Today, Darrington Press, Critical Role’s tabletop role-playing game publisher, announced it has hired Jeremy Crawford and Chris Perkins, two of the lead designers for Dungeons and Dragons who recently departed the company. Perkins and Crawford will now serve as Darrington Press’ Creative Director and Game Director, respectively, according to an announcement on the company’s website.
This is a massive shakeup for the TTRPG world. Critical Role, known for its livestreamed games of Dungeons & Dragons played by high-profile voice actors, launched Darrington Press in 2020. While the company’s first projects were Critical Role adjacent, this year it released Daggerheart, a standalone role-playing game designed to compete with Dungeons & Dragons and other similar games. The cast is currently in the midst of a mini-arc using the game system, and fans have speculated the company might intend to move away from D&D entirely one day.
Daggerheart, the tabletop role-playing game from Critical Role, is a system that uses dice and cards to tell stories in a fantasy setting.
By bringing on Crawford and Perkins, Darrington Press’s pedigree increases significantly. The two have worked at Wizards of the Coast for many years (Crawford for 18, Perkins for 28), and are considered two of the primary architects behind Dungeons and Dragons’ extremely popular fifth edition and its 2024 overhaul of that ruleset. The designers were public spokespeople for the brand as well, appearing in videos to explain new books or playtests and even clarifying rules on social media. Shortly after the new books were released, however, Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford each announced they had decided to leave the company.
Their jump to Darrington is an unexpected move, to say the least, but it seems Wizards of the Coast was aware of the transition, making a point to congratulate the move on Bluesky. The pair also did an interview with The Los Angeles Times explaining their decision process and generally praising the Critical Role team.
The two will be “developing novel game concepts as well as expanding the games [Darrington has] released so far,” according to the announcement. This likely involves additions to Daggerheart, which launched a few weeks ago. For more Daggerheart and its inspirations, you can read our interview with its lead game designer, Spenser Starke.
