Summary
Prime Video’sThe Legend of Vox Machinahighlights how adaptions ofDungeons & Dragonsactual plays can work in animation, and suggestingDimension 20would make for an incredibly strong animated show.The Legend of Vox Machinahas been a solid hit for Prime Video, bringing the adventures of the titular adventuring party to audiences around the world. Bolstered by strong charactetrs, epic stakes, and a willingness to play with fantasy genre tropes for laughs, the show has proven how well long-form RPG actual plays likeCritical Rolecan be adapted into TV shows.
While there are several high-profile TTRPG actual play shows out there,the best is Dropout’sDimension 20. With a strong central cast of comedy performers and a deep bench of guest stars on hand for the show’s inventive approach to various genres, the series debuted in 2019 and has already produced over twenty seasons. Any of them would make for a strong animated show in their own right, and an adaptation of the series as a whole might be the best way to fill the hole left in-betweenseasons ofThe Legend of Vox Machina.
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A Dimension 20 TV Show Would Be A Perfect Legend Of Vox Machina Replacement
An adaptation ofDimension 20would fit perfectly alongside the success ofThe Legend of Vox Machina. Similar toCritical Role,Dimension 20is an actual play series focusing on a group of performers as they play through popular RPGs likeDungeons & DragonsandKids With Bikes. However, the Dropout series leans more heavily into the potential comedy of the situation, with severel unexpected and hilarious genre riffs.The Legend of Vox Machinais an adaptation of the first long-runningCritical Rolecampaign, remixing hundreds of episodes into a frequently hilarious, action-packed, and highly dramatic fantasy epic.
By contrast,Dimension 20benefits from shorter seasons and a larger variety of settings. This gives a prospective adaptation freedom to be weird and wild in ways evenThe Legend of Vox Machinacan’t. A prospectiveDimension 20animated series offers a more openly comedic answer toThe Legend of Vox Machinathat can still deliver plenty of solid character drama and epic action. The shorter and sometimes self-contained seasons could allow for a quicker turnaround in production, allowing the series to easily fit into a streamer schedule while shows likeThe Legend of Vox Machinaare still being produced.
The Legend Of Vox Machina’s TV Show Success Proves An Animated Dimension 20 Series Could Work
The sheer scale and length ofCritical Rolemakes it a uniquely challenging adaptation. However, the creatives behindThe Legend of Vox Machinahave been able to streamline the series and refine it through tight writing and strong animation. It helps that the characters, all played by the performers that played them in the original show, bring an effortless authenticity to the show.Dimension 20largely operates in a similar way, with their longest-running stories like “Fantasy High” and “The Unsleeping City” working largely in part due tothe rapports that have developed naturally between the players and the characters.
The Legend of Vox Machinahighlights how the story arcs in long-running actual plays can make for compelling TV, building off the improvisational nature of the original shows and refining them into a more streamlined and subversive approach to fantasy storytelling.Dimension 20’s ability to hop between settings and genres between seasons creates lots of possible directionsfor an adaptation to go. It boasts a similar unpredictable aspect that benefits greatly from the comedy performers at the heart of the show, and with inventive worlds that are begging to be animated.
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What Dimension 20 Seasons A TV Show Should Cover
There are several seasons ofDimension 20that would make for strong animated adaptations, perhaps most notably their flagship storyline “Fantasy High.“The melding of high school film tropes and high fantasy adventure is a perfect jumping off point, and the lived-in qualities of the cast make it the easiest parallel toCritical RoleandThe Legend of Vox Machina. Other seasons withDimension 20’s main cast, like the sci-fi epic “A Starstruck Odyssey,” the candy-themed fantasy drama “A Crown of Candy,” and the horrifying fairy tale riff “Neverafter,” would also make for compelling takes on popular fantasy genres.
Part of the appeal ofDimension 20is the way the show has some long-running stories,as well as more self-contained “side quests"that incorporate different guest stars and explore completely different genres. This means storylines like the direct parodies of “Escape from the Bloodkeep” and “Misfits and Magic” or genre fusions like ““A Court of Fey and Flowers” or “Burrow’s End” could be easily produced as stand-alone mini-series.Dimension 20would be the ideal way to follow up on the success ofThe Legend of Vox Machina, highlighting how adaptations of TTRPG campaigns work in animation.
Dimension 20
Cast
Produced under the Dropout TV banner/service, Dimension 20 is a Dungeons & Dragons-based television show that brings together a group of players for comedic adventures in the classic tabletop game. Campaigns last several seasons and switch back and forth between them, with many cast members returning to take on new roles, all hosted by creator Brennan Lee Mulligan as the show’s Dungeon Master.
