A decade after Critical Role helped propel Dungeons & Dragons into mainstream awareness through its actual-play campaigns, Laura Bailey finally gets to embody a character she’s long imagined. Bailey says the seed for this role was planted years before the show launched — back when the original group’s home campaign evolved into what became Campaign 1, Vox Machina.
Across successive campaigns Bailey has inhabited a wide range of personas: the anguished sorcerer Imogen Temult in Campaign 3 (Bell’s Hells), the effervescent cleric Jester Lavorre in Campaign 2 (The Mighty Nein), and originally Vex, the bow-wielding elf ranger from Vox Machina. Fans remember Vex for her sharp humor and devotion to her brown bear companion, Trinket — but Bailey reveals she initially pictured a different class for herself.
She explains that she had wanted to play a rogue early on, but since another player chose that role she deferred — though Vex later dipped into rogue levels and Bailey has explored rogue builds in one-shots. It would take more than a decade after Critical Role began for her to headline a primary campaign as a dedicated rogue.
Enter Thimble: a compact, fierce pixie rogue that Bailey describes as the fulfillment of a longtime wish. “I love fairies,” she says, and when the chance arose to play one she seized it. Campaign 4 unfolds in the unfamiliar, godless world of Aramán and is led by Brennan Lee Mulligan, with Matthew Mercer stepping into a player role — an unusual change that reshapes the table dynamic. Bailey’s pixie is rugged rather than whimsical: a battle-hardened survivor driven by grief after losing her partner Thjazi, and determined enough to ally with unlikely companions in pursuit of vengeance.
Thimble’s diminutive stature and innate flight create a compelling tactical package: she can disengage from heavier melee foes, dart into combat, and exploit high Dexterity for evasive maneuvers. Bailey notes that Thimble is the first character she’s crafted with combat optimization in mind — she chose the Swashbuckler archetype to reflect a soldier’s finesse and battlefield competence rather than a purely roleplay-focused design.
Bailey also reveals that Thimble nearly arrived sooner: the pixie was prepared as a contingency should Imogen’s arc in Campaign 3 have ended differently. Thankfully for fans of Imogen and her relationships, that fate never occurred — and Bailey was able to keep Thimble in reserve until now.
Having wanted to play a fairy for more than a decade, Bailey says she’s ecstatic to finally bring Thimble to life. With this role she may have delivered her most personal and memorable Critical Role performance yet — and Thimble’s journey is only just beginning.
Source: Polygon
