Critical Role to Use D&D 2024 Rules For Campaign Four, Expands to Three Tables and Thirteen Players

Critical Role will continue to use Dungeons & Dragons as the play system for its upcoming campaign, with the cast expanding to three distinct tables consisting of a total of 13 players. Today, Critical Role announced new details about its new campaign, which is set to air on October 4th. The new campaign will feature the full founding cast members as players, alongside several new players. In total, the cast includes Laura Bailey, Luis Carazo, Robbie Daymond, Aabria Iyengar, Taliesin Jaffe, Ashley Johnson, Matthew Mercer, Whitney Moore, Liam O’Brien, Marisha Ray, Sam Riegel, Alexander Ward, and Travis Willingham, with the previously announced Brennan Lee Mulligan serving as GM.

The campaign itself will be run as a "West Marches" style of campaign, with three separate groups of players exploring the world. The groups are divided into gameplay styles, with a combat-focused Soldiers group, a lore/exploration-focused Seekers group, and a intrigue-focused Schemers group. All three groups will explore the world of Araman, created by Mulligan for the campaign.

Perhaps most importantly, Critical Role will not be switching to Daggerheart for the fourth campaign. Instead, they'll be opting for the new 2024 ruleset of Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. Daggerheart will be represented at Critical Role via the Age of Umbra and "other" Actual Play series, as well as partnerships with other Actual Play troupes.

 

[Mirrorrorrim]

I thought that they were moving away from D&D? Why the change?

...did WotC deliver a dumptruck of money?

This is all speculation...

1. They never said they were going to stop playing D&D, or that they didn't like D&D. They did say they wanted to play more games, and that is not the same thing as leaving D&D. Playing other games won't hurt Daggerheart, as they already have other actual plays of that game, and are growing it already. Maybe they want more options in it before it takes center stage in a couple years?
2. They actually like D&D and want to play with the updated rules.
3. If they wanted 13 players, perhaps they felt D&D was the best option for a multi-table West Marches-style game.
4. They know D&D is the 800 lb. gorilla that will help their own viewership as much as they help D&D grow. With Mulligan and Mercer and a bunch of other beloved actors and gamers that draw attention, it's a symbiotic money engine that they know will be fun and familiar.

 

[DarkCrisis]

"Every new adventure" isn't what we've been talking about. We've been talking about D&D overall, and the claim was that if WotC stopped producing new content, D&D's popularity would immediately begin to drop.

Sorry, still disagree with that. This may be one of those "agree to disagree" type things.

People would just keep playing their favorite (or latest) edition. D&D could close up shop tomorrow and people would still play it for decades.

3rd parties would keep making adventures etc which would help with all that.

 

[Reynard]

People would just keep playing their favorite (or latest) edition. D&D could close up shop tomorrow and people would still play it for decades.

3rd parties would keep making adventures etc which would help with all that.

We weren't talking about whether D&D would die. It wouldn't. The assertion I pushed back against was that it would continue to grow. I don't see that as a reasonable outcome

 

[CleverNickName]

We weren't talking about whether D&D would die. It wouldn't. The assertion I pushed back against was that it would continue to grow. I don't see that as a reasonable outcome

I mean, it's at least as reasonable as the prospect of D&D ever being left to only fan support.

 

[kermit4karate]

People would just keep playing their favorite (or latest) edition. D&D could close up shop tomorrow and people would still play it for decades.

3rd parties would keep making adventures etc which would help with all that.

Exactly!

 

[The Firebird]

As you yourself then noted, that wouldn't be the scenario. With 5e in Creative Commons, you can have professional support even if WotC isn't making the material.



I don't think casual players are driven by WotC publication or marketing. I think they are driven by their somewhat-less-casual friends who are playing with them.

Ime running AL, @Reynard has it right. People come in, and stay, because they want to "play D&D". More senior folks, myself included, push for other systems and typically there is not much interest. It just isn't d&d, you know?

That may be more attributable to 50 years of branding then any current efforts, though.

I do think the CR decision to diversify is good from a business perspective. My understanding is their campaigns go for years? It's anyone's guess if it will be as popular with a different system. Best not bet the house on it.

 

[kermit4karate]

I mean, it's at least as reasonable as the prospect of D&D ever being left to only fan support.

One moonless night a small asteroid the size of a golf ball strikes the datacenter where the WotC D&D source code is stored precisely as the company's primary database backups are completing and the resulting electrical surge corrupts the version control system, resulting in the loss of all approved D&D source files and the untimely deaths of the only six staffers with biometric access to the secondary code backup system...and then a whole bunch of other impossibly unlikely events transpire and no further print runs of any official D&D books ever happen again!

So yeah, maybe if something like that were to happen, D&D sales might slow down for a few months.

 

[Reynard]

So to veer back on topic a bit: have we seen CR run something like a Westmarches before?

 

[kermit4karate]

So to veer back on topic a bit...

NOOOOOOO!!!!!

 

[wicked cool]

I can't figure out where this rumor came from. Was it here on EN World, or Reddit? I've never seen it on any of the official Critical Role sites/feeds*.

*I'm not on BlueSky or Twitter, so I don't know what's getting mentioned there. But I do subscribe to their newsletter.

It’s wishful thinking of the anti d&d/wotc crowd plus daggerheart sold really well.