Critical Role's Matthew Mercer and Marisha Ray revealed that the team would be open to developing its own tabletop RPG system under the right conditions.
While speaking with Gizmodo, Mercer and Ray discussed the possibility of Critical Role becoming fully independent as its empire grows. The conversation quickly turned to the potential for a Critical Role RPG system, something Mercer said he'd "love" to do under the right circumstances. "Man, that would be rad," Mercer said. "I mean, if ever the opportunity were to arise with the right people and the right design and it made sense for the type of show we were doing, I would love that."
A Critical Role RPG System
Ray agreed, saying the prospect "excites." She noted that the group had discussed the vastly different ways people like to play roleplaying games, with some preferring the "crunchiness" of battle and stealing over character and story-focused campaigns. The Critical Role cast's preference for character creation and storytelling informed discussions about a possible RPG system from the team. Ray continued, saying, "So there's been a lot of talks there as well in terms of, "What would we want to get out of our own system or roleplaying game that really does feel very Critical Role?"
Any sort of Critical Role RPG system would likely come from its publishing company, Darrington Press. Critical Role has previously launched multiple games through the publisher, including the board game Uk'otoa, based on the evil Great Leviathan from Campaign 2, and the Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn sourcebook based on Dungeons & Dragons 5E. However, Critical Role is hesitant to expand too quickly.
"That's kind of one of the cool things about expanding with Darrington Press as we go," Mercer explained. "It's a very slow, methodical growth because you have to make sure you don't fold under your own weight by trying to do too much too quickly. But as it succeeds and goes forward, it allows hopefully us more opportunities to do something like that."
In the meantime, Critical Role is nearly 50 episodes deep into its third campaign. It's also recently concluded Season 2 of its critically acclaimed animated series, The Legend of Vox Machina, based on the group's first adventuring party. It also recently announced a multi-project deal with Amazon that includes series and movies, beginning with a Mighty Nein animated series inspired by the characters and events of Campaign 2.
Source: Gizmodo