The Dice has been Cast! Dicecast, the New D&D VOD You Need to Watch

There’s no hiding it: Dungeons & Dragons is back on the rise. Thanks to YouTube, Twitch, and the marvelous cast of Critical Role, the tabletop role-playing game is back on the rise.

D&D, the notorious fantasy pen and paper RPG, has been around since the 70’s, thanks to Gary Gygax and TSR. Since then, a plethora of tabletop RPGs have spawned. Through them, millions of RPG geeks worldwide have gone on epic adventures.

Of course, even traditional pen and paper games have to evolve in the new age, and with the help of celebrities with geek cred (Hello, Vin Diesel!) namedropping D&D on social media and streaming them on services such as Twitch and YouTube (Hi, Vox Machina! Hello, Waffle Crew!), you can’t help but want to grab your friends and join in on the fun.

Most influential of these online D&D streams is no doubt Matt Mercer’s Critical Role. The show has been a great influence for fans, old and new, to take on the latest edition of D&D – 5e – as well as their friends and/or family and play. Without these video streaming services, we wouldn’t be able to watch Vox Machina’s many adventures. Who would want to miss Sam Riegel’s Scanlan Shorthalt’s shenanigans?

But let’s face it. For a lot of D&D fans, most of the games we stream and watch online are made by foreigners. Critical Role, Dice Camera Action, Acquisitions Inc., Force Grey, and many others are all created by Americans. A lot of us wake up (or stay up) at the wee hours of the morning to catch the latest episode or download the VODs. While their adventures are great, well… we need a bit of good ol’ Filipino flavoring.

Enter Dicecast, a completely Filipino-run D&D video on demand that streams on their YouTube channel every Friday.

What is Dicecast?

Dicecast is a homebrew campaign run by Dungeon Master Lance Tan. He’s been running D&D games for years now, and it all started when his own DM had to leave the country, but he and his party didn’t want their adventures to end just then and there. DM Lance concocts homebrew campaigns that take his players beyond their wildest imaginations, but he also runs Adventurer’s League games.

DM Lance is joined by four players, each of them from different backgrounds and playing very interesting characters.

We have GG Network‘s Arvin de Leon, playing Jagrick Bazilev, a Dragonborn Fighter, a fiercely loyal folk hero whose arm muscles bulge and flex whenever he does anything, like pick up a cup of tea. Joining him is Sarah Samonte, a make-up enthusiast and a total D&D newbie. She plays Sariel Dipvunkhar, a Half-Elf Bard with a very interesting backstory, and who just wants all the attention to herself. KL So Chan, aka Seikachu, joins the crew with her cowardly and cautious Halfling Thief, Adella Melilot— just make sure all your valuables are still on you before and after you meet her. Rounding out the cast is the mysterious and sexy Tiefling Warlock, Zephyndr, played by JP Esteban, aka Ryvaeus.

The Nifty Mythos of Dicecast

According to DM Lance, Dicecast is set within the Forgotten Realms lore. The action takes place on a continent separate from the rest of the world: Nostandor. They have a fun video explaining the history of the Dicecast world here:

Now that we have that out of the way, the Dicecast party starts to assemble in our favorite cliche: in a tavern called Ranchland’s Rest in the village of Autumnveil. Shenanigans ensue, and our heroes upset social norms, get themselves into trouble, and set off into an adventure and fight dragons goblins, and maybe steal a few gold coins and hearts along the way.

During the adventure, DM Lance aims to give the audience a sense that something is not always black and white. “I like exploring themes of existentialism, and the futility of applying a universal moral code,” said DM Lance. “Unintended consequences will be quite common, but that’s sort of a spoiler.”

The Adventure So Far

Dicecast episodes are pre-recorded and are uploaded on their YouTube Channel every week. Their latest episode had the party slaying a demon they accidentally woke up summoned.

That may or may not have been Zephyndr’s fault.

The latest episode will be uploaded today! It may or may not involve prison hijinks, dead goblins, and someone getting lost.

“The most challenging part of making Dicecast episodes is the same as any regular D&D game: scheduling the games,” said DM Lance. “We all have day jobs and lives, it’s why we aren’t a stream.” True enough, the cast and crew of Dicecast are all either working full-time or still studying. What’s amazing is that they still manage to churn out Dicecast content with almost little to no ROI. Dicecast is a passion project that aims to get people into D&D, and have fun in general.

Make sure to catch the latest Dicecast episodes by subscribing to the Dicecast YouTube channel, and following their Facebook page! New episodes go live every Friday at 10 PM, so don’t miss today’s episode!