When Critical Role announced that Campaign 4 would feature a Western Marches format, fans were understandably excited. The idea of a rotating cast of players seemed new to the show, but after a few episodes, the plot-heavy nature of Campaign 4 made it feel quite different from the narrative sandbox gameplay of West Marches. However, after 17 episodes, I finally get it. Critical roleThe choice of and how the show leans into what makes the West Marches format so special.
West Marches refers to a style of Dungeons and Dragons campaigns created by Ben Robbins, a game designer who also created Microscope and Kingdom. The format was both a stylistic choice and a response to the bane of most game masters: player availability. Because each session was scheduled around when players in a large group could play, it allowed the world of that campaign to flourish and develop through decisions that different players would make. For example, one week, a group might decide to rescue a village of goblins. The following week, another might be dealing with the consequences of that choice if they interacted with the same goblins.
Players interacting with the world (leaving information in shared locations or interacting outside of the game) allowed the sandbox to grow organically, creating “interconnected history and details.” Robbins went on to share how “little things found in one place could shed light on other places. Instead of just being an interesting detail, these clues lead to concrete discoveries.”
With 13 players involved in Critical Role Campaign 4, dungeon master Brennan Lee Mulligan was always going to have to find a way to make this huge cast manageable. After the four-episode overture, the players were divided into three tables: soldiers, seekers and schemers. At first, it seemed like having rotating players would be the only similarity between Campaign 4 and typical West Marches games. Instead, after enough episodes, we begin to see how decisions made by different groups affect others.
We first noticed this in episode 14, “A Bridge Too Far,” with the Searchers, which was influenced by the outcome of episode 3, “The Scissors Cut,” where future soldiers Wicander Halovar (Sam Riegel) and Tyranny (Whitney Moore) rescued Teor Pridesire (Travis Willingham) from Halovar’s demonic tailors. In episode 14, the Seekers are ambushed by the demonic aspirants of the Halovar family and Tyranny’s sisters, Agony, Enmity, and Cruelty. At first, it was unclear how the sisters had ended up at the Schongarten druidic camp until Mulligan pointed it out in episode 14. Cool down the inner workings that go on behind the scenes due to the decisions the Soldiers’ board had made. When the soldiers decided to head into the woods in episode 5, Mulligan rolled to see if the sisters could track them. With that roll, a decision was made that caused the demons to head in another direction due to their lack of accurate information.
This level of interconnected detail reappears in the final episode, “The Place of Wings,” where the group learns more about the Halovars and how the Tachonis are using their fellow noble houses as guinea pigs for their experiments. The celestial ancestry of the Halovars was previously established in the overture of Campaign 4 and through the innate abilities of Wicander and his family. Even the filament that Candescent Creed transports from one place to another is no longer a mystery, as it has been clarified that it is celestial blood used to enhance the user’s magical abilities. However, in the game, the Seekers do not know the secrets of Halovar, nor are the Seekers’ discoveries about the Tachonis family’s plan to build their own celestial known to the Soldiers and Conspirators’ tables.
The best part about the revelation of these details in the West Marches format is that, particularly in the world of Araman, magic doesn’t work like it does in Critical Role. previously established world, Exandria. In previous campaigns, characters could send direct messages to people around the world with spells like Send, making it almost impossible for NPCs or other players to miss out on information. That’s not the case here, which means that knowledge must be passed on the old-fashioned way: by talking to each other or by sending written correspondence.
This disconnect between the cast adds tension not only for the players at each table but also for the audience watching. For example, we know that the scheming Halandil Fang (Liam O’Brien) has a mole working at Einfasen House, and there’s a real possibility that said mole has been found and killed, but the Seekers and Soldiers table has no idea about that. Rather than being frustrating, this lack of communication so far has only made me appreciate the importance of Critical Role. decision to lean on the strengths of the Western Marches’ style of play, and even more curious to see if it will continue to be a strength as the campaign progresses.
Ultimately, each table can influence the others, both positively and negatively, in the future. This unique dynamic between the three tables isn’t exactly how West Marches was originally envisioned, of course, but it works well within the framework Critical Role has established for Campaign 4.
Soruce: polygon.com