RPG: ‘Daggerheart’ Previews Chris Perkins & Jeremy Crawford Projects, Brennan Lee Mulligan New Critical Role GM
Daggerheart unveiled new expansions at Gen Con this year, thanks to their new dynamic duo of devs. Plus Brennan Lee Mulligan to GM Critical Role’s 4th campaign.
Daggerheart made a big splash at its first-ever Gen Con. With a sellout launch (and then a second sellout print run), Critical Role’s RPG has been going like gangbusters since its May launch. And after Darrington Press welcomed former D&D devs Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford to the fold, we get to see what they’ve already been up to. A new campaign setting, player pack kickstarters, and more are on the horizon. All this as Critical Role gears up for Campaign 4.
Speaking of which, it seems as though Brennan Lee Mulligan has emerged from the American Girl Doll shoe crafting bench to announce that he will be GMing Critical Role’s Campaign 4. It will take place in a new world, with a new story. Matt Mercer will be featured as a player (presumably of some kind of dwarf).
Daggerheart To Expand With New Campaign Settings, Class Packs, And More
First up, Daggerheart details! Starting with a new Kickstarter for Daggerheart Class Packs coming this September. Daggerheart keeps selling out its print run. As Critical Role’s Darrington press keeps trying to meet demand, the publishing imprint is exploring a new way to roll out bite-sized player aids. Class Packs will be decks of cards with everything an individual player needs to play a single class in Daggerheart.
There’s also a new, and more importantly, FREE Homebrew Kit available now. This is a free update full of guidance, insights, and resources for making your own Daggerheart designs. The Homebrew Kit is a DM’s delight. Make classes, ancestries, communities, adventures, campaign frames, adversaries, gear, or whatever else for Daggerheart.
What about new campaign settings? At the Daggerheart/Critical Role Panel, Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford – who were temporarily merged into the eldritch being known as ‘Chreremy’ – announced new plans about what they have in the works for Daggerheart. Starting with a new campaign setting that is said to be infernal and full of devilish delights, coming from Crawford. While Perkins is hard at work connecting campaign frames to a wider, interconnected “adventure supplement.”
And, of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that there’s also going to be a “romantasy” campaign frame coming in 2026. It’s inspired by Tusk Love, A Court of Thorns and Roses, and all the other big Romantasy books that have been getting people horned up for the last 3-4 years. The new campaign frame, “With Love and Magic,” is all about love in the air. Presumably, there will only be one bed available at whatever inn you decide to stop at.
But perhaps the most personally exciting news for me is that there’s a new world in the works from Eberron creators Keith Baker and Jenn Ellis. Twogether Studios has continued to put out amazing stuff since Eberron, including Phoenix Dawn Command and illimat. And now they’ll bring the full firepower of their worldbuilding prowess to Daggerheart with a new “grand world.”
Critical Role To Feature Noted American Girl Doll Cobbler Brennan Lee Mulligan As GM
Then of course, there’s the other big news coming out of Gen Con. Critical Role’s live panel not only revealed the start date for the highly anticipated Campaign 4, but also the Gamemaster of the next hundreds-episode long campaign. It’s none other than Dropout.tv’s best known maker of tiny little shoes, Brennan Lee Mulligan.
Mulligan will doubtless be known to readers. Whether from DMing Dimension 20, Exandria Unlimited, or Worlds Beyond Number, Mulligan is the absolute safest and best choice for Critical Role to transition into a new era. Because after 10 years of exploring Exandria, the main campaign seems ready to make the jump to a new setting.
Not only that, but possibly a new system? I wonder because they pointedly refer to Brennan Lee Mulligan as the “Gamemaster” of Campaign 4, not the DM. Dungeon Master, of course, is the official term for D&D. GM is the more generic term used by most other RPGs. And even when they have an official term like Keeper or Director or whatever, it still gets shortened to GM, usually.
Not that it necessarily means that Critical Role is also transitioning into a new system for Campaign , but it could. Daggerheart is absolutely ascendant right now. With sellout hype and a new Age of Umbra actual play mini-series coming soon (this one DM’d by Matt Mercer, so don’t worry if you need your fix), it could be the best time Critical Role might have to set aside the d20 engine. But it’s really hard to say.
From a numbers perspective, other APs have maintained that they’ve lost viewers when switching systems from D&D. So it’s anyone’s guess. But if there was going to be a new system at the heart of Critical Role it would almost certainly be the company’s very own RPG. We’ll have to wait to see – but not too long: Campaign 4 debuts October 2nd. With big shoes to fill, and a new decade to kick off, I’m sure the whole gang is up to it.
Check back for more info as these stories develop!
