Tabletop RPG Web Show “Critical Role,” Hosted By Ganondorf Voice Actor, To Feature Zelda-Inspired One-Shot Event
Posted on May 21 2023 by Leslie Jacobson
Tabletop RPG web series Critical Role will debut a one-shot campaign based on The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom on Tuesday, May 30th at 7 PM Pacific Time, on their Twitch channel here and YouTube channel here. Voice Actor Matthew Mercer, who plays Ganondorf in Tears of the Kingdom, will serve as the Game Master, and he will be joined by five other players, Liam O’Brien, Marisha Ray, Robbie Daymond, Omar Najam, and Emily Axford. Nintendo of America is sponsoring this one-shot event.
Critical Role started when a group of friends who were voice actors streamed their Dungeons & Dragons games on Twitch. As Game Master, Mercer creates the basic plot, setting, and non-player characters for the other players to interact with and progress the story. The other players explain what their characters say and do within that world and try to solve the conflicts in the GM’s story. Depending on the role-play system used, players roll dice at various points to see if their characters succeed or fail at their interactions.
Many fans celebrated Mercer’s casting as Ganondorf in Tears of the Kingdom. Mercer’s style of GMing allows his players to solve problems in silly and unexpected ways. The Critical Role campaigns also strike a balance between the humorous antics and the serious beats of the story and world around them. This parallels perfectly with Tears of the Kingdom‘s style of gameplay and storytelling.
According to Critical Role‘s Twitter thread, the campaign will not spoil any story moments from Tears of the Kingdom. None of the principal characters from the game will make an appearance in the one-shot. The story elements and characters will be inspired by The Legend of Zelda.
New adventurers arise in Hyrule! ⚔️
Join us for a special The Legend of Zelda: #TearsOfTheKingdom one-shot sponsored by our friends @NintendoAmerica! GM @matthewmercer takes players @VoiceOfOBrien, @Marisha_Ray, @robbiedaymond, @OmarNajam, & @eaxford on an epic journey 🏹 pic.twitter.com/IVcAWjxT11
— Critical Role (@CriticalRole) May 19, 2023
Nintendo does not allow voice actors to use their “character voice” outside of an official capacity. But since this event is officially sponsored, perhaps Nintendo will allow Mercer to voice Ganondorf on Tuesday, May 30th. I know I will be tuning in to see!
Will you watch Critical Role on May 30th? Do you think Mercer will act as and voice Ganondorf? What role-play system do you think they’ll use? Let us know in the comments!
Source: Critical Role (source 1), Critical Role (source 2)
Leslie is a mom, a cosplayer, an educator, and a fervent fan of The Legend of Zelda series. She lives in an area of the United States that reminds her of the Akkala region in the fall and Hebra the other 11 months of the year. She owns The Legend of Zelda t-shirts older than most of her students.
