The RPG Industry Wants Stars

Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford became huge stars working on D&D. Now they work at Critical Role. Wizards of the Coast may be asking itself whether anointing stars is a good thing. Is it good for D&D? Is it good for the RPG hobby?

A Changing Industry

I won’t leave you hanging. The answer is yes, and yes. There are many reasons for this, but I first want to note how easy it is to forget what our industry was like. For much of the hobby’s history, other than Gary Gygax, very few designers rose to prominence even with gamers. Wizards and even TSR chased Hollywood for recognition and few gamers were willing to tell non-gaming friends about their hobby.

During late 4E (so perhaps around 2010 or so) designer Rob Schwalb wrote on his old website how the RPG industry lacked stars. He shared that it did not seem to matter what name appeared on the cover of a D&D book. He noted that it could be argued that the only name fans might recognize was Monte Cook’s.

Since that time, names on covers haven’t mattered. Instead, it was the advent of streaming and social media that brought knowledge of key designers to a larger number of RPG fans.

Acquisitions Incorporated started as a podcast. The first of all actual plays quickly grew in popularity to fill concert halls. Fans cheered as DM Chris Perkins steered amazing players through situations equally exciting and hilarious. If I say, “Green Flame!” you probably know to shout it back to me, because that’s how well Acq Inc is known. The rise of Critical Role is well documented, as are other actual plays that have gone on to sell out large stadiums in the US and UK. YouTube has elevated many other DMs, some who have become designers after first establishing a streaming or recording presence.

Chris Perkins did not seem to want fame. However, the stage and the camera allowed him to reach fans in a way he never could before. As excellent as his The Dungeon Master Experience column on the 4E D&D web site was, it pales in reach and accomplishment to his actual plays and many videos.

For Jeremy Crawford, the camera allowed him to become the voice of D&D 2024, advocating for the process being used and the changes being made. There is no comparison between the number of fans who knew him during 4E and those who knew him when he started answering Sage Advice on social media, appearing on the Dragon Talk podcast, or later when he appeared on most of D&D’s videos.

Terrific for D&D

This has been absolutely fantastic for D&D and Wizards of the Coast. When Chris and Jeremy were becoming famous, they were also elevating D&D and all RPGs. When I was contracted to write Cloud Giant’s Bargain, I assumed it would be a convention adventure at PAX West a few hundred might play. Instead, thousands of copies were given out at movie theaters broadcasting the live Acquisitions Incorporated show. That’s how big Acq Inc was and is!

Fans didn’t just come to watch Chris (or the other cast members). They watched D&D, many becoming fans for the first time or returning to D&D. The reasons for watching Acq Inc are varied, in the same way that many people watching Critical Role have never played an RPG. A gamer on the fence may buy a product because Jeremy talked about it, or be more excited to read and run it because Chris adapted it into an Acq Inc game.

Fans have developed relationships of trust with their heroes. When I was at the D&D Summit and creators were angry at Wizards of the Coast, staff asked if fans still wanted to hear from Chris and Jeremy, who had planned to show parts of the new books. I assumed everyone would say no. Not only did they say yes, all of the previously angry creators suddenly had huge happy smiles as Chris and Jeremy came to the front of the room. That’s star power.

While D&D dominates our hobby, this effect has been true at a smaller scale for other RPG companies as well. Fans develop relationships with Matt Colville and James Introcaso, with Monte Cook and Shanna Germain, and small creators thank their gods when Ginny Di or the Dungeon Dudes mention their product.

The Downsides

Hollywood is a tricky place. Wizards has at times gone big on a Hollywood personality and then had to deal with negative results. Other companies have had this problem as well. The damage can be minor (a movie star says your company is being managed poorly) or major (a star is revealed to be problematic and hurt many people, sometimes while on your dime).

Stars can also leave or shift allegiances. On April 4^th, 2025, Chris Perkins shocked many D&D fans by announcing he was retiring. On April 11th, Jeremy Crawford said he would be leaving Wizards of the Coast. Two months later, they work under their old titles at a new place: Darrington Press, the game publishing arm of Critical Role. Fans can be heard on social media discussing how they will now try Critical Role’s new RPG, Daggerheart, even though Chris and Jeremy didn’t write it. (I’ve argued that Critical Role is the only RPG company that competes with D&D, because CR is actually an entertainment company.)

It remains to be seen how Wizards of the Coast will react, but Todd Kenreck, interviewer and producer for most if not all of the D&D YouTube channel videos over the past years… was one of a few people laid off this week. Wizards can’t be pleased that the two best-known designers have happily moved to a different RPG company, especially an entertainment company.

No Stars?

Back at the start of 5E, Mike Mearls headed the team and discussed how there had been a decision not to elevate individual D&D designers. The game should be the star, not the designers. That decision did not last long. We can understand both why they made the decision and why it changed back to enabling stars. Stars play a vital role.

Wizards may try to return to a world without stars, but I think they will find that path hard to stick to, as would other companies. Fans want to connect. Impersonal PR voiceovers are nothing like an actual designer who can speak to the game. Justice Arman, Makenzie De Armas, Amanda Hamon, Wes Schneider… they bring passion and knowledge when they speak for the game. They teach the game when we see them lean over the table, exciting their players and the audience as they showcase talents to which we can aspire. Elevating staff to stardom is a win for the craft of designing, for the designers themselves, for Wizards, and for the hobby.

I don’t know if Chris or Jeremy will continue to DM the Acq Inc shows, but whoever does so will play a vital role for RPGs. The Critical Role cast will continue to bring in new players, as will Matt Colville. Hollywood stars may have a reputation, but fans generally understand that. When we hear Judi Dench DMs for her grandchildren, that Steven Spielberg cast E.T. The Extraterrestrial by having the actors play D&D, or we hear Deborah Ann Woll passionately advocate for the game? This matters to us.

More Information

Interested in hearing more about Chris and Jeremy moving to Critical Role? Check out or episode covering the news on Mastering Dungeons. We also discuss the Daggerheart initiative system. You can catch the podcast or our YouTube videos. If you want to learn more about Daggerheart, check out my Learn to Play video or video on creating a character.