D&D players raise millions in real-life campaign against ‘corporate elite’

Summary

Brennan Lee Mulligan’s Dungeons and Dragons push is part of a wider trend using tabletop games for political action J ust before their election day, six Los Angeles city council candidates stood on stage at Hollywood’s Fonda Theatre. But they weren’t there for a debate or a black-tie gala. They were there to play Dungeons and Dragons. Comedian Brennan Lee Mulligan guided the politicians through a short D&D campaign to defeat corporate villains and an evil dragon. Hundreds of enthusiastic fans in the crowd pledged additional donations up to $150 each to give the candidates what is called an “auto crit” for maximum damage to the dragon. The event is just one in a wider resistance movement by players of D&D and other tabletop role playing games (TTRPGs) against the current political climate – ICE (immigration enforcement agency) raids, attacks on transgender rights and the rise of artificial intelligence . The fundraisers benefited charities such as the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, Doctors Without Borders in Gaza and Trans Lifeline. “It led me to connect with incredible people in the community who sometimes wanted to be able to give back but didn’t have the experience to do it on their own,” said Wade, who goes by Jes the Human online. “Maybe they don’t have hundreds of dollars to donate, but they have this game that they’ve put their love and soul into, and they can at least donate that.” In April, the Brooklyn-based femme and LGBTQ+-owned TTRPG company Twice Rolled held a charity livestream called Operation ICE Breaker on YouTube, raising $3,000 for the National Immigration Law Center. With each $75 pledge, the entire actual play group interrupted the story to yell “Fuck ICE”. Earlier this year, the trio behind Rough Magic Games, a game master talent agency, planned to run D&D and TTRPG games at the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo. Then, they found out Relx, the event’s parent company, also owned LexisNexis, a data and analytics company ICE used for surveillance .