This group is playing ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ to help L.A. fire victims, and you can join in

The devastating California wildfires have led to a number of benefit events, from concerts to comedy shows, with the intention to fundraise for wildfire recovery efforts. 

The team at Critical Role, meanwhile, is going to do what they do best: play Dungeons & Dragons.  

Critical Role announced a special live one-shot D&D adventure titled “Freaky Thursday,” featuring Bells Hells, the characters from its third D&D campaign. The charity event stars Ashley Johnson, Marisha Ray, Taliesin Jaffe, Travis Willingham, Sam Riegel, Laura Bailey, and Liam O’Brien, with game master Matthew Mercer. 

“Let’s do some chaotic good,” wrote O’Brien on X, sharing the announcement.

The Freaky Thursday adventure will be livestreamed on Critical Role’s membership service Beacon, as well as its Twitch and YouTube channels, on Thursday, January 30, at 7 p.m. PT. Fans, affectionately known as “Critters,” will be able to make donations or purchase rewards to shape the story through Tiltify. 

The group has set an ambitious goal of raising $180,000 with the livestream. Each milestone will unlock in-game surprises like “new allies, unexpected adversaries or even character sheet swaps, ensuring an unpredictable and exciting adventure shaped entirely by the community’s contributions,” Critical Role said. Story elements with the most donations will take center stage in the game.

Where the money will go

Donations will be split between the California Community Foundation Wildfire Recovery Fund, the Latino Community Foundation, and the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation. The company added that 10% of each donation will be “stashed into our overall emergency fund, which allows [our foundation] to send help quickly in the event of a future unforeseen natural emergency.”

Through its Critical Role Foundation (CRF) nonprofit arm, the company has already contributed $30,000 from its emergency fund to the California Community Foundation’s Wildfire Recovery Fund. Even before the launch of the CRF in September 2020, Critical Role and its network of Critters have been active in raising money for a range of causes, including 826LA and First Nations Development Institute.

Critical Role Foundation is just one of the many ways that Critical Role has expanded into new areas in recent years. Aside from its core show, one-offs, and spinoff web series, the group has also branched into comics and books, an animated series, and their own subscription-based streaming platform, Beacon. It’s impressive work from what began as a show that highlighted the joy of playing Dungeons & Dragons with friends. 

You can donate and learn more here. 

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