This Week in RPGs: Critical Role Confirms Campaign 4’s Return (July 20-26, 2026)
Critical Role gave fans an actual date this week: Campaign 4 returns Thursday, 28 August, with all eight founding cast members back at the table. That news lands while Age of Umbra: Sallowlands, the Daggerheart mini-series GMed by Matthew Mercer, is still airing weekly, so there is plenty to watch before the main campaign resumes. Beyond that, a new medieval TTRPG launched, a beloved GM book is heading back to Kickstarter, and this year’s ENnie nominees are out.
🎲 Headline News: Campaign 4 Has a Return Date
Critical Role confirmed this week that Campaign 4 will return on Thursday, 28 August, with all eight founding cast members at the table. That confirmation matters beyond the fandom bubble, since Critical Role’s schedule tends to shape when other actual-play shows plan their own premieres and breaks.
In the meantime, Age of Umbra: Sallowlands keeps airing weekly through 13 August. It is a Daggerheart mini-series GMed by Matthew Mercer, and it works as a genuinely useful preview of how Daggerheart handles GM-led narrative play if you have been curious about the system but have not tried it. If Daggerheart is new to you, our Daggerheart review covers what makes the system distinct before you commit to a full campaign. If you have not caught up on either Age of Umbra or the tail end of Campaign 3, be aware that later sections of gaming news roundups this month will likely start referencing story beats, so catch up sooner rather than later. Catch up on last week’s roundup if you missed the ENnie voting news or the Age of Umbra launch details.
🆕 New This Week
Four releases and announcements worth knowing about:
- Doomsong, a new medieval TTRPG from Modiphius, launched this week. Early word points to grounded, low-fantasy medieval settings rather than high-magic adventuring, so it is one to watch if your table wants something outside the standard fantasy toolkit.
- Five Parsecs From Home: Planetfall has a confirmed preorder window from Modiphius at roughly $55, expanding the solo and co-op sci-fi skirmish line.
- Star Trek Adventures: Allies and Adversaries, a new sourcebook from Modiphius, is confirmed for a July 2026 launch, adding NPC and faction material for existing campaigns.
- Roll20 rolled out a new Map Pins feature in Early Access, letting GMs drop persistent, clickable markers on virtual tabletop maps for locations, clues, or quest points.
💰 Crowdfunding Watch
Sly Flourish’s remaster of Rise of the Lazy Gamemaster is live on Kickstarter and closes 4 August. It is a strong pick if you already run games using Sly Flourish’s lazy-prep philosophy and want the updated version, but treat the funding status as exactly that: funded or funding, not yet delivered. Back it because you want the book, not because delivery is guaranteed on any particular timeline.
🏆 Community Spotlight: The 2026 ENnie Award Nominees Are Out
This year’s ENnie nominees were announced this week, covering categories from Best Art to Best Rules. It is worth a look through the list even if you do not plan to vote, since the nominees tend to double as a decent snapshot of which indie and mid-size TTRPG releases had the strongest year.
🛠️ GM Toolkit: This Week’s Tip
The tip: When you are running a mini-series or short campaign arc (like Age of Umbra), plan your ending beat before your opening session, not after.
Why it works: Short-form campaigns fail more often from an unclear finish than a weak start. If you know roughly how the arc lands, every session in between can build toward it instead of drifting.
How to use it: Write one sentence describing the emotional note you want the final session to hit, not the plot beat. Then work backwards and ask what needs to happen two sessions before that for the ending to land.
Example: If your arc’s ending beat is “the party chooses to spare someone they had every reason to kill,” you need at least one earlier session where that person shows genuine, costly vulnerability, or the final choice will not feel earned. Our guide to Game Mastering in Daggerheart: Agenda, Principles, and GM Moves goes deeper on this kind of structural prep if you are running Daggerheart specifically.
⏭️ Coming Next Week
Age of Umbra: Sallowlands continues airing weekly through 13 August, and the Sly Flourish Kickstarter closes 4 August, so that is the one with an actual deadline if you are planning to back it. Expect more Campaign 4 casting and format details to surface as the 28 August return date gets closer.
📋 The Week at a Glance
When does Critical Role Campaign 4 return? Thursday, 28 August, with all eight founding cast members. What should GMs watch out for this week? Doomsong’s medieval TTRPG launch, the Five Parsecs From Home: Planetfall preorder, and Sly Flourish’s Rise of the Lazy Gamemaster Kickstarter closing 4 August are the four items worth acting on rather than just reading about.
Note: Age of Umbra: Sallowlands story details above are kept spoiler-light; if you are behind on the series, watch before reading deeper coverage elsewhere. Kickstarter funding status was accurate as of this week’s roundup and can change before the 4 August close.
📜 Further Reading
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