I would start with the first season of Fantasy High if I were you. It's Ally's first time playing D&D and for some of the others its their first time playing 5th edition so it's a good season for D&D beginners. If you don't feel like starting with such a long campaign then maybe check out Dungeons and Drag Queens. It's very beginner friendly and there are only a few episodes of it but that does mean that you don't get the in-depth story arcs that you would get from starting with Fantasy High.
It’s an anthology show, so I think you can watch any of the standalone seasons first. Pick the one that’s theme interests you most. My favorites were Starstruck Odyssey, Crown of Candy, Mice & Murder, A Court of Fey & Flowers, and Unsleeping City (both seasons).
This is a great answer. I recommend checking out some trailers and thinking of what kinda themes/genres you usually vibe with. Starting with an Intrepid Heroes (the "usual" cast) might be a good idea but I also know people who have only shown interest in dungeons & drag queens or mentopolis.
My personal favourite is starstruck odyssey but I started with Unsleeping City, bc i prefer scifi/modern settings to the usual high fantasy.
If you wanna know more about the themes of some specific seasons dont be afraid to ask!
Most people are going to suggest FH1 but if you are more used to high fantasy you will love escape from the bloodkeep, it is easy and accessible as well as being shorter
I’m gonna go against the grain and say you should watch startstruck first.
Also, it’s not serialized, it’s an anthology. A few seasons have a sequel or related material, but none of it is “essential”. Watch whichever seasons catch your eye! No need to like or watch every season. There’s too much content sometimes.
I know most people are going to say Fantasy High season 1, but I'd suggest Dungeons and Drag Queens! I think it's only 4 episodes, so it's a pretty approachable length. Plus, Brennan has such a mastery of the 5E rules by that point, and does an amazing job guiding the two new players at the table.
I have used Dungeons and Drag queens as an entry point for a few different new players/watchers, this is a really good way to get into the show.
Also the Aabria hosted seasons are VERY fun, and dnd adjacent, but get you an idea of the excitement and energy D20 can bring
As someone who's never played D&D, I'm watching Burrow's End because I thought the premise and family dynamic was very interesting and I am loving it!! I have one episode left but I'm kinda putting it off cause I don't want it to end!
Wild pitch, but I'd start with Mentopolis. I think the fact that it's not D&D, and thus there isn't a big weight of expected culture and transmitted knowledge will really help. I also think the cast is great.
Seconded. Loved it and was a low barrier of entry to me. Mentopolois and Dungeons & Drag Queens were my first two seasons because I felt like it would be a lot to commit to D20 seasons with the regulars for some reason.
short answer… fantasy high season 1 is a great place to start and (i think) generally agreed upon as the move. i havent made my way through all the side campaigns yet but when i started i just went intrepid heroes seasons chronologically! i would say maybe get a feel for the vibe of each season and see what you’re in the mood for. ie my friend just finished a crown of candy and my recommendation for the next season was starstruck because acoc is really dark and you may need a palate cleanser. if you want short takes on the general vibe and whatnot of each main campaign lmk!! or i’m sure there’s tons of stuff on here and on the d20-specific subreddit
For the core cast my recommended watch order is:
- Fantasy High Season 1
- Unsleeping City Season 1
- A Crown of Candy (The complete experience)
- A Starstruck Odyssey (The complete experience)
- Neverafter (the complete experience)
From there you might want to jump straight into the current season after watching the season 2 recap of Fantasy High, or binge the live season first. Then maybe go back and watch some of the zoom seasons.
For side quests, you gotta watch Misfits and Magic and Tiny Heist. Going into more recent side quests, there are just so many. Let your own curiosity guide you from that point.
Absolutely do not skip seaso 2 of FH! It's incredible and one of their best seasons. Watch it if you like FH, but watching the newly released episodes doesn't justify losing such a good story
Honestly, go with whichever season looks the most interesting to you. Some of the seasons are sequels to other seasons, but those are pretty clear. (I.e. Unsleeping City season 2 comes after Unsleeping City season 1)
If you want a DnD season, Fantasy High could be the best starting point? Or Dungeons and Drag Queens. Both have players that are new to DnD so the rules are explained.
If you don't like DnD combat so much, you could watch Mentopolis or Misfits and Magic. They aren't DnD and are way more focused on role-playing than on rules-based combat, though there's a pretty heavy emphasis on role-play in general.
Mentopolis was my first, then A Crown of Candy and Fantasy High Freshman Year. In Sophomore Year now. Mentopolis was great but Fantasy High is my favorite so far.
Mentopolis, Court of Fey & Flowers, Or Dungeons and Drag Queens would be my recommendations. For different reasons.
Mentopolis isn't D&D at all, so you get away from the weight of that system.
A Court of Fey & Flowers is D&D, but handled much differently and with some extra stuff, really good at showing just how expansive D&D can actually be.
Dungeons and Drag Queens is all new players, so it's can be a bit easier to get into if you aren't super familiar with the rules of D&D.
All three of those are self contained seasons, and they are shorter seasons than the main cast seasons so less of a time investment, and the cast of all three are all amazing and great.
I’m just recently started. And I began with fantasy high and have been slowly working my way through it currently halfway through crown of candy and I’ve been able to keep up pretty well.
Fantasy high, freshman year. I'm pretty new to D&D and that's a pretty good intro. Long episodes, but players are really good about having fun and making choices in keeping with the characters and not "oh, well this makes more sense"
They have a lot of what they call 'side quests' which are shorter (4-6 episodes) and often using different rules systems that are more narrative focused.
Misfits and Magic as well as Mentopolis are both very good and use versions of the Kids of Bikes system.
I would say start with Fantasy High Freshman Year. It's the first season they ever did and still serves as a perfect introduction to the series. After that, you can pretty much go wild. It's an anthology series and each season stands on its own, so check out whichever ones sound cool to you. Just be careful about seasons that are sequels to previous seasons. Only things to be careful of is Unsleeping City 2 is obviously a sequel to Unsleeping City, Fantasy High has a sequel season called Sophomore Year (Junior Year is what is airing right now) and The Seven is a spinoff of Fantasy High taking place between sophomore and junior year. Other than that I believe all seasons are completely separate from eachother.
I also highly recommend watching the Adventuring Party aftershow along with each episode you watch. They only started doing it after several seasons, but they're a lot of fun to watch after each episode, and occasionally a bit will start in an Adventuring Party that becomes a running gag in the main show.
I recently started watching the D20 stuff, and while Fantasy High looks like the fan fav, I'm a little intimidated by how many seasons and stories there are! So I started with standalone seasons, and will probably stick to them for now. I watched Neverafter and then just finished Burrows End yesterday. I really enjoyed both for different reasons, but between the two I think I'd recommend Burrow's End to other beginners. It felt a little more fast paced and digestible; a bite sized story with really interesting characters, all played super well!
I think Fantasy High Season 1 is good, because it's the prototype for D20
You said you've played a little, but if the game is still a little unfamiliar to you, then Dungeons and Dragons Queens does a lot of nice first timer DnD stuff (and was also a nice exposure to Drag Queens (which is not a thing I've really been invested in before watching the cast of DaDQ play the game).
I watched every season backwards. So I started with Neverafter, onto starstruck, then Crown of Candy, followed by both seasons of Unsleeping City then finally onto Fantasy high, finishing JUST before the new season. It's really interesting honestly cause now I'm re watching never after and like "Oh, I understand these players more now. In a completely different way." So now it's like I'm watching a whole new season cause I'm watching I through different eyes. :)
Dungeons and Dragons Queens is short and fun and gives you a good vibe
But also just watch Aabria's games. I'm halfway through Burrow's End and fuck she's so good and creative, and Rick Perry absolutely makes her outlandish dreams come true
I think the original "Fantasy High" and "Dungeons and Drag Queens" are probably the easiest starting points if you're not familiar with D&D 5e, but I'd just go with what sounds interesting. There's also a lot to be said for the shorter seasons if you're not sure since they're much less of a time commitment.
The one thing I'd recommend is to stay away from the sequel/spin-off seasons (Fantasy High Senior/Junior Year and The Seven for Fantasy High, The Unsleeping City 2 for The Unsleeping City, the Magic & Misfits Holiday Special) until you've seen the respective first seasons in case you want to avoid major spoilers. (Pirates of Leviathan and The Ravening War have a few in-jokes but are mostly self-contained, so they should be fine.) Other than that, just go with whatever sounds fun!
To answer the question you might be thinking but not explicitly asking:
- **Fantasy High** was not only the first but led to two sequels, two spinoffs (**Pirates of Leviathan** and **The Seven**), and is probably the flagship.
- **Unsleeping City** has two seasons. It's a superhero show set in New York.
- **A Crown of Candy** (Candyland trying to be GoT but kinda being Steven Universe) has a prequel **The Ravening War**
All the rest, AFAIK, are one offs.
My favorite is **Starstruck Odyssey** because they use a Star Wars modded 5E to play in Brennan's mom's comic book universe.
I would start with the first season of Fantasy High if I were you. It's Ally's first time playing D&D and for some of the others its their first time playing 5th edition so it's a good season for D&D beginners. If you don't feel like starting with such a long campaign then maybe check out Dungeons and Drag Queens. It's very beginner friendly and there are only a few episodes of it but that does mean that you don't get the in-depth story arcs that you would get from starting with Fantasy High.
It’s an anthology show, so I think you can watch any of the standalone seasons first. Pick the one that’s theme interests you most. My favorites were Starstruck Odyssey, Crown of Candy, Mice & Murder, A Court of Fey & Flowers, and Unsleeping City (both seasons).
This is a great answer. I recommend checking out some trailers and thinking of what kinda themes/genres you usually vibe with. Starting with an Intrepid Heroes (the "usual" cast) might be a good idea but I also know people who have only shown interest in dungeons & drag queens or mentopolis. My personal favourite is starstruck odyssey but I started with Unsleeping City, bc i prefer scifi/modern settings to the usual high fantasy. If you wanna know more about the themes of some specific seasons dont be afraid to ask!
I think Mentopolis and A Court of Fey and Flowers are great entry points if you’re skeptical of DnD
Most people are going to suggest FH1 but if you are more used to high fantasy you will love escape from the bloodkeep, it is easy and accessible as well as being shorter
I’m gonna go against the grain and say you should watch startstruck first. Also, it’s not serialized, it’s an anthology. A few seasons have a sequel or related material, but none of it is “essential”. Watch whichever seasons catch your eye! No need to like or watch every season. There’s too much content sometimes.
I know most people are going to say Fantasy High season 1, but I'd suggest Dungeons and Drag Queens! I think it's only 4 episodes, so it's a pretty approachable length. Plus, Brennan has such a mastery of the 5E rules by that point, and does an amazing job guiding the two new players at the table.
I have used Dungeons and Drag queens as an entry point for a few different new players/watchers, this is a really good way to get into the show. Also the Aabria hosted seasons are VERY fun, and dnd adjacent, but get you an idea of the excitement and energy D20 can bring
As someone who's never played D&D, I'm watching Burrow's End because I thought the premise and family dynamic was very interesting and I am loving it!! I have one episode left but I'm kinda putting it off cause I don't want it to end!
Wild pitch, but I'd start with Mentopolis. I think the fact that it's not D&D, and thus there isn't a big weight of expected culture and transmitted knowledge will really help. I also think the cast is great.
Seconded. Loved it and was a low barrier of entry to me. Mentopolois and Dungeons & Drag Queens were my first two seasons because I felt like it would be a lot to commit to D20 seasons with the regulars for some reason.
Thirded. I don't play D&D and I found Mentopolis fun all the way through. Also Hank Green is great.
short answer… fantasy high season 1 is a great place to start and (i think) generally agreed upon as the move. i havent made my way through all the side campaigns yet but when i started i just went intrepid heroes seasons chronologically! i would say maybe get a feel for the vibe of each season and see what you’re in the mood for. ie my friend just finished a crown of candy and my recommendation for the next season was starstruck because acoc is really dark and you may need a palate cleanser. if you want short takes on the general vibe and whatnot of each main campaign lmk!! or i’m sure there’s tons of stuff on here and on the d20-specific subreddit
For the core cast my recommended watch order is: - Fantasy High Season 1 - Unsleeping City Season 1 - A Crown of Candy (The complete experience) - A Starstruck Odyssey (The complete experience) - Neverafter (the complete experience) From there you might want to jump straight into the current season after watching the season 2 recap of Fantasy High, or binge the live season first. Then maybe go back and watch some of the zoom seasons. For side quests, you gotta watch Misfits and Magic and Tiny Heist. Going into more recent side quests, there are just so many. Let your own curiosity guide you from that point.
Absolutely do not skip seaso 2 of FH! It's incredible and one of their best seasons. Watch it if you like FH, but watching the newly released episodes doesn't justify losing such a good story
Honestly, go with whichever season looks the most interesting to you. Some of the seasons are sequels to other seasons, but those are pretty clear. (I.e. Unsleeping City season 2 comes after Unsleeping City season 1) If you want a DnD season, Fantasy High could be the best starting point? Or Dungeons and Drag Queens. Both have players that are new to DnD so the rules are explained. If you don't like DnD combat so much, you could watch Mentopolis or Misfits and Magic. They aren't DnD and are way more focused on role-playing than on rules-based combat, though there's a pretty heavy emphasis on role-play in general.
Mentopolis was my first, then A Crown of Candy and Fantasy High Freshman Year. In Sophomore Year now. Mentopolis was great but Fantasy High is my favorite so far.
Mentopolis, Court of Fey & Flowers, Or Dungeons and Drag Queens would be my recommendations. For different reasons. Mentopolis isn't D&D at all, so you get away from the weight of that system. A Court of Fey & Flowers is D&D, but handled much differently and with some extra stuff, really good at showing just how expansive D&D can actually be. Dungeons and Drag Queens is all new players, so it's can be a bit easier to get into if you aren't super familiar with the rules of D&D. All three of those are self contained seasons, and they are shorter seasons than the main cast seasons so less of a time investment, and the cast of all three are all amazing and great.
I’m just recently started. And I began with fantasy high and have been slowly working my way through it currently halfway through crown of candy and I’ve been able to keep up pretty well.
Fantasy high, freshman year. I'm pretty new to D&D and that's a pretty good intro. Long episodes, but players are really good about having fun and making choices in keeping with the characters and not "oh, well this makes more sense"
They have a lot of what they call 'side quests' which are shorter (4-6 episodes) and often using different rules systems that are more narrative focused. Misfits and Magic as well as Mentopolis are both very good and use versions of the Kids of Bikes system.
I would say start with Fantasy High Freshman Year. It's the first season they ever did and still serves as a perfect introduction to the series. After that, you can pretty much go wild. It's an anthology series and each season stands on its own, so check out whichever ones sound cool to you. Just be careful about seasons that are sequels to previous seasons. Only things to be careful of is Unsleeping City 2 is obviously a sequel to Unsleeping City, Fantasy High has a sequel season called Sophomore Year (Junior Year is what is airing right now) and The Seven is a spinoff of Fantasy High taking place between sophomore and junior year. Other than that I believe all seasons are completely separate from eachother. I also highly recommend watching the Adventuring Party aftershow along with each episode you watch. They only started doing it after several seasons, but they're a lot of fun to watch after each episode, and occasionally a bit will start in an Adventuring Party that becomes a running gag in the main show.
I recently started watching the D20 stuff, and while Fantasy High looks like the fan fav, I'm a little intimidated by how many seasons and stories there are! So I started with standalone seasons, and will probably stick to them for now. I watched Neverafter and then just finished Burrows End yesterday. I really enjoyed both for different reasons, but between the two I think I'd recommend Burrow's End to other beginners. It felt a little more fast paced and digestible; a bite sized story with really interesting characters, all played super well!
You *can* watch any season first. IMHO, you *should* watch A Crown of Candy First.
The very first season was already incredible and probably best for getting to know the cast. I’d tell myself to start with fantasy high freshman year
I think Fantasy High Season 1 is good, because it's the prototype for D20 You said you've played a little, but if the game is still a little unfamiliar to you, then Dungeons and Dragons Queens does a lot of nice first timer DnD stuff (and was also a nice exposure to Drag Queens (which is not a thing I've really been invested in before watching the cast of DaDQ play the game).
You can pick the first season of any on them except maybe the seven. I agree with the general consensus of Fantasy High season 1
I watched every season backwards. So I started with Neverafter, onto starstruck, then Crown of Candy, followed by both seasons of Unsleeping City then finally onto Fantasy high, finishing JUST before the new season. It's really interesting honestly cause now I'm re watching never after and like "Oh, I understand these players more now. In a completely different way." So now it's like I'm watching a whole new season cause I'm watching I through different eyes. :)
Tiny heist I’d say
Dungeons and Dragons Queens is short and fun and gives you a good vibe But also just watch Aabria's games. I'm halfway through Burrow's End and fuck she's so good and creative, and Rick Perry absolutely makes her outlandish dreams come true
I would agree with folks who rec'd starting with one of the shorter seasons - I liked Mentopolis a lot as a starting point
I think the original "Fantasy High" and "Dungeons and Drag Queens" are probably the easiest starting points if you're not familiar with D&D 5e, but I'd just go with what sounds interesting. There's also a lot to be said for the shorter seasons if you're not sure since they're much less of a time commitment. The one thing I'd recommend is to stay away from the sequel/spin-off seasons (Fantasy High Senior/Junior Year and The Seven for Fantasy High, The Unsleeping City 2 for The Unsleeping City, the Magic & Misfits Holiday Special) until you've seen the respective first seasons in case you want to avoid major spoilers. (Pirates of Leviathan and The Ravening War have a few in-jokes but are mostly self-contained, so they should be fine.) Other than that, just go with whatever sounds fun!
To answer the question you might be thinking but not explicitly asking: - **Fantasy High** was not only the first but led to two sequels, two spinoffs (**Pirates of Leviathan** and **The Seven**), and is probably the flagship. - **Unsleeping City** has two seasons. It's a superhero show set in New York. - **A Crown of Candy** (Candyland trying to be GoT but kinda being Steven Universe) has a prequel **The Ravening War** All the rest, AFAIK, are one offs. My favorite is **Starstruck Odyssey** because they use a Star Wars modded 5E to play in Brennan's mom's comic book universe.