If there’s one thing that Critical Role fans (Critters) can’t say, it’s that they’ve never got something to watch. A little over 10 years ago, the multimedia company found fame through Geek & Sundry’s livestreams of its actual-play Dungeons & Dragons. After three campaigns and numerous spin-off one-shots and miniseries, Critical Role is approaching 30 episodes into its current adventure, Campaign 4. This campaign features new players alongside the original cast, with Brennan Lee Mulligan from Dimension 20 taking over as Campaign 4’s Dungeon Master from Critical Role’s Matthew Mercer.
The reception to Mulligan has been nothing short of thrilling, with the DM introducing a wealth of new lore and the exciting world of Aramán. However, Critters who’ve longed for Mercer’s return as DM will be pleased to know they won’t have to wait long. Age of Umbra: Sallowlands is on the way.
What is Age of Umbra: Sallowlands?
While the main draw of Critical Role comes from its 100+ episode Dungeons & Dragons campaigns, it has also experimented with several different systems and developed miniseries using them, including its own tabletop role-playing game called Daggerheart.
One such miniseries is Age of Umbra. Using the Daggerheart system, this is a far darker story that’s set in the Halcyon Domain — a universe very different from the Exandria world setting. After the domain was abandoned by the gods over a century ago, the world quickly became lethal and nightmarish, pushing its inhabitants to the brink of survival. Matt Mercer has described the miniseries and its setting as “Soulsborne-esque, super dark and deadly.”
The first season of Age of Umbra starred the main Critical Role cast, as seen in the previous three campaigns, as inhabitants of the small town of Desperloch who band together to fight for their community. Age of Umbra: Sallowlands, however, is a six-part standalone miniseries spin-off that follows five adventurers who join together to uncover a new region within the Halcyon Domain: The Sallowlands.
Who is the cast for Age of Umbra: Sallowlands?
Matt Mercer returns as the Dungeon Master for this epic tale, alongside players Laura Bailey (Dispatch), Jennifer English (Clair Obscur: Expedition 33), Vico Ortiz (Our Flag Means Death), Abubakar Salim (House of the Dragon), and Zachery Renauldo (Critical Role).
While Mercer, Bailey, Salim, and Renauldo have all been part of Critical Role before, Sallowlands is the debut appearance for English and Ortiz.
As of the time of writing, we do not yet know the characters’ names, heritages, and the classes the cast will be playing.
Will Matt Mercer return as Critical Role’s Dungeon Master?
While Matt Mercer has been the Dungeon Master for all three of Critical Role’s main campaigns, it’s not unusual for Critical Role to have series where other cast members sit in the DM seat for a miniseries or two, such as Exandria Unlimited: Calamity and Candela Obscura. Mercer returning as DM for Age of Umbra: Sallowlands is exciting news, but we don’t expect him to return as Critical Role’s DM in Campaign 4. That role lies solely in the hands of Brennan Lee Mulligan.
Where can I watch Age of Umbra: Sallowlands?
The first episode of the six-part miniseries will premiere on July 9, and will be available to watch on Beacon, as well as Twitch and YouTube. VODs on YouTube will be available on the Monday following the episode’s premiere.
