Let’s say you’re a respected voice actor. You’ve brought beloved characters to life in video games, animation, and probably at least one fan convention that smelled vaguely of beef jerky and dry-erase markers. Then one day, someone says: “Would you like to improvise a high-stakes fantasy quest in front of a live audience of howling D&D nerds… and also do it in costume… on stage… with dice… on YouTube?” What do you say?

If you’re Justine Huxley, the answer is “yes”—and then you glue leaves to your body and become a gnome druid named Finia.

This week on Make Me a Nerd, Mandy Kaplan welcomes back Justine for her third (yes, third!) appearance, this time to unravel the improbably nerdy tale of how a casual convention invite led to a starring role on Squad 20, a full-fledged Dungeons & Dragons series featuring voice actors, cosplay, and the occasional improvised musical number. It’s a story involving suspiciously attractive bards, aggressively vegetarian gnomes, and the kind of collaborative nerdery that only works when the DM knows exactly how many hit points are in your armor class. Mandy dives headfirst into this world—confused, delighted, and possibly a little drunk (not really, but let’s not rule anything out).

If you’ve ever wondered what happens when trained professionals take their theater degrees and aim them at a gelatinous cube, this is your episode.

Links & Notes

• Watch Squad 20 on YouTube
• Justine Huxley on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok: @JustineHuxley
• Six Sides of Gaming: https://www.sixsidesofgaming.com