D&D: Inside Joe Manganiello’s ‘Dragon War’ – A Star-Studded Campaign
Joe Manganiello’s D&D group sounds entirely made up. Chuck D drawing fanart? Tom Morello hanging out with Vince Vaughn? What even is reality anymore.
We all know that Joe Manganiello, Werewolf Stripper (hey CBS, that idea is free, just contact me via the page), loves D&D. To the point where he has a secret basement termed the Gygax Memorial Dungeon, where he runs his own campaign. Up until recently, he’s been a little private about it, talking about the games he’d run and how “the guys” in his campaign might think about their characters. You can catch him mentioning it a little in this interview he did with D&D Beyond.
But recently, Manganiello opened up a lot more about his group. Variety covered the story, showcasing the actor’s campaign, packed with famous faces–everyone from Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morellow to Public Enemy’s Chuck D. But once you get past the “whoa look at these famous people playing D&D angle,” there’s some pretty loving tributes to the game from the people playing it. Everything from fanart to stories about the campaign. Variety can’t quite get over the fact that a bunch of grown men “who should be playing poker” are playing D&D instead, so bear that in mind as we take a look at Joe “Death Saves” Manganiello’s campaign.
On a regular basis, Vince Vaughn, Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, wrestler Paul “The Big Show” Wight, “Game of Thrones” co-creator D.B. Weiss and more gather in Joe Manganiello’s basement for hours. But they’re not playing a poker game, holding a business meeting or some other engagement that might be expected to bring those sorts of names together.
Yeah we get it Variety. You think that the kind of people who sit around playing D&D live in their basement and haven’t seen the sun in a month–and while that’s TRUE, everyone’s playing D&D these days. Dads and Grads, Moms. This group might be a little rarer because most of those dudes are over 40, and we have it on good authority that WotC is going around Logan’s Run-ing everyone that doesn’t fit on their marketing demographics chart, but, all that aside, it does sound like a pretty sweet campaign. The big names don’t stop there either.
The initial group, which has since grown much larger, included Joe’s brother Nick, writer John Cassel (with whom Joe co-wrote a Dragonlance script back when a movie based on D&D was at Warner Bros.), “Fanboys” director Kyle Newman, “League of Legends” story designer Ryan Verniere and Crossfit Masters champion Ron Mathews. Wight, actor George Finn and Morello joined thereafter, with Morello bringing in a particularly impressive recruit.
This is where the story gets real sweet or makes you feel like a withered husk, depending. Morello and Weiss have kids in the same carpool group. Which is either a heartening reminder that celebrities are people too, debatably, even if they do name their kids after the reconaissance aircraft and how they imagine an Elf would say the words A.I.–or it’s a reminder that the elite class in this country has access to a wealth of resources that ‘the poors’ could never even dream of. Either way, Manganiello’s campaign is inspiring to folks.
As word of the campaign got around — even inspiring a name-drop in Season 2 of Netflix’s “You” — it also attracted a number of art pieces. Comic book artist Juan Cabrera drew the characters, as did Public Enemy’s Chuck D, and a person who goes by Mephit Man regularly paints custom miniatures for the players.
That’s right, Chuck D, the Rebel Without a Pause drew some fanart of these characters, and it’s pretty great. Check it out.
Other guests of the campaign include The Big Show and George Finn.
“I don’t fit in anywhere,” Paul “The Big Show” Wight says. “I go to the movies, three people behind me can’t see. I don’t have a social life outside of work, because I’ve worked five nights a week for 25 years all over the world … [During the week], you think about this game, the adventure — ‘How many spell slots do I have? Where are my hit points? Where are we going to be? What if this happens? What if Joe comes up with this? Oh man, I really hope he doesn’t come up with that.’ It’s really good for the brain all week long.”
It sounds like a blast. And a reminder that you want to keep your players wanting more. So stay safe out there, and enjoy your own campaigns.
Happy Adventuring!
