Contrary to popular (internet joke) belief, “Dimension 20” Brennan Lee Mulligan is not abandoning his career to make custom American Girl doll shoes. No, not only has Mulligan struck a new three-year development deal at his longtime home media company Dropout (formerly CollegeHumor) but he’ll be visiting the team at Critical Role as their Game Master for the next core campaign of the tabletop role-playing game, actual-play series’.
Premiering Thursday, Oct. 2, the currently untitled Campaign 4 will be “ushering in a new era with new legends to be forged in a brand new world,” per Critical Role. The fourth installment follows the previous core campaigns: “Vox Machina” (Campaign 1), “The Mighty Nein” (Campaign 2) and most recently “Bells Hells” (Campaign 3).
Best known as the dungeon master for his Dropout actual-play series “Dimension 20,” Mulligan will serve as Game Master for the full duration of Campaign 4, “bringing his signature depth, humor, wit, and high-stakes drama to Critical Role’s next grand adventure.” Mulligan takes over the role from Critical Role’s staple Game Master, Matt Mercer, who will be taking “a bit of a breather” this campaign as the actual-play series explores the world outside its usual Exandria setting.
Details on the cast, world, game system, format and more for Campaign 4 will be revealed in the coming months. The season will be available for streaming on Critical Role streamer Beacon.tv, as well as Critical Role’s YouTube and Twitch channels on Oct. 2. The VOD available for everyone the following Monday and podcast episodes will drop in two parts: the first one the week after the premiere, and the second on the following Tuesday.
Per Critical Role, Beacon subscribers will also get “exclusive access to all episodes of Critical Role Cooldown for Campaign 4, where the cameras keep rolling and you get a front row seat to the cast’s post-show reactions.”
In addition to “Dimension 20,” Mulligan’s notable projects include his popular podcast “Worlds Beyond Number,” and other Dropout original series including “Game Changer,” “Make Some Noise” and “Very Important People.” Mulligan recently signed a new three-year deal with Dropout, which includes continuing to lead “Dimension 20” creatively and strategically, as well as an overall development deal to create and produce new Dropout series.
“We’ve been enormous fans of Brennan’s for many years now, and when it came to giving both Matthew Mercer and the world of Exandria a bit of a breather, Brennan felt like the perfect storyteller to take our community somewhere entirely new,” Critical Role CEO, co-founder and cast member Travis Willingham said. “Critical Role has always been about genuine connection through storytelling first and foremost, and as Brennan himself will tell you, he’s still played more TTRPGs away from a camera than in front of it. His passion and drive for worldbuilding is infectious, and it’s been an absolute joy to spark off him as we forge ahead. “
Critical Role creative director, co-founder and cast member Marisha Ray added: “We’re not just turning a page – we’re starting a whole new book. Everything about Campaign 4 is fresh; new world, new tone, new possibilities. We can’t wait for the fans to experience what we’ve been building.”
See below for Variety‘s Q&A with Mulligan about his new deal with Dropout and plans for his temporary takeover at Critical Role.
Exciting times! First off, you’re pretty busy right now — will your role as Game Master for Critical Role’s Campaign 4 affect production on Dropout’s “Dimension 20”?
We are at the beginning of an epic adventure. I am about to embark — once again, to my great honor and privilege — behind the screen over at Critical Role for the beginning of Campaign 4. Oh my God, I cannot wait to share with everybody what we’re cooking up. And I can also say, over at “Dimension 20,” we are cooking up multiple seasons right now.
The future is very bright. Just signed a new three-year deal, not only to continue to lead creatively and strategically with my beloved Intrepid Heroes and all our amazing friends that work with us in the dimensional dome for many, many, long years to come, but also a new development deal for even things and projects beyond, waiting in the mist for us to discover. Because things at Dropout are just going awesome, and we have so many amazing people there to collaborate with. The future is very bright.
In terms of either of these projects impacting the other, the primary and I think sole way that the excitement and enthusiasm around Campaign 4 of Critical Role is impacting all the amazing things cooking up at “Dimension 20” is that I’m maybe too lucky for a person that I get to have all this fun. That’s the number one, and sole impact is I’m having a fucking ball. It’s very exciting.
We’re also wrapping up Book One of “The Wizard, the Witch and The Wild One” for “Worlds Beyond Number,” which I’m so enormously proud of. I’ll also get to be a player at the table of the one, the only, the inimitable of Aabria Iyengar, who I’m so excited to be a PC for in the next big, main campaign of “Worlds Beyond Number.” So that’s very exciting.
So would you say there has been plenty in the pipeline “D20”-wise that it wouldn’t affect production or release schedule?
We just shot an awesome season of “Dimension 20” earlier this month. And I hate to brag, but while you’re asking, it’s one of the most delightful, funny, tears were shed beautiful performances. Also, it was a gorgeous production experience. We were going home on time. We weren’t even going over on our schedule. The reason that I am able to play in the epic adventures and fantasy worlds of Critical Role, and that I am able to tell these wild million different dimensions of candy “Game of Thrones” and high school for heroes, all this stuff over at “Dimension 20,” is because truly of the diligence, brilliance and incredible work ethic of the cast, crew and staff of both of these incredible institutions.
How did this Critical Role opportunity come about?
It started a while ago. Critical Role has “The Legend of Vox Machina,” “The Mighty Nein,” comics and shows and live shows and stories and the incredible work that’s gone into Darrington Press and “Daggerheart.” Just the amount of achievement, creatively and artistically over at Critical Role is so profound. The experience I had creatively with “Calamity” and “Downfall” and “Divergence” was just so positive and such a joy to share that with everybody there, that as the company expands and the founding cast has this incredible creative empire to manage, I think it was looking to me to come in and take the reins, largely so that the incredible creative minds there can tend to all of these astounding endeavors that they have going on. And it’s a delight and a privilege for me to be able to do that. I know this is glib, but I’m finally playing almost as much TTRPG as I’d like. We’re getting close.
Can you say what game system you’re thinking of using for this one?
I will be glad to share that that announcement is scheduled and on route.
Going back to the renewal of the deal with Dropout — can you hint at what new series and projects you’re excited about pursuing in the future for Dropout, outside of “Dimension 20”?
It has been the honor and privilege of a lifetime to be the creator and EP of “Dimension 20” and my work there as well on all of our shows, “Make Some Noise” and “Game Changer.” And there are so many projects there that, as Dropout continues to expand and thrive — we have now this incredible development team, not only of the senior leadership at the company, but like Paul Robalino, Rosie Kaller and Elyse Findley, who are amazing. They’re so brilliant.
And in terms of what I personally am excited for, the worlds along the horizon for Dropout, I think we have this amazing facility with unscripted content. And there are a lot of ideas that I have from my background in LARPing, or my background in other pursuits and hobbies that I look at and I go, “We work with the greatest improvisers on the planet, can we find unscripted venues that tell a story we haven’t gotten to tell yet?”
But then beyond that, this is a big, multi-year deal. Dropout is my home. Sam Reich gave me that phone call and changed my life, so I’ll be there. They will have to drag me kicking and screaming out of Dropout, American Girl-doll-shoes jokes notwithstanding. Nothing could compel me to leave. And I’m so proud to be associated with a company like Dropout and the horizon is so broad. Maybe different kinds of storytelling, even beyond unscripted? Are there things on the far horizon for our company that maybe makes sense?
Recently, “Dimension 20” released a Webtoon comic series based on its “Fantasy High” season. Are there any other “Dimension 20” storylines that you’re looking at adapting for another format in a similar way?
You know what, I hate not giving you stuff to talk about so I’ll take a risk here and say: In different ways to share our world, there is more than one world that is currently receiving TLC in terms of what other corners might be explored within it, even beyond the bounds of actual play.
Eloquently put. A few more important questions here: Which American Girl doll do you most enjoy making custom shoes for?
Josefina, and it’s because I learned how to pronounce her name correctly. I said it wrong in the video and people really let me have it, let me tell you. So that’s my mea culpas. We’ll get Josefina’s name right, and we’ll get those shoes right.
Which of those sketch videos do you hope ultimately wins the “Fool’s Gold” episode of “Game Changer”?
I have to say I think Izzy Roland’s “Even More Buttholes” video is going to be a dark horse. I think that people should pay attention. Izzy Roland is the funniest comedian on the planet. And anybody who doesn’t think so, they got a problem with me.
And finally, will you be green-lighting a full season of Katie Marovitch’s “Dimension 20: On a Bus”?
Wow, it’s an amazing question. I’m not gonna lie, I have reservations about green-lighting a full season, only because Katie is so much a better “Dragon Master” than me that I think it will dim my light and make me look bad in comparison. And I know that Katie is coming from my throat. I mean, Marovitch is one of the most ruthless operators out there, don’t get it twisted. It’s a knives out bloodbath, that’s why they call her Bloodbath Marovitch. And you can quote me on that.
Are you considering implementing Katie’s strictly D6 rolling method moving forward in your work?
I’m waiting to see if Katie can add in a tactical movement element, because battle sets are an important part of the design aesthetic of “Dimension 20.” I also would love there to be just more than one rule, one feels like kind of not enough. I’ve asked if Katie could make even two or three additional rules. She hung up on me and then vandalized my home. But that’s Katie Bloodbath Marovitch. And, again, I’m hoping the name sticks.
This interview has been edited and condensed.