"Even though we've known we’ll be making several episodes for a few weeks now, crossing that last stretch goal finally made us realize that this is really happening," animated series and Critical Role cast member Sam Riegel told IGN via email. "A full, 10-episode season is such a massive thing — truly beyond our wildest expectations. We already get to share our stories with the world every Thursday night, but making an animated season is somehow different.
"It’s something that will live on, we hope, long after we’re done with our twitch show. And now that we have 10 episodes guaranteed, we’re thrilled that we get to share a complete story, the entire arc, with a mass audience. The show was already going to be great, but now it will truly be epic."
Riegel told IGN a bit about the experience of hitting the last stretch goal in the middle of this week's episode of Critical Role, saying the cast shared a champagne toast during the episode's intermission and "promised each other we wouldn't screw it up."
"The fans, the critters, have meant everything to us. They’ve given us constant support, surprised us with their generosity, and encouraged us to pursue our wildest dreams. The fact that they were all there watching live when this goal was collectively achieved, is so meaningful and special. We love them all," Riegel said.
Critical Role's Kickstart campaign began as a pitch for an animated special based on the characters of Vox Machina, who the Critical Role cast played in their first live-streamed D&D campaign.Read our previous updates and original story for more information on the Kickstarter campaign and planned series.
Update 3/7: After announcing more stretch goals, Critical Role's Kickstarter for The Legend of Vox Machina animated series has hit another milestone.
The campaign currently sits at about $5.85 million, surpassing the $5.75 million stretch goal to add two more episodes, aka 44 minutes of animation, to the animated series' run.
The campaign is now the most funded Movies and TV Kickstarter in the history of the fundraising website, having surpassed the campaign that revvived Mystery Science Theater 3000, which currently airs on Netflix.
Critical Role also detailed its episode plans to give fans a better idea of what to expect from the show, with the first six funded. Here are the details, via the Kickstarter's recent update:
- Episodes 1 & 2: A brand new story centered around Vox Machina at level 7
- Episodes 3, 4, 5, 6: Briarwoods arc!
- Episodes 7 & 8: Continuation of Briarwoods arc (Stretch goal: $7.5M)
- Episodes 9 & 10: Continuation and conclusion of Briarwoods arc
The Kickstarter campaign hit $5 million as of March 6, which is more than six times the original fundraising goal of $750,000. The campaign will not end until April 18.
But, as a result of the incredible success so far of the campaign, Critical Role has announced The Legend of Vox Machina will no longer be an animated special and instead be an episodic animated series. Four episodes of a series are currently funded, with the initial episodes focusing on a new Vox Machina adventure set before the already played D&D campaign.
Critical Role is now planning to dive right into retelling the story of Vox Machina as played out on the weekly Critical Role livestream, which is currently in its second campaign focusing on their new characters, collectively called The Mighty Nein.
Critical Role also introduced new stretch goals, which will go toward funding more episodes and specifically adapting the Briarwoods arc of the Vox Machina campaign, which began in episode 24 of Critical Role. Each new stretch goal will fund two additional 22-minute episodes. Additionally, new stretch goals include one-shot episodes of Critical Role — one being a Battle Royale episode featuring guests from the Vox Machina arc, and another is a one-shot DM'ed by Critical Role and The Last of Us' Ashley Johnson.
The closest stretch goal is set for $5.75 million, which is for two additional episodes that would start the Briarwoods arc, while two more stretch goals have been confirmed but the totals needed are unknown as of press time."We really cannot believe that we’ve already made it this far together. We can’t thank you enough for all of your support, kind words, and contributions to our campaign to date," the latest update on the Kickstarter page reads.
For those who don't watch or listen, Critical Role is a weekly livestreamed game of Dungeons and Dragons, DM'ed by Persona 5's Matt Mercer and featuring a host of other familiar voices as regular members, including Laura Bailey, Taliesin Jaffe, Ashley Johnson, Liam O'Brien, Marisha Ray, Sam Riegel, and Travis Willingham. New episodes air every Thursday on twitch.tv/criticalrole Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's news editor, who has his girlfriend to thank for making him listen to Critical Role and turning him into a fan of the show. Talk to him about it on Twitter @jmdornbush.
