“It all started with a simple dungeon run…”
This is how Jeff Cannata starts every episode of the show Dungeon Run. This show, streamed at Caffeine.tv every Wednesday did start with a simple dungeon run, one that the viewers will never see.
Dungeon Run is one of many Dungeons and Dragons shows that you can find online, but this one is special. Dungeon run follows 5 adventurers that after finding themselves together, ended up becoming a family, forming bonds from friendships and creating love interests through their adventures.
The show was created by Alex Albrecht, who I used to watch back in the day of downloadable video casts. During those days, he was in a show with Jeff Cannata himself, along with the now famous director Dan Trachterberg - director of Cloverfield Lane - talking about video games and movies and shows called the Totally Rad Show. This was a decade ago.
I didn’t know I was going to bump into Jeff years later following him in one of my now favorite shows.
All Dungeons and Dragons games follow about the same model; A DM (short for Dungeon Master) and a group of players that are ready to take on the role of the characters they are embodying.
In this case, the five players are all actors to some extent, so the ability to perform comes natural, and it shows. The 5 players are all able to go deep in their characters and every episode adds layers to their complexity and backstory. The most impresive part of this is the characters that Jeff creates. Some of them are also deep even if they are just supposed to appear once. Jeff’s ability to create voices is jaw dropping.
The characters in the adventure are:
- Lilly Dumblestuck, played by Katie Michels. Lilly is a beach Gnome bard. She is from the town of Bingle. She is the heart of the group. Her songs are emotional and creative.
- Uggo, played by Ron Ogden. Uggo is an Orc, but a special one. One that wants to be human and has some love and compassion that makes him different from other orcs.
- Fahima Tadhg, played by Jessica Lynn Parsons. Fahima is a fire genasi. She is an explorer and creature lover.
- Siv RedThistle, played by Jarred Kjack . Siv is a Tabaxi Rogue. Besides all the rogue actions, Siv is a poet, and someone who is struggling with his past and his future.
- James Quillus, played by Morgan Peter Brown. James is a human warlock. He has attachment to a dark side that gives him the power that he has.
These characters go on adventures on the world of Ain, where a big mystery and part of history ends up connecting them and making these 5 adventurers important protectors of the world. There are always battles, but also some moments of conversation. Usually when Jeff wants a relaxed funny episode, the characters start to talk to each other and it tends to end in very deep heartfelt conversations.
Part of the mystery includes an amulet that they have obtained early in the game that allows the viewers (called Watchers) to send the characters chaos magic. This basically means that using the Caffeine TV website, vieweres can spend real money to send cards and one-shot abilities to the players. This causes a lot of imbalances but somehow Jeff manages to keep them in control masterfully. It also adds a big amount of humor.
I don’t want to say much of the story, but I can say it is entrhalling. Jeff created a world and an epic story, where you always wants to know what happens next. Some of the NPCs are so memorable that you want to know what happens to them even after their encounter is done. This is because Jeff gives them an incredible amount of life. And sometimes… life is pain.
We are 32 episodes in (1/22/2020) and we’ve covered just a small chunk of the story arc. I can’t wait to see what is next.
There are many ways to see this show:
- Every Wednesday (Live) in Caffeine. Watching it here, allows you to talk to other people and invest your money into the Chaos Magic.
- Every Friday you can watch a recap in YouTube, and also download the Podcast.
Jeff does recaps every episode but there are a few resources to catch up:
If you have to start somewhere, I would recommend starting from the beginning, but I can say that episode 6 jump starts the bigger story. Something related to this tower:
I have made 2 pieces of fan art for this show, just because I enjoy it so much.
Jeff started ending the shows with a phrase that shows how caring he is. I love it every time he says it.