| Dungeons & Daddies | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Presentation | |
| Hosted by | Anthony Burch Freddie Wong Matt Arnold Will Campos Beth May |
| Genre | Comedy adventure roleplaying |
| Language | English |
| Updates | Fortnightly |
| Production | |
| Production | Freddie Wong [1] |
| Opening theme | "Alright" [2] (season 1) "On My Way" [3] (season 2) by Maxton Waller |
| Publication | |
| Original release | January 2019 |
| Provider | Acast [4] |
| Related | |
| Website | dungeonsanddaddies.com |
Dungeons & Daddies is an actual play Dungeons & Dragons comedy podcast.
Dungeons & Daddies is an unscripted comedy podcast done as an ongoing series of role-playing sessions loosely based on the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons. [5] It first aired in January 2019. [6]
During a trip to a soccer tournament, four suburban dads and their sons are teleported into the Forgotten Realms. [7] When their children are kidnapped, the dads begin a quest to rescue them. [8] Season two takes place 25 years later, in a post-apocalyptic version of San Dimas, California. [9] The teenage grandchildren of season one's characters are tasked with finding their fathers, who have disappeared with little explanation. The early episodes of season two loosely follow a "Monster of the Week" format.
Being an actual-play podcast, the principal cast features not only players but a gamemaster responsible for game management and the portrayal of most minor characters. This role is taken by Anthony Burch outside of special episodes. There are four other principal cast members, who play four dads in season 1, and four of those characters' grandchildren in season two. [5] Both seasons have had guest players, though not all guests have had characters with standard player classes.
| Player | Season 1 Character | Season 2 Character | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freddie Wong | Glenn Close - Human Bard (Shifter stats) | Taylor Swift - Human Ranger ( Human Rogue after se. 2 ep. 44) [10] | [11] [9] |
| Matt Arnold | Darryl Wilson - Human Barbarian (Goliath stats) | Lincoln "Link" Li-Wilson - Human Paladin | [11] [9] |
| Will Campos | Henry Oak - Human Druid (Wood Elf stats) | Normal "Norm" Oak - Human Cleric | [11] [9] |
| Beth May | Ron Stampler - Human Rogue (Tiefling stats) | Theresa "Scary" Marlowe - Human Warlock | [11] [9] |
| Ashly Burch | Dennis Anderson - Human Rogue | - | [12] |
| Jenna Stoeber | Ratticus Finch | - | [13] |
| Jimmy Wong | Jodie Foster - Human Paladin | Jodie Foster - Demon Oathbreaker Paladin | [14] [15] [16] |
| Elyse Willems | - | Erica Drippins | [17] |
Major and minor campaigns are listed below. Includes patreon-only campaigns as well.
| Campaign | Episodes | Game system | Game master | Release date | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1: Odyssey | 68.5 (69) | D&D 5th edition | Anthony Burch | January 22, 2019 - October 19, 2021 | [11] [18] |
| At The Mountains of Dadness | 3 | Call of Cthulhu | Anthony Burch | November 1, 2019 - December 3, 2019 | [19] |
| Gungans and Daddies: All That Jizz | 3 | Edge of the Empire | Anthony Burch | March 29, 2021 - June 22, 2021 | |
| Fetch Quest | 3 | D&D 5th edition | Will Campos | November 16, 2021 - December 13, 2021 | [20] |
| Sons and Sonsability | 3 | Custom-made (Cross between The Good Society and Marrying Mister Darcy: The Board Game) | Anthony Burch Amanda Shuckman [21] | May 7, 2022 - July 3, 2022 | |
| Season 2: Quest | 53 | D&D 5th edition | Anthony Burch | January 25, 2022 - March 26, 2024 | [9] [22] |
Major and minor characters from the self-contained mini-campaigns.
| Campaign | Player | Character |
|---|---|---|
| At The Mountains of Dadness | Freddie Wong | Meryl Streep - Actor |
| Matt Arnold | Robert Wilson - Line producer | |
| Will Campos | Hildy Russet - Makeup girl / Journalist | |
| Beth May | Stuart "Stud" Stampler - Carpenter | |
| Gungans and Daddies: All That Jizz | Freddie Wong | Beef Himbo - Droid / Manager |
| Matt Arnold | Yap Yappa Yowza - Yuzzum / Bass player | |
| Will Campos | Olp Mondez - Human / Kloohorn player | |
| Beth May | Gurdy Vanda - Pa'Lowick / Singer | |
| Fetch Quest | Freddie Wong | Mochi - Cat |
| Matt Arnold | Donut - Truck stop dog | |
| Anthony Burch | Beignet - Influencer dog | |
| Beth May | Cookie - Spy dog | |
| Sons and Sonsability | Freddie Wong | Fanny Mothman - Piano player |
| Matt Arnold | Cynthia Nixon née Mothman - Cowboy | |
| Will Campos | Eunice Mothman - Sickly / Religious | |
| Beth May | Elizabeth Mothman - Crazy / Dancer |
Cast member Freddie Wong said that early in the COVID pandemic, the podcast, which earns money via subscription and Patreon donations, lost a significant number of subscribers, many of whom had been laid off. However, by July 2020, the podcast had begun to regain subscribers. [23]
On the website Geekiary, Em Rowntree liked the podcast, noting that knowledge of Dungeons & Dragons was not necessary, the content was hilarious, and the technical production values were very high. Rowntree concluded, "Once you've listened to the podcast, you will feel the urge to share your love for it with others. You'll want to spread the word of its hilarity to your nearest and dearest." [6]
As of September 2023, the podcast had over 40,000 supporters on Patreon and was in the top 100 podcasts by listeners on Spotify. [24] [25]
At the 2019 AudioVerse Awards, Dungeons & Daddies won the award for "New Improvised Production", and Anthony Burch won the award for "Player Direction of a New Production". [26]
Freddie Wong is an American internet celebrity, filmmaker, VFX artist, podcaster, and competitive gamer. Wong has participated in at least three YouTube channels; with RocketJump, his production company's main channel, sporting over 9 million subscribers; BrandonJLa, a channel including behind the scenes videos and other content, which holds over 1.1 million subscribers; and Node, a gaming channel with over 3.2 million subscribers. He is also known for creating the web series Video Game High School.
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