Critical Role’s Marisha Ray and Honey Heist creator Grant Howitt have partnered with Free RPG Day to create a new one-page tabletop role-playing game. Titled A Familiar Problem, the light-hearted game will be available at friendly local game stores on June 25. The debut will feature a session with RuPaul’s Drag Race star Heidy N Closet, and is set to air on June 23.
Free RPG Day is an international event held annually to celebrate TTRPGs. The goal is to bring players new and old together in order to explore different games and strengthen their community. Smaller games and quick-start demos of larger modules are common, but Howitt’s involvement here is notable. His Honey Heist is one of the most popular — and most viral — one-page games ever made. The gang at Critical Role ran Honey Heist across three different videos in 2017, further pushing the gem into the mainstream of the TTRPG hobby.
According to Thursday’s news release, A Familiar Problem puts players in the role of “scrappy and stressed out” familiars — magical, sentient animal companions of spellcasters — trying to keep up with a party of adventurers.
To promote Free RPG Day, Critical Role will be broadcasting a premiere playthrough on June 23. The adventure, titled A Familiar Problem: Sprinkle’s Incredible Journey!, will be set in the world of Exandria. Joining Heidi at the table to play will be Critical Role founders Laura Bailey, Matthew Mercer, and Travis Willingham as well as Dimension 20’s Isabella Roland. Marisha Ray will act as the game master.
A Familiar Problem: Sprinkle’s Incredible Journey! goes out live at 7 p.m. PDT on Critical Role’s Twitch and YouTube, with video-on-demand and podcast versions to follow.
