Critical Role: Liam O’Brien and Aimee Carrero Discuss Exandria Unlimited

Aimee, I know that you’ve shown interest in D&D on your Twitter account and you have a Player’s Handbook. Did that all come because you were doing the show?

Carrero: Actually, I had met up with Matt a couple of years ago about making a guest appearance on Campaign Two. But by the time there was an opening in the story, the pandemic hit. So I’ve been wanting to play for so long. Before the pandemic, leading up to wanting to be competent enough to play, I did a few one-offs with friends. And so I’ve definitely been a lurker and in the wings, just waiting to go on. So this is just feels like such a great opportunity.

O’Brien: Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think you were weeks away from joining us at the table.

Carrero: Yes. But you know, the pandemic is so awful, but I’m glad that I had the extra time. Because had I not watched as many episodes as I had, maybe I just wouldn’t have gone into it as confident as I did when I finally was able to. And so that was good.

So Liam, this is the first time that you’ve played with Matt Mercer in a Critical Role game as a player. What’s that like? Because you’ve literally been playing with him as a DM for a thousand hours of recorded content.

O’Brien: That’s right. And I feel like for the first time, those of us who played with Matt this long as our game master, we’re seeing Matt unleashed. We all know that Matt is a man of a thousand voices, endlessly creative, and a world builder. He’s just a wonderful soul. But when you run a game for your friends, you’re catering to the sort of story that they’re hoping to tell.You’re surprising them and subverting their expectations and yanking rugs out from under them and all that. But you’re also meeting them halfway with a kind of story they want to tell. But now we’re watching him as a player where he just gets to follow his nose and do whatever the hell he wants to do.

Carrero: It’s so fun.

O’Brien: And I guess we shouldn’t say much more than that, but he’s just on his nose, wherever the hell he wants to go. And it is a joy.

We can’t talk too much about the game itself, but can we talk a little bit about the setting that Exandria Unlimited takes place in? You’re returning to Emon, it’s set after both Campaign One and Campaign Two. What’s it like returning there? Aimee, you’ve seen Emon as a fan, Liam, obviously you were there when Emon got destroyed. So what’s it like kind of going back to that setting?

O’Brien: It’s strange to see familiar places with a time jump, told through the lens of a different game master. I also don’t want to talk about where we go, but there is overlap in places that fans are familiar with from the first campaign. We’ll be bubbling up in different ways and fun ways and coming at them from different angles. Aimee and I particularly have an overlap between Campaign One and Exandria Unlimited.

Carrero: It’s such a joy to watch the players wade into those crossovers because it’s emotional. It’s emotional when you spend so much time in this world and then you maybe see…well, I can’t say anything. But it’s cool to watch people who have walked through those halls, if you will. Walking through them again as different characters, knowing the Easter eggs, and also just being really affected by them is really fun to watch.

O’Brien: I’ve also loved a couple of times, without getting into specifics, we’ve encountered familiar elements from Campaign One. And Matt and Ashley and I are very familiar, and Aabria too. It’s almost like bringing the Amy and Robbie over for a slumber party or something. We’re saying, “this is my best friend. I want you to meet him!” Or, “this is my tree house, the best!” And then you get to watch them see the tree house for the first time and fall in love with it like you did. It’s like Christmas morning.

Can we talk a little bit about Aabria as the Game Master? Could you describe how she DMs and what it’s like getting to play with her as players?

Carrero: I don’t have a ton of experience with Dungeon Masters, but having watched Matt for so many episodes and then seeing Aabria, it’s just so cool how they are both master world builders but have different flavors. It’s like watching someone cook a very elaborate 20-course meal. You think “Oh, I think I’ve had this before.” But then its, “No, I haven’t. This is all the different flavors. And I didn’t know this could taste like that!” So in my eyes, it just feels like watching someone at the very very top of their talent bring out notes and flavors of things that you never expected could be there.

I also think again, as a very novice player, she strikes me as so talented. With the improvisational part of it, she really she took the temperature of the group, because we do have a very kind of specific vibe, and really just went with it. I don’t know how she does it, but it’s really just been such an eye-opener. And I’m just in awe of people who are able to do the job that she’s able to do.

O’Brien: She really is excellent at rolling with the punches. There are a few times where we were convinced that something was a planned moment but she told us it was improvised us after the fact. She has her very unique style for running the game. She comes with both that sort of depth and gravitas and soul that you want for the bones of the game. But she also has a great playful side, sense of humor, and she mixes things up. Like Matt, she has a great way of making the games. It’s not just like, “[dun-dun-dun-dun] and the combat” for every single game. Like some of the episodes are really different from the others. And it’s because of where the focus lies. She’s excellent at it. And a little hypnotic at times when she gets into her sort of world-nourishing zone.

Carrero: It’s not until after I’m driving home and realized, “oh my God, this is the story we just told.” It’s not just the surface level story we’re telling, it’s so much more. And Aabria has that in common with Matt.

When you sat down and started to plan out Exandria Unlimited, you knew that this would be a limited show. This wasn’t a big Critical Role campaign where it could go for 100+ episodes. You know you had like a set amount of episodes. How does that affect building your character and trying to determine what sort of story you want to tell?

O’Brien: Let me just give a shout out to Marisha Ray, Exandria Unlimited is really her brainchild. I guess I didn’t experience any difference in character creation for this, because we really are just hoping to expand our universe with a different game master, really. We weren’t thinking of it as the B-show or the smaller show. So I put as much thought into the character I’m playing as a did to any of my past.

It’s clear that Robbie and Aimee put a ton of thought and joy and love into the characters they created. And I loved it really sinking in for the two of them that “Oh, I get to make the role that I want to play.” It just gets deeper. You come up with all these ideas, but it doesn’t really happen, the magic doesn’t happen until you play, and then you play it again.

Carrero: Because I have very little experience, I came to Aabria with the story that I was interested in telling, and the character that I was interested in playing. I started with a conflict and said “Here’s the issue that she has. How can I build a character from that?” From that, she made really great suggestions as far as, “Well, if you do this, then this will become a conflict for you later on. If you do that, that will.” So I think I built the character unconventionally. Maybe it’s just because I’m new, but I often also do that during combat rules. I’m like, “Okay, here’s what I want to do. What is possible?” And to my great delight, pretty much everything is possible. Looking back, I definitely was made the most interesting character that I could play in this moment and worked backwards from there.

What do you hope that Critical Role fans – old fans, new fans, and maybe people who decide this is going to be their first dive into the franchise – what do you hope that people take out of watching Exandria Unlimited?

Carrero: I think it’s a really good time for people who have been curious about the Critical Role universe and maybe feel overwhelmed by the amount of story that’s already available. This feels like a nice gateway into the world because it is a limited story. Having been an audience member, if I’m just starting out into this world, or even if I’m like an experienced player or an experienced watcher, I think this is just like a really perfect time to dip your toe in the water if you’re interested, because it’s very easy to catch up. And you don’t feel like there’s so much information that you need to know before watching it.

O’Brien: Exactly that. It’s going to be a great way for people who have been curious or hadn’t heard of us until now to find an easy starting point. And then if you love it, you can decide where you want to go in our universe next. And really, we want the show to do what we want our past campaigns to do, which is share the love of this game. Because there’s nothing like it. It’s one of the most human shared experiences you can have. And I think anyone who tries Dungeons & Dragons for any amount of time finds that. It used to be a hard thing to communicate to people and it’s not anymore, which is fantastic.

Carrero: And maybe for people that haven’t played D&D or maybe feel a little bit intimidated, it might be nice to see a new player on the show. Where it’s like, “Well, she doesn’t know what she’s doing all the time. And that’s good that those are questions I would have.” I’m hoping that maybe we’ll give that group a little representation to show you don’t have to be an expert in Dungeons & Dragons in order to enjoy it, and to play it, and to make friends, and tell stories that feel important to you.

O’Brien: That’s an excellent point, Aimee. You’ll see that as we play together, those of us who’ve been playing together for so long are just thrilled to be bringing in new friends and introducing people to it. And you really are like the avatar for brand new players.

Exandria Unlimited begins on June 24th on Critical Role’s Twitch and YouTube channels.