Dimension 20 Takes on Madison Square Garden

A Turning Point in the History of TTRPGs

*Warning: Light spoilers ahead for Dimension 20 The Gauntlet at the Garden*

I’ll be honest, it takes a lot to get me to go to Madison Square Garden. There is almost no singer or group alive that I think is worth both the money and anxiety of standing in a crowd of 20,000 people. And don’t even get me started on the slow trudge of the crowd exiting post-event—it’s enough to make any fast-walking New Yorker scream. And yet, when the Dimension 20 crew announced last April that they would be performing, for one night only, at the storied NY venue, I knew immediately I would be there. Or at least I would be scrambling to get tickets with the hopes of being there. (Spoiler alert: We got ‘em.)

Despite the fact that Brian and I also saw the D20 gang perform in Dublin, Ireland, I really had no idea what to expect from “The Gauntlet at the Garden.” Even now, four days after the event, I find myself still thinking about so many aspects of the show. As I work through those thoughts, I did want to share some with you, whether you were also in the 20,000 person audience or are now waiting for the video version to hit Dropout.

A view of the stage for The Gauntlet at the Garden

First, live shows are a fully different beast from pre-recorded episodes. This may seem an obvious thought, but what I really mean is that the game of Dungeons & Dragons itself is played very differently if you are performing live versus performing in a recording studio. The true joy of watching live TTRPGs is to feel like you are sitting at the table with those players, that you are a part of their group. You are experiencing the very same things they are, in the very same moment. It took me a few minutes to pivot my expectations of the show once it began to come around to this understanding.

This was not the time for nuanced battle tactics and deep character development. It was the time to cheer aloud when Gilear immediately slipped on yogurt and died (Kingston so thoughtfully revived him) or when Ricky Matsui so thoughtfully pointed out, “If there’s one thing firemen hate, it’s fire.” In fact, one of my most favorite moments of the entire show had nothing to do with the Unsleeping City heroes, or even Dimension 20, really.

Which live TTRPG shows have you loved most?

After the intermission, the Intrepid Heroes returned to the stage and almost immediately reprimanded Brennan Lee Mulligan for taking too long to launch into the action. He informed us that he was being told that he couldn’t start until the lighting was fixed to look “slightly different” (a nearly imperceptible change to the audience, but I won’t pretend to understand MSG-level production needs). And so Brian Murphy took the opportunity to live out his pro wrestling dreams, walking to the center of the round and challenging Lou to a match with Ally Beardsley strutting their stuff as the babe who holds up the number indicating which round was about to begin.

It was a hilarious moment that fans of Murph knew meant the world to him and gave us, all 20,000 of us, a chance to feel like we were now included in part of an inside joke with the rest of the D20 crew. Especially when, afterwards, Brennan said, “I’m being told they actually can’t fix the lights until you sit down.” These are the moments that make a live TTRPG show feel electric, not watching Misty Moore cast Otto’s Irresistible Dance on Kalvaxus (though that was also very satisfying).

But the thought I keep returning to when I think about the Gauntlet at the Garden is much bigger than all of this. After we’d found our seats, before the show even began, Shenuque and I went in search of a cup of tea (because we’re incredibly cool party people, thank you). While waiting for the gal behind the counter to get our hot water, we listened to another MSG employee remark on how insane he thought it was that this whole event—this sold-out, 20,000-person, stadium event—was centered around a table top role playing game. And while Shenuque and I laughed on our way back to our seats, that guy was not wrong.

It’s wild to me that Dungeons & Dragons and Dimension 20 are big enough cultural touchstones to sell out Madison Square Garden. I could hardly believe I was there in the moment or that this was really happening. There is something unique and truly very special about being surrounded by such an immense crowd of people who share what you feel to be such a niche passion. It’s the feeling of being there before the wave crashes, before everyone else catches on, before The Beatles made it big! It’s a unifying energy, almost like you are aware in the moment that you’re a part of something big, and a feeling we all know will be difficult to explain to our non-D&D friends afterwards.

This is a feeling I’ve had only a handful of times in my life, but it was there on January 24 as I watched Emily Axford, Lou Wilson, Siobhan Thompson, Brian Murphy, Ally Beardsley, Zac Oyama, and Brennan Lee Mulligan revisit the Dream Team and restore a cosmic balance to the greatest city in the world. Regardless of where the TTRPG and Actual Play industries go from here, it’s not lost on me the gravity of being able to say I was there for this historic evening. Was is the greatest example of D&D gameplay I’ve ever witnessed? Not by a mile. But damn was it a good time and worth it to feel like I was a part of a larger-than-life moment in the history of Actual Plays and TTRPGs.

— Abby

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