What is Dragon Friends?[]
Dragon Friends is a monthly improvised comedy show and bi-weekly podcast in which a group of comedians and novice role-players play an ongoing campaign of Dungeons & Dragons.
Comedy show AND podcast? How?[]
During each season, Dragon Friends shows are performed monthly in Sydney, Australia, originally at the Giant Dwarf Theatre, then The Comedy Store, and now The Vanguard. Each live show is divided into two sessions (with an interval in between), with each session released as a podcast episode two weeks apart. If you want to go to a show, the best place to find out when they're on is the Dragon Friends website.
The team have also streamed secondary games online via Twitch. The original Twitch game was the Stream of Annihilation on the official Dungeons & Dragons Twitch channel, using a combination of pre-recorded sessions and live broadcasts with chat interaction. Since 2019 they've also had their own Twitch channel. Twitch games have included two seasons of Beef Babes (a spin-off featuring Freezo with some new characters), two seasons of the more mystery-of-the-week campaign The Gribbits Detective Agency, a mini-campaign with all-new characters based on the 2022 D&D Starter Set, Dragon Friends of Stormwreck Isle; and a Western-flavoured campaign DM’d by Edan, Tastly, Highstrider & Hedge. They have also had monthly MPT streams, where the cast writes a one-shot adventure per stream.
Additional content is released via the Dragon Friends YouTube channel, or exclusively to supporters of the Dragon Friends Patreon.
Do I need to know D&D to listen to Dragon Friends?[]
Nope! The D&D rules are kept very unintrusive, and the majority of humour is based on the setting and characters rather than the game system being used. You can understand and enjoy all of the show without knowing anything about D&D, other than what you'll learn by listening.
What makes this different from other D&D podcasts?[]
Dragon Friends is a D&D themed comedy show, not an actual play podcast, although the gameplay and banter are mostly improvised. The players are professional comedians performing in front of an audience, which gives the sessions a unique humor and energy. The game rules and settings are designed to emphasize this and create a fast-moving storytelling experience. There's ongoing background music played on the spot, originally by Benny Davis, then Tom Cardy, now Nick Harriott (there have been other musical guests as well). And alcohol may also be involved.
What game system do the Dragon Friends play?[]
Primarily Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), specifically the current fifth edition (5E), but with some changes and adaptations. Although Season 3 is themed on the cyberpunk setting of Shadowrun and Season 5 is inspired by Call Of Cthulhu, and while Dave makes rulings that err on the side of fun and comedy (and occasionally things he’s used to from playing previous editions), the rules used are still essentially those of D&D 5E.
Some of the spin-offs use other roleplaying games. In the Star Wars Special they played Edge Of The Empire, and the Harry Potter Special uses the first edition of the fan-made Hogwarts Adventures system. The End of the World specials use The End of the World roleplaying game published by Fantasy Flight Games, specifically the “Zombie Apocalypse” version (there are three others).
What changes are made to the game system?[]
Note that this section is most definitely for D&D nerds, and you don't need to understand any of this to listen to the podcast!
Most of the changes made are to reduce on-camera (or on-microphone) bookkeeping and maintain the fast pace of the sessions.
- Character advancement is milestone-based (i.e. there’s no tracking of experience points, the characters gain a level at points in the story determined by Dave).
- Initiative values are taken from a pre-generated list rather than rolled at the time of combat.
- HP of enemies is reduced to avoid repetitive combats.
- The effects of skill checks, especially social ones, are deliberately exaggerated and DCs are lower.
What adventures are they playing?[]
Dragon Friends[]
During the original campaign and it’s spin-offs, it was mostly original adventures written by Dave Harmon with Ben Jenkins:
- In Season 2 they play a variant of the Ravenloft 2nd edition module adapted by Dave Harmon. Although there is an official adaptation of this module for 5th edition, Curse Of Strahd, it is not used in this season.
- In Season 3 they play an original adventure based on the setting of the Shadowrun RPG.
- In Season 4 they play an original adventure featuring travel between worlds, incorporating science fiction tropes and partially inspired by the Spelljammer setting for 2nd Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.
- In Season 5 they play an original adventure forming a sequel to seasons one, two and four, using elements drawn from the roleplaying game Call Of Cthulhu.
- In Season 6, Season 7 and Season 8, they play an original adventure forming a direct sequel to the previous season. Season 6 takes up a resistance plot and explores more of Waterdeep and the Sword Coast, whilst season 7 explores time travel, alternate timelines and the ancient empire of Old Netheril. Season 8 has the party travel back to present day, becoming part of history as they go.
- Season 9 is also an original adventure, and forms a sequel both to Season 8 and the two seasons of Beef Babes.
The side quest adventures are a mix of original and adapted stories:
- In the Stream of Annihilation they play the official adventure (or “module”) Tomb Of Annihilation, with some minor alterations up to the Tomb itself.
- The Gribbits Detective Agency is an original episodic adventure based on the module of the same name. This is the only series where the DM's rotate between players of the group.
- In the Christmas specials, they play a variety of scenarios drawing inspiration from Christmas traditions and films. These are written and DM'd by Edan Lacey and Simon Greiner.
The one-shot specials use different games altogether. For example, in the Star Wars Special they play the Edge of the Empire Beginner's Set adventure Escape from Mos Shuuta, using the rules and pre-generated characters from that set.
Heroes of Yearth[]
- Season 1 of Heroes of Yearth is an original story created by Edan and Tom.
- Season 2 is based on the first published official campaign for D&D fifth edition, Tyranny of Dragons, adapted to the world of Yearth by Michael Hing.
What does (X) D&D term mean?[]
Most of the time, you can understand the story without needing to know the occasional bits of D&D jargon that are used in the episodes. But for a quick glossary, see Dungeons & Dragons. They also have a few unique terms of their own, notably the “Maths Twenty”.