Popular tabletop gaming crew Critical Role is coming out with a new Dungeons & Dragons campaign book that looks to shake things up with a touch of competitive gameplay. This new book is just one of the ways that the D&D streaming group has expanded its presence within the tabletop gaming community, with another example being the recent Caleb Widogast comic book from Dark Horse.
Tabletop gaming has seen a massive surge in popularity over the past few years, helped in part by online streaming series like Critical Role. The popular web show centers on Dungeon Master Matthew Mercer and his group of players (which includes stars like The Last of Us Part II‘s Laura Bailey) as they go on various misadventures in the fictional land of Exandria. As the series grew in popularity, it began to spawn supplemental comic books, TV shows, and, of course, campaign books. These campaign books provide players with a basic rubric to follow when beginning their own D&D quests within the world of Exandria.
For anyone interested in jumping into Exandria with their own D&D crew, the upcoming Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep might just offer the best place to start. According to a promo video from Critical Role that was reported on by Polygon, Call of the Netherdeep will set players on a quest to uncover a mysterious and ancient entity. The quest will take place in a series of unique locations, including the region of Wildemount, which Critical Role fans may already be familiar with.
One of the things that will set these campaigns apart is the existence of an antagonistic team of rival NPCs. These characters will occasionally encounter the player characters throughout their quest, as they will be sharing many of the same goals. While not going into too much detail, Mercer and quest designer Chris Perkins hinted that players could potentially shift the allegiances of some or all of these rival NPCs.
D&D will always be, at its core, an improvisational experience; players create and define their characters from the beginning, but things change and get recontextualized as campaigns play out. Antagonistic and evil Dungeons & Dragons adventurers like those introduced in this new book will likely shake things up for playgroups and introduce strange new ways for players to interact with each other and the world around them.
Books like the ones created by Critical Role can be a massive help to Dungeons & Dragons players. By offering a unique and interesting world, players can get inspired to create stories that they otherwise wouldn’t have. Fans of Critical Role will have to hope that Call of the Netherdeep can provide them with an experience worthy of the legendary web series.
