Critical Role is Geek & Sundry’s live Dungeons & Dragons show, featuring Dungeon Master Matthew Mercer and his troupe of fellow voice actors. Catch them every Thursday night at 7:00 PM PT on the Geek & Sundry Twitch channel and on Alpha.

If you’ve been tuning into Talks Machina recently, you may have noticed a familiar but fluffy blue face now calling the set’s sofa home.

The soft doll was created by Critter Jen Herrera, AKA Noxx & Bobbin Workshop, and it was deemed the first piece of Mighty Nein memorabilia on the Talks set back in March. Jen started a binge marathon of Critical Role in early 2017 when she started playing Dungeons & Dragons.

“I wanted to see other people playing the game and decided to give the stream a go,” she says. “I was immediately hooked and at the same time set too high a standard for myself as a player! But I fell in love with the characters and spent the whole summer catching up to live episodes.
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Jen had been making plush for years, since 2012, so making Critical Role plush dolls was a natural blend of two of her favorite things—although Jester presented a new challenge.

“Through years of practice and dedication, I now make plush creations full-time,” she says. “Humanoid plush like Jester are actually a relatively new thing for me that I was eager to try out.”

The process begins with patterns, starting with two or three patterns to test proportions. “I then design digital embroidery files to fit the pieces, like I did for Jester’s face,” she says, “and embroider using my embroidery machine.”

Once the embroidery machine finishes, it’s time to sew all the pieces together and stuff the doll.

“I patterned her clothes and hair afterward and eventually hand-sewed all the parts together,” says Jen. “The dress has airbrushed details to capture the gradients and markings on Jester’s original artwork.”

Putting together the plush can take up to two weeks, but it’s obviously a labor of love for Jen.

“I just think Jester is so delightful,” she says. “Despite being a huge fan of half-orcs, I decided Jester needed to be plushed first (sorry Fjord), just because she’s so captivating. She has a lovely design visually, and Laura Bailey really brings and energy to the character that makes you an instant fan of her. From episode 1 I was obsessed with that leetle blue tiefling!”

WANT MORE CRITICAL ROLE?

• Check out more one-of-a-kind crafts other Critters have put together.
• Make your own Critical Role crafts from walkthroughs here on Geek & Sundry.
• Start the adventures from the very beginning with the Critical Role Podcast.
• Tune into our official aftershow, Talks Machina, live on Alpha and Twitch, Tuesdays at 7pm PT.

Featured Photo: Kelly Knox

All Other Photos: Jen Herrera