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.

 

[Nathaniel Lee]

Nah, its not 'one among many' its the Kleenex.

This.

One of my work friends on the other side of the country had always expressed interest in me running a game in the past when I traveled for work. More recently, he told me that he had gotten into D&D game nights with his son at local shops. When he started talking about the games, though, it was clear he was playing games that were definitively not D&D, e.g. the Star Trek RPG.

When I subtly dropped that D&D's a different game, his response was "I know, but all of us pretty much call playing these kinds of games playing D&D."

 

[kermit4karate]

I mean, just as a tangential example, look at the number of people suddenly ready to abandon Daggerheart -- a brand new game that is still being actively supported with both media and supplements-- just because CR chose D&D. The fan base is unreliable.

We could say that D&D fundamentally differs from Daggerheart because D&D's core userbase is more committed to it. Committed over decades. People like me, for instance, we'd continue to play and evangelize D&D long after the books were pulled from shelves, whereas Daggerheart is still firmly in the honeymoon period. It's still basically a fad and could disappear overnight.

I think that even if a game appeared one day and outsold D&D over the course of an entire year, the new game could still vanish the following year while D&D continued its slow plod year after year.

I mean really, until those of us born between ~1968 and 1985 or so who grew up during the early days of RPGs die off, D&D isn't going anywhere for pretty much any reason imaginable.

So just wait for us to die is what I'm saying.

 

[JConstantine]

Do we honestly think, though, that if WotC stopped producing new books that however many millions of people there are playing D&D right now would stop because of it? That doesn't make sense to me.

I think you'd be surprised. 5e has seen a surprising number of people get invested in D&D as a lifestyle brand. Obviously, dedicated gamers like the sort who frequent online communities like ENWorld will continue with their preferred iteration, but a good chunk would move on to other things.

 

[kermit4karate]

I think you'd be surprised. 5e has seen a surprising number of people get invested in D&D as a lifestyle brand. Obviously, dedicated gamers like the sort who frequent online communities like ENWorld will continue with their preferred iteration, but a good chunk would move on to other things.

Oh, yeah?! Well I think YOU'D be surprised. But seriously, we'll probably never know because there's still money to be made from the D&D brand, so someone's going to be happy to make it.

 

[mamba]

Those third parties have the option to create something new if they want. If they're just doing supplements it's their choice. There's no reason to believe that many of them would exist if they had to do their own thing.

just like in software. No one is forced to work on some Windows app at gunpoint

 

[mamba]

I'm personally unconvinced by the claim that Daggerheart is doing extremely well because Critical Role announcing it 'sold out' doesn't tell us anything concrete about its staying power.

it doesn't even tell us much about its initial success, unless we have actual numbers. Darrington could just have printed way too few books

 

[UngainlyTitan]

it doesn't even tell us much about its initial success, unless we have actual numbers. Darrington could just have printed way too few books

They almost certainly printed too few books

 

[Reynard]

We could say that D&D fundamentally differs from Daggerheart because D&D's core userbase is more committed to it.

The core userbase isn't the issue. D&D is supported by an unoprecedentedly large casual base. I don't think they are sticking around if WotC takes down the placard.

 

[Clint_L]

Ha! Perhaps I am misunderstanding you because I didn't see where you cited your source. "D&D and TTRPGs are a drop in the bucket for most game stores. Magic the Gathering is where the bulk of their ill gotten gains come from."

I'd be interested in how you came to that determination.

I point out that according to Hasbro's reports to investors (so, pretty reliable unless they want to go to prison), MtG dwarfs D&D in terms of revenue. Like, five times as much.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Ha! Perhaps I am misunderstanding you because I didn't see where you cited your source. "D&D and TTRPGs are a drop in the bucket for most game stores. Magic the Gathering is where the bulk of their ill gotten gains come from."

I'd be interested in how you came to that determination.

@SlyFlourish goes into it in detail here, which is where I first heard it: