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The cast of Critical Role has done their share of battles with creatures you find in the Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual. And on occasion, those lovable citizens of Exandria have even befriended a beastie or two. But recently, cats members Travis Willingham and Laura Bailey had to consider a possibility they hadn't been confronted with very often - that was, actually walking in the shoes (or hoofs, or tentacles, or whatever) of those very monsters. In other words - if Bailey and Willingham had to actually live as a D&D creature, which would it be?

That was the question posed to the real-life married pair at GalaxyCon San Jose 2025, where they were participating in a Main Stage panel centered around Critical Role. It came from one lore-lover in the audience, whose query specifically went, "If you could choose any monster, creature, beast, or whatever from the Monster Manual, who or what would you be?"

"There's this new one in the Monster Manual called the Elemental Cataclysm," answered WIllingham. "Let me be that. It's like Tiamat, but each one of the heads are made of different elements. I'm going to cause destruction!"

In case you don't know, Willingham is referencing the 2024 edition of the D&D Monsters Manual. And in case you don't know what Tiamat is, well, this image pretty much says it all:

Once Willingham was done answering his question, he teased that Bailey would be a flumph. What's a flumph, you ask? Eh, I'll let pictures do the talking again:

"I was going to say flumph!" Bailey laughed, but then clarified: "I don't really want to be a flumph. If I'm being realistic, I would go vampire. Because then you can still be hot."

"What are you saying?" Willingham interjected, "Flumphs aren't hot?" 

"I mean..." Bailey trailed off.

"What does a flumph sound like?" asked Bailey's husband, and for the next few moments, the pair imitated the creatures. Sorry to say that a picture would not do their flumph language justice, but you can watch the video for yourself and see if what they're doing matches the above picture.

Critical Role's Campaign 4, which may or may not feature hot flumphs, debuts on October 2 on Critical Role's Beacon, YouTube, and Twitch channels.

From the lands of Exandria to your very own smartscreens, Popverse has everything you need to know about the TTRPG phenomenon that is Critical Role. Here you'll find:

• Popverse's Critical Role watch order
• An interview with GM Brennan Lee Mulligan
• The cast's appearance at C2E2 '25

...and more. Roll initiative, player. Adventure awaits.