The wood burning was done and posted on the r/DnD by Oliver, known as I’m hereforthewearp on Reddit. The design itself is a replication of one of the official portraits of the Mighty Nein of Critical Role fame.
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The Mighty Nein was the name of the cast of characters from the second campaign of Critical Role. The piece reproduced by Oliver was the second of three portraits of the adventuring party, all of which were originally designed by Ariana Orner. The piece depicts the characters with upgraded armor and items they acquired over their early adventures.
The pyrography piece was burned, colored, and sealed in 25 hours over the course of a week. The three-by-two-foot piece is sealed with beeswax oil and is the largest piece of artwork Oliver had ever created. He also shared a progress montage of him working on the masterwork endeavor, which was also posted on Reddit.
Oliver’s fellow Dungeons and Dragons and Critical Role fans were quick to shower him with compliments on his stellar work. Pyrography is an uncommon art form, so it is a special treat for gamers when their fans explore the medium, as one Skyrim fan recently did as well. Though Critical Role has gained more and more popularity over the years, the journeys of the Mighty Nein were especially beloved by fans for many reasons, most notably because of its interesting and dynamic characters with strong LGBTQ+ representation.
Critical Role’s success has been a huge contributor to the success of Dungeons and Dragons over recent years. Wizards of the Coast teamed up with Critical Role to put out the Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount and Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep–two official D&D sourcebooks set in Exandria, the world of Critical Role. Additionally, Critical Role’s publisher, Darrington Press, recently launched Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, a 3rd-party sourcebook for Dungeons and Dragons.
While there are no other official partnerships between Critical Role and Dungeons and Dragons announced as of yet, more will surely come. Critical Role has run over two dozen episodes of its third campaign so far, featuring the Bells Hells adventuring party. No doubt that if Oliver creates a pyrography tribute to them, it will be of exceptional quality.
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