Rivals of Waterdeep
Rivals of Waterdeep is an American actual play web series, with a podcast adaptation, where the cast plays "Dungeons & Dragons" using the fifth edition ruleset. It is set in the "Forgotten Realms" campaign setting and the show's Dungeon Master changes each season. The show premiered in June 2018; the show's twelfth season began in February 2022. It is one of the longest running official "Dungeons & Dragons" web series. Premise. The show features a party of adventurers in the "Forgotten Realms" campaign setting with a rotating Dungeon Master. "Rivals of Waterdeep" initially adapted the "" adventure module . It has since adapted other official "Dungeons & Dragons" storylines such as "". Production. Development. Greg Tito, a senior communications manager for "Dungeons & Dragons", wanted to develop actual play shows after watching the success of the independent web series "The Adventure Zone" (launched in 2014) and "Critical Role" (launched in 2015) which led Wizards of the Coast (Wizards) to develop and launch "Dice, Camera, Action" in 2016. Tito said that show was "insanely popular" and "the success of that allowed us to create relationships with smaller tabletop roleplayers that were in front of an audience. The entire ecosystem began to grow from  there". This led to the development of "Rivals of Waterdeep". Casting. The "Rivals of Waterdeep" cast is made of a diverse group of performers based in Chicago. Tito initially recruited Tanya DePass for the show. Tito said he reached out to DePass because she was "a strong voice in the community and was in the Chicago area" and recruited "another group of roleplayers who just put their toe into doing D&D related content, but were mostly known as improv actors and comedians". Aram Vartian was season one's Dungeon Master with Carlos Luna, DePass, Cicero Holmes, Surena Marie, Brandon Stennis  and Shareef Jackson as players. Luna replaced Vartian as season one's Dungeon Master after Vartian left the show mid-season; the Dungeon Master for "Rivals of Waterdeep" now rotates between various cast members. In 2020, Surena Marie and Luna left the show during the sixth season when they relocated to Los Angeles after Marie joined Critical Role Productions. LaTia Jacquise initially joined "Rivals of Waterdeep" as a guest in the sixth season at the 2020 C2E2 live show before becoming a permanent member. Cicero Holmes left the show at the end of the sixth season. Masood Haque joined as  a guest for some "Rivals of Waterdeep" specials before becoming a regular cast member in the seventh season premiere. Brandon Stennis left the show at the end of the eighth season in 2020. In 2021, Brian Gray and Eugenio Vargas joined the cast in the ninth season premiere. Filming. "Rivals of Waterdeep" premiered in June 2018 with an episode at the "Stream of Many Eyes" event before launching as a fully produced show by Wizards later that month. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the show introduced social distancing measures. The show streamed from the 2020 "D&D Celebration" event. In July 2021 , the show released its one hundredth episode. "Rivals of Waterdeep" is now independently produced and is an official partner show of the "Dungeons & Dragons" brand. , the show has released twelve seasons. Reception. "The Guardian", "The New York Times", "VentureBeat", and "Polygon" all highlighted that "Rivals of Waterdeep" is part of the trend of actual play shows re-popularizing "Dungeons & Dragons" and that the show is notable for a cast "made up predominantly of women and people of color". G.L. van Os, in an essay in the book "Watch Us Roll" (2021), wrote that "voices from minorities will have to be  sought out and lifted up, in order to create a more diverse playing field within actual play. Fortunately, there are several diverse actual play shows out there already, such as "Rivals of Waterdeep" and "Dames and Dragons", they just have not received as much attention as "Critical Role" and "The Adventure Zone" yet". Amanda Farough, for "VentureBeat", also highlighted that "Wizards of the Coast has been able to put a finer point on the impact of actual play shows on its brand awareness and sales. While the company wasn’t willing to share its impression numbers, in 2019, live show  viewership increased 49%. Of its total views, 15% are during live broadcasts (mostly represented by Twitch), with the remainder coming from video on demand on YouTube". By 2020, "Rivals of Waterdeep" was only the show that premiered at the 2018 "Stream of Many Eyes" event to still be on the air. Christian Hoffer, for "ComicBook.com", called "Rivals of Waterdeep" the flagship show for the "Dungeons & Dragons" brand in 2020. Hoffer, in a separate article for "ComicBook.com" in 2021, wrote that "the longevity to "Rivals of Waterdeep" is impressive, not only because the show's characters are on the cusp of  reaching the fabled 'Tier 4' levels that most D&D campaigns never reach, but also because of what the show means to the wider D&D community. Notably, "Rivals of Waterdeep's" cast are all people of color, offering important representation to a group typically underserviced in both the D&D streaming space and the wider tabletop roleplaying game community". Hoffer highlighted the show's innovation of Dungeon Master rotation which gives each season "a distinct flavor". He also highlighted that while the show "incorporates elements" of the official storylines, it makes these storylines its own. "Rivals of Waterdeep" was included in "Syfy  Wire"'s "12 High Fantasy Podcasts That'll Take You on an Adventure During Your Commute" 2019 roundup and in "Screen Rant"'s "D&D: The Best Livestreams & Podcast Campaigns Still Going In 2022" roundup.