Dungeons & Dragons Showcases The Disability Community With New Actual Play Special Event From Wizards Of The Coast

Promo graphic.

Mostly white text on a dark blue background resembling stormy skies.

Text: D&D Beyond and the Disability Community of Wizards Present Galesong: Dragons’ Convergence. 6 headshots of performers are labelled Makenzie De Armas, Aliza Pearl, Angel Giuffria, Jennifer Kretchmer, Rogan Shannon, & Quincy of Quincy’s Tavern.

Under the photos, text reads: With special guests Aabria Iyengar, Sam de Leve & More!

Coming soon on D&D Beyond

Dungeons & Dragons has an amazing new official actual play event coming up. In a first for Wizards of the Coast, this will feature American Sign Language interpretation and will focus on characters and performers with disabilities. Galesong: Dragons’ Convergence will be shown on December 15 at 4PM PT on DNDBeyond’s official YouTube channel. There will be performers from big actual play streams such as Critical Role and Dimension 20 as well as the D&D team at Wizards. The adventure was written and will be DMed by Makenzie De Armas and will be set in the most recent D&D starter set: Dragons of Stormwreck Isle where magical energy is shaped by the lives and deaths of dragons. Players will be Quincy of Quincy’s Tavern, Jennifer Kretchmer, Angel Giuffria, and Aliza Pearl. Interpretation will be done by YouTube creator and freelance Deaf interpreter Rogan Shannon. 

The adventure will be starting throughout the week. On December 13 guest players Aabria Iyengar and Sam de Leve will task two groups of adventurers with two unusual missions in Galesong: Before the Storm. Then see how it all comes together during the event on December 15 with appearances by Iyengar, de Leve with a quick glimpse of more friends including Taliesin Jaffe, Matthew Mercer, Brennan Lee Mulligan, Amy Dallen, and Robbie Daymond. Then on December 17 you can get some behind the scenes looks to learn more about the creators and performers and how they worked with De Armas to bring their personal visions of their characters to live and what it means to them to say D&D is for everyone. 

Honestly, this event sounds amazing and I hope it sets a precedent for future live events to have more interpreters for not just ASL but other sign languages. D&D really is a game for everyone and often those of us without disabilities really take for granted how much content is out there to enjoy now. We often forget that there are those who can’t access these stories and games as easily. I was telling a friend of mine recently who has cochlear implants about this event and he was so excited to be able to watch it. It is so rewarding to see people who enjoy D&D get to see not only themselves represented in a big actual play event, but to see all the ways that they have made it more accessible to people. Honestly, I can’t understand ASL but I’m excited to see how it looks when it comes to D&D specific terms and descriptions.