Not gonna lie. I didn't see that coming.
I am incapable of summing up the last 10 years of the world's most famous actual-play roleplaying group, Critical Role. Suffice it to say, Critical Role is a cultural phenomenon. Growing beyond just "a group of nerdy-ass voice actors playing Dungeons & Dragons" to becoming a full-fledged publishing empire with their own tabletop roleplaying games, board games, graphic novels, and an anime on Amazon Prime.
In May, they launched TTRPG Daggerheart. I don't exactly know how fast it sold out online and in stores. It's only been three months since launch and I can't find a copy anywhere. "We're waiting on the next print run," my local game store told me. "We have no idea when that will be."
Critical Role—as a fledgling empire—has played other game systems besides D&D. But D&D 5th Edition has been their bread and butter. Their meat and potatoes. Their...other food-related metaphors that mean first and foremost.
I haven't watched an entire episode of Critical Role. I absolutely admire what they've done for D&D as a hobby. But watching actual plays of tabletop roleplaying games online isn't for me. And that's ok.
I only say that to say this: When they announced they'd be starting their Campaign 4 soon, there was no question in my mind—they're going to play Daggerheart this time. They were going to leave behind that juicy (and lucrative) plate of meat and potatoes D&D. Critical Role's relationship with Wizards of the Coast—makers of D&D—had been a good one, but it was time for Critical Role's ship to sail. Bon voyage.
Boy was I wrong.
Campaign 4 will take place in a brand-new world called Aramán. ("Are a man," Marisha Ray jokingly pronounces it.) Either way, it's distinct from the world of Exandria that Critical Role has existed in for many years now. Assuming the role of Dungeon Master is the incomparable Brennan Lee Mulligan, originally of Dimension 20 fame—the only other actual play roleplaying group that could—and did—sell out Madison Square Garden. This gives Matt Mercer an opportunity, for once, to be a campaign-length player instead of a DM. He's played one-shots on the player side before, but this finally lets him turn in his Forever DM card. It brings a tear to the eye.
But most importantly, Campaign 4 will use the D&D 2024 ruleset. Not Daggerheart. D&D. But since I've had an entire day to process this information, I'm stoked.
It will also take on a West Marches campaign style. Typically that means players will drop in and drop out of the campaign, whenever it's decided that the player can and should insert or eject themselves from the game. Campaign 4 is doing something even more ambitious than that. It will have a cast of 13 players, split up into three groups, with each group's campaign running parallel to the others.
Does this mean players, West Marches-style (sort of), will drop in and drop out of one group into another? Does it mean the original lineup of 13 players could end up looking different at the start of Campaign 4 than when it ends years later? I think only Critical Role has that answer, and it's not telling.
The thing I'm (actually, not even kidding) most excited about is the reality-TV-style interviews they'll intersperse into the campaign. I don't know how it will play out. But Brennan Lee Mulligan tests it out in this video, basically giving an acceptance speech to the camera, off to the side, with just a curtain behind him. If it turns out even half as good as when XP to Level 3 did it for Tomb of Horrors, then I will be even more stoked about Campaign 4 than before. The reality TV approach is an incredible format that lends itself so well to actual play campaigns.
Critical Role Campaign 4 will start airing on October 2.
