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The heroes of Critical Role are preparing for exactly what every D&D player fears

Benedict Grothaus Benedict Grothaus Reading time 2 minutes
Critical Role Campaign 4 Taliesin Liam Marisha Titel

Currently, Campaign 4 of the famous Tabletop stars from Critical Role is live – with a new DM: Brennan Lee Mulligan, who brings along new rules. Among other things, these are responsible for some of the players already planning for the death of their characters.

No one likes to lose their character in Dungeons & Dragons, although it rarely happens: according to the rules, you actually have to fail 3 saving throws as soon as you reach 0 hit points.

In the currently running Campaign 4 of Critical Role, however, there are new rules concerning death, which allow players to stabilize their friends in the midst of battle. Nevertheless, some of them are already preparing for their demise.

In the conversation with Polygon, Liam O’Brien (Halandil Fang) and Taliesin Jaffe (Bolaire Lathalia) revealed that they have already prepared characters in case their current ones should die. However, both are actually reluctant to switch – their current heroes are too much fun for them.

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The 4th Campaign of Critical Role starts now and is bigger than ever

The DM of Critical Role makes battles more exciting and deaths more interesting

Dungeons & Dragons has rules set forth in the handbook, but many Dungeon Masters utilize “house rules” for more dynamics in their campaigns. Brennan Lee Mulligan does this as well, for example:

  • Battles that do not scale with the heroes – If they choose overly strong opponents, then they just have bad luck. The world is “alive”.
  • “Desperate Measures”, a new mechanic that characters can use in hopeless situations.
  • A division of players into three groups, playing separately and working towards a goal: defeating an almost unbeatable enemy.
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One of these measures is to stabilize a group member in battle without having to rush directly to their aid or use healing spells. Little is known about most of the measures; they are only visible to the players on their character sheets.

These house rules are intended to make battles both more exciting and feel weightier, as well as ensure that players do not take unnecessary risks due to “rules as written”. And the team could certainly use a few advantages: One member of the Mighty Nein has the worst luck, rolling as poorly as can happen, only 1 in 8,000 times.

This is an AI-powered translation. Some inaccuracies might exist.