17 January 2026

Dispatch Developer’s Critical Role Game Would Feel Incomplete Without These 6 Characters

By newsgame

Spoilers for Critical Role Campaigns 1–3, The Legend of Vox Machina, and The Mighty Nein below.

It is no exaggeration to say that Dispatch was a huge success. The popular title put AdHoc Studios on the map, proving there is still a market for episodic adventure stories like those popularized by TellTale Games. This is great news for Critical Role, which recently announced it was partnering with AdHoc to break into the gaming industry. While Dispatch could technically get more content in the future, the Critical Role game, codenamed Project Exandria, will be AdHoc’s next release.

Little is known about Project Exandria so far, save that it will be an episodic adventure game like Dispatch, and that it will not be a simple retelling of the campaign’s stories. While players will undoubtedly see some familiar characters and locations, it will tell a completely new story outside the main campaign stories. However, that means there will be some cameos—and if these six characters aren’t in it somehow, then it might not truly feel like a Critical Role game.

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Allura – Arcana Panosophical Guide and Tal’dorei Councilor

Matt Mercer’s Avatar NPC and Darling Quest-Giver

Lady Allura Vysoren is a particularly important character within Exandrian lore. One of the most powerful Wizards in the Dungeons and Dragons setting, Allura has been a member of the Council of Tal’dorei during all three of the campaign eras. What’s more, though she was close to Vox Machina in Campaign 1, she also aided the Mighty Nein in Campaign 2 and Bell’s Hells in Campaign 3, making her one of the few characters to show up in all three campaigns.

Beyond that, Allura is one of Matt Mercer’s personal favorite NPCs. She was the first character in Exandria that he spent a long time developing, wherein she became his avatar in the campaigns. She and Essek Thelyss are the two characters he would be most likely to play if Mercer wasn’t the DM in his Dungeons and Dragons games. Needless to say, Allura would be an amazing character to encounter in the new Critical Role game, possibly even as a major ally as she is in the campaigns.

Shaun Gilmore – Proprietor of Gilmore’s Glorious Goods

The Original Magic Item Shop Vendor of Critical Role

Look, Pumat Sol is incredible, and a cameo by the enchanter, his simulacra, or the Invulnerable Vagrant would be truly delightful. However, Shaun Gilmore, prodigious owner of Gilmore’s Glorious Goods from Critical Role Campaign 1, had a presence and charisma that would be absolutely incredible to see in a video game. Along with Allura, he is one of the original allies of Vox Machina, but his multiple storefronts would make it easy for him to be a point of contact in Project Exandria. Wielding wit, information, and magical items in equal measure, Gilmore would be a natural fit for a narrative adventure game.

Vax’ildan – Assassin-Turned-Champion of the Raven Queen

Dagger, Dagger, Dagger

While all the members of Vox Machina went on to become important figures, few reached the cosmological significance of Vax’ildan. By the end of Campaign 1, he became the Champion of Ravens, an angelic servant of the Matron of Ravens, and by the end of Campaign 3, he was entrusted with his mistress’ domains of fate and death until her new avatar comes into her power.

For this reason, if Vax’ildan were to appear in the Critical Role video game, the timeline would be incredibly important. If it took place before Campaign 1, for example, he would still be a humble member of the Clasp criminal organization, while if it took place later, his cameo would be of a much darker and more mysterious nature.

Artagan – The Theater-Hating Lord of the Morncrown

Part-Time God, Full-Time Archfey

The Traveler. Garmelie. Keelyn. The Devil Fey. The Scintillating One. Artagan has been known as many things throughout history, but the trickster figure is most concerned with one thing: entertainment. After first appearing before Vox Machina in the Feywild during the first Dungeons and Dragons Campaign, and playing a major role as the Traveler thanks to Jester Lavorre in Campaign 2 and the end of Campaign 3, Artagan stands alongside Allura as one of the few characters to appear in all three main Exandria campaigns.

Like Allura, Artagan is also one of Mercer’s favorite NPCs, insofar as he dressed up as him for Halloween in 2020. He and Essek are also some of the major characters Mercer voiced in The Legend of Vox Machina and The Mighty Nein. As a mercurial and fickle fey, it would not be hard to have Artagan show up in the game, especially if it so much as sneezed in the direction of the crass antics he is so known for.

Jester Lavorre – High Priestess of the Traveler

Everyone’s Favorite Tiefling Trickster

Speaking of Jester, the beloved Tiefling troublemaker would be the perfect cameo character as well. While it could be a hard sell if it takes place outside Nicodranas before Campaign 2, thanks to her insular upbringing, her legendary pranks have gone worldwide post campaign as she sails the seas with her Fjord, whom she recently married in a Critical Role live show.

If having Jester herself appear is too difficult, there are plenty of ways she could be referenced indirectly. An cameo of Artagan, members of the Traveler cult, her parents (the Ruby of the Sea and the Gentleman, both of whom are major social figures), or even just through an easter egg of Tusk Love, a fictitious Dungeons and Dragons-themed romance novel that became so prolific that Critical Role actually made it real, would all be roundabout references to her as well. Either way, as one of the most popular characters in the series, Project Exandria needs to at least give a nod to Jester, even if she doesn’t appear directly.

Scanlan Shorthalt – The Most Famous Bard in Exandria

Simply Too Iconic Not To Include

The famously infamous bard of Vox Machina, Scanlan Shorthalt, is not only one of the funniest characters in the campaign, but notoriously well-traveled. Within Exandria, he has wandered far and wide, leaving power ballads and jilted lovers in his wake. The prolific and popular character would be easy to slap on a poster, or even in the background of a tavern, as a minor appearance, but there are few things that could make Project Exandria feel more like Critical Role than a song sung by Sam Riegel.