Critical Role’s fourth campaign is premiering on Thursday, October 2nd, which is already a week away. I’m curious to see what type of story Brennan is going to spin for the cast. When Critical Role announced their fourth campaign, it was unclear if they would play Dungeons & Dragons or Daggerheart, the TTRPG system they created. With their announcement of playing Dungeons & Dragons, some fans felt burned that they invested in Daggerheart and wondered if Critical Role isn’t invested in the success of their game. Is that the case?

I disagree with this take. I think it would have been a risk for Critical Role to make their fourth campaign tied to Daggerheart when the system had only been released for four months. On top of that, most Critical Role campaigns last years, so to have a year-long campaign with a brand new system, I’m not sure if that’s a good idea. I don’t think Daggerheart is bad. I have played it twice in one-shots, and while I did have some reservations at first, I felt that I was proven wrong. I think there is a lot of potential for Daggerheart to eventually be used in a Critical Role campaign, but it’s too early right now.

I’m also wondering if adding a new system would have been too big a change. This campaign will already spotlight Brennan when all previous campaigns have been DMed by Matt. I think it would be a lot for fans to also accept a new system. Listen, I have no doubt that Brennan could learn a new system. If you’re already asking Brennan to DM this campaign with a ton of players at the table, and make it Daggerheart, I think that’s a lot to put on Brennan, but also for long-term fans to be on board with.

In between Critical Role’s fourth campaign, I’d love to see more Daggerheart mini-series. Matt has teased that Age of Umbra is coming back. I’m wondering if that will be a focus in October for Halloween? I’d also like to see more mini-series with the other campaign frames. There have been some live plays on the Darrington Press YouTube channel of the other frames, but of course, I’d love to see Critical Role’s take as well. I’d love it if NADDPOD tried Daggerheart. Emily Axford can do no wrong, and I’d love to see her try to break the system. If anyone could, it would be her.

I’m remaining optimistic. I think this campaign holds a lot of promise, and I have no reason to be skeptical. October 2nd can’t come soon enough.