The Anti-Matt Mercer Effect of Unprepared Casters

Rising from the ashes of quarantine-era D&D Tiktok, Unprepared Casters is promoting what they jokingly call the Anti-Matt Mercer Effect. The actual play and its creators are not Anti-Matt Mercer, of course, but instead attempting to undo the idea popular among would-be tabletop gamers that you need to be a professional performer to run a TTRPG.

Started by Haley Whipjack and Gus Rachels in 2021 — both of whom had garnered significant followings during the 2020 quarantine period of the ongoing COVID pandemic — the show has evolved from the thrown together home game stream it once was. An anthology actual play that balances quality production with an approachable ethos to tabletop RPGs, the crew at UC has worked to capture the “friends at the table” energy without sacrificing the medium’s potential as an artistic storytelling vehicle.

When Rachels stepped down from the production in 2023, Amelia Som took up the mantle, pushing the show further into its stated ethos as they explored systems beyond D&D. In the show’s 16 seasons and dozens of one-shots, it has explored Godkiller, Wanderhome, and City of Mist, among others. Its most recent season, The Aurora Protocol, uses Starfinder to tell a deep-space Alien-style horror story.

Unprepared Caster’s community-driven mission expands beyond the fiction and into the real world with their annual fundraising stream for Trans Lifeline, a charity which offers support for trans and gender nonconforming people in need. This past year, the stream hosted familiar actual players like One Shot’s Dillin Apelyan, The Adventure Zone’s Travis McElroy, and Dimension 20’s Brennan Lee Mulligan, raising over $34,000 for charity. 

Earlier this year, Rascal sat down with Som and Whipjack to talk through the evolution of Unprepared Casters, what the Anti-Matt Mercer effect really means, and the realities of being a content creator.

This interview has been edited for clarity, length, and flow.