From Newsgroup: rec.games.frp.dnd

Source: https://www.polygon.com/dnd-dungeons-dragons/612593/dnd-roleplaying-like-critical-role

You donrCOt need to be Critical Role in all of your D&D games

Narrative and roleplay are great in DnD, but the game has more to offer

by Francesco Cacciatore
Jul 14, 2025, 4:10 PM GMT+2

Dungeons & Dragons owes a lot of its current popularity to rCLactual-playrCY shows, where podcasters or YouTubers play the popular tabletop
role-playing game for fans to enjoy. Acquisitions Incorporated, created
by Penny Arcade, was a pioneer of the genre, but today the format brings
one show immediately to mind: Critical Role, created by voice over
artist Matt Mercer and a group of actor friends, which has evolved into
a multiplatform entertainment phenomenon.

Critical RolerCOs popularity looms so large over the RPG scene that it has
had an unexpected impact on the game: At D&D tables throughout the
world, playersrCO expectations of what is required out of a session began
to change. Mercer, who has typically run the games as Dungeon Master,
and his friends are all experienced actors, and their exceptional
role-playing ability is key to the showrCOs success. The DMrCOs vivid descriptions of the setting and action, coupled with how everyone at
that table can bring characters to life, gave their D&D campaign the
vibe of an exciting TV show where actors donrCOt follow a script and
decisions are taken in real time. ItrCOs fun, exciting, and immersive, and almost everyone wants to play D&D like that, including me. And thatrCOs a problem.

Ever since I got back into D&D eight years ago after a long break, IrCOve followed that model as a DM. My inspirations are more Acquisitions Incorporated and the defunct Dice, Camera, Action, but the premise is
the same: D&D is a collaborative storytelling game, and my goal as a DM
is to tell a great story along with my players, emphasizing
role-playing, plot, and character development. IrCOve run three full
campaigns with that style, and itrCOs been a blast. My biggest
satisfaction as a DM is to watch the emotion and excitement of a player
when they witness their character and the backstory they created blossom
into a real story that they get to share and live at the table. However, IrCOve recently come to the conclusion that this style is not necessarily sustainable forever. Or to be blunt: There is more to D&D than that.
Left to right, Sam Riegel, Laura Bailey, Taliesin Jaffe, and Ashley
Johnson on stage in London in October 2023. During the Wembly Arena show
they wore elaborate costumes, including RiegelrCOs Union Jack onesie.
Photo: Critical Role

After hitting pause on my homebrew campaign to take a break and gather
more ideas for the setting, IrCOve recently started a new published
campaign, Out of the Abyss, which I approached in the same way as ever.
I asked players to create a backstory for their characters, which I
would then weave into the overall plot. I found this to be a good way to rCLcustomizerCY published campaigns, making these pre-established settings feel more personal for players. After the first few sessions, however, I realized that something was off, and it wasnrCOt the playersrCO fault. It
was mine.

I was not doing my part. I was not putting the same amount of creative
energy and effort into telling this D&D story as I did in the past. I
was burned out, and not by the game, but by my style of play. It may
sound obvious, but playing a narrative-focused D&D game requires a lot
of effort from the DM. For things like combat and exploration, you rely
on hard data: tables, stat blocks, maps. YourCOre more of a coordinator
than a director. A referee rCo a terminology that many TTRPG still use
today. However, when you are juggling plot threads, NPCs, and
role-playing intensely with your players, you use a different, and
larger, set of skills, mostly sustained by improv rCo which is why actors excel at it. ItrCOs an amazing experience, but itrCOs also demanding and,
most importantly, hard to sustain for a long time.

Surely, you can always play a D&D adventure or campaign that is focused
on the more traditional aspects of the game, but I would argue that this
is not exactly true, or easy to do. One of the reasons why the
storytelling aspect of D&D has become so prominent in recent years is
that the rules for 5e seem to have been custom-made for that style. D&D
5e has a very loose set of rules, which encourages DMs to use their
judgment and encourages flexibility, as represented by the catch-all rCLadvantage or disadvantagerCY rule. ItrCOs not an edition made for dungeon crawling fanatics, to be sure. For that play style, yourCOd be better off playing one of the many rCLOld School RenaissancerCY games, such as Dungeon Crawl Classics, which harken back to the early days of D&D in the 1970s
to deliver an experience that cares little about role-playing and
narrative (but, of course, you can still insert those elements in these games.)

Variety is the spice of life, so taking a break from D&D to try a
different game can be refreshing and let you come back to your narrative
games with new energy. Still, that may not be necessary. The great thing
about D&D, and what allowed it to survive and thrive for 50 years, is
that you can play the game however you want. The player base loves to
fight and be split over every minor difference, but the truth is that different is good. Just like an ideal D&D session should have a bit of exploration, a bit of combat, and a bit of role-playing, a campaign can
(and should) also contain all these elements, in different dosages to
fit your mood and needs. If you are tired of thinking of the next great
plot twist to surprise your players with, or to find a specific voice
for Goblin Henchman No. 4, why not spice things up with a couple of
sessions of good old dungeon crawling? And trust me, this can be
anything but dull and unimaginitive.

As the excellent content creator Bob World Builder explains in this
video, there is so much that can go into building a dungeon; enough to
make the simple acts of exploring, finding treasure, and killing
monsters into an actual story. A basic question like rCLHow do the
monsters in this dungeon get food and water?rCY can spark an entire
session of engaging role-play. ItrCOs true that 5e rules are not the most suited for this, but you can always pull inspirations, tables, and other
tools from other games (Dungeon Crawl Classics and Shadowdark are
perfect for this,) or compensate with some solid prep work. Sure, the
result may not be like that time Joe Manganiello stole the Hand of Vecna
from under Vox MachinarCOs nose, but it will still be engaging and
immersive for players.

Playing narrative-focused D&D campaigns has been one of the best
experiences in my life. However, I have realized that focusing only on
that aspect can be a mistake in the long run. Bringing in different
elements of the game will make sure that things stay fresh for both me
and my players. I will always remember the moment when the Paladin in my previous campaign finally let go of his vow of vengeance and his hatred, renouncing a witchrCOs offer to resurrect the man who killed his family,
whom he had pursued for two years only to find him dead, in exchange for
the life of one of his party members. However, now I canrCOt wait to see
my players struggling to navigate a deadly tomb in the Underdark,
careful of each step they take, calculating how many rations they have
left, trying to understand why the oozes in the tunnels are not behaving
as they usually do. At least, oozes donrCOt speak, so I wonrCOt have to come up with another funny voice.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2