Featured Stream – Total Party Chill

Total Party Chill is a live stream D&D show that has found some genius ways to make the audience a part of the story development, and the live games themselves. We’re proud to announce that we’re working on a few collaborative projects with them and we wanted to give you a chance to get to know what they are doing a bit better, so you might consider if this would be a stream for you too.

Audience Participation on a Whole New Level

What makes Total Party Chill unique is that it sources its story from it’s loyal community. Their tagline is “The world’s largest collaborative D&D stream on Twitch.”  They run a Discord Server from which their DM, Devon pulls information, live during streams. “Hey what is this inn like?”  or “tell me a little about this NPC” might be questions he’ll pose to his community. He gets responses live right on his laptop behind the DM screen, and he seamlessly folds it right into the live story.  To take things even further, subscribers to their channel are allowed a certain role on their discord server that inducts them into a specific faction in their world…. Giving them agency and influence over the challenges and circumstances affecting the party’s heroes. The fans build the world, Devon and the party bring it to life.

The brilliance of this setup is twofold, it helps us, as the audience feel invested in the story, and connected to the story, and it creates a kind of on-demand hive-mind of creative ideas for Devon to implement both planned, and in on the spot moments in the game.

Live Play Example

Here are a great couple of minutes of play from their stream. Stay tuned for the magical moment about 2:00 in.

Who is Total Party Chill

The chemistry between the faces on-screen in their stream is palpable. These guys were friends and were playing D&D before the camera was rolling, and they decided to give this streaming thing a go. 

The DM, Devon has made a name for himself as well. He was recently featured in Bloomberg for his trailblazing in professional Dungeon Mastering as a corporate team building activity (absolutely golden idea, right?) His journey has taken him from a passionate DM who found a way to freelance, to one that is heading a community of loyal fans and viewers tuning in week over week to the show.

Beyond the D&D Table (Interview)

I had the chance to interview Devon and get his perspective on why he’s doing what he is doing, and where he sees himself & Total Party Chill going in the next few years.  He had some really insightful perspective to share, and let us know some cool projects that he’s working on.  All of the below questions and responses are paraphrased.

Artie: “So how did your party of friends get together?”

Devon: “We were friends who were playing D&D together already for years. Occasionally we’d bring in someone else to the table. One of those occasions we had a friend over who worked at Twitch.  He asked us if we’d ever consider streaming.  We really hadn’t but he convinced us that we would make a great stream.  A few weeks later we had our show concept and we were off!”

Artie: “How did you get into playing Dungeons and Dragons?”

Devon: “I started playing when I was twelve. But, what keeps me playing D&D is that it’s really the only game that it’s such a perfect outlet for certain things.  As adults, we tend not to use our imagination so much anymore.  Maybe when we read, but for a lot of us, that’s it.  Also, as humans, we really yearn for connection. D&D gives a great way of really being imaginative and connecting with others.”

Artie: “The ‘Professional Dungeon Master’ angle is way cool. Could you tell me about how that developed?”

Devon: “I went ahead and just tried building a website that featured Professional Dungeon master facilitation for corporate team building.  Within a week, I was booked! I focus on creating scenarios where teams need to rely on teamwork for problem-solving.  My rates are $500 for a corporate gig, which normally lasts 2-3 hours, and players usually use premade characters that I bring and leave with their own dice. The audience has been mainly tech companies.”

Artie: What projects are you working on now?

Devon: “Total Party Chill is coming out with a cool new D&D themed game show called “Quizzes of the Coast” that we’ll be streaming on Twitch! We’ll be airing in the time slot right before Critical Roll, on Thursdays. The first 100 people to join will get to jump in and answer D&D related trivia. Beyond the fun and bragging rights, we give out prizes to the winner.”

Sneak Peek: Cloud 9 & Total Party Chill Collaborations

Total Party Chill Play-by-Post Campaigns Hosted by Cloud 9

Our worlds are merging together. This year, Cloud 9 Tabletop has really found its stride in our Play by Post community just as Total Party Chill has in its collaborative story and world-building. We will be merging the two together! Here in the next month, we will be launching games on our Play by Post Discord that will take place in the Total Party Chill world setting.  As lore, setting, and challenges are created in the live stream, they will be reflected in our play by post setting.  We’re so excited for this collaboration and will make the official invitation to join the campaign on 10/3 in our upcoming one-shot event.

Live Play One Shot

This is your shot to see Devon as a player, and me as a DM! Cloud 9 is hosting a one-shot with seven other awesome RPG sites on October 3^rd including the people behind Drive Thru RPG, Cantrip Candles, and Elderwood Academy.  Check out the event landing page for up to date details!