Matt Mercer of Critical Role talks Tal’Dorei with Dungeon Life
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eXwQ8oWcZ0
Dungeon Life’s Todd Kenreck was one busy journalist at Wizards of the Coast’s Stream of Annihilation June 2-3, 2017. On his Twitter feed, Kenreck shared that he was able to score 29 interviews with various D&D dignitaries, including the inimitable Matthew Mercer, actor and Dungeon Master for Geek and Sundry’s Critical Role.
Matt Mercer bringing Critical Role to your gaming table
Mock-up cover for the Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting from Critical Role’s Matt Mercer
In the video above from Dungeon Life, Mercer speaks about the upcoming release of the Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting guide from Green Ronin Publishing for fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. The book is set for release on August 17 at Gen Con – but it’s not a Gen Con exclusive! It will be available from your favorite TTRPG product retailers. You can also preorder the Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting from Amazon here.
Mercer dispenses some great advice for GMs while describing his exciting new book. He describes how his DM notes were invaluable for writing the book, reminding him of ideas he’d had over the years for the Critical Role campaign. Many of the ideas never came to bear, as players skipped visiting certain locations, meeting NPCs and the like. A lesson in the “less-is-more” approach to GMing, he talks about how these concepts were quick, short notes that were not fully fleshed out because the players did not steer the narrative that way. But the notes he had were indispensable later on when he looked to develop more of the campaign setting.
For nongamers, the Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting can still be an enjoyable read. Mercer was mindful of Critical Role’s huge fanbase, many of whom do not play D&D. For them, the book has value as a lorebook, and they can read more about the people, places and things they enjoy on the show. As an well-known advocate for D&D, it’s a good bet that Mercer hopes the Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting will create some new players as well.
In addition to the lore and gazetteer-style information in the book, several homebrew D&D elements are included. Fans of the show will be thrilled to discover the secrets behind Gilmore’s magic with the Rune Child sorcerous origin, setting-specific backgrounds like the Clasp and magical artifacts like the Vestiges of Divergence.
If the Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting from Matt Mercer inspires you to take up the dungeon life hobby and create your first D&D adventures set in the world of Critical Role, make sure to subscribe to the Nerdarchy YouTube channel and follow us on Facebook and Twitter for tons of daily content including GM and player tips, new monsters and magical items, streaming RPG gameplay and more. Learn about chances to game with Nerdarchy and get exclusive monthly rewards as well as priority to ask questions of live chat guests through the Nerdarchy Patreon. If you’ll be at Gen Con 2018, keep an eye out for Nerdarchist Dave and staff writer Doug Vehovec!
And as always, stay nerdy!
[amazon_link asins=’1934547840′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’nerdarchy-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’1b6bf42f-4bb6-11e7-9891-d399843555be’]
[amazon_link asins=’B01MXSFYPY’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’nerdarchy-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’3f547525-4bb6-11e7-9fc6-95830fc1b4c0′]
[amazon_link asins=’0786965592′ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’nerdarchy-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’5291b039-4bb6-11e7-a243-2d56087eae50′]
Related articles
2 Comments