Any youtube channels good for newcomers?

[Tekrow]

Hi, I have a friend that wants to start playing DnD, and she asked me if there were any videos or youtube channel that could explain things for her. She has never played DnD or anything similar, so it would have to be something that explains the basics. I'll be helping her too, trying to explain as much as I can, but videos would be most helpful. Thanks!

[Unoriginal]

Hi, I have a friend that wants to start playing DnD, and she asked me if there were any videos or youtube channel that could explain things for her. She has never played DnD or anything similar, so it would have to be something that explains the basics. I'll be helping her too, trying to explain as much as I can, but videos would be most helpful. Thanks!

Not exactly explicative, but the movie The Gamers: Dorkness Rising (available officially on youtube IIRC) gives a fun intro to the concept of playing a character in a session with a DM.

[Zhorn]

The folks at Critical Role made a series of videos called 'Handbooker Helper' which are very beginner friendly.

Dungeon Dudes also have an easy-for-newcomers approach to their videos.

WebDM has a bit more depth, but they keep a light bantery style that can be enjoyable once you've gotten comfortable with the basics.

I'm personally fond of Matt Colville's content, but a lot of that is more about general narrative structure, game design, and not strictly d&d specifics (though still good).

[Warlush]

Nerdarchy and The Mighty Glue Stick.

Not Dawnforgecast. That guy has a serious chip on his shoulder about alignments. To the extent that he tries to spread false info about alignment requirements.

[Zhorn]

Nerdarchy and The Mighty Glue Stick.

Both good, though for someone new I'd steer clear till they got their footing in the hobby.
Might accidently scare them off.

[Unoriginal]

To the extent that he tries to spread false info about alignment requirements.

What false info does he spread? Never seen any of his videos.

[Gtdead]

I think it's best you find an episode of Critical Role with a lot of action (not necessarily combat) so she can watch instead of listening to someone explaining what is all about. Of course watching others play dnd doesn't really convey how fun it is but at least she will know what to expect at face value instead of someone explaining the experience and falling short.

PS. I know that a lot of people dislike Dawnforged. I'm not sure why. I actually watched a lot of his content as a newbie to 5e and I think he does a good job explaining things. I don't remember most of what I watched, but I thought it's a nice channel.

[Warlush]

What false info does he spread? Never seen any of his videos.

He's said a few times that the 5e PHB requires Paladins to be LG, sighting the section on alignment and highlighting the quote "Gold Dragons and Paladins are LG." Meanwhile he ignores the Paladin class section in the PHB that clearly infers a choice of alignment.
"...Paladins are rarely of any evil alignment... Consider how your alignment colors the way you...?"
He's also done a lot of builds that ignore clear rules on things like stacking unarmored defense. He's also super christian, which is my own personal beef.

[Unoriginal]

I think it's best you find an episode of Critical Role with a lot of action (not necessarily combat) so she can watch instead of listening to someone explaining what is all about. Of course watching others play dnd doesn't really convey how fun it is but at least she will know what to expect at face value instead of someone explaining the experience and falling short.

Matt Mercer DMs with a lot of rulings and houserules, not to mention his homebrews. Critical Role is good for many things but it's not really a good "what you should expect D&D 5e to be like".

[Sparky McDibben]

Matt Mercer DMs with a lot of rulings and houserules, not to mention his homebrews. Critical Role is good for many things but it's not really a good "what you should expect D&D 5e to be like".

I agree with your premise, which I'm understanding as, "Each group is so different your expectations should be set by the group you'll be playing with, rather than the ones you see on Twitch."


I think it's best you find an episode of Critical Role with a lot of action (not necessarily combat) so she can watch instead of listening to someone explaining what is all about. Of course watching others play dnd doesn't really convey how fun it is but at least she will know what to expect at face value instead of someone explaining the experience and falling short.

I would argue this person should watch the group they'll be playing with for this purpose. Or have the DM introduce them to the game.

I also second Zhorn's point about Dungeon Dudes and Handbooker Helper; they're solid for new players. I would argue Colville and WebDM are DM-focused content more than player-focused.

One additional one is the Animated Spellbook by Zee Bashew, especially if they're considering a caster.

[Gtdead]

I would argue this person should watch the group they'll be playing with for this purpose. Or have the DM introduce them to the game.

I also second Zhorn's point about Dungeon Dudes and Handbooker Helper; they're solid for new players. I would argue Colville and WebDM are DM-focused content more than player-focused.

One additional one is the Animated Spellbook by Zee Bashew, especially if they're considering a caster.

It wasn't clear if they have started playing already or not. I agree 100% with your argument but I assumed he asked for a video because he can't show her any other way.

[Zhorn]

Matt Mercer DMs with a lot of rulings and houserules, not to mention his homebrews. Critical Role is good for many things but it's not really a good "what you should expect D&D 5e to be like".
Agreed, and not just from the rules perspective. I LOVE me some Critical Role, but it can be a bit detrimental to hold their style of play up as a gold-standard to aspire to. Beware the Matt Mercer Effect, even the guy it is named after dislikes there there are people thinking the way he and his friends play is "the only way" or "the best way".

These are folks with decades of acting and improv skills, having worked both in and on multiple shows, games, and other story mediums. There's a lot of instincts built up over that time going into how they play, which if you go into a game thinking you can pull it off so easily AND hold such expectations from those around you, you're going to be sorely disappointed.

What it is good for is showing people that it's okay to get out of their own headspace for a character or scene, but it's also important to show that the don't have to do that either.
If doing the route of looking at other games being played, mix it up with different styles along side it. Throw in some The Adventure Zone, or some of the colab stuff done with Puffin Forest, Zee Bashew, Dingo Doodles and JoCat.

[Sparky McDibben]

It wasn't clear if they have started playing already or not. I agree 100% with your argument but I assumed he asked for a video because he can't show her any other way.

Yep! Not trying to say you're wrong, just adding (hopefully) helpful context. :)

[Gtdead]

Yep! Not trying to say you're wrong, just adding (hopefully) helpful context. :)

No worries, just clarifying things because you were right.

[Tekrow]

Thank you all for your help. For some reason I had completely forgotten about Handbooker Helper. I was planning on showing her Dungeon Dudes already.

[Tanarii]

Recommend against anything by Mercer, Perkins, or Colville. All they're good for is showing DMs how not to do it.

[MaxWilson]

Recommend against anything by Mercer, Perkins, or Colville. All they're good for is showing DMs how not to do it.

Huh. I wonder what this means.
I'm not a fan of Mercer's style, and unfamiliar with Perkins, but Colville has some good observations on game design, e.g. running a political campaign (create a central tension), sportsmanship vs. metagaming, DMing just one player (https://youtu.be/OoJMNkgEqKA), etc. I don't agree with everything anyone says including Colville but I've found his stuff to be not a waste of time, good signal-to-noise ratio for a D&D video.

Perhaps due to his video game designer background, Colville does lean more towards narrativism than sandboxy simulationism, but even sandboxy DMs can benefit from understanding how to construct narratives. Some of the techniques are reusable.

[Tanarii]

Huh. I wonder what this means.
I'm not a fan of Mercer's style, and unfamiliar with Perkins, but Colville has some good observations on game design, e.g. running a political campaign (create a central tension), sportsmanship vs. metagaming, etc. I don't agree with everything anyone says including Colville but I've found his stuff to be not a waste of time, good signal-to-noise ratio for a D&D video.

Perhaps due to his video game designer background, Colville does lean more towards narrativism than sandboxy simulationism, but even sandboxy DMs can benefit from understanding how to construct narratives. Some of the techniques are reusable.
He's bombastic and he gives terrible advice.

[hazeydaze]

There isn't a "correct way" to dm. It's a game, it's supposed to be fun for the dm and the players. These guys have fun and their fun is valid.

[MaxWilson]

He's bombastic and he gives terrible advice.

Bombastic: "high-sounding but with little meaning; inflated."

Huh.

I find the opposite. E.g. I think https://youtu.be/OoJMNkgEqKA is approachable and thoughtful advice which I personally found useful. It wasn't too long either.

[TrueAlphaGamer]

Hmm, in terms of 5e specifics, and made-for-players content, Zee Bashew's stuff is pretty decent, though the pace at which he uploads is so slow it's infuriating. Plus he took off like a fourth of his video library a while back for some reason.

Matt Mercer/Critical Role is okay, I guess. I'm personally not a fan but it seems to get a lot of people into the spirit of playing the game.

Nerdarchy and similar "dudes talking to a mic" channels can get extremely boring, but I think Treantmonk produces fine content (if the viewer has the patience to sit through it) since he takes a lot of time to explain the reasons why he takes X spell or why Y ability is good.

Would not recommend any of the "memer" channels, like XP to Level 3 and similar, since I think they don't promote constructive discussion about the game and can give new players the wrong impressions.

In terms of general tabletop roleplaying, I would recommend either Seth Skorkowksy or CounterMonkey to get an understanding of the dynamics, feelings, etc. present in roleplaying as a hobby, though CounterMonkey in particular might not be for everyone :smallbiggrin:. But they're both pretty entertaining.


Not exactly explicative, but the movie The Gamers: Dorkness Rising (available officially on youtube IIRC) gives a fun intro to the concept of playing a character in a session with a DM.

IMO, The Gamers series peaked in the first movie.

[Yora]

I think the main reason to recommend Colville is that he makes his videos specifically for completely new gamemasters. The really basic stuff that newcomers in particular have to deal with. And his recommendations and suggestions fall into the category of keeping it simple and not unnecessarily overthinking things.
It's practical advice, rather than advanced theoretical experiments. Which is what newcomers want and need. Introductory basics.

[ProsecutorGodot]

Recommend against anything by Mercer, Perkins, or Colville. All they're good for is showing DMs how not to do it.

To each their own, all 3 have given me (and our groups usual DM) solid insights. Obviously not everything they do is going to match what your group is looking for but to outright denounce them because it didn't work for you isn't exactly fair.

That said, I'll hesitantly agree despite that, but to be clear it's not because the example they give is bad in general, just bad for new players. Mercer often strays away from exclusively published content in favor of tailoring some to his own setting (which is ironically an official setting now) and Colville is an experience game designer who doesn't have any qualms about fitting entire new systems into his game. Out of the 3, Perkins always seemed to play it closest to the "general" rules but even still strayed frequently from them.

I would recommend channels that give general advice first, the Handbooker Helper series on Critical Roles channel features by the book starter advice for players primarily. Nerdarchy is, from what I've seen, relatively unbiased in their advice or at least when they are they make clear on it, which is good.

I'll second the "do not recommend" for Dawnforgedcast. I watched a lot of his content early and he always seemed a little too authoritarian on what was permitted, good, or "allowed" for certain classes and build ideas.


but I think Treantmonk produces fine content (if the viewer has the patience to sit through it) since he takes a lot of time to explain the reasons why he takes X spell or why Y ability is good.
More recent Treantmonk content seems to assume you already know what's good, or rather, what he thinks is good. I wouldn't recommend him unless you're already aware of his very heavy bias towards Wizards (the class).


I think the main reason to recommend Colville is that he makes his videos specifically for completely new gamemasters. The really basic stuff that newcomers in particular have to deal with. And his recommendations and suggestions fall into the category of keeping it simple and not unnecessarily overthinking things.
It's practical advice, rather than advanced theoretical experiments. Which is what newcomers want and need. Introductory basics.
Some of the videos he makes can be a bit dense with material though. There's a reason he has a running gag for "short video today" being 20-30 minutes long. The content is usually thorough and I like to believe insightful but can be tough to take in all at once.

[Willowhelm]

I would steer away from youtube for "how to play" style videos unless the new player is strongly averse to reading. The pace of delivery is somewhat out of your control and the opinions vary wildly. The basic rules and dnd beyond have some fairly concise lead-ins as to "how" a game works and the flavour of the different classes etc. If they have a bit of an idea of class then i'd actually say a class guide from somewhere like these forums is going to be a lot more help.

For general feel of what a game can be like I'd try and find out what kind of media they like and what attracts them to dnd in general and pick a game that shows some of that. Critical role is a hard sell (unless they happen to like a guest which gets automatic buy in) because there's a lot there. The same goes for most of the shows out there - they are big campaigns with established characters and a lot of assumed knowledge. The one shots from wizards in their annual events are also good intros as they hit a lot of bits of the game, often have newbies, and often have celebrities to "hook" someone.

Personally I like relics and rarities as a good intro. They're short, cover most of how a session works, and often have a total new comer as a guest so they aren't too "crunchy". You're not giving them 3-5 hours to watch out of several hundred hours of campaign!

The first adventure zone episode is a good option too. They have the audio quality of experienced people, good chemistry, but total newbies when it comes to the game so plenty of explanations. I wouldn't suggest the rest of it as an example of game play though.

[Throne12]

I think most of the big names are good. Nerdarchy, dungeoncast, web dm, xp to level 3, dungeon dudes, d&d official yt, taking20, d&d beyond, just too name a few. But they arnt much more help. The best thing is to just play. She just needs to know a few things and that the action economy what and how skills work and the difference between a saving throw and a ability check. Everything else can be learned as she plays and figure out also it help if the other players and DM talks where her during the game. When I'm DMing for a new player when it there turn I ask them what do they want to do. After they tell me I let them know what they need to roll or which ability they need to use.