D&D General Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford Join Darrington Press

Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford have a new home, joining Critical Role’s Darrington Press. The LA Times was the first to report on the news of the pair joining Darrington in undisclosed roles. [UPDATE: Per Darrington Press, Perkins is Creative Director and Crawford is Game Director, matching their roles at Wizards.] According to the article, Perkins and Crawford were approached by Critical Role shortly after news broke that the pair were departing Wizards of the Coast.

I was committed to staying with Wizards until after D&D’s 50th anniversary, which gave me lots of time to work on succession planning and exit strategies,” Perkins told the LA Times. “What brought me out of retirement was the chance to work with Jeremy and the brilliant folks at Critical Role on things that have a lasting, positive impact on the world.”

“Chris and I talked about his retirement plan for years, so his approaching departure was long on my mind. When we sent the new D&D rule books to the printer last year, I felt it was time to explore a new chapter for myself,” Crawford added. “I love the game and its team, but 18 years is a long time. I was ready for a new adventure. The chapter that we’ve now opened feels like coming home — resuming work with Chris and returning to Southern California.”

Darrington Press just launched Daggerheart, a fantasy TTRPG that’s more narrative focused than D&D, but also has significant rules-crunch. Many have described Daggerheart as a rival to D&D, a comparison that will likely be made even more now that Darrington has snatched away two of D&D’s primary architects for the last 10+ years.

 

[mamba]

DH is a play to find out game. They need a different kind of product to highlight that. Railroad pre-packaged campaigns aren't going to work.

is anyone publishing such modules? I assume they are harder to make than ones that are ‘traditional’, unless you basically create a setting rather than an AP

 

[Neonchameleon]

They are both great DMs and Chris at least is a great adventure writer.

Critical Role doesn't need more great DMs (not saying they aren't an asset, but Crit Role has the most famous one). Adventures, possibly - but Daggerheart helps them spiral and grow in ways D&D doesn't.

 

[The Soloist]

I think you're overestimating a gimmick. 4E had cards, and at least two 5E starter sets have had cards in them as well. I didn't buy Daggerheart for the cards, and so far I myself haven't been impressed with their inclusion. I admit I might be in the minority (I have a hate-on for MtG), but I don't think the cards in the new starter will have much impact to the overall game.

Your reply tells me you do not know what the cards are for in the new starter. Go check a video about it.

But you are correct on the last point. They are not meant to affect the regular game. They will not be part of the regular game.

 

[Stormonu]

Your reply tells me you do not know what the cards are for in the new starter. Go check a video about it.

But you are correct on the last point. They are not meant to affect the regular game. They will not be part of the regular game.

Yes, I've already seen the video(s). My statement stands. It's still a gimmick.

 

[nyvinter]

Critical Role doesn't need more great DMs (not saying they aren't an asset, but Crit Role has the most famous one).

Putting almost all of their actual play games on one person is terrible. Let the man rest.

 

[darjr]

Putting almost all of their actual play games on one person is terrible. Let the man rest.

I also think it’s an actual scarce resource vs an artificial one they can build upon.

 

[Aldarc]

Prepare to be mildly surprised…

3x still has fans. I DM two campaigns in it. My 14 yo niece DM’s a third.

I like it because I view 3.5e as the final version of AD&D. The last without unlimited cantrips, etc. Relatively easy to pull from the full gamut of first & third party D&D, AD&D, PF1, and 5e to a system in the middle, giving me endless possibilities.

Do we love it for the two-weapon fighting build? No. I must have DM’d 80+ 3x PC’s and I remember only one character had Two-Weapon Fighting.

But more importantly, rules and builds aren’t the point - story and roleplaying and adventure/risk are.

On that, I suspect Daggerheart agrees with me. Maybe not the risk part.

True20 was built on 3.0 not even 3.5 so it has the older version of those feats. But FYI, True20 doesn't use spell slots. It uses a powers system reminiscent of M&M, and Adepts had to take a feat for every new power that they unlocked.

Yes, I've already seen the video(s). My statement stands. It's still a gimmick.

What does gimmick mean for you?

 

[Prime_Evil]

I think Darrington Press are working hard to diversify their product lines They are going to support both Daggerheart AND 5e. It wouldn't surprise me if they also fork the 5e ruleset in the same way that A5E and Tales of the Valiant have. Let's face it - if they were to release their own version under a Creative Commons license, I think a lot of third-party publishers would think seriously about switching allegiance. Many of the business decisions taken by WotC since the heady days of 2021 have alienated chunks of the supporting ecosystem. Darrington Press is one of the few companies in a position to take advantage of this..They seem to have widespread goodwill from across the community.

 

[EthanSental]

Probably mentioned or on the same line of thought….throwing chris and Jeremy will bring more eyes or more discussion around Darlington press…this thread is 24 pages long already and none of the CR threads are that long of have that much discussion on here. It will be neat to see what they end up doing or creating.

 

[Neonchameleon]

But you are correct on the last point. They are not meant to affect the regular game. They will not be part of the regular game.

Just for context I, in my first time running Daggerheart last Saturday, taught three people to play, including full character generation from a standing start. And a big part of that rather than getting lost in character creation and sharing a rulebook was the cards.