Critical Role’s Liam O’Brien on Unleashing New Stories in ‘Candela Obscura’ (VIDEO)

Since bursting onto the scene via Twitch in 2015, Critical Role has morphed from a group of friends playing a game of Dungeons & Dragons to a worldwide entertainment sensation. Among the accomplishments the company has created since taking control of its own IP in 2018: a hit animated series on Prime Video (The Legend of Vox Machina, currently waiting to start its third season), novel and comic tie-ins by way of their own publishing arm Darrington Press, and of course, innovative new games and systems in the tabletop roleplay space.

One of those latest offerings is their own brainchild: Candela Obscura. Created by Critical Role’s Taliesin Jaffe and Chris Lockey, with lead designer Spenser Starke (Alice is Missing) and writer Rowan Hall (Willing & Fable), the game was conceived alongside Darrington Press using the company’s new roleplay system Illuminated Worlds. The live play horror drama follows a diverse group of investigators, ranging from professors to criminals to mediums, who join the secret order of “Candela Obscura” and work together to confront mysterious, chaotic, and supernatural forces.

Candela Obscura officially kicked off on May 26, 2023. February 29th marked the start of the fourth outing in this ongoing investigative anthology, titled “The Circle of The Crimson Mirror.” This time around, Critical Role cast member Liam O’Brien commands the table, leading a company of established players and voice actors including The Menu‘s Aimee Carerro (medium Grimoria), Alexander Ward (doctor Edgar Lycoris), Imari Williams (solider Malcolm Trills), and Jaffe (journalist Leo Amicus and “The Lightkeeper,” an “entitled veteran” who guides players through twists and turns of the game).

“I was stealth preparing for my game running chapter with the proceeding chapter I was a player in because I had known for a long time before Candela even began on our channel that I was going to get a turn at the table,” reveals O’Brien in an exclusive chat with TV Insider, adding that he specifically chose a character (occultist Cosmo Grimm) who was an expert in the place and the history so he could get himself up to speed.

“I’ve spent a lot of these past years in addition to being a player at our table at the channel running games for both my kids and also for a group of friends and family, so all this time I’ve had more reps at bats and happy to bring that sort of added experience to what I do,” he continues. “But I think anyone who remembers my past turns at the table running games knows that I have a love for horror and the bizarre, and as a player, most people know I like taking characters and putting them in very intense situations and making them grapple with stuff.”

What makes Candela Obscura unique is its miniseries format, which allows each three-episode “chapter” to function as a self-contained story within the shared fictional universe of the Fairelands. This also makes it easy for new viewers to jump in, as no previous knowledge of an episode is needed to enjoy or understand the narrative—as they say, you can sit back and enjoy the ride.

“Stories, in my opinion, need a beginning, middle, and end,” says O’Brien. “It’s not like we have an ongoing story, but we are creating a tapestry of this place and I feel like the city comes more and more to life with every chapter that happens.”

Watch the full video with O’Brien above and make sure to catch the second episode of Candela Obscura premiering on March 28 on Twitch and YouTube.

Candela Obscura: The Circle of Crimson Mirror, March 28, 7pm ET, Twitch and YouTube