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 thirteenth season ended in August 2022. It is one of the longest running official Dungeons & Dragons web series.
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.[3] 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".[3] This led to the development of Rivals of Waterdeep.[3][1]
Casting
The Rivals of Waterdeep cast is made of a diverse group of performers based in Chicago.[4][5] 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".[3] Aram Vartian was season one's Dungeon Master with Carlos Luna, DePass, Cicero Holmes, Surena Marie, Brandon Stennis and Shareef Jackson as players.[6]
Luna replaced Vartian as the Dungeon Master of season one after Vartian left the show mid-season;[7][1] the Dungeon Master for Rivals of Waterdeep now rotates between various cast members.[8] 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.[9] 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.[10][11] Cicero Holmes left the show at the end of the sixth season.[12][10] Masood Haque joined as a guest for some Rivals of Waterdeep specials[13] before becoming a regular cast member in the seventh season premiere.[14][10] Brandon Stennis left the show at the end of the eighth season in 2020.[15][10] In 2021, Brian Gray and Eugenio Vargas joined the cast in the ninth season premiere.[16][10]
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.[6][1] During the COVID-19 pandemic, the show introduced social distancing measures.[11] The show streamed from the 2020 D&D Celebration event.[17] In July 2021, the show released its one hundredth episode.[8] The show's fourteenth season premiered on October 16, 2022.[18]
In 2022, Vargas commented that "the rotating DM model has really shown that you can tell coherent stories with consistent character through lines and keep the tone and style fresh by rotating your narrator. A table of all BIPOC players that has told stories for as long as the Rivals have is also a huge accomplishment, putting the lie to any statements of ‘there aren't BIPOC roleplayers out there for my show!' And, if we're able to conclude the Rivals tale like we want, we'll also be one of the few AP shows to make it to 20th level and show what adventuring at that level can look like".[19]
Cancellation and future
In 2021, Rivals of Waterdeep became independently produced and was listed as an official partner show of the Dungeons & Dragons brand.[8]
During the finale of Season 13 in August 2022, the cast revealed that Wizards of the Coast was ending its financial sponsorship of Rivals of Waterdeep; the show would become fully independent of Wizards of the Coast at the midway point of the upcoming Season 14. On October 12, 2022, Rivals of Waterdeep launched an IndieGoGo to crowdfund $60,000 to produce the final 2+1⁄2 seasons.[20][21] Christian Hoffer, for ComicBook.com, commented that "Rivals previously launched a Patreon to help supplement funding and support for the show, but their IndieGoGo page notes that it hasn't raised the funds necessary to keep the show's production levels at their current standards" and that "Wizards has increasingly de-emphasized community-created shows on their Twitch and YouTube channels".[21] The crowdfunding campaign ended with a total of $23,291 raised.[22]
Note: Last episode for Carlos Luna and Surena Marie as cast members
55
5
"To the Wall"
February 17, 2020 (2020-02-17)
56
6
"Darkness"
February 24, 2020 (2020-02-24)
57
7
"Games (Live from C2E2!)"
March 1, 2020 (2020-03-01)
Note: LaTia Jacquise joins the cast; Surena Marie guest stars. Live show was broadcast from C2E2
58
8
"Afterparty"
March 16, 2020 (2020-03-16)
59
9
"Trenchcoat Slimer"
April 13, 2020 (2020-04-13)
60
10
"Fart"
April 20, 2020 (2020-04-20)
Note: Last episode for Cicero Holmes as cast member
Season 7 (2020)
No. overall
No. in season
Title
Original release date
61
1
"Bills, Bills, Bills"
June 22, 2020 (2020-06-22)
Note: Shareef Jackson continues as the Dungeon Master; Masood Haque joins the cast
62
2
"Talent Show"
June 29, 2020 (2020-06-29)
63
3
"Again"
July 6, 2020 (2020-07-06)
64
4
"Frenemies"
July 13, 2020 (2020-07-13)
65
5
"Into the Dark"
July 20, 2020 (2020-07-20)
66
6
"Strictly Business"
August 3, 2020 (2020-08-03)
67
7
"Unfinished Business"
August 16, 2020 (2020-08-16)
68
8
"Business As Usual"
August 16, 2020 (2020-08-16)
69
9
"Business Never Personal"
August 29, 2020 (2020-08-29)
70
10
"Back In Business"
August 29, 2020 (2020-08-29)
Season 8 (2020)
No. overall
No. in season
Title
Original release date
71
1
"Past & Present Tense"
October 12, 2020 (2020-10-12)
Note: Tanya DePass becomes the Dungeon Master
72
2
"A Cold Welcome Back"
October 21, 2020 (2020-10-21)
73
3
"Stone Hearts"
November 8, 2020 (2020-11-08)
74
4
"The Past is Always Lurking"
November 8, 2020 (2020-11-08)
75
5
"Old Debts"
November 16, 2020 (2020-11-16)
76
6
"Cold Hearts, Frozen Follies"
December 1, 2020 (2020-12-01)
77
7
"Monologues, Fights & Follies"
December 6, 2020 (2020-12-06)
78
8
"It Could Be Worse?"
December 14, 2020 (2020-12-14)
79
9
"Tick Tock Rivals, Tick Tock"
December 20, 2020 (2020-12-20)
80
10
"Silver Tongues and Falling Rocks"
December 27, 2020 (2020-12-27)
Note: Last episode for Brandon Stennis as cast member
Specials
One-shots
No.
Title
Original release date
1
"Descent Into Avernus"
May 18, 2019 (2019-05-18)
Note:Erika Ishii guest stars. Broadcast live from D&D Live 2019
2
"Infernal Goose"
May 18, 2020 (2020-05-18)
Note: Masood Haque guest stars
3
"Undermountain the Musical!"
June 18, 2020 (2020-06-18)
Note: Masood Haque guest stars
4
"D&D Celebration – Rivals of Waterdeep"
September 18, 2020 (2020-09-18)
Note: Tanya DePass acts as Dungeon Master for cast members Masood Haque and Shareef Jackson along with guest stars C'Loni Bailey, Krystina Arielle, Omega Jones and TK Johnson. Broadcast live from D&D Celebration 2020
5
"Boldly Go!"
October 24, 2020 (2020-10-24)
Note: Tanya DePass acts as game master for cast members Shareef Jackson, LaTia Jacquise, Masood Haque along with guest star Brian Gray; Star Trek themed one-shot for Roll20Con 2020
6
"Asians Represent & Rivals of Waterdeep D&D Charity Game – Part 1"
May 24, 2021 (2021-05-24)
Note: Daniel Kwan acts as guest Dungeon Master for cast members Tanya DePass and Shareef Jackson along with guest stars Steven Hunyh and Agatha Chang; part of a Gen Con charity event
7
"Asians Represent & Rivals of Waterdeep D&D Charity Game – Part 2"
The Guardian,[24]The New York Times,[25]VentureBeat,[3] 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".[26] 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".[27]: 108 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".[3]
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.[2][11] Christian Hoffer, for ComicBook.com, called Rivals of Waterdeep the flagship show for the Dungeons & Dragons brand in 2020.[2] 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".[8] 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.[8]
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[28] and in Screen Rant's "D&D: The Best Livestreams & Podcast Campaigns Still Going In 2022" roundup.[29]
^RivalsOfWaterdeep Crowdfund (YouTube). Rivals of Waterdeep. September 18, 2022. Retrieved October 13, 2022. A highlight of our Season 13 finale, discussion where we reveal that we're going to lose funding from WotC in the middle of our 14th season.
