Wizards of the Coast had a lot going on at this year’s Gen Con—in addition to the usual hustle and bustle of being the biggest name in tabletop role-playing games at the biggest tabletop convention, whose namesake is literally Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. You know, the place where D&D was born. But this year’s D&D Live presentation was also an opportunity for Wizards to show off their new project: a virtual tabletop codenamed Project Sigil.
The event was originally conceived as a theatrical performance and was only supposed to last two hours, but it lasted surprisingly long thanks to the outstanding show of the star-studded cast. Participants included Aabria Iyengar as the Dungeon Master, Brennan Lee Mulligan as the Dwarven Cleric, Samantha Béart in her role as Karlach in Baldur’s Gate 3, Neil Newbon as Astarion from BG3, and Anjali Bhimani as a human magician.
Polygon senior editor Charlie Hall attended the event in person and said the actors “chewed through the scenery in the first half,” leaving the team with a little less time to play around with Project Sigil. Hall said the Project Sigil screening was “hesitant” but ultimately well-received – and any glitches aren’t too much of a surprise, given that the platform hasn’t even entered closed beta yet. (Wizards is still taking requests to Join the closed betawhich is expected in autumn 2024.)
Thankfully, Gen Con filmed the entire game and lovingly called it “An Adventure of Astarion and Karlach: Love is a Legendary Action.” Now you can watch it in all its silly glory on YouTube. Hall says the entire gameplay experience is worth watching.
“Let’s just say,” Hall said, “there’s an epic reveal in the second half that gives your favorite real-life actors plenty of room to explore the source material.”
You can see – or rather hear – both Lee Mulligan and Iyengar in their ongoing series of plays. The Wizard, the Witch and the Wild Man. Bhimani also has more D&D in her future – she will soon be appearing at Jon Hamm’s thriller podcast based on D&D’s infamous Satanic Panic period.
