Critical Role studio reveals details about its new board game and RPG

Fresh details about an upcoming board game and roleplaying game from Darrington Press, the studio started by Critical Role members, have been revealed.

In a blog on the Darrington Press website, information about Guardians of Matrimonia – a new board game based in the universe of Dungeons & Dragons actual play series, Critical Role – was unveiled. The co-op game, originally revealed to be about fighting waves of monsters as a team, will be focused on a group of wedding planners working within the fantasy world shared by three campaigns of Critical Role. As fantastical wedding planners, the players will have to work together to ensure that the couple’s special day is not interrupted by any roaming monsters or unexpected “magical mishaps”.

Illustrations for one of the playable characters from Guardians of Matrimonia have been featured in the blog. The guardian, called an ale-chemist, is a “master of hospitality” who is able to create and serve a wide variety of delicious beverages for the various wedding guests. When not bartending, the ale-chemist can use their brewing abilities to aid their fellow guardians, serving as a support role that can used be played in a player versus player mode included within the board game. The illustrator behind the character is Monica M. Magaña, who has also created a portrait for another, yet unnamed, guardian for the board game.

In Guardians of Matrimonia, players will have pre-built decks of cards that they’ll need to utilise against the various forces attempting to jeopardise the wedding. The players have to collaborate with their unique decks and abilities in order to deal with all of the incoming threats before their respective decks run out, otherwise they risk losing the game.

The blog provided details on an upcoming roleplaying game set to be published by Darrington Press. Syndicult is a tabletop RPG created by Matthew Mercer, a voice actor known for his roles in Overwatch and the Fire Emblem video game series, as well as being the dungeon master for Critical Role. The TRPG will see players becoming members of magical mob families, with playable characters having the ability to cast various spells. A comic book panel for Syndicult featured in the Darrington press blog shows what looks like an ornate box, potentially containing something magical inside, with various dialogue boxes scattered about.

Darrington Press is a publishing company led by Ivan Van Norman, an actor and a co-owner of the studio behind TRPG Alice is Missing, Hunters Entertainment, that is set to release various tabletop titles, some of which will be based in the world of Critical Role. The studio’s first release was Uk’otoa, a board game that sees players attempting to survive a shipwreck and attack from a leviathan, whose complicated rulebook was my biggest complaint in my review of the game.

Guardians of Matrimonia is set to be released this year, with Syndicult yet to receive an updated launch date after its initial release date of Q3 2021.