Critical Role Launches Campaign 4 with Brennan Lee Mulligan, 13-Player West Marches Format

Critical Role's fourth campaign, premiering October 2, 2025, introduces major changes including a new Game Master, Brennan Lee Mulligan, who takes over from Matt Mercer, who will now play as a player. The campaign shifts from the established world of Exandria to a new setting called Aramán and adopts a West Marches-style structure, dividing the 13 cast members into three groups—Soldiers, Schemers, and Seekers—that explore different facets of the story before potentially converging later. The game will utilize the new 2024 Dungeons & Dragons ruleset, supplemented with homebrew content developed by Jeremy Crawford and Chris Perkins, now affiliated with Critical Role's Darrington Press. The initial four episodes function as an 'Overture' featuring all cast members together, after which the separate groups will carry forward intertwined storylines. Founding cast members including Laura Bailey, Taliesin Jaffe, Ashley Johnson, Liam O’Brien, Marisha Ray, Sam Riegel, and Travis Willingham return alongside newer members, ensuring continuity despite the format change. This evolution reflects Critical Role's commitment to storytelling innovation while leveraging new game mechanics and expanding their role-playing universe.