Brennan Lee Mulligan is an award-winning actor, writer, creator and producer. As a cast member of CollegeHumor, he wrote and starred in the sketch Tide CEO, which won a 2019 Webby Award and received over eight million views. He is executive producer, writer and Game Master of Dimension 20, a series produced for the CH streaming service Dropout, and also hosts Dropout's fantasy gaming vodcast, The Adventuring Academy. Brennan is author and co-creator of the popular webcomic and graphic novel series, Strong Female Protagonist, which was selected as an Autostraddle Favorite, and was on io9's list of Best New and Short Webcomics. He received an Excellence in Performance Award from the NY Fringe Festival, playing the lead in …And Then She Dies at the End. Brennan has been a head storywriter for The Wayfinder Experience, a director and performer for Story Pirates, a member of the UCB Touring Company and Harold Night, and has taught and performed improv for years at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater on both coasts. You can see his face on Adam Ruins Everything, sketches for CollegeHumor, Funny Or Die and Above Average. Brennan's voice can be heard in the animated series Cartoon Hell and Liverspots + Astronots, and he voiced the character Tyler Locke in Audible's 14-hour, Audie-nominated occult thriller, Locke & Key.
Brennen Lee Mulligan is a Dungeons & Dragons lifer, crediting his early years as a GM as well as time at live-action role-play camp for developing his improvisation skills, which led him to Upright Citizens Brigade.
In 2018, Mulligan debuted as GM for CollegeHumor and Dropout's actual play series, Dimension 20, which he's helmed ever since. The series features regulars Emily Axford, Ally Beardsley, Brian Murphy, Zac Oyama, Siobhan Thompson, and Lou Wilson, as well as side quests with rotating GMs and casts including Aabria Iyengar and Erika Ishii. As a serialized show, Dimension 20 takes viewers through imaginative worlds dreamed up by Mulligan and his players — from the John Hughes-inspired coming-of-age of Fantasy High to a Candy Land that would make George R.R. Martin proud in A Crown of Candy. He's an expert world-builder, creating deep and textured settings that feel lived-in and distinct.
On screen, Mulligan's approach to GMing leans heavily into player and viewer transparency. One of the highlights of Dimension 20 that sets it apart from other series is the "Box Of Doom," a dice tray mounted with a camera, which is used for crucial die rolls by both players and the GM. He's also not afraid to name a Difficulty Class — the target number players must meet or exceed with their roll — when a player character would know immediately in-game whether they've succeeded or failed. "I think it builds trust. It heightens drama in a lot of instances, and the dice can be your bad cop, delivering bad news for you," he says. "It's a shared moment at the table. As someone who's been a GM a lot, I relish moments where I can be on the same side of a surprise as my players."
