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To cosplay a Critical Role character is to fill in certain blanks left out of the TTRPG liveplay series, or even the Prime Video animated adaptations thereof. Yes, we know the general outfit of, say, Laura Bailey's Jester from The Mighty Nein campaign, but do we have a prop reference for all the mystical artifacts she uses? Previously, the answer to that would've been "no..." 

But that's where the Armory of Heroes comes in. 

Written by Martin Cahill and featuring art by Ana Fedina (AKA Anafi), Critical Role: The Armory of Heroes is a detailed art book covering the outfits and tools used by characters existing in the Vox Machina, Mighty Nein, and Exandria Unlimited: Calamity. Recently, Popverse had the chance to speak about the book with Dani Carr, Critical Role's Lorekeeper, and Niki Chi, the company's Licensing Brand Associate. And as you might guess, CR cosplayers was a topic that came up a lot.

"We adore our incredible cosplayer community," said Carr, "While this book was not directly inspired by them, it’s absolutely meant to inspire their creativity. We even specifically made sure to include front and back looks at all the new outfits so everyone, but cosplayers especially, would be able to see as much detail as possible."

"Our main focus for these character designs," said Chi, "Was to build upon the existing base designs of our characters. We had seen a lot of other compendium artbooks, and wanted the same for our colorful cast. We wanted something that Critters could really sit down and digest, especially on the finer details. Turnarounds are especially helpful for cosplayers too, which was a consideration."

There's something to consider - just how much have you seen your favorite Critical Role character from behind? Er, except for that area of Reddit. Anyway, it's something extremely useful for an Exandrian cosplayer to know... and it might just save you an embarassing Google search.

Unless of course you're into that sort of thing, in which case, no judgement.

Critical Role: The Armory of Heroes is available now. 

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.