Well, that’s branding, isn’t it? People would say “I’m playing Critical Role tonight!” and folks would know what that means. Building a brand is hard, but if anybody in the TRPG space, CR would have the best shot at it.
Critical Role Could Critical Role launch their own RPG?
Well, that’s branding, isn’t it? People would say “I’m playing Critical Role tonight!” and folks would know what that means. Building a brand is hard, but if anybody in the TRPG space, CR would have the best shot at it.
Isn’t that exactly what they did with their campaign setting?!
Could they? Sure. But they shouldn't imo.
The core of their product and that their fans hunt for is not rules.
Instead, the have and should market settings, adventures, classes, sub-classes etc.
Setting books is a great way to monetize their product even more.
Others followed suit.
Not long after Tal'Dorei setting sold so well, another popular scifi stream that was working in a setting they did not own, was replaced with a homebrew setting. Gotta expect a setting book to come soon.
The core of their product and that their fans hunt for is not rules.
Instead, the have and should market settings, adventures, classes, sub-classes etc.
Setting books is a great way to monetize their product even more.
Others followed suit.
Not long after Tal'Dorei setting sold so well, another popular scifi stream that was working in a setting they did not own, was replaced with a homebrew setting. Gotta expect a setting book to come soon.
Ralif Redhammer
Legend
A Tal'Dorei Player's Guide, that I could see happening more than anything else.
The Campaign Setting they put out had some player options, and I could see them building and expanding on it. But, that being said, I'm not sure that's a good idea. Some of the design choices in it, like enabling dual concentration, I did not care for.
I think the strength of Critical Role and Matt Mercer isn't so much in the world-building and house-rules, but in the vibrancy of the NPCs and PCs, the depth of the tales they tell.
The Campaign Setting they put out had some player options, and I could see them building and expanding on it. But, that being said, I'm not sure that's a good idea. Some of the design choices in it, like enabling dual concentration, I did not care for.
I think the strength of Critical Role and Matt Mercer isn't so much in the world-building and house-rules, but in the vibrancy of the NPCs and PCs, the depth of the tales they tell.
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Jacob Lewis
Ye Olde GM
I agree. If anybody has a shot of creating a successful RPG based on branding without any real game design experience (not to discount Mercer's ability and homebrewing), it would be them.
That said, I don't know if it would be as lucrative as what they do now. You of all people should know how much work and effort goes into creating, designing, and publishing an RPG. These people are mostly just actors, and a lot of them have a minimal interest in even mastering the system they are currently using. They were in it for the characters and the story-telling, and largely rely on someone else to tell them how a specific ability, spell, or feature might work.
And this may even extend to how their viewers feel about watching them. How many viewers check out a couple episodes because it is D&D, and how many subscribe to the show because of what they see? I know personally, I find their personalities, their story telling, and their personal interactions to be far more interesting than the actual dice rolling and combats.
In fact, I think there are better systems out there that would be a better fit for their style of play and narrative improvisation (like most Fantasy Flight Games RPGs, for example). It may have been the Dungeons & Dragons brand that put them on the map. Well now they are on the map with a brand name of their own! Imagine how much another game company with its own RPG would benefit if they sponsored a new Critical Role series using their game system? And judging by the numbers you listed in the post, I think that would be a LOT more lucrative to them than to publish another RPG system trying to compete in such a small market already dominated by competitors who have a lot more resources, experience, and their own brand recognition as game designers.
Not saying they can't, won't, or shouldn't. I just think there are much better options available to them, and at some point they will realize that they could start to consider divorcing themselves from D&D/WotC and create more opportunities for themselves.
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They could...but right now I think they have the perfect synergy of roles and strengths, and while its usually a good risk to be bold and innovative, in this case I feel it would detract from the "current" role they have in the community.
BL: I don't think it would be worth it.
thundershot
Adventurer
I personally would have zero interest in Critical Role if they made their own RPG or switched systems. Part of the charm is that they’re playing the same game people in my home play and we can connect with them.
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