Inside D&D’s Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep’s cast of new villains

Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep is the first major Dungeons & Dragons adventure book set inside the world of Exandria. The module was co-designed by the actual play troupe’s Dungeon Master, Matthew Mercer, and features something not yet found in the 5th edition version of the game. Players will compete with another group of adventurers throughout the journey. This party can either become powerful allies, or deadly enemies. Speaking with Polygon, game design architect Chris Perkins revealed some of their secrets — and a look inside how these non-player characters are integrated into the campaign.

[Ed. note: What follows contains mild spoilers for Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep.]

“Critical Role, as you know, is very character-driven,” Perkins said. “The interactions within the party, and then the interactions that the party has with the NPCs of the world, are very deep in Matt’s campaign. And in order to get this story a new dimension, one that’s sort of built on character development, Matt conceived of a rival party of adventurers who would essentially be chasing the same goals as the heroes of the story, but not necessarily approaching the problems in the same way.”

Image: Wizards of the Coast

Ayo Jabe (the leader of the rival NPCs group) is a strong young water genasi, born to orc parents. Like all the great characters Mercer has brought to life, her backstory is varied and her personality layers are many.

“Once you start to drill down there’s actually a bit of frailty there, some uncertainty,” Perkins said. “She puts on airs of knowing what to do, but kind of like Captain Kirk, if you sort of drill down, she’s just winging it. And the other members of the party — the new ones and the ones who know her best — they can sense that in her, but they are determined to help her succeed. And so she is basically the struggling leader archetype, the one who is always moving forward, but not always with both feet on the ground.”

Perkins said that DMs have many tools available to introduce each member of the opposing party slowly. Only then are all of them thrown into the same room together with players. Those carefully orchestrated interactions allow the party to make their own judgments about each individual rival’s intentions, which in turn can give way to creative ways to interact with them. But that doesn’t mean that DMs will ultimately be responsible for inhabiting all of these characters to the same degree.

Image: Wizards of the Coast

“In the introduction, we give advice, that’s basically, ‘use these to whatever depth you are comfortable,’” Perkins said. “In some cases, you may not want to focus on all of the rivals, because that’s a lot of NPCs to sort of bring to life. The idea is to shine the spotlight on one person and make sure that they are in the forefront, while you leave others behind. The DM can tell you how to move the spotlight from one area to another. If the player characters glom on to a particular character, like Ayo, then the introduction tells the DM how you can focus on her and let the other party members just sort of become shadows behind her.”

Perkins stated that rivals can develop their own feelings for the players as the interactions build up. This could cause conflict among the rival players, which can lead to them being pulled apart by the appropriate pressure. However, they could cause the opposite result and encourage players to oppose the player.

Image: Wizards of the Coast

Ultimately, it’s up the the DM to decide how big a role they play.

“These NPCs come and go,” Perkins said. “They’ve got their own plan, so if they become too much of a burden what we basically tell the DM is [that] Ayo makes a decision, she goes off and they sort of part company with the adventures on whatever terms.”

Call of the Netherdeep: Critical roleIt will be sold at your local gaming store as well as online beginning March 15. It’s also available digitally through D&D Beyond and Roll20.