Critical Role Announces Age of Umbra Daggerheart Campaign, Starting May 29th

An 8-part Daggerheart miniseries is coming from Critical Role. Announced today, Age of Umbra is a new Actual Play series featuring Matthew Mercer as game master and co-founders Ashley Johnson, Laura Bailey, Liam O’Brien, Marisha Ray, Sam Riegel, Taliesin Jaffe, and Travis Willingham as players. The new miniseries will take up the bulk of the summer months, providing more of a break to the core cast ahead of an assumed fourth full-length D&D campaign.

Daggerheart is a new TTRPG developed by Critical Role's Darrington Press. Although the base game is intended to be a high fantasy RPG, the game includes several "campaign frames" that add additional rules for specific types of stories. Age of Umbra was developed by Mercer and draws inspiration from games like Dark Souls, Tainted Grail, and Kingdom Death: Monster.

The miniseries will air on Beacon, Twitch, and YouTube, with episodes airing every Thursday. The first episode debuts on May 29th, with Session 0 airing on various Critical Role platforms on May 22nd.

The full description of the series can be found below:

Age of Umbra

is an eight-part Daggerheart mini-series from Critical Role of dark, survival fantasy, debuting May 29 on Beacon, Twitch, and YouTube. Set in the Halcyon Domain, a world abandoned by gods and consumed by darkness, the series begins by following five people from the isolated community of Desperloch as they fight to protect their own in the face of rising horrors.

The Halcyon Domain is a lethal, foreboding land where the souls of the dead are cursed to return as twisted, nightmarish forms. A dark, ethereal mass known as the Umbra roams and holds these fiendish monstrosities, further corrupting anything it touches. Sacred Pyres keep the corruption at bay, and small communities endure through cooperation. Out in the beyond, whispers speak of ancient secrets and powers, wonders of a lost age, ready for discovery to those brave enough (or foolish enough) to seek them.

Game Master Matthew Mercer leads fellow Critical Role co-founders Ashley Johnson, Laura Bailey, Liam O’Brien, Marisha Ray, Sam Riegel, Taliesin Jaffe, and Travis Willingham in a high-stakes actual play exploring hope, sacrifice, and survival in a world where death is only the beginning.

 

[Imaro]

Nevermind

 

[Imaro]

Titangrave on Geek & Sundry were a show made to showcase and teach Fantasy Age. It had graphics popping up and explained in depth rules you'd need to know and how the maths worked.

Age of Umbra isn't that. At all. There are tonnes of stuff in it that has me going "I really wouldn't have done it like that" but it's people trying to play their new game and getting things wrong — we've all be in agreement there, some things in the AP goes against explicit paragraphs in the book. It's very much highlighting the system = rules + table equation and as such it's not a good learning tool for what the rules do.

But it's okay, since that has never been the goal. It's entertaining which is what they want to do.

You know what... you're right and to be fair I have found shows that do a better job of showcasing the strengths and differences of Daggerheart vs. D&D like Bitten... so I'm going to bow out.

 

[BRayne]

The entire subreddit huh?

The subreddit that exists because they got a slight amount of pushback on hating Aabria Iyengar in a different subreddit is probably not the best place to find well reasoned criticism, yes.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

That's like claiming an advertisement for a videogame and a tutorial/playthrough are the same thing... I'd say there's a pretty big difference though both could convince you that a particular product is for you.

I mean, there are three different things there. You can't say "tutorial/playthrough". Those are totally different things! Sometimes there's crossover but it's not inherent.

There are also playthroughs which are focused on being adverts, and playthroughs which aren't.

This is a playthrough which clearly isn't - rather surprisingly, I get that - focused on being an advert. It certainly isn't a tutorial, nor, AFAIK, has ever been advertised as a tutorial. Am I wrong? Did they say "Watch AoU and we'll teach you Daggerheart"? I thought Mercer's tutorial videos re: Daggerheart were entirely separate, no? I know he made some.

Go check fansofcriticalrole... the criticism is much more harsh there.

Isn't that like, the hater-specific subreddit? Everything I'm reading is it's the opposite of a low-sodium reddit, it's one specifically for haters so...?

I'm trying to reinforce my learning of the game through watching the game's owners play it professionally. Not rules lawyering (which to be fair... wanting someone to play a game by its principles and rules isn't that.)

You're illustrating the problem with your mentality here. You think that "playing professionally" for an entertainment podcast/stream means following the rules, but like, it doesn't. It never has. It never will, not for any podcast or stream or the like (er, unless that's their whole schtick but I'm not aware of one where that is).

It's crazy to me that a valid criticism of the AP is getting this much pushback from a couple of posters...not because it's incorrect... but because if others are doing it it shouldn't be an issue.

I mean, it is incorrect, because you're confused about what you're watching. You think it's a tutorial or that "playing professionally" means following the rules, but neither is the case.

I can definitely understand approach AoU thinking it might be that, but by the end of the first episode it should have been clear that it wasn't.

I could see arguing "Maybe CR would improve as a group if they forced themselves to actually learn and follow the rules?", and that might even be correct, but... I think it would make for pretty boring videos for several sessions!

 

[Imaro]

I mean, there are three different things there. You can't say "tutorial/playthrough". Those are totally different things! Sometimes there's crossover but it's not inherent.

There are also playthroughs which are focused on being adverts, and playthroughs which aren't.

This is a playthrough which clearly isn't - rather surprisingly, I get that - focused on being an advert. It certainly isn't a tutorial, nor, AFAIK, has ever been advertised as a tutorial. Am I wrong? Did they say "Watch AoU and we'll teach you Daggerheart"? I thought Mercer's tutorial videos re: Daggerheart were entirely separate, no? I know he made some.


Isn't that like, the hater-specific subreddit? Everything I'm reading is it's the opposite of a low-sodium reddit, it's one specifically for haters so...?


You're illustrating the problem with your mentality here. You think that "playing professionally" for an entertainment podcast/stream means following the rules, but like, it doesn't. It never has. It never will, not for any podcast or stream or the like (er, unless that's their whole schtick but I'm not aware of one where that is).


I mean, it is incorrect, because you're confused about what you're watching. You think it's a tutorial or that "playing professionally" means following the rules, but neither is the case.

I can definitely understand approach AoU thinking it might be that, but by the end of the first episode it should have been clear that it wasn't.

I could see arguing "Maybe CR would improve as a group if they forced themselves to actually learn and follow the rules?", and that might even be correct, but... I think it would make for pretty boring videos for several sessions!

Cool.

 

[Clint_L]

I'm a huge fan of Critical Role. I've seen just about every episode, many of them 2-3 times. My home campaign is set in an adapted version of Exandria. As I type this, I'm wearing CR socks from their Canadian online store (super comfy!). So don't take any criticisms as coming from a negative place - that's just how I think. I like to analyze stuff.

Overall, I'm enjoying Age of Umbra, though the grimdark, Diablo-style setting is not really to my taste for fantasy (Exandria is my jam, as stated). It's still CR, and I love those guys and find them very entertaining. Their chemistry just works for me and makes me feel good.

Here's my issue with AU as a showcase for Daggerheart:

My position on Fantasy RPGs is that I'm fine with D&D5e and heavily invested in it, so for me to switch, the new system would have to offer game-changing advantages. Conversely, when I play a different genre, I want something as far from 5e as possible. Daggerheart is a fantasy RPG, so for me to consider investing in it, and thereby, at least for a time, forgoing my substantial 5e investment, it would have to offer a really new experience. I considered Dungeon World, for a time, but finally decided that it wasn't fully realized, at least for my purposes. Daggerheart's rules suggest some similar advantages when it comes to handing more story control to the players, which is something I try to do as much as possible in 5e but have to kind of fight against the rules to make happen. So I do perceive a potential opportunity.

But that's not what I'm seeing on the show. I'm seeing CR doing CR things, not much different from when they play 5e or, indeed, every other system I've seen them play. Obviously, that is inevitable to some extent, but I do think that Mercer is basically at fault, if the goal is to showcase Daggerheart as a distinctly different system that I should buy. He is an epic storyteller, one of the best to ever do it, but as a result he exerts a lot of control over the story beats. That is classic D&D-style DMing, and it shows.

One other point: combat in Daggerheart, at least as seen on this show, is certainly not faster than combat in 5e. It may be more cinematic - it's hard to judge because CR always grealy embellish 5e combat - but if anything it is slower, due to all the internal strategy of spending hope, fear, and more dynamic turn-taking. I am currently watching a combat against a single opponent that has stretched to almost 90 minutes and running. So the idea that this system is more efficient than 5e is also not being demonstrated by AU. Frankly, the overall pace of the show seems about the same or slower than a CR game of D&D (not necessarily a bad thing, though, since I love CR).

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Yeah, the show is fine, but it's completely failing to make the case for "why not D&D?" And yeah, largely Mercer's fault.

 

[Reynard]

Yeah, the show is fine, but it's completely failing to make the case for "why not D&D?" And yeah, largely Mercer's fault.

Or, it is making the case of "why D&D?" and Mercer can be thanked for that.

As many have said, at the very least AoU shows that DH does heroic fantasy combat in half the time with twice the drama.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

As many have said, at the very least AoU shows that DH does heroic fantasy combat in half the time with twice the drama

I’m not seeing that myself. DH combat looks slow in this, and the drama is down to the players being performers, it has little to do with the rules, so far as I can see.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Or, it is making the case of "why D&D?" and Mercer can be thanked for that.

As many have said, at the very least AoU shows that DH does heroic fantasy combat in half the time with twice the drama.

Yup.

I think this is more of the category error (not on your part), i.e. people not understanding that this is directed at people who like Critical Role, not as "Daggerheart instructional video". Daggerheart is nice and all, but anyone who think it's going to replace CR as the primary source of income for these people is... perhaps being unrealistic unless something truly crazy and unexpected happens. So this is in a sense a demo of DH not to sell D&D players and DMs on DH, but rather to tell CR viewers/fans not to be scared of DH. That using DH isn't going to result in some drastically different vibe to when they used 5E. As much as people who play RPGs might go "BUT WHATS THE POINT THEN!?!?!", that's not what's going on here - this is more about retaining the CR audience, and avoiding scaring than selling a game that's essentially a side-issue for them. As we are a site focused on TTRPGs, not podcasts/streams about those, it's unsurprising a lot of us are kind of misinterpreting this.

(Btw the top two "hot" threads on the DH subreddit earlier today literally were discussing exactly this, this isn't some renegade opinion I've ass-pulled.)

Also note, DH is I think a lot more successful, or seems to be, than Darrington expected. I don't think Darrington expected to sell out DH basically instantly, and to still have apparently high demand for DH. So even if DH does become some kind of "major player" in the same way Paizo's games are, and does start contributing more significantly to Darrington's bottom line, that wasn't planned for, and they can't and probably shouldn't instantly pivot on that basis.

I mean, I'm a little reminded of WoW. Blizzard expected to sell 250K copies in the first month or so, then maybe another 250K over the rest of the year. Which honestly, was a bold assumption - by the number of the day, that was them expecting to go straight into second-place-biggest MMORPG in just a year (ahead of Dark Age of Camelot, behind EverQuest). So Blizzard printed 500K copies for launch. Blizzard in fact sold 250K copies day 1, and 500K by the end of the first month (or week, I forget), and so was suddenly having to print tons more copies and also hire hire hire customer support staff (which you needed a lot of back then to run a buggy-ass MMORPG). I'm not saying DH is succeeding on that level - my point is though that success is often unexpected, and you can't instantly change things up to deal with it. And sometimes it's a mistake to pivot too hard, as someone mentioned earlier (possibly you?) because success can be fleeting/temporary - again many MMORPGs have seen this - selling huge copies initially, before steeply declining in popularity.

I’m not seeing that myself. DH combat looks slow in this, and the drama is down to the players being performers, it has little to do with the rules, so far as I can see.

Have you ever watched the same exact people do 5E combat lol? I'm guessing not because I find it hard to believe you could say "DH combat looks slow in this" if you had. This is lightning fast compared to how they do 5E combat.