D&D General Joe Manganiello's D&D Campaign Includes a Game of Thrones Creator & Vince Vaughn

The entertainment magazine Variety has joined the long list of mainstream publications who have published articles about D&D in recent years. They take a look at Joe Manganiello's home game, which includes Vince Vaughn, plus the guitarist from Rage Against the Machine, and one one of the Game of Thrones creators!

Inside Joe Manganiello’s Epic Dungeons & Dragons Campaign

Go inside Joe Manganiello's Hollywood Dungeons & Dragons campaign, which includes Vince Vaughn, Tom Morello, The Big Show and more.

variety.com

 

[Iry]

Is your contention that this is a PR game based on anything more than his celebrity? You may know more about it than what's in the article, and if so I'd like to know too.

Some of the players are clearly his friends, but many seem to be chosen for networking reasons. I am sure he has at least considered making his game public like Critical Role.

That doesn't mean Joe is guilty of anything. It's his party and he can network if he wants to. But if it ever does go public I would certainly like to see a little more diversity.

 

[Dire Bare]

Some of the players are clearly his friends, but many seem to be chosen for networking reasons. I am sure he has at least considered making his game public like Critical Role.

That doesn't mean Joe is guilty of anything. It's his party and he can network if he wants to. But if it ever does go public I would certainly like to see a little more diversity.

Networking reasons? That doesn't make any sense. Networking is a verb, a way to grow your, well, network of people. It can be done for business reasons, but also purely for social reasons. Joe didn't choose some of his players for "networking reasons", he found them through networking . . . meaning, he met them through his friends.

It's exactly how non-celebrity gaming groups operate. First, you invite your friends to play, your friends that you know (or suspect) are interested in playing D&D. Then, one of your friends says, "Hey, I've got this buddy who would love to play, can I invite him to join our group?"

 

[Fenris-77]

Some of the players are clearly his friends, but many seem to be chosen for networking reasons. I am sure he has at least considered making his game public like Critical Role.

That doesn't mean Joe is guilty of anything. It's his party and he can network if he wants to. But if it ever does go public I would certainly like to see a little more diversity.

If he took the game public I would expect to see more diversity, and so should everyone. As for the friends, perhaps some are chosen for networking purposes, but also perhaps not. Like I said, he's a LA guy, married to an even more famous woman, so it makes sense that his circle of friends would have other famous people entirely absent any 'networking' on his part. Especially once word of mouth sets in. Anyway, I'm not trying to absolve him of anything mentioned in this thread, I'm just not ready to accuse him either.

 

[Dire Bare]

You can't get in someone's grill if they don't even know you exist.

And, I'm afraid that this isn't "just his home table" - insofar as "just a home table" is not worth an article in Variety. Your table wouldn't make for such an article, and neither would mine. This is a table of celebrities. Nearly a dozen named players, and three folks who do ancillary things for the game (like paint minis) - all men.

If a bunch of similarly placed, prominent, and powerful people got together in the drawing room regularly for brandy and cigars, we would look sideways at it. The article itself points out how it is social bonding, the creation of a community... a community of influential men with no women in it is not a good look these days.

In getting their names in Variety for this, they are engaging in PR - "look at us, you'll like us more because we are geeks too!" And yeah, D&D gets a boost from having celebrity names associated with it. But, if you are going to play the PR game, exactly what image you're projecting is up for criticism.

Yes, this is just his home table. And no, if they were drinking brandy and smoking cigars, I would not look sideways at it. Heck, maybe they are drinking brandy and smoking cigars while they play D&D!

Celebrities are people too. And some of them just want to get together and game, and that's all that's happening here. In a sense, its not really newsworthy, the article only exists due to the celebrity status of the participants. This isn't a backroom cabal of Hollywood elites making secret deals . . . and the power of the participants is limited, at best. This is just a weekly D&D game, and should not be judged for a supposed lack of gender diversity.

Being a celebrity is a weird thing. You spend a significant part of your life in the spotlight, so much so that it is normalized to a degree. People want to know about your personal life in detail, especially if they feel a connection. Gamers are excited to learn that Joe and his famous friends are D&D nerds, even though it doesn't really impact our lives in any real way. My home game isn't newsworthy, nobody cares. Joe's home game? We shouldn't care, but we do.

If there is any marketing or business angle to this at all, which there really isn't . . . . its that Joe has entered into the "celebriD&D ecosystem" of D&D celebrities. Joe doesn't live stream his home game, but he has participated in a variety of livestream games and events in partnership with WotC (and some charities, I believe). He co-wrote a Dragonlance script (that didn't end up going anywhere) and he owns/runs a fashion line with D&D inspired designs. His home game isn't a part of any of that, but Joe has become known as a celebrity who plays D&D (a celebriD&D!), and that led to interest in his long-running home game and this article.

 

[FlyingChihuahua]

Some of the players are clearly his friends, but many seem to be chosen for networking reasons. I am sure he has at least considered making his game public like Critical Role.

That doesn't mean Joe is guilty of anything. It's his party and he can network if he wants to. But if it ever does go public I would certainly like to see a little more diversity.

Or they could just be, y'know, playing D&D with friends.

 

[Dire Bare]

If he took the game public I would expect to see more diversity, and so should everyone. As for the friends, perhaps some are chosen for networking purposes, but also perhaps not. Like I said, he's a LA guy, married to an even more famous woman, so it makes sense that his circle of friends would have other famous people entirely absent any 'networking' on his part. Especially once word of mouth sets in. Anyway, I'm not trying to absolve him of anything mentioned in this thread, I'm just not ready to accuse him either.

It is very unlikely that Joe's home game will shift into a live-streamed game. Joe might actually be up for it, as he has played other live-stream games . . . . but I really doubt his players would be interested and willing.

This really is just his home game and nothing more than that. It's not a prelude to a live-stream, it's not marketing for his clothing line or other professional projects. It's only an article because Joe is a famous nerd doing something that, still, to most folks is a bit weird, playing D&D.

 

[lkj]

Is it worth noting that Joe has actually been on live streamed games and played with Deborah Anne Woll? And that it is extremely obvious he has no problem playing D&D with women?

Probably not. But I'll mention it anyway.

AD

P.S. Actually, what's obvious is that Joe loves D&D, and he's excited to play with anyone

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Pretty sure that is a reference to Tom's band "Rage against the Machine"!

Erp, clearly I failed my recognize humor check...

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Pretty sure this is you not knowing who he is as an obvious Rage joke goes right over your head. That was a pretty rude assumption for you to make.

Yup, clearly the joke went over my head. Having purchased the eponymous Rage Against the Machine album on day 1 in vinyl, I guess maybe I know who Tom Morello is. But I didn't connect the "Rage" part with the "Rage - three times per long rest" part.

Apologies to @DMMike .

 

[3catcircus]

Is it worth noting that Joe has actually been on live streamed games and played with Deborah Anne Woll? And that it is extremely obvious he has no problem playing D&D with women?

Probably not. But I'll mention it anyway.

AD

P.S. Actually, what's obvious is that Joe loves D&D, and he's excited to play with anyone

I took more umbrage at the criticism of Vince Vaughn by some of the posters moreso than criticism that there were no females in his game as presented in the article, for the very reason you describe.

I'd wager that Vaughn and Tom Morello are at complete opposite ends of the political spectrum yet they are both socializing with a group of others who all obviously have different backgrounds, personal lives, and politics.

It's not the celebrities that make his game more than it needs to be, it's the fawning fans.

Whether it's rich and powerful, celebrity status, or some other fluffed-up treatment, unless they have a diva attitude, they just want want to be treated the same as anyone else.