Theatrical Worldbuilder and Co-Creator of the Interactive D&D Stage Show The Twenty-Sided Tavern

sIn this episode of Directors Dungeon, we’re joined by Sarah Davis Reynolds, a performer, designer, and co-creator of The Twenty-Sided Tavern—an interactive live D&D-inspired stage show that’s as much about audience collaboration as it is about rolling dice. 

What started as a homebrew theater-meets-tabletop experiment has evolved into a fully licensed Dungeons & Dragons production backed by Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro. 

Sarah takes us through the creative origins of The Twenty-Sided Tavern, a project born out of the overlap between two communities she knew well: theater artists and lifelong tabletop players. Along with collaborator David Andrew Laws, Sarah noticed a missing link in the world of actual play: something that didn’t just put a game on stage, but actively brought the audience into the fold—making every seat in the house part of the party. Their early shows leaned into chaos, homebrew mechanics, and crowd-sourced storytelling. It was only later that Hasbro took notice, eventually partnering to bring the show into the D&D canon—with all the ampersands and brand approvals that come with it.

We talk about what it’s like to negotiate that line between artistic vision and official lore, and how the show balances structured mechanics with the unpredictability of 500 audience members—many of whom are, as Sarah lovingly calls them, “chaos gremlins.” She shares insights on building game systems for live performance, working within (and around) corporate IP, and the joy of watching a room full of strangers become adventurers together.

But the conversation moves beyond the show itself. Sarah opens up about what roleplaying games have meant to her personally: how they’ve helped her make sense of the world, maintain hope, and build lasting communities. She speaks about conventions as both gateways for new players and gathering grounds for old friends, and about the power of games to offer not just escape—but connection. One story involves midnight D&D in the main hall at PAX Unplugged. Another includes naming a mountain range the “Fieri Mountains” with frosted tips. It’s exactly what you want from a D&D table—and a reminder that laughter and storytelling are often the same thing.

We also get a sneak peek at her next project, The Mechanics Guild, an actual play podcast where the game system changes every five episodes, exploring how different mechanics shape character arcs and storytelling. It’s thoughtful, experimental, and absolutely worth keeping an eye on.

This is a conversation about building worlds—on stage, on paper, and among people. It’s about finding joy in the weird corners of collaborative play. And it’s about the very real work it takes to make something feel like magic.

Sarah Davis Reynolds – LinkedIn – Co‑Creator & Game Designer of Dungeons & Dragons: The Twenty‑Sided Tavern 

Cast & Creative – The Twenty‑Sided Tavern – Official show page featuring Sarah’s role as Tavern Keeper/designer 

“A Day in the Life” Video – YouTube – Behind-the-scenes glimpse of Sarah at work on

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Produced by: Build Something Media

Transcript

Hey there, it's Chris, the director of this dungeon, and today I'm joined by co-creator of 20-Sided Tavern, Sarah Davis Reynolds.(...) We speak about D&D's community impact, conventions we've been to, personal journeys, and of course, the 20-Sided Tavern.

(...)

Let's get into it. My co-creator, David Laws, and I,(...) we were both in theater and both played D&D for a decade plus.

(...)

And so we were like, "Ah, the Venn diagram of people that do theater and that play D&D is a circle. Let's find a way to do this." And it was really important to us because there's incredible work that folks do with actual plays and other D&D improv shows and immersive things. I don't know if you've done the, I think it might be closed now, but they did the Universal Nights that they had the officially licensed D&D down at Universal there. And so there's so many cool things that we can touch and be involved in, but there wasn't anything that felt like everybody was playing together. There was a lot of like, you watch people play, which is rewarding in itself,(...) but there's obviously playing at home in your home game. And we wanted to find a way to combine all of that, of saying, "How can you watch someone on stage play while also feeling like you are at home playing?" So we really wanted to capture that feel of everyone playing together.

(...)

And so yeah, so we started making the 20-sided Tavern. At the time it was a homebrew world. It was using 5D mechanics, but all that was available through the OGL. So it was very non-branded. It was D&D inspired, as I think the marketing copy that we were allowed to use at the time. And we would make cheeky jokes of like, "We may explore dungeons. We may battle dragons, but we are legally obligated not to do both at the same time."

(...)

So we did that for a couple of years. It started in 2021. We did shows in Pittsburgh at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in New York and then in Chicago.

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And when we were in Chicago, we were approached by Hasbro, who were interested in doing a live show themselves. And we already had one. And so we had some connections and they said, "Oh, let's all work together."

(...)

So after Chicago closed, that was sort of the last version of the non-branded, the 20-sided Tavern. And after that, it came back as Dungeons and Dragons, the 20-sided Tavern with the ampersand and all of that fun, cool stuff.

(...)

So yeah, we got to work with Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro, who were both absolutely joyous to work with because we already had this established product. They already had this established product and we had to say, now kiss.

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Go together.

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It was really fun process of saying, "Okay, we're not going to set it in the forgotten realms, but we also still need to recognize that this is an improv show with 500 audience members who are chaos gremlins and they're going to name the barkeeper something really stupid and Wizards, are you okay with canonically the bar of danger being this stupid name?"

(...)

So yeah, lots of interesting development with all of that. And it's still developing a little bit. Well, number one, congratulations on all of that. That's amazing. Yeah, thank you. It's really rad how stuff like that just sometimes comes together. We're kind of going through the same sort of transformation at the moment with this project and so it's really cool. Just so you can have some background about what we're doing.

(...)

What we found over the course of a year of filming is that this thing is about joy. It's about bringing together. It's about...(...) And so right now it's currently titled 50 years of fantasy, but we got a lot of questions about what that meant. And so you can imagine.(...) And so we're like, "Roll for togetherness sounds better."

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And so that's kind of the direction that we've decided to take this in because that's the common thread throughout the entire 50 years of its existence is that when people play this game, they kind of stick together.

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And so there's that beauty, that cultural beauty that this thing has the power to bond us and gives us the ability to collaborate even when we don't agree.

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And even if you complain about, "Oh, that guy takes too much time. He talks too much." You know, "Oh, we need to stick to the rules more," whatever.

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Those arguments always happen around you. And it's silly because I've seen hundreds of them at this point. It's all the same complaints every single time. It's always combat, right? Yes, the name is Greg. And so, but yeah, that's kind of where we've come to. It's a feature length documentary. Amazing. To film festivals and all that. So congrats. I don't know what's happening, right? Life. That's very exciting though. Where did the idea come from? I had a friend. I never played D&D before until about a year ago.

(...)

And so I had a friend who introduced me to all of it.(...) He got invited to Ernie Gygax's wedding to film the wedding.(...) And so we went and we interviewed him just to have a YouTube video about his dad and the reward of D&D. And so we met with a museum curator while we were there, kind of put the letter like a short piece to see. See what that would look like.(...) And then the museum curator, she said, "Hey, you should talk to this person.(...) Hey, you should talk," you know, and then it starts to unravel. The list starts to... Right. And so we've been out to Seattle. We've spoken to Ray Winninger. He was one of the EPs for 5E.(...) We've been out to... We spoke to Peter Atkinson, the Downer Wizards of the Coast. Are you familiar with Dwarven Forge? Yeah. We went to his house and spent a week with him. Oh my gosh.(...) How much stuff is in that house? It's amazing.

(...)

We did a lot of cutscenes as well. So it's like I wore a lot of costumes. Yeah. Yeah. Very cool. And Staphon's a fun guy and his partner, Ann, is incredible. And they were very, very gracious. Yeah. We got invited to go to D&D in the castle. So we spent a week in the party. Great. That's a really great organization. Yeah. Yeah.(...) Cameron and Tara. Tara, yeah.(...) Yeah.

(...)

No, lovely. Mike Tinney's now involved with that from White Wolf.(...) Yeah. It's... It's very exciting that they're coming back. Right. In a large way. Yeah, for real.

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And they're just wonderful people. I mean, they're really nice to hang out with, have dinner with, talk to about their experience and all that stuff. Yeah. And then on top of that, you're in a 600-year-old castle in northern England. It's quite cool. It's dumb.(...) I know. But, you know, it speaks to the importance of play. Yes.(...) And that, you know, I think it's often looked down on of play, like, oh, it's just a game, but it really is truly so integral to folks' community and well-being. And I think it's a huge testament to that. No, I agree. 100%.

(...)

Yeah.(...) Can I ask you a few of my standard questions? Sure. Yeah.

(...)

It's fun.(...) And they're really basic. I mean, really basic. It's a lot of definitions because, you know, we're talking about going through the history and what it is. And this movie is largely for people who have never played. Yeah. Odds to the people who have.(...) Right. Yeah. So what is a role-playing game?

(...)

Ooh. Okay. A role-playing game is a structure in which you are encouraged to balance game mechanics and narrative creativity to where they work hand in hand to tell a story collaboratively.

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So basically, that's why I like academic answer. I like that.

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Yeah. Like you I'm so big on and I'm so sorry. I'm going to do a small little push. So a current project that I'm working on right now that actually you're going to get an exclusive on because I haven't even announced it yet is my new actual play podcast is called The Mechanics Guild.(...) And it is the same characters, same campaign. Every five episodes we swap game systems.

(...)

So we're going to start with Z and D and then we're going to go to Savage Worlds and then we're going to go to Legend of the Five Rings and then we're going to go to Call of Cthulhu. And the idea is how do game mechanics affect character growth and story arcs?

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And so to me, that's what a role-playing game is, is saying how do game mechanics enhance story and how does story enhance game mechanics? And it's like, you're going after that whole argument, aren't you? Yeah.(...) I'm like, let's go. It's hypothesis. That's right. That's awesome. I love that. I'll share with you the project that we're going to do after the film because we've spoken to so many people.

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We found out that a lot of people like because everybody does Homegirl and so people want to do one world build. They want to build and they have trouble with with structuring it often.(...) And so we're because we have access to so many game designers and I've now met you. So hi, maybe you can be a little nice. But we're calling it Dungeon Academy and it's where professional game designers and world builders, writers, authors provide practical tips, sort of like a masterclass on how to develop your world and your game.

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And we've shot a couple of the promos already and it's looking pretty good. That's amazing.

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This feels daunting at first, but when you get into it, it's so rewarding.

(...)

Right. And having these these these lovely people there telling you and walking you through it in the most simplistic terms possible, right? Because they've they've walked people through it so many times. Yeah. You know, it really now it's now it doesn't seem so daunting because oh, you're just having a nice time within a certain. Yeah. There's the story I always tell people if they are too like feel too daunted about world building is I tell them in my homebrew world, there is there's a mountain range called the Fieri Mountains.

(...)

And yes, indeed, my players were like, oh, so are they snow capped? And I was like, yeah, they're mountains. And they're like, oh, yeah. So the Fieri Mountains with the frosted tips. And I went.

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Yep.

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And that's it.

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And that's it. Not intentional. But here we are. It's lovely. Yeah, it's so good.

(...)

Cool.

(...)

My next my next question.

(...)

I'm having so much fun. I forgot it. Hang on one second. No worries.

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Um.

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When did you start playing Dungeons and Dragons? When was the first time?(...) Yeah. So I actually started role playing games with Pathfinder actually back in.

(...)

Oh, no, I'm going to age myself here.

(...)

I guess it's about 15 years ago.

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And it was a bunch of, you know, a bunch of us improvisers that just got together and wanted to do because we started with improv and then got more into games. And so wanted to put again a framework on some of our narrative work because we did all sorts of narrative work, but didn't have a game structure. But a lot of us were also video gamers. Like I've been playing video games since I was five.

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And so we found Pathfinder and said, oh, this is a really interesting way to combine our like gaming and narrative interests. So we did a short little like one shot, which we all know is never a one shot.

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Lasted like three or four sessions with Pathfinder.

(...)

All loved it. And so we said, OK, we actually want to do like a full campaign. And we decided to switch to D&D for that. And so my very yeah, my very first character was this truly the most stereotypical character in the world. Right. Orphan rogue named Bridger like, you know, nobody or urchin urban, you know, edgy in that way. I don't really have no original thoughts.

(...)

So, yeah, I started with that. But I from the beginning with playing with D&D, I was already adjusting rules.

(...)

I wanted my I wanted Bridger. She had a deathly fear of fire. And I asked the GM, I said, can I give her a handicap? You know, like when when there is a lot of fire, can we adjust her mechanics so that she has a handicap when dealing with this? And that led to a story arc where she literally got to fight the God of Fire.

(...)

And it was this great narrative arc, which again, is that idea of game mechanics and narrative working together to do an incredibly cool moment. Right. That's lovely. Yeah, I like that. Yeah. So I don't know, 15 years is the short answer to your question.

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I asked this question because there's a there's a section at the beginning of the film where I go through and it's just really fast paced and it's kind of fun. And so if you could describe D&D in three words really quickly, what would those three words be?(...) Chaotic, fulfilling and heartwarming.(...) I like that.

(...)

And if I could add one more curiosity,(...) isn't even a real word, but let you sneak that in there. Yeah,(...) that's what you need to have. Yeah.

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Is there anything that that you would like to say about how D&D may have changed your life? Obviously it's done that in a very big way with with 20 Cent Tavern.

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You know, just kind of talk about how it's changed your life personally, if you don't mind. Yeah. So the gaming world, specifically the TTRPG community, and I think specifically through the lens of D&D,(...) has given me such like,(...) it helps me maintain hope in the world.

(...)

The gaming community is one of the most welcoming and kind and empathetic and curious communities that I've ever been a part of. I've never,(...) one of my favorite places in the world is PAX Unplugged because everyone is coming together and everyone feels like home there. You could, maybe you've never met someone, you've only interacted with them online and it doesn't matter, your best friends, you're going to play together.

(...)

This last PAX Unplugged, we were playing D&D until midnight in the main hall together on the first night, just because, you know, with folks that I'd never met before, but it didn't matter. We were together in that moment.(...) And so I think what it has done for me in my life is especially given looks around at everything on fire. It gives you that grounding that there can be a better world and that could be a fantastical world or it could literally just be you and your best friends around a table telling a story about heart and courage and overcoming adversity and becoming the best versions of ourselves in order to build a better world.

(...)

That's a great answer. Thank you.

(...)

Let's now move into kind of just the explosion and popularity. Right. Yeah. Kind of where did this come from? I know it's there's stranger things. There's all this other stuff that's surrounding it. But like, where do you think all of this has come from? What do you think is driven? Yeah, I think there's a lot of factors. I do think stranger things had a thing, but I don't think it has as strong of an influence as a lot of people think. I think it was the pandemic. I think a combination of the pandemic and access to high quality content like Critical Role and Dimension 20 and the Adventure Zone in this digital age where we can access so much content so easily. It's really easy to pick something up and say, oh, that's interesting. How do I incorporate that into my own life? Because you can see it on a smaller scale with other things as well. That's why other systems outside of D&D are also getting more knowledge when a show like Dungeons and Daddies does call of Cthulhu. More people pay attention to it.(...) So I think it's I think the pandemic was everybody looking for something because they were craving connection. Right. Yes, you were craving things to do, but we were really craving connection. And D&D is something you can do that gives you connection. So it fulfilled sort of both of those needs.

(...)

So that plus the just readily accessible content, especially at a high production level like Critical Role makes people say, oh, I can do that. And they watch something, they feel things, then they play it at home, feel similar things. And they're hooked after that. Right. It's fascinating. Clint says something similar. Yeah.

(...)

Very similar. He's like, yeah, it kind of exploded. I mean, that's when their numbers started started really going through the roof, too, with the Avengers Zone and the Bin Bam. Yeah. Yeah. Balance is top tier arc. Yeah.

(...)

Yeah, because it's funny that my wife has been into like Saul Bones and the Bin Bam. Yeah. Like McElroy family. Yeah. And so she got she found out that he was going to be at the castle over there and she's like, you're going to be friends with him, I guarantee it.

(...)

And we've become. And we're. Yeah.

(...)

He's a sweetheart. So yeah, I really love what they've been able to create. Yeah.

(...)

Can we talk about conventions for mine? Have you gone to a lot of conventions? I have. Yeah. Yeah. On multiple, like different levels. Yeah. So let's talk about how the kind of the role of conventions in growing RPGs, growing this community of people who come together to play games. Yeah, I think that's a great question. And I think there's two layers of an answer to that. There is the introduction to games, because if you're at a con, a lot of times you are looking for something to do. Again, I mentioned that Pax Unplugged is truly my favorite con in the world because it is just here's a bunch of games if you like to play them, which is great. And so you can learn about, you know, either learn about D&D if you don't know anything or you can learn new systems.

(...)

And then I also think it helps deepen bonds if you already know it. So I had the pleasure of DMing a bunch of fundraising tables for the Trevor Project at New York Comic Con last year.(...) And it was most of my tables had played before at least once, not all of them, but most of them were familiar with the game. But it was an opportunity for them to meet like minded folks and really just deepen their love of the game because crazy things happened there. There was one actor or one player who wanted to missy step through a magical door.(...) That's not how the missy step works. And I was like, great, roll a percentage die, because why not? I'm a rule of cool. Let's do it. Rolled a two. And I was like, nah, it's not going to work. And they said, well, I have advantage, right? And I said, tell me a pun and I'll give you advantage. And they told me a pun. And I let them roll again. And they rolled another two, which on a D100, rolling the same thing twice in a row is wild.

(...)

And that whole table freaked out.

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And the entire floor was looking over at us like, what's happening over there? And so that was the moment that I think everyone is able to take because it's these high stakes. It's folks that you maybe don't know or haven't played with before. But you get to have these shared experiences again. And it deepens your love of the game and just makes you want to keep doing it. Yeah, I had a conversation yesterday with a gentleman who said,

(...)

I didn't he taught me how to read.

(...)

He's like, I was in the sixth grade. I had a second grade reading level. My friends wanted to play this game. I saw them having so much fun. I couldn't understand what we would do. And he's like, I've never had never been more motivated to pick up a book in a dictionary.(...) Yeah, understand what was happening so I could be with my friends. Yeah, yeah. Wow. You know, crazy. Just impact, right? Yeah. That, you know, again, desire for connection and inclusion. Right. All because of a silly game. Yeah, that's beautiful.

(...)

I love it so much. It makes me so happy. Oh, good. Anyway, Sarah, I won't take up too much more of your time. Anyways, I certainly appreciate you giving me some of it. I think more than I asked for already. No worries. All good.

(...)

But thank you so much. Thank you for tuning in to this episode.

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