Matt Mercer explains his Critical Role Campaign 4 Daredevil subclass

Riding the edge of combat

Campaign 4 of Critical Role has given viewers plenty to chew on: exciting lore for the new setting of Aramán, a slew of new friendly faces joining the original cast, and a compelling West Marches-inspired approach. However, would it really be a Critical Role campaign if it didn’t also provide intriguing homebrewed subclasses that beg you to include them in your Dungeons & Dragons adventures? Enter the Daredevil Fighter subclass.

Critical Role has never shied away from adding its own spin on things. Forever Dungeon Master and Critical Role founder Matthew Mercer always seems to be cooking up something fun and flavorful to give his players something unique to play with. Campaign 1 gave us Percy de Rolo’s (Taliesin Jaffe) Gunslinger, while Campaign 2 introduced the Blood Hunter class, which uses health as a resource to fuel damage.

Despite foraying into the field as a player this time around in Campaign 4, Mercer certainly hasn’t rested on his laurels, cooking up the homebrewed Daredevil subclass for his Fighter/Rogue, Sir Julien Davinos. Mercer asked for the input of Christopher Perkins and Jeremy Crawford, the former Dungeons & Dragons creative director and game director, who are now working at Critical Role’s tabletop publishing arm, Darrington Press.

Mercer originally teased the subclass during episode 17 of the show. However, it was only in the latest Tale Gate episode, a talk show that highlights questions from fans to the main cast of Campaign 4, that Mercer was able to expand on what aspects of the homebrewed subclass appealed to him, and talk about its interesting features.

"We’re still developing [Daredevil] as it goes on,” Mercer shared. “But the concept behind it was we wanted to create a Fighter’s subclass with baked-in high-risk, high-reward mechanics. Julien, in particular, is very much that kind of rush-headfirst into danger, and sometimes that works out really well; other times, really poorly."

We briefly saw the Daredevil features in action during episode 18 of Campaign 4, where Julien used one of his resources, Second Wind, to activate Daring Strike. This Fighter-based ability typically works by granting the character 1d10 hit points back. However, for Julien’s Daredevil subclass, spending Second Wind only provides temporary hit points. However, it can also be spent to activate abilities like Daring Strike, which, if it hits an enemy, allows Julien to add an extra 1d10 damage to the attack. But if Julien misses, the enemy gains advantage on their next attack roll against him.

It is admittedly a risk, but it’s one that Mercer wanted to lean into and have fun with.

“Safety is fun, but I like when I succeed spectacularly; it's awesome,” Mercer said. “When I fail spectacularly, it’s awesome.” Mercer also mentioned this concept as “a very fun dynamic with dice-based role-playing games.” While some players might hate the presence of chance in TTRPGs, rolling dice to determine an outcome can actually be fun, if it’s well-integrated into the storytelling mechanics. We’ve seen Campaign 4 DM Brennan Lee Mulligan embrace that aspect a lot, so it’s even more interesting that Mercer is building his new subclass around it.

While a full in-depth class and features haven't been shared, it’s obvious, thanks to eagle-eyed viewers and Mercer himself, that it’s a subclass that has Julien riding the dangerous edge of combat while also taking full advantage of Campaign 4’s homebrewed mechanics and rules, such as Desperate Measures.

For example, while Julien cannot use Second Wind to regain hit points, it still allows him to maximize the benefit of being Bloodied — an effect that triggers only on combatants (both PCs and enemies) once their hit points drop below 50%. When Bloodied, players gain access to Desperate Measures, a feature offering a variety of options in combat, usually at a high cost. For instance, taking two death saving throws (despite not actually being downed at 0 HP) permits the player to deal maximum damage on an attack roll if it hits. This is already a powerful move, but with Julien’s Daring Strike included, the combined abilities would be extraordinary. As Mercer explains, high risk, high reward.

Julien’s Daredevil subclass sounds like a lot of fun, particularly for players who aren't afraid to put themselves on the frontline for potential positive results. It’s also, without a doubt, an exceptionally dangerous glass cannon of a homebrewed subclass, something which Mercer acknowledged throughout Tale Gate.

Mercer explained with a devilish grin, "Most players at the table will be like, 'Why are you doing that? No, why would you do that?' Because it’s fun!"

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Campaign 4 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.