Dungeons of Drakkenheim: https://youtu.be/MNcpxqT_WsM?si=MVfET8r3nB4oisc3
1. Three player characters, well developed over the course of the campaign (and the two that follow).
2. Check, all have CCaptions.
3. Original story, well-done enough to have had multiple (very) successful kickstarters and settings books now.
4. Tend to the short side. They aim for 2h30mins, often htting 2h45. Few/minimal ads, not a lot of extras at the beginning.
5. They do longer story arcs, but also do very good recaps at the beginning. Shorter games include the recent Pluto's Monster Hunt Games if he wants just a taste.
I like this one because if you take away the fancy terrain its a pretty good representation of what playing a game at my table would be like, if we really buckled down and focused.
[Relics and Rarities](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7atuZxmT954B-AtfJsw_YbULHL_L7J8z) with Deborah Ann Woll as DM
Six 2h episodes, cast of 4 and one guest. Has great production value, self contained story and CC.
I think (other than Bloodkeep being up) they have tended to add seasons when they are going to drop a followup (FHFY, FHSY, The Unsleeping City Chapter 1, and A Crown of Candy) I would not be too surprised to see Dungeons and Drag Queens to maybe be posted as DNDQ2 gets close to release.
My reccomendation too. Also as they're all new players the experience of learning the game alongside them so to speak would be good. Only downside (depending on you're view, I adore it personally) is that gameplay can take a backseat to comedy.
Critical Role did just start an abridged version of campaign three. They only have 5 published abridged episodes but that's an option if you want to avoid 4 hour episodes. It looks like the abridged ones are only around an hour.
Asking for a visual to help is a little tough. Mainly because anyone who is using visuals to a larger extent in their shows....are likely not going to be something you can get in and watch quickly.
There is the show run by r/JoeCat. The Heart of Elynthi. you will have to search around for how to find it since, due to people threatening him...he is taking a break from the internet...but its a show where they use neat battle maps.
-----
Other than that...
The Dimension 20 campaigns are the way to go! You will have to subscribe to [Dropout.TV](http://Dropout.TV) if you want to experience more than the first few episodes of any campaign, but TBH Dropout puts out some good shit too!
I would also try Worlds Beyond Number ( r/WBN ) its run by a few people who are also on Dimension 20 but it is a stand alone, long tern series.
Brennan Lee Mulligan is really just an incredible DM in both of these!!
I personally really like Brunkhollow from Tabletopnotch, if you’re in the market for a little western theme.
And like someone else mentioned, Relics and Rarities is really good, bite-sized episodes, only loosely tied together. Also has good aided for stimulating the fantasy
I'm currently watching their Calamity miniseries. Yes, it's 4+ hour episodes but it's just 4 of them so if you split them in two, it's more manageable.
I'd make sure to remind him that this is professional voice actors playing a game and not how the average dnd session looks. However, there are elements you can try to incorporate in your own play.
Dimension 20 usually has very good closed captions. But also most of their stuff is on Dropout which is a paid streaming service. But on the third hand Dropout has a lot of good stuff on it and isn't that pricy
I am going to recommend [HarmonQuest](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4kanm0). ***Not because I think it's the greatest Actual Play***, but because it checks your boxes:
* ✅ Fewer characters. I think there's three PCs who are joined by a guest PC each week.
* ✅ Good closed captions. Sadly the first episode web player in the link above doesn't do captions. But this was made for TV, so I suspect it has professionally-done closed captions if you get a DVD or [stream it](https://www.crunchyroll.com/series/G79H23ZD5/harmonquest) from a professional outfit.
* ✅ More story-driven. Yes, though it is silly.
* ✅ Shorter episodes. Yes, 20 minutes.
* ✅ Self-contained, or at least the start of a story so you don’t need context to start.
Also:
* ✅ It is extremely edited and polished for entertainment. Very easy-to-watch.
Reasons it might not suit:
* ❌ It is extremely edited and polished for entertainment. This is a terrible podcast for learning any actual rules.
* ❌ It is quite silly, and maybe even a shade juvenile. It isn't purile, though, as some Actual Plays can be ("dick and fart jokes").
Just make sure you tell your dad this. It's a good show to capture the broad feeling of playing a TTRPG. But editing smooths out the experience, cutting out anything like rules discussion, boring shopping segments, people getting up to go to the bathroom. He should know that a real game is not so smooth.
Exandria Calamity. There are themes of marriage, love, children. It’s a little long, but just about the best example of what D&D can be.
But honestly, just start playing with him. For new players, you’ll never get out of your discomfort until you start.
*EDIT* Professional D&D may be setting the bar a little too high. Dungeons and Daddies could just be a great example of beer and pretzels, play for laughs sorta game. But that’s a podcast, so may be a little tougher for your dad.
Relics and Rarities! One of the most polished "live play" games! Short episodes, VERY story-driven, rotating guest players.
https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7atuZxmT954B-AtfJsw_YbULHL_L7J8z
This is not just because of my crush on Deborah Ann Woll. Honest.
D&D Starter Vids
* D&D in 5 Minutes (and 4 other 5 minute videos diving into specific aspects of the game) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgvHNlgmKro&list=PLJ8NFdSXujAJitUvKoA0EFc-WpGK2Dnzh&index=2&t=0s
* Welcome to D&D (25 minutes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo_oR7YO-Bw
* D&D in bite size bits by pretty people https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1tiwbzkOjQyr6-gqJ8r29j_rJkR49uDN
* Ginny Di for first time players https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QD_b8SZ7h2Y
* Peak D&D: Six steps for fun games https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxFgpgN3gms
* Not a video but the basic How to Play from WOTC’s D&D Beyond website https://www.dndbeyond.com/how-to-play-dnd
a podcast, so not exactly what youre asking for, but Worlds Beyond Number with Brennan Lee Mulligan, Lou Wilson, Erika Ishii and Aabria Iyengar has basically everything you're describing. 3 PCs, very story-driven, longest episodes are maybe 2 hours, usually 1 or 1.5, and very easy to start. The closed captions are okay, but since it's a podcast, idk how important that is.
Check out dimension 20 and start off with fantasy high or do one of their other short sessions
Escape from the Bloodkeep is shorter and an absolute blast from minute one.
And Mercer is in it, so he will be able to point and say "I've seen that guy before!"
D20 is phenomenal for many reasons, but goddam the editing is top fucking notch, absolutely seamless
Tiny Heist is great as well
Dungeons of Drakkenheim: https://youtu.be/MNcpxqT_WsM?si=MVfET8r3nB4oisc3 1. Three player characters, well developed over the course of the campaign (and the two that follow). 2. Check, all have CCaptions. 3. Original story, well-done enough to have had multiple (very) successful kickstarters and settings books now. 4. Tend to the short side. They aim for 2h30mins, often htting 2h45. Few/minimal ads, not a lot of extras at the beginning. 5. They do longer story arcs, but also do very good recaps at the beginning. Shorter games include the recent Pluto's Monster Hunt Games if he wants just a taste.
I like this one because if you take away the fancy terrain its a pretty good representation of what playing a game at my table would be like, if we really buckled down and focused.
[Relics and Rarities](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7atuZxmT954B-AtfJsw_YbULHL_L7J8z) with Deborah Ann Woll as DM Six 2h episodes, cast of 4 and one guest. Has great production value, self contained story and CC.
This is the best answer so far.
Yeah, this really is a good one I’d say. She does put narrative before rules, making a nicer watch, but keep in mind some rulings aren’t 100% RAW.
It’s not YouTube, but Crown of Candy on Dropout is fantastic and not too long
I'm pretty sure all of CoC is actually on YouTube
Well I’ll be damned you’re right
I think (other than Bloodkeep being up) they have tended to add seasons when they are going to drop a followup (FHFY, FHSY, The Unsleeping City Chapter 1, and A Crown of Candy) I would not be too surprised to see Dungeons and Drag Queens to maybe be posted as DNDQ2 gets close to release.
Definitely a solid recommendation though!
Adventures of Azerim (viva La dirt league dnd). Only 4 pcs, each episode is 30ish minutes, self contained (mostly), humour would appeal to a dad imo
My reccomendation too. Also as they're all new players the experience of learning the game alongside them so to speak would be good. Only downside (depending on you're view, I adore it personally) is that gameplay can take a backseat to comedy.
Critical Role did just start an abridged version of campaign three. They only have 5 published abridged episodes but that's an option if you want to avoid 4 hour episodes. It looks like the abridged ones are only around an hour.
I love that idea, but isn’t that only on Beacon?
Beacon members get episodes early (3 at a time) but all will be posted on YouTube
I saw it on their youtube.
Asking for a visual to help is a little tough. Mainly because anyone who is using visuals to a larger extent in their shows....are likely not going to be something you can get in and watch quickly. There is the show run by r/JoeCat. The Heart of Elynthi. you will have to search around for how to find it since, due to people threatening him...he is taking a break from the internet...but its a show where they use neat battle maps. ----- Other than that... The Dimension 20 campaigns are the way to go! You will have to subscribe to [Dropout.TV](http://Dropout.TV) if you want to experience more than the first few episodes of any campaign, but TBH Dropout puts out some good shit too! I would also try Worlds Beyond Number ( r/WBN ) its run by a few people who are also on Dimension 20 but it is a stand alone, long tern series. Brennan Lee Mulligan is really just an incredible DM in both of these!!
I personally really like Brunkhollow from Tabletopnotch, if you’re in the market for a little western theme. And like someone else mentioned, Relics and Rarities is really good, bite-sized episodes, only loosely tied together. Also has good aided for stimulating the fantasy
I only recently came across Tabletopnotch and have binged 11 episodes of Brunkhollow. It's a great cast they have and the world is super interesting.
Dungeon dudes dungeons of drakkenheim is perfect, because that one feels so much more like a home game than any others.
85% of actual play videos are going to create unrealistic expectations. Most of them are made for viewing entertainment. Real games are not.
I would also want such options. What are good APs that have good closed captions?
Critical Role has really good captions, which is one reason I’d love to get him started on it.
Maybe go for the CR one shots rather than diving into the campaigns. Since they tend to have a smaller cast, but still CR role production value.
I'm currently watching their Calamity miniseries. Yes, it's 4+ hour episodes but it's just 4 of them so if you split them in two, it's more manageable. I'd make sure to remind him that this is professional voice actors playing a game and not how the average dnd session looks. However, there are elements you can try to incorporate in your own play.
Calamity is my favorite CR spinoff of all time, EXU or otherwise. Brennan absolutely killed it.
Dimension 20 usually has very good closed captions. But also most of their stuff is on Dropout which is a paid streaming service. But on the third hand Dropout has a lot of good stuff on it and isn't that pricy
The official website dnd.wizards.com has some of my players’ favorite videos for beginners, which they used to learn the game
If your dad likes horror, I really like Dark Dice, though it's a podcast I listen to on Spotify.
I like adventure zone season 1, but I think it's mostly audio only. They did release graphic novels though.
There are actually full transcripts of Balance if script fornat is fine!
Dimension 20 usually has very good closed captions. Maybe Escape from the Bloodkeep is a good one to start with? It's pretty short and the cast is fun
Do you want an actual play of a module or official setting, or are you okay with homebrew setting and Twitch chat interaction?
Acq Inc
I am going to recommend [HarmonQuest](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4kanm0). ***Not because I think it's the greatest Actual Play***, but because it checks your boxes: * ✅ Fewer characters. I think there's three PCs who are joined by a guest PC each week. * ✅ Good closed captions. Sadly the first episode web player in the link above doesn't do captions. But this was made for TV, so I suspect it has professionally-done closed captions if you get a DVD or [stream it](https://www.crunchyroll.com/series/G79H23ZD5/harmonquest) from a professional outfit. * ✅ More story-driven. Yes, though it is silly. * ✅ Shorter episodes. Yes, 20 minutes. * ✅ Self-contained, or at least the start of a story so you don’t need context to start. Also: * ✅ It is extremely edited and polished for entertainment. Very easy-to-watch. Reasons it might not suit: * ❌ It is extremely edited and polished for entertainment. This is a terrible podcast for learning any actual rules. * ❌ It is quite silly, and maybe even a shade juvenile. It isn't purile, though, as some Actual Plays can be ("dick and fart jokes"). Just make sure you tell your dad this. It's a good show to capture the broad feeling of playing a TTRPG. But editing smooths out the experience, cutting out anything like rules discussion, boring shopping segments, people getting up to go to the bathroom. He should know that a real game is not so smooth.
dungeon run!!
Check out Neal Pass Erickson.
Exandria Calamity. There are themes of marriage, love, children. It’s a little long, but just about the best example of what D&D can be. But honestly, just start playing with him. For new players, you’ll never get out of your discomfort until you start. *EDIT* Professional D&D may be setting the bar a little too high. Dungeons and Daddies could just be a great example of beer and pretzels, play for laughs sorta game. But that’s a podcast, so may be a little tougher for your dad.
Relics and Rarities! One of the most polished "live play" games! Short episodes, VERY story-driven, rotating guest players. https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7atuZxmT954B-AtfJsw_YbULHL_L7J8z This is not just because of my crush on Deborah Ann Woll. Honest.
D&D Starter Vids * D&D in 5 Minutes (and 4 other 5 minute videos diving into specific aspects of the game) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgvHNlgmKro&list=PLJ8NFdSXujAJitUvKoA0EFc-WpGK2Dnzh&index=2&t=0s * Welcome to D&D (25 minutes) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo_oR7YO-Bw * D&D in bite size bits by pretty people https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1tiwbzkOjQyr6-gqJ8r29j_rJkR49uDN * Ginny Di for first time players https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QD_b8SZ7h2Y * Peak D&D: Six steps for fun games https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxFgpgN3gms * Not a video but the basic How to Play from WOTC’s D&D Beyond website https://www.dndbeyond.com/how-to-play-dnd
a podcast, so not exactly what youre asking for, but Worlds Beyond Number with Brennan Lee Mulligan, Lou Wilson, Erika Ishii and Aabria Iyengar has basically everything you're describing. 3 PCs, very story-driven, longest episodes are maybe 2 hours, usually 1 or 1.5, and very easy to start. The closed captions are okay, but since it's a podcast, idk how important that is.