Content wise: there will be some swearing, descriptions of violence (heads getting lopped off, that sort of thing) and there will likely be some pretty unsubtle innuendo. I would say that young people who are very into D&D and don’t mind sitting still for 2 hours will have a good time. Listening to an old episode should give you a good idea of what to expect.
-Do I have to have listened to all th
e previous episodes? All the episodes are designed to be enjoyable and understandable on their own, while sometimes also advancing a larger narrative.
-But if I really wanted to, how would I approach it? The first campaign (Known as ‘the Belt Arc’) starts* with ‘Battle of the Bards’ and ends with ‘All’s Well that Ends in Hell’
The Belt Arc also has a couple of side adventures that star characters from the Belt Arc, but aren’t part of the main adventure: Underdogs in the Underdark pts 1-3, and D&C: The Movie: Live! So won’t have any relation to future episodes (beyond the occasional injoke)
There have also been a number of one-shot episodes that don’t connect with any larger campaign: X-Mas One Shot, D&C in Space, D&C the Musical, The Mall of Elemental Evil, Pirates! (available on youtube), and Detectives! (available on youtube)
The current arc starts with ‘A New Beginning’
* The Belt Arc technically starts with an episode called ‘Bad Necromance’ which was not recorded (because this show was initially intended to be a live only experience). For completionists who don’t have a time machine, the closest you can get is a recording of an episode where I ran the same adventure, but with different comedians and characters. That is listed as ‘Bad Necromance: The Lost Episode.
-What can I expect from the new campaign? Starting with ‘A New Beginning’ in February 2021 this will be a monthly adventure performed live at Little Andromeda and then later released as a podcast. It will be in a different universe to previous adventures, and my current aim is to wrap it up after one year.
-Do I need to know how to play D&D? No, and in fact some of the players refuse to learn as well, so you’ll be in good company.
-What edition of D&D do you play? We use 5th edition, but with several customisations to make it flow better onstage. Our DM also has a tendency to stretch the rules as far as they will go to accommodate the players.
-Is there audience participation? We sometimes get advice from the audience, or get an audience member to roll a dice, but we never want to put anyone on the spot.
-What does the show actually look like? I’d recommend having a look at the video of our pirates episode. Even if you just watch a couple of minutes, you’ll get the vibe of the show. https://youtu.be/SDKnWZD-I1g
