: [POST-BROADCAST CORRECTION Aug. 7, 2025: A previous version of this story misstated Suz Pontillo’s last name as Portillo.]
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
The game Dungeons & Dragons started in the 1970s, and it used to be just something people played with friends at home. But in the past decade or so, podcasts and shows where actors and comedians perform while playing have exploded in popularity. One show, "Dimension 20," sold out Madison Square Garden in January. They've continued their tour with a recent stop in Seattle, and Scott Greenstone from member station KUOW went to that show and brought us this report.
SCOTT GREENSTONE, BYLINE: When he was 10, Brennan Lee Mulligan's mom took him out of school in upstate New York.
BRENNAN LEE MULLIGAN: I was getting very badly bullied. I was hiding under picnic tables at recess, reading animal fact cards. I was a nerdy kid.
GREENSTONE: His mom decided to homeschool him, enroll him in karate and get a group of college kids to teach him how to play this game she thought he might like called Dungeons & Dragons. Here's how it works - you and the other players are on a quest. One person narrates the story.
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MULLIGAN: (As Dungeon Master) As the clouds part, a flock of gulls flies over the Marigold River.
GREENSTONE: And each player improvises their part. Chance decides how things unfold. When you climb a wall or swing a sword at a goblin, you roll a 20-sided die. On a 20, you succeed. Roll a one...
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MULLIGAN: (As Dungeon Master) You leap forward and [expletive] trip and face-plant in the rows in between the tables.
UNIDENTIFIED PLAYER #1: (As character) Whoa.
GREENSTONE: Mulligan, now an improv comedian, is still playing Dungeons & Dragons. And today, his games have streamed to millions via his show "Dimension 20." The cast are other improv comedians and friends of Mulligan's, like Lou Wilson.
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MULLIGAN: (As Dungeon Master) Lou, would you describe yourself for the other players?
LOU WILSON: (As Fabian Aramais Seacaster) I'm Fabian Aramais Seacaster. You know, I'm a half elf. I'm a fencer by trade. I also know how to glass-blow and...
GREENSTONE: The stories they tell are mashups - "Game Of Thrones" meets Candy Land, "Lord Of The Rings" meets "The Breakfast Club," Jane Austen meets "A Court Of Thorns And Roses." "Dimension 20" isn't the only show like this, and it wasn't the first. Podcasts like "The Adventure Zone" and "Critical Role" have gotten so popular they've been adapted into best-selling graphic novels and an Amazon Prime show, and now they're playing in stadiums. "Critical Role" will be at the O2 in London next year. "Dimension 20" played the Hollywood Bowl in June. Here's Mulligan at Madison Square Garden in January, playing a dragon.
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MULLIGAN: (As Dungeon Master) Kalvaxus breathes in.
(As Kalvaxus the dragon) Trifle with me at your own peril. (Roaring).
UNIDENTIFIED PLAYER #2: (Screaming).
GREENSTONE: Aabria Iyengar frequently appears on "Dimension 20," "Critical Role" and other shows, and she thinks part of why these shows have gotten so popular is that their diverse casts are drawing new audiences.
AABRIA IYENGAR: There was another, like, Black person that had reached out and was like, I don't see people like us out here. You just make me feel like I always belonged here. And I think that was the point where I realized actual play could do more than just sort of be niche entertainment.
GREENSTONE: At a recent live show in Seattle, Suz Pontillo and her friends all came dressed as their favorite "Dimension 20" characters. Pontillo thinks the appeal of both playing and watching D&D is that it takes you back to playing pretend.
SUZ PONTILLO: D&D gives people, like, a platform to do that again as adults in a way that it's like, oh, it's okay to be silly and have fun and, like, fantasize and dream and create.
GREENSTONE: And Brennan Lee Mulligan thinks it's telling that there was a huge explosion of popularity during the pandemic when everyone was stuck at home. The magic, he thinks, is in watching a group of friends hang out and have fun together.
MULLIGAN: You are watching a reality show while you are watching an epic sci-fi/fantasy saga, and it has all the best parts of both because while you are getting engrossed in the fate of the galaxy, you are also here with your friends. And it's their relationships and their patterns that you know and love, just like with everyone's favorite podcasts and their favorite streams.
GREENSTONE: And while more people are watching D&D, he says more people are also playing it. The No. 1 question "Dimension 20" gets from viewers? How do I start a D&D group? For NPR News, I'm Scott Greenstone in Seattle.
(SOUNDBITE OF SHYGIRL SONG, "HEAVEN (FT. TINASHE)") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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