In one way TTRPGS are like sports, if you can’t play ’em you can at least watch someone else do it. I was going to use a different comparison here, but decided to keep it clean.
So what have I been watching whilst unable to play?
First up is Black Dice Society. An official D&D actual play that was made to promote the launch of Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft in 2021. However unlike a lot of promo shows that only run for a few episodes this horror themed game ran for around 60 episodes. When it initially aired this broke my sleep patterns from the time zone difference. Still one of my favourites and I go back every so often to watch it.
In this series B. Dave Walters guides Tanya DePass as Fen, Mark Meer as Brother Uriah Macawber, Deejay Knight as Desmond Drunes, Noura Ibrahim as Nahara, Sage Ryan as Valentine, and Becca Scott as Tatyana through pretty much every Dark Domain there is. It should probably be mentioned that as a horror campaign it can deal with some pretty dark stuff, so viewer discretion is advised if you think some of the themes may not be for you.
What I picked up from this series is how to build atmosphere, create drama and pace things. B. Dave does a masterful job of building the feeling of each Dread Domain, and the players all buy into this so well and add to it. The fights are really well paced and they never drag.
Oxventure is another favourite. Spun off from a game for the cast of the Outside Xbox and Outside Xtra crew this much more comedic take on D&D has been running for about 6 years now. Not one for the rules sticklers out there, and it took me a couple of episodes to get past that, but worth it for the laughs. They’ve also has a couple of other games on the channel, Blades in the Dark, and Deadlands. Both of which sold me on those systems.
The current season is be the last one with the original player characters, who I will miss. But they are starting a new season in the future with new characters and a new fresh world, and I for one can’t wait.
The main series follows the misadventures of Andy Farrant as Corazón de Ballena, Ellen Rose as Merilwen, Luke Westaway as Dob, and Jane Douglas as Prudence, all ably corralled by Johnny Chiodini as, in their words, “Literally Everyone Else in the World.”
Johnny is a brilliant improviser, they have to be with the plans these players concoct. Y’know, typical D&D things like bee costumes for their themed band. I’m still not sure how I’d react to some of this stuff, but there is a lesson here in saying “Ok, let’s see where this goes” when your players do something unexpected.
Out of the one shots I would highly recommend the “Everyone’s a Kobold” episode Luke DMed
Mystery Quest is a channel I’ve recently started watching. This is a spin off from the Yogscast empire of internet stuff, which I am pretty unfamiliar with. But this channel popped up as a Youtube recommendation. It’s a variety TTRPG channel focused on short runs of whatever Tom Clark feels like playing with a rotating cast of guest players. The style of play certainly leans towards the more chaotic, so my favourites of what thet have up so far are their Mörk Borg and Cy_Borg runs. The latter of which felt like an early 80’s strip from the comic 2000AD.
My main take away from this is to play more games. You can learn a lot from other systems, and the mood at the table may just suit something different to what you usually play.
Also I really need to watch more variety channels like this. I like D&D, but I like a lot of other games too.
A new channel, Natural Six, is my last entry for this list. Recently started, it’s a D&D stream set in the homebrew world of Reliquiae, and in the couple of videos that are up is already showing serious promise.
This series has Harry McEntire DMing for Ben Starr as Radian, Aoife Wilson as Dolly, Doug Cockle as Kelnys, Hollie Bennet as Endellion, and Alex Jordan as I (yes, that’s the characters name).
Already, in the couple of videos that are up, you can pick up that Reliquiae is an incredibly detailed setting. However lore dumps are never to long. Harry feeds the characters just enough information to get over the context of the situation and anything that would be important in their decision making. As someone who can get a bit verbose with exposition when running games, this is something I need to pay attention to.
I hope you give these a try and like at least one of them. I may do another list like this in future as I think more about the other shows I watch/listen to.
Three Kobolds With A Trench Gun 