Roll for Candy- A Fantasy Halloween
Happy Belated Halloween! Halloween has always been something I take very seriously, and this year my best friend Emmy and I dressed up as our favorite characters from Dimension 20’s Fantasy High, and I wanted to take this opportunity to talk about my love for Dungeons and Dragons and TTRPG Actual Plays!
I started playing DND when I was very young with my dad and his Advanced Dungeons and Dragons books released in 1997. For reference, today’s most popular format is Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition, which came out in 2014.
In my opinion, TTRPG “Actual Plays” have the ability to tell a true epic in a way no traditional form of media can. Safe to say, over the last decade, I have fallen in love with them, and I consume as many as I can make time for.
I began listening to Critical Role’s second campaign, The Mighty Nein, during my sophomore year of high school. I was highly emotional, struggling mentally, and with love, I was devastatingly annoying. The Mighty Nein’s adventures are told through over a whopping 484 hours of storytelling. Released weekly, The Mighty Nein’s finale was recorded just before my sophomore year of college. I cannot describe the comfort and joy of having characters you actually get to grow up with. Whose uncertainties and failures are just as long and arduous as yours, and whose victories feel full of hunger and merit.
The TTRPG “Actual Play” has grown from a niche nerdy corner of the internet into a rapidly growing sector of our entertainment industry that cannot be ignored, and that gives me so much hope. Whether it’s Brennan Lee Mulligan, Aabria Iyengar, Matt Mercer, Jasmine Bhullar, or other DMs at the head of the table, the stories they tell are the stories I want to tell. Knowing with certainty that there is a place for you in this industry makes it much harder to quit.
I’ll finish with this- The big entertainment awards have never motivated me. They seem unattainable. So, for years, the carrot on a stick I’ve been dangling in front of myself is the dream of one day being a guest at one of these tables. This isn’t an easy goal. The actual play space is filled with wildly talented, experienced actors, and I am still at the start of my journey. Despite this, it feels possible enough to be my crazy dream. Now onto Thanksgiving.
