Dungeons and Dragons is starting its own official actual play series called Dungeon Masters, and its first campaign stars actors from Baldur’s Gate 3, Dispatch, and Critical Role. While this is not the first official Dungeons and Dragons series Wizards of the Coast has produced, Dungeon Masters offers official integration and production value that others have not.
Over the last decade, TTRPG actual play series have become incredibly popular. This was in no small part due to Critical Role, which features famous voice actors like Matthew Mercer, Travis Willingham, Laura Bailey, and Liam O’Brien. As gamers looked for pastimes during the COVID-19 lockdown, the growing popularity of actual plays skyrocketed and has hardly slowed since. D&D itself got in on the action in the past with shows like Dice, Camera, Action; unfortunately, the series ended in 2020 after a controversy involving two of its players.
Dungeons and Dragons’ High-Level Campaigns Are the Most Fun You Can Have At the Table
Tier 4 is Dungeons and Dragons at its absolute best, but many players are intimidated by high-level campaigns for some very good reasons.
Official D&D Dungeon Masters Actual Play Series Starts April 22
Now, Dungeons and Dragons itself is getting ready to debut a new long-form actual play series. Dungeon Masters will feature official D&D content, both current and unreleased, custom sets, cinematic presentation, high production design, and even an original score by David Arkenstone, a renowned composer who produces fantasy music for many games, including nearly every World of Warcraft expansion through Midnight. After each episode, Dungeons and Dragons will share “Play-Along Packs” inspired by the action within the game, so DMs can follow along with similar combat encounters at their own table.
The first campaign of Dungeon Masters is called “Ashes of the Black Rose.” Four adventurers find themselves trapped within the Ravenloft Domain of Dread ruled by the Death Knight, Lord Soth, and must find a way to escape the apocalyptic setting. The campaign will use content from Ravenloft: The Horrors Within, the new D&D book coming out on June 16 – most of the star-studded cast of Dungeon Masters Campaign 1 will even be playing subclasses from it.
- Neil Newbon: Crem the Reanimator Artificer
- Devora Wilde: Zora the Shadow Sorcery Sorcerer
- Christian Navarro: Eloin the Winter Walker Ranger
- Mayanna Berrin: Wesley the Grave Domain Cleric
- Jasmine Bhullar: Dungeon Master
These names should all be quite familiar to many gamers. Both Devora Wilde and Neil Newbon’s claim to fame was Baldur’s Gate 3, where they played Lae’zel and Astarion, respectively. Christian Navarro appeared as a guest star on Critical Role as F.R.I.D.A., played Hector in Date Everything!, and has been in several shows and movies, including as Tony in 13 Reasons Why. Meanwhile, Mayanna Berrin played Pom Pom in Dispatch, while Jasmine Bhullar has a long history of DMing actual plays on Dimension 20, DesiQuest, and Battle for Beyond, and served as a writer and cultural advisor for the continent of Marquet for Critical Role.
Find all 10 pairs
Find all 10 pairs
Regular Cover ArtClean Cover Art
The first two episodes of Dungeon Masters drop on April 22 at 6:30 PM PT, with new episodes airing at the same time on subsequent Wednesdays. Right now, the episode runtime and campaign length of “Ashes of the Black Rose” are unknown. That said, this is only the first of many campaigns Dungeon Masters will produce using official D&D settings and rules, so fans should be sure to tune in to this show and see how this new Dungeons and Dragons show measures up to its competitors and predecessors.
