Critical Role Announces Two New RPGs

Critical Role’s publishing arm, Darrington Press, has released a ‘State of the Press’ video announcing two new tabletop RPGs.

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Two new RPG systems we’ll be releasing: Illuminated Worlds, optimized for short story arcs and adaptable to myriad settings, and Daggerheart, a fresh take on fantasy RPGs with emphasis on longer campaigns and rich character options.

At Gen Con this year, you’ll be able to play AND purchase Queen by Midnight, and you’ll even be able to take our two upcoming RPGs for a spin. We hope to see you there!

 

[payn]

I like the focus on shorter and longer campaigns. I do think an RPG can be tailored to support one or the other well. Doing them both can sometimes feel like only doing them ok-ish. YMMV.

 

[Nathaniel Lee]

Glad I’m going to GenCon!

That's awesome! I don't think I could ever justify the cost of airfare and hotel to attend that. I'll have to hope PAX Unplugged sticks around in perpetuity.

 

[Nathaniel Lee]

there is a lot of risk for CritRole moving away from 5e. I remember a hugely popular realplay podcast back in the 4e days (Critical Hit, which is great) that faded when they didn't make the 4e to 5e switch.

The overwhelming majority of Critical Role's fanbase are people who never played TTRPGs before: their loyalty isn't to the system but to the show. They'll follow the CR team wherever they go. And any new viewers are almost guaranteed to be people in the same boat, so like @elawai said, they're not going to have any sort of system baggage.

I think there's something to be said for the difference in mindset of D&D players in the two situations. Back then, there was a brand new edition of the game coming out, and so of course they wanted to move on to newer and arguably better. We don't have that here. Even before the OGL controversy, the community has been extremely split on One D&D, and arguably was more against than for it.

 

[DarkCrisis]

I'm curious what the growth of the Critical Role user base is. I'd be surprised if viewer numbers are still exploding at anywhere near the levels from years ago. It'll definitely put this game in front of some people before they even know what D&D is, but how much will that really be? I'm also trying to gauge myself how much longer we're going to see this campaign run... if they stay on the same pattern, it should end somewhere around October 2024, but honestly I couldn't even imagine this campaign lasting that long (but maybe that's just my own bias since I've found this one to be a lot harder to stay interested in).

I stopped watching this season. Some of them really need to branch out to other character types.

There have been no DND Beyond ads on the Critical Role shows for a couple months. Initially this looked like they were just supporting the community on the recent controversies, but it looks like CR is putting out a competing product. If CR goes with Daggerheart for their next full campaign, a lot of new players will be introduced to that game before DND. This could be very interesting. I don't think it will become the #1 RPG system, but it will take a good bite out of DND.

Be interesting to see how a Crit Role made game does on the market. Event though they may switch to it perm on their steam I don't see it taking to big a bite out of D&D.

I look forward to seeing what their "fresh take" on Fantasy RPGs is. Especially when there are 400 Fresh Take on Fantasy RPGs already out there.

The overwhelming majority of Critical Role's fanbase are people who never played TTRPGs before: their loyalty isn't to the system but to the show. They'll follow the CR team wherever they go. And any new viewers are almost guaranteed to be people in the same boat, so like @elawai said, they're not going to have any sort of system baggage.

I think there's something to be said for the difference in mindset of D&D players in the two situations. Back then, there was a brand new edition of the game coming out, and so of course they wanted to move on to newer and arguably better. We don't have that here. Even before the OGL controversy, the community has been extremely split on One D&D, and arguably was more against than for it.

As you can see from various threads here, Newbies are AFRAID to change systems. I was the same way when I started D&D/RPGs 20+ years ago. They'd rather spend hours tearing it apart to fit some other genre or style then just go buy a game thats made for what they want. EE "How can I make Star Wars in 5E?"

I bet a lot of fans buy the new book but most will stick to what they know.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

It's an interesting choice.

Put in the most basic terms ... most companies, other than WoTC/Hasbro, don't get rich making RPG products. And even there, it was only the unprecedented success of 5e that really allowed that in terms of sales of the system itself.

Critical Role doesn't make the bulk of their money from their campaign settings. No- they are about entertainment. On the one hand, they have a lot of people that love the entertainment. On the other hand, it seems like quite a gamble to risk the entertainment empire they have built in order to sell an RPG system. Sure, they get more control, but it doesn't seem worth it.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe this is a cunning strike. But if you've bet against D&D for the past 50 years, you would have lost a lot of money. And I don't think CR is going to be the one to change that.

 

[overgeeked]

It's been the opposite for me, the split party has me really enjoying this campaign.

As for the announcement, on one hand, why put out a system for long campaigns and not promote that via playing it on the show when C3 ends, but on the other, the partnership with D&D has been a huge boon to both sides, and there is a lot of risk for CritRole moving away from 5e. I remember a hugely popular realplay podcast back in the 4e days (Critical Hit, which is great) that faded when they didn't make the 4e to 5e switch.

Most CR fans are fans of the show and the cast first and fans of D&D a distant second. The CR subreddit is abuzz with people excited by the announcement.

 

[CleverNickName]

The biggest thing I'm taking away from this article: Critical Role (a brand I trust) is producing two new table-top roleplaying games (a product that I enjoy).

That means more games for me. It's all good news.

 

[timbannock]

I look forward to seeing what their "fresh take" on Fantasy RPGs is. Especially when there are 400 Fresh Take on Fantasy RPGs already out there.

Try closer to many thousands of Fresh Takes, by this point. There's a new one launching on itch or KS every 30 minutes, it seems.

 

[bedir than]

The overwhelming majority of Critical Role's fanbase are people who never played TTRPGs before: their loyalty isn't to the system but to the show. They'll follow the CR team wherever they go.

Except they don't follow them to the other games that Darrington has done

 

[Aldarc]

I look forward to seeing what their "fresh take" on Fantasy RPGs is. Especially when there are 400 Fresh Take on Fantasy RPGs already out there.

d20-based action resolution, six attribute stats, ancestries, and classes across ten to twenty levels?