“Battle of the Bards” Charity One-Shot For The Critical Role Foundation!
Written by Nicole on November 10, 2026
Tune your lutes, restring your guitars, and warm up those vocal cords because the first-ever Battle of the Bards competition is about to rock your socks off!
Join us on Tuesday, November 17th at 7pm Pacific on Beacon, Twitch, and YouTube as the Critical Role Foundation presents a LIVE charity one-shot where YOU get to affect the game!
But what is this epic battle you will be shaping? We’ll give you a hint: it’s for the most legendary bard in all of Exandria!
Scanlan Shorthalt is hosting the competition of the century, in search for the next greatest entertainer (besides him of course). Bards from across Exandria will come together to compete in challenges that will showcase their talents and push their limits. It’ll be a night of awe and spectacle where nothing will go wrong…
Donations are open RIGHT NOW, and every dollar you give can shake up the show! The Critical Role Foundation will allocate and evenly split the donations raised between the following non-profit organizations, which are longtime friends of Critical Role:
In addition to supporting these seven remarkable organizations, 10% of each donation is set aside in an emergency fund. This fund allows us to send help quickly when an unforeseen natural disaster strikes.
Read on, rockstars, to learn more about your competitors AND how you can affect this battle!
Your Bards! (and Game Master)
Who shall take the stage and compete in this once-in-a-lifetime showdown?
Game Master Matthew Mercer will lead Critical Role Founders Ashley Johnson and Sam Riegel as well as REAL-LIFE BARDS Tom Morello, K.Flay, THOT SQUAD, Blake Roman, and Wayne Brady, through this fierce competition! And don’t let their friendly faces fool you…these bards are in it to win it!
Tom Morello as Pastor Vindus Synn
K.Flay as Yoraxori
THOT SQUAD as Hunter-Mae Rutherford
Blake Roman as Hellion Barkface
Wayne Brady as Rakim Tremelo
Ashley Johnson as Bingo
Sam Riegel as Scanlan Shorthalt (and Co-Game Master)
Matthew Mercer as Game Master
We warned you…the competition was gonna be FIERCE. But only ONE can be named the next greatest entertainer in Exandria!
On a more sincere note, we cannot thank these wonderful and talented humans enough for joining this one-shot and helping us raise funds for these incredible non-profit organizations!
Thank you for lending your talents to support these causes.
How Can YOU Shake Up This Battle?
There will be three ways to affect this competition: Pre-Game Donation Votes, Donation Milestones, and LIVE In-Game Donations.
Pre-Game Donation Votes
From Tuesday, November 10th (RIGHT NOW) to Tuesday, November 19th at 6pm PST your donations serve as votes on the two things every performer dreads: bad weather and stage crashers.
COMPETITION WEATHER: What weather will ruin things first? Order will be determined by your votes
When a Weather Toll hits, all players are affected depending on the current weather.
When the weather changes, all ongoing weather conditions fade.
- Sweltering Heat: All players gain a level of Exhaustion.
- Freezing Cold: All players are Bane’d (-1d4 to Attack Rolls and Saving Throws).
- Lightning Clouds: All players make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 4d6 lightning damage on a failure and half damage on a success.
- Dust Storm: The contest area is Heavily Obscured (performance-based rolls have disadvantage).
- Arcane Flux: All spells cast roll on the Wild Magic table.
MONSTERS: Which monster will interrupt this competition first? Order will be determined by your votes
- Bulette
- Fire Elemental
- Oni
- Frost Giant Skeleton
- Young Remorhaz
- Chimera
- Young White Dragon
Donation Milestones
Milestones represent the total number of donations earned whether it’s from your pre-game donation votes, your in-game shenanigan donations, or just a small amount you want to donate to these incredible causes.
Every donation, big or small, can contribute to this story.
Whatever milestones we’ve unlocked before the show begins will trigger at the top of the game!
$25k – BURST OF INSPIRATION: All players gain Inspiration!
$40k – WEATHER TOLL: The Weather takes its toll!
$55k – WILD MAGIC SURGE: Every player must roll on the Wild Magic table!
$70k – WEATHER TOLL: The Weather takes its toll!
$85k – WEATHER SHIFT: The weather conditions change to the next highest choice!
$100k – MONSTER ARRIVAL: The Top Monster lands in the competition space!
$115k – BURST OF INSPIRATION: All players gain Inspiration!
$130k – WEATHER TOLL: The Weather takes its toll!
$145k – WILD MAGIC SURGE: Every player must roll on the Wild Magic table!
$160k – MONSTER ARRIVAL: The Next Top Monster lands in the competition space!
$175k – WEATHER TOLL: The Weather takes its toll!
$190k – BURST OF INSPIRATION: All players gain Inspiration!
$200k – WEATHER SHIFT: The weather conditions change to the next highest choice!
Every $15k thereafter – WEATHER TOLL
In-Game Donations (LIVE)
You know the drill…let’s fuck shit up! Once the one-shot begins, you can donate to help the bards with “Cheer” or cause some chaos for our competitors with “Jeer.”
JEER
$200 – BOO: The next player to roll a d20 has stackable disadvantage. (can cancel out Applaud)
$1,000 – WILD MAGIC: A Player of Choice must roll on the Wild Magic table.
$2,000 – POLYMORPH: A Player of Choice gets Polymorphed into a random creature.
$3,000 – WEATHER TOLL: The current weather strikes the players.
$8,000 – MONSTER PARTY: The next Monster on the list arrives!
CHEER
$200 – APPLAUD: The next player to roll a d20 has stackable advantage. (can cancel out Boo)
$750 – AIRDROP HEALING POTION: A Potion of Greater Healing is dropped into the event!
$1,000 – AIRDROP RANDOM ITEM: A helpful magical item is dropped into the event.
$1,500 – WEATHER SHIFT: The weather conditions change to the next option.
$3,000 – JUDGEMENT: All present Monsters take 10d6 force damage.
$5,000 – LIMITED WISH: A Player of Choice gains a use of the Wish spell, but can only speak 5 words when used.
Let’s Recap
Here’s how you can support the Battle of the Bards:
- Watch the stream LIVE on Beacon, Twitch, and YouTube on Tuesday, November 17th at 7pm PT.
- Cast your pre-game votes on the weather and monster order right here, starting TODAY (Tuesday, November 10th).
- Pre-Game Voting ends Tuesday, November 19th at 6pm PST
- Cheer or Jeer in real time during the broadcast to help or hinder our bards.
- Share the event with your friends, family, bandmates, adventuring party, or total strangers. Helping us spread the word makes a huge difference!
And as always, thank you so much for your support of the Critical Role Foundation. It has truly given us the opportunity to leave this world better than we found it.
Character Art by Jacob Miller
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