Brennan Lee Mulligan's Critical Role run is a D&D masterclass for players

Critical Role Campaign 4 is vastly different from its previous three campaigns. The cast size has doubled, and its setting is the godless, war-torn world of Aramán. The biggest change, however, is that instead of Critical Role's usual Dungeon Master, famed voice actor Matthew Mercer, Campaign 4 is led by Dimension 20's Brennan Lee Mulligan.

After talking with the Critical Role cast earlier in May, it’s clear that despite the various differences in Campaign 4, Mulligan’s management of the campaign so far proves he is just as skilled as Mercer at showcasing what makes a great Dungeon Master.

Critical Role’s campaigns are known for being 100-plus episodes, so since we’re only 25 episodes in, it would be an understatement to say there’s still plenty to unpack in Aramán. But how much were the players behind the Soldiers, Seekers, and Schemers tables involved in Mulligan’s world-building? We know from previous interviews that the cast received a binder of lore — which also includes Sam Riegel’s lengthy in-game manifesto for the religious group, The Candescent Creed — but did this mean they had to read it and build their characters around it?

Image: Critical Role

According to Taliesin Jaffe, who plays the enigmatic curator of the Archanade, Bolaire Lathalia, the exact opposite was the case.

“I found that you come to [Brennan] with what you want to do, and he goes, ‘OK’ and starts to develop the world around you,” Jaffe explains to Polygon via Zoom call. “It was never about fitting you into it. It was about it reflecting you.”

If you ask someone what makes a good Dungeon Master, you’ll most likely get several different answers. However, what remains key — and what we’re sure most, if not everyone, can agree on — is that a Dungeon Master and their players need to have an open-minded relationship. If a Dungeon Master feels overly protective of their world and lore, players may not feel as though they can make any significant changes to it, or take risks with the characters they are playing.

Thankfully, that wasn’t the case with Mulligan and Critical Role’s cast.

Image: Critical Role

“Brennan wants to build around the ideas we brought to the table.” Liam O’Brien tells Polygon. “He does have a really rich world that he prepared for this campaign. [...] So it was fun making the sort of tendrils, the connective tissue for our big swing ideas, like being a sentient mask or a theatre nerd mesh with the world around us.”

While it might be easy to see the Dungeon Master and player roles as opposing factions, it’s actually the opposite. Dungeons & Dragons is a collaborative game, and while a Dungeon Master can put their players in sticky situations, the ideal playing environment is to treat each other — regardless of role — as fellow players rather than as an antagonistic force.

That’s why Mulligan’s approach to including his players in world-building is such a pivotal step in making the player characters feel part and parcel of the world of Aramán. It also helps Mulligan by adding depth to his world and answering questions he may not have considered. We see this especially with the Schemers table, whose characters are pivotal to the city of Dol-Makjar through their professions.

For example, O’Brien’s Halandil Fang, an orc bard who works as a famed theatre director of the Hallowed Round, puts him directly in the spotlight because the Sundered Houses patronize the Hallowed Round. Then there’s Jaffe’s Bolaire, who is the curator of the Archanade, a museum that hosts the legendary Pariah Blades that killed the Shapers.

Without the strong ties Mulligan and the players established between their characters and Aramán, Campaign 4 would not be half as narratively coherent or as strong as it is. Dungeon Masters, take note. This is how you create a compelling world: by bringing forth your player characters and who they are, and establishing strong ties between them and the story you, as the Dungeon Master, and the players are telling.

Episode 26 of Critical Role Campaign 4 is set to debut May 21 on Twitch, YouTube, and Beacon.tv at 10 p.m. PDT.