Dimension 20

The Dimension 20 cast in The Unsleeping City

Dimension 20, four years after its first season, still feels like a fever dream, which, I think, is why the show is as popular as it is. CollegeHumor’s Tabletop Role-Playing Game (TTRPG) show that was created by, and is hosted and DMed by Brennan Lee Mulligan, the brain to end all brains. The show consists of regular players Emily Axford, Zac Oyama, Siobahn Thompson, Lou Wilson, Ally Beardsley, and Brian Murphy, who make up the “Main Quest” season (or campaign) cast. The team also produces “Side Quest” seasons, which consist of guest stars by the likes of Matt Mercer (Critical Role), Ify Nwadiwe (Nerdificent), Griffin, Travis, Justin, and Clint McElroy (My Brother, My Brother, and Me & The Adventure Zone), Krystina Arielle (The High Republic Show), and Marisha Ray (Critical Role) among others.

First, Brennan Lee Mulligan is running the show. I could write a full paper about this man alone. He is incredible. He grew up in Hell’s Kitchen, New York, and just sorta said ‘what if we made New York magic for a season’ and in-game gave players directions as to where in Manhattan they’re going from point A to point B from memory. The only place I could maybe do that with is Disneyland and that’s nowhere as big as the Island of Manhattan (and Staten Island). He created an entire government of sentient foods with a 300-year history behind it and then full Game of Thrones-ed it for a campaign. This man’s brain is incredible and he uses it for chaos every day.

Second, the stories. The advantage that Dimension 20 has over other TTRPG shows like Critical Role is that it’s not high fantasy, the creative team actually seems to do everything they can to avoid the high fantasy genre. Season one of the show was titled “Fantasy High” and, as Mulligan describes in the behind-the-scenes video “Now we can answer the age-old question of 'What if John Hughes ran a tabletop RPG game?’” (“Fantasy High”) and it is truly that. It’s a fantasy game of wizards and goblins, but they’re put in a suburban high school and go have to save the prom and handle bullying and bad parents. 

Dimension 20 official cast photo

Third, the cast. Very rarely is a game of D&D taken seriously by every member of the party, but most commonly, the game is taken seriously by no members of the party*. This crew is no exception. Emily Axford once magically made a sexy Farrah Fawcett rat to seduce another character’s pet rat. Ally Beardsley and Lou Wilson once started singing the classic 90s Peety Pablo song “Freak-a-Leek” while fighting mutated marshmallow horses called meeps, changing the lyrics to “Freak-a-Meep.” Zac Oyama spent a full season of this show just asking people if they were his dad. Brian Murphy, in-game accidentally started a cult that lives on after he died by eating a magic bagel (RIP Kug). Siobhan spent a full season playing an old Polish lady who has actual magic, but her whole schtick was that all of her magic looks like it came straight out of a 70s movie and had a sickly purse chihuahua that was actually a tiny old dragon magically disguised. Then, of course, there’s Brennan Lee Mulligan. Brennan has played every kind of character there is, from Gilear Faeth, who is the embodiment of a facepalm, to the angel that is the literal personification of the American Dream. 

*Sebastion addendum - “Except the DM, who is burdened by the weight of responsibility to at least try and take it seriously”

Fourth, the villains. Brennan Lee Mulligan creates villains that represent problematic things and fans eat it up.

A real mug that's really sold in the
official Dimension 20 store based
on a real quote from Fantasy High.

Fantasy High: Greed and Capitalism

Escape from the Bloodkeep: Problematic Monarchy

The Sleeping City: The American Dream (and the fact that it’s unattainable)

Fantasy High: Sophomore Year: Problematic Monarchy (again)

Tiny Heist: The Mob & Capitalism (again)

Crown of Candy: The Catholic Church

Pirates of Leviathan: Capitalism & Libertarians

Unsleeping City: Chapter 2: Capitalism (Big Business)

Mice & Murder: It’s not out yet, but it’s a murder mystery, so it’ll probably involve a lot of commentary about the police.

Fans are very involved in the show. When paying for Dropout, CollegeHumor’s streaming service, you get access to the Dropout Discord server, where there’s a general chat, individual chats for specific shows, and a variety of other discussion boards. When Dimension 20 was doing their live show, they were releasing a new piece of merchandise every week based on what quote from the previous episodes fans liked the most, bringing forth t-shirts saying things like “Magic is real and so is my frog,” “Burn towns, get money,” “Speak not of the Night Yorb,” and “Check it out, I’m gay.” The show’s Instagram account is also pretty active, posting pictures of fan art and cosplays on their story multiple times a week, along with player’s individual accounts reposting art and cosplays of their individual characters. 

I think part of why the fandom is so involved is because of how involved the cast is back. In the Fantasy High: Sophomore Year season finale, the first 25 minutes of the 3-hour long video are songs about the show that fans wrote with fan art acting as the covers for the songs. Brennan Lee Mulligan loves art in all of its forms and has cultivated a surprisingly safe and non-toxic space for D&D fans, and I will forever appreciate that. 

Works Cited

Canis, Grey, editor. Best (Worst?) of Gilear Faeth || Hot Gilear Week. Performance by Brennan Lee Mulligan, YouTube, Grey Canis, 14 Feb. 2020, youtu.be/81rv2ojvOPo.

"Dimension 20 Fantasy High The Cubbys Mug." DROPOUT store. https://store.dropout.tv/collections/dimension-20-gear/products/fantasy-high-the-cubbys-mugdimension20show. Instagram, 24 January 2020, https://www.instagram.com/dimension20show/.

“Fantasy High.” Dimension 20 Wiki, Fandom.com, dimension20.fandom.com/wiki/Fantasy_High. 

Green, Chris, editor. A Crown of Candy Episode 17 - Freak-A-Meep. Performance by Aly Beardsley, et al., YouTube, Chris Green, 6 Aug. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm1BzMbdyK8.

Gupta, Harshita. “Talking to Brennan Lee Mulligan About His DnD Show, 'Dimension 20'.” 34th Street Magazine, 34th Street, 15 Nov. 2020, www.34st.com/article/2020/11/brennan-lee-mulligan-collegehumor-dropout-dimension-20-lets-play-dungeons-and-dragons.“Iga Lisowski.” Dimension 20 Wiki, Fandom.com, https://dimension20.fandom.com/wiki/Iga_Lisowski. 

Jay U, editor and artist. Rowan and the American Dream Animatic: Dimension 20: (SPOILERS for The Unsleeping City S1E17). Performance by Brennan Lee Mulligan, and Siobhan Thompson, YouTube, Jay U, 30 Dec. 2020, youtu.be/hyiCxNZ6Jzs.

“Monastery of the Sacred Rat.” Dimension 20 Wiki, Fandom.com, dimension20.fandom.com/wiki/Monastery_of_the_Sacred_Rat. 

Mulligan, Brennan Lee. Dimension 20: A Crown of Candy | Reveal Trailer. Performance by Aly Beardsley, et al., YouTube, Dimension 20, 20 February 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOnnqKPh5RY. 

Mulligan, Brennan Lee. Dimension 20: A Crown of Candy | Reveal Trailer. Performance by Aly Beardsley, et al., YouTube, Dimension 20, 20 February 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOnnqKPh5RY. 

Mulligan, Brennan Lee. How To Create a Sexy Rat (Fantasy High Clip). Performance by Aly Beardsley, et al., YouTube, Dimension 20, 23 May 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFMdwpGdY64. 

Sugukui, editor. Fantasy High but It's Just Gorgug Asking People If They Are His Dad. Performance by Brennan Lee Mulligan, and Zac Oyama, YouTube, Sugukui, 13 Jan. 2019, youtu.be/fWKm16X3qN4.

“The Main D20 Cast, from Right to Left: Emily Axford, Lou Wilson, Siobhan Thompson, Brennan Lee Mulligan, Ally Beardsley, Zac Oyama, and Brian Murphy.” Dimension 20 Wiki, Fandom.com, dimension20.fandom.com/wiki/Cast?file=Cast.png.