Brennan Lee Mulligan would rather be playing D&D right now. The actor, writer, and comedian shot to fame in CollegeHumor’s CEO sketch series, but on any given day pours most of his energy into playing and preparing campaigns in Dungeons and Dragons.
For the unfamiliar, Dungeons and Dragons is a tabletop roleplaying game created in 1974, in which players get together to tell a story collaboratively and let dice rolls determine their characters’ successes. It’s a choose-your-own-adventure story with the stakes of roulette, with world-building and character creation that are endlessly customizable and as rules-heavy or rules-light as you want.
Nowhere is that customizability more visible than on Dimension 20, a D&D actual play show produced by CollegeHumor and run by Mulligan. Each season of the show has a new storyline and a new setting — from a high school in a John Hughes movie, to Candy Land à la Game of Thrones, to a gritty and magical version of New York City, and so many more. The campaigns feature a rotating cast of CollegeHumor alumni, comedians, and various stars of the TRPG community, like Critical Role’s Matt Mercer.
Mulligan was first introduced to Dungeons and Dragons by his mother (playwright and comic book writer Elaine Lee) at the tender age of nine, and has been running games in the 24 years since. He started taking improv classes to get better at handling storytelling on the fly, which would eventually lead him to his current job at CollegeHumor — he was able to successfully jump from little-c to Pro-C creativity and turn his passion into his day job.
So how does someone create and manage immersive storylines, wrangle groups of players, and perform dozens of characters per session without burning out?
For one, the seasons of Dimension 20 are pre-recorded and edited, rather than live streamed, which provides the kind of constraint and structure that prevents sessions from going completely off the rails.
“Facing an obstacle can create some of the pieces of art that you’re the most excited about,” Mulligan told Lior Phillips of The Creative Independent, “every limitation opens some kind of opportunity for a creator.” The limits on episode length means each campaign is tightly written and fast-paced, with little to no fat for editors to trim.
When it comes to getting story ideas out of his head and into the real world, Mulligan tries not to sweat the small stuff. “One of the best pieces of advice my mom gave me when I was little was that ideas are a dime a dozen,” he said, “the thing is to do it. Put the words on the paper, move forward.”
As for the nitty-gritty of running a game, Mulligan says it involves a high level of multitasking and compartmentalization. “If I’m playing a character in a scene, there is a chunk of my brain in character, managing the voice, and reacting honestly in the moment to what the person is saying, but there’s another part at a bird’s eye view, three thousand feet above what you’re seeing, that is logging everything going on.”
Mulligan speculates that the reason he hasn’t felt the drain of personal or professional burnout is his ability to power through each session: “if I was going to name what I think my personal superpower is, it’s probably more to do with stamina and endurance than anything like creativity.” Two decades of game playing experience, razor-sharp improv skills, and a deep love for D&D probably don’t hurt, either.
Dimension 20 is, and I cannot stress this enough, the best series I’ve watched in years. The cast members are brilliant, the battle sets are incredible, and the storylines have stuck in my mind long after encountering them. If any of this sounds even slightly interesting to you, I highly suggest checking it out. The entire first season and several side-quests are available on YouTube for free!
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I KNOW I must watch it. I will. I have seen lots of other Brennan clips though--have you seen the magnificent and haunting Tony the Tiger oneshot? When that man is allowed to be a player his power increases tenfold (and that's saying something). He must be stopped (not).
ReplyDeleteI've never played D&D personally before, but I've watched/listened to a couple campaigns and i love the creativity afforded to both DM and player. While the story is generally planned out, the best DM's, at least to my knowledge, are the reactionary ones who play off the creativity of the players. I really don't think there are many other games that allow for such a high level of collaboration in a constantly changing dynamic. The existence of "home-brew" campaigns astounds me because the games is so broadly defined that builds into its structure the fact that rules are flexible. Whatever makes the game fun for that group is now the game. Much like how modding has given life to video gaming communities, I love the creativity that the nature of D&D includes.
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ReplyDeleteI've played as a player in D&D and as a DM in D&D before. Brennan Lee Mulligan is one of my favorites to watch create nothing out of thin air. One of my favorite places to see him is the show "Game Changer." When the prompt is just right, he makes something golden out of thin air. One of my favorite moments is from a deleted scene from said show. The prompt is "A general contractor's quote for getting the sword out of the stone." One of my favorite things he does is combining magical realism with elements of everyday familiarity. His improv skills are truly astonishing. Great post!
ReplyDeleteThis man is kind of the best at whatever it is he does and has so much love for the creation of a good time. It's so incredible to watch him and the cast move from an absolute madhouse to sensible and substantive morals and then to genius actor or action choices that make either mood so much more. I love them. I love him.
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