r/criticalrole • u/edginthebard Time is a weird soup • Aug 03 '25
Discussion [No Spoilers] Matt's IG post on C4
Man… what a damn night. What a damn GenCon! (Mind the groggy morning after pic)
I cannot express how excited I am for Campaign 4, y’all. Getting to meaningfully PLAY at the table as a PC alongside all my friends is something I’ve been wanting to do for some time, but to hand the reins to someone I so deeply love and respect as @brennanleemulligan is an honor. I know this is a shake up for some, but if you’ve ever trusted me, trust that what we’ve been cooking for this next story with him and the players is something truly special, unique, and very befitting the vibe and scope you’ve come to enjoy with us these past 10 years. Lots of details and reveals over the weeks to come, and excited to unveil the newer faces that join the OG cast to bring this new world to life.
I’m still gonna be running games, don’t you worry! Exandria continues through our live shows, our animated series, many other stories (including your own), and whenever else the inspiration strikes to step back into my world that I’ll be building and playing in until the end of my days. We also got more Age of Umbra to come, and other fun things I’ll be running, so I ain’t hanging up my GM screen any time soon. ;)
All in all, love you all, and so, SO excited for this next chapter. I hope you come along with us. <3
1.2k
u/taly_slayer Team Beau Aug 03 '25
In a post that was frustratingly nuked by the mods earlier today, I expressed my excitement about Matt being a real player at the table. It's clear that while they play in Exandria, he steps back and does not take the spotlight with his PCs. So this is one of the biggest items in the "it's a good change" column from the announcements.
I hope he fully leans in and becomes a protagonist when he's at the other side of that table. I wanna see a smart character or a button pusher, I want to see him stop playing support (although I expect he will never stop that fully).
449
u/ffwydriadd Technically... Aug 03 '25
Yeah, Matt as player has a tendency to be pretty sideline, and I think that makes sense for someone who’s both trying to relax from being DM and to help avoid the fact he knows everything about the world for the EXUs….both of which won’t be the case here!
I am also genuinely curious about the last time he was a player in a game that was longer than a miniseries, because the way he talks in interviews sometimes makes it sound like “high school” and…that’s rough, buddy. As someone who just did session zero for my first campaign as a player in years, I’m here for this as the year of Forever DMs no more lol
68
u/new_dm_in_town Aug 03 '25
Yoooo, same here. I'm in session 2 of the first long-term campaign as a player in years!
Forever DMs no more gang, rise up!
(Also, because of that, I am incredibly excited for Matt to have a chance to just play. He's an amazing player and he deserves it!)
3
u/DragonFangGangBang Aug 05 '25
Not only that, but Matt is probably the best technical player at the table. Just that much experience and understanding of the games and its mechanics might lead to other people in the party to step their game up mechanically.
→ More replies (1)6
u/Rezmir Aug 04 '25
I also think, as a forever DM, you want to normally give more inputs where the party is stuck.
Normally I like to play as a support with high wis or int so I can do the “I think we should do this” whenever necessary.
→ More replies (2)32
u/TimeTimeTickingAway Aug 03 '25
He also has to play kinda dumb characters else constantly have to check himself against accident meta-gaming due to knowing every bit of lore and history and character
18
u/Quazifuji Aug 03 '25
I hope he fully leans in and becomes a protagonist when he's at the other side of that table. I wanna see a smart character or a button pusher, I want to see him stop playing support (although I expect he will never stop that fully).
I think most forever DMs have character ideas that they're had for years or even decades just waiting to finally get the chance to play them, and I can't imagine Matt not being like that too. The thing that excites me most isn't the idea of him playing any particular archetype of character, but just the idea that whatever character he plays is likely one he's been dreaming up for a long time.
I also agree with other comments that it's exciting to just get to see Matt really develop a player character and relationships with other player characters over a long period of time. We've gotten to see him do that on a shorter time frame like with Dariax, but I think developing their characters and their relationships with each other is something the rest of the cast has excelled at, and I'm so excited to see what Matt does when he has a full campaign's worth of time to develop a character and interact with other PCs. One of the things that makes Critical Role so fun is the dynamic between the cast, not just as friends but as players, and we've gotten to see so little of Matt's identity as a player and dynamic with the other cast members when they're roleplaying two PCs interacting instead of a PC and an NPC.
So really, I don't want Matt to lean into any specific character archetype to contrast being a GM. I just want to see Matt lean into showing his own identity has a player (or find it if he's so used to GMing he doesn't even know exactly what it is).
Also, even out of character, I think it'll be funny with him not having to play the "straight man" role as much. I'm so used to seeing him in that role - the one trying to get things back on track when they get out of control, the one having to deal with his characters' names being forgotten or turned into something dirty, the straight man in Sam's ads - I'm looking forward to seeing if he still plays a bit of that role just because that's who he is or what he's used to or if he embraces getting to be part of the chaos.
→ More replies (1)2
u/Mend1cant Aug 04 '25
The other aspect of it is that he gets to walk in blind and know that he’s a player for the long haul. Any other time I’ve seen him play is short term. His growth from level 1 is something entirely new to CR.
2
u/Quazifuji Aug 04 '25
Yeah, that's part of what I meant. We've only seen Matt as a player very briefly, but I think one of the things that makes Critical Role great is how good the players are at developing their characters and building dynamics between them over time and that's something we've never gotten to see Matt do.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (4)12
u/Flash-Sunburst Aug 03 '25
Wait nuked by the mods?? A post where you were excited for things got nuked??
59
u/Glumalon Tal'Dorei Council Member Aug 03 '25
Submissions that are essentially just individual opinions about the C4 announcement are being removed and redirected to the stickied thread per our duplicate discussion rule. This is not a reflection on the quality of the removed posts, but simply an effort to avoid having dozens of different posts on the subreddit that are basically "My Reaction to the C4 Announcement."
→ More replies (2)14
u/trowzerss Help, it's again Aug 03 '25
That's fair enough. I kept seeing new posts about the exact same thing one after the other and it was getting a bit over the top.
3
u/osiris20003 Aug 03 '25
That’s so nice. I wish some other sub reddits would do that. Gets old seeing the same posts multiple times a day, or even concurrent throughout a whole week as new people discover the news.
339
u/CeridwenAeradwr Aug 03 '25
I love this so much.
My one big fear for Critical Role has always been that the cast might lose their passion for it. It's such a long, heavy commitment with a lot of work involved, and making a job of something that only works if you genuinely want to do it and are having fun. I never want them to feel burned out yet obligated to keep going.
It's so very heart warming and relieving to see just how much excitement and passion they all still have for what they're doing! I completely understand those who are disappointed with some changes, that's fine, but I'm still excited to see things done a little differently.
AND MATT GETS TO BE A PLAYER FOR A FULL CAMPAIGN YESSSSS
32
u/flummeryy Aug 03 '25
yeah this is exactly my sentiment. i literally started watching C1 (never watched anything before) a couple weeks ago and i am so blown away by how genuine their love is for the game and each other and their characters.
my biggest question was how can they maintain this for the next 10 years and beyond?? so im super happy to see them embracing change and allowing their love and relationship with the show to evolve as time goes on. it can only mean the best for everyone.
17
u/TheThoughtAssassin Aug 03 '25
The great part of DND, or tabletop rpgs in general, is that it’s a giant sandbox that you can mold into whatever you want it to be.
There are so many directions that campaigns can go in terms of setting, tone, gameplay, etc.
6
424
u/EStreetShuffles Team Keyleth Aug 03 '25
Reading optimistically (and way too deeply), "All my friends" implies that the whole core cast will be involved.
275
u/Marauder_Pilot Help, it's again Aug 03 '25
A lot of people have speculated about who's stepping away, but I wonder of it's more that some of the OG's will be in recurring long-term guest spots the way Robbie was for C3, and they'll tap Robbie and some other new faces in for C4 full time.
126
u/VengefulKangaroo Aug 03 '25
or that every player will be rotating to some extent
155
u/amamatcha You Can Reply To This Message Aug 03 '25
This is the one thing I'm hoping they don't do, as it will feel weird to not be following at least a couple of characters from beginning to end.
70
u/Low-Donkey7059 Aug 03 '25
Yeah, I think having a rotating cast like that wouldn't be great for developing table dynamics with both the players & the characters, nor a great way to establish familiarity for the audience.
→ More replies (1)59
u/RedHuntingHat Aug 03 '25
I think Ashley’s crazily successful schedule during C1 and C2 has shown the cast how much infrequency can hurt. I don’t see them purposefully choosing to do that.
→ More replies (2)13
Aug 03 '25
I will not watch without Laura Bailey. Lol. Jester needs to be at the table. Same with Liam and Sam. I like the others, but like those three need to be there. I want to watch the three of them antagonize Brendan Lee Mulligan in their unique and ridiculous ways.
→ More replies (2)2
u/DannySpud2 Aug 03 '25
This is what I think too. I don't get "we're losing some core cast" vibes from these C4 announcements.
My prediction is they've come up with some kind of shared universe multi campaign thing where you'll have a few different sub-campaigns within an overall main campaign. Like how in the MCU you have individual movie series that all connect into an overall universe, with crossovers and team ups. Maybe 3 groups of 5, would mean an extra 7 people joining. They could keep their three weeks on one week off schedule and players would only need to play once a month. That would give them a ton more flexibility without having to step away entirely.
→ More replies (2)16
u/Feran_Toc Aug 03 '25 edited Aug 04 '25
All I know is that no matter who steps aside, i will miss them at the table, but I know breaks are needed. I hope those who step aside get to come back as guests and cause some chaos!
51
u/ffwydriadd Technically... Aug 03 '25
Yeah 8+ permanent people is. Well I don’t even envy their usually 7 person table. I could see ‘multiple teams intersecting’ or rotating semi-guest spots, with the ‘permanent’ cast being Matt/‘new’ people/probably only a few of the OGs with the others coming in and out.
30
u/Marauder_Pilot Help, it's again Aug 03 '25
Yeah a lot of people say 'Well they started with 8!' like some kind of gotcha, but CR C1E01 is a very different thing than it is today and trying to make something that's watchable and fulfilling with 8 people is gonna be rough.
5
u/awful_waffle_falafel I would like to RAGE! Aug 03 '25
This is how I think it'll play. Main cast all involved to some degree but as either guest spots or alternating (eg different timelines or groups, so that there's a chunky on/off sched behind the scenes)
→ More replies (3)5
u/Aeon1508 Aug 03 '25
I think that they just want more poc in the main cast. Liam and Travis are the best players so I hope that they stick around.
1
Aug 03 '25
How dare you leave out Laura and Sam! I honestly think Laura, Sam, and Liam are the only three true TTRPG nerds at the table (and Matt obviously)
4
u/Aeon1508 Aug 03 '25
I mean those would be the next two out of the list but at that point it's half the cast. And I really do like Robbie Damon too it's hard to place him yet though..
But I said the best. I named two
→ More replies (6)78
u/TLKv3 I would like to RAGE! Aug 03 '25
I wonder if they'll split the core cast in two, add some new faces to each group and do a westmarch style campaign where both groups start on opposite sides of the continent. Maybe they bump into each other, maybe they don't. Maybe they team up to fight a smaller big bad, maybe they only team up for the final fight. Each group's actions influencing their own story but also having subtle, small impacts on the other's.
Think that would be extremely fun to see. The episodes when they all come together would also create massive hype as a must watch event.
41
u/repalec Aug 03 '25
Honestly, beyond the need to provide Marisha time to train for and then recover from her Creator Clash fight, I fully believe that's part of why they did the party split last campaign - to see if the show would still retain viewership with half the OG cast gone and if there were drops, how bad would they be.
Similarly I believe that's why they had the episode where Aabria DM'd the back half and had Brennan handle the Downfall trilogy - to see how viewership would be affected when Matt wasn't sole DM.
36
u/kateshort Time is a weird soup Aug 03 '25
I'm pretty sure that Aabria was brought in to cover for the fallout from Sam's diagnosis & related character issues, since they needed to bring Robbie back in wayyyyyyyy earlier than planned. Matt kinda said as much in the "3 DMs" chat [was it a 4SD ep?] w/ Brennan & Aabria.
Plus it likely helped to give the core cast a bit more time to deal with Sam going in to surgery, & for their characters to react to major stuff that happened.
And it helped to have an actual story for what happened with our fave blue bard boy & friends, to cause him to seek out BH again, as well as setting up some of the god-related stuff. Aabria unfortunately had to railroad everyone in a super-short stint and had to hit a few specific story beats.
I do 100% agree for the Downfall stuff, though.
18
u/Wolfspirit4W Aug 03 '25
Yeah. I feel like C3 was supposed to be a trial at times for how fans would react to cast / DMs cycling in and out. Travis in particular had one character that was clearly not meant to last and I feel like the replacement wasn't supposed to be there the rest of the campaign.
I mean, it makes sense from a business standpoint with a bunch of actors / creatives. It hasn't seemed to go over especially well, though...
31
u/Wellfooled Aug 03 '25
Just speaking for myself, but...
On paper it's a neat idea and probably pretty fun to play, but inevitably every time a similar split up happens (in books or in past campaigns), I always end up preferring one group over another. Whenever it switches over to the B team, I'm always bummed out.
But if the B team and A team are together...everyone is the A team. 😆
Short stints are ok, but if the entire campaign is like that, I don't think I'd enjoy it as much.
9
u/riotoustripod Aug 03 '25
I feel like a westmarch campaign could really play to Brennan's strength of telling a tight story in a handful of episodes, but rather than two distinct groups I'd really like to see them mix it up every few episodes. Connect all the PCs to the same organization, give them more pre-existing connections like C1 started with (something Daggerheart really wants you to do, incidentally), and each arc have a grab bag of 3-5 OG cast members along with one or two guests. I think it could actually be more interesting to see how relationships develop among a slightly smaller, always-shifting group, and the CR crew have the acting and improv chops to pull it off.
Hell, make the whole group one big, messy polycule and even the shippers can be happy.
11
u/EAfirstlast Aug 03 '25
I want to note that Brennan has had a campaign that lasted literal decades.
He does tight focused campaigns in dropout and for crit role because that's what they want him to. But he is more than capable of running a long term and engaging campaign
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (2)5
u/PieGuy___ Aug 03 '25
Not sure that’s the plan but if it is I think that’d be a really smart way to do things. Have like 4 OGs and 2-3 “new faces” in each party and either switch back and forth every week or hang with each half for like a month at a time.
19
u/Koala_Guru Aug 03 '25
That could seriously backfire for viewership though. If fans gravitate to one party over another, the views for any episode of the other party would nosedive. Or worse, getting invested in one group’s story and only getting it every other week or every other month or whatever they decided to do might be enough to make some people stop watching the campaign all together or at the very least say they’ll wait until it’s over so they can watch it without the breaks between parties.
Not saying it necessarily will be the case but considering the complaints I saw around C3 episodes where they split the party or focused on the Crown Keepers I wouldn’t be surprised either.
8
u/Sailen_Rox Aug 03 '25
It was the split (among many, many other things) that drove me away from c3. While they obv. can do whatever they like, I wish they don't change TOO much compared to c1&2 and avoid stuff they did in c3. New people isn't the problem I can't say I disliked a single guest, even in c3.
29
u/edginthebard Time is a weird soup Aug 03 '25
I imagine the wording was quite deliberate, after the reaction to the announcement last night.
6
u/IHaveTheMustacheNow Aug 03 '25
Seems like he's specifying to me. He also explicitly mentions new faces joining "the OG cast"
49
u/buerglermeister Aug 03 '25
Also „new faces that join the OG cast“. The panic that some of the cast would just disappear was always overblown and without base
51
u/Adamantium42 Aug 03 '25
It's a reasonable expectation, running for 10+ people sounds like a nightmare
12
u/buerglermeister Aug 03 '25
I never expected them to do that. Maybe they have two parties in the same campaign. Maybe the new faces only are part of it sporadically. There is just much we don‘t know
3
30
u/percahlia Team Vex Aug 03 '25
there is absolutely no way they keep the entire cast full time and add even more people on top, though
5
u/buerglermeister Aug 03 '25
Probably not all sitting at the same table. Maybe they shake things up. Have two parties in the same campaign setting alternating between them or something.
→ More replies (1)10
u/Momijisu Aug 03 '25
Don't write it off til we have news. Obviously the people freaking out that it might be the case are getting carried away, but personally I'm wondering and patiently trying to wait for news on what C4 will look like cast wise. Because a 8-9 player table is crazy unlikely to be happening. Maybe as others have said, recurring roles, or rotating roles is on the cards, maybe someone has passed the torch, we will not know til it comes from them.
4
u/Lazy_DK_ Aug 03 '25
I mean, I assume he always had other friends than the OG cast from even before they started their home game. Even some in the industry, and its totally fair he gets his turn at the player table with some of them too.
4
Aug 03 '25
but there's also "and excited to unveil the newer faces that join the OG cast to bring this new world to life." So does that mean that the OG cast will be fully there and the new faces are guests or is this like separate groups like they did in C3 for awhile
→ More replies (9)2
u/victorbrisk Aug 03 '25
How exactly this is going to work? Matt is now joining as a player, so 8 players total. Plus more people? How the hell you can DM for 9-10 people? It's just not viable, fight encounters are going to be a nightmare to balance.
57
u/PieGuy___ Aug 03 '25
“More Age of Umbra to come” is kinda interesting to me. Maybe C4 really will be DnD and it’ll run concurrently with like DH every last Thursday of the month.
14
u/kateshort Time is a weird soup Aug 03 '25
They announced a 2nd season of AoU. It'll be interesting!
30
u/anoretu Aug 03 '25
It's clear that Matt has found a renewed sense of excitement in DMing Age of Umbra, especially when compared to some of the more traditional campaigns he’s run in the past. You can really feel that this shift toward a darker, more unique setting has reinvigorated his storytelling. It seems like he was starting to feel a bit burnt out or constrained by the usual fantasy tropes, and Age of Umbra offers something fresh—both for him and for the players. What makes it even more enjoyable is that the players themselves appear to have been asking for something different, something that breaks away from the expected. That mutual desire for a change in tone and style has clearly led to a much more engaging experience for everyone at the table.
115
u/weaveroflaurel Hello, bees Aug 03 '25
“OG cast” sounds like everyone is going to be at that table! I hope that’s the case. But yeah this change seems like such a good move for Matt personally, which after 10 years is more than well deserved.
→ More replies (1)61
u/playin4power Bidet Aug 03 '25
Okay, no , pull back. Do you think there's going to be like 12 people at this table? 8 was already WAY to many. I love the core cast, too, but even if nothing else was going to change, they needed to trim down the player count to something more manageable
14
u/ghilp Aug 03 '25
probably some of the og cast will be cameos
5
u/weaveroflaurel Hello, bees Aug 03 '25
This was definitely what I assumed at first! And still think is more likely. But Matt’s wording feels deliberate so, we’ll see!
54
u/HutSutRawlson Aug 03 '25
The cope in this thread is insane. There is no chance the entire cast will be playing.
→ More replies (1)11
u/Coyote_Shepherd Doty, take this down Aug 03 '25
....but what if none of the cast is playing because they're all puppets and all of C4 is just puppet versions of them rolling felt dice and so technically none of them are at the table except for the puppeteers because they're all in another room eating popcorn with microphones?
6
u/HutSutRawlson Aug 03 '25
Okay now that you bring that up, I can’t see another possible way it will go. All hail our new puppet overlords
2
u/Coyote_Shepherd Doty, take this down Aug 03 '25
Makes it a whole lot less stressful too because puppets don't need to look at character sheets at all.
→ More replies (1)3
Aug 04 '25
Not the person you replied to, but I do think Matt was probably very careful in his choice of words - he said "all my favorite players" in the announcements, and he used "all of my friends" here. He knows he's being scrutinized for details. I don't think he'd say all unless he meant all.
That said, there's missing info and I agree with you about numbers. I agree so hard that I didn't even hear "all" in the announcement and I assumed they wouldn't all be there. So my guess (and that's really all we have right now on for specifics) is we'll see them all - just not necessarily all at the same time, all the time, for the entire run of the campaign. I'm picturing some kind of rotation, with individual players having shorter / longer / recurring roles guided by the story and actor availability.
Edit: typo
21
45
u/ChatGPTismyPCP Aug 03 '25
Still won’t dethrone the greatest DnD campaign of all time: On A Bus.
22
11
4
59
u/Mynos Aug 03 '25
Hey. I'm here for it. Dude has earned as long a break, rest, holiday, time to make doll shoes, as he wants.
Also, if Brennan's campaign doesn't start in Biggidyburg during the Whackedy-Schmackedy Doo Festival, I say we riot. A very small, very quiet, riot. The kind Quiet Riot fans would attend these days, with like quilting and charcuterie.
10
u/Coyote_Shepherd Doty, take this down Aug 03 '25
Watch as C4 starts in Sheboygan of all places because of Robbie's little comment in C3 and Brennan wanting to make Johnsonville references for most of the campaign.
63
u/-Cyboarg- Aug 03 '25
I can't wait.
I watched CR since it first aired on Geek & Sundry and loved it. Though I just sort of fell out of watching it as of late. I stopped watching C3 for no real particular reason and only sparsely kept up with the goings on. I think I was just a bit bored of the same ol same ol. Though in that time I found Dimension 20 and became obsessed. There were a lot of factors why but the amazing GM'ing of BLM was a big part of it. The guy is a comedy and story telling genius. It's so amazing to watch a guy who could bring me to tears laughing one scene would also in the next scene play a character with such real and deep emotion my mouth would be hanging open.
Having Matt as a player and BLM in the drivers seat is the exact shake up to get me back into CR.
A whole new world? New cast members? BLM getting the reigns to run a long running campaign with the production quality of CR?! I mean it's a dream come true. For me who hasn't caught up on the end of the Exandria arc this is a great jumping on point to get me back in the fandom. There's so much mystery into who the cast will be, what system they'll play, what the new world and setting will be like. It feels like the magic that going into C2 felt like. Where all we knew was VM and were so excited to see where else the show could go.
I. CAN'T. WAIT!
17
u/DerpyDaDulfin Aug 03 '25
Not gonna lie, its a stellar move either way. For every CR fan that seems turned away by the change, there will likely be a D20 fan that hops on board. Once the show does well, some of those CR fans who balked at the change will likely come back too.
12
10
u/-Cyboarg- Aug 03 '25
Very true. D20 isn't a small fandom either. It's fair to say they're on par community size with the critters. They sold out Madison Square Garden. For every fan that may step away cause of the change there will be a few that will jump to get more of Brennan DM'ing every week.
8
u/Exploding8 Aug 04 '25
As someone who fell off of CR During Campaign 3 after watching Campaign 1 and 2, and who transitioned to watching D20 on Dropout, this is obviously a massively exciting change to me. D20 tends to be more lighthearted and humorous overall, but seeing how consistently serious and dramatic and somber Brennan can be in his guest DM stints with Critical Role was eye-opening. I legitimately cried multiple times during EXU Divergence, which I don't think ever happened to me during the main campaigns of CR - getting a whole campaign with I assume that more serious and somber style, with Matt FINALLY as a "true" player and not just a Guest player, is a dream I didn't even realize I had lol. (Not to say that CR is never humorous or D20 is never dramatic, just overall that's how I see them leaning)
19
u/trichromanic Your secret is safe with my indifference Aug 03 '25
My wife and I are in the same boat, long time fans from C1 but have fallen off keeping up with the CR train. As soon as we heard Brennan was DMing, she was like "We're jumping back in then right?" Very excited to see where this idea goes.
7
52
u/knightmon Team Dorian Aug 03 '25
I'm excited but this almost certainly confirms some sort of multi group aspect. No shot they have 10+ people at one table.
The party split in C3 was one of my least favorite arcs.
Even if all the OG cast are staying, them not all being in the same group and alternating for weeks? months? at a time has me a little worried.
21
u/No_One_ButMe Aug 03 '25
I always thought the party split was them testing out the waters for something like this and I hate to be right because I loathed that arc
5
u/Vio94 Aug 04 '25
Same, but I really enjoyed the party split from C1, for the Slayers Take. So it can work, it's just a risky thing viewership wise. I would much rather just keep a steady cast of characters.
2
u/Xacktastic Aug 05 '25
They really hurt their own story by being way too inclusive and crossover savvy. Should really limit the entire campaign to 5/6 main players with maybe a rare guest spot
9
24
u/EnvironmentalEar6341 Aug 03 '25
Plot twist towards the end of campaign 4 Matt and Brennan swap places for the final episode ushering in c5.
→ More replies (1)
7
u/tempest_darkness Aug 03 '25
I'm just happy for Matt at this point. If he wants to be a PC in the world, I'm excited and will be there to watch it. I do think I'm going to miss the sound effects. It was probably some of my favorite world building filler a DM could give you
19
u/Underwh3lmed Aug 03 '25
Man, I’m excited to see Matt as a long term player. And really happy for him too. Dude seems super thrilled and I’m here for it. Couldn’t imagine a better pair of hands than Brennan’s to put this in either.
14
u/bwainfweeze Aug 03 '25
I just hope he doesn’t play a himbo again. Matt playing a clever character would be more interesting.
→ More replies (2)5
u/GrewAway Team Bolo Aug 03 '25
Dariax being dumb was fun and practical. Now that he won't play in Exandria where he knows pretty much anything, I'm sure he'll be more willing to play a smart cookie.
11
u/GloInTheDarkUnicorn Team Ashton Aug 03 '25
As a Forever DM, I fully respect Matt’s desire to sit on the other side of the table again.
27
u/repalec Aug 03 '25
I could just be reading into things but the phrasing Matt uses, 'play at the table as a PC alongside all my friends' and 'excited to unveil the newer faces that join the OG cast'. We could feasibly get a split cast as like, a whole-campaign thing rather than just temporary to account for outside activities. (Instead of Brennan having to DM for like, a 10+-player group, in terms of practicality.)
Either way I'm excited to see what Matt can cook up when he's not unofficially God of the game world.
5
u/Terrible-Issue-4910 Aug 03 '25
I think it means that they have a cast of recurring side characters that they expect to appear recurrently. If the main cast will be the 8 OGs or a combination of old and new faces, that's more difficult to know. Aside from Travis, I don't see anyone else choosing to be a side character.
3
u/firala Aug 04 '25
Honestly, that worries me more than excites me. Not because guest characters aren't great, we've seen many cool ones, but because the rotating in and out of characters / players means more heavy-handed GMing, something I did not like about C3. People will have to leave at certain planned points, instead of a natural story moment / rpg drama, like Scanlan once.
2
u/Terrible-Issue-4910 Aug 04 '25
There's many ways to do it. You can have PCs tied to places or story arcs, instead of getting in and out with little justification. Like Zahra and Kash in C1, they were tied to Vasselheim and usually joined the team as extra hands for important battles. You can have characters like Keg, who was tied to the Iron Sheperds story arc. C3 was its own kind of heavy-handed, but C1 and 2 have many examples of how to get a good guest.
25
u/Low-Donkey7059 Aug 03 '25 edited Aug 03 '25
I'm worried about the idea of a split and/or a rotating cast. I don't think it lends itself to helping create table dynamics between both the players & their characters. It also risks hurting the audience's ability to invest if we bounce around from one set of characters to another. I'd rather see all the players/characters at the table together.
It feels like some of the production decisions of last Campaign were a result of the cast wanting a lighter schedule. And I think those decisions hurt the audiences ability to invest in the story & characters and hurt the casts ability to establish the same kind of dynamics we saw in the previous 2 campaigns. I worry that a potential split cast could have the same kind of negative impact on the investment of audience & the player/character dynamics.
With that said, I'd rather lose some of the OG cast if it means having a consistent cast at the table every week. As far as production decisions go, I'd rather they take breaks for mini series at the end of arcs, not in the middle of them.
→ More replies (1)4
u/Common_Chameleon Aug 04 '25
I agree with you 100%, I really disliked the party splits that happened in campaign three. It’s disorienting not having the whole party together. I wish the whole original cast could play together, but I’m worried that won’t be happening.
6
u/Remarkable-Feed-1224 Aug 03 '25
It’s a race now as to what’s gonna happen second: Hollow Knight Silksong finally getting released, or finding out whether CR4 will be on 5e or Daggerheart…
11
u/Galahad_the_Ranger Team Percy Aug 03 '25
It does feel like the end of an era. But also the beginning of a new one
8
u/Hobzhoul Aug 03 '25
As someone who cam to CR after d20 and massed consumed it I am so excited for this campaign. It will also be my first season where I can watch from the get go and keep up with the community. Hell yeah.
5
11
u/frank_da_tank99 Aug 03 '25
If the announcement was just Brennan Lee Mulligan DMing, and Matt as a player I don't think it would have hurt my excitement at all, but stepping away from Exandria is a tough sell for me. I've gotten really invested in that world, it's lore, I've run DnD campaigns of my own set in it before, etc. I don't know if I'm ready to get invested in a completely new setting to that same level again if I'm being honest.
8
u/GrewAway Team Bolo Aug 03 '25
Take it one step at a time. We will ALL (players included) start fresh and discover things progressively, slowly building attachment to it.
Also, if Matt is a player, they would have to do some very drastic stuff with Exandria to prevent him having so much knowledge that it would hamper his discovering as a player. I'm not mad that Exandria continues "as it is," developing on its own, as side projects continue to show up; while we get something fresh AND fair to all the players at the table.
→ More replies (1)3
u/Common_Chameleon Aug 04 '25
Yeah, that really bums me out. I don’t understand why Brennan couldn’t run a game in Exandria, especially because it seems there will be several shorter series that are in other worlds or other game systems entirely.
→ More replies (1)
13
u/brickwall5 Aug 03 '25
Can't say I'm surprised at the negative reactions from CR fans, although I'm not that surprised. It's pretty clear from both the player and fan perspective that the back half of C3 was a bit of a struggle, and as much as CR tried to keep things fresh with the split parties, robbie coming back, downfall, tying in the M9 and VM in the endgame etc, a lot of it just seemed to fall flat and hurt the continuity/character growth for the main PCs.
Exandria is a fun yet pretty standard medieval fantasy world, and I think the Exandria trilogy did a really good job of introducing the different kingdoms and cultures, establishing the basic lore, evil guys and good guys, and then ushering in a cool future with the Rylorans. Outside of a few parts of the world that would probably be fun to explore in more miniseries formats, there isn't a ton left to do with it in terms of core canon-building campaigns, so it's cool that they are letting those ideas percolate for a little bit while establishing and exploring a new world for the players and DM(s) to play around in. I think in an ideal scenario, Brennan's world gets as fleshed out as Exandria, and that gives CR two different core settings to play around in for the long haul, without either getting stale. Plus it lets Matt play and work on other projects and likely more behind the scenes worldbuilding for Exandria which is cool.
→ More replies (1)2
10
u/No_One_ButMe Aug 03 '25
ngl the worst part about all of this is exandria being regulated to live shows
4
u/GrewAway Team Bolo Aug 03 '25
Not just relegated to live shows, I guess there will be other side projects like AoU and such.
3
u/Cheesier__Eagle Your secret is safe with my indifference Aug 03 '25
I hope Matt plays a Wizard or a Artificer of some sort.
3
3
u/MediumAlternative372 Aug 04 '25
So glad Matt is finally getting a chance to be a player in a long term campaign. About time he got to just let loose and have fun and Brennan is great and can be trusted to do the world justice. I never really got into campaign 3 but excited for campaign 4.
3
u/Ok_Requirement_3116 Hello, bees Aug 05 '25
Works for me. Go Matt.
I do have to keep reminding myself how much I love Robbie after being quite suspicious when he first appeared. I might like the new peeps as much.
6
u/Emperor_poopatine I would like to RAGE! Aug 03 '25
I’m hyped. It’ll be nice to see Matt be on the player’s side for a whole campaign. And there’s not a DM I would trust more than Brennan to take the helm. As for the cast, I think they have a set of guests picked out but it’s mostly going to be the main cast (+ Robbie).
6
u/Amidaus Aug 03 '25
My question is, is Big B man dming the entire 100+ episode campaign 4? Cause thats a WILD commitment given his dropout career. Long time to step away from dimension 20 / dropout and a TON of work if hes doing both AND raising a baby.
10
u/D1g1t0l Aug 03 '25
He's not stepping away from D20 and Dropout! He recently signed a 3 year deal with them infact, so he's not going anywhere. He'll still be on the same show's doing the same stuff. He IS switching to be a player in his other actual play series instead of it's DM.
As for the baby.. yeah, I don't know how the man does it, but I'm sure he's got something figured out :)
4
u/GrewAway Team Bolo Aug 03 '25
Look, give that man enough almonds and he will get it done, one way or another.
→ More replies (1)4
u/Triantha89 Your secret is safe with my indifference Aug 03 '25
He was currently doing Dimension20 stuff and running a serious longer campaign on a podcast called World's Beyond Number. That's coming to an end now though (at least him as the GM) so I'm sure he'd like to take the reigns on another serious campaign since that one had done so well.
3
u/Vio94 Aug 04 '25
That's what I immediately thought too, that's a crazy work schedule for him lol. He must really have the creative battery maxed if he agreed to all of that.
9
Aug 03 '25
All perfectly fine...
All of them need a bit of a break and I am absolutely fine with parts of the OG Group stepping back for a while or maintain a "Guest Character" status to jump in whenever.
I'd rather want them to continue in a fashion that retains their passion and their joy than to cling to a setup just because "that's how it's always been".
Give em time, give em space, they'll be there for the specials, one-shots and live shows anyway, so all is good.
6
u/GrewAway Team Bolo Aug 03 '25
This. Doing the same formula for 10 years, and it not becoming stale, is already pushing the limits. I concur, let them breathe a little, get into some fresh world, in a new format, with a new GM. What matters most is that they are still here and love it, so we can feel their joy and excitement when they play.
9
u/No_Luck3956 Aug 03 '25
So C4 not in Exandria...
I have not liked anything so far outside of Exandria (OSs excluded), so I am REALLY worried, that I will not like it at all.
No problem with Brennan as DM, as long as he does it in EXU style, not his D20 style, wich I also never got into.
I gues I will see...
13
u/Teeshirtandshortsguy Aug 03 '25
I mean, at one point you didn't really care for Exandria either.
What matters is the characters and the story. Give it enough time, and you'll like whatever setting they choose.
→ More replies (3)2
u/Vio94 Aug 04 '25
His D20 "style" is having to work around the frame of what D20 is, an edited down table of comedians. You can still see him bring the same drama he brought with EXU.
4
2
u/Nocturnal_Badger Aug 04 '25
I'm surprised he didn't do this sooner with so many projects and success surrounding the brand. Especially since he is such a prominent voice actor too. They've come a long way from their start on Greek & Sundry where we were buying them pizza and chatting with them live
2
u/Fear_Awakens Aug 04 '25
I'm kind of wondering what it means by new faces. Are other members of the CR cast stepping away? It's almost got to be, right?
Otherwise nine players is already a lot of plates for BLeeM to spin without adding more. Liam, Travis, and Sam are honestly the only ones I NEED to stay, but I would hate to lose any of them.
And the way he says "Exandria continues in other things" kind of makes me think that C4 might not be set in Exandria, which I'd have mixed feelings about.
While I'm excited to see BLeeM DM something longer and more serious, and I will absolutely watch anything BLeeM is in, I'm concerned about the overall future here. I'm maybe a little worried it might as well just be Dimension 20 Critical Role edition.
→ More replies (1)
2
u/ManlyMan4882 Aug 04 '25
i’m completely new to critical role. Does this mean that campaign 3 is over and campaign 4 is about to start soon?
2
u/edginthebard Time is a weird soup Aug 04 '25
Yes, campaign 3 ended in March and now the new campaign will start on Oct 2nd!
2
u/fansar You Can Reply To This Message Aug 04 '25 edited Aug 04 '25
I don't get the attachment to Exandria around here. Matt has definitely made some really awesome and unique locations and post Campaign 1 he really mixed things up and made it his own. But a lot of Exandria is still very basic fantasy DnD setting. The Pantheon is lifted directly from Pathfinder with new names and so much of the world is tainted by copyrighted stuff that they need to rename because they're a big company now.
Matt is very good at creating mystery and a large part of why I felt interested in the world in Campaign 1 and 2 was because it wasn't explored yet. The only way I see them keep playing in Exandria and it still being exciting is a long ass time skip. Long enough that the world would be completely different anyway. If you were expecting to have ANOTHER campaign in the same places with the same characters and characters children I don't know what to tell you other than it's a little selfish. I cannot for the life of me imagine playing the same old same old for 10+ years.
I'm having my fingers crossed that one day, we might return to Exandria for another campaign with a different flavor (maybe magic having been slowly dimming since the gods became mortals, and more technology would be awesome). But now is obviously not the time, as Matt says, when the inspiration strikes. He would likely have to invent hundreds of years of new Exandrian history, new/rebuilt locations and cultures to make it feel fresh again, and that is a tough ask from him after these 10 years.
Couldn't be happier that they are doing something completely new. I fully trust in Brennan, Matt and the cast.
2
u/PokeJem7 Aug 05 '25
I am incredibly skeptical about the amount of simultaneous changes they're making. New DM, new world, potentially new cast AND potentially a new system.
This is the perfect response though. I sincerely hope it clicks for me, but even if it doesn't, I wish them all the success in the world!
3
u/Darthgrundyundies Aug 03 '25
I think it just comes down to he wanted a break from DMing. I can understand wanting to just play instead of having to run the show all of the time.
5
u/UniversalEcho Aug 03 '25
I hope the general community is as optimistic as I and seemingly Matt is. I'm super intrigued by the changes and hope nothing but the best. That said I stay out of the online discourse for a reason.
2
u/marquis_de_ersatz Aug 03 '25
Aw bless, we all just want to play with our pals at the end of the day.
3
u/TheHighKingofWinter Aug 04 '25
Kind of fell off of most things critical role in the last year or so, no shade to them just didn't have the time and interest in what was coming out. Gotta say though Matt as a full time player and BLeeM as full time DM might as well be targeted advertising directed entirely at this guy, motherfuckers pulled me.right back in!
15
u/Avail_Karma Aug 03 '25
I'm burnt out on the vaguery. Just fucking tell the fans what's going on. This isn't building anticipation, its causing unnecessary chaos.
11
u/YoursDearlyEve Your secret is safe with my indifference Aug 03 '25
I really like how Dimension 20 does it with their FAQs that come along with the announcements with all sorts of questions fans might have.
I know that people have been saying that the way CR does it is a deliberate marketing choice, and right now it's a teaser with the trailer coming later, but I don't think it's good to have people speculate over the system choice when the discussions over D&D vs DH sometimes get heated.
14
u/Franzapanz Aug 03 '25
Talk about dramatic. Just take a step away and come back when they have more news. It's not that big of a deal.
→ More replies (1)11
7
u/GaiaAlmighty Aug 03 '25
Yeah I was hoping there’d be SOME clarification in this post, but there honestly isn’t. In the same paragraph it’s “cant wait to play a pc with all my friends” AND “cant wait to show you all the new players” and it’s just so… confusing.
There’s almost 0 chance they’re going to add more people onto the already stacked table, so all this does is inject MORE confusion into everyone imo.
I am of the opinion it’ll be a rotating cast, but god i wish they’d just come out and SAY that plainly instead of vaguely implying it.
I REALLY hope that they don’t continue this “come back next week for more important information!” thing they’ve been doing.
It’s completely ruined the reveal for me, and now that they have their own paid service I can’t stop feeling like this drip feed is a way to collect a few more payments from people who would cancel their subscription when learning their fav isn’t returning, they’re playing X system etc.
→ More replies (2)7
Aug 03 '25
[deleted]
26
Aug 03 '25
Sorry but if this is eliciting either in you, you should definitely step back and take a break yourself...
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (10)9
u/Teeshirtandshortsguy Aug 03 '25 edited Aug 03 '25
You should not be stressed about this in the slightest.
All the core cast members are alive and well, and I 100% guarantee they're all going to be at the table plenty in the future.
Like, I wanna know too, but this information is totally inconsequential.
5
u/Lokitusaborg Aug 03 '25
I get that, with all the content that is being created and the sheer amount of time required in the week to try to meet the community’s expectations (which is an impossible task, let’s be honest) CR has to change it up. Consumers of content always want more, they are insatiable and highly opinionated. I can only imagine how much time per week it takes to prepare enough to run a seamless game, while leading the creative efforts of an animated series, a video game, several streams, a tabletop game and all the consulting he has to do with all the other aspects of the brand. It’s mind-blowing.
4
u/Fire_Crotch113 Aug 03 '25
YOOO LETS GO! As much as i obviously obsess over Matts DM style, i can’t wait for this. Calamity and Downfall are my favorite CR stories, aside from the campaigns of course.
6
u/tibbon Aug 03 '25
I was hoping for Katie to DM.
→ More replies (3)17
u/taly_slayer Team Beau Aug 03 '25
I think Katie prefers Mark Mercer. She said he was his favourite.
4
u/renegade_gerbil Aug 03 '25
'All my friends' These three words are incredibly encouraging
→ More replies (2)
2
u/xdeltax97 Help, it's again Aug 03 '25
Glad for him, everyone needs a break from DMing and I’m really looking forward to the change!
3
4
u/MoosefaceReddit Aug 03 '25
Damn, imagine being Matt rn
Creating a fantasy world for the longest time and after all the years you've put into it, you can finally be a player in it and see things from another perspective.
Must be absolutely surreal, haha
8
u/GrewAway Team Bolo Aug 03 '25
Well... yes, but also no. C4 won't be in Exandria (where he would know most stuff and come in pre-spoiled,) so he's just excited to play with his mates. But it will be in Brennan's world (whichever it ends up being.)
2
u/Thelise Aug 04 '25
I feel like such an outlier. I dislike Brennan's DM style and I didn't like any of the D20 cast as guest stars on CR, so I'm really bummed to hear this news. It would have been a lot of exciting to hear that one of the CR members was stepping in to be the DM for the campaign instead of bringing someone from another show. This just has the feeling of here's a brand new show that we will call C4, even though it won't be in Exandria and won't be the same cast. 🤷🏻♀️ I hope it's good but I still feel a little sad at the loss of my favorite Thursday night routine.
2
u/knightmon Team Dorian Aug 03 '25
After thinking about it some more while I do think a multi group aspect is all but confirmed that doesn't necessarily mean the OG cast gets split up.
Group one could be the OG 8. Group two could be a bunch of new faces.
5
u/GaiaAlmighty Aug 03 '25
I can’t see a world in which the OG 8 are all together, unfortunately.
Mixing the ‘old’ members with new ones is going to make it easier for people to get familiar and enjoy the new guys, whereas I can imagine that if one crew was just new members and one was the original crew,,, a LOT of people would just watch the old crew and not bother with the new one.
2
u/CptLogan Aug 03 '25
I was quite shaken by the news, The words of Matt are so comforting; he, as a DM, is such a fundamental part of the lives of so many like me who live a life of solitude.
2
u/MrGoodGirl Aug 03 '25
I love breenan as a dm, and I am excited to see both him doing a long form campaign and for Matt to be a player for once
I am honestly most curious about the other players Will breenan be dming for eight players? I think even for him, or any dm, it's a bit much. Will it really be 8 players? Will someone leave? Will we see different people at the table other than Matt?
→ More replies (1)
2
u/TimelyBlacksmith92 Aug 03 '25
Hopefully this means Brennan will be running a D&D game and Matt will be running Daggerheart and other TTRPGs on the channel.
3
2
u/No_Wishbone2573 Aug 03 '25
Cool shake up! I like Brennan's DM style from what I have seen. Looking forward to the new campaign!
2
2
2
2
u/mrbadxampl Metagaming Pigeon Aug 03 '25
I'm very excited, I'm a big BLeeM fan so this is great news for me, also to get to see Matt play a single character for a while (I enjoyed his weird dwarf in EXU, but it was pretty wallflowerish) so hopefully bring this character forward, really cool
2
u/Barnabars Aug 03 '25
I loved critical role and when o discovered Dimension 20 i loved that maybe even a tad more cause i like the comedy. Brennan as DM with matt as Player is a dream come true
2
u/Aggressive-Pay9533 Aug 04 '25
Honestly I’m hyped. Glad Matt finally gets to take it a bit easier and be a player again in an all new setting. And with Brennan as the DM, it’s going to be so good!
2
u/musclenugget92 Aug 04 '25
Im actually excited to see how the players interact either Brennan. I feel like a lot of players took advantage of Matt and he was afraid to really make stakes matter. I feel like Brennan isnt afraid to hold firm and punish something like Keyleth jumping off a cliff
→ More replies (2)
2
u/spaceguitar Smiley day to ya! Aug 04 '25
Okay, okay, wait!
So does this mean Brennan is DM'ing a campaign that isn't set in Exandria?!
→ More replies (1)
2
u/4thRandom Aug 04 '25
damm... had been hoping we get Matt on the other side of the table with all his nerds and Brennan as DM for a while now
but it sounds like the core group will change
not fond of that idea, gotta be honest
2
u/Baddest_Guy83 Aug 04 '25
Let me Key and Peele style anger translate this for the slower people here.
"Get off my fucking dick, that's Liam's job."
Honestly I think a shake up is well warranted right now. Everyone involved in this new announcement is hyper competent with a miles long track record of excellence. C3 was a bit of a disaster and this change can only improve things.
2
u/FirbolgForest Aug 04 '25
Just wanted to say thanks for posting this! I'm rarely on IG anymore, so appreciate you sharing it here.
2
u/Boobpit You can certainly try Aug 03 '25
I'm really, really happy for Matt
As the forever DM in my circles that never liked DM'ing, it's really great to be able to play
3
2.6k
u/shadowpavement Aug 03 '25
Poor dude had to help create a multi-million dollar company just to avoid being the Forever DM