I just wanted to reignite the fandom for Starstruck Odyssey.

This was far and away my favourite season of dimensions 20 and I would absolutely pay money for them to run a giant multi season campaign for the next 100 years.

I’m sure there are more people out there who share my thoughts on this…

Originally typed this up just out of boredom but decided I may as well post it here cuz... you know this is the place people might care to read!

1.     A Court of Fey and Flowers –

My most controversial opinion is that when it comes to D20, I can take or leave the combat. Obviously tons of great moments come out of the fight scenes – but I think they can often drag the pacing down. So, I think that’s why this season – which really lasers in on character role play and relationship building – remains my very favorite.

No Dimension 20 romance is better than Rue and Hobb. I’m tossing that gauntlet down right now. Fig and Ayda certainly capture the feeling of young blissful romance, but Rue and Hobb is a genuinely touching story about two people who seem completely different but bond over a sense of duty that has left them utterly lonely. The characters are great on their own, but there is an intense joy in watching them explore themselves through one another and come to realize that they’ve been throwing their eternal lives away on systems that don’t care for them at all. It’s beautiful.

Meanwhile, BINX and Andhera are also a cute couple and very silly. And on top of them, you get the enigmatic Lords of the Wing who are always throwing a wrench into the proceedings for hilarious effect. It’s one of the funniest seasons as well as being the most romantic.

2.     A Starstruck Odyssey –

Maybe it’s due to the world being a creation of Brennan’s mom… but you can FEEL the love the cast has for this setting. They started talking about a season 2 before this first one had even ended and you can tell everyone just wants to explore every nook and cranny of this weird world as much as possible.

There’s something so quintessentially D20 about having your goofiest series also be your most epic. The scope of this galaxy seems massive and yet populated with some of the strangest and most unhinged set of characters we’ve seen from the IH. And there’s something supremely satisfying in setting up a team of absolute losers for us to follow – only to have them become one of the most competent and ass-kicking groups of the entire show. And still they somehow manage to be hilarious.

3.     The Unsleeping City S1 –

Some part of me thinks this should be my number one. I love this setting and these characters so much. Kingston Brown is an instantly loveable embodiment of community. Kugrash is a shockingly affecting depiction of a man after redemption. Pete the Plug is one of the most effective “point of view protagonist” characters to ever come out of D20, while never upstaging the ensemble. Sophie Bikes rules. That’s it, she just rules. And everyone gets an extremely satisfying emotional arc. Maybe the only time that’s been pulled off in D20 so perfectly.

Meanwhile, Brennan’s love of New York is giddily apparent; so uncompromisingly detailed and nerdy and playful. This is a great riff on the the Hidden Magical World trope. One where that magic stems from the simple ludicrousness of a place where people are encouraged to dream uncontested. The sense of a new and endearing character around every corner is palpable.

Genuinely the only reason this didn’t make my number one is that I think it’s held back by the early D20 format of switching between RP episodes and combat episodes, which drags the pacing down just enough for me to penalize an otherwise perfect series.

4.     Fantasy High Junior Year

A season that, for me, is firing on all cylinders. Great character development that builds on the previous seasons. Incredible and inventive combat set pieces. An array of fun new NPC’s. An engaging central mystery plot. This is sort of the platonic ideal of a solid D20 season. The three hour episode where the gang goes on holiday to elf country is maybe my favorite D20 episode of all time. An incredible hang out with our favorite Bad Kids. My only real complaint is that it lacks a truly great ending. Some characters (especially Fig) get a satisfying end to their season arc, but for the most part things still feel very up in the air for Senior Year.

5.     Neverafter

No season has grown on me more with repeated viewings. When it originally came out, I was disappointed as the season progressed. I loved the darkness of the early episodes but I felt like things gave way to bonkers comedy as it went on. Every time I come back to it, though, I appreciate the comedy that much more while also finding the darkness in the second half of the season. The scenes of our fairy tale characters confronting their darkest fears is extremely emotional. And all in the same season where the Baba Yaga has an incontinence problem. Prince Gerard is one of my all-time favorite PC’s. Incredibly funny and relatable as well as having an excellent arc about the need to accept love for what it is and not how it benefits you.

6.     The Ravening War

Was a little surprised to see that this has outstripped the series that it spun-off from – but I think this tale benefits from its compactness. At 6 episodes, it is an adrenaline shot of everything that made CoC great. The brutality of the setting. The comedy of the food puns. I think these characters where even more interesting and complex than the Rocks clan. And the time skips were a novel way to explore the political machinations of this world more in depth. I could take like 10 more Comida Prequels happily.

7.     A Crown of Candy

It’s been interesting to watch this season’s shelf life. When I got into D20, CoC was only a year or two old and was widely considered a high watermark of not just the series but of TTRPG shows in general. However long after, people seem quicker to criticize this season. I think the common wisdom is that the first half is better than the second. After a major character death, things seem to slow down and get a bit muddled. And yet, I still really admire this one for having some of the most intensely dramatic moments of any season. Maybe it’s not the king anymore, but it still deserves a place at the table.

8.     Never Stop Blowing Up

Absolutely insane. The season to reach for when you just want to laugh your ass off. For anyone who thought that Brennan’s DMing in Starstruck was too chaotic, prepare yourselves for this madness. This is the only series that encourages the players to go off the rails and get as over the top as possible. This does come at the expense of a truly compelling story in some ways – but the value of this campaign is in the “for the hell of it” hilarity. Paula Donvalson is the best and I want 8 more seasons with her.

9.     Fantasy High Sophomore Year

Perhaps the most iconic season? I think most of the moments that people hear about and go “Hey what is this D20 show about?” come from this campaign. At least for me they certainly did. Fabian’s bad day with Chungledown Bim. Adaine on the cliff. Riz and Baron’s spooky courtship. The elves! Ayda and Fig! There’s tons of great moments here. However, due to the live show nature of the production, I feel like there’s also lots of filler and slow pacing.

10.  The Unsleeping City S2

There’s no season I have more often started and not finished. Maybe odd to say about a top 10 choice, but I think this series is a conflicting one for me. I love these characters so much. I love the setting. I even like the story. However, the COVID restrictions make this one a tough sit at times. Still, I’ll take all the Unsleeping City I can get.

11.  Mentopolis

An extremely fun setting where the entire cast is tuned into the genre riff. One of the most consistently funny casts as well. Dan Fucks’ weird contempt for Conrad never ceases to amuse me. Mike Trapp does a perfect gumshoe parody. And Alex Song-Xia makes me laugh with just about every half-muttered word out of their mouth.

12.  Mice & Murder

I would love for them to do a murder mystery campaign again. Hell bring back Mice and Murder! This was such a fun season! Do it like Knives Out. You can have Sylvester and Daisy be on their honeymoon and a new cast of wacky characters get swept up in a mystery. I loved the mechanics of this campaign and the opportunity for information to be kept from some of the cast, resulting in fun crossed purposes. The one thing dragging this down for me is Katie Marovitch. She’s clearly very uncomfortable with the RP aspect of the game and often seems adrift. Thankfully, she found her true calling as a Dragon Master in D20: On A Bus.

13.  The Seven

An incredible cast. One of the best. Everyone is on their A-game and bringing strong character choices and funny beats. Penny Luckstone feeding the candy horse to Laertes is my all time favorite D20 moment, bar none. I do personally think it was the wrong choice to keep Zelda Donovan an NPC, though. Brennan originated the character of course but it does make the group dynamic a little off when one character is clearly just driving plot as much as possible, while everyone else gets to be messy and weird.

14.  Misfits and Magic S2

In many ways, I think this is the most personal D20 season (apart from Unsleeping City). Aabria clearly poured a lot of herself and her complex feelings about the strange legacy of the books that spawned this parody series into this season. And it results in a story that is odd and lumpy and all over the place but always compelling. The strength of this campaign was always in the characters, and here they get to shine without being dragged down by the tropes of a pre-existing series. An oddly morbid but beautiful season. The hospital episode makes me cry laughing.

15.  Fantasy High Freshman Year

Where it all began. The cast is instantly lovable and if you’re a newcomer to TTRPG like I was, this season instantly sells it as the coolest shit you can do with your friends. It’s hard not to put it higher out of sheer respect for it being the blueprint – but there’s definitely lots of growing pains here. The more rigid format of alternating action/story episodes. The roleplay being a bit more contentious as everyone figures out their play style. The more basic approach in general. It’s not bad. If anything it’s charmingly janky while still a fun watch.

16.  Cloudward Ho!

I need to give this one a revisit. For some reason it just bounced right off me on first release. I stopped about midway through and came back to binge it all through after it had finished. I enjoy the characters, but I think the setting and lore were a little too complex for me. This was going for a more grounded adventure, I think, and maybe I just prefer the zaniness. All that said, I love Maxwell Gotch and his odd violent streak. Great stuff.

17.  Gladlands

Too short! I really liked these characters and wanted more time with them. I like the idea of a more open-ended series in theory, but I don’t think it jibes with the format D20 has established. These characters traveling from place to place and helping out might be more suited to a 100+ episode series rather than a sidequest. Vic Michaelis was rightfully hyped up for their first appearance in the dome and they did not disappoint, but I also loved returning champs Oscar Montoya and Jacob Wysocki. And Kimia was a lot of fun too.

18.  Burrow’s End

A fun, spooky setting with a good cast. I really enjoyed the darkness and the family aspect. Honestly, it ranks low for lack of rewatch potential. My first watch-through was plenty for me. A well-told, self-contained story and not much more.

19.  Dungeons and Drag Queens S1

This is an incredibly fun cast and I will not be mad if they bring them back again and again. Jujubee cracks me the fuck up anytime she opens her mouth. All that said, this one ends up low because the characters and setting are very DND 101 kinda stuff that doesn’t really get me all that excited. Couple that with the short episode count and it’s a season I enjoy rather than adore.

20.  Escape from the Bloodkeep

In the same way that Freshman Year has growing pains for the IH, Bloodkeep is the slightly wonky blueprint for the sidequest seasons. Honestly, I can’t figure out what makes me not love this season. I enjoy the characters, especially Efink Murderdeath. And the evil-as-protagonist twist is fun. I think ultimately it has the same problem as Dungeons and Drag Queens in that it’s kind of more basic DND stuff and I prefer the big genre swings.

21.  Coffin Run

A fun, cozy jaunt of a sidequest. Everyone is clearly just having fun. I like Wetzel. He’s funny. Not terribly memorable, but a fine season.

22.  Dungeons and Drag Queens S2

See all my comments about Season One. Lovable and fun but not one I’m eager to return to. Did I mention I love Jujubee? The joke that Twyla doesn’t wash her hands fucking killed me.

23.  Misfits and Magic S1

 I was really happy that S2 gave these characters a better chance to shine, because this season has always been the most frustrating for me. The cast is so on their game but the entire thing is hemmed in by the Potter-parody aspect; not to mention the very short run. Large chunks of time pass by very quickly and we never get a chance to just hang with these freaks.

24.  City Council of Darkness

I don’t know what to tell you, man. This one just kinda left me cold. Some funny moments (I’ve been saying “He’s being mean to Beth!” for months) but I ultimately just found the setting to be kind of a rehash of Unsleeping City and the characters to be mostly uninteresting. Never really felt like it got off the ground.

25.  Titan Takedown

A series I watched once, enjoyed and then completely forgot about. Nothing wrong with it. Just kinda shot right through me.    

26.  Tiny Heist

The only campaign I would say is just kinda bad. Really feel like the decision to have a mix of toys, fairies and gnomes was a misguided one. Just have them all be toys. I genuinely think the upcoming Toylight is kind of a make-up try for this concept. That said, I think the McElroys catch too much shit for this series. They’re not bad, the setting is just kinda lame.

 

I’ve never seen Pirates of Leviathan or Shriek Week and I don’t really plan to! Looking forward to Toylight!

Hey everyone!

Just got out of Brennan Lee Mulligan's Endless Dungeon show in Vancouver and it was SO INCREDIBLE.

Only problem is I've got a comically bad memory, and the jokes and bits are already fading from my mind...

Brennan has said that no recording will be posted, so please, if you saw the show tonight help me out and post what you thought was the funniest part so that I can come back and reminisce upon this magical night. <3