Posted in: Dungeons & Dragons, Games, streaming, TV, YouTube | Tagged: amanda Lehan-canto, Angela Giarratan, Betrayal Legacy, Chanse McCrary, Damien Haas, dungeons & dragons, Shayne Topp, SMOSH, youtube

Smosh Games: Sword AF Episode 1 Shines With Stellar Cast, Storytelling

A journey has begun on Smosh Games with Dungeons & Dragons on Sword AF, combining the best of improv, storytelling, and cast.

Smosh Games recently released its first episode of Sword AF, bringing over a stellar cast and creative team from a previous long-term game, Betrayal Legacy. "Smosh Dungeons & Dragons Episode 1" is headed by dungeon master (DM), Damien Haas who developed the story for the campaign over several months. Included in the campaign are Shayne Topp, Amanda Lehan-Canto, Chanse McCrary, and Angela Giarratan. As someone who has watched the entirety of the extensive Betrayal Legacy campaign, which included the same cast, the energy and hilarious chaos remains.

Smosh Games is already seeing huge success with this series compared to previous popular videos. Premiering less than a week ago on YouTube, the first episode has already gained over 700,000 views. Another great signal of the series' success has been the love and dedicated fan art from viewers from the beginning. There were some truly talented people developing artwork during the Betrayal Legacy playthrough. Interaction with and listening to the call for more content with this cast from audiences has been critical for the channel and company. After Smosh was sold back to Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla, it was evident that the time spent with Mythical had helped build the foundation for the content we're seeing blossom now.

Sword AF is proving how vital a cast can be for the success of any series on any platform. The mix of improvisational skills, comedic timing, and building stories off of one another is fantastic to witness. That's something I loved seeing during the episodes of the cast playing Betrayal Legacy. In this D&D campaign, Angela plays a goblin cleric named Bug, Amanda plays a halfling warlock named Delores Paradise, Chanse plays an elf wizard and blade singer named Koda Amakiir, and Shayne plays a druid war forged named Fernie.

Damien proves in the first episode how strong his storytelling capabilities are, and pure joy radiates within him from beginning to end. His ability to roll with the everchanging dialogue between characters is fantastic and something that can often be rare to capture. The editing and obvious attention to detail from those behind the scenes shows itself in every moment.

I once did a research proposal on audience attachment to the character of Agent Cooper from Twin Peaks. While a large part of it had to do with symbols and extensive theory, a big piece of it came from the fans continuing the legacy of the series and characters online. Interacting with an audience or fandom and extending the life of your series is everything. A lot of shows have a social media presence that could be a character in itself. With shows on outlets like YouTube, extending the hand further out toward fans is the right move (although it's always best to be careful with that as well). This is bound to be one of the most successful series on the Smosh Games channel, and I can't wait to see what's next after this phenomenal first episode.

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