Bestiarum Miniatures featured in Critical Role's Age of Umbra
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If you tuned into Critical Role recently, you may have seen some familiar faces on the table - our miniatures took center stage during their latest mini-series 'Age of Umbra' featuring the new Daggerheart tabletop RPG!
In this article, we're highlighting these appearances and talking more about Age of Umbra and Daggerheart.
Please note: There will be significant spoilers ahead for Age of Umbra! I strongly recommend going and watching this mini-series for yourself before reading on - it has been a treat so far.
In summary:
- Our miniatures were featured in Critical Role's Age of Umbra Series.
- We showcase the featured miniatures for each episode.
- We give some information about the awesome new Daggerheart TTRPG System.
What is Critical Role Doing with our Miniatures?
We were thrilled to discover that several of our miniatures made an appearance in Critical Role’s brand-new Age of Umbra campaign. Set in a gritty, atmospheric world inspired by dark fantasy classics like Dark Souls, the setting pairs perfectly with the aesthetic of our grimdark miniatures. The campaign is built and run using Daggerheart, the new tabletop RPG system developed by Critical Role Productions, making for an exciting blend of dramatic storytelling, fresh mechanics, and evocative visuals.
In an interview about the series, the legendary Matt Mercer had this to say:
"I was looking for inspiration and minis that fit the setting I had in mind and a lot of my encounters were directly inspired by finding some of Bestiarum’s sculpts. I ended up ordering them not just to use in the campaign, but because they actually inspired entire encounters. These pieces sparked ideas I was excited to build full adversary stat blocks around and see in action. Huge shout out to Bestiarum Games and their amazing sculptors."
(Quote can be found at 11:00)
Age of Umbra - Episode Breakdown
Episode 1 - Desperloch
In the first episode of the series, the party, hailing from a small settlement called Desperloch, find themselves inside of the Vault of the ruins of the ancient Luzal Monastery which overlooks their home town. On a rescue mission for a missing member of the Vigil. Here, they find the gate to the Monastery, which is guarded by a crowned, once-holy undead warrior.
This is where we see our first feature as our very own Forsaken King from the 'Deadmire' collection enters the fray, representing this fallen scythed warrior sweeping through the party.
"Suddenly, a massive gauntleted boney skeletal hand with the fingers reformed ... grabs onto your forearm and begins to rise up from its broken space."
Episode 2 - The Lost Monastery
In the second episode of the series, we see the party push on past the gates to the Luzal Monastery in search of the lost Vigil member, climbing the stairs into unknown territory. They succeed in finding him inside of the monastery, only to find him be overtaken by a corrupting influence from a divine statue. Grasping an enormous stone sword, he charges the party...
The Vigil member morphs into another familiar face to us, the Knight of the Gravid Moon. Part of the Calden Keep collection, this werewolf noble holding his fractured sword perfectly encapsulates the corrupted warrior as he jumps around the room, smashing into the party.
"As he begins to rise up, you watch as his arms bulk out. His arms extend. You watch as his back begins to pulse and fill with muscle. The fur itself expands. The jaws crack and widen. His tail flickers out. As he rises above, he comes down to land, now a feral, swollen form, thrice his size once."
Episode 3 - What Is Gained, What Is Lost
In the series' third episode, malady befalls a young girl from town, well acquainted to the members of the party as she rushed to join them to explore the monastery. After breathing in a strange substance encased within a stone chest in the monastery which held an unsettling skull, the party rushes to bring her back to town where the local healer takes care of her. Just as things seem to look up, the girl awakes, overtaken by some dark influence, and extinguishes the town's protective brazier before transforming into a horrifying, wriggling abomination.
This abomination is of course our very own Wormhost (recently renamed to Twitching Husk) from the 'N'Gorroth' collection, a tragic creature mutated to a wriggling mass. Seeing such an innocent character transformed into this horrifying monstrosity was truly a bone-chilling experience.
"You watch as her skin begins to turn a sickly green. Her eyes rolling back into a pale pupil-less white. You watch as two, six, a dozen of strange extended tendrils begin to whip around from underneath her cloak. You see, and what you can briefly make out, these long tentacle-like extensions that drag and shift and curl. Where there would be suction cups, instead there are rows and rows of small fingers that move and writhe."
Episode 4 - The Rampart and Beyond
In episode four, the party crosses the Rampart, meeting two new creepy characters along the way, before finding themselves traversing the Screaming Forest. Here, an encounter with some cute-looking myconids quickly turns violent as these mushroom-looking creatures charge at the party, awakening the much larger Rot Lord in the process. Corroding their armor as it charges the party, they struggle to break free as two insectoid creatures enter the scene...
This Rot Lord is represented with another one of our creepy miniatures, the Mycelial Shambler from the 'Mycena Mortifera' collection, the dangling corpses within it a clear inspiration for its ability to absorb characters into itself.
"As you watch, the hill above you seems to shake ... and you hear (low rumbling) as the very alcove you were hiding under seems to shift and come to life. "
Episode 5 - Ages of Pain
In this episode, the party run into the fierce Queen Mother and her elite guard while traversing the Screaming forest, leading to a scary battle. After barely defeating the Terror, the party decides to hunker down for the night before entering the haunted Amber Reach, where they are confronted with the echoes of the horrifying events which took place when the gods disappeared.
The miniature used is another feature of ours in the form of the Heart Keeper from our fan-favorite collection 'Gorgon Catacombs'. This warped, hooded creature, equipped with a mighty polearm, is sure to bring terror to any party who would come across it.
"You see this monstrous, swollen, insect arachnid-type creature, its outer chitinous skin a pale, yellowed, jaundiced color, like biological armor plates that sit across its multitude of multi-segmented legs. Its lower thorax swollen and cracked in places, and where the joints are throughout it, you can see this thick, slick purple underflesh that seems to beat between where it's exposed."
What is Daggerheart?
Daggerheart is a fantasy tabletop roleplaying game from Darrington Press that blends classic heroics with modern storytelling tools. Designed for collaborative, character-driven play, it uses a unique card-based system to shape your character’s abilities, background and growth, complete with dynamic artwork and evolving mechanics.
Gameplay is guided by the emotional tides of Hope and Fear, which influence both narrative outcomes and mechanical decisions. Whether you're a seasoned GM or a first-time player, Daggerheart empowers everyone at the table to shape the story. It’s built for high-fantasy worlds, epic quests, and deeply personal journeys.
To summarize the key features of Daggerheart:
- Card-based character creation that evolves as your story unfold
- Hope & Fear mechanics that influence both roleplay and outcomes
- Supports both heroic combat and deep character development
- Perfect for players who love narrative-driven fantasy adventures
Here is a quick breakdown of the system by the man himself:
Looking for More?
We can't wait to see the rest of the story unfold and will be updating this post as the episodes go live.
In the meantime, if you're looking to run an epic, dark campaign like Age of Umbra, check out our miniatures and let yourself be inspired like Matthew Mercer. Our miniatures aren't only suitable as boss fights - their respective collections provide a variety of compatible miniatures from minions to NPCs or boss fight-worthy creatures.
If you're looking to run a grimdark 5e D&D campaign yourself but don't know where to start, check out the RPG Supplements on our web store. Here, you can find:
- Faction Packs which include lore & background information about any given faction, as well as narrative hooks and digital art to make your sessions come to life
- Ready-to-run 5e-compatible Adventures, either for one-shots or to be included within a larger campaign
Are you currently running a grimdark campaign of your own? Drop us a comment, we'd love to hear your stories!
Sam Franquet
Sam is a writer and community manager at the Bestiarum Games studio.