Critical Role's D&D Rival Officially Gets a Big Update in 3 Weeks

Become a vampire or kick off a campaign based on The Witcher Critical Role launched as a Dungeons & Dragons game, but the creators of the hugely successful actual-play show have since become one of Wizards of the Coast’s biggest competitors. Their publishing arm, Darrington Press, released the fantasy tabletop role-playing game Daggerheart in May 2025, and hired lead D&D designers Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford to continue developing the game. The company laid out its ambitious plans for the future of the game at a July 30 Gen Con panel, and its first big expansion is releasing in just three weeks. Daggerheart: Hope & Fear is loaded with new options for both players and game masters. It introduces four new classes – witch, warlock, brawler, and assassin – each with two subclasses. It also adds a new transformation mechanic to allow characters to start the game as a vampire, werewolf, or ghost, or become one over the course of the campaign. Daggerheart uses cards to keep track of what your character can do, so Hope & Fear includes all the cards you’ll need for the new options. These include more species and a whole new Dread domain representing the dark powers witches and warlock