Critical Role’s Vox Machina animated series is a hit, so go back to where it all started
The Legend of Vox Machina, the highly anticipated adult animated series based on Critical Role, is finally available on Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service. Episodes are currently dropping each Friday throughout February. That gives fans new and old a great excuse to catch up on the original material — dozens of hours of gameplay available both on YouTube and as a podcast.
Critical Role, the team behind Vox Machina, is a troupe of voice actors who have been playing Dungeons & Dragons together since 2014. Their weekly broadcasts on Twitch comprise one of the most popular “actual play” experiences in the world — that is, a performance devoted to actually playing D&D in real time. The first season of the animated show draws upon the events of the first campaign, and is engineered to be the perfect point of entry for newcomers to a sprawling multimedia adventure, and a jumping off point for never-before-seen adventures.
For those who want to go in blind, know that the series has been specifically tailored to appeal to new viewers, kicking off on this new medium with a comparatively bite-sized story. But, as with building a character for D&D, sometimes it pays to spend some time fleshing out the details and digging into the backstory.
The Legend of Vox Machina refers to the group of adventurers known as Vox Machina. It takes place on a planet called Exandria, specifically on the continent of Tal’Dorei. Exandria — home to gods, monsters and remarkably difficult doors — is Matthew Mercer’s own campaign setting, and represents a shared universe where all Critical Role campaigns take place. If you want to learn more about Exandria’s history, there’s even a handy video that explains its origin story.
Elements of Exandria
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