To celebrate the recent launch of the RPG Avowed, developer Obsidian partnered with Critical Role to create a one-shot tabletop adventure set in the Living Lands. The original story, which centered around a group of prisoners aboard a ship headed for the dangerous and scourge-torn lands, featured actors including Anjali Bhimani, who plays Avowed companion Yatzli.
Game Rant spoke to Bhimani about Ylva Ilendhe, the original character she developed and played in the one-shot. Ylva, a refined elf with organized crime connections, was a very different character from the cheerful and flirtatious Yatzli. Bhimani portrayed Ylva alongside Travis Willingham as Galen the godlike, SungWon Cho as Hasporo the aumaua, Whitney Moore as Lady Minette the orlan, and Marisha Ray as Sabel the dwarf. The one-shot was DMed by regular Critical Role Dungeon Master Matthew Mercer.
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Ylva Ilendhe Is An Elf With A Criminal History
Upon hearing that Obsidian wanted the one-shot to feature the many different races appearing in Avowed, Bhimani chose an elf because, despite her lifelong love of Dungeons and Dragons, it is not a race she had played. “I basically went with the one thing which I’ve never actually played, which is, surprisingly, an elf,” she revealed.
While Ylva and Yatzli differed greatly in race and demeanor, one trait they shared was their skill in magic. Ylva served as one of the party’s primary casters. “I very much wanted to be someone who was the brains behind the brawn,” Bhimani explained. “She was very squishy,” she said. The character had an impressive arsenal of spells, some less-than-ideal dice rolls plagued Ylva and her player throughout the night.
Ylva’s Connection With Hasporo Was A Happy Accident
Bhimani decided that Ylva would have a background in organized crime when she heard from Mercer that the characters would meet aboard a prison ship. When she learned that SungWon Cho‘s character, Hasporo, also had mafia ties, the two actors decided their characters would know one another. The decision, however, was a fairly last-minute one.
“If we’re both in the family business, we probably knew each other or knew of each other…But a lot of this stuff, especially with one-shots, gets decided very last-minute.”
Ultimately, the connection between the two of them served as a source of humor throughout the game. Hasporo and Ylva’s worldly attitude served as a foil to more naive, less well-informed characters like Galen the godlike and especially Minette, who had previously lived a sheltered life as a noblewoman’s pet. The brash pair emerged as leaders of the group and eventually grew to care for their companions despite their very different life experiences.
The One-Shot’s Characters Would Fit Well With Avowed’s Companions
Bhimani greatly enjoyed participating in the one-shot, and felt that its characters would fit in well with Avowed’s companions: Kai, Marius, Yatzli, and Giatta. She particularly felt that Sabel, a Texan-accented dwarf played by Marisha Ray, would make an excellent addition to the party. Sabel could be a “partner in crime” to Yatzli, who serves as a light-hearted voice of comic relief among her companions. Minette, she felt, could learn a lot from Yatzli, who would want to help the sheltered orlan learn more about herself and the world.
The actress said she would also love the chance to portray Yatzli in a tabletop setting. Citing an in-character one-shot performed by the cast of Baldur’s Gate 3, she stated that a similar adventure for Giatta, Yatzli, Marius, and Kai would be a lot of fun. “It just feels like a natural progression to be able to do that,” she said. “But that is up to the fine folks at Obsidian!”
- Released
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February 18, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Violence
- Publisher(s)
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Xbox Game Studios