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.

 

[Bravesteel25]

That Mercer quote doesn't say he's sharing the main beats with his players, only that he's planning them out ahead of time . . . like many DM's do.

Of course, there could be more to the interview you are quoting from, or from other interviews . . .

That's exactly what I said in my post.

 

[Dire Bare]

That's exactly what I said in my post.

Sorry, wasn't clear to me!

 

[AlViking]

This is a dubious statement. D&D has been a "cultural touchstone." I have never seen any evidence that 5E was a touchstone anywhere outside the industry and D&D fandom prior to its explosion of popularity following CR, ST and covid.

That doesn't say much of anything about what was responsible for the growth. Did CR add 10%, 100%, 1,000% to D&D 5e's growth? We'll never know, but the sales of D&D 5e were already growing by double digits and in July of 2015 even Amazon was running out of copies yet CR didn't start streaming until March of 2015 and took a while to catch on. What we do know is that the most viewed TTRPG actual plays all use D&D 5e and more people have played D&D than have watched CR. So perhaps the success of CR has more to do with the popularity of 5e than the other way around.

I'm not making any claims one way or another. We might as well say that 5e is successful because boomers and gen Xers wanted to play games with their kids or because with the rise of video games people playing games for fun doesn't carry the social stigma it once did. I'm sure there are other factors as well.

In the end it doesn't really matter - all the advertising in the world may get people in the door but it doesn't keep people playing the game. After the initial growth of D&D, which lasted around 10 years, every release saw a lot of initial interest and then the sales dropped off quickly until the release of 5e.

D&D's ongoing success with 5e would not be happening if people didn't enjoy playing the game.

 

[Bravesteel25]

Sorry, wasn't clear to me!

No worries! Let me edit it to make it more clear.

 

[Reynard]

I think it is worth noting that CR started out as an actual D&D game (well, Pathfinder, but whatever) that they decided to stream. it has certainly evolved since then, but as I understand it, it was not crafted as a form of streaming entertainment. I think games that are can sometimes feel more directed or manipulated.

 

[Maxperson]

That Mercer quote doesn't say he's sharing the main beats with his players, only that he's planning them out ahead of time . . . like many DM's do.

Of course, there could be more to the interview you are quoting from, or from other interviews . . .

He even says in that article linked there that there were plenty of times where his hard work went to waste because of decisions the players made.

 

[Reynard]

He even says in that article linked there that there were plenty of times where his hard work went to waste because of decisions the players made.

Stupid players, always ruining games...

 

[Maxperson]

Stupid players, always ruining games...

I actually find those times to be among the best times. I love it when the players find clever ways to get around or invalidate something. Keeps me on my toes!

 

[EthanSental]

I actually find those times to be among the best times. I love it when the players find clever ways to get around or invalidate something. Keeps me on my toes!

The classic players curveball mid session….staple of our campaigns often.

 

[Mournblade94]

So your evidence is…your feelings?

Since you brought up science, it seems to me like you have advanced a testable hypothesis. Now, the most parsimonious explanation would seem to be the simplest and the one that matches all the available evidence: these people are actually playing the games that I see them playing. So can you provide even one piece of testable evidence to back up your accusation that an entire industry of people are all lying? And implying that the rest of us are no smarter than you as a child?

Because I feel like if I was going to impugn and insult that many people I’d want to have something pretty strong to back me up.

Honestly I figured this part of the discussion was over.

The quote your responding to was in response to calling this a flat earth magnitude misconception. Thats why science was brought into it because flat earth breaks fundamental laws.

I never ONCE claimed people from an industry are lying. OTHER people made that assumption and I do not accept that accusation.

Ok i was uninformed on this. At this point I don't care about this very minor issue. I already said id shut up about it. I'm not going to fly the AP flag because its NOT scripted. I tried to get into them and watching other people play whether it was a script or not just is not something I can spend time on.

Its much better to paint my opinion as calling people stupid (not once), paranoidly calling industry workers liars (not once), or impugning an industry (i thought it was an open secret). The reaction is as ridiculous to me as my opinion is to all of you.