What is a “Lore Keeper” and what does it entail?
I liken it to being a fantasy historian! The Lore Keeper keeps track of the history and story of the world – in my case, Exandria – and ensures that everything remains canon-compliant across our various properties such as comic books, novels, merchandising designs, etc.

How did you become the Lore Keeper for Critical Role?
I moved from Memphis, TN to Los Angeles in January 2017. I had been watching Critical Role since day one of the stream and had become friendly with some of the cast. Marisha hired me as her Production Coordinator at Geek & Sundry. I kept that job through the transition to Critical Role and in 2020, became the Lore Keeper. I had already been doing a lot of that work with Critical Recap and we realized the necessity of the job, since Exandria has so many details and poor Matt is only one person!

What’s one surprising thing about being Lore Keeper?
Probably how much I touch! I work on everything we make, even if it’s just to give a quick thumbs up to Jester’s eye color on new pins or to write detailed lore packets for all our amazing animation writers.

What’s your favorite part of being Lore Keeper?
I love Exandria and the worlds of Critical Role with my whole heart. It is such an honor to be able to protect the worlds and the stories that these people tell, because they’re told with such heart and passion. All the bits matter.

What’s the hardest part of being Lore Keeper?
All the bits matter! So it’s a heavy lift to keep track of it all, but I’ve got an incredible Junior Lore Keeper in Jared Deiro, and our phenomenal production team and licensing team always ensure that I’m able to stay on top of the big and small parts.

What has been your favorite moment from any of the Critical Role campaigns?
Spoilers for Campaign 2! I always go back to Jester & the cupcake. I remember so vividly being so sure that we were about to lose Beau to the hag Isharnai and then Jester came in with that gorgeous cupcake and saved the day. In terms of behind the scenes, I’ll never forget the night Molly died. I was in shock and couldn’t stop crying. Sweet Taliesin came out and comforted me, despite it being his character that died! I’ll never forget that.

Did you play TTRPGs before joining the Critical Role team?
I did! The first TTRPG I ever played was Torg. Then I played a few different versions of D&D (including first edition!) and then Pathfinder, then found a wonderful group to play 5e with after CR came out. Now I have a consistent Curse of Strahd game that Liam GMs for myself and a few of our friends. 

What’s your favorite class to play, if so?
I love to play clerics and druids, though I’ve been playing a runechild sorcerer for years now. I gave her an herbalist, witchy flare that gives me a lot of room to add flavor to spells. 

What’s your favorite cocktail or drink, if you do drink?
I’m not a huge drinker, but I love whiskey and bourbon, and my favorite fancy cocktail is a French 75: gin, champagne, lemon juice, and simple syrup.

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