As D&D has grown over the last decade, so has the art of watching it being played. Actual Play series are more popular than ever, not just select titans like Critical Role and Dimension 20 that have gone on to do their own things (and in the former’s case, build their own burgeoning TTRPG empire out of it). But while Wizards of the Coast has never denied the influence the rise of Actual Play has had on Dungeons & Dragons, it’s always admired it from a removed distance.
That is, until now.
Today Wizards of the Coast revealed Dungeon Masters, the first officially backed Actual Play series for Dungeons & Dragons. Launching on YouTube next week, the weekly series will be hosted by Dimension 20 season 14’s Jasmine Bhullar as DM, with a cast that includes Mayanna Berrin and Christian Navarro alongside—because it wouldn’t be contemporary Wizards of the Coast if it didn’t—two stars from the voice cast of the smash hit Baldur’s Gate 3, Neil Newbon, the voice of Astarion, and Devora Wilde, the voice of Lae’zel (both, with the rest of the cast, will play new characters—no weird Project Sigil situation here).
Wizards is no stranger to running one-shots to promote its releases, of course, but this is its first time engaging with Actual Play as an ongoing series, and that means it can also leverage the fact that they’re the people who make Dungeons & Dragons to their advantage in the way other series can’t. Dungeon Masters will showcase unreleased material that will debut in the series before being made online for players to use in their own games through D&D Beyond and will tie into the game’s new seasonal release format, kicking off with a Ravenloft-set campaign that will draw on content from the upcoming Ravenloft: The Horrors Within sourcebook.
“In many ways, Dungeon Masters is our love letter to the actual play shows that have introduced so many to D&D,” Dan Ayoub, Wizards’ head of Dungeons & Dragons, said in a statement. “Our aim with Dungeon Masters is to crystallize all that’s great about actual play—the tension, drama, and unpredictable nature—and put our stamp on it with upcoming official source material. We’re so excited to see how Dungeon Masters can inspire even more adventure from our players, and in turn, see how they inspire us to make the show better and better.”
On the one hand, it’s kind of wild that it’s taken Wizards of the Coast this long to try their own hand at long-form Actual Play content. But on the other hand, it’s now entering a space that has thrived and grown massively with shows and groups without needing to be rubbing proverbial shoulders with the corporate specter of Wizards’ direct presence. Time will tell if Dungeon Masters has it in it to make a place for itself within the Actual Play community despite that—and if the official seal of approval will be helpful or a hindrance to it in the long run.
The first two episodes of Dungeon Masters will release on YouTube April 22 at 6.30 p.m. PT.
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