It wouldn’t be wrong to say thatCritical Roleis, at the very least, partially responsible for theDungeons & Dragonsrenaissance that’s occurred over the past decade. In that time, it’s once again become a mainstay of geek culture and the passion for the game has driven many to create similar actual-play campaigns. In 2022, there are hundreds if not thousands of campaigns out there as videos or podcasts. While none have quite managed to match the notoriety ofCritical Rolethat’s not to say that there aren’t stories just as vivid and spectacular being told by other Dungeon Masters.
Critical Roledoes a masterful job at crafting stories and characters suited for a long and intense campaign.Critical RolecreatorMatthew Mercertakes years to craft an intricate world built to withstand the plots befitting of a fantasy epic. Others take a different approach, crafting a more bite-sizedD&Dcampaign rather than the Heroes’ Feast ofCritical Role.
One of the storytellers on the rise in this medium are the campaigns of Dimension 20,aD&Dshow produced by Dropout. Each campaign has a different name and genre all under the banner of Dimension 20 much like differentD&Dshows all airing on the same network. There are currently 8 campaigns with a 9th currently airing. The majority of the Dungeon Mastering is done by the brilliantBrennan Lee Mulligan. The actual players are often different each season except for the group of six that happens to play the characters in the 3 campaigns discussed in this article.
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Each campaign is its own self-contained story and while the show often jumps between genres, its heart lies in the fantasy settingsDungeons & Dragonsis best suited for. Yet because the seasons are so short, they all have their own twist on fantasy to give it its own unique flair. The three most well-known campaigns all happen to be some flavor of fantasy, but they all set out to achieve something entirely unique and succeed at it.
Dropout as a production company makes largely comedy-focused shows and while Dimension 20 is much more obviously comedic thanCritical Role, to view any Dimension 20 campaign as solely comedic would do a great disservice to the DM and players. They add so much depth and dimension to characters and while the comedy is certainly a big part, it doesn’t stop these campaigns from going to some darkplaces. The comedy is a highlight of the Dimension 20experience, but it is far from all it has to offer.
WhileCritical Roleis incomparable in its scope and scale, creating sprawling multi-year long campaigns in an intensely detailed fantasy world. Dimension 20 sets out to do something a little different withDungeons & Dragonsbut does it just as spectacularly. WhereCritical Roleis the vast fantasy epic that would fill a hefty series of novels, Dimension 20 focuses on telling intricate shorter stories. And even for those who don’t find fantasy particularly to their fancy, there are plenty of other genres to choose from. Whether it beOf Mice and Murder’s classicAgatha Christiemurder mystery,Starstruck Odyssey’scampy space opera, or the playful miniseriesTiny Heist, there’s sure to be something for everyone. But for theD&Daficionados who loveCritical Role,there’s only one place to start: fantasy. And Dimension 20 has plenty of its flavors to offer.
Dimension 20’s first and arguably most successful foray into the actual-play realm is their campaignFantasy High. This series takes place in a world that’s a fascinating mash-up of modern and classic fantasy. While the world is populated with orcs and dragons, they still attend a normal high school. Characters’ parents get divorced. Elves eat yogurt and teens send mass texts on tricked-out crystals. The world itself is wonderfully wacky. Almost aDouglas Adams-esque take on a fantasy setting. But the heart of this campaign, like anyD&Dcampaign really, is the characters.
Fantasy Highfollows a group of six high schoolers, called The Bad Kids who go to a school for adventurers. As their name implies, they don’t have the best reputation. Their first day of school lands them all in detention, but before they can allThe Breakfast Clubit up they’re drawn into a fierce battle with living corn monsters and unknowingly get pulled into a much larger evil plot.
The first season follows The Bad Kids as they search for missing students being used in an ancient ritual, track down a cursed dragon hoard, and try their best to find dates for prom. IfJohn Hughesmade aDungeons & Dragonscampaign this would be it. The entire cast is delightful, and the high school setting offers a unique spin on classic tropes from bothD&Dand teen comedies. It’s got heart, style, and humor abound as well as some of the most off-the-wall clutch nat-20 rolls in anyD&Dcampaign period.Fantasy Highis the oddball offbeat fantasy you didn’t know you needed in your life.
The only other Dimension 20 campaign to have more than one season (so far) isThe Unsleeping City. A sharp turn from the starry-eyed students inFantasy High,The Unsleeping Cityfollows a group of world-weary adults in a fictionalized New York City. In this world, there are two New York’s, the one we all know in the real world and one woven out of magic and mana. These two New York City’s overlap in a fascinating urban fantasy setting that’s both a tribute to and a critique of New York City and what it stands for. Our six heroes, The Dream Team, cross back and forth between realms solving mysteries both magical and mundane which ultimately leads them to a battle with The American Dream (no joke).
The Unsleeping Cityoffers a modern fantasy setting atypical to bigD&Dcampaigns with commentary on the real world. The heart of this campaign lies in its themes of human connection. Stand-out character Kingston Brown (Lou Wilson) acts as a magically appointed Voice of the People, chosen by the very spirit of New York City itself to speak on behalf of the community. His struggle to keep people together or simply keep them alive is reflected twofold through his work as a nurse as well as his position as the group’s cleric. Through Kingston and the rest of the party, we are drawn into a world that is both fantastical and grounded, where it is up to us to help each other. While the tone is less quirky thanFantasy Highit is no less sincere. It simply takes a mature, realist spin on the softer urban fantasy elements present inFantasy Highand transforms them into a setting that feels nearly as real as the actual place.
Of course, noDungeons & Dragonsexperience would be complete without a foray into high fantasy.A Crown of Candyis just that. Following the exploits of the Rocks family of Candia as their entire continent falls into an all-out war between the different nations,A Crown of Candyis a true fantasy epic. With one caveat, all the characters are made of food. Each kingdom is a different food group and our heroes, as the title suggests, are people from a land of candy. The CandyLand aesthetics are quickly juxtaposed with political intrigue, betrayals, and detailed world-building.A Crown of Candyremains a particularly brutal chapter of Dimension 20’s history with the player characters being on death’s doorstep nearly every episode and a desperate struggle to find trust in a crumbling candy world. As such, fans have lovingly called this campaign Dimension 20’s ownGame of Thrones(with food).
With a giant shift in power on the horizon in the land of Calorum, everyone is vying for their own gain. Unlike in other campaigns, our heroes all know each other from the very start and have a history. Many of them are family and those who aren’t are trusted advisors and friends. They mostly just want to get out of this whole conflict without losing too much but as decades of conspiracies start to come unwound they find they can’t keep their hands as clean as they wish. Another large shift from the other campaigns is the higher stakes, players and fans know from the start that Brennan would be less forgiving this season and as NPCs and player characters start to stack up it becomes clear that this campaignthriveson bloodshed.
Some of the best exchanges in any Dimension 20campaign happen in this season, and it’s often so riveting you forget the words are coming from a sentient piece of cake. The unconventional aesthetic tempers the brutality of the campaign, but that brutality simultaneously elevates the story beyond its candy-colored veneer to show something that (without the whole sentient food thing) would not feel out of place in a high fantasy epic.
And if theGame of Thronescomparison raises any hackles, rest assured. The talent of Mulligan and his players keeps this story on track all the way to the finish line. The collaborative nature of aDungeons & Dragonsgame allows for the kind of storytelling freedom that traditional media usually just cannot accommodate.
Dimension 20is the perfect dessert after a full course ofCritical Role. It offers its own magnificent brand of quirkiness, incredible characters, wonderful cast chemistry, and truly godlike Dungeon Mastering. The cast has wonderful chemistry and a knack for creating characters that will first make you laugh and then cry. Between the brilliant world-building, the fantastic banter, the creative characters, the surprising depth to storytelling, and the good old battle shenanigansD&Dis known for, fans ofCritical Roleare sure to find something to love in Dimension 20.
