B. Dave Walters is DM’ing the upcoming The Hellfire Club: A Stranger Things Dungeon & Dragons Adventure for Netflix’s Geeked Week.
The cast of Stranger Things is teaming up again this week, to play a game of Dungeons & Dragons as part of Netflix’s Geeked Week. The game is being DM’d by author B. Dave Walters, who regularly appears in a number of tabletop RPG streaming shows in the past, including the Black Dice Society and Legends of the Multiverse. Walters also recently costed the first D&D Direct, which gave fans their long-awaited update on the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves film.
Stranger Things has had a close relationship with D&D since the beginning and there was never a better time for a mainstream show to include the game so prominently. The current edition of D&D is the most popular one in history, with the game seeing unprecedented levels of success around the world. The rise of video streaming has allowed people to engage with D&D in ways that weren’t possible in the past, with games being available online at all hours of the day, through the aid of a webcam and a microphone. Stranger Things has featured a number of D&D monsters and villains in the show, introducing beings like Demogorgan to TV audiences. The most recent season has featured Vecna: one of the most terrifying D&D villains of all time, as the foe who is cursing the town of Hawkins.
Several cast members from Stranger Things will be taking part in Netflix’s Geeked Week, in a D&D session called “The Hellfire Club: A Stranger Things Dungeon & Dragons Adventure”. The kids of Stranger Things are no strangers to D&D, which means that the DM doesn’t need to hold back. The DM running the session is B. Dave Walters, who recently spoke to Screen Rant about his plans for the Stranger Things game, his ideas for the character classes of their show characters, and the growth of D&D into the mainstream.
What do you have planned for your adventure with the Stranger Things cast? They’re no strangers to the game, so there’s no need to go easy on them.
B. Dave Walters: Oh, I didn’t!
We had a spectrum of experience levels at the table, and with 5 editions of the game, and infinite amounts of homebrew, ‘I’ve played D&D’ can mean all sorts of different things. My goal for the adventure was to bring an experience that was both a nod to the world of Stranger Things, and D&D overall. And most importantly: Something the players would enjoy and remember, and I think we did that.
The Hand & The Eye Of Vecna are conspicuously situated in the center of your table during the game. Can the Stranger Things kids except to encounter these powerful artifacts in the game?
B. Dave Walters: Oh, those old things? Maybe some cursed relics make an appearance, but you’ll have to tune in to find out
The upcoming fifth season of Stranger Things will be its last. Which classic D&D villain would you love to see appear in the show as its final villain?
B. Dave Walters: I could tell you, but I don’t want to end up in a cell in the Hawkins National Laboratory!
How does it feel seeing traditional D&D characters reforged with new lore for an audience that might not necessarily be D&D players?
B. Dave Walters: I think it’s wonderful. Anything that spreads the word of this beloved pastime is a win for everyone involved. Anyone who watches the show, and decides to pick up playing D&D or sees a Vecna shirt and decides to buy it is a part of the family now, as far as I’m concerned.
Stranger Things only focuses on the D&D villains. If you had to categorize the main heroes, what would their classes be?
B. Dave Walters: Mike – If he’s not the DM, he’s a Wizard. A Halfling Divination Wizard with the Lucky feat basically IS the DM.Will – Cleric. Such a warm, healing presence. Lucas – Eldritch Knight Fighter. A brawler with a few tricks up his sleeve.Dustin – Lore Bard. Can do a little of everything, and makes the whole party better for it.
Stranger Things focuses heavily on the down-and out, bullied kids of Hawkins. From Season 4’s unstoppable Eddie, to the never-popular characters we’ve been with for years, they’ve all found a form of refuge in D&D. How do you think a game like D&D helps the “weird kids?”
B. Dave Walters: Stranger Things holds a special place in my heart, since I WAS those kids. That was my life growing up (with slightly fewer monsters). I can tell you personally that D&D helps everyone feel like they’re a hero, or more accurately at cause in the stories, and by extension, their lives. Usually we don’t get to feel like we have a big impact on the world, but in D&D the fate of whole lands, words, or planes of existence might hang on a single dice roll!
And finally, do you hope Stranger Things inspires more high schoolers to start their own Hellfire Clubs?
B. Dave Walters: ABSOLUTELY yes. I started playing this game when I was 13, and most of the people I know doing it at the high level now all did, too. But, some people only started in the last year or two. Either way, there is no wrong time to start, whether you’re 13 or 31; get some friends together, roll some dice, tell some stories and make some memories!
The Hellfire Club: A Stranger Things Dungeon & Dragons Adventure will take place as part of Netflix’s Geeked Week on Thursday, June 9, at 9 am PT.
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