Dragons, fairies, and talking rats descended upon Madison Square Garden on Jan. 24 for Dimension 20's sold-out Gauntlet at the Garden — and the results were nothing short of a blast.
Led by Game Master Brennan Lee Mulligan and starring "intrepid heroes" Emily Axford, Ally Beardsley, Brian Murphy, Zac Oyama, Siobhan Thompson, and Lou Wilson, Gauntlet at the Garden transported its thousands of audience members back to D20's New York City-set Unsleeping City campaign. That the cast was battling fierce enemies mere subway stops from MSG added an extra layer of intensity to the actual play show, but that site specificity was only the start of Gauntlet at the Garden's magic.
Dimension 20's Gauntlet at the Garden brought the multiverse to Madison Square Garden.
Gauntlet at the Garden kicked off with the return of all of The Unsleeping City's original player characters: Sofia Bicicleta (Axford), Pete Conlan (Beardsley), Kugrash (Murphy), Ricky Matsui (Oyama), Misty Moore (Thompson), and Kingston Brown (Wilson). Due to some multiversal shenanigans, the party learns that three enemies from other D20 campaigns are wreaking havoc in New York City. A Crown of Candy's Sugar Plum Fairy is creating a hellish candy land up near Lincoln Center, while A Starstruck Odyssey's Junkmother causes panic in Staten Island's Freshkills Park. Elsewhere, Fantasy High's Kalvaxus tears up Wall Street in search of — what else? — gold. (In keeping with the site specificity of an MSG show, I personally would have loved a climactic fight there instead of Wall Street, as the New York Stock Exchange served as a battleground in the first season of The Unsleeping City.)
Luckily, our intrepid heroes didn't have to face these fiends alone. In Gauntlet at the Garden's biggest interactive moment, the audience got to roll along virtually on our phones in order to determine which allies from other D20 campaigns would be joining in.
The rolling mechanic was one of the many ways Gauntlet at the Garden enlarged the scale of a typical D20 episode in order to match its arena. The circular setup at the center of MSG recreated the feel of D20's usual campaigns, complete with lit-up triangular panels that matched the look of D20's set. Those panels changed colors during combat sequences or especially important Box of Doom rolls, and the whole of MSG followed suit, bathing the audience in red light and making us feel like we were in the D20 Dome. Screens above the set showed closeups of the players — a blessing if you were far from the ground or had a limited sightline on some players — as well as animations introducing PCs, enemies, and allies. Pyrotechnics and an oversized 20-sided die rounded out Gauntlet at the Garden's larger-than-life production, turning the show into a delightful mishmash between Dungeons & Dragons actual play and the theatrics of professional wrestling. (An impromptu wrestling match between Murphy and Wilson sealed the deal.)
Gauntlet at the Garden was a joyous fan experience.
On top of Gauntlet at the Garden's three epic showdowns and the excitement of seeing these characters again, the show proved to be a joyous barrage of fan service. Much of this came down to the multiversal angle, with fans jumping into a frenzy at the arrival of allies like Gilear Faeth and Ayda Agueforth — complete with several "Hoot! Growl!" chants — or booing at the appearance of sinister Lord Calroy Cruller. (True to form, Mulligan embraced the heel role, hitting us with a classic, "I'm all the bad guys.") Inside jokes abounded as well — shout-out to Chronomancy, the greatest magic of all.
But Gauntlet at the Garden wasn't just an incredible experience for the fans — it was an incredible experience because of the fans.
Cosplayers throughout MSG set the tone for Gauntlet at the Garden, with audience members dressed as everything from PCs to Kugrash's Juicy Cockroach and Spicy Pigeon Spirit Totems. In the long, cold line to get into the arena, it was a treat to hear people complimenting one another on their cosplays — sometimes of the same character.
During the show itself, the phone dice rolling mechanic allowed for further bonding and excitement between fans. My seatmates and I compared rolls with glee, high-fiving when someone rolled a Nat 20, then promptly losing our minds when Mulligan revealed MSG had rolled a collective Nat 20. I've watched MLB grand slams and WNBA buzzer-beating threes live, and MSG's eruption at any Nat 20 roll captured that same sense of victorious euphoria as any major sporting event.
Because that's how Gauntlet at the Garden felt: Major. As Dungeons and Dragons continues to explode in popularity, not just as a game but as a form of live performance, Gauntlet at the Garden stands out as a turning point representative of how big actual play can truly get, and what level of spectacle it can achieve.
