Critical Role plans to showcase Daggerheart’s finalized ruleset in Critmas style, announcing a festive final live show of the year at Camden, New Jersey’s Freedom Mortgage Pavilion.
Critical Role Presents: A Daggerheart Critmas Story LIVE will serve as the TTRPG juggernaut’s first-ever live exhibition of the highly anticipated Daggerheart system. Daggerheart, an original fantasy ruleset developed by Critical Role, has been accessible for fans to playtest throughout the year thanks to the game’s extensive open beta period. Critical Role launched the one-shot-turned-short-campaign The Menagerie this past year to demonstrate Daggerheart and its open beta evolution with their signature actual play antics. However, the upcoming holiday one-shot will not be a continuation of The Menagerie’s hijinks but rather a standalone story featuring a brand-new setting and cast of characters.
The Critical Role live show will be Game Mastered by Matthew Mercer and overseen by Master of Ceremonies Lenore Riegel, known to Critters as Momlan. Riegel’s a beloved fixture in the Critter community, recently making a splash by crashing the cast’s Anime NYC Q&A to pry her son, Sam Riegel, about actualizing his childhood aspiration of becoming a minotaur in Critical Role‘s Bells Hells campaign. In addition to both Riegels, Mercer will be joined on stage by Critical Role mainstays Travis Willingham, Laura Bailey, Taliesin Jaffe, Ashley Johnson, Marisha Ray, and New Jersey’s own Liam O’Brien.
Daggerheart’s open beta period has officially closed, leaving fans eagerly awaiting the system’s official 2025 publication, with the December one-shot offering a gingerbread-coated satiation to their hunger. Daggerheart’s core rulebook is just one of many reasons for Critical Role fans to look forward to the upcoming new year, which will mark the actual play series’ tenth anniversary. The cast and crew have teased 2025 as a year of bountiful celebration, with plenty more live shows and surprises in store for fans.
Tickets for the December 7 Critical Role Presents: A Daggerheart Critmas Story LIVE go on sale this week. Subscribers to Critical Role’s streaming service Beacon can access pre-sale tickets on Thursday, September 5 at 8 AM PT, with the general audience sale arriving the following day at the same time.