Every Thursday night, thousands of people gather around their computers and consoles to listen to the unfolding tales of Vox Machina on Geek & Sundry’s Critical Role. Hundreds of thousands watch it later on their own time. Nobody could’ve guessed what a colossal success a show about a group of “nerdy-ass voice actors” sitting around, playing Dungeons & Dragons for a live audience would become. Through the community, strangers around the world became friends as they bonded over their mutual love of the show.

But there’s one thing Critical Role does not offer on Thursday nights, and that’s interactivity. Part of what makes the show so great is how immersive it is, drawing you into the story and bringing you along for the journey. It would detract from the storytelling if the players were constantly reacting to comments from the thousands of stream viewers in chat.

The community, affectionately known as “Critters,” is quite the opposite. They love to engage in conversation and fan-creations through multiple channels including Twitch and Alpha live chat, Discord, Twitter, and Reddit to name a few. These methods have allowed Critters to communicate with each other, but not so much with Vox Machina or Geek & Sundry directly.

Our new show Talks Machina is about to change all that with discussions about each week’s adventures, fan creation showcases (GIFs and fan art), prize giveaways, and even the chance to interact directly with members of Vox Machina as well as special guests. Host Brian Wayne Foster is both a personal friend of the cast as well as a fan of the show itself. Talks Machina will offer a centralized location for all things Critical Role made by people passionate about the show.

A note from Brian:

I’m not only a huge fan of Critical Role, I’ve had the pleasure of being friends with the cast long before the home game or stream even began, and a fan of Geek & Sundry and Felicia for many years. When the cast approached me about hosting Talks Machina and shared with me their vision of the show, I was absolutely ecstatic and honored. Becoming a part of this family at Geek & Sundry has brought me so many new friends. We’ve been working extremely hard to create a unique and special show that will be completely catered toward this unique community and the countless individuals who come together each week to take part in this crazy show who call themselves Critters. We’re going to do a lot of fun, weird, and (most likely) bafflingly stupid stuff on the show, but our sole desire has always been to give back to the fans, and to afford them another opportunity during the week to hang with the cast and get to know them a little better. The extremely hard working team at Geek & Sundry have brought this vision of ours to life, and we cannot wait to share it with you.

How can you get in on the fun? Easy. Talks Machina will premiere on ProjectAlpha.com on November 15 at 7pm pacific.

The first four episodes will also be simulcast on Geek & Sundry’s Twitch channel with their respective VODs appearing on GeekandSundry.com that same week. You can also get updates on the show by following @TalksMachina on Twitter. Please note that Alpha is in early access until Nov. 17. You can sign up for early access at AlphaInvite.com.