As D&D booms, ‘Critical Role’ makes its own kind of nerd celebrity

It may not sound like must-see TV: eight friends sitting around a table playing Dungeons & Dragons while cracking jokes and moving each other to tears.

But for a legion of fans, “Critical Role” — the popular D&D “actual play” series in which a group of nerdy voice actors stream their unscripted adventures — is an immersive world that combines plot-twisting narratives with the parasocial coziness of a fireside hangout.