Critical Role Creates A New RPG Competitor To D&D!

[@DnDShorts]

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[@Hayd0p0tato]

Wow! Thanks DnD Shorts! Now I too can watch Netflix shows only available in non-shitty countries via my friends borrowed Netflix account

[@silvergreylion]

Maybe put up a poll: Do you watch Critical Role, because of how they roleplay it, or because they're using D&D? That should show what percentage of the audience would continue watching Campaign 4 if using the new Daggerheart system. I bet it's a very high percentage.

[@PerfectionHunter]

As a DM i really hope they're making it so that "To-Hit-Attacks" has to go ABOVE AC to actually hit. Because the way To-Hit vs AC works in 5e, makes No sense at all, and is super unintuitive for both beginners and medium experienced players who don't play regularly. For some reason an Armor Class of 15 only protects up to AC14 even though it clearly says 15 on your character sheet, like... what the actual f? That's like paying 100% full price but only getting 93% of the product (14/15). I know most players, who has basically only played 5e, cant think outside the box when it comes to this one, but many better designed RPGs work something like this: New: Your AC is 15. Enemy Roll To-Hit: 15 = Misses = Good. New: Your AC is 15. Enemy Roll To-Hit: 16 = Hits = Logical! In this, more logical, example the AC-number on your character sheet protects up to its actual number value of 15 = Logical and intuitive.

[@vulcorethegreat1220]

From what i have heard from the dnd summit meeting is that the previous rules for dnd will still be legal an valid so their is literally no point in rebuying anything. Lastly Wizards of the coast saying half elves, half orc, or any race that is considered a half blood is racist, has completely turned me away from one dnd. Also they are hypocritical cause they still are allowing tieflings which, gasp are half demon. Yeah i know the lore states they can come about from like their great grandparents being fiend warlokc or something but most people i know use the my parent was a demon trope.

[@WilliamWizer]

I love your videos, don't get me wrong, but every single time I see an add for nordvpn I'm tempted to just unlike the video and go with life. the only epic thing of nordvpn is that you can see content that you shouldn't see. but it doesn't protect you from sh*t and may even cause trouble since all your data goes through their servers. even if they claim they don't store anything, they are required, by law, to do it. even if you are somehow protected on your country, if your data goes through a vpn on a country where it's illegal, you can be in lots of trouble. so, don't get nordvpn or any other vpn if you care for privacy. you won't get it. it's useful to see shows that aren't on your country but that's the best. and, technically, it's not legal to do it.

[@draeganian]

This is basically a self fulfilling prophecy scenario, they tried to stop it and in doing so they made it real xD

[@mborel]

That's my thought. CR got an advanced copy "draft" of the new OGL and realized WotC was going to start demanding huge royalties that would have seriously cut into their bottom line, so they started work on their own system to prevent that. Same thing when Kobold Press says that they've been working on their own RPG system for some time, I suspect they had a heads up on what was coming and needed a new plan.

[@RyokoVT]

One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it..

[@Darkzen24]

@@TitterpigRancher Actively developing, probably not. Did Matt have ideas and concepts, absolutely. Designing an RPG really isn't as difficult as you're making it out to be, some systems that have endured the test of time, have been designed and developed by small teams in short spans of time. Especially if you have resources to throw at it. Additionally, processes aren't protectable, so you can draw inspiration from the glut of systems currently out there... it's all about brand recognition tbbh, there are tons of amazing systems, but they have no real brand recognition... slap the CR brand on any halfway decent system and it'll sell a lot of copies, because CR has a very large, established audience. I think Daggerheart will be designed with drama/theatre heavily at it's core, becoming a system that caters to TTRPGs as a vehicle to entertain viewers, more so than current systems anyway.

[@zenvariety9383]

Well, if I remember from online videos talking about the rise of Paizo this happened during D&D 4e. WOTC shooting themselves in the foot is making Critical Role into Paizo 2.0.

[@Dracobyte]

Like a famous elf would say: "Dagger, dagger, dagger..."

[@Tinytraveler]

I remember when I was a kid, I walked into my local game store, it was called The Cramped Corner, owned by a guy named Will. He sold me my first copy of Dungeons and Dragons, less than a year later, AD&D came out, I complained I just got my books, now I needed to buy new ones? Will helped me out with a free DMG. He died 17 years ago, I miss Will.

[@JacopoSkydweller]

Rest in Peace, Will. You were a real one.

[@jollimaiahtacksworth]

Wild storytelling. But R.I.P. Will, he sounds like he was a guy who wanted to help others. I can admire that.

[@Tinytraveler]

@@jollimaiahtacksworth Will started that shop cause he had earned the Admission to the Order of Merit, the highest award a civilian can earn, for bravery, in Canada. He saved two girls from a burning car and hurt his hands so badly, they never recovered. He was a good guy, he was my friend.

[@derekh3458]

Thank you Will. Supporting the community and helping it grow

[@gojirajenkins8528]

Had the local American Card Shop our local game store Mr. Jerome I hope wherever You are I hope You're well

[@matthewgordon3281]

Critical Role has always done something that Hasbro is incapable of: respecting, appreciating, and embracing their audience.

[@jameswisslead4533]

For now...

[@Fro609]

@@jameswisslead4533 as long as the cast is in control of the business it will stay this way. As soon as other soulless execs get control of the company in the future, then things will change like they always do. But that is going to be a long long time

[@jameswisslead4533]

@@Fro609 Money changes people, remains to be seen.

[@NaJk93]

@@jameswisslead4533 They have money. a FUCK TON of money already. They get over $100k a week from sponsors, they are the highest donated to twitch channel. They are sitting good with money. Which is also how they are able to spend it to create these things. Their biggest income is their show and not their products. The merch and products are of course a good profit. But if Daggerheart goes good, it could be their biggest income but it's also thanks to them running their show with it. So making it better for them and what they can do = better for what other people can create for their campaigns.

[@LifeLongMETALHead83]

​@NaJk93 All that money and success is tied to being a live DnD group. Without the association with WotC they will lose a lot of that income. And someone else will get the WotC slot and gain lots of sponsors.

[@kyleaj7414]

I'm already all in for Matt's new system but if they can manage to create an online toolset like D&D Beyond for it that would be awesome! The convenience that D&D Beyond provides is huge!

[@sidecharacter7165]

I’m sure they would hire people to do so if people were willing to pay for it.

[@GBS4893]

Huge investment, they'd need huge benefits

[@byrongsmith]

And who knows, maybe one that actually works a little more often than DDB...

[@artocraft3137]

Even beter if the system is more manageable so we don’t need a digital toolset!?

[@anton_za_wolf]

Roll20 would probably adopt it, they have other D6 systems under their digital platform already

[@TheModelOmega]

I blame the show, "Community," for getting me obsessed with DnD. Its "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" episode had me hooked. 🤣

[@RichterPhallos]

This is the episode I showed my brother to get him interested in DnD! Its also the one episode I've bought off of KZbin, since they took it off streaming. "Baste your chubby cheeks in tears of gravy" may be one of the coldest lines ever 😆

[@joelrobinson5457]

Still think it didn't deserve to get pulled for Chang wearing black bodypaint

[@TheModelOmega]

Now I'm feeling the urge to go back and rewatch that episode. 😂

[@yuvalgabay1023]

And sadly Netflix removed the episode

[@SirGambitRocks]

Yeah that's what I blame for getting to me into it too

[@Law-of-EnTropy]

While the phrase "this will kill dungeons and dragons" is a tad too exagerated, it will land a bleeding strike on WotC and Hasbro's capital as a whole

[@Dave004]

Agreed, I typically play with older players (well mid 30's and older) and i'd say 90% or more have no interest in Critical Roll at all and some don't know of it. Its really when I play with younger people typically oldest of late 20's or so that reference Critical Roll. So oldschool gamers may try it out as something new, but it won't be like the younger people who will just go play because Critical Roll tell them to and thats likely the only reason they played D&D. It'll do well with younger generations I think but never know, a good game is a good game so could catch on.

[@artturisiikanen3843]

i fucking hate it. 1 of the oldest systems is getting murdered. even if they became such a bullshit system with everything being made more socially acceptable even if they did not become as much of a freak pleaser as pathfinder. i hate this and now i also hate critical role.

[@stephensmith4124]

As if they rolled a critical roll nat 20?... I'll see myself out

[@RyanofAndor]

It won't kill them, there will always be people loyal to the brand. It will hurt though as they will be at least another PAIZO. More competition is a good thing.

[@SimoColes]

He literally clarified his statement saying it won't kill it, but knock them out of the number one spot

[@RayCase]

"I want to see corporations sweating to earn their fans" Agree. I want to see politicians sweating to earn their votes!

[@imperialadvisor4880]

So this is how D&D Dies . . . with Thunderous Applause.

[@n0etic_f0x]

WotC has so little to watch out for that we do not have a transformation system or a way to play large charters. Not exactly big-brain ultra-innovative ideas and ones players have wanted for so long you have multiple non-WotC ways of doing both. They have the tools handed to them to do this and they just don't, but it is right there! It has been handed to them multiple times to the point I know tables that have a standard and non-standard variant of a rule that is not in the game that other players new to the game understand. That is just kind of nonsense on behalf of WotC.

[@Prodigy_Sheldon]

@@imperialadvisor4880 it wont die that will not happen

[@imperialadvisor4880]

@@Prodigy_Sheldon { It’s a line from Revenge of the Sith }

[@Nightlight404.]

@@imperialadvisor4880fitting reference lol

[@nicsnort]

When the OGL disaster happened I told my friends that Critical Role is going to be switching systems for sure. The storyline of the 3rd series is just setting up for a massive shift in the magic and rules of the world. No matter what happens in the plot it is the perfect time to switch systems as a way to actually change the world mechanically in tandem with the story. Originally I thought it would be Pathfinder since they played that pre-stream but their own system makes way more sense.

[@MorinehtarTheBlue]

They can't really "go back" to Parthfinder though. I mean technically it's still perfectly playable but it's had an a Edition change since they were using it. Hell the original One Shot for Liam's birthday was run in 4E. And not all of the cast played in that. The truth though is that with their own system they aren't at the mercy of WotC 's good will and media policy.

[@joelg598]

“Welcome to Critical role, where a bunch of Nerdy A$$ voice actors sit around and play Daggerheart”

[@danielcastillo591]

"WEPLAYDAGGERHEAAAART"

[@timothymonk1356]

@@danielcastillo591 Yep, still works.

[@PerfectionHunter]

I hope they're making it so that "To-Hit-Attacks" has to go ABOVE AC to actually hit. The way To-Hit vs AC works in 5e, makes No sense at all, and is super unintuitive for both beginners and medium experienced players. For some reason an Armor Class of 15 only protects up to AC14 even though it clearly says 15 on your character sheet, like what the actual f? That's like paying 100% full price but only getting 93% of the product (14/15). How it should be... New: AC15. Enemy Roll To-Hit: 15 = Misses = Good. New: AC15. Enemy Roll To-Hit: 16 = Hits = Logical! In this, more logical, example the AC-number on your character sheet protects up to its actual number value of 15 = Logical and intuitive.

[@-MrDeath-]

You know you can house rule that, right?

[@psykohamster]

@@PerfectionHunter From my perspective, your way is actually less intuitive. The AC lists the number you need to roll to hit. Which is more intuitive: I need to roll “X” to hit or I need to roll “X+1” to hit?

[@Law-of-EnTropy]

9:32 The Chronurgy Wizards are living under the adage of "The greatest magic of all is Chronomancy. NOT FRIENDSHIP."

[@daniellins4114]

Lol is that an Arthur Aegfort reference?

[@PandoraSystem]

​@@daniellins4114 "magic is magic, love is love!"

[@Rhyder77]

"A life for a life, ay Mr. Gibbons?" BLAM!

[@dracondebates]

Oh god, he fucked the bird.

[@AubDenashi]

I love that clip so so much 🤣

[@VilageIdiot]

"i want to see the corporations, work for their fat" damn that line is fire

[@alexllenas4607]

I think he said "fans", buy I like your line better😂

[@paawan3764]

The world would be a better place if everyone worked for their fat.

[@VilageIdiot]

@@alexllenas4607 oh damn, oopsie 😅

[@NecrelKitsune]

Something to also note: Critical role has essentially made a three-tier system as of this announcement. They have till the last gasp for one-on-one thematic encounters. Illumination for short campaign settings. Or one shots. And now they have dagger heart for long play campaigns. It's an actually really cool situation we have here.

[@grahamtpeterson]

It'll be interesting to see how much overlap there is between them. If they're 3 fully separate systems it'll be taxing on people to need to learn all of them instead of just one. Hopefully the content of them meshes well.

[@DracoSuave]

@@grahamtpeterson Contrarily, if they're different, it might return the community to a point where they're not trying to hunt 'one system to rule them all' and it can actually end the hegemony of d20 and lead us back to a time where if you wanted to run a game with a specific tone/setting/etc, you picked the game system that worked to service that system. I don't want D&D to fail--I want other games besides different flavors of D&D to flourish, like they once did.

[@Morathor]

I do think that looking at the echo knight and the chronurgy wizard as examples of Mercer's design style is a little skewed--those are both things he made as part of a team, for an official WotC product, and subject to some level of oversight. Looking at the homebrew he makes on his own, things like the gunslinger and the blood hunter are honestly pretty underpowered. So I wouldn't predict Daggerheart going towards epic fantasy, I'd expect it to be on the darker and grittier side of things. (Especially with a name like Daggerheart, that seems to evoke skullduggery to me.)

[@theepicduck6922]

Yep only really gunslinger can be pretty weighty to the extra powerful side on their own. Albeit Percy was probably the peak example of how powerful the gunslinger could get to wild degrees (it was a pathfinder to dnd conversion so makes sense it took a bit to cook in a somewhat balanced format).

[@davidsewell9227]

My picture is based on my love for the cobalt soul monk, and it is definitely not an overpowered subclass. It is flavorful and innovative, having useful abilities outside the normal OP categories. Matt understands why DnD is fun. So I can't wait to see what Daggerheart is going to bring to the table

[@gkbur85]

It's worth noting that the blood hunter and gunslinger were things he came up on his own, more or less on the fly for a specific situation (the Vin Diesel one shot/the PF to 5E transition) and trying very hard to force them into a system that can be a little bit limiting (nothing against it, I love D&D). He's now got an entire company behind him, with multiple paid designers, including Ivan Van Norman, who has a lot of design experience. So while it's certainly worthwhile to look at some of his old efforts, I don't know if we can really take all that much from them.

[@Shalakor]

But coming to that conclusion would go against DnD Shorts's brand of only ever talking in terms of overpowered things. He doesn't know how to be subtle. He's incapable of fine nuance. Everything is huge and earth shattering; every, single, time.

[@theblackswan2373]

Real respect is hard earned, and once lost, harder restored.

[@Notsogoodguitarguy]

I mean, MCDM is also making their own RPG, and they have a significant audience as well. I think CR would do a big blow to D&D, but it's gonna be more like a death by a thousand cuts and a few big blows. And by death I mean D&D will be just a big system instead of the massively dominant one.

[@PerfectionHunter]

As a DM i really hope both systems are making it so that "To-Hit-Attacks" has to go ABOVE AC to actually hit. Because the way To-Hit vs AC works in D&D 5e, makes No sense at all, and is super unintuitive for both beginners and medium experienced players who don't play regularly. For some reason an Armor Class of 15 only protects up to AC14 even though it clearly says 15 on your character sheet, like... what the actual f? That's like paying 100% full price but only getting 93% of the product (14/15). I know most players, who basically only plays 5e, cant think outside the box when it comes to this one, but many better designed RPGs work something like this: New: Your AC is 15. Enemy Roll To-Hit: 15 = Misses = Good. New: Your AC is 15. Enemy Roll To-Hit: 16 = Hits = Logical! In this, more logical, example the AC-number on your character sheet protects up to its actual number value of 15 = Logical and intuitive.

[@bigbingus64]

@@PerfectionHunter dude why are you spamming this? please go outside

[@a_troll_]

Dude really needs to touch some grass.

[@DrMindmasher]

@@PerfectionHunter this is the most nitpicky problem ever. It takes like an extra second to explain. Just remember the rhyme “meets it, beats it” it applies to saving throws and opposed skill checks too

[@Dracobyte]

Like a famous elf would say: "Dagger, dagger, dagger..."

[@flyingturret208thecannon5]

I got into D&D because of a bunch of commentators I watch started up a group together and I was excited to see them interact together.

[@johnathanrhoades7751]

I don’t want D&D to die, but I’d like the competition to push them into higher quality products… there’s a ton of indie publishers that are making content that is WAY better designed (both in terms of content and document design). Will be curious how this plays out.

[@chris-il4qu]

It's sad but they very well might or WoC might IP sell DnD. They really screwed themselves.

[@Dave004]

agreed, and I doubt D&D will die, you just might have a few less younger players who now start out with Daggerheart but the people who played D&D not knowing or caring about Critical Roll will still play D&D. But competition is always good so we'll see what comes of it.

[@lori0747]

Onestly, more popular TTRRPG means more people willing to try new sistems, and that Is the most important and best thing about this.

[@derrekingledue3138]

I agree, and I wouldn't want them to. Fortunately, I believe Dungeons and Dragons will survive. There are marketing strategies they can employ, like making their own show; imagine professional voice actors doing miniseries/modules. Then their IP has more income than just the ttrpg. Their upcoming video game/vttrpg, movies, media tie ins. They're even marketing the classic DnD cartoon. They could even make the classic DnD cartoon into Magic Cards. So I don't forsee them selling their IP. Personally, I have lost a lot of faith with WotC, between the OGL crisis and Magic 30. I am going to continue doing Magic Arena, though will spend significantly less money after the Lord of the Rings set, but i'm farming gold for the cosmetics. I already stopped getting their battlepasses. As far as DnD is concerned, I'm switching systems. Hopefully Daggerheart has a good open license, or at least goes under ORC. I only want one high fantasy system for me to sink my money into, so whatever system I need needs to stay away from the OGL, have a magic system I enjoy, and have a version on Fantasy Grounds Unity.

[@gliscaradu1424]

​@@derrekingledue3138 heeey kid wanna pay 999 for proxies?

[@arcticbanana66]

For me, it was the Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms novels, as well as other fantasy literature, that got me into AD&D as a kid in the mid '90s. This situation reminds me of about 10-ish years ago when Dungeons & Doritos switched from 4th Edition D&D to the SAGAS system, though their reason was primarily because the narrative focus of SAGAS suits the audio podcast nature of the show much better than the extremely visually-dependent 4th Edition. Also like Critical Role and Daggerheart, the creator of SAGAS is their DM.

[@EM-vw7im]

Same books got me into DnD as well, Ra Salvatore Drizzt stories started it, along with thee Margaret Weiss Dragonlance, novels. Sadly I've moved on to Pathfinder despite me long the lore in DnD(though not a number of recent changes).

[@StormLordKord]

The most reliable, entertaining and UNDERSTANDABLE TTRPG channel there is. Much Love From Australia Sir!

[@Banquet42]

Ginny D, Dungeon Dudes, Crit Crab and a few others are still worth looking at IMO, but I suspect you already knew that. Take care anyway buddy x

[@rezokiladze2334]

@@Banquet42 doesn't critcrab just read others horror stories and cashes in? Not into looking for drama

[@Banquet42]

@@rezokiladze2334 fair enough, I find them entertaining, could probably classed as DnD adjacent? A small sidestep away from other types of DnD content if you will?

[@StormLordKord]

@@Banquet42 You’re not wrong, those are all dependable, decent channels. However, I find this channel a cut above the rest in Entertainment and Comedy, although Ginny Di is a very close second. I’ll always have respect for the informative Jester Duplicate.

[@CrowMercury]

I knew the moment they went 1000% hush they were planning this. I hope it’s indeed a good alternative, although I’m a Pathfinder fan.

[@Seoul_Soldier]

You're the only DnD creator I still watch. Myself and my group have already moved on to Pathfinder, and will be trying out Daggerheart the minute we get our hands on it.

[@seekingfurtherlight34]

I'm jealous, been trying to get my group to move on from dnd for 2 years now

[@StormLordKord]

Can I play Daggerheart with you guys? I’m so nerdy and lonely…

[@marioalbertoferrero33]

​@@StormLordKord same, my friend

[@anarchclown]

I have actually played roleplaying games since before Marisha Ray was born and probably longer than any of the people in critical role (who are my age and younger). But I do agree their influence on the culture of tabletop RPG's in general and DND in particular is pretty massive.

[@MimesAgainstHunmanity]

They actually anounced two games. And it looks like both games are campaign focused. What I find more interesting is that a few recent episodes have had no sponsors, so they could have gotten to the point where they are making more money from other sources than from the stream.

[@jameslewis9292]

Last night was a return to both D&D Beyond and NordVPN as sponsors for CR.

[@MimesAgainstHunmanity]

@@jameslewis9292 Cool, have not seen that episode yet.

[@MarkiMcMark]

A lot of people assume they didn't have sponsors because they recorded the episodes in quick succession because of the guests. Seems to be the most reasonable explanation.

[@Superdummy803]

@@MarkiMcMark The 4-20-23 episode must be this week because they mentioned Marisha's fight and that they were "Proud of her, regardless of the outcome." She probably wasn't there because she got punched in the face a bunch of times and she's probably a bit puffy faced. :)

[@lanteanboy]

@@Superdummy803 they still record in advance. BUT they always record as if they "were on the day". At the end Matt said he needed to grab a flight to go support his wife in getting punched.

[@darkmagician4697]

I honestly might just stick with 5e. My group can barely remember how to play dnd at times and I am excited to mess around with Monkey DM’s steinhardt when it fully comes out.

[@TheMadMedek]

I “started” with AD&Das a kid, but didn’t play much. CR was responsible for me getting back into DND

[@tuberobsessor]

I think this is actually really healthy for D&D. Over the past decade, the TTRPG scene has started becoming a lot bigger. However, due to Stranger Things and Critical Role, D&D has been at the forefront of this growing popularity. D&D is the powerhouse in the TTRPG scene, and WotC knows this. Just because of the brand name, WotC knew that they could be lazy when producing content. Now that they fucked up, people are starting to realize the other TTRPG options. So as you said, WotC is really gonna have to step it up if they want to hold on to their fanbase.

[@bobbybyrne1899]

this likely explains why DnDBeyond hasn''t sponsored Critical Role recently

[@alexbrown9622]

And why CR’s response to the OGL was so formal and reserved.

[@kurisuuu48]

They actually sponsored their latest episode (from yesterdays)

[@thomasferris1905]

​@@alexbrown9622 I think thier mild response was due to contractual obligations, but either way it show that they are business savvy and a class act.

[@snipegrzywa]

​@@alexbrown9622 I'm fairly confident their response was muted because they have a seperate contract/license agreement with WotC (they've published CR stuff now at this point), so OGL doesn't affect CR at all.

[@bobbybyrne1899]

@@kurisuuu48 huh, good to know. It would make sense for them to continue advertising on CR's channel given their reach and love from the community.

[@dford4014]

Started playing in 76, stopped in about 00 when I experienced a bad DM, got back in when 5e started in a new group. That being said, I can't wait for this and Matt Colville's systems to come out, they're gonna be incredible!

[@solarisdevorak]

With the way the campaign three story is going, Matt is looking like he's going to do a soft reboot to his world I wonder if the setting will just be this new version of exandria.

[@adanos3]

Most likely. Matt has to either get rid of the things that WotC has a Copyright for or create a completely new World. The second option is definitely more work xD

[@carsonrush3352]

​@@adanos3, that's what I was thinking. WotC probably has a serious copyright claim over much of their campaign content.

[@quinnsinclair7028]

​@@adanos3He's already going through that process. All the 5e races in C3 have legally distinct names.

[@adanos3]

@@quinnsinclair7028 I remember someone saying that the only things in Exandria still protected by wotc-copyright are the gods. Well looks like they either die or change in C3 :) They also made sure that there was nothing in "The Legend of Vox Machina" that WotC could target. Getting independent from WotC should have been in the making quite some time before the OGL desaster. I guess they knew the risks.

[@doctorsuarez]

If they actually pull this off… rebooting Exandria and dropping their new system, they will have pulled off some serious Keyser Soze sh*t.

[@stacieransom5677]

I think it's wonderful and good for them. They've worked their tail feathers off to get here and it's all done with love. They're doing good in the world outside of D&D too and that's a company I can get behind.

[@laughingpanda4395]

I started playing back in 1994. Even put my friends through the tomb of horrors 😅 I'm excited to see how their system works. Hopefully it's a streamlined system that relies more on RP than the crunchy mechanics of something like pathfinder. I am skeptical of any "new" system that comes out as they are for the most part, 5e derivatives. Spin offs with minor changes. Guess we shall see. One thing is certain, competition is always a good thing for us the players.

[@briangronberg6507]

How did your players do!?

[@laughingpanda4395]

@@briangronberg6507 it's been a very long time but as youd expect, TPK

[@grahamtpeterson]

Agreed. I would expect them to attempt to shrink the tedium and increase the RP being that's what they're known for. As with any system it'll come down to the balance and finding others that use the system.

[@gliscaradu1424]

I hope you mean pf1e cus 2e got very lil crunch

[@laughingpanda4395]

@@gliscaradu1424 when compared to 5e its infinitely more crunchy.

[@s-o-tariknomad6970]

I got into D&D Because of the PBS Idea Channel episode about it over 10 years ago. Started with 4E, but barely understood the rules. It was fun :)

[@Harl3inger]

I definitely played and had interest in D&D before Critical Role, but it made it way easier to convince friends to play as now some of them were interested because of it.

[@m.mulder8864]

My first 5e campaign was due to finding the Innistrad setting available for it. But the reason I play as a player is directly due to the echo knight class. Almost all of my builds are an echo knight build or echo knight splash. Easily my favorite 5e class.

[@superchala]

Personal theory: The current narrative arc in campaign 3, with all the possible profound changes that the world of Exandria is going through, is a way to transitioning to their new TTRPG system. They might go live with the new system, live on twitch, in the middle of the campaign.

[@grahamtpeterson]

I would expect them to use campaign 4 as a way to teach/highlight the new system, rather than try and jerry-rig 5e characters into a new system. I get that they sort of did that from their home game to the streaming game, but it's a whole lot easier to get more eyes on a new season than mid season.

[@superchala]

Assuming that is a difficult process and that they would not do it on campaign 3 is the most logical thing. But we don't know if they've already made the analysis and have created a strategy to do the transition, since everything is possible in the narration and storytelling of the campaign, they might have already created the characters in the new system and have already done the research to make the transition. All of this is speculation, of course, but for me is fun to talk about theories like this.

[@johnatello90]

I do think the hierarchy in the TTRPG universe is about change. However, I believe this is an uphill battle for Critical Role. WotC has their claws in deep, and don't forget their parent company is among the largest entertainment/merchandise conglomerates in the world. If Hasbro gets more involved, that's not something you can compete with evenly on goodwill alone.

[@risingforce9291]

Exactly. If a company like Hasbro 100% steps in, legally and in marketing, just one word or one detail under intellectual property right will hurt like mike tyson + muhammad ali combined punch.

[@quietwulf]

Love your work man. Thanks for another great video! Going to be very interesting to see how dagger heart works out.

[@RavixAryss]

Yes! Please give us a D&D that earns us. Give us that amazing 3.5e era level of books again!

[@Talokir]

Heck yeah! I was brought into D&D with 3.5 and was taught by my dad, who's played since around AD&D

[@KnicKnac]

Hell I'll take the cleaned up system of Pathfinder 1E too

[@jearl75290]

"Mama said knock you out" -LL Cool J- Matt Mercer

[@GreycatRademenes]

I'm in a few groups (most of them as DM) and we mainly plan on sticking with 5e for the forseeable future with one exception for later on. One group is about 80% in Princes of the Apocalypse after which we plan on testing out Pathfinder, another group is finishing Strahd and we're moving on Netherdeep, next group is 25% into Frostmaiden and that group likes to take things chill so they are not ruching and my last group is 2/3rd in Waterdeep AND we want to take on the Mad Mage. So for me and my friends, we're all good for quite a while.

[@ech0e404]

Honestly with how well loved the CR cast is and the growth they’ve had, if this keeps up I can see them making a show or even a movie around the Daggerheart system like the recent DND Honor Among Thieves

[@deandegnan4656]

i was there in the twitch stream when they announced it, and i gotta say that i haven’t been more hyped for something in the ttrpg setting in a long time. i can’t wait for matt and the rest of the cr team to make something incredible!

[@pr9039]

I mentioned this idea to a lot of creators during the OpenGL debacle, everyone basically said they were too lazy lol

[@Avigorus]

My dad told me stories about D&D when I was a kid (like that time he literally played a Triceratops), then I eventually got my hands on Neverwinter Nights in my teens, and the rest is history. Now, I've been looking at various alternatives including several I had already bought a while ago. Never watched Critical Role myself...

[@toranas1500]

I don't think Daggerheart will be closely tied to a campaign setting as implied. Will Exandria eventually be explicitly tied to Daggerheart? Yes, just like Forgotten Realms falls under the umbrella of DND. Will their rulebooks reference critical role lore? I think so. But I think that it may be focused more toward teaching players to build their own campaigns, while loosely referencing their books like the Tal'dorei campaign setting. Though I think, like DND, they would probably promote third parties to create using their system to help build the name and their brand. I'm wondering if they'll make their system 5e compatible like black flag, or ORC?

[@MorinehtarTheBlue]

I think it will be a mixture of both. Certainly aimed more at the broader base but plenty of Exandria based books (which is exactly what they've released with their 5E related stuff). It's more a matter of the fanbase wanting to play with those toys. And means a great deal more of the Matt Mercer effect to deal with (really hope that overzealous fans don't ruin Daggerheart). I mean look at To The Last Gasp. It's setting agnostic but they've released Vox Machina character cards for it.

[@toranas1500]

@@MorinehtarTheBlue exactly. Like the DND core rule books frequently reference forgotten realms, I'm sure it'll definitely reference CR content as examples, but the system itself won't rely on knowledge of CR to run a game. I have no doubt that they'll release separate but related CR campaign setting and adventure books like Tal'dorei reborn and Netherdeep.

[@THESLICKNESSEDM]

You can not put a price on quality content Matt and the crew are basically priceless

[@hansolav5924]

I would argue that DND outgrew the need for a company years ago. that 'wotc' label have gone from a mark of quality to 'oh, them again'.

[@DrNiradino]

Wotc had some sort of controversy rotating around it since forever. I still recall stories of MtG pros selling drugs to fuel their cardboard addiction, and then theory crafting new decks out of a jail cell.

[@mactireliath2356]

I started playing Dungeon & Dragons when I was a lad, in the year of our lord 1900 and 88’. Loving Choose Your Own Adventure books, the local book store owner suggested that I check out this “D&D thing”; in a red box, with a kick-ass looking red dragon on the cover. After a couple of weeks saving up from my paper route, I was able to purchase a new mechanism for me and the neighbor kids to enjoy on rainy days and throughout the winters. Then came the Blue, then the Black. And finally, the Gold. I was hooked.

[@sortehuse]

It's going to be interesting to see what they come up with.

[@Dave.A.Hill.]

9:35 I think you meant "Matt Mercer can't balance to save his life."

[@bobswag710]

I really don’t think it will be much of a competitor to DnD. The people who play DnD play it because they like roleplaying not because they’re looking for the optimal TTRPG. They are in large part unwilling to learn a new system in order to play a fantasy rollplaying game. While people want to say that there was a mass exidous from DnD 5e to PF2E, the numbers just don’t reflect that. Only a small minority of players actually picked up the PF2E book and even less are still sticking with it .

[@Anegor]

People turned to pf2e expecting a dnd5e clone. And got disappointed. Because pathfinder is a completely different system with its own strengths and weakness, that your play for itself, not as a spite replacement. Doing something for the wrong reasons doesnt usually go well.

[@zombieninjapitbull3856]

We found the wotc employee😂

[@Kiaulen]

The plural of anecdote is not data, but I picked up the core rulebook and beginner box and ran the beginner box for my table. It's not replacing D&D, but it is living on alongside it. 2e has _a lot_ of good stuff in it.

[@Biostasis5x7]

I bought the pf2e books. I'm going to finish my campaign before I start digging deep into pathfinder. From my initial observations it has as many problems as 5e, the problems are just different. 5e is far too simple for my taste, so I homebrew tons of new player actions/spells. Pf2e looks like it has a vast array of ways to play that offer more cruch, but it doesn't have some options I've been looking for. It's going to take time dming pf2e to get comfortable enough with it to start seriously altering things to my taste.

[@Gemini-Lion]

My first time playing D&D was in Freshman year of high school, where a good friend of mine suggested that I try it out. I wasn’t particularly excited about playing it, and I didn’t really know what to expect. If I actively went to look for the text messages, my response to his offer was probably “Sure, I guess.” First session went pretty well, and we continued playing. A session eventually became a campaign, one campaign became two, so on and so forth. The point was: He got me hooked on the game. I didn’t really hear that much about Critical Role (primarily just knowing about Matt Mercer, the name “Critical Role” and similar) until a little bit ago, where I saw something for the Legend of Vox Machina animated show. I decided to watch it, and I ended up binging it. Writing this out, I think I’m starting to notice a pattern. Anyways, I’m excited for what Matt Mercer and the Critical Role company as a whole will be capable of. I’ll definitely try it out.

[@ellagg]

I think it's great to have competition, this way WotC will need to step up their game. And the guys at CR are extremely passionate about what they do and that almost guarantees it's going to be a great game.

[@moosedawg71]

I never knew Critical Role even existed until a few years ago, but I'm an OLD school AD&D player from the FIRST edition of AD&D in the early 80s and then later ADnD 2nd Edition. My husband still has his 1st Edition 3-book set of the Monster Manual, Player's Guide and DM Guide. I look forward to checking out their new one.

[@DiomedesRangue]

I was surprised to hear the name. You'd think their flagship tabletop rpg would just be called the Critical Role ttrpg.

[@lidular]

I was thinking the same thing. But they aren't really that into that type of branding

[@snipegrzywa]

Agree, from a branding standpoint it would be a nightmare. The parent company is CR, and they have a show called CR. To also have a new rpg system? Can get confusing when discussing in conversation

[@DiomedesRangue]

@snipegrzywa Yeah, but most people are going to call it the critical Role rpg anyways, so that's probably what people would be googling.

[@Dave004]

I think it makes a bit of sense because a lot of old school players I know are very anti Critical Roll so this could help distance them from that association. I like Critical Roll personally, more for the roleplay/entertainment and Mercer's world building is pretty impressive.

[@missa2855]

My introduction to D&D I remember rather vividly. Officially it was a MrRhexx video on skyrim lore I was listening to while replaying the dawnguard DLC on a dunmer character. And then I hit up my buddy and was like "yo. We should play this." and a long ass time after that we finally got around to actually playing, me as the GM with 2 dudes as players. Before that my first introduction to role-playing games was probably Heroquest played at the game store and LARPing (LARPing was the most common role-playing genre until recently.)

[@TheInsaneTD]

Dimension 20 has just announced a new series with Matt, I wonder if they'll be using the new system for it.

[@LostWhits]

Would they really want to publicly test their own system on another channel?

[@damobeck1]

@@LostWhits D20 and CR seem to be real buddy buddy with each other, so why not?

[@Krytern]

​@LostWhits You're asking if they'd really want to advertise their game to another audience. Why do you think they wouldn't?

[@TheMindBullets]

Lots of us starting playing D&D before Critical Role and KZbin were even a thing. Hell, before internet was widely available in homes.

[@DuskWolf224]

As a big CR fan, but also a long time D&D player, I think D&D 5e will remain a very played system, but I think the gap between it and other system might definitely shrink with all of that. And Daggerheart will be a huge success, for sure! I definitely agree that it'll help creating a healthier market for TTRPGs^^

[@Biostasis5x7]

The critters will buy it even if it's a garbage system. Matt's made some really weird and wonky 5e things that aren't well balanced. I think he's a good guy, and a great D., but his game design skills need some serious help.

[@remus-alexandrusimion3439]

@@Biostasis5x7 My assumption is that it's not Matt designing the game. He's probably fleshing out the world, maybe creating the archetypes of the classes and races, but beyond that i'm pretty sure actual game designers will work on balancing and stuff like that.

[@Maritimesgestein]

@@remus-alexandrusimion3439 hopefully...

[@WrappedBaggage]

The price of advertising on Critical Role also comes down to them actually making some of the best ad integrations I know of. Can’t think of any other that I have actually gone back to just to see the ad 🤣

[@tuloong3807]

😂. I started playing D&D back when 3.5e first came out. Friend who was into it talked me into trying it out then after a 1 shot where I died but died epically I was hooked & have played ever since then. Though it's hard to find in person groups when usually anymore people tend to want to play online anymore. I just find in person gaming much more fun & enjoyable than over a computer screen.

[@Talokir]

In-person ttrpgs are the best experience because of the bonds you create at the table and by being there with friends and/or family. It's a bit harder to do that through a screen, so I'm right there with you!

[@MonkeyDM]

That ad segment hahaha Genius!

[@Duskbreaker1780]

"Most games started because of critical roll!" *Stares in 3.5e*

[@douglochery8641]

"Shrugs in 2e while reading AD&D rulebooks"

[@chris-il4qu]

Hahaha, I mean, I'm pretty sure he's referring to the huge influx in players within the last decade into 5E.

[@trishapellis]

My group started with the dungeon master being half-pressed into being a healer for his brother's party who didn't have one... however, several players (including me) have decided to get into it after being told by an existing member of the group to watch Critical Role. Even if they aren't the cause of tables forming, they are a cause for tables accruing players. We're currently, for the first time in this table's history, playing two concurrent campaigns because there's too many players for one. (I know, my DM deserves a raise)

[@davidjennings2179]

*Raises an eye brow in "I was around when our math rocks were literal rocks"*

[@douglochery8641]

@@davidjennings2179 Ah, a fellow DRD player (Dreary Rock Dice)! Back in the days when our rule books were carved onto the back of tree bark. Math rocks, indeed. If only we knew what numbers were back then......

[@UncleMazzy]

I am genuinely excited for Dnds VTT, one of my favorite parts of being a DM is building cool locations for my players to explore. Not to mention being able to have all the content I purchased over the years carry over and into it(hopefully). I used to do it with my 3D printer but since all my games are online now… I gotta make do.

[@RojoTau]

I fucking love this dude

[@HouseDM]

This is actually HUGE news! Thanks for reporting on this Will!

[@rawrbeez6625]

To me the VTT looks amazing. The thing about it is that it also looks like it needs expensive hardware. If I’m gonna play a VTT of that level (friends from all around the world I play with, this would enhance the experience no doubt) I want it to be more general. I wanna be able to run Cthulhu and Star Trek Adventures and Conan and Werewolf and Hunter in it too.

[@risingforce9291]

You are punching different Intellectual Property owners at the same time by doing that and the new platform creators/owners will take the brunt of that. I want it too but wishful thinking for us.

[@StArFuRyZz]

I'm old - was playing D&D back in 1st ed. Last year a friend wanted to start up again so now we're doing 5e. I've never watched Critical Role but have heard of them. I'm not sure our small group of "old" people will want to change.

[@Dave004]

same, my group as kind of heard of Critical Roll but doesn't care about them and no interest in them at all. Same with my gaming cafe and board game shop (just cares about their products to sell and make money from lol). Feels like the older people who didn't start playing D&D because of Critical Roll will still play D&D, just the ones who started purely because of Critical Roll may jump ship.

[@syvajarvi2289]

I’m an OG DND player. My son turned me on to Crit roll. My current table is relatively new and spread around the world literally…. We just switched to pathfinder 2E but constantly game shop. Crit roll is good story telling with the chaotic table vibe.

[@austinparks5917]

The Hadoze thing was so overblown. There has been recent artwork where halflings were wearing similar garb. I feel like the community is divided on what we want from WOTC

[@josephpurdy8390]

I will say this about Pazio rulebooks. They make every effort possible through editing. To bring the word count down to fill up those pages with essential information. This is even more evident when considering the savings on price, and space with their pocket books.

[@the_arcanum]

Replace the mention editing with content writing and system design and I'll agree with you. Their editing on PF2.0 base manual is unfortunately very clunky and make everything hard to find. But their content and writing ? Chef's kiss !

[@valeri0n38]

NGL, Critical Role was the thing that got me back into D&D after nearly 20 years away from the game. I started playing in the way back times when my parents got me a box set and then a little later in high school my friends and I played AD&D and I eventually morphed into 2e. What I saw CR doing brought back that desire to sit at a table with a bunch of people and feel that energy again.

[@njnjco]

The great thing about table top gaming is that you can make it your own. Even if you run a module, even with the same DM and players, it will never turn out the same. Unlike video games, you can quickly and easily make whatever you want come to life. You don't need some one to write a book or create a new level for you. You can just make something up and see where it goes. My setting and characters are all home brew, while my rules are a basic 5e D&D. All you really need to play table top games is to have a friend teach you or look up the rules online for free. At my table we play "theater of the mind", so we don't even need battle mats or plastic models. I like physical books, so I got the 5e PHB for comfort of use, though I already knew the basics. You don't need a lot to play table top games, so if WoTC want your money, they really have to earn it with quality content, good customer service, and respect for their players. If they don't give us that, then we can easily ignore them and do our own thing. 5e and other table top games don't really need to be updated constantly. D&D and table top games are all in your head, once you know how to play, they can't take that away from you. I mean, there are still people out there playing AD&D.... Probably.

[@SkyBoxGaming]

I never liked the new OGL rules that they had put out, but then you said something that really made me understand why they wanted it so badly. The company grew lazy, their products became subpar and they saw that the community was starting to do their job for them and they wanted to capitalize on that, by forcefully monetizing community works for their own profit.

[@MorinehtarTheBlue]

When they started to get lazy they purposefully left the community to do the work that they couldn't be bothered putting work and effort into. I wholeheartedly disagree that they were trying to cash in on that hard work though. That was more of a fuck up and not considering the ramifications of what they were putting in place. What they were doing, trying to hamstring competition, and all the monetization strategies employed in an attempt to corner the VTT market was bad enough. And the fact that it happened because they brought in video development executives who really don't understand the TTRPGs space is an icing of shit on the cake.

[@needparalegal]

There is no barrier to entry for RPGs. I have played many over the years. Ice Crown was great, as were a few others that were very immersive.

[@brandongoodwin756]

Critical role and dimension 20 are the only influencers wotc really needed to win over with the new system. Their fan bases include a huge chunk of the younger generations they're looking to bring in with the new vtt. CR leaving dnd will likely be huge

[@Anonymous_Individual]

Loved the community reference! Just last night I was watching a bells hells/community splice video.

[@lockepersonal]

I really wish Gamers: Dorkness Rising would get the recognition it deserves for introducing me and an entire generation to D&D. But Crit Role gets their due too.

[@supermcspotty]

A cult classic definitely.

[@NuclearNoxi]

I've thought that they would do this since they announced that Spencer Stark, creator of Kids on Bikes and Alice is Missing, was working for Darrington Press.

[@shirosenshiesq]

Sorry to say it, but I don't imagine that Critical Role Productions is going to kill Dungeons & Dragons with its new system. D&D first published in 1974, so has almost 50 years of history behind it. There are other systems and publishers that have a far greater tenure than CRP and don't have nearly the numbers or clout that D&D has. Maybe in 50 years if CRP is still around by then, but it's still a product of shifting internet popularity and lives and dies by this. D&D has lived before there was internet, and before popularity could come from internet fame - and before a single tweet could get a mob angry at you.

[@crystallxix1493]

He didn’t say itd kill dnd. He said itd kill its absolute uncontested supremacy which isn’t that much of a stretch

[@shirosenshiesq]

@@crystallxix1493 There's a dozen systems with far greater tenure and popularity that don't even come close to touching D&D. Critical Role's not gonna contest anything.

[@crystallxix1493]

@@shirosenshiesq one of the main reasons DnD itself is this famous IS critical role in the first place. If’s history has nothing to do with it. If Critical Role produces a truly good system and then fully commits to it then yeah DnD is no longer gonna be the go to for TTRPGs. It’s already gradually dropping in popularity

[@shirosenshiesq]

@@crystallxix1493 Son, Critical Role is 8 years old. Dungeons & Dragons is 49 years old. D&D is over 6 times older than Critical Role and has outlived hundreds of direct competitors. It has 35 official campaign settings from during that 49 year history, and 8 different editions. To say that Critical Role made D&D famous is forgetting the other 41 years of history, 33 settings, and all the editions that existed before Critical Role did. People have been playing D&D longer than you've been alive. I've been playing D&D for 30 years. People have been born, had children, and had grandchildren in the time D&D has been around. To say CR made it popular is like saying Michael Bay made Transformers popular.

[@crystallxix1493]

@@shirosenshiesq it does not matter my guy. History has never given a game the edge over any other lmao. To this day even amongst DnD’s actual players there are very few who still hold any sort of respect for WoTC. If Critical Role comes out with a good new game people will not give two shits about how old the other is.

[@KillianWargear1921]

Love this whole video. Thanks for all you’ve done and do

[@Belks1453]

This is just pathfinder all over again.

[@JohnnyG860]

As a broke but faithful fan I just wanna thanx for all the free stuff you're making available to the public, I've used them for my one shots and my players had a blast

[@parkersmith8711]

I really don't think this will stop D&D from being the dominating game, I'm just gonna keep playing 5e anyway

[@ulrichwentzel6327]

I swear that I subscribed to you because your ads are so good. You have real talent man haha

[@exomancer3632]

I for one was introduced to D&D by the stage play "She Kills Monsters"

[@baseballjustin5]

$65k for an adspot is insane to me. Glad their doing well. Excited for more... now to catch up on C2 and C3... and the offshoots

[@AsrielRose]

I started playing in the 90s before critical roll. However within the group I was part of we had a connection to the voice actors guild.

[@kiddyoshi]

this may be the wrong place for this but shout out Loot Tavern, ive been playing Heliana's Guide to Monster Hunting for a few weeks now and my group loooooooves it so much. Highly recommend it to spice up your campaign

[@lloydwootten8980]

Yeah I don't know about "most" play groups, maybe it's because I'm 35. but... I have yet to play in a playgroup whose genesis was based on Critical Role. Been playing D&D for 20 years.

[@magmab0t243]

I personally, am very hyped about wizards' VTT

[@wagnerkm89]

Same, if it lives up to what is being described it's going to be really cool

[@The_Musical_Cartograph]

Maybe i'm just tired from the day of work but honestly : Best opening of an ad break i've seen in a while, i was rolling on the floor man x)

[@RobKinneySouthpaw]

I played long ago. But got back into DnD because of CR. Wouldn't quit my 5e over it, but I would definitely check out their actual plays, and might add it to the rotation.

[@Iyoted_Murzim]

I’m sorry as soon as I saw the add start, I had to pause the video to finish laughing, WHERE TF DID THAT COME FROM 😂😂 best sponsorship but I’ve ever seen!

[@jeffreybomba]

Matt is setting up for a rest of Exandria by breaking a moon, and releasing a God eater. The fact the Bandon did the mini series going back time to the last breaking of Exandria, was probably foreshadowing.

[@winterssunshine]

1:15, Actually I play because my Father played in Boy Scouts back in the 80s. When I turned 11 and entered Boy Scouts, he gave me his old books and passed me the torch to carry to my Boy Scout Troop. I then had to trek up past al the other versions over 1-2 years until I reached 5e, and some of my play style and DMing style reflects some older versions, in fact, I like using my father's older campaign modules. I have seen like maybe 2 episodes of Critical Role but I never personally enjoyed it. I prefer actually playing it vs watching it.

[@TacticalReaper56]

Way WAY sooner than I thought. However, given how early it is in this year. We might see some of these around Holiday Time.

[@WildernessRocks]

I’ve never watched CR and started playing in 1985ish. My players got the idea from stranger things and their parents that are my age and had played back in the day as well. I’m a paid DM for an afterschool program/game.

[@nemooh]

I'm not a huge fan of roll20 but I'm a huge fan of the pressure that's being put on wizards of lawful evil. thanks for the video.

[@brettbeyer73]

One thing that doesn't get talked about enough is how much the digital D&D will affect traditional hobby and TT shops. If CR has physical books that help keep my game shops alive, I'm on board.