Critical Role re-introduces a Dungeons & Dragon 3rd edition in Campaign 4

Fans of older D&D will recognize this one skill

Twenty-three episodes in and Critical Role Campaign 4’s Dungeon Master, Brennan Lee Mulligan, has shown that he isn’t afraid to mix things up to keep the newest Dungeons & Dragons campaign interesting. There have been new homebrewed subclasses, additional house rules, and even innovative ways in which magic works in Campaign 4’s world of Aramán. But few fans would have expected Mulligan’s latest move: reviving a rule from D&D 3.5e.

D&D 3.5e was an update and expansion of the game’s third edition that came out in 2006. It’s known for being one of the crunchiest versions of the game, adding a plethora of class options, feats, spells, and more through player-focused expansion. It’s usually considered a lot more complex than 5e (and its 5.5 update), which made Dungeons & Dragons more streamlined and accessible to new players. For example, D&D 5e introduced advantage and disadvantage (rolling two D20s and using the higher or lower, depending on the context) as a catch-all rule, while 3.5e specified a list of circumstantial bonuses or maluses to modify players’ rolls.

The differences between the two editions stand out even more when it comes to skill checks. 3.5e’s skills are far more varied in comparison to 5e. Skills like Escape Artist added more flavor and personalization to the game. 3.5e had no skill-proficiency system; instead, players used skill points that they could use to upgrade skill ranks. Instead of a flat bonus based on level, as in 5e, 3.5e relied more on point management, allowing for a more gradual distribution of skills.

One particular skill from 3.5 appeared in Critical Role episode 23, “Buried Truths”: Profession. Player Marisha Ray wanted her dwarf wizard Murray, a professor at the magical school the Penteveral, to appear as though she was hard at work throughout the day so that her schemes on the side would go unnoticed by any lingering eyes. It was here that Mulligan asked her to make an intelligence roll, with the twist of adding her proficiency bonus, which seems to be Mulligan’s way of twisting 5e’s system to imitate the numerical value of skill points in 3.5e.

“We don’t have this [skill] in 5e,” Mulligan explains. “They used to have it in 3.5; it was called Profession.”

Profession, in D&D 3.5, is a skill group that represents a character’s aptitude in their vocation. For example, a player who is also a jeweler and has spent points in Profession (Jeweler), could use this skill to assess how well they can create an item, drawing on their job-specific knowledge. Alternatively, it can be used to see how much money a character makes in a week of work. For Murray, as a wizard professor, her intelligence is a great asset for conveying how she appears in her average workday, while also interacting with faculty and students.

While Mulligan’s use of the Profession skill isn’t entirely accurate to 3.5e, the fact that he’s able to mix the two editions in such a way highlights just how experienced he is as a DM. The various editions of D&D often convey very different approaches to the game. Usually, players and DMs pick the one that suits their preferences, but there’s nothing wrong in having your pick of some features you really like from an edition and importing them to another. It conveys the game's flexibility, which is one of the reasons for D&D’s success.

Mulligan’s surprising twists on the rules add great flavor and narrative depth to the stories and choices told in Campaign 4, ensuring that with each new episode, there’s something fresh and unexpected to look forward to.

Of course, the Schemers’ play style is particularly suited to a skills-heavy approach — they’ve not been dubbed the “employed table” for nothing. With tensions rising in the city of Dol-Makjar, and both the Soldiers and Seekers tables heading back home to touch base, there’s a good chance that the characters’ day jobs will soon have to take a backseat in favor of some good-old-fashioned sword and sorcery.

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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.