For this Friday’s bonus instalment, I’m going to be writing about a bunch of different horror movies I’ve watched in the last week (I took a few days off work and went ham). Some were good, some were… less so. But the only way you can find out which are which is to hit that subscribe button below to get a paid subscription — it’s only $5 a month or $50 a year.
I’ve written before about my love of CollegeHumor’s Game Changer show on Dropout (with some episodes on their YouTube channel), but I just couldn’t seem to get into Dimension 20, their tabletop roleplaying show. I love The Adventure Zone podcast, and I kept seeing very funny D20 clips on YouTube and TikTok, and I enjoy all of these cast members — but every time I tried to start a season (and I tried several different storylines!), I felt so bored. WHY couldn’t I get into this show that very much seemed like my jam?
Well, I FINALLY figured out what my problem was. The first episodes of every Dimension 20 season are all just setting everything up and introducing the characters — it takes a while to introduce and establish each character, and they don’t much interact with each other until that’s all been done. And apparently I find that part very dull, and I kept peacing out before they all got together! (In my defence, each episode is usually 90 minutes to two hours long.)
But one night, I just kinda forced myself to sit through the whole first episode of their Fantasy High storyline, which imagines a town of sorcerers and elves and orcs and all manner of magical beings, and places a group of teenagers at their first day at the Aguefort Adventuring Academy. And when it ended on a cliffhanger of the teens trapped in the cafeteria, about to battle the school lunch lady and an army of corn monsters, suddenly I was hooked. And for the last week, I’ve been staying up SO GODDAMNED LATE watching episodes, because I just can’t wait to see what happens next. (Also, my ADHD medication makes it really hard for me to feel tired or fall asleep, whee!)
Brennan Lee Mulligan is a brilliant Game Master — he performs all of the NPCs so well with different voices and accents, and his improvisation skills are really on display here, as he’s able to take any curveball thrown at him by the players and make it seem like he planned for it all along. Each of the players — Emily Axford, Zac Oyama, Siobhan Thompson, Lou Wilson, Ally Beardsley, and Brian Murphy — are not just great performers on their own, but they have great chemistry together. The storyline is suspenseful, but the jokes are so funny. (The running “Are you my dad?” bit throughout the season makes me cackle every time it comes up.)
Plus, the models and miniature sets the show creates for every character and every battle are so excellent, and really do a great job of helping the audience visualize what’s going on in this story that this great group is creating. It’s just an incredibly well done show, and I’m sorry it’s taken me this long to realize that.
But, also, I’m not that sorry, because waiting this long means I have a BUNCH of seasons and different Dimension 20 storylines still to watch. Which is good for me, but also probably bad for my sleep habits.
That’s all for me today, gorgeous. Talk to you soon.
Love,
Kat
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HELLO I LOVE DIMENSION 20! My friend got me into it last year and I have been working through the series. I have been wanting to listen to The Adventure Zone for years (attempted many times) but always had a hard time doing so, partially due to archive panic so 20 episodes is way more manageable. I absolutely adore all the main cast, and I am currently starting Of Mice And Murder which I've heard is delightful.
Let us know when you've finished each series b/c there are some WONDERFUL fan made animations (and compilations) on YouTube for all of them that I love so much.
I also started with Fantasy High, but my favorite so far is The Unsleeping City (Season 1). Brennan is such a phenomenal DM and everyone is so funny and loves their characters so much I adore it. So glad you're watching