Brennan Lee Mulligan is an actor and writer. He is a member of the Dropout.TV (formally CollegeHumor) cast, and the creator and producer of the D&D real play show Dimension 20. While he usually acts as Dungeon Master on Dimension 20, there are several campaigns where he is a player, each of which is guest DMed by either Aabria Iyengar or Matthew Mercer. He has been the Dungeon Master for Critical Role Productions three times – for Exandria Unlimited: Calamity, Critical Role: Downfall and Exandria Unlimited: Divergence.
Critical Role Productions[]
Brennan is credited with Special Thanks in Explorer's Guide to Wildemount for playtesting the Hollow One supernatural gift with his character Deadeye on Not Another D&D Podcast, a year before it was published in the book.[1][2]
He played in "Elden Ring One-Shot: O Ye of Little Faith" (Sx65). The blue dice bag he used during the game (seen in the photograph above) was one he's owned since he was ten. It was nearby when he watched the Campaign One final fight, in "Vecna, the Ascended" (1x114), which aired before he ever considered playing D&D before a camera. He felt it meaningful to be able to bring the bag with him to a Critical Role table.[3]
Brennan is the DM for the Exandria Unlimited: Calamity series. He appeared in "Game Masters of Exandria Roundtable" (Sx69) alongside Matthew Mercer and Aabria Iyengar sharing their experience of game mastering in the world of Exandria. He played Sean Finnerty in the second chapter, the Circle of Needle and Thread, on Candela Obscura.
Brennan was the Master of Ceremonies for the live show "The Nox Engine" (3x98).[4] He closed the episode with a monologue[5][6] which acts as a prologue for Campaign Three's July 2024 Downfall three-part special, for which he was the DM.[7][8]
He returned in February 2025 as DM for the Exandria Unlimited: Divergence series,[9] and later appeared as Padmund Pondhop in the three-episode miniseries Wildemount Wildlings (show).
Player characters[]
- Brigidda, hero in ("Elden Ring One-Shot: O Ye of Little Faith" (Sx65))
- Sean Finnerty, soldier in Candela Obscura Chapter 2
- Padmund Pondhop (Wildemount Wildlings)
Other work[]
At Dimension 20, Mulligan has served as either Dungeon Master or fellow player for games played by Critical Role members Matthew Mercer, Marisha Ray, Krystina Arielle, Aabria Iyengar, Ify Nwadiwe, Anjali Bhimani, and Erika Ishii. He has also DMed or played alongside Critical Role guests Lou Wilson, Ally Beardsley, Emily Axford, Carlos Luna (all core members of Dimension 20), Isabella "Izzy" Roland, Omar Najam, and Amy Vorpahl. He also played with Mica Burton for several Roll20 campaigns DMed by Iyengar.[10][11]
Brennan and Molly Ostertag co-created the webcomic Strong Female Protagonist published online since 2012. It has been on hiatus since 2018.
Personal Life[]
Brennan Lee Mulligan met Izzy Roland while the two performed improv, and began dating in 2017. They became engaged on January 21, 2021, and married on April 1 (April Fool's Day), 2023. On January 23, 2024, he announced that the two of them had had a daughter in a Worlds Beyond Number fireside chat. The two refer to their child under the pseudonym "Sunny" in order to protect her privacy.
Trivia[]
- In November 2015, Brennan was a contestant on the American version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and won $50,000 (equivalent to about $61,000 in 2022).[12][13]
References[]
- ↑ Murphy, B. (DM). (2019, May 5). Deadeye (No. 60). [Audio podcast episode]. In Not Another D&D Podcast. Headgum. https://headgum.com/not-another-dd-podcast/ep-60-deadeye-the-shadowfell-saga-with-brennan-lee-mulligan
- ↑
Brennan Lee Mulligan (@BrennanLM) on Twitter: "Hey Kyle! Thanks so much! Hollow One is a racial template Matt Mercer designed and will be featured in his upcoming book I believe! He used it for Leiland on the last season of Dimension 20, and was kind enough to loan it to me for use in NADDPOD with Murph's permission!" (2019-06-09).
- ↑ Brennan Lee Mulligan (@BrennanLM) on Twitter: "And, if I might be forgiven a dorky & sincere moment: This is my first and only bag of dice that I've had since I was 10 years old. The drawstrings went years ago, and it is threadbare and careworn. This was right by my side in Oct 2017 when like every other Critter I was going--" (2022-03-01). Continued in a second Tweet: "--absolutely feral watching the final battle of Campaign One, before I had ever even dreamed of playing D&D in front of a camera. I don't know how many years this faithful bag has left in him, but it meant & means the world to me that I got a chance to bring him to that table."
- ↑ Anderson, Julia (May 10, 2024). "Critical Role Announce Bells Hells Live With Brennan Lee Mulligan". The Escapist. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
- ↑ See "The Nox Engine" (3x98) at 3:48:56.
- ↑ McCauley, Tara (June 18, 2024). "Brennan Lee Mulligan Delivered a Shocking Cliffhanger at Critical Role's Live Show". The Escapist. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
- ↑ Critical Role [@CriticalRole] (June 21, 2024). "🔥DOWNFALL🔥 Episodes 99-101 of #CriticalRole will explore the 3-part story of a memory from an arcane relic within the ruins of Aeor. @BrennanLM leads Ashley Johnson, @executivegoth, @Abzybabzy, @NoshirDalal, Nick Marini & @LauraBaileyVO on this tragic tale on 7/11 at 7PM PT! [Video]" (Tweet). Retrieved June 21, 2024 – via X.
- ↑ Teh, Cheryl (June 21, 2024). "Critical Role's 'Downfall' is a new crossover project for the 'Dungeons & Dragons' history books". Business Insider. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
- ↑ See State of the Role: Campaign 3 Finale and What’s Next for 2025! on CritRole.com.
- ↑ See "Cast" at the Dimension 20 wiki.
- ↑ D&D Strixhaven Game | Brennan Lee Mulligan Aabria Iyengar Mica Burton Becca Scott Danny Quach at the official Roll20 YouTube.
- ↑ Brennan Mulligan on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire Wiki
- ↑ The Buccaneer Buddies Reunite (subscription required)
Art:
- ↑ Brennan Lee Mulligan on set for "Elden Ring One-Shot: O Ye of Little Faith" (Sx65), by Chris Lockey (source). This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.
- ↑ Fan art of Brennan as a DM, by Kaw (source). Used with permission.