Critical Role Learning

Watching Livestreams as Socio-Cultural Learning

Abstract

Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), as a tabletop pen-and-paper game, requires new players to learn the detailed and long rules in order to engage according to expectations. But it is not only the mechanical rules of the game that players need to learn, but also the social way to act at a D&D table: how to call out rolls, what is appropriate to ask, how a typical game runs, how to play a character, and what D&D broadly is. This paper researches the cultural and social mechanisms through which new players learn these rules with a focus on D&D-focused livestreams. Using symbolic interactionism, Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), and the third season of the popular D&D web series Critical Role (2015-), this research argues that these livestreams are a core way for new players to easily and -effectively learn the mechanical and social rules of the game in an entertaining environment.