Critical Role’s Whitney Moore says she’s ‘made the mistake of thinking that I could out-troll’ prank extraordinaire Sam Riegel at the table

Critical Role Campaign 4 is off to a terrific start—even if it is a borderline magic trick to see DM Brennan Lee Mulligan handle thirteen players at once for its first four episodes (they’re not all at the table at once, mind, but it’s still a terrific feat). I’ve been equally impressed by the new players that’ve filled out said number—including Whitney Moore, who plays Tyranny.

In case you’re not caught up, I’ll give you the broad strokes: Tyranny’s a demon, who the Church of the Candescent Creed have taken on along with a host of infernal (or abyssal, I’m not sure what Brennan’s hell lore is like yet) siblings. On the outside, she’s being taught by Sam Riegel’s character how to be pious and virtuous.

It’s already an excellent mechanic, with Riegel’s Wicander Halovar playing the straight man to Tyranny’s messy antics. At least, on first blush: In a recent interview with Moore by Wargamer‘s Mollie Russell, she confesses that she’s bitten off a bit more than she could chew.

“Sam Riegel and I are a duo, and I made the mistake of thinking that I could out-troll him, so now we’re in a race to the bottom to see who can be the voice of reason first.”

That tracks. I’ve been following along, and I’ve already seen Riegel’s propensity for mischief shine bright in Wicander (mild spoilers for the first few episodes to follow). See, House Halovar isn’t at all what it seems, operating more like an organised crime family that’s using its religion as a front.

Tyranny isn’t just his minder, she’s his handler. So when li’l Wicky gets ahead of himself, and starts moving against his family, the roles are suddenly reversed—Wicander keeps blabbing at inopportune times, nearly getting himself killed, and Tyranny’s the only person in the world who is capable of saving him.

I’m not surprised Riegel’s managed to pull this switcheroo off, though. One of his most infamous gambits in Campaign one (spoilers, again, to follow) is seeing his character leave the party in a dramatic, heartbreaking speech, then coming in with his backup: A foppish rich-boy adventuring on daddy’s money who can’t even remember his new allies’ names. He sure knows how to rope-a-dope his fellow cast mates.

As for Tyranny the character, Moore explains that “Wicander is the model for her, and even though she thinks he’s kind of a nerd, he is rubbing off on her. I think that she didn’t realize—or maybe didn’t plan on—being as affected as she is by the world around her. That’s something I also really relate to as a person. Her dynamics and her loyalties are shifting, and it’s a very scary, very teenage sort of time.

“… the longer she spends out in the real world, the less she identifies with her demon group. She has an agenda that’s fundamentally built into who she is, and I think that she’s going to have a lot of crises of spirit the more that she develops bonds with her adventuring party.” I, for one, can’t wait to see it. You can catch Critical Role every Thursday on YouTube, and stream VoDs early on Beacon.