For anybody that has ever played a Tabletop RPG like “D&D” before, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that whole storylines are being seen as rich fodder for film and TV producers. The way these games work is forced creativity. The players are given total freedom to make choices based on whatever traits they decide their characters are going to have and the DM sets them on a path where they can royally screw up or pull off miraculous successes based on strategy, smarts, and the luck of the dice roll.
Shows like “Critical Role,” “The Adventure Zone,” and “Nerd Poker” have all grown armies of loyal fans who are as hooked on following along with the adventure as the players themselves and Amazon seems to be the first studio to recognize there’s a whole, untapped fanbase out there that will follow their favorite campaigns and characters away from web-series and podcasts to a more traditional venue like TV series.
I wouldn’t be surprised if you see an uptick in streamers or even more traditional cable channels looking towards these actual play tabletop RPG shows. There’s a whole wide world of creative storytelling going on out there and the fantasy “D&D” side of it is just the most visible at the moment. There are sci-fi, western, and horror RPG systems out there as well.
It’s a good day for “Critical Role” fans and hopefully just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to future animated or live-action adaptations of these wild, raucous kinds of campaigns.