“Critical Role” returns with an all-new adventure in Exandria. “Wildemount Wildlings” is a three-part campaign run by Sam Riegel based on his home game. “Wildemount Wildlings” is set at the adventurer’s summer camp created by his Campaign Two character, Veth Brenatto. Riegel will serve as the GM with Marisha Ray and Ashley Johnson reprising their Campaign Two characters Beau and Yasha, respectively.
Brennan Lee Mulligan returns to the table as a player along with newcomers Eden Riegel, Aleks Le, and Libe Barer. These four will be playing teenage campers who are going through the program again after having a less than stellar outcome the first time. The mini campaign will be the first time the audience gets to see Veth’s camp, but it isn’t Riegel’s first experience at the Wildemount Wildlings camp.
Sam Riegel Brings His Home Game To Critical Role With Wildemount Wildlings
Riegel has been running a home game for his kids and their friends set within the Wildemount Wildlings Camp for Adventuring Kids for a while now. It feels poetic that during the ten-year anniversary of “Critical Role,” Riegel would once again bring a home game to the studio. In an exclusive interview with Temple of Geek, Riegel explains why he wanted to share this setting with the “Critical Role” audience.
Sam Riegel:
“Veth’s summer camp has been something that we discussed since the end of Campaign Two, and so we knew that it was out there. While the rest of the “Critical Role” audience hasn’t been spending any time there, I have. I’ve been running a home game at the Wildemount Wildlings Summer Camp for Adventuring Teens for quite some time now with my kids and their friends.
Just like when our home game made the jump to being broadcast, it felt like this was a really cool way of telling a new story set in Exandria. I get to show off some of the things that I’ve been cooking around with my kids, but also bringing some new ideas and brainstorming about what the camp could be like and who are some of the campers who are there. It just felt like a really fun interlude to spend some time there while we wait for Campaign Four.”
Riegel wasn’t just inspired to bring the setting to audiences. He also incorporated ideas from his kids and their friends. Riegel teased how the kids were able to be a part of the development process for the series. He also revealed that fans will get to experience the pitch session before each episode.
Sam Riegel:
“I brought in my kids and their friends who play in the home game with me and also Travis [Willingham] and Laura [Bailey’s] son. We had a pitch session in a conference room, and the kids all pitched their ideas about different encounters, monsters, and traps. Different items or potions that the campers could find in this little mini-series.
The coolest part about that was getting the ideas from the kids, but the second coolest thing was that the audience are actually going to get to see that. We filmed it, and the kids’ idea sessions are going to be broadcast as part of the episodes. So right at the beginning of each episode, you’re going to see the kids come up with the monsters that you meet later in that episode.
It was really interesting to hear what the kids came up with. Some of them were really out of left field, and we were like, wait, what? I tried my best to honor their ideas, and it was really a fun little twist to throw in there.”
The creators at Critical Role have inspired other adventures for years. They’ve facilitated this with their campaign setting books. These books share key lore and pertinent information about the different locales across Exandria. Riegel has taken his own knowledge from inhabiting Exandria for over a decade into his experience running a game for his kids. Now he hopes the “Wildemount Wildlings” mini-campaign will inspire others to jump into this summer camp for young adventurers at home.
Sam Riegel:
“I’m really excited about people seeing this miniseries because the Wildemount Wildlings Camp, for me anyway, has been a really great setting to run a home game, especially with kids. Because when you’re at a camp, there’s always stuff to do. There’s always training to do; there’s always projects to do. There are always badges to earn.
But my kids at home, in the home game, on weekends at the camp, they go exploring Exandria. They go exploring Wildemount and having real adventures together, knowing that they have a home base to go back to. So I really hope that folks see this setting as a potential place for them to set their own home game with their kids or their families. It’s a great leaping-off point, and if anyone plays it at home, I’ll be so excited, and I hope that they tag me in it and send me pictures.”
Take Two For These Wildemount Wildlings
One of the intriguing aspects of “Wildemount Wildlings” is the campers themselves. This isn’t a fresh-faced group of newbies. These teen campers failed to earn a single merit badge all summer. This results in them being relegated to the O.L.G.A. cabin, aka “Oops, let’s go again.” Riegel explained why he wanted the campers to be going through this experience a second time.
Sam Riegel:
“Well, I love failure, myself. It’s one of my favorite things about tabletop role-playing games. We just spent a whole campaign with a bunch of characters who have amazing powers and are super confident in their magic and super powerful in their melee attacks. I wanted to visit a group of folks who are just starting out and are level one. Don’t really know what their strengths are and haven’t really mastered their magic yet.
I think that’s very endearing. It’s an interesting part in someone’s life when they know they have talent, but they haven’t really mastered it yet. It’s fun to get a glimpse at that in the world of Exandria. Also, it didn’t hurt that three of my players are brand new to D&D and had never played before. So I wanted to give them the opportunity to shine and have fun, but not be so concerned with getting everything right. They did a fantastic job.”
Given these campers have been at this camp for a while, it stands to reason there may be some pre-established relationships. The fact that these are teenagers could mean that there is some teenage drama at play as well. Riegel broke down how he helped connect the players to determine how their backstories intermingle before they began playing.
Sam Riegel:
“We spent some time ahead of time forming some relationships with a couple of them. Yes, they’ve already known each other for this whole summer at camp. So they’re not brand new to each other, and a couple of them are really close friends with each other. There are some cool dynamics that the cast worked out ahead of time. I connected a couple of them ahead of time to sort of work out their backstories and figure out if they had any nicknames or inside jokes among them. It was really great to see that pay off.”
Members of The Mighty Nein Return
The story of the Mighty Nein ended in 2021, but they’ve returned for a few adventures including the climactic epic conclusion of Campaign Three. Now, at least three of the fan-favorite adventurers will return in “Wildemount Wildlings.” Beau and Yasha will be serving as camp counselors, following up on their plans after the events of Campaign Three. “Wildemount Wildlings” will be the first adventure in Exandria set in the aftermath of that campaign.
Sam Riegel:
“Yeah, it was my game, so I got to sort of help pick who got in. Ashley and Marisha were a natural, very easy pick because at the end of Campaign Three, they had talked about going to the camp together or at least to pay a visit to Veth. So that made total sense for them to show up.
For the other four, Brennan Lee Mulligan, I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of him, but he’s a very good D&D player, but also he for many, many years has helped run a summer camp. So this felt like just the most natural of fits for him. And then the other players, the new faces, number one, my sister Eden Riegel, I’ve been wanting to play with her for years now. This was a great opportunity to get us at the same table.
Aleks Le is an incredible voice actor who we’ve met a few times at different conventions and on different anime projects. Libe Barer is someone who I worked with for many years, first on DuckTales, but then also I directed her on Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur. I’ve always been a huge fan of her comedy, her improv, and her personality. I just thought that she’d be great at this. So I gave her a call, and she flew out from New York to do this project with us, and she was a blast.”
Riegel will also be reprising his role as Veth Brenatto, who runs the camp. However, this won’t be the only familiar face. He’ll be bringing a number of Mighty Nein allies back with connections to the camp. That being said, Riegel clarified that while “Wildemount Wildlings” will be especially fun for Mighty Nein fans, one can jump into this mini-campaign without having watched Campaign Two.
Sam Riegel:
“Veth will obviously make an appearance in this mini-series. It’s her camp, so she’ll be there. I will be playing the role of Veth, yes. I also dabbled in Yeza and their son Luc, and a couple of other characters as well. Yeah, it’s always fun to play Veth because her voice is so funny and fun to do. It was a blast.
I think folks who liked Mighty Nein will obviously like this, but you certainly don’t need to know Mighty Nein or Bells Hells or any of the campaigns really to enjoy this. I think it’s for anybody who likes roleplaying and anybody who has ever been a kid or has a kid.”
Brennan Lee Mulligan Was A Huge Help To Sam Riegel
Mulligan has been an integral part of building out the world of Exandria. He’s been the GM for “EXU: Calamity,” “Downfall,” and most recently “EXU: Divergence.” Now he returns to the table as a player for a much more lighthearted adventure. Tapping into his summer camp roots, Mulligan will undoubtedly bring his own experiences to the table.
While he is playing a camper, he may put on his camp counselor hat for a few moments. Riegel admitted that Mulligan was an extra bit of helpful support a few times at the table. Riegel shared that if he was unsure about a decision or rule, he would look to Mulligan as a second opinion.
Sam Riegel:
“I’m really bad at D&D. I’m really good at playing my character, and that’s it. But in terms of knowing the rules and all the spells and all the different ability checks and contested roles and all that stuff, I’m not great. I’m fast and loose with some of the rules. When I’m home playing the game with my kids, obviously, it doesn’t really matter because they’re learning D&D at the same time I am.
But of course, playing and running a game in front of an audience who definitely knows how to play D&D is much more challenging. That being said, I had Brennan Lee Mulligan at the table, so whenever I had an issue of, I wonder if this is a contested charisma role or maybe this is a deception check versus an insight check, I would just turn to Brennan and be like, what do you think? And he would tell me, and that was easy. It was a gift having an expert there at the table with me the whole time. A couple of times I would make a ruling, and I would look over, and he’d be like, Good job. Thumbs up.”
Critical Role Continues To Try New Things
Over this past decade, Critical Role has evolved and grown both as a company and as a show. This has included publishing books and comics, animated adaptations, live shows, multiple campaigns, and more. The mini “EXU” campaigns have been an opportunity to explore other eras and characters within Exandria. These new perspectives have fleshed out fans’ understanding of this world and its history.
This experimentation and growth continues with “Wildemount Wildlings.” This is true with the storytelling as they explore the perspective of teenage adventurers. This will also introduce a setting fans have heard about but have never been able to experience with a few familiar characters. However, Rigel teased that “Critical Role” will also be experimenting with formatting elements.
Sam Riegel:
“We did do a couple of things in this miniseries that we had never done before that you’ll get to see. For instance, having other people come up with the encounters and shooting that. We also did some interesting cinematic things that we tried out.
There’s going to be some cutaways in this miniseries to other locations that we actually shot on different days. So we played with the form a little bit. Obviously 95% of it is people sitting at a table just like it always is with “Critical Role.” But we tried a couple of moments that are sort of form-breaking and different. Those worked out really well, and I hope that the audience digs it.”
These creators have been telling stories in this world for ten years. They continue to try new things and explore new facets of storytelling. Exandria and Critical Role continue to grow and change along with their creators. New voices are brought in that craft a deeper and more complex narrative. However, part of what is so fun about this defining year is reflection. “Critical Role: Vox Machina – Stories Untold” celebrated characters from the first campaign.
“Wildemount Wildlings” balances new characters with fan favorites. The end of Campaign Three was a culmination of a decade of storytelling with everyone playing their characters from all three campaigns. Riegel explained why he is so excited for the live shows this year and giving back to the fans.
Sam Riegel:
“We have a lot of great live shows coming up, and it’s going to be a really fun year. It’s always a blast meeting fans, meeting Critters in person. We don’t get to do it enough. And so this year, I think we’re all really excited to get back to what it’s really about, which is the folks that watch and enjoy the show.”
“Wildemount Wildlings” debuts on Beacon, Critical Role’s YouTube, and Critical Role’s Twitch on April 3 at 6pm PT.
