The tabletop role-playing game landscape is experiencing a significant resurgence, marked by successful indie crowdfunding campaigns and a steady stream of new Dungeons & Dragons products. Amidst this activity, Critical Role's in-house TTRPG, Daggerheart, launched in May 2025 and quickly sold out. While it may lack D&D's broad cross-media reach, Daggerheart is positioning itself to innovate within the fantasy TTRPG genre.
Former D&D Designers Contribute to Daggerheart
Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford, key figures behind D&D 5th edition, joined Critical Role's publishing arm, Darrington Press, in June 2025. Their first significant contribution to Daggerheart has been revealed through the game's first expansion, Hope & Fear, released last month.
"Both Jeremy and I arrived at Critical Role at the back end of Hope and Fear's development," Perkins stated in an interview. "We jumped in immediately to lend a hand. Much of the book was written at that point, but there were still some gaps. One of the things that we were offered was a chance to write one of the campaign frames."
Campaign frames in Daggerheart are self-contained narrative structures that provide a GM with a setting, themes, rules, characters, and locations to build a campaign upon. Perkins and Crawford were involved in the rules development for Hope & Fear and contributed the "Reign of the Weredragon" campaign frame.
Reign of the Weredragon Echoes Curse of Strahd
The "Reign of the Weredragon" campaign frame directly draws inspiration from Curse of Strahd, D&D's most successful adventure module. Perkins noted that the concept of a singular villain, exemplified by Strahd, was a key influence for their antagonist, Forlorne Lykona. Lykona, a sorceress ruler who can transform into a dragon, presents players with curses and challenges.
Similar to Curse of Strahd, players in "Reign of the Weredragon" are not meant to confront the main villain immediately. An oracle, the Astromancer, provides five clues to help players gather necessary items and allies for the eventual confrontation. This structure mirrors Madame Eva's role in Curse of Strahd.
Crawford highlighted a key difference: "One of the things that we wanted to explore in Reign of the Weredragon that is different from Curse of Strahd is that the characters are all from this land. Unlike in Barovia, where they come from the outside and are trapped, they have personal stakes in Whelvia. And the players also help the GM create the villain."
Collaborative Villain Creation
In a session zero for "Reign of the Weredragon," the GM and players collaboratively build Forlorne. This process involves defining key personality traits and past events through prompts, a method inspired by Alex Roberts' game For the Queen. Crawford explained that this collaborative approach aims to deeply connect players with the narrative and the world.
Future Potential for Campaign Frames
Perkins and Crawford have previously reshaped the adventure module format with extensive campaigns like Curse of Strahd and Rime of the Frostmaiden. They indicated that Daggerheart campaign frames, such as "Reign of the Weredragon," could potentially evolve into full-sized adventures. While no official announcements have been made, the possibility is being considered.
Fans will have an opportunity to see "Reign of the Weredragon" in action through an upcoming Critical Role live actual play miniseries, hosted by Chris Perkins himself.