''Dimension 20'' is a

tabletop role-playing game A tabletop role-playing game (typically abbreviated as TRPG or TTRPG), also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a form of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech. Participa ...

show produced by

CollegeHumor CollegeHumor is an Internet comedy company based in Los Angeles. Aside from producing content for release on YouTube, it was also a former humor website owned by InterActiveCorp ( IAC) until January 2020, when IAC withdrew funding and the websi ...

, and generally hosted by Brennan Lee Mulligan as the show's regular Dungeon Master. Most of the games use ''Dungeons & Dragons'' 5th edition. Seasons of the show alternate between major campaigns, featuring a returning cast of players with seventeen or more episodes, and side quests with rotating guests lasting ten episodes or fewer.

History

''Dimension 20'' originated as a production for Dropout, a streaming service aimed at delivering content with R-rated material or unusual formatting which launched in 2018. ''Dimension 20'' was among the shows listed for the service when it was first unveiled. Mulligan cited a number of existing tabletop shows as inspiration for ''Dimension 20'', including ''NADDPOD'' (''Not Another D&D Podcast''), ''

The Adventure Zone ''The Adventure Zone'' is a weekly comedy and adventure actual play podcast based loosely upon the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' game series, along with other role-playing games. The show is distributed by the Maximum Fun network and hosted by brother ...

'' and ''

Critical Role ''Critical Role'' is an American web series in which a group of professional voice actors play ''Dungeons & Dragons''. The show started streaming partway through the cast's first campaign in March 2015. Campaign one ended in October 2017 after ...

''. The format for the show, with distinct arcs based on different settings, was determined early on in the show's development. The show debuted in 2018 with ''Fantasy High'' as the first campaign presented. The strong fan response from the first season resulted in ''Fantasy High'' being renewed for a live season, known as ''Fantasy High: Sophomore Year''. Episodes of ''Fantasy High: Sophomore Year'' were streamed live on

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle co ...

, as opposed to pre-recorded, edited, and uploaded to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. The season concluded with a two-part finale titled “Spring Break! I Believe in You!”, which was streamed remotely. Through social media, the Dimension 20 team confirmed that they have plans to continue the story of “The Bad Kids” with a third season in the ''Fantasy High'' series. In January 2020, major layoffs took place at CollegeHumor, including much of the cast. The show nevertheless continued production remotely as California’s Stay at Home orders were put into effect. On May 24, 2021, Brennan Lee Mulligan announced in a video on Dropout that Dimension 20 and other CollegeHumor projects would resume production in-person and in-studio, adhering to COVID safety guidelines set by

SAG-AFTRA The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA, stylized as SAG·AFTRA ) is an American labor union representing approximately 160,000 film and television actors, journalists, radio personalities, record ...

and other film guilds and production unions.

Format

Dimension 20 usually features its main cast as players (Ally Beardsley,

Emily Axford Emily Axford is an American actress, writer, and producer. She is best known for her various roles in CollegeHumor videos, her role as Emily on the truTV comedy ''Adam Ruins Everything,'' and for her role on the Pop original '' Hot Date'' co-st ...

, Lou Wilson,

Brian Murphy Brian Murphy may refer to: Sportspeople * Brian Murphy (Jamaican cricketer) (born 1973), Jamaican cricketer * Brian Murphy (Zimbabwean cricketer) (born 1976), Zimbabwean cricketer * Brian Murphy (baseball) (born 1980), American head baseball coach ...

, Zac Oyama, and Siobhan Thompson), but for alternating seasons nicknamed "side quests," the show invites guest players, generally other members of CollegeHumor or figures from the

TTRPG A tabletop role-playing game (typically abbreviated as TRPG or TTRPG), also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a form of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech. Participan ...

community. As of October 2022, Dimension 20 has had nine side quests: ''Escape from the Bloodkeep'' (featuring

Matthew Mercer Matthew Christopher Miller (born June 29, 1982), better known as Matthew Mercer, is an American voice actor. He is best known for his work with Studiopolis, Funimation, Bang Zoom! Entertainment, Viz Media, and NYAV Post in anime, cartoons, and ...

of ''

'', and

Erika Ishii Erika Ishii is an American voice actress and host. She is best known as the voice of video game characters such as Valkyrie in ''Apex Legends'', as well as her appearances in actual play web series including ''L.A. by Night'' and ''Dimension 20'' ...

of ''

L.A. by Night ''L.A. by Night'' is an American actual play web series where the cast plays as vampires using the fifth edition ''Vampire: The Masquerade'' ruleset. It is set Canon (fiction), canonically in the ''World of Darkness'' series after the events of ...

''), ''Tiny Heist'' (featuring the cast of ''

''), ''Pirates of Leviathan'' (featuring

Marisha Ray Marisha Ray Huber (born May 10, 1989), better known as Marisha Ray, is an American voice actress, host, producer, and creative director. She is best known for her roles as herself and her characters Keyleth, Beauregard, and Laudna on the ''Dunge ...

of ''Critical Role'', with Mercer returning), ''Mice & Murder'' (featuring many CollegeHumor alum), ''Misfits and Magic'' (the first campaign to feature a guest DM, Aabria Iyengar, with Brennan Lee Mulligan as a player), ''The Seven'', ''Shriek Week'', ''Coffin Run'', and ''A Court of Fey and Flowers''. Brennan Lee Mulligan is usually the Dungeon Master, but beginning with the ninth season, ''Misfits & Magic'', the show adopted rotating Game Masters. The change was announced via a trailer with an attached FAQ document.

Campaigns

The campaigns use the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' 5th edition system with Brennan Lee Mulligan as the Dungeon Master (DM) unless otherwise stated. The DM also creates

house rule House rules are unofficial modifications to official game rules adopted by individual groups of players. House rules may include the removal or alteration of existing rules, or the addition of new rules. Such modifications are common in board ...

s that make the game run differently from the normal system.

Supplementary shows

CollegeHumor publishes additional videos that discuss elements of role-playing (''Adventuring Academy'') or specifics about the first season (''Dimension 20 Fantasy High Extra Credit''). These are released via YouTube. Dropout also features a Q&A and talkback show tied to various seasons of ''Dimension 20'' called ''Adventuring Party.'' The first four seasons centered around ''A Crown of Candy,'' ''Pirates of Leviathan,'' ''The Unsleeping City: Chapter II,'' and ''Mice and Murder'' were all filmed remotely and aired live following the release of the episode of ''Dimension 20'' aired that week, where fans submit questions that Mulligan and the cast will answer. Once filming resumed in The Dome, however, the format changed to that of a commentary talkback show pre-recorded immediately after the filming of the previous episode.

One-Shots

Dropout has released multiple one-shot adventures in addition to their full-length campaigns, such as ''Dimension 20: Fantasy High! Live! at The Bell House', Fantasy High LIVE at RTX Austin'', ''Boys' Night! (Roll20Con)'', and ''College Visit (RTX @ Home Live)''.

Reception

Comic Book Resources ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...

'' warmly received the show, describing it as "among the best of its kind". The review highlighted the arc based format, which keeps the story fast paced and allows the rotation of new players and voices in the space. The show has also been praised for its positive

LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is ...

representation, with multiple characters exploring their sexualities during the two seasons of ''Fantasy High''.

Glen Weldon Glen Weldon is an American writer, cultural critic, and podcaster. He has written for publications such as ''The Washington Post'', ''The New York Times'', '' Slate'', ''The Atlantic'', and ''McSweeney's''. Weldon currently writes for the NPR Arts ...

, for

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

in 2021, wrote: "Mulligan is such a good DM and he's got so many improv skills. He's such a close and responsive listener that no matter what the players throw at him, he can always roll with it, without breaking the game. And that is a very rare skill, so it's terrific stuff". Weldon compared the show to ''Critical Role'' and highlighted that the cast is "sketch and improv comedians. While the folks at Critical Role are often very funny, they're actors. .. At ''Dimension 20,'' if they can go for a joke, they're going to go for the joke, and that might line up closer to my sensibility". Justin Carter, in a review of ''A Starstruck Odyssey'' for ''

Gizmodo ''Gizmodo'' ( ) is a design, technology, science and science fiction website. It was originally launched as part of the Gawker Media network run by Nick Denton, and runs on the Kinja platform. ''Gizmodo'' also includes the subsite ''io9'', whic ...

'', stated that "the consistency with which ''Dimension 20'' shakes things up has helped give it a different kind of longevity compared to some of its fellow Actual Play titans, and each season ..is able to feel like a natural part of the franchise while also its own distinct thing". Carter highlighted that "several of the season’s best events are too good to spoil, but every episode has at least two moments of incredible, often hilarious roleplaying from the cast. ..''Starstruck’s'' blend of strange humor and character drama feels a little bit more reined in than some earlier seasons and not prone to bits that could admittedly go on a little longer than necessary". Carter commented that this season has an infectious joy to it and that it takes the "fun to new, cosmic heights".

References

{{CollegeHumor 2010s American LGBT-related television series 2010s YouTube series 2018 podcast debuts 2018 web series debuts 2020s American LGBT-related television series 2020s YouTube series Actual play podcasts Actual play web series American LGBT-related web series Audio podcasts CollegeHumor Dungeons & Dragons actual play Fantasy podcasts