Dropouts Katie Marovitch on the secrets of Dimension 20: On a Bus Season 2

April Fool's Day can be a treacherous time online, with plenty of pranksters looking to play tricks on the average doomscroller. However, Dropout is out here gifting viewers with an April "Fool's Gold" in the form of Dimension 20: On a Bus, Season 2, which was announced this morning. 

This is not a joke. After Katie Marovitch's video pitch for Game Changer's Shark Tank parody scored over 6 million views across the game show's social accounts, Dropout created a second season. Now available on the streaming platform, Dimension 20: On a Bus Season 2 clocks in at 54 minutes, which is about 20 times longer than the original segment. So, how did Marovitch prepare for Season 2, which reunites this proudly know-nothing "Dragon Master" with professional Game Masters Jasmine Bhullar, Aabria Iyengar, Matthew Mercer, and Brennan Lee Mulligan? 

Mashable spoke with Marovitch over a video call to unearth the secrets of her "homebrew hacks," the entertainment value of irritating Brennan Lee Mulligan, and what celebrity cameo she'd be willing to have in Season 3. 

Brennan Lee Mulligan offered advice on how Katie Marovitch should approach Dimension 20: On a Bus, Season 2. 

In "Fool's Gold," Katie's pitch was to bring together "the best DMs in the world" and force them to "sit through whatever bullshit I come up with." Because — as she put it — "what does the internet love more than an upset Brennan?" 

The resulting video delivered exactly that. Yet Marovitch revealed to Mashable that Mulligan did weigh in on how she might best prepare for a second season. 

Speaking of the difference between Season 1 (the viral video shoot) and Season 2, Marovitch said, "Season 1, I'd say I truly went in not having any idea what was gonna come out of my mouth, including the dice system. Had no idea. Anything I said was truly just for the moment." 

She continued, "For Season 2, I will say I put in a lot of effort for bits that I knew I wanted to do and not much else. Actually, I talked to Brennan, and I was like, 'Should I actually know how to play this? Like, is that funnier if I know how to play it now? Or do I need to learn how to play it so that I can then, you know, break the rules and play it badly?' And he thought that the less I knew, the better. And so I still knew nothing, and I still know nothing. But we definitely did plan bits." 

How did Rick Perry contribute to Dimension 20: On a Bus, Season 2?

The "we" she spoke of includes Dimension 20 production designer Rick Perry and producer Carlos Luna, who offered pitches of their own and helped Marovitch get access to a wealth of the minis, props, and projections to choose from in creating her campaign. Asked about procuring Jasmine's chalice and Critical Role's Vecna model, Marovitch said, "So that was a lot of Rick. Because I really am just a big idiot who knows nothing, but the team behind this really did make sure that I knew which props were available, which little minis were from what campaign, and who had them, and other props that were very specific to individual people — like the Vecna and the glass that was Jasmine's. So it was really just a matter of, like, what is the most personal item that we can use have a little fun?"

As for turning Mulligan's Box of Doom dice tower into a "bejazzled" Cheetos bowl, Marovitch said, "I should have asked if I actually messed anything up. But yeah, it's important to me to have a very strong brand, and my brand is being a Cheetos lover. So I've eaten Cheetos. I've referenced Cheetos in the past, and it was so important for me to bring Cheetos into this game. And so I'm glad I was able to do that." 

Who thought of the Mr. Questions ribbon?

One of the funniest moments in Dimension 20: On A Bus, Season 2 is when, in her role as Dragon Master, Marovitch scolds Brennan with a big, garish white ribbon that reads "Mr. Questions." Not fitting over his head, the badge sits over his mouth, or as Iyengar pointed out in the episode, "where the questions come from." 

Marovitch credits this inspired bit of flair to a pitch from "either Rick or Carlos." She explained, "They thought it could be funny, because they knew that these professional players are going to be asking questions, desperate to get me to actually make a point. And just making fun of them for trying to play the game well is very fun." 

She added that Mulligan — though he offered some advice in her prep — did not have a role in the season's development. "Brennan had no idea what we were doing," she said. "Brennan was not super involved with the bits, which was by design, so that he could actually be surprised and actually be annoyed. But I was happy to use that on him. And I love that it didn't fit on his head."

Asked how DMing for Brennan compared to him DMing for her in Dimension 20: Mice & Murder, she said, "Oh God, he's so good. When I hear Brennan narrate a story, there's no one else doing it like him. He's so talented. And my best attempt at doing that would fail just completely, and that's why I stole his [A Crown of Candy] monologue. I had to do it." 

While a goal for her Dimension 20 series is to amuse Dropout viewers by riling Mulligan and his fellow DMs, Marovich says, "I want it to be fun for everyone still, and I don't want to ever actually offend people. So, I feel like it is kind of a fine line. I don't want to poke fun at Dimension 20 or at D&D. I want to be like the butt of the joke. I want to be just a big idiot who's playing this badly. I hope I don't ever actually offend them." 

Katie Marovitch reveals the origins of her homebrew hacks. 

In Season 2, Marovitch throws around Dimension 20 terminology like "homebrew hack," "crit," and "rule of cool" as if she's a young child who's just learned how to say a new phrase and is throwing it around until she can figure out where it sticks. But even without planning for gameplay, Marovitch pulled from her own home and habits to create a homebrew hack or two. 

"I cannot stress how little planning went into those elements," she said of the enormous backpack, binders, and variety of tools she flaunted from her seat as Dragon Master. "The day before, I said, 'I think it'd be funny if I had a bunch of laptops for no reason.' And actually, this is a sort of an inside joke with the College Humor group, because I used to bring three laptops to College Humor every day, each with a different purpose. Which makes absolutely zero sense, because you can do multiple things on one computer. So it was sort of a nod to that. And then I have two graphing calculators in my desk, right next to me, just for if I need one. And so I said, You know what? I'll grab one of those. And then I had no idea that it was going to become central to the game, had no idea. But I hope it sticks. I hope they rewrite, you know, the D&D books to include that. I think it'd be really cool."

A bit about the origins of the graphic calculators: Marovitch has had both since they were demanded for a math class in high school. "They were outrageously expensive," she recalled, "And I will say, I was a big old nerd, and I had my parents buy me two. I had terrible anxiety that in the middle of the math test, my first calculator would stop working, the batteries would stop. So I had my parents buy me two, so that I always had a backup." 

Kate Marovitch fact-checks Dimension 20: On a Bus trivia. 

While researching ahead of our interview, Mashable Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko came across some dubious "trivia" in Dimension 20: On a Bus's IMDb page. So, she asked Marovitch to confirm or deny. 

The first claim from IMDb: "The bus in D20: On a Bus was originally going to be played by Philip Seymour Hoffman before he passed." (Editor's Note: Hoffman died in 2014. "Fool's Gold" aired in 2025). 

Marovitch refuted this claim, saying, "Yes, that is sadly not true. And I don't know where that rumor started." 

The second claim from IMDb: "After the passing of Philip Seymour Hoffman, they strongly considered Sandra Bullock, but she wouldn't work for anything under 50 mph." 

On this one, Marovitch said, "Yes, OK, that one is true. That one's true. And Sandra, just, just a side note, if you want to come back for Season 3, we'd love to have you." 

Asked if she'd be willing to meet Bullock's need for speed, Marovitch replied, "Yeah, I'm willing. Now that I've had two seasons under my belt, I'm willing." 

Dimension 20: On a Bus Season 2 is now streaming on Dropout.