The BEST and WORST of Dimension 20! 

Unsleeping City is probably one of my favorite D&D adventures of all time mostly because of how clever it was. But I'm also obsessed with modern era fantasy, so...

"it made me cry over licorice" perfectly describes crown of candy

Starstruck was more focused on character subplots that some overarching plot which I personally loved. There were so many memorable moments in it, and I recently rewatched it and was in tears during certain parts from laughter. Not to mention the software they used to create complex 3D models (I forget its name) which I thought was super freaking cool. I'd swap Bloodkeep with Starstruck, but for the most part your tier list would be almost identical to mine haha

Starstruck was easily my favorite. The cast, the world, and how they interact with eachother was just perfect to me. Not to mention I think it was the funniest season of them all, at least of the main seasons.

Mike Trapp's Sokhbarr might be one of my favorite characters in all of D20. If any of you haven't watched Bloodkeep, you are MISSING OUT!

Lou Wilson and Emily Axford make A Court of Fey and Flowers S tier for me. They are so incredibly funny together

I'm here to plug ACOFAF. Misfits is great but Lou and Emily's chemistry in ACOFAF is show-stoppingly good. And all the other players (Omar, Brennan, Oscar, and Surena) bring their A games -- there is no dead weight in the Court of Fey and Flowers. S tier 100%. I'm also here to say that the things that are true about the second season of Fantasy High are as follows: it is your romance partner, and it is from the Baronies. The third is that its name is "Fantasy High: Sophomore Year". You have been naughty thrice, CastleCaster, your romance partner deserves better treatment!

I gasped out loud at Starstruck in B tier! Easily their best season for me, electric, hilarious, moving!

Given that your biggest critique of Mice and Murder was the technical limitations, I wish you would have mentioned how they actually used those limitations to their advantage. Players could interact with Brennan through text, which means that they could perform actions without the other plays knowing it, which in turn meant that any of them could be the culprit or be hiding something. Also, the virtual boards worked perfectly with the murder mystery scenario, in which it's very important to know where all the characters are to understand the layout of the house and how that could influence the crime scene(s) - not to mention that they used it to great comedic effect by having a crew-member act out funny moments with the board.

Combat is probably my least favorite aspect of dnd, so as you might be able to tell, I absolutely adored ACOFAF

Coffin Run is probably the most underrated D20 season, I feel like the way this season was constructed, it felt like a return to form in terms of classic side-quests in the same vein as Bloodkeep. Sure, it doesn't feel as risky, maybe it's a little bit more formulaic and slow, but I really enjoyed the characters, chemistry, humor, and the progression of the narrative.

Misfits of Magic and Starstruck are on my monthly replay list. Aabria is my favorite GM and Brennan is incredible as a player. ACOFAF with GM Aabria, Lou, Emily, and Brennen *chefs kiss

maybe i’m nuts but personally i love the more non story-oriented seasons, especially acofaf and starstruck. starstruck was absolute insanity, and it felt like a way for everyone to let off a bunch of steam as the team transitioned back into playing in the dome. no one held back in any aspect of character creation or experimentation, it was full on nuts and i loved every second of it. as someone who loves the romance genre as a whole, acofaf is admittedly my 100% fave season and it’s a hill i will die on. aabria did a phenomenal job, the set was breathtaking (also, the projections for the set like hello we love her!!) and i actively want to know the specs of this game so badly so i can run one. plus watching the classic romance tropes playing out, the fact it was ALL driven by in game decision making on behalf of the characters?? it’s perfect and she is very gorgeous to me!

My favorite season is definitely fantasy high season 2, I am the forever dm for my friends and I love seeing the little glitches and goofy moments in the campaign, it really captures how dnd with friends can feel at times and I just love it. You really see fleshed out development for the characters and them having to take time and effort to work through issues.

This might be the last nudge I needed to get dropout...

Magical misfits might be my favorite season Though this current season is ranking pretty high Edit: coffin run is definitely worth watching just for Izzy and Zack. They’re amazing in it

Not sure if I'm an outlier here, but for me The Seven was an S tier season due to the group chemistry, Persephone was a star throughout everything, the narrative, the themes, the emotions and acting, everything just hit home for me.

Personally, The Seven is one of my all-time favorite campaigns I’ve ever watched of DnD. I originally got into Dimension 20 because of the comedy, and there was something uniquely unhinged about the season that I fell in love with. All of the characters were so well-developed by the end and I loved how the cast utilized these semi-pre-established characters. It was the season I was most hesitant to watch, but I ended up having to pause basically every other second to breathe because I was laughing so hard. Any time Becca Scott opened her mouth I was already out of breath. I also quote that season the most, from “I fucking love you” to “the society…. of shadows.”

Original cast seasons’ impressiveness are directly correlated to how many times Brennan makes Emily cry. Change my mind.

Still wish they would do crown of candy season 2, but Brennan has said that campaign was soo stressful it affected the players. Crown of candy episode 1 on youtube was the first I saw of them and immediately subscribed to drop out. Wonder where never after would be on this list, cause it is pretty amazing soo far.

That Starstruck at B tier was baffling. It being more like a game was great

I was expecting to come in here for a fight, but I mostly agree with this, except that A Court of Fey and Flowers would be MUCH higher for me. It's so good! Ahhhh! Other than that, I'd probably swap Unsleeping City and Fantasy High Sophomore Year.

I really like how diverse the seasons are, like someone's favorite season is Shriek Week and some people probably think Crown of Candy is the worst one. I don't think you can make a "definitive" list with a show like this but a personal one like this works, love the content.

ACOFAF was brilliant. It’s all sorts of controlled shenanigans, but I don’t think anyone could’ve stopped Lou and Emily

That's so interesting because starstruck was the season that felt the MOST like a show to me. The whole thing with gnosis and all of their enemies converging in on them at the end in a battle where multiple different people are against them for multiple different reasons all while the gunner channel is just trying to complete this one task while simultaneously fixing all their other personal problems along the way felt so satisfying to watch all the way through. It rewards paying attention to detail in a way that had me literally jumping and fist pumping in excitement when brennen would tie it all together. I'm biased, though, because it's my favorite season, lol.

Oof, fantasy high and Starstruck complete the trio of top tier D20 with Crown of Candy at S for me. And yes, good take to put bloodkeep up there too.

Escape from Bloodkeep was my first season and I have revisited it a number of times. I would probably trade fantasy high and unsleeping city. UC was my first long season I watched and was a lot easier for me to really get into than fantasy high, though that's mostly because I never really liked High School stories and tropes in general.

Coffin Run really grew on me, it's probably a B teir for me. Bloodkeep is probably my favorite, followed by misfits, and then candy.

You might wanna give coffin run another shot. Zac Oyama's character in particular gets really fun.

My only complaint about Misfits and Magic is that there hasn't been a second season. Personally I loved The Seven, but I can see it not being to everyone's taste.

I think honestly both seasons of Unleeping City and Fantasy High are my favorites. Although I was endlessly entertained by Fae and Flowers and Misfits and Magic. OH AND CROWN OF CANDY. That's way up there too.

For me, the second season of Fantasy High had so many incredible moments (Baron from the Baronees, the entire Telemaine/dunking on elves but) that it has to be A tier. Misfits and Magic is barely B tier for me - the story and NPCs were not up to snuff. Great cast, but the content wasn’t on par - Fey and Flowers was a much better Aabria season for me.

Tiny Heist and Bloodkeep will always be a top contender for me. Love the Macalroys and the actual heist is two episodes of chaos, amazing rolls, distractions, and comedy. Also couldn't watch Pirates due to the technical issues sadly.

I just found your channel and I’m honestly loving it. I really like the way you talk about how different people dm and RP and how it all melds together.

Not a bad tier list, about the only thing I'd disagree with you on is starstruck, I feel it was a super solid A/s tier. But you GOTTA get through coffin run. It took me like 3 tries to get through the first few episodes (not having BLM GM had me shook) but once you adapt it get SOO good, the chemistry is alot of fun and the characters are outstanding! It's an upper A tier show that I almost did watch.

I personally love Starstruck and would have it in my S Tier

Misfits and Magic was the thing that got me to buy a Dropout Sub. Like I watched Unsleeping City and was like "Yea, that was pretty good, don't know If I want to buy another streaming sub though" and then I saw these clips from M&M and the first episode and went "I NEED to finish this series" and now I've watched M&M, Crown of Candy, Unsleeping 1, Fantasy High 1, and I've just started Starstruck.

Very good tier list! It has been a good experience to see what other people think of the seasons. If you would like my opinions on the seasons I can list them below. Note that Neverafter is not present as it is still airing, but rest assured it is currently a solid A tier for me. Edit: After the events of the most recent episode of Neverafter as of 1/14/23, it has placed itself solidly in S Tier. Didn’t watch: Shriek Week, I had a hard time getting into it as romance drama is not really something I seek out , but I hope others really get a good experience watching it as the cast is really solid and deserves positive recognition. C Tier: Pirates of Leviathan, an excellent setting after seeing it on Fantasy High live, with by far one of the best character introductions of the entire series, the technical aspects dragged this down drastically, which is a real shame as the players are phenomenal. Would love to revisit the setting in some sort of remastered version. Tiny Heist, your list convinced me to move this from low b to high c. The planning was phenomenal, better than most parties I’ve seen and experienced, but it fell flat in several aspects which, while not really making the series bad, made it a series that I would not rush to revisit anytime soon. But goddamn that ending was one of the most hilarious things I’ve ever seen. B Tier Coffin Run, a phenomenal cast and story, just dragged down by side characters who detract from the tension and a blood system that I don’t quite understand. Definitely worth rewatching for retrospective reasons, but I don’t know about anything further. Mice & Murder, quite the powerhouse performance from the College Humor cast with twists and turns which keep you on your toes the entire time, and a series which changes completely on rewatching. The only downside I would note is the inexperience of some of the players holding back their talent from what it could have been. The Seven, a sheer tour de force of some of the best players in the d20 roster. There are some amazing character development moments that made me feel moved, but some of the characters I expected to go through change really didn’t. That said, that was the only thing that kept it from being A tier. A tier: Fantasy High Live, a phenomenal season of the core cast, with plenty of development for both main and side characters that endeared me to them even further. The technical aspects dragged it down again, which is a shame as I had a blast with all the brilliant settings they visited. All I want after watching this is a Smash Bros reveal edit of Chungledown Bim, and my life thus far would be complete. Escape from the Bloodkeep, the series that got me involved in wanting to develop my characters in unexpected ways. This series holds a special place in my heart for how all these players came together and gave us something unexpected and beautiful. Fantasy High, the one that started it all and set the bar for me for what a good d20 season is. This showed me how to incorporate comedy into d&d in a really natural way, and I have a special bond with my sibling who introduced me to this thanks to the series. There is only one that has surpassed this series while not making it to S tier. A Court of Fey and Flowers, for someone who doesn’t really enjoy heavy romance, absolutely blew me away. You encapsulated my feelings near perfectly, and the ending was stunning. My only major criticism was that the Lords of the Wing should have had something more to do, but I’m satisfied with what I got. S Tier Unsleeping City Vol 2, a phenomenal return to the magical fantasy world of New York City! The technical aspects and the flat Roll20 maps dragged it down, otherwise this would probably be my favorite series of all. Unsleeping City, the one that elevated the cast to a new level for me, and made me interested in visiting New York City. Really nothing to criticize for me aside from the ending few episodes feeling rushed a bit, but otherwise absolutely phenomenal. A Crown of Candy, the series that convinced me to get Dropout. My first positive experience with dark fantasy, and the series that I want to revisit the most in the future in another series. I even created an OC for the setting, which I rarely do. The next two series I can’t decide which is better, so they are both S+ tier for me. Misfits & Magic, truly one of the best D20 series for a damn good reason. Aabria’s DM skills are aspirational and the characters carry the series to new highs that I thought impossible prior to this series. No criticism from me, just one of the best productions from this crew. A Starstruck Odyssey, the Best series with the main cast and one of the best d&d series I have ever seen. Phenomenal setting and brilliant character work take this show from being outstanding to becoming something that has to be seen. I respect your choice of ranking it lower, it just makes me more grateful for the community that supports these projects. Thank you for listening to my ramblings if you have gotten this far, and thank you for your continued work in this field.

I’d love to see your current ranking with newer additions like neverafter, the ravening war, burrows end, etc.

Straight up foul towards starstruck odyssey. Definitely the best one in my opinion, none of the rest live up to the jokes and hijinks

Also u trippin Starstruck is imo the best campaign they’ve ever ran that shit was absolutely HILARIOUS

What's wild is that 2020 was the year DropOut had its funding pulled by their parent company. Not only were they producing some of their seasons off the backs of pandemic percautions, with poor equipment & basic setups, but they were effectively doing so without much of a budget to speak of. In fact, I have a sneaking suspicion those early financial troubles are why Sophomore Year was live: no need to build sets, everything is in a single take so you don't need reshoots, and you don't have to pay for editors/sound designers/etc. Some of these seasons are amazing by the fact that they exist *at all,* and it was awesome to see just how well they adapted to the circumstances with something like Mice & Murder, which nailed a mix of remote play & D20's expected polish.

Let's be real, even at c tier Rick Diggins as an S tier character elevates Tiny Heist to strictly being top of C tier forever.

Rick Diggins in C tier?! Say it ain't so! :) Tiny Heist is one of my favorite things ever. But, really enjoyed getting your perspective.

I will admit that when it came to unsleeping city part two I dominantly listened to it rather than ever really watching which might might be why some of the issues of it being remote didn’t really affect me. But for me it may have been my favorite season it’s definitely between this one crown of candy and never after but just the heart of that season and the way they were able to build on all the ground work from the first season was just so good. And i think especially considering the time it was made the messaging about reaching out to others and not giving into the void of nothingness was so important.

I’m not really into DND, I only made it 5 minuets into a campaign my friends have before quitting and every time I tried getting into dnd podcasts I last for about the same amount of time before getting bored. The only one I have enjoyed and can rewatch is Misfits and Magic. God do I love that campaign. I’m currently watching Fey and Flowers but I struggle to care for bigger casts with stories I’m not interested in so it’s slow moving. This video is helping me choose which season to watch next so thank you for that!

Bloodkeep and ACOFAF are my S tier series. I love all of the characters and the dynamics between them in those two in particular. I haven't watched a lot of the series though so I can't give much of an opinion on the rest

From the ones I've watched all of. - Starstruck Odyssey- S-Tier - Fantasy High - A-tier - Unsleeping City S1 - A-tier - Escape From Bloodkeep B-Tier

How do you watch dimension 20? Is it only on their pay to watch platform?

all of these takes are so true and real and i love seeing fey & flowers getting hype bc it’s my beloved

I will die on the hill that Mice & Murder is an S-tier season.

Escape from the bloodkeep is S Teir based purely on the Battle on the Scary Volcano

Great video and recaps! My biggest disagreement with this list is I’d put Starstruck at the tippity top of the list. I liked fantasy high season two (mid to low A) for the story moments and especially the ending. I’d also put coffin at the top of C or bottom of B.

my ranking would be S - fantasy high season 1 & 2, unsleeping city season 1, escape from the bloodkeep A - tiny heist, crown of candy, fey & flowers, misfits & magic, starstruck odyssey B - neverafter, unsleeping season 2, the others I haven't watched yet tho I'd quite like to watch the seven. :3

I have a hard time accepting that you saw the first half of episode one of Fantasy High and said, "this wasn't for me". the first half of episode 1 is the best part of the whole season, and the best D&D roleplaying I've ever seen.

I haven't seen a few of the side quests but this is my list S unsleeping city (my first season and also I'm a new yorker I absolutely adore everything about the setting and I love every single character) the seven (I just absolutely vibed with this one the character relationships really spoke to me and it had some of the most insanely funny moments) mice and murder (listen I was a collegehumor fan before I was a dimension 20 fan this season hit all the right comedy buttons for me and the drama of the relationships and all the puzzle solving was dope) A a crown of candy (certified classic) fantasy high (emily's character is maybe one of my favorites ever) sophomore year (I think the live element really added to the cast's comedic chemistry) acofaf (all the different pairings of characters going on created super fun dynamics) starstruck (this season took me a second to get into but I liked the do whatever spirit of it) B unsleeping city s2 (I love this world and many of the characters but murph's character this season really started to grate on me after awhile. I get why he's funny and I understood why they leaned into his dynamic with Ricky, but it stopped being funny to me very quickly. I do still absolutely love the setting and returning characters) (the adventuring parties from this era, however, were so much fun) C misfits and magic (everyone loves this season, and I can see why, but it really just didn't do it for me. I felt like the world building wasn't really clear, and all aabria's npcs kind of had the same personality. also the way erica's character kept obsessing over brennan's made me uncomfortable sometimes. I do think the cast has really good chemistry but aabria's dming this season wasn't hitting for me) started but never finished: bloodkeep, coffin run, tiny heist (planning on finishing the first two I just haven't yet) never watched: pirates of leviathan and shriek week

Starstruck is phenomenal, It should be up there in S

If I were making this video I probably would have watched all of them. To me that would feel unfinished and not thorough. That’s how it looks to me on the outside.

tbh i think they could give live seasons another shot. they seem to have a better budget and resources now so it probably will go better than sophomore year. but I don't think they will since a live season won't add much to the experience or enjoyment

You saying “I’m sorry” when ranking Coffin run is pretty funny given Zac’a entire monologue where he says that exact thing repeatedly

I loved Starstruck and how character motivated it felt. The second episode is probably the most I've laughed at a d20 episode

It's fun to see how different we rank these, tells you about how different our preferences are! For me starstruck is my fave!

I have no clue what the main plot of starstruck was except "be gay, do crime, escape", but oh jebus was it fun. I LOVE starstruck.

I agree with most of it, except from Unsleeping City. Both seasons are easily S tier, remote play be dammed. It's a toss up between those and A Crown of Candy for my favorite season. Oh, and I actually found Misfits & Magic to be a bit subpart, so I would put it in B tier. Fey & Flowers is one of the best, tho, and it's what kinda redeemed Aabria in my eyes as a GM for D20.

I've been making my own list so I'm glad I have someone to compare to now. I'm ranking mostly off of story cause I usually just listen to the audio for d20 rather than watching it so technical stuff tends to bother me less because of that. Anyway, S Fantasy High: Sophomore Year, Unsleeping City 2, The Seven A Acofaf, ravening war, a crown of candy, Fantasy High, Unsleeping City B Mice & Murder, Escape from the Bloodkeep, Tiny Heist, Pirates of Leviathan, Starstruck odyssey S tier is reserved for stuff that made me almost cry or like really moved me. I just like epic mythic feeling stuff what can I say

Hows the new season so far?

Tiny Heist is so good Car Go Jones literally S tier story line and Rick Diggins is my favorite character concept.

Ya gotta watch coffin run, it’s genuinely one of the funniest sidequests, if not seasons, dimension 20 has ever made

How do you feel about never after thus far?

You missed the biggest inspiration for tiny heist, imo, they definitely leaned hard into the whole Toy Story story line. If I was going to describe it to someone I'd say it was Toy Story and the Borrowers are there. Fun video

I gotta defend Tiny heist, something about the tiny toy world with tiny people and of course the spectacular Rick Diggins. Honestly S tier for me.

I tried to watch tiny heist, but couldn’t do it. Might have made it partway into episode 2 at the most, just wasn’t feeling it. Also struggled a bit with leviathan. Haven’t tried shriek week yet, and maybe I won’t based on this lol.

I'm in love with the kne that dropped after this was made and is still coming out. Neverafter :)

I would recommend giving coffin run another chance, they do kinda start meshing better and there are some good moments. But I get it. I also had some issues getting into it at first

the only season i haven't seen at this point is Pirates of Leviathan, which i need to rectify lol ; it took me the longest time to watch Tiny Heist and enjoyed it so much -

Fantasy high has Gilear - the greatest DnD NPC ever conceived by mortal men. It has to be S tier.

crazy how this one video inspired me to watch the series for the first time- bought the subscription in Febuary, and Ive finished half of the seasons already, two months later. Thank you for a wonderful video!

The Seven was S tier for me as you haven't seen a group of players having a better time than those players. Also, Erika and Becca were phenomenal. I've always hoped they'd do a second season of that group.

fantasy high and unsleeping city have my whole heart

I got Dropout for ACOFAF and it is 100% worth the subscription. Misfits and Magic was the first campaign I fully watched through and it’s absolutely an S-tier for me. Starstruck, The Seven, and Fantasy High: Sophomore year are also S-tier for me. I mostly listened to FH:SY as a podcast so the live aspect didn’t bother me, and I’m a sucker for high-energy, high-chaos ensemble capers so Starstruck and the Seven were totally up my alley. You’re missing out on Coffin Run! I guess it’s more for those of us monster lovers and gothic horror fanatics though, but Izzy and Zak have some phenomenal banter between them.

You know I hear they're turning the Green Hunter into a movie

I was trying to get into DnD awhile back and started watch Critical Role. Eventually i heard whispers of Brennan Lee Mulligen's Amazing DM skills. I think I saw the first episode of Fantasy High on youtube with friends when we all wanted to learn more about DnD I STILL fall over laughing at the table flip mishaps. I eventually consumed everything Dropout/College Humor puts out then subbing for more! I use dropout more then netflix lol Unsleeping City, Fantasy High, Starstruck and Misfits easily S tier I actually never started CoC and just watched highlights I will dip into it eventually

I cant watch the unsleeping city. Idk why every time ive tried watching the eps i fall asleep and wake up at random future episodes. At this point i have the eps downloaded but i just can not bother. Its my only dnf d20 series.

If you had put escape the bloodkeep anywhere but s teir I would have rioted, it's my favorite so far, and the giving birth scene was had me rolling. Also Hamhead.

Here's My Tier List S- Unsleeping City 1, Starstruck, Misfits and Magic, ACOFAF, Fantasy High 2 A- Fantasy High 1, Unsleeping City 2, A Crown of Candy, B- Escape from Bloodkeep, Coffin Run, The Seven, Tiny Heist C- Shriek Week Didn't Watch- Pirates of Leviathan, Mice and Murder

My personal tier list: S Unsleeping City Ch1, Fantasy High (FY), Crown of Candy, Misfits and Magic, A Fantasy High (SY), Escape from the Bloodkeep, Unsleeping City Ch2, A Starstruck Odyssey, B Tiny Heist, Pirates of Leviathan, Mice & Murder, The Seven, Coffin Run, A Court of Fey & Flowers C Shriek Week D n/a

Thoughts on neverafter?

ok but coffin run is genuinely one of the funniest things ever holy shit it’s fucking hilarious it needs to be watched

Absolutely loved starstruck, just like tons of energy and vibes and the characters were fantastic 😊

Haven't seen all of them yet, but from the ones I have seen escape of the bloodkeep is my favourite and I honestly can't see any other campaign top that. It just hits everything I like.

I had been a fan of Dimension 20 since episode 4 of Fantasy High season 1, but it wasnt until Misfits and aMagic and Starstruck Oddysey, that I really started loving Dimension 20, I then watched Unsleeping City and fell in love with taht aswell, but season 2 of both Fantasy High and Unsleeping City, never really grabbed me. For the most part i think it was due to the live aspect and the pandemic.

You’re missing out on Coffin Run. It’s really good

I mean you can't blame anyone for saying any is their favourite or not, they all fill such different roles. Mice and murder is an almost perfectly crafted murder mystery, but if you don't like murder mysteries it won't be your top tier choice

I want to know how you would rank the seasons since ACoFaF!

Wish Mentopolis was out for this list that shit was great, and used kids on bikes which is wild haha

Love jasmine and Erika but I can't get into Coffin Run- I tried 😔

It’s so funny, my ranking would have been almost identical! I would have moved Starstruck up a little to A tier, since I think it’s one of the intrepid heroes’ strongest seasons in terms of mechanical mastery, and I would have bumped Escape the Bloodkeep down a little (I loved it but it didn’t capture my imagination quite as much as since of the other seasons). maybe Bloodkeep deserves a rewatch though, I might not be giving it it’s due!

I respect ur opinion but to me the best part of FHSY is the fact that it’s live. It feels so electric!

Unsleeping City 2 is criminally low. UC2 did the impossible, I didn’t want to return to the Unsleeping City I was perfectly satisfied with season 1. It was a beautiful gift wrapped tightly and I though fucking with it would only dampen my memories of season 1. But I loved season 2 and now I can’t imagine it not existing. Also I’m only 3 episodes in but Mice and Murder has actually been a slog to get through which has never been the case for a D20 season for me before. It’s only just getting interesting. Tiny Heist was way better and very brief.

I love Brennan ❤️ my first season was fey and flowers :)