Matthew Mercer has spent years guiding Critical Role through Dungeons & Dragons, Daggerheart, campaigns, one-shots and live performances. In Beacon’s Founders Favorites series, he selected eight moments that remain especially important to him as both Dungeon Master and player.
These choices cover spectacular live-show energy, unexpected player decisions, devastating character losses and the collaborative surprises that make tabletop role-playing so unpredictable.
Spoiler warning: The following list discusses Campaign 2: The Mighty Nein, Campaign 3: Bells Hells, The Search for Grog and Exandria Unlimited: Divergence.
1. The Search for Grog live show
Before this performance, Critical Role had already staged live episodes, including appearances at GenCon. However, The Search for Grog was a particularly significant one-shot: Vox Machina had to recover Grog’s soul after it was stolen and imprisoned in the Plane of Pandemonium.
The show took place at the Ace Hotel Theatre in Los Angeles. For Mercer, the audience’s enormous reaction revealed how far the series had grown after years of live performances. He compared the roar inside the theatre to discovering an understanding of sport, calling the experience “insane”.
2. Jester’s cupcake
In episode 93 of Campaign 2, Jester, the tiefling cleric known for her humour and kindness, used a cupcake to manipulate the hag Isharnai into accepting a deal that ended Nott’s curse. The scene became a standout example of Laura Bailey turning a Dungeon Master’s carefully prepared tools into an entirely different solution.
Mercer described the moment as one that made him simultaneously proud and deflated. It demonstrated player ingenuity, the influence of dice and the classic Dungeon Master experience of discovering that an item has undermined a planned plot point.
3. Mollymauk’s death
Mollymauk Tealeaf made a strong impression during his limited time with the Mighty Nein. Taliesin Jaffe’s blood hunter had a distinctive personality and an incomplete history that viewers were eager to explore, but Lorenzo killed him in episode 26, “Found & Lost”.
Mercer highlighted the circumstances of the death: most of the party’s access to resurrection magic was unavailable because Jester, the group’s principal healer, had been kidnapped. Mollymauk’s story ended abruptly, making the loss all the more painful.
4. Caleb returns the beacon to the Bright Queen
The Mighty Nein were often presented as morally complicated anti-heroes rather than straightforward champions. That characterisation shifted in Campaign 2 episode 56, “The Favor”, when Caleb Widogast returned the beacon to the Bright Queen and the Kryn Dynasty, despite the Dynasty commonly being viewed as an antagonistic or evil faction.
Mercer said the decision changed the campaign’s direction and tone. To him, it also captured the unusual nature of collaborative tabletop storytelling, where a player’s choice can reshape the entire narrative.
5. Bells Hells’ first battle with Otohan Thull
Mercer admitted that this selection was partly selfish from a Dungeon Master’s perspective. In Campaign 3 episode 33, “Blood and Dust”, Bells Hells faced Otohan Thull in Bassuras and found themselves hopelessly outmatched.
Although the party was together, it could not bring Otohan down. Most of the group was knocked unconscious, while Laudna died once again in a particularly brutal sequence. Mercer enjoyed the players’ growing fear as they realised they were confronting a threat far beyond what they could handle at that point.
He described the sight of the party recognising the scale of the danger as “delicious”, especially because their immediate choices could not solve the problem.
6. Bringing Laudna back
After Laudna’s death, Bells Hells travelled to Whitestone in Campaign 3 episode 36, “A Desperate Call”, seeking help from Vox Machina. Restoring her life required more than a simple resurrection: the party had to enter Laudna’s fractured psyche and find her there.
Laudna’s history is tied to Campaign 1 villain Delilah Briarwood, so the journey returned the cast to a familiar place viewed through a disturbing new perspective. Mercer particularly enjoyed preparing the confrontation around the Sun Tree and watching the cast react to it.
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7. Bells Hells’ chaotic escape plan
Campaign 3 episode 44, “Bawdy Basement Belligerence”, produced one of the series’ most absurd escapes. While trying to get away from an air elemental, Bells Hells stripped to their underwear and pretended to make a pornographic film.
Mercer regarded the escalation as a fine example of Dungeons & Dragons. The comedy came partly from watching the players commit fully to the plan while the Dungeon Master had to treat their proposed orgy as a serious in-world strategy.
8. The major callback in Exandria Unlimited: Divergence
Exandria Unlimited offers a way to explore the origins of Exandria, even though its line-ups do not always include every co-founder. In the closing scenes of Divergence, Mercer’s dwarven character Garen is revealed to be the mortal incarnation of the All-Hammer, the figure who helped shape Exandria.
With Liam O’Brien playing Bahamut, the deity appears to Garen and takes him on a tour of what he created as the All-Hammer. The sequence directly echoes Mercer’s role in creating Exandria as a setting for games and stories shared with friends.
Mercer called the moment one that would remain permanently carved into his heart.
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Why these moments stand out
Mercer’s selections range from carefully prepared encounters to player decisions that overturned expectations. Together, they show why Critical Role continues to generate memorable stories: the most powerful scenes often emerge when preparation, character choices, dice and shared improvisation collide.
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