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In the early days of Critical Role, long before Amazon Prime Video adapted The Legend of Vox Machina campaign, critters got a special treat in the form of a one-off much unlike any liveplay they'd ever seen before. That was in 2017, when Travis Willingham sat down in the GM chair for an Exandrian adventure... not as himself, but as his Vox Machina character, Grog Strongjaw. As inventive as it was chaotic and hilarious, the one-shot session went down in Critical Role history, and now, eight years later, the gang is planning to do it again.

At least, that's according to Willingham himself, who recently attended GalaxyCon San Jose 2025 for a Critical Role panel alongside castmate (and, well, life partner) Laura Bailey. The subject of the Grog-led D&D session came up only briefly after an attending fan stepped up to the question mic, but the answer it got is sure to kick off hours of speculation from fans of TTRPG liveplay.

"One of my favorite one-shots is the Grog one-shot," started the fan, "I was wondering if you guys had any plans to do any of that kind of thing, where the PCs run a session?"

"Yes," responded Willingham directly, "Yes, yes. Absolutely. Probably in 2026. Hint hint. Nudge nudge."

Some context here: this fan question came at pretty much the end of the Bailey/Willingham panel, during which they were participating in a "lightning round," to get to as many questions as they could before time ran out. So Willingham's short reply here isn't just the actor and CEO trying to tease, but seemingly due to a timing issue.

Still, an answer like that without more explanation is sure to be nothing less than infuriating for all you critters out there. Which characters are going to host one-shots, Travis? From which campaigns? Will the GM use a D&D system or Daggerheart? What aren't you telling us???

I suppose we'll just have to wait until 2026 to find out. In the meantime, new characters and a new(ish) GM will all be a part of Critical Role's Campaign 4, which 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.