Critical Role fans want to see more of Robbie Daymond’s Dorian Storm

Critical Role’s Exandria Unlimited: KymalAfter a two-episode series, the show was ended on April 1. The action-packed Dungeons & Dragons actual play featured a casino heist, a new player, and the triumphant return of most of the Crown Keepers — including Dorian Storm, played with a palpable amount of glee by voice actor Robbie Daymond.

Both the show and its predecessor. Exandria Unlimited, reflect a clear shift in Critical Role’s fairly entrenched long-form campaign format, opening up the floor for new creators. Exandria UnlimitedDaymond appears to be staying with Critical Role, so it seems like this is something that will happily be retold. However, it’s sad to think that Dorian’s story is, for the moment, over.

It all began at Exandria UnlimitedDorian instantly struck me with his charming demeanour. He displayed a polite, awkward bravado which he was able to play well against other boisterous characters, such as Opal, (Aimee Carrero), and Dariax, (Matthew Mercer). “I wanted to play something kind of away from myself,” Daymond said in his recent appearance on 4 Sided DivingCritical Role has launched a new series of talk shows called. “I thrive when I’m around people, so I wanted to experience someone who’s not that.” He went on to discuss Dorian’s anxieties, asking, “Can you be charming while being insecure?”

It was certainly the opinion of fans. Dorian became a fan favorite and was featured in fanart, cosplay highlights, YouTube highlights, and much more. When Dorian reappeared on the Critical Role set for episode one of the third season, the Twitch chat went wild, delighted by Daymond’s entrance. Daymond went on to feature in Campaign 3 for fourteen consecutive episodes – the longest run of a guest cast member.

Daymond is a relative newcomer to Dungeons & Dragons, but you wouldn’t know it from his play style. Similar to his time in the past Exandria UnlimitedHe was an integral part of Campaign 3’s fabric from the beginning. He participated in the cast’s goofy asides and reactions, but also left room for moments of gravitas and emotional exploration. It is part of his Dorian performance that makes it so enjoyable to see. Is new to the table, and fairly new to the hobby — his wins are even more engaging to witness, because they’re firsts several times over.

Dorian debuted in Campaign 3 as part of a set, including Fearne (Ashley Johnson) and Orym (Liam O’Brien). Immediately, Daymond seemed at home at the table — in character, he began to clap anxiously at the end of a tram ride, and quickly scolded Fearne when she stole an earring as they entered Jrusar: “I told you a story about someone picking my pocket thirty seconds ago, and then you pick someone’s pocket?!” He also formed unique relationships with the other characters, from his immediate, hilarious animosity with Chetney (Travis Willingham) to his initial fear of and eventual closeness with Launda (Marisha Ray).

Dorian had his own beautiful story. “I love the noble who’s reluctant,” Daymond said, when asked in 4 Sided Diving about Dorian’s creation. The show’s creator, Dorian, revealed his backstory over time. This was pushed forward by Cyrus Wyvernwind, his NPC brother. Dorian was clearly working hard to carve a path for himself, to experience the world outside of his family’s influence, and part of that path was the found family he gained in Bells Hells. At the end of his run in Campaign 3, Dorian noted, “I’ve always felt my entire life, always, like I was on the outside looking in. And you, you all have made me feel like I am part of something bigger.”

The main cast of Critical Role is extremely beloved, but the format of the core series makes departures like Daymond’s performance stand out, especially when he was so integral to the start of Campaign 3. In a season that has felt markedly different in terms of the revolving door nature of, for example, Travis Willingham’s characters, it was exciting to think that Daymond might join as a full cast member, as a way of shifting up the structure of Critical Role.

Filming schedules and individual actors’ responsibilities may have played a role, but Dorian’s departure was disappointing in the sense that it felt like a step backward – especially when Fearne and Orym got to stay. Fans lamented Daymond’s departure in the Twitch chat on the next episode that aired. In a recent interview for ComicBooks.com, Daymond expressed that, “one thing that Matt said to [him] from the beginning was ‘Let’s just play.’ So there was never a plan to have [him] there for a set number of episodes.”

Play, in its medium of actual play, is a special kind of magic. There has been plenty of scholarship about the tenuous balance between production and play — the way that a story told between friends, and a game, transforms when an audience becomes involved, when there are filming concerns and monetizations to balance. It is the people around the table that tend to make magic. Critical Role struck gold almost immediately when they started out — they had some bumps, but they swiftly accelerated to dominate the space. It is all about the cast. They are the heart of the story, and their energy and connections have kept it going for seven years. That’s a long time, especially when you consider how little the actual play element of Critical Role’s programming has changed in format over that time.

Critical Role’s ubiquity grants the company a lot of autonomy, and it has been exciting to think that that autonomy could be wielded to expand the format and potentially change up how they’ve been doing things. It was clear that the door had been opened. Exandria Unlimited, and especially with Dorian’s role in Campaign 3. Daymond excelled at a table that was well-established. It was thrilling. Not only did fans get to hang on to the core cast — they got to see a new player succeed in that space. This felt like a slight shift in direction for the core campaign. It was clear that there were no lost opportunities for the new player.

If Daymond’s tenure on both the core campaign and Exandria Unlimited can be considered a playtest for long-term changes or format shifts, it’s a deft move, but it’s also one that seems to be rolling out in eddies rather than waves. While it seems like the door is open for Daymond’s return at some point down the line, his time with Critical Role illuminated something about the core series: New is good. Even if we can’t have Dorian back for the long haul, bringing more depth to the constantly shifting, already vast landscape of Critical Role with new faces — and the new stories, experiences, and joys that they can bring — is clearly something that works. And it’s something that would be amazing to see more of in the future, through further expansions of Exandria UnlimitedAdditions to the core campaign and more

Until then, we’ll miss the blue boy, and hope he’ll return down the road.