Aabria Iyengar served Dungeons & Dragons with a side of wrenching anatomic horror in the second episode of Dimension 20‘s Burrow’s End campaign, shocking players and fans alike with an intricate bear battle map.
Burrow’s End follows a family of stoats as they navigate a heartfelt and larger-than-life adventure and Iyengar has not shied away from the elements of horror that accompany their reality. The series’ stupendous stoats are brought to life by Dimension 20 regulars Brennan Lee Mulligan, Erika Ishii, Siobhan Thompson, Isabella Roland and newcomers Rashawn Nadine Scott and Jasper William Cartwright, all of whom were taken aback by the gruesome map imagined by Iyengar and designed by Creative Producer Rick Perry. “I hope that whatever was inside of you that was haunting you, you’ve gotten it out,” Dimension 20‘s stalwart Game Master Mulligan told Iyengar in a behind-the-scenes clip posted by the show on X.
Iyengar reported that Mulligan’s expression of concern ranked among the sweetest words ever spoken to her and continued to revel in fan reactions to Burrow’s End‘s second installment, fittingly entitled “Bearing the Scars”, on social media. Though Iyengar flexed her range for the Dimension 20 fans who grew to love her storytelling in the romantic A Court of Fey and Flowers, she was quick to remind her followers that this unique brand of delightful player torment had always been well within her wheelhouse. The Game Master specifically cited her stint at the helm of Critical Role‘s Exandria Unlimited prime mini-campaign, which ended with a battle map made of similarly grotesque body horror.
All of Dimension 20‘s posts regarding the show-stopping set piece utilized warnings about the inherent body horror within and Iyengar herself gave a spoiler-free content warning to her Burrow’s End players prior to the episode’s events. Upon the unveiling of the map’s full gorey glory, Thompson connected that piece of behind-the-scenes internal communication to the scene unfolding before her. Although most reactions at the table straddled the line between impressed and horrified, Ishii was fully delighted by the prospect of literally poking the bear, particularly its actively beating heart.
Though Dimension 20 has engaged in a more traditional horror-type setting with seasons such as Coffin Run and Escape from the Bloodkeep, Iyengar has proved her wicked story more than worthy of its Halloween season run. Only two episodes deep, fans now anxiously await to see what other tricks Iyengar and the Dimension 20 creative team have up their sleeves for Burrow’s End‘s 10-episode run. Other recent Dimension 20 campaigns include Matthew Mercer-led A Crown of Candy prequel The Ravening War, Dungeons & Drag Queens and the neuro-noir Mentopolis.
Iyengar continues her reign of sanctioned stoat terror in Dimension 20‘s Burrow’s End, with new episodes available on Wednesdays on Dropout.
