the events of the second campaign, shortly after the events of the limited series Exandria Unlimited. It is set on the continent of Marquet, which was briefly visited during the Vox Machina campaign.  SyFy Wire highlighted that Marquet is "home to massive deserts, mountains, and even a volcano" and that it is "uncharted territory for the series". 

Multiple characters in this campaign are returning characters. Dorian, Orym, and Fearne premiered in Exandria Unlimited while Bertrand premiered in the one-shot "Search For Grog". Mercer noted that both Johnson and O'Brien brought character concepts they were toying with for Campaign 3 over to Exandria Unlimited, where they had the chance to develop them with Aabria Iyengar. There was no expectation to carry the characters over to Campaign 3, but the two players enjoyed the characters so much, they decided to keep using them moving forward. Daymond was brought in a special guest to help carry them forward over into Campaign 3. Willingham's second character, Chetney, was inspired by a character he had previously played in the non-canon one-shot "The Night Before Critmas". Additionally, Mercer has brought back several player characters from previous campaigns as NPCs such as Vox Machina's Keyleth and Pike and The Mighty Nein's Caleb and Beau.

Production and format
The format is largely unchanged from the second campaign, with videos of the cast and any battlemaps presented in 3-5-hour episodes. Technical changes introduced during the second campaign such as subtitles, character information and pre-recording were maintained. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the show had broadcast live, but has been pre-recorded since Campaign Two Episode 100.   A new set, designed by professional amusement park designers Shaun Ellis and Polly Hodges, was built for the third campaign. The cast are no longer divided into socially distanced individual tables, but returned instead to a common table as had been the case prior to the pandemic. The campaign features "enhanced set designs, music, lighting and effects, along with improved sound (each actor will have an individual mic)."

The show airs each Thursday at 19:00 PT on Critical Role's Twitch and YouTube channels. In a change from the previous campaign, campaign three of Critical Role will not air new episodes on the last Thursday of every month; instead, other content by the studio will air in its time slot.  The third campaign's premiere was simulcast live in Cinemark Theatres along with the regular Twitch and YouTube livestream. Similarly, the 17th episode of the third campaign was simulcast in Cinemark Theatres, Landmark Theatres, and Cinépolis alongside the regular livestream as part of their 7th anniversary celebration. The campaign went on hiatus from the end of May 2022 until June 30, 2022 (during which Exandria Unlimited: Calamity aired). In May 2024, Critical Role announced that Episode 98 will be filmed live at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on June 15 before airing on June 20, 2024. Brennan Lee Mulligan hosted a Q&A before the live show.

Casting
The way in which guest players were scheduled changed for Campaign Three, moving away from single-episode appearances as had been common before. In the first two campaigns, the longest continuous appearance was Ashly Burch's four-episode run in Campaign Two, while Bailey and Willingham were absent following the birth of their child. Daymond portrayed Dorian for the first 14 episodes of the campaign. Shortly after Daymond's departure from the main campaign, he appeared in Exandria Unlimited: Kymal for a further two episodes as Dorian. He then prerecorded an audio piece for episode 41. Until Daymond, the guests with the highest episode count had been Will Friedle and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, who appeared in a total of seven episodes over the course of Campaign One.

In Episode 92, Mercer dismissed the main cast at the ad break including "himself as Dungeon Master". The episode then picked up with Aabria Iyengar as the Dungeon Master with Mercer, Daymond, Aimee Carrero, Anjali Bhimani, and Erica Lindbeck reprising their player roles from the spinoff Exandria Unlimited: Kymal. The following episode wrapped up the Crown Keepers storyline with the guest cast; the main cast returned after the ad break with Daymond as the only continuing guest star.

At the end of Episode 98, Mulligan took Mercer's place – his monologue was the opening of a magical projection of the past witnessed by Bells Hells and Ludnius Da'leth. Critical Role then announced the next episodes would be a three-part special titled "Downfall" with Mulligan as the Dungeon Master and the player cast as Bailey, Jaffe, Johnson, Noshir Dalal, Nick Marini, and Abubakar Salim. In 2022, Mulligan was the Dungeon Master for the limited series Exandria Unlimited: Calamity which focused on the events that triggered the Calamity. "Downfall" is set over a century into the Calamity; while officially part of the third campaign, it is advertised as a standalone special that does not require prior knowledge of Critical Role or Exandria Unlimited. Cheryl Teh of Business Insider highlighted that "Downfall" focuses on the fall of the magocracy Aeor and suggested this will "allow Mulligan to flex his storytelling chops, perhaps reprising some elements of his first EXU: Calamity run". Mulligan commented that the two series wrestle with very different themes so while both are about the fall of flying cities, each has a distinct story. Mulligan also highlighted that while Calamity shows the trigger of the Calamity, it was more about the end of the Age of Arcanum while Downfall occurs over a century into the Calamity and showcases that era.