An Interview With A New Dungeons & Dragons Web Series

If you ever played Dungeons and Dragons or even just watched a couple of episodes featuring it from the show, Community, you know that it is a game that requires involvement and a lot of imagination. 

The games have had a huge following, that inspired podcasts and web series and a much talked about film idea that so far, has gone nowhere. 

One of the successful web series is from Brooklyn Quarter, a storytelling collective and production company. Founded by Timothy Reese and Danielle Beckmann in 2017, they have been involved in live streamed games, short films (including Liza, Anonymous) but are excited to try something new. 

Launching a new tabletop web series called, Novel Chronicles, is a pre-recorded game of Dungeons & Dragons that takes place in the land of Ben-Tir, an original setting created by Reese. I spoke with the husband and wife team about their exciting new project. 

While Ben-Tir is an alt-fantasy setting, it is different because the world is not on the decline. There are no gods or heaven and hell. “It is the anti-cliche, with troupes you can fall in with so easily,” explains Reese.  

Reese created this world four years ago and has been working on it ever since. Now the team is ready to put it out there. While they usually live stream, Brooklyn Quarter has decided to pre-record and incorporate visual aids to help move the story forward for viewers. They only rehearsed a few times to let the players, who are also professional actors like Beckmann be familiar with the setting.

So far, they have six episodes that will be put on YouTube throughout the holiday season but they are ready to continue the story forward. 

Why make this web series in the first place? Beckmann shared, “We are trying to make this forum, this medium more accessible for a wider audience. It is immersive and it can really go there, you never know what’s going to happen. We want to bring in people who have never played and still enjoy it.”

In other words, they want Novel Chronicles to be,

I am not a gamer, only having played briefly once. However, the energy and passion from the team behind Novel Chronicles are influential. I look forward to seeing all their creative efforts come on the screen. You can tune in as well every Tuesday at 5 pm PST, 8 pm EST on their YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/brooklynquarter