“Welcome back, intrepid adventurers.” This is how Brendan Lee Mulligan begins each session of “Dimension 20,” a TV show revolving around several different Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) campaigns.
“Dimension 20” is only one example of D&D content that has sprung up and garnered immense popularity in recent years. Similarly, Critical Role began its fourth campaign only a few weeks ago, with two previous campaigns, The Legend of Vox Machina and The Mighty Nein, being adapted into animated shows by Amazon Prime.
The nature of D&D requires groups of people to gather, often physically, and interact for hours on end. In an increasingly digital age where loneliness has become an epidemic, D&D offers a brief escape. Additionally, campaigns can last anywhere from a few hours to years, and just because a campaign has ended doesn’t mean the game has.
Despite typically being labeled a “nerd game” and conjuring up fantasy imagery of elves, dragons and magic, D&D is incredibly versatile. Recently, my favorite thing to tune into each week has been Awesomely Awful’s “We Fixed It: Twilight” campaign.
“We Fixed It” is a D&D reimagining of Twilight, keeping the essence of the series alive while adding some new plot points and characters. It’s also incredibly funny with some committed acting. The whole show pokes good fun at the Twilight series while also putting up a genuine attempt to improve upon the source material.
There are so many different D&D media to choose from- TV shows, podcasts, YouTube series, books, graphic novels, etc. If there’s a genre you have in mind, there’s probably a D&D campaign for it, and if not, you can create it. There are plenty of free resources for D&D, but the great thing about it is that you can do whatever you want.
And there’s no penalty for playing fast and loose with the rules. Episode 2 of “We Fixed It: Twilight” features a baseball mini-game. Because why not? Once you understand the basics of D&D, you can start to see all the things it’s influenced.
Even by watching through a screen, you can join the community surrounding a D&D campaign. Then suddenly, you might find yourself looking forward to Monday nights so you can watch a bunch of grown adults pretend they’re solving a murder mystery set in a fantasy world.
