We are living in a true golden age for getting started with TTRPGs. Hits in film and television such as Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves or Stranger Things have opened the doors for a wider audience to take a peek at the world's most famous role-playing game, as have video games like Baldur's Gate III, and have even turned the tables on over 40 years of conventions and toxic prejudices. These days, playing D&D is seen as cool, and there are loads of people out there who want to start playing. Or so Wizards of the Coast reckons, as it's launching a new series of live shows featuring gameplay.
Wizards aims to emulate the success of well-established programmes such as Dimension 20 and Critical Role (Vox Machina, The Mighty Nein), and has therefore enlisted a cast of gaming enthusiasts who are also familiar faces to fans. Jasmine Bhullar ("DesiQuest," "Dimension 20") will be the Dungeon Master at a table featuring regular players Mayanna Berrin ("Dispatch," "StoryQuest"), Christian Navarro ("13 Reasons Why," "Forgotten Realms: Tears of Selune"), Neil Newbon ("Baldur's Gate III") and Devora Wilde ("Baldur's Gate III"). The series, 'Dungeon Masters', will premiere on 22 April at 6.30 pm Pacific Time with a double episode, in which they will begin a campaign set in the revamped Ravenloft ambientation.
The aim, as reported by Variety, is not so much to overlap with or outdo the shows already on air, but rather a way to convert the brand's current surge in popularity into more players.
"We need to attract an existing audience. When we see how 'Baldur's Gate III', 'Stranger Things' and the 'D&D' film expanded the fan community and the number of people who play this game in general, I know that my goal in embarking on this — and, to some extent, Wizards' goal in doing so — is to expand this hobby that we all love so much," Bhullar told Variety. "So if someone who's never seen a live game watches ours and says, 'I want to run my own D&D game', then I think we've done our job well. Attracting an audience unfamiliar with live games is part of our objective."
Here at Gamereactor, we're also fans of TTRPGs, and a few months ago we reviewed the new Dungeons and Dragons: Heroes of the Borderlands Starter Set, confirming that it's the best way to get started with the game, even if neither you nor your friends have ever tried it before.
Adventure awaits...