His work includes Halo, COD:MW, and Mortal Kombat One. Undertone FX's founder, David "DJ" Johnson

David Johnson is an award winning Visual FX artist, CEO of Undertone FX, and the most passionate Dungeons and Dragons fan on the planet.

1.DJ’s Legendary D&D Room

•Imagine a room packed wall-to-wall with every edition of D&D books, custom-built gaming tables (complete with slots for whiskey glasses!), and hundreds of meticulously organized minis. DJ walks us through his collection and how he uses it to bring unforgettable moments to life at his gaming table.

•Want to see his setup? It's in this episode.

2.The Gamer Assistance Program (GAP): Giving Back to the RPG Industry

•Learn how GAP helps RPG designers, writers, and artists who’ve given us so much joy but often didn’t have access to retirement plans or healthcare. From covering medical bills to providing a new roof, GAP steps in when it matters most.

•Support the cause or nominate someone in need: Page Charity.

3.Making Games Magical

•DJ’s gameplay is anything but ordinary. Whether he’s using a soundboard for character voices, painting live terrain during a game, or literally decapitating miniatures to match the story, he takes immersion to the next level.

•Curious about DJ’s adventures? Watch highlights and behind-the-scenes moments from his games on his YouTube channel.

4.Creating a Welcoming Space for New Players

•DJ talks about running one-shots and campaigns for players of all experience levels. From high-octane adventures like Randy Macho Man Strahd to long-form campaigns, DJ’s goal is always the same: to ignite a love for storytelling and tabletop gaming.

5.The Human Element of D&D

•We discuss the beauty of D&D as a platform for connection. Whether you’re a fan of 1st Edition, 5th Edition, or a homebrew mix, the passion unites us all. As DJ says, “In the end, it’s all about storytelling with people you care about.”

Support the film at: https://www.50yearsoffantasy.com/fantasy-fund

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Produced by: Build Something Media

Transcript

I set up.(...) I do it for-- I do these for work,(...) but I have to use a work computer. And it's a Windows. And it can-- it's hooked-- all this stuff that it's hooked to, I don't own.(...) So--

(...)

All right. So I've got us recording now. I think I'm going to do the switching, just kind of behind the scenes.(...) You won't hear me or see me. I may-- if I type anything, you can have that private chat window over there open. But I'm going to try to--

(...)

actually, you know what? That's even better. DJ, just after you-- after we finish up here, if you could just please leave the browser window open, because it'll up finish up-- it'll upload the full resolution file for me. And then I'll be able to download it and splice it together.

(...)

Same for you, Katie.

(...)

Just make sure you do that. And then Thor will be on at 8.

(...)

Nice.

(...)

You look great.(...) Thank you.

(...)

Nice to see you. I'm looking forward to hanging out at Paige in, what, two weeks or so.

(...)

Yes, you'll be there.

(...)

Another place I don't get to go. But maybe one day-- Justin's going to be there too, and we're bringing behind the scenes videographer. And so we want to redo your interview. We weren't really happy with the audio. Cool. So-- Yeah, I wasn't happy with my-- (Laughter) There are a lot of things I'm not happy about with those videos. My double.

(...)

None of them had to do with you at all. But the video itself, I just really want to redo it. I think that we can do better. Nice. Let's do it. All right. DJ, you're on the board of trustees for page two?(...) Is that what you are? What is your title for page two? Oh, goodness.

(...)

I forget my actual title. My involvement is twofold. One, I'm on the board of trustees, I believe, for GAP, which is the Gamer Assistance Program. It's a charity where funds donated to it get donated to people in the RPG industry.

(...)

The intent is to--

(...)

a lot of these early designers didn't make a lot of money, didn't have 401ks and retirement plans. They made games because they loved it. It wasn't necessarily the most lucrative thing. Some of them went on to do very well, not all of them did. So those who are struggling later in life, this charity donates funds to recipients that get nominated to help them with whatever it is that they are in need of-- health care, stuff, a new roof, car payment, whatever.(...) I'm on the board of trustees for that. And I'm on the organization committee for Page, and I'm one of the volunteers. So I will spend some of my time in a t-shirt at page two this year, a staff t-shirt, just helping run things. But yeah, I help organize it too. And a little graphic design, I designed the logo for Page.

(...)

That was fun to do too. OK, we'll bring that-- we'll bring all of it up. I just want to put in my notes to say about you what you are. And so then it seems like the questions that I came up with for you are applicable.

(...)

Got it.

(...)

I'm a professional.

(...)

Me too.

(...)

OK, we're going to pretend. Now, we're going to start for real so I can have an intro. And you guys--

(...)

Hi, welcome to--

(...)

You interrupted us.

(...)

Get whatever-- are you ready? Yep. This is your look. Do any fancy packs or accessories you would like to pull up now to put on while we record? I like these glasses better, but I think the glare is less. They do. On the big ones, the glare is pretty intense.

(...)

Yeah, I'll just stick with this.

(...)

Mine make me kind of blue because they have the blue light reflecting. Ooh.

(...)

But now I just look kind of 70s. Yeah. OK, Chris, we can begin now for real?

(...)

I take silence as a yes. OK,(...) hi, and welcome to the 50 Years of Fantasy podcast. We're here with our guest, DJ David Johnson. He is a accomplished video game visual effects artist and on the board of trustees for Gap, which is the charity arm of the page two convention. And he's on the organization committee and volunteer. And you made the design for the con?(...) Yeah, that's right. I designed the logo for page. You designed the logo for the con. Yep.(...) Three.

(...)

So as like on the board of trustees for Gap, so tell us what Gap is.

(...)

Yeah, yeah, thank you. Thank you for asking. And pleasure to be here. Good to meet you, Katie. We've interacted a little bit online, but this is my first time sort of meeting you and hanging out.

(...)

So it's a pleasure.(...) Yeah, Gap stands for the Gamer Assistance Program,(...) the auction at page every year. Well, this is our second year now.

(...)

All of the proceeds beyond the basic cost of it go into Gap, which is a fund that then is distributed to veterans of the gaming industry, often designers, writers, artists, who earlier in their career, maybe they didn't make a lot of money. They were in this RPG thing for the love of it, really.(...) And some of them went on to do well, not all of them, though. So those who are having struggles late in life,

(...)

Gap is here to donate money to help these individuals, whether it's medical expenses, a new roof, car payments, whatever. So I'm on the board of trustees of Gap, and it's sort of the charity.

(...)

Page is a 501(c) charity organization, and this is just the direct charity where people can donate to it. If you go to the Page website, there are donation links there.

(...)

And yeah, it's an honor to be a part of it. Awesome. So how would somebody, if they are, I guess, a historic gamer? I don't know at what age group or what criteria.(...) If someone needs that kind of assistance, how do they get it?(...) Yeah,(...) the criteria is loose. It's intended to-- I'd have to look it up to get the exact language, but it's intended to be people who are involved in the gaming RPG industry.

(...)

It's not exclusive to that, necessarily. It could be prominent players or whatever.(...) But yeah, its main intent is to be people who contributed to this hobby that we care about and love and enjoy to this day, 50 years later.

(...)

And yeah,(...) I think on the web-- let me actually just bring it up if we go to--

(...)

I think there's links to it on--

(...)

so in order to register to attend a page, to come to the conference, the whole thing is organized on tabletop events.(...) And there is a link under one of these things--

(...)

sorry, I should have had this up and ready to go.

(...)

Before we talk--(...) there are under more, you will see Gamer Assistance Program Charitable Initiative.

(...)

And it kind of breaks down where it is. But if anyone has someone in mind to be a recipient of it, they can contact anyone, myself included. Ron Meisker is sort of the--(...) and Phil Wart and Pete Flagg are both gentlemen that are involved in this as well. Any of us can be contacted, and then we can help put your name into the hat for the committee to vote on.(...) OK, awesome.

(...)

I love a charity element. But I always-- people-- no charities exist, but then they don't always know how to be the recipient of the charity. So I would just find out before how they can do that.(...) And then also, your other roles are organization committee?

(...)

Yeah, I'm on the page organization committee, too. I think that's the name of it.(...) Where we-- What can you do?

(...)

We meet kind of monthly to talk about--

(...)

there's a lot involved in putting on a convention, right? There's everything from the logistics of the convention center. And there are a few people I would name sort of Ron Meisker as sort of the main heavy lifter of the whole thing. He is the person that sort of founded and began the organization of this. But from the logistics of the venue itself,(...) the costs involved,(...) and setting up the tabletop events website to planning sort of the layout of where the tables are, which DMs go to what tables at what time, who's at the stage getting-- we want a lot of-- we have a lot of awesome special guests in,(...) anywhere from Frank Meisker, Jeff D, a lot of the old time

(...)

guys who really originated this game, David Zebkook, are all special guests, to some of the newer folks, some of the streamers, Professor Diem,(...) Baron de Ropp, Bob World Builder.

(...)

So somebody's got to contact all those people and invite them and organize hotel rooms and logistics when appropriate.

(...)

There's a certain budget for that, which we have well run out of. (Laughter)

(...)

But there is an amazing roster of amazing humans that are going to be here. I'm excited to play in games with people who I've admired for a while. I got to play with Frank Meisker last time. That was just a dream come true. My first D&D experience was with his Red Box set when I was, what, nine years old or something. So what a full circle honor to get to sit at the table and have him--(...) (Interposing Voices)

(...)

That was just a blast.(...) Oh, that's amazing. But you get to be that person too for the 50 Years of Fantasy crew. You became that contact person for them.(...) So you guys met, and you invited them so graciously into your home.

(...)

Showed them D&D and took them to an improv show and things like that. So that must be a big part of who you are. You love connecting people with this thing you love.

(...)

Yeah, I mean, it's-- I don't know. How do you even describe it? It's more than a passion.

(...)

It's more than a hobby, right? It's like, I don't know. It's a lifestyle. That sounds cheesy. But I just love it so much. And so many people do. And I think a lot of people-- I took a long hiatus too, about 20 years where I didn't play. I played a lot as a kid through high school.

(...)

And then we kicked it in again when Stranger Things happened. Some of my buddies--

(...)

I used to have Stranger Things parties at the house. We'd watch it. And when season two was about to hit, one of them just randomly was like, hey, we should play D&D to get ready for the next season. And I'm like, yes. We should.(...) I bought-- not one of them had ever played before too. I was the only one. So I ran them through an adventure. And that just really sparked my love again. But yeah, I got in touch with Chris and with Blake. And they just put a call to who's got old stuff. And I've been collecting for a while. And I've built a pretty killer D&D room here at the house.

(...)

So I just sent them a picture of my room.(...) They're like, we'll be right there.

(...)

I got to run Chris's first D&D game with him. I got involved in improv a little while ago. And just unbeknownst to me, they had a show called which is a D&D improv thing.

(...)

And on my first day in class, some of them took me side like--

(...)

yeah, our first exercise in class was go to the stage. And for about two minutes, just rant about something that you care about, that you love.

(...)

So I went up. And the first words in my mouth were, Dungeons and Dragons. This is the greatest game ever. And they're like, oh, shit. We got to-- you're in the cast now.(...) Maybe premature, because I'd only ever taken that one first level class. But I don't know. I've been doing it for a little while now. And it's a blast. So we had Chris and the crew, and Justin and everybody(...) come watch the show and film it. And then we ran one of my ridiculous comedy games for the guys. That was a blast.

(...)

Yeah.(...) And you hooked them up with other people. They're like, oh, I want to talk to this person. And you were like, oh, I kind of know them. Or know someone adjacent. You are their Kevin Bacon. Everyone is one to do for DJ.

(...)

Seven layers of DJ. Yeah, I guess so.

(...)

Yeah,(...) Braum is another prominent D&D figure from the early days he lives here in Savannah. And I just very coincidentally met he and his lovely wife, Lori,(...) last year.

(...)

When they moved here from Seattle, and we've been hanging out. And they came to our house at Thanksgiving. So I put them in touch. And they get to interview Braum here at my house. That was pretty rad. Oh, my gosh. That is rad. That's another full circle moment for you. Like, oh, my gosh. Here's this. Like, I've looked at your art.

(...)

It's in my mind. And here you are in my house. Yeah, that's a weird thing to be kind of fanboying out over.

(...)

And also, like, oh, now we're kind of buddies. All right, now we're hanging out at the bar or whatever.

(...)

I know. That's pretty cool. It is cool. Have you found that with most of your D&D-related people that you've met? You kind of just friendships instantly.(...) Do you find that that happens?

(...)

Yes, this is not a unique incident. I could give you several stories. There was another one. I am still friends, very close to this day. And we stay in touch almost every day.

(...)

A fellow named Shannon Housie. He's out of--

(...)

I'm going to fuck up the state. Tennessee.

(...)

Is cussing OK? I have a-- Yes, cussing is allowed. OK, good.

(...)

Yeah, like a while, maybe a couple of years ago now, I saw a message in one of those D&D Facebook groups that Shannon was dying of brain cancer.

(...)

And he wanted to get as many games at D&D and as he could before he died.

(...)

So I put a picture up of my D&D room in the thread. And so I'll be right there. And yeah, him and his buddy booked the trip down here. I wrote my first D&D adventure for Shannon. It's sort of dedicated to him, little dragon lance one shot.

(...)

And he's defied the odds. His prognosis was much shorter than from that day till today. He's still with us. Amazing.

(...)

Yeah, he's having a hard time. But some friendships are coming out. There's other stories too. Yeah, I'm having a guy that I met last year at Page,(...) Ronan. We're going to meet up again at this one. And then he's flying to my house afterwards

(...)

to do a historical game called the Siege of Bodenberg, which is kind of a--

(...)

here's my D&D history like Nut. And Ronan is too. He's an actor out of Vancouver who's been in some shows that you might recognize.

(...)

So the Siege of Bodenberg is sort of a precursor to the precursor. So Chainmail was the minis tabletop battle game that sort of preceded Dungeons and Dragons. And the Siege of Bodenberg is the game that kind of inspired Gary Gygax and Jeff Perrin to write Chainmail. So it's kind of like the precursor to the precursor. The D&D may not have existed had Gary Gygax not played in this game. It was a medieval battle game.

(...)

And my wife a few years ago bought me the castle from the 70s that they used in that game. Not the exact one, but the same exact model. So I built a whole six by six foot table and got all the minis ready. So yeah, in a couple of weeks, we're going to live stream that. That should be a lot of fun. Oh, that will be really fun.

(...)

What's your live stream channel so people can follow you and see it? Wouldn't it have to? Yeah. So I've got two. There's a Twitch channel.(...) Let me look it up so I don't give the wrong name because there may or may not be an underscore, depending on which one.

(...)

Undertone DJ.

(...)

So--

(...)

Twitch is just--

(...)

I will type that in the chat.

(...)

Your video messed up a little on my side, Kristen. It messed up on yours because otherwise I'll have you--

(...)

Post. Class.

(...)

Post.

(...)

No, it's fine. And when it uploads, any of the glitches that you had because of latency issues will go away when I clip them together. OK. Yeah, it's fine.

(...)

The children also let out all the dogs and they're right up. I heard. I wasn't sure if those were your dogs or my dogs.

(...)

(Laughter) I'll get to you. (Laughter) Yep. Yep.(...) Stefan just confirmed for Thursday. OK.

(...)

Awesome.

(...)

So DJ, if you want to help out with this-- I don't know if-- I talked to Katie about it earlier. If you wanted to jump on sometimes when we do these, you're more than welcome to help out because you have obviously some of the historical expertise that can be really helpful. It's also very helpful for me because I like being immersed in it while I'm doing this.

(...)

I'm surrounding myself in so many things. Like my spare time when I go downstairs and reading all through Shadow Dark and-- Oh, yeah.

(...)

I can't wait to get these-- the set pieces that we ordered.

(...)

Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's going to be a lot of fun. I'm excited. Right on.

(...)

Anyway,(...) yeah. Did you want to continue? Because I can clip this back in here. No, I want to continue. He messed up and I wanted him to look good. So I was just concerned.

(...)

All right, we good? All right, I'll move-- I know exactly where I'm picking. Hi. My professional.(...) (Laughter) Yeah.

(...)

All right, so your Game of Gameplay has a lot of minis. And I've seen pictures of your room. Tell me about all of your accessories and collection in your D&D room.

(...)

Oh, man. Well, maybe I should share screen and show some of the stuff

(...)

in order to talk about it. Let me bring it up. Let me make sure I don't have any confidential work stuff up before I do that.

(...)

Give me a moment.

(...)

Yeah, so here is-- I'm going to bring up the first one.

(...)

(Audio Out)

(...)

So there is my D&D room at the house.

(...)

Yeah, there's a lot going on in there. My intent was for this to be really just my love letter to Dungeons and Dragons.

(...)

There are very few things that are not Dungeons and Dragons games. You will see "Car Wars" here in the corner. That is about it. But I've been collecting minis and books for a while. I've got all the editions going back to from chain mail,

(...)

the three different lines of basic, the Holmes, Cook, Mulvey, and then Menser basic. There's first, second edition, third, fourth. I pretty much have every fifth edition book.

(...)

And then everything else on this wall is mostly basic first and second edition modules and accessories.(...) They are grouped by letter codes.

(...)

This first shelf is the first series of modules that came out. So we're currently playing through the GDQ series.

(...)

So there's G1, "Steading in the Hill, Giant Chief," which I just had Luke Gygax on my channel, interviewed him about that. That was a lot of fun.

(...)

And then they're just kind of by letter code. I even printed out little one-inch thumbnails of all the covers. Because I try to have as much stuff cover facing as possible.

(...)

So at least "Player's Handbook" and "Dungeon Master's Guide" for each of the editions is kind of forwarding out.(...) And then there's so many modules. There's like 1,000 modules from the 1E2 era.

(...)

So I've got a little thumbnail so you can kind of see what's hidden away behind them. And then the minis on the left, I even 3D printed in two color.

(...)

Little name badges for every single monster type that's there.

(...)

The table's really cool. I built it myself. That was my COVID hobby. I learned how to woodwork.

(...)

Because I saw a video of a dynamic battle map with a ship and the waves are going by and little birds flying overhead. I just thought that was so cool that I needed to--

(...)

(Laughter) (Inaudible)

(...)

Using YouTube, I bought some tools and taught myself how to woodwork. So I made the table. I make video games for a living. So I 3D modeled it in 3D Studio Max first to just kind of design and lay it out.

(...)

And then I built it in foam core first to just kind of test out the size and kind of sit at it, make sure the height was good.

(...)

The height between the lower and the upper shelf is met so people can put their books and stuff below. And then the top of the table stays clear. But its height is specific to a whiskey snifter plus coaster.(...) (Laughter) It's just perfectly right under there, expertly measured.

(...)

And you can see I've got a laptop. So a lot of people use Roll20 to play online remotely with their friends, which I do from time to time at this workstation. But I also use it for live games. So I've got the player view up on the TV and then the DM view on the laptop. And I can do revealing stuff. So it's kind of fun to have their minis just running around on the actual map artwork.

(...)

So that's a lot of fun. I've got a sound board and a mic here to do voice filtering. So I can do gnome voices and demon voices and echo and reverb and all that.

(...)

And then this is an older picture. So there's about three times the amount of character sheets on the ceiling, as you see here. I think there's north of 40 up there now. And those are dead player characters. Anytime someone-- I don't think you can see it here anymore. But anytime someone, a character dies in the room, the dreaded words are, hand me your character sheet, please.

(...)

And I take it from them and I have a deceased stamp. And I just slam it down right in front of them and then staple their character sheet to the ceiling just to bring it home. And then I hit taps on the sound board.(...) So you get the trumpet call. Yeah, pretty fun. But it's really a joy to play in this space. All my Saturday games are here in person.

(...)

It's made it really easy to find, to get consistent players to just whenever a call to act. Like with Chris and you guys and my friend Shannon, anytime I post a picture of this, people are--(...) they want-- yeah, they won't--(...) it's nice to play in a cool space.(...) So yeah, it's been great.

(...)

Yeah, that's very, very cool. So do you prefer minis and interactive boards?

(...)

What's your experience with playing with nothing? Just dice in a story.

(...)

Yeah, when we first started playing in after that Stranger Things, I didn't have any minis or anything really. It was just character sheets and books and imagination.(...) That way is--(...) they're both magical, wonderful ways to do it.

(...)

You don't need any of this. You need an index card, a pencil, and a player's handbook dungeon master guide from Pick Your Edition, any of them, really. And you're off to the races. You can make magic with your friends with just that.

(...)

But then to have these things, it's pretty rad, too. If you have props and-- I've started creating my own terrain lately, too.

(...)

And I love gimmicks. Like all the soundboard stuff is really fun. You don't need any of that. But when people are sitting in the room, a new player, and I hit the gnome voice thing, they freak out. They love it. It's great.

(...)

It just adds-- it's just a layer that you're adding in. And my background is video games, video game effects. So my brain thinks about the games in those terms of how to make the presentation of this thing as over the top and visceral as possible.

(...)

Yeah, I've got tons of stupid little gimmicks. I've started painting live on the terrain. When one of the players kills a monster, I reach behind me and pull out a paint brush with red paint and I will paint the blood splatter on the wall that I just described.

(...)

I have started mutilating my minis. I've got a little PVC pipe cutter.

(...)

And if I describe the orc's head getting cut off, I will take an orc mini.

(...)

I just did that with a green dragon two weeks ago. And the room was like, what the fuck are you doing?

(...)

It's going to make $100 mini. But the good news is there is super glue. And I have a dremel and a little bronze. So I have reattached his head to be cut off again in the future.

(...)

It's great. And it's just kind of shocking.(...) It is not expected. I am not precious about things and stuff. I love all these books.

(...)

They are designed to be held and turned and read and loved. My minis too. And when we're little kids,(...) you build your little Lego castle. Well, that's part of the fun. But then smashing them together and blowing them up is the other half of the fun. We kind of stopped doing that. I can buy more orc minis. So to chop one of their heads off, and really, I can glue them back together.

(...)

That's the perfect fit.

(...)

And it's shocking. Players are always-- that's one that gets them every time. Nobody expects you. I mean, my players do now because I've been doing it for months and months. But yeah, I fucking love it.

(...)

That's awesome. But it just gives a new experience to the whole thing.

(...)

No one's going to go to a game and expect that. And it's like, do you meet a lot of first time players that come and want to experience the room? Is that what gets them into the game? Or do you play mostly with more senior players?

(...)

Let's see. I would say I play with more new players than not.

(...)

So my live Saturday game right now is a first edition game, which is--(...) that's from the late 70s, early 80s. And very few people today, especially their younger or newer players, they don't know the rules. And they're not going to read those books.

(...)

But you can make it unintimidating by--

(...)

if someone-- we've got a local Savannah, like Dungeons and Dragons Facebook group. And there are regular people starting a game asking for players and new players that move to town that are looking for a game. So I just post a picture of this, and they come. And then I just have them come an hour or two early, walking through making a character in this edition that they don't know.

(...)

But yeah, I would say maybe a quarter of my players have played before. So I cater to new players quite a bit. Yeah.

(...)

I'm sure they come and experience this.(...) Wow. And hopefully, they're like, I have to keep playing this game.(...) They're facing your high. I went to DJs, and it was so amazing and visceral and emotional and everything. And they're just like, how can I create that for someone else or in my own life or with other players?(...) You think you are planting the D&D love? Yeah, I hope so. I hope so. I hope people who play with me, this turns into a love for them. It is a love for me.

(...)

I hope, though, I'm not ultra spoiling them, though, because this is pretty like--(...) and here's another flavor of that, too. I do one shots pre-release, which as a kid, that didn't exist really. I didn't know that as a thing.

(...)

But when you go to a convention-- I never went to conventions when I was younger. I didn't have the finance or know how to do that. But conventions are pretty much one shots. But at home, you're playing through a campaign. You're doing it once a week, and your characters are progressing over time. And that's part of the fun, is their advancement and growth.

(...)

But now, one shots are pretty great. I'll do a Halloween Curse of Randy, Macho Man's Strahd, one shot on Halloween. And I've been running this Dragonlance one shot that I wrote for Shannon a few times now.(...) And it's fun, because one of the design differences, I think, between those two forms of play, like long-form campaigns versus one shots,(...) is one shots are really suited for high-octane D&D. You just fucking turn it up to 11.

(...)

Chopping Dragon's head off. And I won't give you all this in case people want to see my games or come flame with me at conventions. I put a lot of twists and surprises and stupid minis. And I just throw the kitchen sink at you of stupid gimmicks and voice things and sound effects and everything.

(...)

And that's not really as possible with long-term campaigns. You have a story arc and encounters.

(...)

But one shots, you can really just turn up to 11 and make intense, memorable experiences.(...) I love doing that.(...) That's so awesome. And we're going to show you a clip of one of your one-shot sets, who is in a capsule. And we're going to put it on our Patreon so that people can come and see it. One, just a clip that could be in the movie. And two, your cool, cool outfits.(...) And two, we can talk about that. Does that sound good? Yeah, let's do it. All right. So thank you, everybody, for joining us on this free part of our episode. We'll have more with DJ in our Patreon exclusive, where we show a clip and we talk about D&D in a cast. (Video Playback) OK,(...) Chris.

(...)

Now we're here. We haven't moved or changed. We have an exact same look like this. But we were previously. But now we're going to show a clip. And then we're going to talk about it.

(...)

We can't hear you. You're muted. Do you want me to come on for the after show? Yeah, you can come on for the after show. OK, cool.

(...)

So since I did this yesterday--

(...)

(Laughter) Perfect.

(...)

I already showed you that, DJ. Yeah, I checked out.(...) And so this is a clip at Lumley Castle.

(...)

DJ had just come out of his dressing room, dressed as Macho Man Randy Savage. And he's going to go in in one of our rooms. Macho Man Randy Strahd. I can't hear you. I think you're muted, DJ. Oh, am I muted? How do I unmute? He's not muted.

(...)

Testing, one, two.

(...)

Can you hear me OK, Katie? Yeah. There he is. Sorry, my headphones came in black. So my question was, it's Randy Macho Man Strahd. Randy Macho Man-- you know, everything that I write, I say that on.(...) And yeah, it does.

(...)

Randy Macho Man Strahd. I apologize.

(...)

So we're going to run it now. And this is-- I think it's Mozart playing alongside Randy Macho Man Strahd.

(...)

Watch out. Coming through. Move out of the way.

(...)

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. But I might need to find me a new tag team partner. Oh, yeah.

(...)

Let's do it. That wig. That wig.

(...)

I love it. Ask the Macho Man. Oh, yeah.

(...)

(Cheering) The song.

(...)

Find a little strawberry.

(...)

Some roses. Give me a surprise.

(...)

I'll help.

(...)

Have not yet snapped it to a sliver, which could-- Ooh. Solve this problem. Could it? Yes. I thought it just gave me inspiration.

(...)

Cool, I'm going to snap the shit out of this.

(...)

Call an egg. He would tell you. Oh, he got it. He did the full beat. His first decision. And then threw that out the rest of the game. How do you like it? That is fucking horrendous.

(...)

(Laughter) 2% natural flavor. Yeah. It tastes like 2% natural flavor. It has the texture of a dry stick.

(...)

That's abysmal. I love the idea that in the movie--

(...)

Oh. It does.

(...)

So that happened. That was real.

(...)

Chris, I'm going to be running it twice at Paige on Friday and Sunday. So if you're around to play announcer--

(...)

I will be around. And now that I know that, I may go find a tuxedo.

(...)

(Laughter) Do you have a bald cap, too?

(...)

Amazon, Katie.

(...)

I need a bald cap and a tuxedo, stat.

(...)

Amazing.(...) Amazing. Yes, that's going to happen. So once we have to technically bring a banned food into another country by bringing those Slim Jims-- Is it actually banned?

(...)

I'm not surprised. You broke the law.

(...)

Oh, shit. Shambles. (Laughter) I've never seen you see standards of health.

(...)

(Laughter) I'm pretty sure we weren't supposed to drink in a cab, either, but that might have happened or didn't. Maybe, yeah. (Laughter) You ran that game for the DMs at the D&D at the castle, right?

(...)

Yeah, there were a couple of the players there, too. But yeah, some of the DMs for D&D at the castle were my players in that game. That was quite an honor. That was a lot of fun. Thor, who you guys are having on later tonight.

(...)

And yeah, a few of the DMs were in there. It was awesome.(...) Is it harder to DM for other DMs?

(...)

I don't think so, no. I think it's easier because other DMs know what DMs are looking for in a good player, right? They want--(...) not to go on a tangent, but--

(...)

Go on a tangent? A lot of them.

(...)

(Laughter) It's improv, in a way, right? D&D is improv.

(...)

So some of the rules of improv, where you know, you say, yes, Ann, and some of the obvious ones, but just taking little random comments that people say and then turning them into reality.

(...)

DMs are just naturally doing this all the time as DMs, but also when they're players. So they are great for just feeding stupid tangents that

(...)

turn into a thing.

(...)

But yeah, DMs-- I think DMs are great to play with.

(...)

And watching--(...) being there watching that game,

(...)

it was a lot of fun to watch because everybody stepped into their character and really leaned into it. So you ended up with a lot of really fun jokes and callbacks and things like that, back to things that have happened previously in the game, at least from what I've seen having documented since now six or seven games, is that that doesn't always happen.

(...)

But in the game there at the castle, having all those DMs in that room(...) and those people who are really leaning into it, it made it really, really fun. Yeah, that was rad.

(...)

(Laughter) The guy who was constantly the-- who was the wacky waiver arena announcer, all right, that guy.

(...)

(Laughter)

(...)

Yeah, it was a lot of fun.

(...)

That's awesome. So they kind of are like your perfect player in a way because they're just fully committed because they know what they would want as a player, and they just give that back to you. I'm all in.(...) I'm participating. I'm going on a journey together.

(...)

Yeah, yeah, 100%. And so I am currently running four games a week,(...) one in person and then three online. And some are buddies. Some are people that I just sort of met through the Facebook group.

(...)

One of the games is my WoW Guild.

(...)

And one is people that I met through Paige.

(...)

And there's a wide variety of personality types that love and play D&D.

(...)

And just getting to what makes a great player too. Not all players are great players.

(...)

You know, you have-- there are trouble players in the room sometimes. You have players that are like don't get along with and are annoyed with another player in the room and questioning what they're doing and pushing back on their decisions. And it's like, oh, man. So to me, what makes a great player is one, they get into it.(...) You don't have to do voices or anything, but that certainly helps.(...) But you just sort of lean into-- a lot of times, a character is going to have a gimmick.

(...)

And if they just go hard into it, just go all the way.(...) We have one of my favorite ones right now. My player--(...) so Carl the Monk. One of my players is-- he's from Born Raising Savannah, Deep South. And he's got a nice thick Savannah draw.

(...)

And he's playing Carl the Redneck with--(...) the magic he got was a repeating crossbow or a crossbow speed or something like that, which he named Liberty. And it's got a red dot site. It's got fully automatic mode. And he just like--

(...)

he just goes in hard on it. Just like a silly theme. That is fun, right? And all kinds of other gimmicks sprout from that. He threw his ball of animal creation, and an eagle happened, which he's now named Freedom. And a red, white, and blue bandana. And it's just like, oh, stupid shit happens, right? That is a lot of fun. Players lean in like that.

(...)

She's got America tattooed on one arm and fucked the enemy up. That's right.(...) And just thinking of the enjoyment of the others around you, I think, is really helpful too.

(...)

Do things that are not contrary to what others are accomplishing. Working together is helpful.

(...)

Not bickering and second guessing each other is helpful.

(...)

So it's nice when players make the game fun for the DM too. We are there to enjoy this thing. We want you guys to have tense moments that you're near death, but then come back from an overwhelming fight. We want you to have triumphant moments and roll nat 20s and the whole room blow up. That is the adrenaline rush that we are seeking too. So to have people who are wonderful participants in that is great.

(...)

It's lovely. And very seriously, Katie's enjoyed, I think-- really enjoyed the game down in Jackson. And I'd love for her to come experience one of yours(...) now that she's-- Oh, yeah.

(...)

(Laughter) We would love it to happen. I'm going to ease her into it. That's what we're going to do. I'm kidding. It's wonderful. She's going to have a great time. She's going to pick a time and come on down.(...) But we're going to interview you again in Philadelphia.

(...)

I would like to come down and do some moving shots with you where we're walking and talking because it would really help with keeping the film moving from scene to scene.

(...)

And also, I think that you've become prominent enough in the film that it would make sense to have some moving shots of you.

(...)

(Laughter) But I think it adds-- you had a pretty cool, I think, storyline that we get to--(...) we have you. And you've got this-- you've got a background that's in the present and the future.(...) And then you've got Vinnie in this small town. And they're inspired by Stranger Things and all these things-- all these culturally relevant pieces.

(...)

And then you have Ernie who is there when it gets conceived. And-- Original play tester.(...) Right.

(...)

And so we get to see kind of trying to highlight-- because it's such a fine thread to follow. But there's all these communities that exist that are sub-communities to Dungeons and Dragons because Dungeons and Dragons isn't really--(...) Dungeons and Dragons isn't really--(...) it's a concept.(...) It's not a rule. It's a concept, I think, that people use to create these homebrew games that they ultimately end up playing.

(...)

And it's just the thing that's easiest to call it.

(...)

And that's the feeling that I'm finding from it, at least. And you can tell me that I'm wrong and say, shut up, Chris, if you want.(...) But that's the-- does that make sense? I think I'm making sense.(...) Yeah, yeah, totally. Totally.

(...)

I mean, in the end,(...) the essence of it is storytelling with people you care about. And you can wrap that in a totally different genre, or game, or title, or rule set, or edition.

(...)

And in fact, it bums me out to see people

(...)

crapping on the newer one, or the older one, or anyone.

(...)

In the end, we're all doing the same thing. Regardless of the nuances of the changes over time, there are fans of every single edition.

(...)

And there are people that hate each of the editions. And that's fine. But-- I like all of them, being honest. Every person that we spoken to, no matter which area it's come from, they're just all excited to be doing it. And I'm like, that's beautiful.

(...)

You know what I mean? It's like, you're excited.

(...)

Ralph Horsley's excited.(...) Ernie's excited.(...) Peter Atkinson's-- everyone is still so excited about it, because it's a thing that they love to do. And all these different edition things, it's really-- it's like there was a foundation. And then all of these new ideas sprouted from that foundation. And people argue over what your house looks like. It's like a homeowners association.

(...)

Yeah.

(...)

Different bands, too.

(...)

Fans of different metal bands, we're all enjoying the same genre of things. Right.

(...)

And you enjoyed a slip knot, and I'll enjoy sleep token. And here we go.(...) And we'll both have a nice evening.

(...)

Right.

(...)

Yeah.

(...)

So yeah, that's been the most fun. It's the human element, where it's like we're always going to find a thing to be a little bit annoyed about. And especially when it has things to do with the things that we really, really care about, that are really close to our heart.

(...)

How dare you like it a different way?

(...)

Well, the good news is that just that shows passion. Yeah. Yes. Yes.

(...)

That is 100% it. Yeah. But I like this way. Cool. That's awesome that you like it that way. I like it that way, too. But I also like it this way and that way.(...) Yeah. I like more than one flavor of ice cream, too. So it's fine. Yeah.

(...)

For sure. Anyway.

(...)

DJ, thanks for-- have we shown you anything else, or is it just the clip of you?

(...)

Did I show you the purchase memories thing? I'm not sure. I've seen a couple of things over time. OK. This would have been very--

(...)

(Inaudible) Can we show you real quick? Sure. Let's see. I can show you that one. Sure.

(...)

(Inaudible)(...) Let's see.

(...)

Where are you? There it goes.

(...)

(Inaudible)

(...)

Nine days. Nine days now, right?

(...)

Yeah.

(...)

Let's say I'll just do this. I'll just present.

(...)

(Inaudible) All right.

(...)

All right. Where are you at?

(...)

Da Vinci. I'm just going to show you this one.

(...)

Can you hear it?(...) No.(...) Nope. Well, that won't work, then.(...) (Inaudible) Oh, wait. I'll just have to set it to you. It'll be fine.

(...)

Sounds good.

(...)

Oh, god. There we go. (Inaudible) Didn't work out. Oh, well. That's fine.

(...)

Next time.(...) Yeah.

(...)

Anyway, thanks for joining us, DJ. Do you want me to send you on the schedule of everyone who's going to be on, see when you want to stop in? Sure. Yeah, I'd love to.(...) OK. Katie, you want me to send that over to him?(...) Sure. We're going to talk with Thor next.(...) Do you want to talk with Thor?

(...)

That's an eight. I'm down. Sure. Yeah. Just hang out. He should be here in about 10 minutes.

(...)

I'm just enjoying my caiman, Jack.

(...)

What's that?

(...)

That looks like a water. It's a zero-sugar margarita. Yeah.

(...)

Very nice. I'm going to go get another water.(...) I'll be right back. Yeah. (Knocking) How are you feeling?

(...)

I need to go in the house for a minute. All right. Good.

(...)

Bye.