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!

 

[SteveC]

I've been following the development of the different 5E offshoots and Daggerheart strikes me as the one with the best likelihood of being successful, on the basis of the creators alone. You don't have to market it to fans because the fans are already there. Now will it be a good game? Don't know. But I know that a lot of people will hear about it and give it a try based entirely on who's making it.

 

[MNblockhead]

Yeah, and it's like the RPG hobby is a zero sum game: more cool stuff is cool.

I would be a bit nervous at this announcement if I were a smaller RPG press introducing something new this year at GenCon, though. This might suck up quite a bit of oxygen.

Yeah, I wonder what this means for Valiant by Kobold Press or the new TTRPG that MCDM is working on. I find it difficult to get too excited about yet another fantasy TTRPG. I will take a look at Matt Coleville's (MCDM) game when it is released, because I find his philosophy on running games and rules mesh well with mine preferred style of running games. For the most part, the non-D&D TTRPG games I've bought over the past few years have all been bought for the purpose of running one-shots or mini campaigns. The only exception has been DCC and the DCC Dying Earth box set, which I'm considering to use to run a longer campaign, but that depends on the other player's buy-in.

I think that the biggest hurdle for Daggerheart may be the lack of support material. I expect they'll publish some adventures, but I'm always more attracted to systems that have a depth of adventure material. Also, they would be smart to have good support in the major VTTs. All of this takes a lot of work and investment. If they release a good meaty adventure on Foundry with good system support, I'll take a look at it. Otherwise, I'll probably pass on it. I have too many TTRPG books that I bought and read over, thinking "this would be cool to run" but never see play because the lack of adventures and VTT support require too much work on my part to run.

 

[Parmandur]

Yeah, I wonder what this means for Valiant by Kobold Press or the new TTRPG that MCDM is working on. I find it difficult to get too excited about yet another fantasy TTRPG. I will take a look at Matt Coleville's (MCDM) game when it is released, because I find his philosophy on running games and rules mesh well with mine preferred style of running games. For the most part, the non-D&D TTRPG games I've bought over the past few years have all been bought for the purpose of running one-shots or mini campaigns. The only exception has been DCC and the DCC Dying Earth box set, which I'm considering to use to run a longer campaign, but that depends on the other player's buy-in.

I think that the biggest hurdle for Daggerheart may be the lack of support material. I expect they'll publish some adventures, but I'm always more attracted to systems that have a depth of adventure material. Also, they would be smart to have good support in the major VTTs. All of this takes a lot of work and investment. If they release a good meaty adventure on Foundry with good system support, I'll take a look at it. Otherwise, I'll probably pass on it. I have too many TTRPG books that I bought and read over, thinking "this would be cool to run" but never see play because the lack of adventures and VTT support require too much work on my part to run.

Matt Mercer's style meshes well with what I've experienced of D&D since 3.x, so that's one reason I'm intrigued by what theybmight come up with. If they are going a little loose and free-form compared to d&D, support may not be a huge issue, if it allows for more improv or using other games material.

 

[overgeeked]

Professor DM calls this the beginning of alternative D&D. I kinda hope he’s right.

There’s a lot of internet chatter about how this is the end for D&D. I’m a CR fan, but even I think that’s taking it a bit far.

 

[overgeeked]

Not I. I dint mind having several games and I’ll steal from them for my home games.

Exactly. The more the merrier. It’s weird to me that people aren’t satisfied just playing the one game they like, but actually think other games shouldn’t exist. That’s just way too out there for me.

 

[darjr]

There’s a lot of internet chatter about how this is the end for D&D. I’m a CR fan, but even I think that’s taking it a bit far.

Yea, D&D will be fine.

 

[Parmandur]

There’s a lot of internet chatter about how this is the end for D&D. I’m a CR fan, but even I think that’s taking it a bit far.

Yea, D&D will be fine.

Indeed, competition is good. If anything, if 90's QotC theories are accurate, then d&D benefits from any other game entering the fiels.

 

[aramis erak]

Indeed, competition is good. If anything, if 90's QotC theories are accurate, then d&D benefits from any other game entering the fiels.

It benefits far more from the complex series of trademarks and (sometimes irrational levels of) Brand Loyalty.
Pathfinder 2E may have launched a bit early for the more irrational levels, but does have a significant brand loyalty now.
Warhammer has a lot of brand loyalty; It didn't quite make WFRP3 a big success, but it did make a modest commercial success, and certainly counts as an artistic one for Jay Little... and primed the Star Wars and L5R5 success.

But competition isn't always good. The rising tide didn't lift all boats equally, and clearly, WotC doesn't want nearly as much as exists, or they'd not have pulled their OGL shenanigan. Likewise, the D20 glut hurt everyone. And the glut on Drive Thru makes it really hard to break into profitability.
Someone there at WotC, or perhaps higher up at HasBro, is noting that the rising tide currently is lifting the second tier more than D&D, tho still lifting D&D. Not to mention that they've announced a new edition too early, they have a "hidden" half-edition already (Tasha's and Monsters of the Multiverse changes to "race"/Species/"Ancestry") comparable to AD&D1E's Unearthed Arcana (but not nearly as severe)...

I'm certain there's a bit of clench factor at WotC about the next year...

 

[MNblockhead]

I'm not worried about D&D. There is a good chance that I'll be using a different system for my next campaign. Doubt it will be CR's new system, even if it is great, because I don't think they'll have it released by this summer when I expect to wrap up my current long-running 5e campaign.

As I look into other systems, 5e's advantages become very obvious. There is just so much more support for the game. Especially if you run games in VTTs. For me, other than very rules-light systems, I'm just not interested in systems that don't have good VTT support. Not just the rule books and system mechanical support, but adventures with fully prepped maps and tokens. So few publishers can afford to provide that kind of support. WotC's VTT doesn't have to be the best VTT on market, it just needs to mechanically support 5e rules well. If you remove the friction of setting up and running the game online, that is going to both make the game more attractive and stickier.

Beyond that is just the wealth of related entertainment, from live-play podcasts, YouTube channels, movies, TV series, novels, and lots of third-party support and enhancements. Other than Pathfinder, I don't see any other TTRPG that comes close to providing such a rich field of products and support.

My greatest hope for CR's new system is that they have the funds to develop great support for their system in at least one of the big-three VTTs (Roll20, Foundry, and Fantasy Grounds). If they are smart, they'll also make it easy for third parties to create and sell content for their system. They have a strong fan community, who could create a healthy ecosystem of supporting art, adventures, VTT mods, and other content for the system. If the system is well designed and if they have great support for on-line play, I could see their system doing very well, perhaps rising to the three to five TTRPGs.

 

[overgeeked]

Given CR’s deep connection to the fan community, I can’t see them releasing a game that prevents fan content or 3PP. They are acutely aware of the benefits of fans, fan support, and 3PP.

What license they use and how restrictive it is, is another question. I can’t see them releasing Daggerheart as CC-BY on day one. Considering the OGL fiasco, that license is not likely. And considering the ORC requires all mechanics be open, that’s not likely either. I doubt they’d want to have to deal with a hands-on approval process for 3PP content.