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.

 

[OB1]

It's like this. Lexus exists because no matter how nice you make a Toyota, people won't accept it as a luxury car.

Critical Role is a bunch of nerdy ass voice actors who play Dungeons and Dragons. Change either of those two elements, and you have to rebrand.

When the cast switches to Daggerheart full time, it won't be under the CR banner. That, like SNL, will continue with different nerdy ass voice actors playing D&D. It's also why the words 'Critical Role' don't appear anywhere on the outside of the Daggerheart books. Daggerheart is it's own separate brand.

 

[Seramus]

Change either of those two elements, and you have to rebrand.

As someone who has seen almost all of their side videos featuring other game systems, I just don't see them so inexorably tied to D&D. For me, it's a lot like Baldur's Gate 3 - the D&D brand gave them the initial momentum it needed to catch on, but now it's so far beyond the need for D&D.

 

[billd91]

When the cast switches to Daggerheart full time, it won't be under the CR banner.

My guess is that IF they ever switch to Daggerheart full time, they'll still be under the Critical Role banner. They'll just say "nerdy-ass voice actors playing Daggerheart".

 

[Afroconan]

I mean the campaign was originally in Pathfinder (Percy was a Gunslinger). They dropped that for endorsement money, but that's a bit different than dropping your own product.

Not true. Matt has said multiple times that they switched because 5e was simpler and D&D had more name recognition.

The endorsement money came later and not even through WotC but with D&D Beyond as a sponsor before WotC bought them.

 

[overgeeked]

Don't take me wrong, I love Daggerheart but it is still in the crib.

Yeah. And a lot of fans of Daggerheart are feeling like CR just strangled it in the crib.

 

[Chaltab]

I kind of have to imagine that Brennan might have had a say in the choice of system. Like does he even like running Daggerheart? I certainly wouldn't want to launch a major worldbuilding/actual play project with 13 players in a brand new system.

 

[THEMNGMNT]

The D&D vs Daggerheart narrative is tired. Maybe this gives an excuse to drop it for a while?

 

[Nathaniel Lee]

This feels like it's going to be even harder to follow. To be fair, I've never played in a West Marches campaign, so maybe I'm just overestimating how chaotic it's going to feel, but I think to what it would be like watching a non-bingeable TV series where it would rotate between three completely different casts of characters on a weekly basis.

 

[overgeeked]

I honestly think it could be the other way around. They could lose audience if it is not D&D.

They lose audience no matter what. Stick with 2014, lose audience. Switch to 2024, lose audience. Switch to Daggerheart, lose audience. The argument was that at least if they switch to Daggerheart they'll be promoting their own game and making more money, hopefully at least enough to make up the difference in any lost viewers. Guess the math broke the other way.

 

[bedir than]

If they don't even support their own system

They're playing using Daggerheart right now and are expanding that.