Wizards of the Coast launches official Dungeons & Dragons Actual Play show

Wizards of the Coast is getting back into the Actual Play game. Today, Wizards announced via Variety that they are launching a new Actual Play show called Dungeon Masters, starring Jasmine Bhullar as the Dungeon Master along with players Mayanna Berrin, Christian Navarro, Neil Newbon and Devora Wilde. Wilde and Newbon are veterans of Baldur's Gate 3, a smash hit for the Dungeons & Dragons IP. However, both actors will be playing new characters and not their Baldur's Gate 3 characters.

Of note is that the show will feature "official, unreleased D&D content" which will be put up for sale on D&D Beyond following every episode. The first arc takes place in Ravenloft and will feature content from Ravenloft: The Horrors Within. New episodes will be released weekly on YouTube, starting on April 22nd.

Wizards of the Coast previously produced several official D&D Actual Play series, including Dice, Camera, Action and Force Grey. Dice, Camera, Action was their flagship D&D program for years until it unceremoniously ended due to a scandal involving two of its players.

 

[QuentinGeorge]

In its complete garbage format? No thanks. Why doesn't WotC sell PDFs?

They don't want you to keep playing 5E when they release a new edition.

 

[mamba]

They don't want you to keep playing 5E when they release a new edition.

then they should stop selling books too

 

[AlViking]

then they should stop selling books too

And somehow remove the core rules from Creative Commons.

 

[Reynard]

They don't want you to keep playing 5E when they release a new edition.

Sadly, I don't think there will ever be a true new edition.

 

[Mort]

Sadly, I don't think there will ever be a true new edition.

They tried a "truly new" edition and it divided the fan base.

Then they went with a compromise edition, with new ideas, but that deliberately reflected the look of older editions - and had the greatest success they've ever had by a HUGE margin.

Not hard to see why they'd be gunshy about trying something radically different!

 

[AlViking]

Sadly, I don't think there will ever be a true new edition.

I don't want to play a different game with a D&D label, if I don't want to play D&D there are plenty of other options out there.

 

[Reynard]

I don't want to play a different game with a D&D label, if I don't want to play D&D there are plenty of other options out there.

How did you feel in 2001?

 

[Reynard]

They tried a "truly new" edition and it divided the fan base.

Then they went with a compromise edition, with new ideas, but that deliberately reflected the look of older editions - and had the greatest success they've ever had by a HUGE margin.

Not hard to see why they'd be gunshy about trying something radically different!

5E's success is not due to its rules, at least not completely. I would argue even 4E would have taken off if it had landed when 5E did. The driver was the world, from nerdstalgia to the pandemic.

 

[AlViking]

How did you feel in 2001?

I thought 3e was a good move because of how they fixed the math but the gameplay felt much the same even if they did screw up higher levels with how powerful casters became. While 4e may have had the basis for a good game had they had more time in development or narrower focus it didn't feel like the D&D I had grown up playing. With 5e they brought back most of what I wanted.

I don't mind evolution. I don't want a rewrite.

 

[Mort]

5E's success is not due to its rules, at least not completely. I would argue even 4E would have taken off if it had landed when 5E did. The driver was the world, from nerdstalgia to the pandemic.

Hard disagree.

4e's issues were not with timing. They were with presentation, a not great rollout and to a lesser extent, rules pushback.

5e hit with 4e and new players, brought back 3e players and even hit with 2e players (from personal experience, and reading online). Something 4e decidedly did not do.

I actually really liked 4e and thought it brought a lot to the table. But to claim it would have hit as big as 5e if the timing had just been better? IMO, wishful thinking at best!