[Image Credit: Critical Role] Many Critters want to know whether Critical Role campaign 4 will be using Daggerheart or Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition as its core game system. The cast recently announced that Brennan Lee Mulligan, who fans will know from Dimension 20 and his trilogy of Exandria Unlimited live-plays for Critical Role, will be the new Dungeon Master for its fourth season. This will allow Matt Mercer to play a character in the campaign, which releases on October 2, 2025. But given that Critical Role has gradually introduced its Daggerheart system, most recently with its Dark Souls-inspired Age of Umbra, viewers are waiting to see whether the main campaign will be using Daggerheart or 5E.

Will Critical Role Campaign 4 use Daggerheart or D&D as its game system?

[Update: Critical Role Campaign 4 will be using Dungeons & Dragons 5E with the updated 2024 rules. This was confirmed in a video named “What Is Campaign Four?” by the cast on August 21, 2025. Daggerheart will still be used for other content, like additional Age of Umbra campaigns.] [Original] At the time of writing, Critical Role has not yet announced whether Campaign 4 will be using Daggerheart or Dungeons & Dragons 5E, though it promises to reveal the game system in the coming months.

That said, the pieces are falling into place for a full-length Daggerheart campaign. The Daggerheart system by Darrington Press was created partly in response to the D&D 2023 debacle when Wizards of the Coast (WotC) tried to change the system’s Open Game License (OGL). The uncertainty over the OGL and its ever-present threat to live-play shows that use D&D 5E pushed Critical Role to develop the new system, so it would make sense that Campaign 4 would use Daggerheart as a preventative measure.

Also, Critical Role Campaign 4 is set in an entirely different world than Exandria, which would allow Brennan to create a new setting without the constraints of the existing lore. Seeing him use Daggerheart would add more credence to the system and give another DM’s interpretation of its rules.

That said, choosing 5E for Campaign 4 would be the safer choice in some regards. It’s the more popular and well-recognized TTRPG system. Brennan has the most experience with D&D and has continued to use it, as with Dimension 20’s current “Cloudward Ho” series, despite its controversies. He’s also never used Daggerheart in a live-play before. And even if he sticks with 5E, that won’t prevent Critical Role (that is, Matt Mercer) from creating other campaigns that use Daggerheart.

One month after Campaign 4’s debut, Critical Role’s The Mighty Nein is set to release on Amazon Prime on November 19. It’s still unclear when Season 4 of The Legend of Vox Machina is set to release.