Critical Role is taking its next tabletop adventure to Middle-earth, teaming up with Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power for a special one-shot at TwitchCon San Diego.
The cast is well known for lengthy actual-play campaigns, but shorter Dungeons & Dragons and Daggerheart sessions have also become an important part of its output. Previous sponsored one-shots have included Control: Resonant and Suikoden, alongside more divisive collaborations.
One-shots also let the performers explore different settings and styles without committing to a multi-episode campaign. High-fantasy worlds can be a particularly natural fit for traditional D&D mechanics, although the rules for this new event have not yet been confirmed.
When is the Critical Role Middle-earth one-shot?
The Rings of Power: A Middle-earth One-Shot is scheduled for 15 November 2026 at 11am in the Glitch Theater at TwitchCon San Diego. The event will bring members of the Critical Role cast together with performers from the Prime Video series for a new tabletop adventure.
Critical Role co-founder Liam O’Brien will lead the game. O’Brien is recognised for playing Vax in the animated adaptation of the first campaign, The Legend of Vox Machina.
Which tabletop rules will it use?
The production has not announced whether the session will use D&D or Critical Role’s own tabletop role-playing game, Daggerheart. Some earlier collaborations, including the Overwatch one-shot, used Daggerheart, while others relied on D&D.
Another possibility is The One Ring, a dedicated role-playing system set in Tolkien’s Middle-earth. At this stage, that remains speculation rather than a confirmed plan.
The participating cast members have also not been fully revealed. TwitchCon’s event listing indicates that further details will be announced later.
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Critical Role has visited Middle-earth before
This will not be the group’s first actual-play one-shot set in Tolkien’s world. In 2017, Critical Role worked with Warner Bros. on a game linked to Middle-earth: Shadow of War.
It is still unknown whether the new session will feature characters such as trolls or orcs. The confirmed details so far are the Middle-earth setting, the collaboration with The Rings of Power, Liam O’Brien’s role as game leader and the 15 November TwitchCon appearance.
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