Critical Role, one of the most famous Dungeons and Dragons Actual Play streams, recently broke its silence on the controversy plaguing the popular pastime. Its statement came on the heels of Dungeons and Dragons’ recent response to outcry against its plans to change the Open Game License in One D&D.
Shortly after 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons was released, Critical Role–an Actual Play group composed of famous voice actors–switched to the new system and began streaming. In the following years, Critical Role became hugely popular, releasing both official and third-party Dungeons and Dragons sourcebooks, board games, and even The Legend of Vox Machina TV series.
Now, Critical Role has responded to the recent Dungeons and Dragons controversy. It stated it supports both its industry peers and any Dungeons and Dragons creators making their own system. It mentions Darrington Press, its own publishing company, as an example of its own efforts to add to the creative collective by broadening the field of creators, and attributes its success to the passion of the community. Finally, Critical Role commits “to fostering an environment that allows everyone the opportunity to easily share the stories they wish to tell.”
Critical Role has a huge group of fans in and out of the TTRPG community. The recent actions of Wizards of the Coast have raised tensions across the entire industry. With such a large fanbase, Critical Role needed to make a statement or risk earning the ire of its fans.
To many, Critical Role’s statement said nothing. It seemed to straddle the line between industry and creator, and refused to commit to one side or the other. Many players were angry at the non-statement, especially compared it to recent announcements by groups like Pathfinder creator Paizo.
However, other fans were quick to point out Critical Role’s statement was actually legally ingenious. Though carefully-crafted as to not openly decry Wizards of the Coast, several sections of the statement show its support of Dungeons and Dragons fans. In particular, evoking Darrington Press could be seen as a subtle threat to Wizards of the Coast, indicating Critical Role didn’t need it to succeed. Matt Mercer has also liked statements under the OpenDnD trend on Twitter on his personal account, further suggesting subtle support.
Though Dungeons and Dragons fans are canceling their subscriptions en masse, D&D Beyond is one of Critical Role’s biggest sponsors, so disparaging Wizards of the Coast would have been a poor financial decision, especially since the two companies probably have additional contracts with NDAs attached to them. Critical Role’s statement balanced supporting the Dungeons and Dragons community with the requisite service to its sponsors.
Dungeons and Dragons is available now. One D&D is in development.