On May 24, streamer DougDoug hosted what might be one of the largest and most chaotic Dungeons and Dragons streams ever. DougDoug (real name Douglas Scott Wreden) DMed a six-hour game of D&D on Twitch where audience members took turns controlling members of an adventuring trio. Every participant got a few turns to shape the DnD campaign before someone new gained control. Chaos, naturally, ensued.
At the start of the livestream (watch below), Wreden explains his adventure is only loosely based on how to play Dungeons and Dragons. DnD dice are rolled with no modifiers added, and turns are streamlined to make things easier to pick up and enjoy. The chat could control one of three simplified DnD classes – a DnD Barbarian, DnD Bard, or DnD Wizard.
Twitch viewers even got to suggest and select backstories for these characters. That’s how Wreden ended up with the Bard and Wizard recovering from a recent divorce, as well as a Barbarian with short-term memory loss who can’t tell left from right.
The story opens with a Walmart, as well as the Twitch chat finding out their characters are cursed. A witch has decreed that only one of their brain cells can activate and make decisions at a time. This makes Wreden’s game sound less like D&D and more like Everyone is John, an indie, internet-beloved tabletop RPG where players become competing voices inside of one man’s head.
When he’s not writing DnD one shots set in Walmarts, Wreden is a videogame streamer. He’s got a penchant for outlandish challenges – his recent Twitch streams also include ‘Finally beating Spelunky without killing anything’ and ‘Elden Ring, but a random effect fires every two minutes’.
Want to play a more traditional game of D&D? Here are some DnD character creators to help you get started. Or, if you prefer the whacky side of RPGs, here’s a homebrew monster to delight (or disturb) your party – the mighty Manman-Man.