Critical Role’s New TTRPG Is A Game Changer With One Huge Difference From D&D

Summary

• Critical Role
  ‘s
  Daggerheart
  enters beta testing, offering Domain Cards and d12 dice as unique features for TTRPGs.
• Daggerheart
  ‘s success depends on distinguishing itself from D&D, which could be difficult given the similarity in classes and races.
• With
  Critical Role
  ‘s devoted fanbase, Daggerheart has the potential to achieve success, especially if Matt Mercer adopts it for a new campaign.

Critical Role has aided in the recent resurgence of Dungeons & Dragons, being its biggest live game stream. For some, the show is the reason they got into D&D‘s fifth edition, and it is the gold standard as to what 5e can be, yet Matt Mercer and the cast seem intent on distancing themselves from Wizards of the Coast. As of March 2024, Daggerheart, CR‘s very own fantasy tabletop RPG, has entered beta testing.

Some will be surprised to know that Critical Role did not start life as a D&D campaign. Vox Machina, the first campaign in the live game show, began as a home game between friends where they played Pathfinder. The group likely migrated to 5e to make it a better viewing experience since this system is the simpler of the two, yet here they are, making their own system for, presumably, Campaign 4, showing that they aren’t afraid to also migrate from D&D.

What Is Daggerheart, And What Makes It Different To D&D?

Cards Make Daggerheart More Digestible For Newcomers

Daggerheart is a fantasy TTRPG, in the same genre as D&D, as well as other systems like Pathfinder and Symbaroum. According to its website, it is built “to shape your world through rich, long-term campaign play,” essentially filling the same niche as many other systems, but it has one key difference that sets it apart from all the others. A key feature of Daggerheart, which other systems seem to avoid, is its use of cards.

Characters in Daggerheart have access to Domain Cards, depending on what class is chosen. These cards represent an ability or spell, containing all the information a player needs about it. At the start of a campaign, each character gets two Domain Cards, but some classes share these. For instance, bards and rogues share the grace domain. These cards bring an ease to playing Daggerheart and help the game feel more like a typical board game. It also helps showcase the exceptional art of Critical Role’s Darrington Press tabletop game imprint.

Another change is the use of 2d12 dice, rather than the typical d20 used in D&D, Pathfinder and Symbaroum. One d12 represents a Hope Dice while the other represents a Fear Dice. Using dice other than a d20 is rare in the tabletop space, especially for fantasy games, but it isn’t unheard of. Call of Cthulu, one of the biggest and oldest systems, uses a d100 as its main die, while Cyberpunk: Red uses a d10. Most tabletop players will have access to these dice, so there’s no reason for this to be a problem.

The Flaws Of Daggerheart

There’s Still Work To Be Done

It should be noted that Daggerheart is in its beta and that what is currently presented is not the final product. That being said, its similarities to D&D are somewhat of a weakness. This makes sense, given that Matt Mercer’s world of Exandria is based on a Pathfinder and D&D world. It has the same races, similar classes that have just been given different names, and similar, fundamental world rules. This has all leaked into Daggerheart from D&D.

Dungeons & Dragons, despite its recent controversy, is a goliath in the tabletop space. Although Critical Role has an impressive fan base, Daggerheart will struggle to surpass D&D if it is too similar to it in its classes, races, and settings. Like Pathfinder, which also spawned from an edition of D&D, it may only exist in the shadow of the tabletop giant. Although mechanically different, if the game feels exactly like Dungeons & Dragons, especially because CR has perpetuated what D&D should be like with the “Mercer effect,” many may not have a strong enough reason to switch.

Of course, there are some concerns about the mechanics. Daggerheart is made to be simple and easy to drop into, but it is also made to be used in long-time campaigns. For some players, the tactical and intricate nature of combat is what keeps them engaged throughout a campaign since not all players are roleplayers. Critical Role, however, has likely rarely appealed to those types of players, given that the acting prowess of the cast leads to some brilliant roleplay moments that TV series writers wish they came up with.

Will Daggerheart Succeed?

Critical Role Has A Dedicated Fanbase

Daggerheart has the backing to be a success.Critical Role‘s fans have shown how devoted they are with the Kickstarter campaign for The Legend of Vox Machina, and there’s no reason to assume that they won’t show up again for this new TTRPG, especially if Matt Mercer chooses to use this system for Campaign 4. The degree of that success will depend on whether Daggerheart can snag people away from D&D, as its world is too similar to carve its own niche.

The heart of Critical Role’s community began with D&D, and it will be very difficult to separate it from 5e. With the Amazon Prime deals for shows surrounding Campaign 1 and 2, the departure from typical D&D has begun, but Daggerheart is coming too soon for that divide to be fully realized before its release. Its biggest obstacle will be trying to evolve into something more than an “alternate Dungeons & Dragons.” which is immensely difficult considering that some people refer to Call of Cthulu as “Lovecraft D&D,” despite all its differences.

Still, there could be a general shift from D&D in the near future. Wizards of the Coast keep involving themselves in controversy after controversy, and Critical Role is not the only IP moving away from the company. Larian Studios has stated that it won’t be doing Baldur’s Gate 4, despite the success of the series’ third entry, with the developer even stating that everyone who greenlit the project is no longer at Wizards. With both Critical Role and Larian leaving D&D behind, perhaps there could be a void that Daggerheart could fill.

The
Legend of Vox Machina
holds the record for the most funded film/animation project on Kickstarter, raising $11,385,449. At the time, it was the fifth most funded project on the site and smashed its goal of $750,000 within the first hour.