Exploring Online Dungeons: Streaming Dungeons & Dragons as Transmedia Extension

Abstract

The most recent edition of tabletop roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) has gained much popularity. This is often contributed to the presence of D&D in popular media and of players live-streaming their D&D game online. This form of live-streaming has also garnered popularity online. D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast has also started their own official D&D streaming channel on the platform Twitch. This paper examines the relationship between these official streams and the game itself through the lenses of paratext and transmedia. This allows insight into how these streams extend the game into a new medium and illustrates how these streams can influence the perceptions of the viewer on the game. These aspects in the streams will be examined in order to argue that Wizards of the Coast’s move to regularly live-stream Dungeons and Dragons sessions compliments the transmedia aspect of Dungeons and Dragons as a franchise.