One Critical Role fan had a good excuse for missing the start of the latest campaign – he was playing a pivotal role in the Cleveland Browns’ 17-14 victory over the Denver Broncos. Last night marked the start of a new campaign for Critical Role, a popular web series featuring a group of voice actors playing Dungeons & Dragons. Johnny Stanton IV, a fullback for the Cleveland Browns and a notable Dungeons & Dragons fan, gave the show a shout-out as he walked into First Energy Stadium ahead of the Browns’ Thursday Night Football showdown with the Denver Broncos.
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Stanton, a former QB in college who was signed from the Browns’ practice squad two weeks ago, had one heck of a game. Not only did Stanton rush for first downs on multiple third down conversions, he also caught what would turn out to be the game-winning touchdown on a pass from Browns’ QB Case Keenum. You can check out Keenum’s pass to Stanton below:ย
Critical Roleย launched on Geek & Sundry back in 2015 and spun out into its own channel shortly after the launch of its second season. The show is credited as one of the reasons for Dungeons & Dragons‘ recent mainstream success and is widely considered to be one of the most successful “let’s play” tabletop livestreams. Over the past several years, Critical Role has grown into a full-fledged media empire. In addition to its weekly programming on Twitch, Critical Role is also developing an animated series for Amazon Prime and has a large merchandise line that includes everything from comics published by Dark Horse to Funko POP! figures to young adult novels. Critical Role also recently launched its own tabletop publishing house. The series also has an active partnership with D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast, with two official D&D books taking place inside Critical Role‘s Exandria setting. Critical Role is also publishing their own D&D sourcebook Tal’Dorei Reborn, next year.
Critical Role has fans everywhere, even in windy First Energy Stadium on the shores of Lake Erie. And while Stanton obviously had a good excuse for skipping out on the Critical Role Campaign 3 premiere, he and other fans will have plenty of chances to catch up over the next few days. Critical Role posts VOD of their most recent episode every Monday and also releases a podcast version of episodes every Thursday. You can also watch Critical Role episodes live on Thursday at 7 PM PT on their Twitch channel.
