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We're only a few episodes into Critical Role campaign 4, but new DM BRennan Lee Mulligan has already gone on record to confirm who - or what - the real big bad of his story is.
In a video on Twitter, Mulligan was asked if he was willing to confirm "that capitalism is the big bad of this campaign." In a deeply on-brand response, he does start off by admitting, straight-up, that "capitalism is the big bad of this campaign," but explains that it's not that simple.
In the high-fantasy setting of Critical Role, capitalism as we understand might understand it doesn't really exist, and as such Mulligan says "we are going to be historically accurate. One of the worst things about capitalism is that though it seems inevitable, it is actually quite a recent civilizational system."
WHO'S THE REAL VILLAIN OF CAMPAIGN 4? 🤔⚔️ 🧭 🪶Robbie Daymond and Game Master Brennan Lee Mulligan break down the true sinister forces at work in the world of Aramán and beyond as they go on the record about the ultimate big bad of #CriticalRole Campaign 4!LEARN MORE ABOUT… pic.twitter.com/rfkm9YrD8vOctober 22, 2025
Before Mulligan can begin espousing how an early form of mercantilism - a predecessor to capitalism that was a key part of European economics in the 15th to 19th centuries - he's cut off by fellow cast member Robbie Daymond, who simply yells out "Campaign 4, late-stage capitalism! You're going down!" In response to that, Mulligan can only laugh, before saying that "also Imperialism is bad too."
For fans of Mulligan's previous actual-play DM work, that should come as little surprise. Even before Campaign 4 started, long-time viewers of Dimension 20 were telling Critical Role enjoyers that they should expect their new Game Master to bring a distinctly political slant to his storytelling. We're yet to really see that get underway - we're mere weeks into a campaign that might last for years, after all - but Mulligan's certainly not hiding his intentions.
