We’ve conquered the Dungeons… now it’s time for the Dragons.

In this high-flying episode of Critical Role Models, we break down what makes dragons the ultimate fantasy icon—and how you can make them unforgettable at your table.

Whether you’re a Dungeon Master looking to craft a legendary wyrm or a player determined to claim that hoard, this episode is packed with actionable tips and epic inspiration.

We use two of Critical Role's most memorable dragons as examples:

• Raishan – The Diseased Deceiver. A masterclass in manipulation, long games, and layered villainy.
• Gelidon – The Nightmare in Ivory. Proof that a dragon encounter can be terrifying, personal, and brutally simple.

Level up your storytelling. Sharpen your blades. And remember—every dragon has a weakness… if you’re clever enough to find it. 🔥

Want to design dungeons like Matt Mercer? We'll help by breaking down the fundamentals of dungeons. We analyze two famous dungeons from Critical Role Campaign 2—the Happy Fun Ball and the Crawling King's Cage—to show you how Matt connects story threads, creates memorable challenges, and builds a great experience for his players. Whether you're a DM preparing your first dungeon or a player wanting to understand the craft, this episode reveals the building blocks behind Matt's legendary dungeon design and how you can build your own delicious dungeon.

Timestamps:

• 0:02:49 - History of Dungeons in D&D
• 0:06:46 - Concept: Location, Denizens, and Goal
• 0:20:33 - Designing Dungeons: Rooms with Stuff
• 0:24:21 - Denizens: Who Lives There?
• 0:34:00 - Rewards: Treasure and Information
• 0:37:30 - Room Description: The Three Senses Rule
• 0:44:10 - External Groups and World Building
• 0:51:43 - Twists: When Things Aren't What They Seem
• 0:54:59 - Crit Role Stat & Blanking w/ Critical Role

You need to nerd out…on The Mighty Nein! Welcome to our season 3 premiere.

While watching the new animated show, we were amazed at how the campaign was adapted and we are excited for what the future holds.

The show also left us wondering what we could bring back to our home games. Whether you’re new to Critical Role and D&D or you’re a long-time critter, this show can cast bardic inspiration on your home games.

Welcome! 00:00

Podcast Segments & Giveaway 02:00

How Might Nein Meets: Show vs Home Game 11:23

Navigating Character Tension 21:02

Adapting Campaign Stories for Animated Series 23:59

Building Wildemount Characters for Your Home Game 39:03

Predictions for Season 2 (Spoilers) 44:59

Wrapping Up 56:40

Listeners old and new, come hear what we have in store for you!

We are spilling the tea in a bonus episode all about what has been happening this summer with Critical Role! We have reports from Comic Con and Gen Con, as well as tips for going to other cons this summer.

We answer questions like: What’s it really like to go to a live show? Is the VIP package really worth it? and Should you wait in line for merch? These and other hard-hitting questions are covered by our correspondents in the field.

Gina returns as our guest host and we are joined by our special guest Sara, from Tales of Exandria.

We will also cover when too much tea was spilled and the C4 announcement was spoiled. What do we think is in store for Campaign 4? All this and more in this Bonus Action episode of Critical Role Models!

Follow Gina @pixiegiftfashions

Follow Sara @talesofexandria

Con Debrief: 2:35

Indy Live Show Debrief (No Spoilers): 31:16

C4 Announcement: 54:56

Mighty Nein Animated Series: 1:17:19

For the final episode of our second season, Josh sits down with special guest Scott Mayfield to discuss Brennan Lee Mulligan, one of Critical Role's most famous guest stars.

We discuss how Brennan helps his players create rich, compelling PCs, how he manages rapid shifts in tone and how his understanding of the PCs motivations lets him guide them through his campaigns.

**We also announce the winner of our Get Out the Vote Giveaway!! If you still haven't voted for us for Best Podcast Hosts, we kindly ask you go to www.critawards.org/ **

Time Stamps

00:00 Giveaway announcement, intro & crit role news

08:50 How Brennan hooks you

21:35 Quickly shifting tone

28:39 Creating rich PCs

41:16 Powerful thematic moments

1:13:28 Lighting round: Matt vs Brennan comparison

1:26:40 BLMs impact on D&D

**We've been nominated for Best Podcast Host for this year's CRIT Awards. Please help us turn this award-nominated podcast into an award-winning podcast by going to critawards.org and voting for us now. You have until June 30 so don't delay. Thanks for your consideration!**

Ever wonder how you can make your own Cosplay? Or how about how to attend a Con and meet the cast of Critical Role? This episode has you rolling Insight with Advantage. Josh takes a break this episode as Gina from Pixiegift Fashions joins Dev as her sidekick. They interview and get lots of advice from special guest star, Taylor who is best known for her Scanlan cosplay. More recently, her Scantaur cosplay which was a hit in the Critter community. We hope this episode helps you feel more empowered this Con Season!

06:27 Critter Cosplay with Taylor

28:52 Cosplay Tips & Tricks

50:37 Content Creation Insight

01:14:38 In on the Con (Preparing for Conventions)

01:36:54 Final Con Takeaways

Follow Gina and their fashions at pixiegiftfashions on Instagram and TikTok.

Follow Taylor and her cosplay adventures including with her as Scanlan and her friend Mo as Pike at bravoalmara on Instagram and TikTok. And check out her podcast, One True Pair, on Spotify.

Villains beware cause you're bout to be dead! Bwahaha! We are covering several different aspects of villainry (see our timestamps below for the different topics) and we hope they give you some useful tricks when writing or designing your next BBEG!

Villains are not just for DMs! We discuss how players can create compelling villains in their backstory like Caleb's Trent Ikathon or Percy's Briarwoods. We also discuss useful play tips for taking down your DMs most dangerous bad guys.

Making a great bad guy is more art than science. We are lucky to have so many to learn from: Avantika, Obann, The Laughing Hand, Kevdak and Predathos (just to name a few).

2:42 - Crit Role News

7:38 - Intro to Villains

22:00 - Teasing Bosses

30:00 - Encountering the Boss

49:30 - Motivations

1:06:00 - Roleplay aka Dinner with the Devil

1:19:00 - Boss Fights

1:43:00 - Takeaways

Please consider nominating us for best new podcast (2 years or less) or best podcast hosts at https://www.critawards.org/ (Nominations are open until April 30th)

The Studio Binder video we reference on villain archetypes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZOEPpjll0U&pp=ygUWc3R1ZGlvIGJpbmRlciB2aWxsYWlucw%3D%3D

The article on DMing without plots: https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/4147/roleplaying-games/dont-prep-plots

Before the stream started, the party known as Vox Machina, was called The Sh*ts. Regardless of the name change, over the past ten years they have proven that they are still The Sh*ts (and we love that for them). A chaotic bunch of weirdos who somehow manage to save the world.

The first half of this episode we cover how far Critical Role has come, highlighting our favorite moments and some of the most impactful parts of their history.

The second half is our wrap up of Campaign 3, sharing our thoughts as we patiently wait for the next campaign.

How Far They've Come -- 12:00

Campaign 3 Wrap Up -- 58:00

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:

• 14:00 -- Intro to Stakes
• 24:00 -- Player Character Death
• 48:00 -- NPC
• 55:00 -- Internal Stakes
• 1:12:00 -- Environment
• 1:34:00 -- Reputation
• 1:41:00 -- Honorable Mentions
• 1:49:00 -- Advice & Takeaways

We hope you enjoy having Spencer on the show. We sure did!