D&D Movie/TV Dungeons & Dragons Adventures is a 24-Hour Streaming Channel Launching in Summer

This summer, a new free streaming channel will be launched by eOne, the entertainment company owned by Hasbro. It will be ad-supported and available on multiple (as yet unspecified) platforms and feature a mix of animation, third party influencers, and actual play shows.

The old 1980s Dungeons & Dragons cartoon will be available, along with shows like:

• Encounter Party is based on an existing podcast and set in the Forgotten Realms.
• Faster, Purple Worm! Kill! Kill! is a comedy game stream in each episode of which a party of 1st level characters march to their deaths against deadly monsters.
• Heroes's Feast is a cooking/talk show.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I stole Guildmaster Silas for my own campaign's Thieves Guild a few years ago. Because Richard O'Brien should never be wasted.

The quicksand rug -- which was repeated/homaged in the new movie -- is also a genuinely good trap and magic item idea, even if it was born from the requirements of the special effects involved. (It's easier to portray it if there's a distinct border that looks different than the flagstones around it.)

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

The quicksand rug -- which was repeated/homaged in the new movie -- is also a genuinely good trap and magic item idea, even if it was born from the requirements of the special effects involved. (It's easier to portray it if there's a distinct border around it that looks different from the flagstones around it.)

It's a great use of practical effects - one can envision how bad it would've looked with the rest of the dodgy CGI in the movie.

 

[Queer Venger]

Im from LA and got invited to taping of Faster, Purple Worm, Kill, Kill!
That's all I can say at the moment.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Im from LA and got invited to taping of Faster, Purple Worm, Kill, Kill!
That's all I can say at the moment.

Faster, chibi, kill, kill!

 

[Abstruse]

So the whole pivot to FAST thing is because most streaming services plateaued in subscriber numbers back during 2020/early 2021 (gee, don't know why they picked up so many subscribers during that particular window of time...) so companies are seeing decreased revenues when the rules of modern economics is Line Must Always Go Up. Being sustainable and profitable isn't good enough, it must be more profitable than it was last quarter repeat forever.

So a lot of these studios are stuck with back catalogs of stuff they own the rights to that isn't going to drive subscriber numbers on their own but they still want to make money off them, so they started doing free services that are ad-supported. Pad it out with cheap non-scripted (so non-union) new material and maybe a couple of fan-favorite series that don't cost a lot but get good word-of-mouth promotion to make people aware of the service (for example, the Leverage sequel series is available from Amazon on Freevee and people like me won't shut up about it because I friggin' love Leverage) and you've got something that almost passively makes profit.

This means what you're going to see on a D&D FAST network is going to be:

1. D&D Actual Play shows (Encounter Party)
2. Minor variations on D&D Actual Play shows (Faster Purple Worm Kill Kill as an improv comedy show mixed with D&D (BTW if you don't think this will work, Tracy Hickman has been running Killer Breakfast at conventions for something like 20 years now))
3. Themed reality TV and talk shows (Heroes Feast as a D&D-themed cooking show, but I wouldn't be surprised if they do a late night talk show format program interviewing celebrities about their experiences playing D&D or people doing explainer videos about D&D lore)
4. Any crap they can find that's cheap to license or they already have the rights to (old fantasy movies, TV shows, and webseries in particular with the old 80s D&D cartoon being the prime example there)

What you should NOT expect from a D&D FAST network:

1. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (that's on Paramount+ and will be for a while)
2. The Joe Manganiello documentary (that'll also be on Paramount+)
3. Any big-budget scripted D&D show like the one they've been trying to get off the ground (that will be a union production and way out of the budget for a network like this because, despite this being the model of broadcast TV, FAST services don't have the pure numbers to make back that sort of up-front cost)
4. Anything from Critical Role (while not impossible, CR's already got a relationship with Amazon so are unlikely to license any of their shows to Hasbro, especially when they've got enough material to damn near launch their own FAST network)
5. Anything featuring games that aren't Dungeons & Dragons or otherwise owned by Hasbro (you might get something with the Transformers/Power Rangers/GI Joe RPG, but I wouldn't hold my breath on World of Darkness, Warhammer, etc. and definitely not Star Trek, Fallout, or other licensed RPGs they don't have the rights to)

 

[bedir than]

The Joe Manganiello documentary (that'll also be on Paramount+)

This hasn't been purchased by a distributor yet

Any big-budget scripted D&D show like the one they've been trying to get off the ground

The first of three D&D tv shows that are known to be in development was purchased by Paramount

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Minor variations on D&D Actual Play shows (Faster Purple Worm Kill Kill as an improv comedy show mixed with D&D (BTW if you don't think this will work, Tracy Hickman has been running Killer Breakfast at conventions for something like 20 years now))

Not Another D&D Podcast, Nerd Poker and Dimension 20 are all super-successful actual play podcasts based on this idea as well.

I wouldn't be surprised if they do a late night talk show format program interviewing celebrities about their experiences playing D&D or people doing explainer videos about D&D lore

They have this with Dragon Talk. They just need a formal set to do it on. The podcast has become almost unbearably awful, though, as guests who have nothing really to say about D&D, other than they play it, are made to talk about how D&D has made them a better gardener or accountant or whatever. But the two hosts are already on the WotC payroll and building a set is relatively cheap, so I'd count on this being on the channel.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I can't tell you how great this new channel looks to be. I really can't. Someone above said that this is designed to serve WotC's needs, not the viewers. While I'm sure that's a big part of all programming, WotC is being really obvious about it.

 

[Zaukrie]

I can't tell you how great this new channel looks to be. I really can't. Someone above said that this is designed to serve WotC's needs, not the viewers. While I'm sure that's a big part of all programming, WotC is being really obvious about it.

All channels are to serve their owners needs first.....

This thread is relentlessly negative. I don't get why some people play this game given the comments all over the board.

 

[Micah Sweet]

All channels are to serve their owners needs first.....

This thread is relentlessly negative. I don't get why some people play this game given the comments all over the board.

You can like D&D and not like the actions of the company that controls its IP. I do it all the time. Ran a session last night. Seemed to get a positive response.