Here we are at the end of the week, which means it’s time for a TTRPG news roundup! In this week’s headlines: Former DnD designer explains why BBEGs die so easily, Wayne Brady joins the Critical Role family, Daggerheart gets more Roll20 support, and Free League launches a campaign box for Coriolis.
5E Designer Mike Mearls Shows Design Reason Why Dnd Boss Fights Are Too Easy
A common criticism of DnD 5E is that combat can be way too easy without homebrew. Former DnD Designer Mike Mearls chimed in on why the designers let this happen: they thought you’d fight a lot more and be drained by the time a boss fight goes down.
According to a BlueSky post, the design team expected parties to have about 20 rounds of combat in between long rests. This would force players to spread out their ability use. The current trend is only one or two big battles per day, so players end up having enough resources to “go nova” by using their most damaging attacks in the first round of combat. Mearls comments that adding more HP to boss monsters is a workaround for this gameplay style.
Vox Machina Cartoon Casts Wayne Brady As New Party Member
When Vox Machina Season 4 comes out next year, viewers will hear a familiar but surprising voice: Wayne Brady as Taryon Darrington. The casting was announced at New York Comic Con. Darrington was originally played by Sam Riegel while Scanlan was away from the party. Scanlan did leave the group as well in the animated series, albeit on better terms. He might return in Season 4, which could explain Brady’s casting in order to make the two characters sound different from one another. No explanation was given by Critical Role at the panel.
Daggerheart Gets Free Quickstart On Roll20
Those looking to try Daggerheart can now get a complete starter experience on Roll20. Using the free Daggerheart Quickstart Adventure VTT Companion, you’ll get access to a prebuilt learn-to-play adventure complete with tokens, maps with dynamic lighting, and handouts. The bundle also comes with Demiplane features such as character sheets that integrate with Roll20. It’s another sign of Daggerheart’s success that one of the biggest VTTs is devoting time to creating free digital tools especially for this one game.
Free League Announces Coriolis Campaign Boxed Set
Free League is continuing its support of Coriolis: The Great Dark with a campaign boxed set. This set is called The Flowers of Algorab, and will come with a full campaign book, an Exploration booklet, full-color maps, ship blueprints, base and gear dice, card decks, and tokens. While the included items might seem similar to those of a starter set, the mention of a full campaign book implies this is intended for longer-term play. No price was given the report by ICv2, but a release date of February 3, 2026 was given.
With that, we’re at the end of this week’s news! Thanks for reading as always, and may your dice be kind!
Sergio Solórzano is the best Dungeon Master in the USA (according to a Wizards of the Coast competition, anyway). He loves minis and terrain but also goes all-in on improv!
