Aabria Iyengar

Aabria Iyengar is an American web series actress known primarily for tabletop role-playing game anthologies, streams and podcasts. She was the Dungeon Master (DM) for the first season of Exandria Unlimited. Iyengar has been both a player and a Game Master for multiple seasons of Dimension 20 and a guest DM on The Adventure Zone.

Aabria Iyengar
Occupation(s)Actress, chief marketing officer
Years active2018-present
Known forExandria Unlimited, Dimension 20

Career

Iyengar is the Chief Marketing Officer for the dice-maker Dice Envy.[1][2]

Actual play

Iyengar was originally a guest player, acting as Laura Bennett, in the actual play web series Kollok: 1991 on the Hyper RPG Twitch channel before joining the main cast in the second season in 2019.[3] In 2022, Iyengar reprised her role in the sequel set 30 years after the first show – Kollok was broadcast on AMC Networks' FearHQ Twitch channel.[4][5] Iyengar has been part of the main cast, playing as Koseh, for Into the Mother Lands since 2020.[2][6]

In 2021, Iyengar was the Dungeon Master (DM) for two actual play anthology web series – Misfits and Magic, the tenth season of Dimension 20, and the first season of Exandria Unlimited, a Critical Role spin-off.[7][8][9] She was the first Critical Role DM after Matthew Mercer.[10] Chase Carter, for Dicebreaker, stated that "both appearances were hits within their respective fandoms, leading many to clamor for more Iyengar".[6] Iyengar also performed as a guest DM on The Adventure Zone, with the McElroy Brothers as players, in 2021.[1][11] Christian Hoffer of ComicBook.com highlighted that "Iyengar has quickly built a reputation and fanbase due to her fantastic storytelling and rapport with players".[1] Carter commented that "Iyengar is quickly becoming a household name in the realm of tabletop actual play. [...] Her fame has been a welcome change for many who are glad to see a Black woman garnering so much respect and excitement in what has been a predominantly white endeavor within a historically white hobby".[6] Iyengar gave the Storytime keynote at the 2021 PAX Unplugged.[12]

In August 2022, Iyengar appeared as gamemaster on Dimension 20: A Court of Fey & Flowers, a combination of Dungeons & Dragons and the Jane Austen-inspired game Good Society.[13] She also joined the cast of the Vampire: The Masquerade web series NY by Night, playing as Margot "Fuego" Walker. Em Friedman, for Polygon in 2022, commented that Iyengar's actual play credits now "span nearly the entire industry" with her By Night debut.[14]

In January 2023, it was announced that Iyengar, alongside Erika Ishii, Lou Wilson, and Brennan Lee Mulligan, would star in the creator-owned actual play podcast Worlds Beyond Number; the show premiered in March 2023 and ranked in Patreon's top twenty accounts within a month.[15][16][17][18] Also in March 2023, Iyengar joined the third campaign of Critical Role as a guest star playing as gnome cleric Deanna.[19] In April 2023, WizKids announced a new miniature boxed set of Exandria Unlimited characters including a figurine of Iyengar.[20]

Personal life

Iyengar attended the University of Iowa where she was a member of the volleyball team. [21]

Iyengar first played Dungeons & Dragons in 2015 or 2016[22] when she was invited to her now husband's board game group and was given a cleric character sheet to play.[23] Wired highlighted that "Iyengar was often the only woman or person of color at the table, and she faced a lot of other players questioning her knowledge of the game, as well as more overt harassment. As a GM, she now works to ensure her players don’t have to face those same challenges. [...] With the increased visibility of actual play games, [...] Iyengar has increasingly been able to tailor her playing experience to what she wanted it to be for both herself and her audience".[24]

Filmography

Web series
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2018–2020 Happy Jacks RPG Revelations Thaïs Guillory Main role; 10 episodes [25]
The Autumn People Khairyn Antwi Main role; 14 episodes [26]
Monsoon The Arcane / Science Pantheon / Child of A.I. Main role; 9 episodes [27]
Idolon Academy Tendai Collier aka "Eye" Main role; 16 episodes [28]
2019–2022 Kollok 1991 Laura Bennett Guest role in season 1; main cast in season 2 [3]
Main cast
Sequel set 30 years after Kollok: 1991; sometimes billed as season 3		 [4][5]
2019–2020 Saving Throw Urban Shadows RPG Game master One-shot [29]
Frozen & Dragons Elsa One-shot [30]
Mysterium: Hidden Signs Esme Limited series; 3 episodes [31]
Ghosts of Saltmarsh Dungeon Master Limited series; 3 episode prequel to Pirates of Salt Bay [32]
Pirates of Salt Bay Dungeon Master Main cast; 40 episodes [33][34]
RPG Exploration Society Amaka, Sonny Episode: "Shadow of the Demon Lord", Episode: "Alien RPG" [35][36]
2019 Wildcards East Texas University Renee Billings Episode: "The Seekers of Danger" [37]
2020–2021 New Pantheon Demigods Megan, Demigod of Ares Main cast; 19 episodes [38][39]
Academia Helen Silva, Divinity Thoth Episode: "S1E6" [40]
Tales from Salt Bay Engine Heart Ticky-Nicky Prizebot Limited series; 2 episodes [41]
Good Society Rosaline Wildingham Limited series; 4 episodes [42][43]
Monsterhearts 2 Hester Blake Limited series; 2 episodes [44]
Roll20 Presents Lost Mine of Phandelver Witkha Main cast; 14 episodes
Sponsored by Wizards of the Coast to promote the Starter Set on Roll20		 [45]
Rime of the Frostmaiden Bursa Main cast; 13 episodes
Sponsored by Wizards of the Coast to promote the Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden module on Roll20		 [46]
2020–2022 Into the Mother Lands Koseh Main cast [47][2]
2020–2023 Dimension 20 Pirates of Leviathan Myrtle Main cast; 6 episodes [48][49]
Misfits and Magic Game Master Main cast; 4 episodes
Also appeared in the Misfits & Magic Holiday Special		 [50][51]
The Seven Antiope Jones Main cast; 10 episodes [52]
A Court of Fey and Flowers Game Master Main cast; 10 episodes [53][54]
The Ravening War Karna Solara Main cast; 6 episodes [55]
Burrow's End Game Master Main cast; 10 episodes [56][57]
Failed Save Campaign 1 Fess / Zhirryn Guest role in season 1; main cast in seasons 2-3; 31 episodes [58]
Campaign 2 Chi Main cast; 30 episodes

Also appeared in vignette mini-episodes and spin-off one-shots

 [58]
Fantasy TGIFridays Chi Limited series; 3 episodes [59]
2021–2022 Exandria Unlimited Dungeon Master Main cast; 8 episodes [2][10]
Kymal Dungeon Master Main cast; 2 episodes
Continuation of the first season		 [60][61]
Calamity Laerryn Coramar-Seelie Main cast; 4 episodes [62][63]
2021 The Adventure Zone The Zone of Adventure: Imbalance Dungeon Master Limited series; 3 episodes [1][11]
Gods of Metal: Ragnarock Val Cano One-shot [64]
Total Puppet Khaos Neve Season 2 main cast; 3 episodes [65]
A Very Pet Adventure Hygge Main cast; 13 episodes [66]
2022 NY by Night Margot "Fuego" Walker Main cast; 8 episodes [14][67]
The Borros Saga: Banesbreak Prythiv Main cast; 12 episodes [68][69]
Dark Souls: The Roleplaying Game Maerwyn One-shot [70]
Crypteens: A Cryptid Demigods Adventure Game Master One-shot [71]
Ten Candles: Devil in the Details Blythe Freeman One-shot [72]
Ms. Pixel's Fantastical Circus: Call of Cthulhu Lenore Reilly One-shot [73][74]
D&D Chaos Dungeon Master Main cast; 3 episodes

Roll20 series using the Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos module

 [75]
2023 Worlds Beyond Number The Children's Adventure The Wizard Main cast
Patreon exclusive prequel podcast for The Wizard, the Witch, and the Wild One		 [16][17]
The Wizard, the Witch, and the Wild One Main cast [16][17]
Critical Role Campaign Three Deanna Leimert Guest role; 8 episodes [19]
Salt & Serpent Dis Main cast; 4 episodes [76][77]
Pixel Circus Pride One-Shot Tricia One-shot [78]
Barbies For Better Pay 1996 Happy Holidays Barbie One-shot [79]

References
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