Exandria Unlimited campaign officially launched on June 24. Critical Role is a creator-owned media company, known for their Dungeons & Dragons campaigns The Mighty Nein and Vox Machina. Exandria Unlimited is an eight-episode mini campaign within the world of Critical Role, helmed by Aabria Iyengar as the DM. The episode was pre-recorded ahead of its Thursday premiere.
Through the bulk of the episode, the screen was split between the party and DM. However, when combat erupted and the group went into initiative, Iyengar brought out a miniature set of the room, complete with D&D figurines for each of the party and their enemies. Iyengar's prologue detailed the setting - the characters, though still somewhat strangers to one another, have already formed a party prior to the start of the campaign.
The party is comprised of five characters. Matthew Mercer, Critical Role's famed DM, has taken on the role of player for this campaign, acting as Dariax, a dwarven sorcerer. He is ed by Dorian Storm, an air genasi bard played by Robbie Daymond, Ashley Johnson's Fearne Calloway, a satyr druid, Opal, a human warlock played by Aimee Carrero and Orym, a halfling fighter and member of the Air Ashari, played by Liam O'Brien. The group also introduced Little Mister, a wildfire spirit and companion of Fearne. The group has fun and gets into trouble alike in the premiere episode of Exandria Unlimited.
Critical Role's Exandria Unlimited Recap: The Nameless Ones
The adventure began with the party awakening from the previous night's festivities in the upper slums of Emon. They grabbed a bite to eat at a nearby pub, the Third Wing, and realize they don't know what happened with the Fire Ashari from the previous campaign - they all experienced a week-long gap in their memories. Later, they caught a thief, Poska, lurking by their townhouse. She detailed the turf war between two factions, the Myriad and the Clasp, and that she represents a third party, the Nameless. Poska then sends the group on a quest to retrieve something valuable from a warehouse in the docks.
The party makes their way to the shoreline, and sneak onto a boat only to find the crew gruesomely murdered belowdecks. They steal a number of coins and a cursed chest, which they decide to bring to Poska's warehouse. While there, the group is attacked and they enter into combat, working together to ferociously take out their opponents. After, they loot the warehouse and discover it's a base for a powerful thieves guild, replete with Residuum, a powerful substance that amplifies magic.
The beginnings of this Critical Role campaign end on an ominous note, as Iyengar speaks directly to the audience, the party no longer present. Poska returned to her warehouse, littered with corpses and thoroughly looted. She whispered to a sigil on her wrist to burn it down, and across town a penthouse bursts into flame. Critical Role's Exandria Unlimited introduced the audience to a world of mystery sure to be explored in episodes.
