Beyond the Table: Chapter 1 - The Gift (Critical Role Docuseries) 

Hello!! Thank you for all the support on this series so far! Big note: I am aware that Percy was a gunslinger because of Pathfinder and then they home-brewed it for 5e when they switched. I will make this correction in the final! If you would like to support this series you can check out my Patreon: www.patreon.com/jrcollections Thanks again!!

i love this. the marisha haters that say that Marisha was "only in the game because she's the DM's gf" they can all put it in their asses. Marisha knew how to play and she guided the newbies.

I was struck by something Troy Baker said while doing the LOVM watchalongs, that no matter when you started watching , you found Critical Role at the right time in your life when you needed it. That made me tear up, because over the past year this group and these stories have meant a tremendous amount to me over a very stressful time in my life, and have been a source of comfort in my life when everything else is falling apart. I don’t play D&D, but I am very grateful to have found these people when I needed them. Thank you very much for capturing their story in such a beautiful way.

Seldom was someone so insanely right about "The best thing we ever did" as Liam was in that now VERY iconic clip/moment.

Critical Role is one of those shows where the backstory to its inception REALLY MATTERS and IMPROVES the shows to a whole new level. The fact that its success hangs so much in the balance of so many factors: two friends starting a podcast, a fellow voice actor who honed their DM skills for a couple decades before meeting them, those same actors being close enough friends for one to DM as a birthday gift (a quite unusual gift), a widely available and popular live streaming platform, multiple famous actors agreeing to come together for a private game between them, a rumor of this private game floating around the entertainment industry finding its way to Felicia Day, Felicia Day herself working at the underdog of media companies; Geek & Sundry during this time and having the power within that company to make these decisions and pull some strings (would many other people other than Felicia make such a decision to host Critical Role as their flagship product?), a never before seen type of media content for many people (many have tried, many have failed), garnering an audience with huge crossover of interests in all the projects the actors have been apart of and also D&D, the right content creators on RU-vid picking up on Critical Role's success to revitalize D&D for content creation, in turn bringing more and more success to the show. Its genuinely mad to think about all the coincidences that had to align perfectly for Critical Role to succeed for as long as it has. Even if Critical Role starts dropping in viewership to the point of failure it has a legacy that is intrinsically tied to D&D.

Amazing work, incredible edit, this must have taken ages to put together. Well done JR, we love you very much ♥

I first got into CR during a VERY dark period of my life, and in fact ended up changing it. It is because of CR that I decided to be a voice actor, and years later I just got my first gig under my belt, I'm in a much better headspace, and life is pretty great.

I was like "ok, I think I know everything about how they started, I wonder if there will be any new facts for me here..." And then I learned the birthday oneshot took place half a year after Liam's birthday?!? Wow Good job, amazing video 💖

It's remarkable how central CR has become to my life. I found it last September and started watching Season 2. I'm well over 110 episodes in, and have watched many of the one-shots, and side series as well. It's a near daily presence in my life and the characters have brought me back to playing D&D with my wife - adding a lot to my real life. I can't wait to start Season 3 in a month or two and also see where they go for season 4.

Quick correction: Matt and Liam did not homebrew the Gunslinger class. The home game was using Pathfinder first edition which featured the Gunslinger class in the book Ultimate Combat. When they made the switch from PF1 to D&D 5e they had to homebrew a conversion of the Gunslinger for 5e so that Taliesin could continue playing Percy.

I'm one of the old guard, i think I followed them from around episode 12-13, after scrolling through some G&S videos, usually watching Wil Wheaton's board game series. So this hits hard. I'll never stop saying, season 1 is the best story ever told in any sort of medium, with all its ups and downs. Just chills every time a reference is made to it. They deserve all praise.

Has the Critical Role cast seen this? They should. This is amazing, keep it up. 🙂

As someone who only picked up watching the livestream with the current (third) campaign with Bell's Hells, it's wild to see them so excited about playing in the beginning. But how could Liam's role of Illidan in World of Warcraft and Hearthstone go without a mention? YOU ARE NOT PREPARED!

Percy's class wasn't customised by Matt, the Gunslinger class is an actual class in Pathfinder. Matt had to make a custom archetype for the Fighter when they moved over to 5e

As someone who is about to take a similar journey, this video gave me chills. Thank you.

You're making something pretty cool here :). I love all the early footage of the home game and there are details I didn't know. Looking forward to the next one.

I have seen every episode of every campaign. Critical Role keeps me sane.

There is a gentleman who is also important to thier early days, Zach Eubank. The producer and runner for geek & sundre. Some of his early advice shaped the future for them going forward

This is like a wonderful walk down memory lane with people who feel like friends, while also capturing the joy of my own beginnings to playing TTRPGs with my group. The feels!

Never have I ever watched a youtube video so intently and when it ended thought, "Moore please". Awesome job on the 1st Chapter. Look forward to seeing more

Wow I thought I knew most of the background but picked up a few things as well. Gotta say I feel special somehow having followed these guys since C1 Episode 32 or something like that. It's been some journey and they have spread a lot of joy around the world.

Oh you! You made me cry! It was a wonderful reminder of how far they/we have come. I loved every second of this documentary! Thank you from the bottom of my heart! ❤️

Love the use of Taliesin's crow noise for the expletives 😂. Great vid, can't wait to see more! ❤

Thanks for making this. It really is a treat to remember where all this came from. Good luck with the future episodes!

... I'm very sure you can't tell me anything new, but it's still fun to watch compiled like this :)) thanks for all the work

7:28 - minor mistake: Gunslinger was an official class in Pathfinder. The homebrew was for early 5e.

This is well made. I thought I already had the behind-the-curtain look from reading "The World of Critical Role: The History Behind the Epic Fantasy," but your docuseries style adds a lot to the immersion of their story. Also great to see old footage for where they came from, even back to G&S days. Well done!

Thank you for this. I love these nerdy ass voice actors and wow... what an absolute legend Mathew Mercer is in creating a wonderful world just using his imagination. And I love Sam for his funny RP and clutch moves which are super entertaining to watch. Thank you Critical Role!! ❤️

A fantastic first chapter, well done! ❤

Thanks for putting this together, it's well researched and well done. A lot of this info many of us have collected from so many different places and so it's nice to see if finally all put together like this. Like learning the few tid bits too, didn't know how exactly Ashely joined for example. Great work!

Excellent job. I'm sure going through all these interviews must have been a lot of work! Great work. I'm excited for the series.

I watched the very first episode from the very beginning. I watched the numbers of watchers go from 60 people watching and grow!!

Wonderful video. I've been watching them live since campaign 2 ep1 after I saw Sam crying at the table I had to know why and was hooked. Never knew Vox Machina meant Voice Machine in Latin. That's a great catch.

This is really well made. That's probably the most accurate way to put it

Thank you so much for this, it has brought back such good memories. I too played when I was younger, I am an older lady now but for 14 years I also owned a FLGS I played TTRPGs including D&D in fact my first playing was back in 1976 with the original white box set that I still own. At some point I left Gaming behind as a regular hobby but my head was always still "in the clouds" I reconnected with D&D back in 2013 when I began running my 4E Campaign that ran for 8 years, I can well remember watching other playthrough games in particular a "West Marches" style campaign on "it's JPS" with Stephen Lumpkin as their DM. I was also a great fan of Felicia Day's "The Guild" series and that lead to be discovering CR pretty much from the beginning for which I am ever thankful. Watching Matt helped me to improve some elements of my own home game, my voice acting for multiple characters, for one. Covid/Lockdown gave our game a break and lost us a couple of players, but during this time I decided that if I was going to form a new party of players, around the core of my old players, that I would transition our rule system over to 5E, and expensive decision as I also discovered KickStarter. Every step of the way I have had Critical Role as a template for the style of storytelling game that I like to play and run, rather than the hack and slash that had been part of my earliest experience as a youngster. Whilst I was still going to be a story teller Matt and crew helped bolster my own view that there was more to D&D than just hack and slash, though I love that the game allows for all these styles of play. I encourage the frustrated actor within all my players, two recent additions being players who actually only came into D&D as a result of CR. For me CR has allowed for a Renaissance in TTRPGs by hugely growing the player base, and I'll be honest allowing we DMs to be far more picky about who we have seated around our table. So once again thank you to you for taking us back to the beginning of this remarkable show that has given so many of us so very many hours of pleasure (close to 1000 hours by my reckoning) and has given access to an outlet from the craziness of the real world in which we live.

Totally sobbed. Thank you so much. I can feel you coming from a place of love & appreciation for them which is important to me & I relate to deeply. They have impacted my life in so many ways. Inspired me, gotten me through some really rough patches. I've watched every campaign at least once. I've also been a D&D (and other TTRPG) player for many years so it's goodness on so many levels. (I'm going to immediately send this link to our home game's text thread LOL). Well done! Looking forward to more.

This is legitimately awesome. Like, I kept my bar low but you’ve made something so easy to listen through, engaging to watch, and it’s got loads of awesome research involved already!

This made me cry. This might be my favorite superhero origin story ever. I also found Critical Role at a time when I really needed them. I fell in love and never looked back. Thank you so much for doing this. And yes, I did learn something new! I appreciate that so much! Looking forward to the next ones.

Beautifully done, you grasped definitely what was the spark that ignited the whole phenomenom. I discovered CR when first campaign juste finished, and it took me 2 years and a half to be able to follow the show weekly, but this is a decision i won't ever regret. I'm amazed how they passion was transmitted to so many people around the world and yet still they stay so humble. You're a fine example on how they inspire, as this first episode is definitely top notch. Please continue.

This is amazing! I didn’t know all of the back story but I knew the large majority of it, I’m happy to be following such an amazing community. Can’t wait for part 2

can I just say when Sam said "Can I just be the worse character?" then transition to Scanlan being one of the BEST fucking support there is is insane?

Well done. Thank you. They changed my life and the lives of my children. I appreciate your time and passion as a fellow Critter. I am a Basic and AD&D veteran who introduced 5e to my kids in 2015. Campaign 1 and Vox Machina coincided with their new relationships with D&D. Our table and love for each other while playing feels similar to CR and we’ve watched VM, MN and HB along with the animated series.

Love these nerds since C1. So much of their content has taken up permanent residence in my brain. Also, CR and 5E got me back into playing myself.

Absolutely loved this. It was put together very well.

Can't even begin to tell you how much I enjoyed this! I sincerely hope CR catches wind of this and get's to see it too. Really looking forward to the next episode!

Can't wait for this entire series!

Great video! Cant wait for more

Really well done, keep them coming

Loving this... Thanks for putting this together and sharing it.

Amazing Video! Thank you

Great job. Looking forward to seeing more!

I've been with Critical Role from relatively early on. felt all the feels with them, and your video taps into that and made me teary eyed within 103 seconds. Well done.

Thank you for making these videos. I can't wait for more!

such a great video, thank you

Awesome! I'm looking so forward to this.

I love the project. Grate and warm narration

I love this video. thnks for making it.

I really enjoyed this and cannot wait for the next video!

Loved the episode can't wait for more! 😊

Smashing, looking forward to the next one

Well done! I appreciate the cohesive format. Looking forward to the next one.

This was a nice recap! Looking forward to see more of it!

Amazing! Thank you so much for putting this together, looking forward to the next installment 😊

That was very informative and pleasant to watch

This is so well done! Keep going man, also amazing voice

This was great! ^.^ Subscribed and eagerly awaiting more

Thank you for making this series-- as a kid who grew up playing D&D, it is always super emotional to hear the origins of CR. Please, continue doing this.

I know every single thing said here and of course I'm still watching intrigued glued to the screen. Loved it!!!!!!

Wow, this was very interesting. I can't wait to hear more.

Great video, waiting for chapter 2 :)

This was great. Subscribed.

i love this video soooo much, alot of memories and fun time🥰🥰😭😭

Well done. Keep it up.

Really really cool video :) thanks for making it. Watching the beginnings of CR is both nostalgic and beautiful.

Love the video!! As liam said it "I want more!!"

I'm sure a lot of work went into making this video and it shows. Well done, a really great video!

Thanks for this CR got me though some bad and crazy times

Great video!

This was such an interesting video to watch. It had me hooked to the very end. Well done!

This was such a good watch, and you did an amazing job. Thank you for putting this together, and I am excited for the next one.

Great video! Subbed so I won't miss the next one.

I super appreciate the work that went into this documentary. I am familiar with much of this story, but many clips, images, and details are new for me. It is validating for me as a nerd to have this important story well told.

I love what you’re doing here! So many great clips and tidbits, and I really like your presentation. Will definitely keep watching!

I found CR about 5 years ago. My daughter was in the hospital fo4 a rather long time. And me and my wife would just sit around the hospital room, basically living there. And I decided to go down to a LGS and look around for a TTRPG. I had played DnD before but I'd never DMed. So the guy at the store suggested I watch Matt Mercers how to DM videos to learn quickly and gain some ideas. After that, I watched a one shot he ran for some folks and stumbled upon CR that way. And now I've ran several campaigns. And have watched basically all of CRs content several times over. Currently rewatching C2+talks for the 3rd time through. And I've never regretted a single hour

Welp, this is how you get me to subscribe. Your editing and voice over are top notch. Well done.

Dude, good work. I started watching late 2016 and was hooked immediately. I love the orgin story everytime i heade it an can't wait for the rest of your awesome docuseries!

I had heard most pieces of this story from various places before, but this was a very well put together presentation of the beginning of CR. Good stuff, I'll subscribe to see where you go with it.

I am so glad I found CR in 2015, it saved my life quite literally. Looking back at the beginning always makes me feel emotional and this was so well put together. I can't wait to re-live the journey through your videos

Keep up the great work

Nice to hear the story again. I found them early in C1 and been there since. They've come a looooooong way since

Very well done, even though I know the entire story, it was so nice seeing it documented like this!

Dude, great video! I love CR and love when I see other people that love it.

This was awesome and I can't wait to see the rest of the series! I have been watching Critical Role since single-digit episodes of Campaign 1. It has become an impactful part of my life over the past 8 years. It is kinda crazy to think that I have now been a Critter for more than a quarter of my lifetime. Time flies!

Truly fantastic video. The sheer research and work put into this is reminiscent of the work put into critical role itself. Even though my first live viewing was the beginning of Campaign 2, I went back and watched all of one and thought I knew all of the backstory. This video really highlights how little I know about the origins. Can't wait for more.

This is incredible!! I can't wait for more! 🤘😚🤘 Subscribed!!

I'm very excited for this docuseries. I was introduced to Critical Role in 2017 and have watched each campaign since. I love it so much that it saddens me that I wasn't there for the beginning. I'm happy to know that I'm not the only one that has been impacted so much by these people and these stories. Thank you for this video and the ones to come!

Thank you for posting this and starting a docu-series about the greatest web series out there. My introduction to Critical Role was in 2018 during the Mighty Nein. I've been hooked ever since.

I love them soooo freaking much and yep you won my sub ^_^ They are a genuine group

Critical Role had a big impact on my life as well. This is a great project for all fans that I will follow. Great Job!

Very nicely done. I am looking forward to the rest of this series. Hopefully you'll keep it spoiler free (or at least spoiler light) for those of us that have purposely haven't yet seen certain parts yet.