Is Critical Role the Best Actual Play Podcast for New Players to Learn Dungeons & Dragons 5e?

Do you want to learn how to play D&D but think learning is lame? If you really want to get into Dungeons & Dragons fifth edition, but get anxious looking at how big the Player’s Handbook is, I have a better solution:  Actual Play podcasts, those channels where they stream themselves playing D&D and tabletop games.  As it turns out, these podcasts are a great way for new players to learn how to play….an objectively complicated game.  Watching someone do something is (in my opinion) the best way to learn a new skill, so why would D&D be different? So for all the people out there trying to learn 5e, here is my recommendation on what Actual Play podcast will be the most helpful.

Now, it might look like I’m just shilling and choosing the most popular one here, but I genuinely think Critical Role can be the most helpful for teaching new players.  I actually learned a lot of the 5e system by watching campaign 2 of CR.  I was coming from 3.5 so watching the podcast helped me figure out the differences between the systems over time and that’s what led me to DM my first campaign. One of the reasons why I think Critical Role has become so popular is because of what a great educational tool it is for new players or people who want to start playing.  Why? Well, the cast of CR are incredible at role-playing, they are a CAST of actors after all, but playing D&D wasn’t exactly their day-job when they started 8 years ago.  To be blunt, they mess stuff up a lot, forgetting abilities or how a rule works, and the players and Matt are always having to look things up while playing.  But that’s EXACTLY why it’s perfect, because that’s what playing D&D is like for most people, having to go back and look up rules because you forgot something.  We learn more from our mistakes than anything else, and we get to sit back and learn from their mistakes as they play.  Every time they have to look something up and read the rules, you the viewer get to learn how that rule works IN CONTEXT of gameplay.  But there’s more than that. When I did my dissertation, a lot of people told me that watching CR helped them learn the rules of 5e, just like I described; but way more importantly, that watching the “pros” mess up on stream made them feel more confident playing, that it was ok to mess up or forget stuff.  And more than knowing the rules, people needed to see that you can be comfortable playing the game without having to be perfect at it. 

 In terms of watching the show for fun while also learning, I would recommend starting at the beginning of campaign 2.  Both campaign 1 and 2 have the party getting used to playing 5e and learning new character mechanics, so those early episodes are filled with cases of pulling out the ol’ Player’s Handbook to double check things.  But campaign 2 has vastly better audio quality than season 1 did while being just as educational, and by campaign 3 the group is experienced enough that they don’t make as many mistakes, so you don’t get as many learning opportunities on-camera.  

This is the main reason why I recommend CR to learn from over some podcasts like The Adventure Zone or Dimension 20, because the shows are edited, with a lot of the mistakes taken out.  Now, it makes for better entertainment but doesn’t give you the chance to learn from mistakes AND those edits cut away the dead space between turns, so it throws off the slow pacing of a normal game.  Critical Role may intimidate newbies with the over-the-top acting and role-playing and their big sets, but it shows that even pros online have to look up rules sometimes, and that it’s ok to not be perfect, while having the natural flow of a regular D&D game, complete with dead time between turns and having to interrupt epic moments in combat with “Wait, what’s the range on my cantrip again?”

I hope this was helpful for people trying to get into Fifth edition.  For anyone interested, I’ve also made a video on the subject on my new YouTube channel, which you can find here.  Let me know what you think, or your suggestions for more newbie friendly podcasts, in the comments below. I’m Dr. Jules, and have a nice day.