D&D show Critical Role has a collection of short videos titled Handbooker Helper that provide quick, visually-supplemented explanations of Dungeons & Dragons rules, serving as an excellent starting point for those looking to get into the popular tabletop game. Handbooker Helper derives from Fifth Edition's Player's Handbook, which can be a little intimidating, with over 300 pages of instructions. Thankfully, Critical Role's crash course on the book's different sections makes learning how to play D&D less time-consuming and more entertaining.
Critical Role has made quite the name for itself since streaming its first D&D session on Geek & Sundry's Twitch channel. Since then, the group has started its own channel and company, and it continues to air streams every Thursday. In addition to two lengthy campaigns, the company has produced many collections of videos, including the talk shows Talks Machina and Between the Sheets - both hosted by Brian W. Foster - various Critical Role one-shots, and a draw-along tutorial series called Pub Draw, with Marisha Ray and comic book artist Babs Tarr. In August 2018, the Handbooker Helper series launched to assist fans in learning the basics of D&D.
From ability scores to character builds, Handbooker Helper has enough information to get players rolling dice with more confidence. As not everyone learns easily from reading, hearing the rules out loud and seeing visual aids can make them more digestible. Not only is Handbooker Helper an excellent starting point for new players, it also serves as a good refresher for seasoned RPG-ers or those looking to play a new class or race. Featuring art from Wendy Sullivan, the cast and crew of Critical Role walks fans through the ABCs of D&D, so players can make informed decisions and understand the basic principles of the game.
What Critical Role's Handbooker Helper Can Teach New D&D Players
The collection of videos can be broken up into three different categories: game mechanics, classes, and races. Game mechanics videos include D&D's main rules: understanding dice, ability scores, saving throws, actions, spellcasting, skills, backgrounds, and so much more - pretty much everything needed to get through a typical session. There are 21 different Handbooker Helper videos for game mechanics alone. Players can watch each video as needed or binge them all, although the intro song can get a bit repetitive after a while.
Classes and races are what they sound like, and Handbooker Helper goes through all 12 classes and nine races presented in the Player's Handbook. Not only does Critical Role do a great job describing what sets Bards apart from Barbarians or Elves from Half-Elves, it offers helpful tips, such as which ability scores players should dump their highest rolls into or what alignments work best for which characters. Additionally, the cast members describe what is often expected of D&D's different classes and races so that players can choose what feels right for each individual. Fans of Critical Role's campaigns can also appreciate the occasional reference to characters they've grown to love in the last five years.
Even if Critical Role fans ("Critters") aren't interested in playing Dungeons & Dragons, these videos can provide more context for the streams themselves, so that fans can better understand what's going on in Critical Role or other D&D campaigns. Handbooker Helper also includes a special episode that serves as a guide for the RPG Monsterhearts 2, which the cast played in a one-shot, so it seems likely there could be more instructive episodes for other tabletop games. Since the current collection only includes the main classes and races in the Player's Handbook, it would be nice to see more videos explaining different subclasses or races in other D&D expansions and accessories, like Xanathar's Guide to Everything or Volo's Guide to Monsters.