Wizards of the Coast Announce 'Dungeon Masters' Actual Play Series

Actual play shows, such as Critical Role and Dimension 20 have been massively popular over the last ten years. Episodes can attract millions of viewers and Critical Role have sold out arenas across the globe, including Wembley Arena shows that sold out in under an hour. Dungeons & Dragons has often been the game of choice for shows and now D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast is getting in to the act with a new actual play series called ‘Dungeon Masters’ launching on YouTube on 22nd April.

Actual play shows are a podcast, live stream, or web show where a group of people play a tabletop roleplaying game. Basically imagine your game being recorded and then thrown open to the world for everyone to watch. Critical Roll is unarguably the biggest show available at present.

Critical Roll launched back in 2015 on Geek & Sundry with Campaign One which ran for 115 episodes, with each episode usually a few hours long. The group, who had been playing together for a few years prior to starting the show, are made up by a number of video game and animation voice actors with Matthew Mercer (Resident Evil 6, Attack on Titan, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth) taking the reins as the groups Dungeon Master for many campaigns. Critical Roll has been so popular it’s spawned comics, novels, miniature ranges, sell-out arena shows, and two Amazon Prime animation series The Legend of Vox Machina and The Mighty Nein, which were based on the first and second campaigns respectively. Critical Roll is currently on Campaign Four with a new episode releasing every Thursday at 7pm PT on YouTube, Twitch and their own Beacon streaming service.

It’s with this popularity firmly in mind that Wizards of the Coast are entering the fray, with their show aiming to appeal to a wide audience covering everyone from newcomers to D&D veterans. Dungeon Masters stars Jasmine Bhullar (Dimension 20, DesiQuest) as the shows Dungeon Master, with 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) as players.

Episodes will drop weekly, with the first two releasing at 6.30pm PT on Wedmnesday 22nd April, with the show featuring official unreleased D&D content which will then be available to play on D&D Beyond (WotC’s digitial platform) after each episode. The first campaign arc is a tie-in for the recently announced Ravenloft: The Horrors Within, plunging viewers into a dark and atmospheric setting filled with mystery, suspense, and gothic horror. The Ravenloft: The Horrors Within campaign product is due for release on June 16.

Images courtesy of Wizards of the Coast.