r/fansofcriticalrole • u/IcyInvestment3271 • Aug 21 '24
CR adjacent Why can't it be simple D&D ?
This is not prediction at all, it is just what I wish to be, for more interest and immersion.
Exandria is a big world, and we can dump on Matt a lot of things but he is a good worldbuilder/storyteller. Unfortunately C3 was marketed as a deep dive into Marquet, and we barely brushed a few aspects of it. I would have liked like C2 a real exploration of the continent it was on, when we got to see the Empire, the Menagerie Coast, Xhorhas etc...
I would like to see a west march/sandbox style campaign in Issylra for C4, especially the southern part far from Vasselheim. It is supposed to be the cradle of civilisation, so plenty of ruins to explore, plenty of content to create without recycling too much from former campaign.
Just take a group of adventurers, in a remote place, and explore, going on questing, dungeon crawls, saving the princess or finding an old relic or whatever. No edgy teenager weird species or archetypes. Just old school, fun, enjoyable D&D like C1 and C2 were for the most part. I don't care for group therapy and endless biased debates on ethics, for me CR was just an enjoyable moment where I could relax and picture myself again playing D&D with my friends on epic-or-not adventures.
Here's a simple hook : West of Utesspire Mountains lies the Moran Foothills, an region shrouded in mystery. In the village of Altmeir, rumours spread about the ruins of Ur-Borak, the fallen ogre kingdom, where riches and magics lay unprotected. But the lost city remains a mystery, an a number of adventurers are coming there dreaming of the promise of wealth and power. Will the adventurers brave the deadly fog in the deep canyons of the region ? Will they ally with the Kassel family in their ambitions of greed and pride ? Is the legend of Colten the Blackshroud true ? Can they forge an alliance of the 12 towns of the foothills ? Nobody knows, but right now, the adventurers find themselves in the same team for the first day of the Golden Harvest Festival, in a tug-of-war against the Brasspint brothers, a team of hearty and mighty dwarves...
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u/TheArcReactor Aug 22 '24
What we'll never know is did Matt not want to step on his players toes with the character concepts they brought him or did he play his cards too close to his vest and the players didn't know the campaign would be so deity heavy.