Critical Role please give us a Campaign 4 map

The one piece missing from an enthralling campaign

J.R.R. Tolkien, one of the greatest fantasy authors of our time, wrote this in a letter to a fellow novelist, discussing the genesis of his masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings: "I wisely started with a map.” The full quote goes on to clarify that to do the opposite — start a story without a map — would “land one in confusions and impossibilities.”

We concur, and that’s why we’re desperate for Critical Role Campaign 4’s Dungeon Master, Brennan Lee Mulligan, to finally share a map of the world of Aramán, or at least the continent of Pasitar, where the campaign is set. Sam Riegel, one of Critical Role’s co-founders who plays Wicander Halovar in Campaign 4, pleaded the case on Tale Gate, a new talk show discussing the episodes and answering all the questions put to the cast about Campaign 4. “Brennan, we don’t have a map,” Riegel said jokingly. “So it’s just a lot of words, and I don’t know where we’re going or where we’ve been.”

As avid listeners of Critical Role, we know how complicated it can be to determine where the characters are in the world. For example, we know the Soldiers table has been exploring the Kingdom of Timmony and has visited locations like Hawthorn’s Glade, Sloak, and Tybry’s Lea. But if you asked us specifically where they were in relation to the campaign’s main city, Dol-Makjar, it would be a struggle to pinpoint it outside of saying “a couple days away on foot” or “northwest.”

This is the case with the Seekers table, which has also left Dol-Makjar. We can use environmental clues and make assumptions, as we know they’re using the Dvelmar Road to head towards the Obridimian Empire, but it’s hard to picture it exactly. Luckily, there are some fan-made maps that can help, available on the precious Critical Role Wiki.

Worse, Mulligan has a map! The DM clarifies during Tale Gate that he made a map of the continent of Pasitar, but it’s hand-drawn. Laura Bailey, who plays Thimble in Campaign 4, goes on to confirm that the cast “all got [the map]. It’s in our binder.”

Yet, even though the players have a vague idea, the same cannot be said for the audience. Even if it’s not the prettiest map, a picture of it would help us untangle the location of all the places we’ve heard mentioned, such as the Golden Orchard and Venatus, and see how big certain regions, like the Kingdom of Timmony, are.

Of course, while we would do anything for a crumb of visual context about what the world looks like, we can’t deny that there is value in Mulligan keeping the map of Pasitar close to his chest.

Like any game where exploration is key, there’s fun to be found in venturing through new areas and making notes on what makes them fascinating and different. For example, the abundance of humans in Timmony and the worship and use of talking dogs as messengers and guardians are distinctive features. You won’t be mistaking Timmony for the orcish city of Dol-Makjar. As the players explore and experience these places in real time, the audience does too.

Even in previous Critical Role campaigns, it took a little while for official maps to be revealed. Perhaps it’s also part of the relationship between Critical Role and its fans to let the latter speculate and draw maps using their imagination. Even so, we suspect a map of Campaign 4’s regions and cities will be unveiled soon.

In the meantime, we’ll just have to do our best with our imagination and join Sam/Wicander in being slightly confused about the environment. It won’t prevent us from enjoying the story unfolding.