The new campaign from Critical Role has just started and it’s already known who the big villain and final boss will be. And none other than the new campaign leader has confirmed the information.
Who or what will the big new villain be? In a video on X.com, the new Dungeon Master for Critical Role, Brennan Lee Mulligan, is asked a question: Can he confirm that the new big villain of the campaign is capitalism
?
Mulligan gets specific: Yes, capitalism is the big villain of this campaign. However, he wants to remain realistic. He explains that capitalism is a very new phenomenon, even if it seems older. Money and economy are much older. He would rather incorporate a form of mercantilism into his world, an economic policy that was in use approximately between the 16th and 19th centuries.
So modern capitalism won’t be it after all. And it’s also not yet clear in what form economic policy will manifest in the campaign – capitalism is probably difficult to combat with dice rolls.
Capitalism as the final boss? Perhaps not so blunt
Will the big villain really be economic policy? Probably not, at least not in the form of a big monster named capitalism
. At the time of this news, only the four episodes of the overture have gone live, which introduced the characters and basic story beats of the campaign.
An overarching villain is not yet known. It will probably take a while. The actual final bosses of Vox Machina and the Mighty Nein, for example, were also only revealed towards the end of their respective campaigns.
However, it is quite possible that Brennan Lee Mulligan will introduce players to capitalistically oriented NPCs and opponents. Their actions, according to their doctrine, could then of course lead to disasters and unleashed monsters that must be dealt with by the players.
What is the current status of campaign 4? The current fourth major campaign of Critical Role just started in early October. The episode from October 23rd or 24th, 2025, concluded the pre-recorded overture that introduced the characters, world, and setting.
Starting with episode five, the 13-member cast will split into three groups in the Westmarch campaign style. What exactly this campaign type is has been explained by MeinMMO author Caroline Fuller. However, it’s currently unclear whether the next episode will be streamed on Halloween.
The schedule on Twitch notes a stream for the night of October 30th to 31st for campaign 4, but the group frequently takes breaks for the cast and is known for one-shots on special occasions like Halloween.
With campaign 4, long-time Dungeon Master Matt Mercer has handed over the reins for the first time and is now a player. Brennan Lee Mulligan, who previously mastered Dimension 20 and had guest appearances on Critical Role, takes over. Both are great role models for many newcomers to Dungeons & Dragons. But: The new DM of Critical Role shows that you don’t have to be Matt Mercer to run great adventures in Dungeons & Dragons
