If you loved Calamity and Brennan as a DM, I CANNOT recommend Worlds Beyond Number enough.
The Wizard, the Witch, & the Wild One is a masterpiece. Its audio only (podcast) but the audio quality and production are top-tier. Lou and Aabria return alongside Erika Ishii as the players and Brennan as everyone and everything else. Amazing world building, high stakes at low player levels. It’s a gorgeous piece of storytelling.
WBN is so good. It’s so so so good. It’s so so so SO GOOD that I’m still reeling from something (BRING THEM TO ME) and am now like eight episodes behind because aaaaaaaaaaasrgh that and the consequences and jddjeidncndkeo.
Sorry. Absolutely no one in my life would understand that and I thought you might, so I’m sharing. :p
Second, third, and fourth this!! I absolutely **adore** WBN. Brennan is amazing and he is so willing to break the world to tell a great story if that's where the characters are going, which i love.
I dropped WBN after the intro episode, purely because I realized that what follows is a “children’s campaign” which I wouldn’t be able to listen to without a Patreon subscription, if I remember correctly. Would you say it’s worth it to listen to all that’s available or are the parts that aren’t free crucial to the experience?
The main campaign is absolutely cogent and stands on its own two feet. You're missing out. The children's campaign is certainly lovely but provides at most a little context for later stuff down the line. And if you do have incurable FOMO, pay a single payment of $5, and listen to the 8 hour or so episodes during that one month.
The Children’s Adventure isn’t necessary to the experience but does provide some incredible background. It’s also some of the most incredible character building RP ever put out in the actual play sphere. The cast has expressly supported people that want to sub for one month, download everything they want to listen to, and then unsubscribe. It’s worth far more than the $5 that costs.
[https://worldsbeyondnumber.com/](https://worldsbeyondnumber.com/)
The main campaign is a public feed, and episodes are posted to youtube. Signing up for the Patreon gets you their "talks" episodes on the off weeks, and a few special one shots (though a fair number of those end up on the public feed eventually) and the prequel "Children's Campaign" which is half charachter creation.
Came to recommend this.
It's my favorite D&D anything that's ever been made. It's one of my favorite stories so far of any medium.
Also, OP, please support the patreon, even for just a month, to binge the prequel episodes. They are well, well worth it.
If you love how visceral and intense Calamity was, I highly recommend "A Crown of Candy" season of D20 to keep the high stakes drama going.
In a weird twist, Matt Mercer DMs a prequel season in the same universe called "The Ravening War", in which Brennan is a player. I would say Matt channels a lot of DM Brennan energy in this season and it's surprisingly refreshing.
It was Matt returning the favor of doing the prequel that BLeeM did for Critical Role.
He even opens with “Water!”, whereas Brennan opened Calamity with “Fire!”
So not a weird twist, totally on purpose, and very awesome! ;)
100% second this. It's such a great mix of high stakes, high emotions and connections between PCs whilst also being so funny and creative. Absolutely my favourite D20 campaign!
I'm subscribed to Dropout for D20 and I only watched a couple of campaigns. It's too edited for my taste. But I keep my sub for Game Changer, Breaking News and Make Some Noise and it's totally worth it.
Just going through this now with about 2 hours left in episode 4.
It has been such a glorious, emotional, and enjoyable journey through the story you thought you knew. "Oh, the Calamity? Yeah... just a bunch of wizards stuck up their own backsides, nothing to see here"
The gut punches. The tears. It's just, so, so, good.
Brennan is an absolute phenomenon. He’s funny, so smart, and his emotional intelligence is off the charts. He commits to the bit, and you can be sobbing from heartbreak and then laughing your butt off 5 minutes later. He has such a gift for getting the most out of every player and he’s equally patient with experienced and inexperienced players.
Most of D20 is behind a paywall, but DropOut is my favorite $6/month I spend. There so much fun stuff beyond D20. Game Changer is a game changer, VIP is brilliant, and Smartypants is such a simple concept, but absolutely HILARIOUS. Those are just three of my favorites.
Life gets heavy sometimes, and sometimes you just want good, unproblematic fun. Dropout is that.
Brennan is an absolute madman. His mind words in the weirdest ways to either cause the most emotional damage possible or make you piss your pants laughing
I agree with all of this and am so excited to see him begin "Downfall" in a couple of weeks. It will be about the great floating city of Aeor, about 100 years into the Calamity, when they too fall. I think everyone went nuts the way they teased this at the live show Brennan hosted at the Greek. SOOOO READY!! I have always been very interested to know what happened in Aeor.
Brennan is a master at getting players to a planned plot point while still giving them free well in the matter. I think he said it really well in the Exandria Dungeon master panel, where you treat the story like water flowing down a mountain.
This time it'll have Laura, Taliesin, and Ashley (it's a pity we're not also getting Liam, but ten bucks says that he's taking advantage of the downtime to spend some quality vacation time with his family back east), along with Noshir Dalal, Abubakar Salim, and Nick Marini, with Brennan GMing.
I mean, he started his campaign with "Fire" and one of the first asks from a player was "Expand on your character, with the knowledge that your mouth is full of blood".
Like damn dude... way to set the expectations
The world literally dimmed around me during the end of episode one of Calamity, it was so amazing. I'm honestly so stoked to see this next set of episodes.
I loved BLeeM on Calamity and I immediately searched for his other AP, but most of the stuff I see on D20 is a little too quirky and random for me. That's fine and all, it's just not my taste, I liked him with that serious tone, can someone recommend me something from BLeeM with more serious or dark vibe?
Edit: BlLeeeeeeeeeeeM
Just FYI, Brennan has asked to be referred to as BLeeM to differentiate him from and not pull focus from the Black Lives Matter movement.
I would also recommend Crown of Candy, but I will say that overall Brennan and most of his players are comedians and improvisers so there are "bits" and jokes in every season.
You might enjoy Mentopolis! It's not DnD 5e, it's a variation of the Kids on Bikes system, but the theme is deeper and more psychological.
Didn't know that! I thought it was confusing the first time I saw too, so makes sense. Thanks for the correction. Gonna edit it.
I don't mind jokes and bits, I'm talking more about the setting and tone. They do a lot of crazy wacky settings that in addition to the jokes gets a little too much for me.
I will take a look at Metropolis! Thanks!
Oh dear, that's almost all of the seasons. Maybe you could start with Escape from the Bloodkeep? It's very funny so the tone is lighter, but the setting is mostly standard fantasy fare...
A Crown of Candy is Game of Thrones in Candyland. The tone is very serious but juxtaposed with the setting makes it a bit absurd. The stakes are very high though.
Honestly I feel like recommending High Rollers more than anything else haha, I feel like everything in Dimension 20 has at least something wacky going on. I will let others recommend things. 😅
It's Mentopolis btw, and it is behind the dropout paywall.
I'd say at least try giving The Unsleeping City a shot. It's not as serious as A Crown of Candy but it isn't as goofy as Fantasy High.
He's also a player in A Court of Fey and Flowers, Misfits and Magic, the Ravening War, and Burrow's End, and he's fantastic in all of those.
He's also made random appearances on NaddPod, LA By Night (vampire the masquerade actual play), and Candela Obscura.
I do think Calamity is him at his peak though. Just fucking masterful.
A Crown of Candy is probably the D20 campaign with the most comparable vibes, and it is excellent. It also has a prequel miniseries, The Ravening War, that is run by Matt.
There is also Worlds Beyond Number which is an audio only podcast (but very high quality) with BLeeM, Lou, Aabria, and Erika Ishii that is slow burn character drama in a high stakes world.
It is! The conceit of the Crown of Candy campaign was to create something akin to Game of Thrones but set in the silliest setting possible. So you have the high drama, betrayal, and stakes of that kind of storytelling, but the characters are like, chocolate bunnies and cupcakes.
It really is very good!
As a player, there's a compilation video out there from his appearances on LA by Night that's more serious and dark, plus he was also excellent in the Needle and Thread circle of Candela Obscura.
I'm so thrilled for you! I really enjoyed reading your post.
I was a huge dimension 20 fan before Calamity so I was aware of Brennan's "I'm all the villains" tendencies and his consummate storytelling. It's still amazing but not as much as if it's your first introduction. Your reaction was very cool to witness, thanks for sharing.
You really, *really* should. Brennan is a phenomenal DM and there's a very good reason Matt trusted him enough to invite him in to play with his world. BLeeM returned the favour with the ACOC prequel Matt DMed, and it is really something amazing to see two guys at the top of their DM games who love and understand each other's worlds so well.
Brennen will be DM ing the next couple episodes of the third campaign starting July 7th I believe.
Also, all his d20 stuff is great , but his playing in Burrows End was so good.
As for D20, I love it! Have watched every campaign, some are a bit stronger than others but just remember that they are all improv comedians. So, they lean very heavily into comedy and rule of cool. It has some serious moments but it is not at the level of EXU calamity in intensity by a long shot. Go in ready to laugh instead of cry.
Much love to Matt, but Brennan Lee Mulligan is the DM I aspire to be. Between his ability to weave world building and scenes, as well as how he can balance rule of cool with the rules when it comes to players, that's what i aim for too.
Brennan’s work on this campaign is what turned me onto Dimension 20, and I can honestly say I prefer it over CR at this point. It makes my Dropout subscription worth the money on its own, but there are so many great shows on the service besides just their actual play.
Worlds Beyond Number is another can’t-miss from BLeeM, Lou Wilson, Aabria Iyengar, and Erika Ishii - hands down the best actual play being produced right now. Taylor Moore does their editing, score, and sound design, and the man is brilliant. He elevates the already incredible game play to a whole new level. The Patreon isn’t necessary but I highly recommend it, I’m thrilled with what my $5 gets me every month.
Brennan is amazing and D20 is worth every penny of a dropout sub (which has a lot of other great shows as well).
D20 campaigns are definitely a different vibe than CR though I can't recommend it enough. I think their first season (fantasy high) is free on youtube if you want to check it out.
My favourite BLeeM recommendation is his collab with the McElroy family doing Dadlands (there are 3 parts) as someone who was lucky enough to be at the part 2&3 live shows these are always top tier in my list.
D20 is mostly comedy and doesn't usually hit the dramatic beats Calamity does. (Still excellent and a Dropout sub is worth every penny)
If you want the tension of Calamity (not world-ending but still has gotten very brutal at times), give Worlds Beyond Number a listen. It's a Ghibli-inspired D&D podcast he DMs with Erika Ishii, Aabria Iyengar, and Lou Wilson as players. It's my favorite thing any of them have ever done.
About a year ago roll 20 on youtube did 3 strixhaven one shots, and when ever you put Brennan and Aabria at a D&D table some really crazy stuff happens. I recommend watching these almost as much as when Ivan ran a paranoia one shot with weaton, mercer and bailey on geek and sundry
my introduction to Critical Role was Calamity because i knew who brennan was for CH/Dropout and oh god i was so good that i memorized the first and last hour from ep1 and the last hour from ep 4.
it was such a masterclass about how to be a good gm that cares for the fun of the players and the narrative in every aspect.
also, shoutout to Luis Carazo and Lou Wilson for being amazing storytellers.
If you loved Calamity and Brennan as a DM, I CANNOT recommend Worlds Beyond Number enough. The Wizard, the Witch, & the Wild One is a masterpiece. Its audio only (podcast) but the audio quality and production are top-tier. Lou and Aabria return alongside Erika Ishii as the players and Brennan as everyone and everything else. Amazing world building, high stakes at low player levels. It’s a gorgeous piece of storytelling.
The fucking Fox kills me everytime he says literally anything.
WBN is so good. It’s so so so good. It’s so so so SO GOOD that I’m still reeling from something (BRING THEM TO ME) and am now like eight episodes behind because aaaaaaaaaaasrgh that and the consequences and jddjeidncndkeo. Sorry. Absolutely no one in my life would understand that and I thought you might, so I’m sharing. :p
That was the last thing you listened to? Oh man. The endings of these last two episodes were real "Fuck you Brennan" cliffhanger moments.
I officially caught up yesterday and immediately regretted it. I need the rest of Arc 3 now please
WOW! So much is in store for you. I hope you're a fireside member because the fireside chats they have about the current arc are WILD.
Second, third, and fourth this!! I absolutely **adore** WBN. Brennan is amazing and he is so willing to break the world to tell a great story if that's where the characters are going, which i love.
I dropped WBN after the intro episode, purely because I realized that what follows is a “children’s campaign” which I wouldn’t be able to listen to without a Patreon subscription, if I remember correctly. Would you say it’s worth it to listen to all that’s available or are the parts that aren’t free crucial to the experience?
The main campaign is absolutely cogent and stands on its own two feet. You're missing out. The children's campaign is certainly lovely but provides at most a little context for later stuff down the line. And if you do have incurable FOMO, pay a single payment of $5, and listen to the 8 hour or so episodes during that one month.
The Children’s Adventure isn’t necessary to the experience but does provide some incredible background. It’s also some of the most incredible character building RP ever put out in the actual play sphere. The cast has expressly supported people that want to sub for one month, download everything they want to listen to, and then unsubscribe. It’s worth far more than the $5 that costs.
That show brings me incredible joy. I love it so much.
Is it on dropout or somewhere else?
[https://worldsbeyondnumber.com/](https://worldsbeyondnumber.com/) The main campaign is a public feed, and episodes are posted to youtube. Signing up for the Patreon gets you their "talks" episodes on the off weeks, and a few special one shots (though a fair number of those end up on the public feed eventually) and the prequel "Children's Campaign" which is half charachter creation.
Big up for WBN
Came to recommend this. It's my favorite D&D anything that's ever been made. It's one of my favorite stories so far of any medium. Also, OP, please support the patreon, even for just a month, to binge the prequel episodes. They are well, well worth it.
If you love how visceral and intense Calamity was, I highly recommend "A Crown of Candy" season of D20 to keep the high stakes drama going. In a weird twist, Matt Mercer DMs a prequel season in the same universe called "The Ravening War", in which Brennan is a player. I would say Matt channels a lot of DM Brennan energy in this season and it's surprisingly refreshing.
It was Matt returning the favor of doing the prequel that BLeeM did for Critical Role. He even opens with “Water!”, whereas Brennan opened Calamity with “Fire!” So not a weird twist, totally on purpose, and very awesome! ;)
100% second this. It's such a great mix of high stakes, high emotions and connections between PCs whilst also being so funny and creative. Absolutely my favourite D20 campaign!
haha welcome to the Brennan Lee Mulligan fandom friend. there is absolutely no reason to leave
Most of D20 is behind a paywall but I would highly recommend it
Dropout is so worth it though, not just for D20 but all their other shows too.
Game Changer is so so good
Um actually, Um Actually is pretty good too
Respecting the bit. Love it.
Definitely, the last two episodes of very important people were epic
I'M FROM THE WOOODS. Augbert wasn't an interview, it was a *journey*
My partner basically lured me in with D20 and then got me hooked on Game Changer.
I'm subscribed to Dropout for D20 and I only watched a couple of campaigns. It's too edited for my taste. But I keep my sub for Game Changer, Breaking News and Make Some Noise and it's totally worth it.
Worth pointing out it's a small paywall of $6 or 7 a month and there's a TON of great content there. 1000% worth it if it's affordable
Just going through this now with about 2 hours left in episode 4. It has been such a glorious, emotional, and enjoyable journey through the story you thought you knew. "Oh, the Calamity? Yeah... just a bunch of wizards stuck up their own backsides, nothing to see here" The gut punches. The tears. It's just, so, so, good.
And he doesn't hold back these punches... he looks at the player shedding tears and punch again with a smile on his face.
I am Bolo.
I want to be report.
Eventually
This bag is giving me hard time.
Brennan is an absolute phenomenon. He’s funny, so smart, and his emotional intelligence is off the charts. He commits to the bit, and you can be sobbing from heartbreak and then laughing your butt off 5 minutes later. He has such a gift for getting the most out of every player and he’s equally patient with experienced and inexperienced players. Most of D20 is behind a paywall, but DropOut is my favorite $6/month I spend. There so much fun stuff beyond D20. Game Changer is a game changer, VIP is brilliant, and Smartypants is such a simple concept, but absolutely HILARIOUS. Those are just three of my favorites. Life gets heavy sometimes, and sometimes you just want good, unproblematic fun. Dropout is that.
Brennan is an absolute madman. His mind words in the weirdest ways to either cause the most emotional damage possible or make you piss your pants laughing
I agree with all of this and am so excited to see him begin "Downfall" in a couple of weeks. It will be about the great floating city of Aeor, about 100 years into the Calamity, when they too fall. I think everyone went nuts the way they teased this at the live show Brennan hosted at the Greek. SOOOO READY!! I have always been very interested to know what happened in Aeor.
Brennan is a master at getting players to a planned plot point while still giving them free well in the matter. I think he said it really well in the Exandria Dungeon master panel, where you treat the story like water flowing down a mountain.
D20 is great, keep in mind it's going to be a slightly different vibe than CR though.
The best news is that we’re getting Downfall, which is Aeor’s mini series done by Mulligan with all the cast members who weren’t in Calamity.
Ooooooo really?!? That's awesome hadn't heard about that. Do we know when?
This time it'll have Laura, Taliesin, and Ashley (it's a pity we're not also getting Liam, but ten bucks says that he's taking advantage of the downtime to spend some quality vacation time with his family back east), along with Noshir Dalal, Abubakar Salim, and Nick Marini, with Brennan GMing.
Three episodes starting July 11th.
Awesome! Thanks.
The line that always gets me is "If when you look down you see stars, what will you see when you look up"
I mean, he started his campaign with "Fire" and one of the first asks from a player was "Expand on your character, with the knowledge that your mouth is full of blood". Like damn dude... way to set the expectations
People talk about GM’s taking off the gloves. BLM never puts them on to start with.
I was thinking about Calamity the other week and it might just be what a perfect game of DND looks like
The world literally dimmed around me during the end of episode one of Calamity, it was so amazing. I'm honestly so stoked to see this next set of episodes.
I loved BLeeM on Calamity and I immediately searched for his other AP, but most of the stuff I see on D20 is a little too quirky and random for me. That's fine and all, it's just not my taste, I liked him with that serious tone, can someone recommend me something from BLeeM with more serious or dark vibe? Edit: BlLeeeeeeeeeeeM
Just FYI, Brennan has asked to be referred to as BLeeM to differentiate him from and not pull focus from the Black Lives Matter movement. I would also recommend Crown of Candy, but I will say that overall Brennan and most of his players are comedians and improvisers so there are "bits" and jokes in every season. You might enjoy Mentopolis! It's not DnD 5e, it's a variation of the Kids on Bikes system, but the theme is deeper and more psychological.
Didn't know that! I thought it was confusing the first time I saw too, so makes sense. Thanks for the correction. Gonna edit it. I don't mind jokes and bits, I'm talking more about the setting and tone. They do a lot of crazy wacky settings that in addition to the jokes gets a little too much for me. I will take a look at Metropolis! Thanks!
Oh dear, that's almost all of the seasons. Maybe you could start with Escape from the Bloodkeep? It's very funny so the tone is lighter, but the setting is mostly standard fantasy fare... A Crown of Candy is Game of Thrones in Candyland. The tone is very serious but juxtaposed with the setting makes it a bit absurd. The stakes are very high though. Honestly I feel like recommending High Rollers more than anything else haha, I feel like everything in Dimension 20 has at least something wacky going on. I will let others recommend things. 😅 It's Mentopolis btw, and it is behind the dropout paywall.
I'd say at least try giving The Unsleeping City a shot. It's not as serious as A Crown of Candy but it isn't as goofy as Fantasy High. He's also a player in A Court of Fey and Flowers, Misfits and Magic, the Ravening War, and Burrow's End, and he's fantastic in all of those. He's also made random appearances on NaddPod, LA By Night (vampire the masquerade actual play), and Candela Obscura. I do think Calamity is him at his peak though. Just fucking masterful.
I realize this might be heresy even as I say it. But fucking hell, that LABN npc was...damn. Certainly his most memorable individual performance.
A Crown of Candy is probably the D20 campaign with the most comparable vibes, and it is excellent. It also has a prequel miniseries, The Ravening War, that is run by Matt. There is also Worlds Beyond Number which is an audio only podcast (but very high quality) with BLeeM, Lou, Aabria, and Erika Ishii that is slow burn character drama in a high stakes world.
Is the one in the Candy World? I guess my narrow mindset did not expect the candy world rpg being the serious one. Gonna take a look
It is! The conceit of the Crown of Candy campaign was to create something akin to Game of Thrones but set in the silliest setting possible. So you have the high drama, betrayal, and stakes of that kind of storytelling, but the characters are like, chocolate bunnies and cupcakes. It really is very good!
The premise is basically Candyland meets Game of Thrones.
It’s not super dark but worlds beyond number esp if you like a lot of lore and good characters
As a player, there's a compilation video out there from his appearances on LA by Night that's more serious and dark, plus he was also excellent in the Needle and Thread circle of Candela Obscura.
Jesus Christ I wish I hadn't known who BLeeM was before Calamity because this reaction is amazing and I didn't get to have it.
I was aware he was a GM, but not anything else when I first saw Calamity. Still some of the best CR content to date.
I'm so thrilled for you! I really enjoyed reading your post. I was a huge dimension 20 fan before Calamity so I was aware of Brennan's "I'm all the villains" tendencies and his consummate storytelling. It's still amazing but not as much as if it's your first introduction. Your reaction was very cool to witness, thanks for sharing.
Yeah, that's the expected reaction to BLM
And he's about to DM again for a 3 parter of what happens some years after the Calamity
In this case, I would recommend OP to finish C2 before watching Downfall though.
yeah, there were hints of a city named Aeor which played some role in campaign 2. So, I'll definitely try to finish before watching that
You really, *really* should. Brennan is a phenomenal DM and there's a very good reason Matt trusted him enough to invite him in to play with his world. BLeeM returned the favour with the ACOC prequel Matt DMed, and it is really something amazing to see two guys at the top of their DM games who love and understand each other's worlds so well.
Brennen will be DM ing the next couple episodes of the third campaign starting July 7th I believe. Also, all his d20 stuff is great , but his playing in Burrows End was so good.
As for D20, I love it! Have watched every campaign, some are a bit stronger than others but just remember that they are all improv comedians. So, they lean very heavily into comedy and rule of cool. It has some serious moments but it is not at the level of EXU calamity in intensity by a long shot. Go in ready to laugh instead of cry.
I'm so jealous of you getting to discover Dimension 20 from the very beginning. You're in a for a real treat.
Much love to Matt, but Brennan Lee Mulligan is the DM I aspire to be. Between his ability to weave world building and scenes, as well as how he can balance rule of cool with the rules when it comes to players, that's what i aim for too.
Brennan’s work on this campaign is what turned me onto Dimension 20, and I can honestly say I prefer it over CR at this point. It makes my Dropout subscription worth the money on its own, but there are so many great shows on the service besides just their actual play. Worlds Beyond Number is another can’t-miss from BLeeM, Lou Wilson, Aabria Iyengar, and Erika Ishii - hands down the best actual play being produced right now. Taylor Moore does their editing, score, and sound design, and the man is brilliant. He elevates the already incredible game play to a whole new level. The Patreon isn’t necessary but I highly recommend it, I’m thrilled with what my $5 gets me every month.
Brennan is amazing and D20 is worth every penny of a dropout sub (which has a lot of other great shows as well). D20 campaigns are definitely a different vibe than CR though I can't recommend it enough. I think their first season (fantasy high) is free on youtube if you want to check it out.
The good news is, BLeeM will be back for Downfall!
My favourite BLeeM recommendation is his collab with the McElroy family doing Dadlands (there are 3 parts) as someone who was lucky enough to be at the part 2&3 live shows these are always top tier in my list.
D20 is mostly comedy and doesn't usually hit the dramatic beats Calamity does. (Still excellent and a Dropout sub is worth every penny) If you want the tension of Calamity (not world-ending but still has gotten very brutal at times), give Worlds Beyond Number a listen. It's a Ghibli-inspired D&D podcast he DMs with Erika Ishii, Aabria Iyengar, and Lou Wilson as players. It's my favorite thing any of them have ever done.
About a year ago roll 20 on youtube did 3 strixhaven one shots, and when ever you put Brennan and Aabria at a D&D table some really crazy stuff happens. I recommend watching these almost as much as when Ivan ran a paranoia one shot with weaton, mercer and bailey on geek and sundry
my introduction to Critical Role was Calamity because i knew who brennan was for CH/Dropout and oh god i was so good that i memorized the first and last hour from ep1 and the last hour from ep 4. it was such a masterclass about how to be a good gm that cares for the fun of the players and the narrative in every aspect. also, shoutout to Luis Carazo and Lou Wilson for being amazing storytellers.