Legendary D&D show pivots to Critical Role's Daggerheart — and I'm following them

The longest-running live play now uses Critical Role's game system

I should have suspected something was cooking when Acquisitions Incorporated's Dungeons & Dragons live play at PAX West 2025 in September ended with Evelyn Marthain (Anna Prosser) plunging a DAGGER into the HEART of a construct to “reset reality.” Matt Mercer’s presence as one of the players at Acq Inc’s November game at PAX Unplugged 2025 was the final hint needed, but I was still shocked to find out that one of the oldest and most successful D&D actual play franchises was switching to Critical Role's Daggerheart TTRPG framework.

This is far from a reboot, however. Acq Inc’s best quality has always been its ability to transcend a game system to build a genuinely funny and entertaining experience for its fans. The show started as a D&D podcast at the dawn of the fourth edition in 2008. They had their first live show at PAX West 2010, and its success opened the floodgates for TTRPG live play. In 2012, they transitioned to 5e, with the team landing in the Forgotten Realms, where they remained for more than a decade (excluding several adventures on other planes). In 2023, the party moved to D&D’s “original” setting of Greyhawk for what many believed to be a full reboot tied to the 2024 edition of the rules.

Throughout all those changes, with only Penny Arcade duo Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik remaining from the original cast, the brand never lost its identity or its connection to its fanbase. Rather than using the switch to Daggerheart to start from scratch, they went to great lengths to ensure that this fit into the continuity of the show. As a longtime Acq Inc fan, I think this is a great move and the perfect next step for the brand.

Back in April, the world of fantasy tabletop RPGs was shocked to learn that two of D&D’s chief designers, Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford, were leaving Wizards of the Coast to join Darrington Press, the publishing arm of Critical Role, which had recently launched its own RPG, Daggerheart. Perkins and Crawford are longtime Acq Inc staples, with the former being the original DM for the show, passing the scepter to Crawford in 2018. The two, and Perkins especially, are so ingrained in the identity of the brand that it was just a matter of time before Acq Inc and Daggerheart crossed paths.

While I didn’t expect the change of systems, it makes perfect sense. Critical Role silenced all rumors of a war brewing with Wizards of the Coast when they decided to play D&D for their much-anticipated Campaign 4. There are many good reasons for it, but it still left many fans and novel Daggerheart enthusiasts disappointed. They forfeited the biggest platform in the industry to showcase their in-house game, and they must have been looking for alternative ways to do it.

While Acq Inc doesn’t pull the same numbers as Critical Role, it’s an established brand with a pristine reputation. Also, Holkins and Krahulik’s status as Penny Arcade founders allowed them to build an impressive network of partnerships and sponsors, including D&D Beyond, Hero Forge, Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms, and more. Perkins and Crawford, the former creative director and game director for D&D, being the official DMs for the show is a testament to Acq Inc’s corporate reach — which is ironic, considering the team is a parody of a greedy but inept corporation.

Now, Perkins and Crawford have the perfect platform to showcase new products and campaign settings they are designing for Daggerheart, while Critical Role stays in the good graces of Wizards. Meanwhile, judging from the reactions to the show at PAX Unplugged, Acq Inc fans don’t seem to mind the change in systems too much.

Acq Inc has never focused too much on the rules of the game anyway. It’s a comedy-heavy show that incarnates the silly and chaotic aspect of D&D. Perkins explained it best in a recent interview with Popverse, answering the question of why Acq Inc has stuck around for so long: “It has always managed to maintain a certain balance between faithfulness to the experience and then going off and just kind of being its own thing and not being beholden to the rules or slavishly devoted to portraying D&D, as many people have experienced it in the past. It really kind of amps up the silliness and kind of shows that you can enjoy D&D and not have to be all that D&D knowledgeable.”

The same formula can work with Daggerheart. Fans will tune in to see Omin Dran (Holkins) get aroused by intricate paperwork, Jim Darkmagic (Krahulik) shooting doves from his magic wands, Evelyn preaching the glory of whoever the god of the sun is in this setting while she decapitates monsters, and interns being generally exploited after not reading the very fine print in Omin’s contracts. It doesn’t matter if they’re rolling with Advantage or with Fear and Hope.

Acq Inc can only benefit from the change. Seeing Matt Mercer at the table at PAX Unplugged, playing Omin’s son, Bode, felt like an awesome crossover moment. Critical Role has massive pull, and this will put more eyes on Acq Inc, which the show totally deserves — it was the first table to truly make D&D something you can enjoy even if you’re not playing. The PAX Unplugged show is now available on Critical Role's streaming platform, Beacon, which will draw more interest to Acq Inc for sure. As a longtime fan, I think it would also be great to see Acq Inc at the forefront of Daggerheart's plans in the future.

Watching Chris Perkins in Acq Inc (and Dice, Camera, Action!) made me passionate about D&D and DMing again, after taking a long break in late 3.5e. I modeled my DM style after his, and I just know that as soon as I see him stepping behind the screen to run a Daggerheart game for Holkins, Krahulik, and the rest of the cast, I will finally get into the game, or at least give it a try.