Matt Mercer’s Most Inspiring Critical Role Quote Still Resonates in D&D History

Matthew Mercer is one of the world’s most popular Dungeon Masters. Alongside fellow DMs Deborah Ann Woll, Brennan Lee Mulligan, and Aabria Iyengar, he has helped shape how players around the world approach tabletop role-playing games.

Mercer co-founded Critical Role, a multimedia entertainment company that has grown and changed over the years. His willingness to help other tabletop players has remained constant. He is particularly keen to support aspiring Dungeon Masters as they build their skills. Mercer has even appeared on the official Dungeons & Dragons YouTube page to offer advice.

Mercer’s wisdom appears in many interviews. But only recently, as a fellow DM, I came across a quote of his that I think everyone at the table should take to heart.

What is Matthew Mercer’s best D&D quote?

In a Variety interview published in January 2026, Mercer and Mulligan talked about all things D&D. They reflected on their work as Dungeon Masters on Critical Role and Dimension 20, and on the experiences and paths that shaped their careers.

As they discussed how to prepare for a tabletop session, Mulligan asked Mercer about his approach. Mercer’s answer gets at a core idea that can inspire both players and DMs in their future games:

“Like many things, it comes with experience, and sometimes you have to fail to learn better.”

After decades of playing tabletop games and building a career around them, Mercer summed up one of the things that makes games like D&D so engaging: the chance to improve how we tell stories through play.

Why failure in D&D is so important

We’ve heard plenty of sayings about the benefits of failure. Henry Ford said, “Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” Chris Bradford put it this way: “There is no failure except in no longer trying.”

In D&D, giving yourself permission to fail is one of the most important lessons a player can learn. Chasing perfection puts unnecessary pressure on you and everyone else at the table.

As a DM, you might spend the game worrying about whether your players are having fun or trying to steer them toward a particular outcome. If they don’t go along with it, your anxiety can grow. As a player, you might overthink every choice until the game grinds to a halt.

When I started DMing, I scripted scenarios that I thought would derail the campaign and the story I wanted to tell if the players didn’t follow them exactly. That approach was selfish. The story belonged to everyone at the table, not just me. Trying to force things back on track led me to make terrible, sometimes unfair calls. Half the time, those calls only made the situation harder.

I should have paused and told my players they’d thrown me another curveball, and that I, a Brit with only a passing knowledge of American sports, had fumbled it badly.

My anxiety about straying from the plan in my head made games feel far more frightening than they needed to be. I didn’t want to be wrong. But being wrong, and having people accept that while still wanting to sit at your table and help tell the story, is one of life’s greatest pleasures.

Whatever your role at the table, fear of failure and the pursuit of perfection can distract you from what matters. When you try to make every decision, encounter, and moment just right, it’s easy to forget why everyone gathered to play: to have fun.

Mercer’s advice is worth remembering. Failure can keep teaching you long after the moment has passed.

Source: Polygon