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!

 

[Jaeger]

A change to a different system more built around the table’s strong points, with some faster conflict resolution, might actually get me back to watching their show. Can only spend so many years watching the crew spin their wheels planning before things get old, a mixup could be nice.

If they manage to actually create something new, not just another D&D knock-off fantasy Heartbreaker, this could be succesfull. Like others have pointed out, there is an audience and a market for games played in the style of Critical Role and the D&D rules system doesn't really work well for that (too much focus on combat, not enough on the narrative etc.) ...

^These^

In my opinion; The new CR rpg has to be designed to support the style of play you see during the stream.

Daggerheart should be a game specifically designed for play while streaming live. 5e actually has a lot of stuff baked into the design that is completely superfluous for CR's live stream purposes.

So something more streamlined than current 5e.

I think that such a design is possible...

But there is this:

Daggerheart, a fresh take on fantasy RPGs with emphasis on longer campaigns and rich character options.

Generally, in d20 based systems: "rich character options" = Crunch.

I do believe that you can have the former without the latter, depending on what one means by "rich character options".

I am very interested to see how Mercer executes.

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.

Absolutely odd, but such phenomenon do exist.

We've had posters in this very thread openly state that if CR stops playing the One True Game, that they are done with CR...

It's something CR has to take into account to a certain degree when they release Daggerheart.

 

[Micah Sweet]

^These^

In my opinion; The new CR rpg has to be designed to support the style of play you see during the stream.

Daggerheart should be a game specifically designed for play while streaming live. 5e actually has a lot of stuff baked into the design that is completely superfluous for CR's live stream purposes.

So something more streamlined than current 5e.

I think that such a design is possible...

But there is this:


Generally, in d20 based systems: "rich character options" = Crunch.

I do believe that you can have the former without the latter, depending on what one means by "rich character options".

I am very interested to see how Mercer executes.




Absolutely odd, but such phenomenon do exist.

We've had posters in this very thread openly state that if CR stops playing the One True Game, that they are done with CR...

It's something CR has to take into account to a certain degree when they release Daggerheart.

Since most players don't stream their games for an audience (let alone are professional voice actors), I'm not sure designing the game to be streamed is the best idea.

 

[R_Chance]

Since most players don't stream their games for an audience (let alone are professional voice actors), I'm not sure designing the game to be streamed is the best idea.

I had this same thought. Hopefully they produce a game that streams well and is interesting in person at the table. Or, alternately, that plays well in online games. That might be its niche.

 

[overgeeked]

Since most players don't stream their games for an audience (let alone are professional voice actors), I'm not sure designing the game to be streamed is the best idea.

Exactly. A game designed to be streamed seems like an incredibly niche market within an already incredibly niche market. Far more likely they will create a game that will naturally play at the table in the style that they play on the stream. All the ways they make their characters interesting and engaging, all the tips and tricks for making their backgrounds intertwine, all the secrets and style that Matt uses to weave referee prep into giving the players agency to make choices. A focus on conflict, storytelling, making dramatic choices, with a heaping spoonful of JRPGs...especially Final Fantasy, over-the-top heroics (even superheroic fantasy), rather than tedious and overlong combats. Pointers on finding or making a character's voice...from a group of professional voice actors. I mean, it seems kinda obvious to me. That's their brand. Leaning into it only make sense. At least that's what I'd hope they're doing.

 

[Scribe]

Far more likely they will create a game that will naturally play at the table in the style that they play on the stream.

This was my thought as well. They would want to have a system that their fan's can better take inspiration from what they watch and try and recreate.

 

[overgeeked]

This was my thought as well. They would want to have a system that their fan's can better take inspiration from what they watch and try and recreate.

Exactly. Heard of the Matt Mercer Effect? Here's Matt teaching you how to run a game in his style with a system designed to reinforce all that advice.

 

[mamba]

We've had posters in this very thread openly state that if CR stops playing the One True Game, that they are done with CR...

that can be perfectly reasonable though, if CR start playing a game they do not know the rules of, that might affect their enjoyment of it

 

[Ruin Explorer]

In my opinion; The new CR rpg has to be designed to support the style of play you see during the stream.

Daggerheart should be a game specifically designed for play while streaming live. 5e actually has a lot of stuff baked into the design that is completely superfluous for CR's live stream purposes.

This seems likely.

As for "rich character options/crunch", that doesn't necessarily have to slow down a game at all. I'd say, for example, that Spire: The City Must Fall has "rich character options", and compared to a lot of modern TTRPGs and BitD/PtbA-based games it does have quite a lot of crunch - yet in practice often runs even faster than many of those. In fact a lot of Grant Howitt's game designs generally lean that way - not that he's involved with this, but his work shows it can be done.

A game designed to be streamed seems like an incredibly niche market within an already incredibly niche market. Far more likely they will create a game that will naturally play at the table in the style that they play on the stream.

Whilst I agree that the latter is likely, I'm not really sure what the difference between those concepts is.

It seems to me that they're essentially two different ways of phrasing the same thing.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

that can be perfectly reasonable though, if CR start playing a game they do not know the rules of, that might affect their enjoyment of it

I don't really buy it.

The vast majority of people who follow CR were either not tabletop RPG players when they started (in many cases still aren't), or were deeply lapsed tabletop players, who hadn't played 5E. The idea that CR's audience is primarily people strongly familiar with the rules of 5E is just not one at all supported by any interactions with the fan community.

It seems like the sort of people who believe this aren't the sort of people who actually follow CR (or certainly didn't before the Amazon TV show).

The same is true of an awful lot of D&D podcasts, as far as I can tell - the rules of 5E get in the way more than they help, because 5E is a very mannered and not terribly dramatic system that doesn't really jive well with stunts and cool moves and so on.

 

[mamba]

I don't really buy it.

maybe you are right, I do not watch CR one way or the other. I just figured that watching eg a chess match becomes pretty meaningless if you do not know the rules. I agree CR does less so, but I am not sure it is not affected at all.