About Us!
We believe you must bring your whole self to the table if you want to thrive in today’s crazy world; your personality, your sense of humor, and most importantly, your heart. All of these elements inspired us to create a D&D Podcast back in 2016. In the Crit Academy podcast, we provide guidance and inspiration to both players and DMs. We achieve this through product review, inspirational ideas and concepts, D&D tips and tricks, and of course, open discussion. We were so lucky to find that people actually wanted to listen to us and our show has been growing and thriving for 5 years now. In 2019 We expanded our show by launching as a Livestream so you all could see the faces behind our sexy voices. We are now Live on Youtube, Facebook, and Twitch every Sunday.
Inspired by the great creators we have interviewed on our podcast, Crit Academy began writing and publishing 5e D&D resources in 2018. Our first book was released on DM's Guild and went on to become an Electrum bestseller. We have since released a dozen products on DM's Guild, most becoming bestsellers. In January 2020 We began selling through our own website and Drive-Thru RPG and have released a dozen more products. After finding success in the world of digital self-publishing, we decided we wanted to go bigger! Inspiration hit us to do a monster compendium that was more than just stat blocks. We wanted monsters to be memorable at the table, not just a bag of hit points. So, in August of 2020, we launched our first Kickstarter. We were blown away by the support we received and Memorable Monsters was officially published in June 2021. Our library of content includes a wide range of products from player options to character and world enhancements to adventures to monsters. We love creating great content to help players and DMs expand their worlds.
Our Patreon page has helped us expand on our content creation even further by giving us the opportunity to release new and exciting content every month thanks to our amazing patron supporters. Every month we release monsters, adventures, re-flavors, maps, a Tips & Tricks magazine, and so much more. Our Patrons also help us to create and cultivate new ideas and projects.
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We invite you to explore our site, learn about our passions, and explore what excites and interests you.
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Crit Academy Team!
Get to Know Us
Justin Handlin
Host
Justin has been playing role playing games for many years. Some games he loves are; Rifts, AD&D, 3.5, 4e, 5e, Pathfinder and 13th Age. He loves the social aspect and spending time with other like minded people, and allowing his imagination flow like diarrhea after eating mexican food! He has a long way to go when it comes to rules, but constantly tries to learn and memorize as much of the game as he can...just to forget it later. His primary focus to bring as much fun to his players and himself as possible. He truly enjoys teaching newbies the ropes, even if he sometimes hangs them with it as a DM.
Keep your blades sharp and spells prepared Heroes!
Ian Wood
Co-Host and Rules Lawyer
He is a hardcore gamer in his late twenties and the show's resident rules lawyer. When not gaming he works the graveyard shift for a local TV station. Ian has been on the tabletop gaming scene since 2006 with D&D 4e. Since then, his love for gaming has grown across all platforms and styles. Some of his favorites include Mutants and Masterminds, Pathfinder, Dragon Age and much much more.
Brandon Gray
Co-Host and Improv Master
Brandon, a co-host prior to Austin, has returned. Wishing Austin the best of luck on his journey he respectfully returns to his mic. Brandon has been a D&D player for quite some time and has been a DM for four years. He brings an open mind to the table and is exceptional at improv. When not playing D&D you would find him speed cubing with rubiks cubes, studying Chess, or making resin projects.
Elliana Eitniear
Editor
Ellie has been a gamer since before she could read, but only recently delved into the world of tabletop roleplaying games due to productions such as The Adventure Zone. She donned the role of DM with the 5e Starter Set and roped her family into joining as players. She enjoys the collaborative storytelling aspect of the game the most and loves creating fun adventures that make her friends and family feel epic and heroic.
In addition to gaming, Ellie hones her creativity as a musician, sound editor, writer, and coffee enthusiast, amongst other things, and loves spending time with her equally geeky wife.
Keep your blades sharp, spells prepared, and your imagination alive!
