Article D&D Extra Life Team Returns, Levels Up!

Wizards of the Coast announces participating members of its Extra Life team, along with some donation incentives.

We’re joining Magic: The Gathering and Hasbro in the inaugural Extra Life Tabletop Appreciation Weekend, with support from partners Fantasy Grounds, WizKids Games, Gale Force 9, and OneBookShelf. 

What’s Our Goal?

Last year, the team played D&D for twenty-five hours straight and raised over $85,000 for the kids at Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. This year, our goal is $100,000, and we’re almost doubling the length of the game. That’s right—forty-eight hours of D&D! In the interest of keeping our intrepid Dungeon Master and players sane, though, we’ll be sharing the load with a rotation of twelve DMs and dozens of players throughout the event. Each DM will tailor his or her own adventure to fit into a larger, connected campaign, and we’ll be streaming the whole thing, assuming rust monsters don’t devour the routers.

(Also, we kind of want to beat the Magic team.)

When Can I Watch?

The 48-hour-marathon starts at 12pm PST on Friday, October 2, and will feature twelve in-house teams and two off-site teams throughout the weekend. Each four-hour game will be livestreamed on the D&D Twitch Channel, and will focus on one of the new demon lords featured in the newest storyline, Rage of Demons, using the fifth edition D&D rules set. The game will conclude at 8pm PST on Sunday, October 4.

Donors can contribute to Dungeon Masters and players alike to grant them benefits before and during the game. Not only can donors change gameplay, but they can also win D&D swag and exclusive content! Prizes may include rare miniatures, signed TRPG books and comics, and even D&D-themed clothing. Below is a play calendar, a full list of participating members, and some of their Extra Life pages. Our goal is to beat last year’s final donation, and raise over $100,000!

Visit the Dungeons & Dragons Extra Life page for more information on the event, how to contribute, and what you can do to participate!

How Can I Support Your Team?

It’s never too early to support the cause. You can visit the D&D team page to donate to any of our members. A few folks have already started raising money!

You can also show your support by adding the D&D Twibbon to your Twitter or Facebook profile. Also, check out our Extra Life Media Kit.

How Do I Play?

Come join our Extra Life team! Join a D&D group, or try out a digital game—either newer titles such as Sword Coast Legends or Neverwinter, or classics like Baldur’s Gate II and Icewind Dale. Alternatively, join some friends and play D&D board games like Dungeon!, Lords of Waterdeep, or Temple of Elemental Evil.

To participate, follow these steps:

• Join Extra Life and set a personal goal.
• When creating your Extra Life account, choose “Join a Team” and select “Dungeons & Dragons.”
• Complete the remaining steps for creating an account.
• Customize your page. For tips on customizing your page to help generate donations, download this toolkit.
• Decide what you want to play and when you want to play it, then spread the word to potential donors.

Can I Organize My Own Event?

Want to organize your own group? After you’ve joined the D&D team, take the following additional steps:

• Reach out to other D&D players in your community (including online). Walk them through the sign-up steps and have them download the toolkit.
• Customize your page and share it with your players. Encourage them to customize their own pages.
• Find a place to play. Talk to your local game store, or find a space where no one’s going to mind if you’re gaming for long hours.
• Create a schedule. Players don’t need to play for the entire weekend. Having a rotating cast of players keeps things exciting and energized.
• Join the Extra Life Tabletop Event on Facebook to promote your event to others and share your success.

What Are the Rewards?

Members of the D&D Extra Life team who raise $50 and respond to a survey after the event will receive the following:

• a certificate for use in D&D Adventurers League play.
• a code for a sentient gelatinous cube companion in the Neverwinter MMORPG
• a code for $5 off your purchase of a PDF on dndclassics.com

In addition, we’ll be previewing parts of the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide, releasing November 3, as part of our fundraising efforts. Below, you’ll find a chart of what we’ll preview based on total money our team raises:

More Questions?

Check out the Extra Life FAQ or contact @gregbilsland on Twitter.