Critical Role is already switching up Campaign 4's West Marches format

Critical Role has new tables set for arc 2 of Campaign 4

When Critical Role first announced that Campaign 4 would do things very differently from the first three campaigns, one of the biggest reveals was that the cast would adopt a West Marches-style format. No longer would the adventures of Aramán follow just one party, but rather a rotating set of three tables, with different players at each.

The 13-player cast was quickly broken down into individual tables shortly after Campaign 4’s overture. These tables were known as the Soldiers, Seekers, and Schemers — each with its own compelling features. The Soldiers table was a more classic Dungeons & Dragons experience, emphasizing combat. Seekers, on the other hand, would focus on lore and magic. Meanwhile, Schemers would engage in narrative, sandbox-style adventures centered on social interaction with NPCs and one another.

Back in May, the tables converged, bringing Critical Role back to its chaotic roots. But now that the convergence of tables is officially over after Critical Role’s latest episode, ‘Trick of the Light’, it seems Campaign 4's DM, Brennan Lee Mulligan, is switching up the format he so carefully planned at the beginning.

It’s been a tough couple of episodes for our heroes. Not only have they had to deal with the powerful magical families of the Sundered Houses breathing down their necks, but they’ve lost loved ones as well. Worse still, some of their more powerful enemies, such as Primus and Yanessa of House Tachonis, and Halovar, are gunning for certain player characters like Occtis Tachonis (Alexander Ward) and Kattigan Vale (Robbie Daymond).

Yet for all of their hardships, our adventurers have also achieved some truly momentous victories. They’ve restored the afterlife for the orcish people, fought back against the rising fervor of religious zealotry stirred up by the Candescent Creed, made new friends, and uncovered even more mysteries to go out and seek answers for.

With plenty of objectives to work towards, the cast has now split off into their new tables.

The first table is the Seekers Table, featuring Occtis Tachonis (Ward), Thimble (Laura Bailey), Bolaire Lathalia (Taliesin Jaffe), Sir Julien Davinos (Matt Mercer), Kattigan Vale (Daymond), and Vaelus (Ashley Johnson). Their task is to see what the Tachonises are up to in Timmony before making their way to the Golden Orchard to meet up with Mara the Wing and a few other members of her organization, the Cloak.

The second is the Schemers' table, who will remain in the city to once more try and beat the Sundered Houses at their own game. This table consists of Murray Mag’nesson (Marisha Ray), Tyranny (Whitney Moore), Wicander Halovar (Sam Riegel), Azune Nayar (Luis Carazo), and Halandil Fang (Liam O’Brien).

What’s even more surprising, however, is that this leaves Thaisha Lloy (Aabria Iyengar) as the only player left to be part of the Soldiers’ table. Instead of traveling with either table, Thaisha will be heading to Dol-Rungja in order to speak to the Druidic people there and plead with them to give up their neutrality and help fight back against the Sundered Houses.

While Game Master Brennan Lee Mulligan hasn’t shaken up the format entirely — there will continue to be a rotating cast as the tables go through the motions in the second arc of Campaign 4 — it’s the first time the Soldiers table will only have one player. This may be due to player Aabria Iyengar recently giving birth and thus having less time to play than before.

Yet, this doesn’t necessarily mean Critters won’t see Thaisha in the foreseeable future — it just may mean Mulligan’s depiction of Thaisha’s journey will be different than the other two tables. For example, Thaisha’s journey to Dol-Rungja and her meeting with the druids may play out through cold openings (short segments where Mulligan and one or two other player characters interact with each other and/or the world around them).

Polygon has reached out to Critical Role to clarify what this means for Thaisha and the Soldier table.

The first arc of Campaign 4 has seemingly concluded, but Critters need not worry. There is plenty of exciting tabletop content on the way, as Matt Mercer is set to return as the Game Master for the upcoming Age of Umbra: Sallowlands.

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Campaign 4 of Critical Role is available to watch live on Twitch, YouTube, and Beacon.tv on Thursday nights at 10 p.m. PDT. If you can’t catch the episode live, don’t worry — Critical Role posts the episode to YouTube the following Monday at 3 p.m. EDT/12 p.m. PDT.