In just a week’s time, MCM Comic Con x EGX will be taking place in London, marking a whole year since Natural Six hosted theirSession 0.5 in front of a live audience at EGX 2023and launched their Kickstarter to crowdfund a ten-episode series. The team is returning this year for a special one-shot on the Centre Stage, launching their new merch line, and doing meet and greets with fans.
For those who don’t know already, Natural Six is a UK-based Dungeons & Dragons Actual Play video series with an all-star cast featuring Ben Starr (Clive Rosfield in Final Fantasy 16), Doug Cockle (Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher 3), Alex Jordan (Mr Hands in Cyberpunk 2077), Hollie Bennett (Square Enix, previously PlayStation Access), Aoife Wilson (Larian Studios), and Harry McEntire (Noah in Xenoblade Chronicles 3) in the role of Dungeon Master.
Natural Six could have kept their debut entirely online, but instead, Wilson tells me the team “liked the idea of something huge, to kick things off with a bang” and so they kept coming back to the idea of a live show when discussing the campaign and Kickstarter launch. “It felt a little like us deciding to free-dive off a cliff - knowing that once we did it, there’d be no going back. I was working for Reed Pop, the company that owns and runs EGX at the time, so I very tentatively floated the idea to the organisers, who were miraculously up for it.”
However, McEntire explains it was “a bit of a challenge” coming up with Session 0.5 as they had already recorded Session 0 for the Natural Six Kickstarter, and since began work on Episode 1 for the ‘proper’ start of their D&D campaign. The team didn’t want to confuse timelines or make viewers feel like they may have missed out if they didn’t see Session 0.5, so they had to ensure it was something entertaining while not being crucial to their overall narrative.
“Once we found out we had a slot at EGX, I wanted to write something that didn’t detract from the story in Episode 1 but gave us the opportunity to do something playful, and would play well in front of an audience,” McEntire tells me. “A masked ball and an assassination felt like they’d do the trick: silliness, lots of roleplay, but not much combat to get bogged down in.”
Having attended Session 0.5 myself last year, I can tell you firsthand that the turnout was huge and, better still, the event was a huge success. Watching Natural Six at EGX was the first time I had ever watched others play D&D, and I imagine I wasn’t alone in this. Having the live show encouraged newcomers to take a peek and get involved in something they may not have otherwise.
“If we’re going all in on this adventure together, there’s no greater testament to that than filling a hall full of people and saying, ‘Hello everyone, we’re here, there’s no going back now’,” Jordan says. “Also, as a performer who has done a mix of all the mediums, the joy of live audience reaction is something that just can’t be replicated. The buzz that comes not only from hearing a response but just feeling the atmosphere in the room, it’s unbeatable. To get a sense of what our audiences might feel when watching our episodes was invaluable in setting a tone going forward.”
“It allowed us to show our chemistry not just in a controlled space like a studio, but live, too,” Bennett adds. “I think it helped demonstrate our potential. And now, a year later, we’re back to do it again—hopefully without me rolling two Nat 1s in a row this time!”
Cockle says that returning to EGX this year is “like coming full circle, except that it isn’t an ending in the circle but a continuation of it” and hopes that this year will be even better than before. “It will be a celebration of how far we’ve come in such a short period of time and we are looking forward to celebrating with all those Nat Sixers who have been so supportive over this past year and hopefully make a few new friends along the way.”
Natural Six will be hosting D&D live at MCM Comic Con x EGX on the Centre Stage on Friday 25 at 4:30 pm. Before that, you can catch up with them in the Script to Screen: The Journey of Voice Acting panel on the Career Stage at 1:30 pm.
On Saturday 26, Cockle and McEntire will be in the Meet & Greet zone between 11:00 am and 12:30 pm, while the whole Natural Six cast will be there between 4:45 pm and 6:00 pm.
A year later, Natural Six has an even larger fanbase, with Jordan telling me that some fans are even travelling from abroad to see the show this year. “Last time round we were introducing these characters to everyone present, this year for many it will be a show where they come to see characters they already love,” he says. “To have that pre-existing relationship will change the show in ways I can’t yet quite anticipate, but I know that it will be a lovely feeling of evolution and growth.”
MCM Comic Con x EGX will be Natural Six’s second live show, but there’s always room for more. McEntire tells me the team “loves to do live shows” and that they’re especially looking forward to this next live session as they are “fully-fledged” now with “in-jokes and everything”.
“I think it’s a monthly highlight for all of us when we get to sit down and roll dice together,” McEntire says. “But you can sometimes forget that people are watching, listening and following this story we’re creating together. To be in front of our community of fans and have a chance to really share the show with them is an amazing feeling.”
Natural Six is debuting its merchandise line at MCM Comic Con x EGX but is “keeping it simple for now” and only selling in person for the time being with only a few key items to test the waters. They plan to launch an online store eventually, so don’t worry about missing out.
The whole team is incredibly proud of how far Natural Six has come in the past year, and they are especially appreciative of the community that has gathered around to support them. All of the cast express their joy for having made it and accomplished what they set out to do, with McEntire adding that “When you work in creative industries people are always having ideas, but it takes a special kind of alchemy to get the right people from the right places to actually bring that idea to life.”
“I can only describe my experience with D&D as therapy for millennials (in a good way, I promise),” Bennett tells me. “I’ve had to face a lot of things that make me nervous, especially doing D&D as a creative entertainment endeavor rather than just a home game around the kitchen table.”
Though Natural Six was originally planned as a ten-episode series, it has continued to grow and delight fans and the team has no intention of stopping any time soon. “We just want to keep telling this story for as long as people want to keep listening. We want this to be a journey that lasts for years,” McEntire says.
“I just want to keep doing this forever,” Jordan says. “As an actor, you spend your life hoping someone will want to work with you on something they’ve created, but in this moment we are creating something for ourselves. It’s a totally new feeling and I love it. Cultivating something, evolving it, thinking outside the box, it’s a genuine pleasure.”
Bennett echoes the sentiment, telling me “This is the first time in my entire career that all the blood, sweat, and tears haven’t been for someone else. Don’t get me wrong—I’ve worked on some amazing games and projects, but I’ve never owned them or been part of owning them. For the first time, this is ours. This incredible group of friends that I’m creating this with—we own it.”
