Critical Role’s D&D campaign book features Team Rocket-like rivals

Critical Role has teamed up with Wizards of the Coast in order to create a brand new campaign book entitled Call of the Netherdeep – Critical Role. Matthew Mercer (series creator) will collaborate on the design. New video details important aspects of the campaign including the rival group of nonplayer adventurers which will challenge the players characters.

The Call to the Netherdeep takes place in Exandria, the same world where all of Critical Role’s adventures have taken place so far. According to game design architect Chris Perkins, players will be questing for “an entity lost to the ages [and] lost to time.” The arc of the campaign will move from the familiar Wildemount region (detailed in Explorer’s Guide to WildemountYou can find it in many amazing places.

But players won’t be alone during their journey. The quest will be shared by a rival group of adventurers. This band of non-player characters are competitive, and initially, they’ll be adversarial — but players’ actions could influence that.

“I like the idea of there being a ticking clock,” Mercer said in the video, “because you aren’t the only forces seeking these same goals. And it’s up to these interactions for you to decide how you build the relationships with this rival team.”

Perkins is not open to discussing the end goal, but Perkins indicated that Dungeon Masters will have plenty of opportunities to practice their creative skills.

“Critical Role, as a setting, is a very layered, character-driven show,” said Chris Perkins. “To emulate that in the adventure, you needed rivals that have dimension. They have group goals, of course, but then the individual rivals are pursuing their own goals as well.”

Call of the Netherdeep – Critical Role The book will be published on March 15th and the cover price will be $49.95