Yes, Critical Role star Sam Riegel is definitely planning some special t-shirt trolling for new GM Brennan Lee Mulligan
article by Graeme McMillan
It’s a question that many Critical Role fans have had since the announcement of Brennan Lee Mulligan as GM for campaign 4 of the show — and at Rose City Comic Con 2025, one brave Critter finally asked out loud: is Sam Riegel planning any special BLM t-shirts for the new season of the show?
For those seeking some context: Riegel has made it an unexpected tradition to wear t-shirts on the show featuring either his own face, or the face of GM Matt Mercer. Why? Well, that’s a question you’d have to ask him, but I suspect the answer may have something to do with a desire to be a chaos goblin and keep Matt humble.
Here is a video where you can see some of the shirts for yourself
Of course, Mercer isn’t the GM of the next campaign, which led one Critter to ask Reigel at Rose City Comic Con 2025, “Sam, have you hunted down old pictures of Brennan?”
“I have three t-shirts already,” Reigel revealed, “but if you guys have other crappy pictures of them, you can go on the Beacon Discord… on the Beacon Discord, there’s a whole channel where people send me pictures of Matt. So maybe you can send me some awful Bennan pictures.”
“You’re crowdsourcing your trolling?” asked Liam O’Brien, incredulously.
“It’s a hive mind!” protested Riegel. As to when fans can expect to see the three shirts that already exist… “I don’t know what we can say about campaign 4 or not, but… it’s not going to be episode one, guys.”
additional Popverse articles in comments below:
- how to watch Critical Role in chronological and release order
- interview with Brennan Lee Mulligan (pre-Campaign 4 announcement)
Critical Role Watch Order
by Avery Kaplan
Critical Role started as a recreational tabletop RPG game but has evolved into a worldwide phenomenon. Originally a private Pathfinder game played by group of voice actor friends, Critical Role made the jump to Dungeons & Dragons and began broadcasting weekly episodes on Geek & Sundry. Soon, legions of devoted 'Critters' had found the web series.
Critical Role’s main campaigns feature Matthew Mercer as Dungeon Master. The regular cast roster is comprised of Ashley Johnson, Travis Willingham, Laura Bailey, Liam O’Brien, Taliesin Jaffe, Marisha Ray, and Sam Riegel. Depending on the campaign, the actors play different characters.
Streaming episodes run from three to five hours in length, but can be longer. They are streamed on Twitch and YouTube, and subsequently released as podcasts. In addition to the main campaign, there are also one-shots, animated adaptations and tie-in books. Here’s how to watch Critical Role in chronological and release order.
In addition to several canonical one-shots, Critical Role has currently has two completed campaigns and one ongoing main campaign.
Here’s how to watch Critical Role in release order:
Here’s how to watch Critical Role in chronological order:
Note: The Legend of Vox Machina is an animated adaptation of parts of Campaign One. However, the first two episodes depict a story that took place before the start of Campaign One. For that reason, it has been placed before Campaign One on this timeline.
What about Critical Role’s backstory?
Before the first episode of Critical Role was streamed, the Vox Machina campaign was the personal game of the cast. While attending a party, Johnson mentioned the ongoing game to Felicia Day. Day subsequently approached the group and asked if they’d be interested in live-streaming their game for her Geek & Sundry channel, which hosted the game until February 2019.
When the streaming campaign began in March 2015, it was en media res, picking up the story after the in-game Vox Machina party had already been formed and undertaken various adventures. Some of this pre-streaming campaign was adapted to comic book form in Critical Role: Vox Machina Origins.
More of the Vox Machina’s backstory is explored in the prose novel Critical Role: Vox Machina – Kith & Kin by Marieke Nijkamp. The novel is set three years before the eponymous characters joined the Vox Machina adventuring party. A second prose novel, Critical Role: The Mighty Nein – The Nine Eyes of Lucien by Madeleine Roux focuses on the backstory of the tiefling antagonist preceding and leading into the events of Campaign Two.