The 24 Best Dnd Actual Play Podcasts (2026)

Critical Role is the show that turned a group of professional voice actors rolling dice around a table into a full-blown cultural phenomenon. What started as a home game between friends like Matthew Mercer, Laura Bailey, Travis Willingham, and Sam Riegel has grown into something with over 410 episodes, four major campaigns, and a dedicated streaming platform called Beacon. The format is straightforward: long-form, unscripted D&D sessions where the cast plays completely in character, often for three to four hours at a stretch. These are trained performers, so the emotional range is staggering. One moment you are laughing at Sam Riegel's absurd ad reads, and the next you are genuinely tearing up over a character's sacrifice. Campaign 4 shook things up in a big way by bringing in Brennan Lee Mulligan as Game Master, stepping away from the familiar world of Exandria into Mulligan's own setting of Araman. The cast expanded too, adding Robbie Daymond, Aabria Iyengar, Whitney Moore, and Alexander Ward alongside the original crew. Episodes now drop in two parts each week. The production quality is top-tier, with professional sound mixing that translates surprisingly well from the video format to audio-only listening. If you have never experienced actual play D&D before, this is the gold standard that everyone else gets measured against. Fair warning though: each campaign is a massive time commitment. Start with Campaign 1 or jump straight into Campaign 4 for a fresh entry point.

The McElroy family turned a bonus episode of their comedy advice show into one of the most beloved actual play podcasts ever made. Justin, Travis, and Griffin McElroy play alongside their dad Clint, and the result is this wonderful collision of genuine family dynamics and absurd fantasy storytelling. The first campaign, Balance, is widely considered a masterpiece of the genre. Griffin's DMing builds from goofy monster-of-the-week adventures into this sweeping emotional epic that had listeners openly sobbing by the finale. It is genuinely one of the best stories told in any medium, and the fact that it emerged from improv dice rolls makes it even more impressive. Since Balance, the show has become more experimental. They have rotated DM duties, tried different game systems, and explored shorter arcs. Recent campaigns include Versus Dracula, a vampire hunter story, and various Marvel-inspired crossover adventures. Not every arc hits as hard as Balance, but the family chemistry never gets old. Clint McElroy rolling terribly and then somehow saving the day is a recurring joy. The podcast drops biweekly on the Maximum Fun network and has racked up over 400 episodes and 35,000 Apple Podcasts ratings. The tone leans heavily comedic with genuine heart underneath. If you want actual play that prioritizes story and character over rules accuracy, and you do not mind a dad who still confuses his spell slots, this is your show. The Balance arc alone is worth the listen even if you never touch another episode.

NADDPOD, as fans affectionately call it, is one of the funniest D&D actual play shows out there. Brian Murphy runs the game as DM while Emily Axford, Jake Hurwitz, and Caldwell Tanner play characters who consistently find the most chaotic possible solution to every problem. The comedy background of the cast -- they all come from the CollegeHumor and Headgum orbit -- means the improv chops are razor sharp. But here is what makes NADDPOD special: underneath all the jokes is genuinely solid D&D. Murphy builds intricate worlds and memorable NPCs, and the players engage with the mechanics in smart, creative ways. Emily Axford also composes and performs the show's original music, which adds a surprising amount of emotional weight to key moments. The show launched in 2018 and has completed three major campaigns, each with its own distinct flavor. New episodes drop every Thursday, and with over 400 episodes in the archive, there is a mountain of content to work through. The pacing is tight for an actual play -- episodes rarely drag, and the editing keeps things moving. One-shots and shorter side adventures break up the longer campaigns nicely. If you want a show that respects the game but never takes itself too seriously, NADDPOD hits that sweet spot better than almost anything else in the genre.

Dungeons and Daddies has one of the best elevator pitches in podcasting: four dads from our world get transported into a fantasy realm and have to rescue their sons. That premise alone is funny, but the execution is where this show really shines. Anthony Burch serves as DM, joined by Freddie Wong, Matt Arnold, Will Campos, and Beth May as players who lean way more into comedy and character work than strict rules adherence. And honestly, that is what makes it so good. The show barely follows D&D mechanics half the time, treating the game system more as a loose framework for collaborative improv storytelling. Season one follows the dads on their rescue mission and builds to a genuinely emotional conclusion. Season two flipped the script with the dads' kids as protagonists. Season three departed from D&D entirely, using Call of Cthulhu rules for a horror-comedy campaign. The newest season, Grandpas and Galaxies, launched in early 2025 and sends grandfathers into space using the Dark Matter sci-fi D&D conversion. Each season works as a standalone story, so you can jump in anywhere, though starting from season one gives you the full emotional payoff. With a 4.9 rating from over 10,000 reviews, the audience clearly agrees this is something special. The episodes release semimonthly and are tightly edited compared to most actual play shows, keeping the pacing snappy. If you want actual play that treats D&D as comedy scaffolding rather than a strict ruleset, this is your best bet.

Mark Hulmes runs one of the longest continuously running D&D campaigns on the internet, and High Rollers is the result. The show began back in 2015 as a Yogscast offshoot and has since grown into a sprawling saga spanning multiple campaigns and hundreds of episodes. Hulmes is the kind of DM other DMs study. He builds detailed NPCs, tracks consequences across dozens of sessions, and gives his players enough rope to either save the world or hang themselves with style. The main cast, including Kim Richards, Chris Trott, Katie Morrison, and Tom Hazell, have been playing together long enough that their characters feel less like roleplaying exercises and more like old friends you are catching up with. The current flagship campaign, Aerois, has been running for years and features some of the most earned emotional payoffs in actual-play audio. What makes the podcast version work is how cleanly it is edited down from the video streams. You get the character voices, the dice drama, and the music cues without the awkward pauses. Combat encounters are tense without becoming tedious. Roleplay scenes get room to breathe. If you want a group that clearly loves the hobby and takes it seriously without getting precious about it, give the first few episodes a shot. The hook sets in fast.

Tales from the Stinky Dragon started at Rooster Teeth but went independent in 2024 when the company shut down, and the transition actually made the show stronger. The cast includes Gustavo Sorola as Game Master, with Barbara Dunkelman, Blaine Gibson, Chris Demarais, and Jon Risinger as players. What makes Stinky Dragon stand out in the crowded actual play space is the production quality. This is not a raw recording of people sitting around a table. Every episode features fully voiced NPC characters, immersive sound design, original music, and careful editing that keeps the pacing tight. It feels closer to an audio drama that happens to use D&D rules than a typical let's-play podcast. The show is rated clean, which is unusual for the genre and makes it genuinely accessible to younger listeners or anyone who does not want explicit content mixed into their fantasy adventure. With around 208 episodes released biweekly, the back catalog is substantial but not overwhelming. The independent team launched a Patreon to fund production and also partnered with Critical Role Productions to distribute through Beacon. That partnership makes sense given the overlap in audience. The comedy leans on the cast's natural chemistry, which goes back years to their Rooster Teeth days, and the stories balance humor with enough dramatic stakes to keep you invested. If you are looking for a family-friendly actual play show with professional-grade audio production, this is one of the best options available.

The Dungeon Dudes -- Monty Martin and Kelly McLaughlin -- are already well known for their D&D YouTube channel, but Dungeons of Drakkenheim is where they really flex their storytelling muscles. The show follows a party navigating the meteor-blasted ruins of a once-great fantasy city, and the setting alone sets it apart from most actual plays. Drakkenheim feels lived-in and dangerous, with factions competing for control of corrupted magical resources that warp everything they touch.

Monty runs a tight ship as DM. His worldbuilding is detailed without becoming a lecture, and he has a knack for putting players in situations where every choice has real consequences. The cast -- including Jill Danaitis and Joe O'Gorman -- bring distinct characters with conflicting motivations, which creates natural tension that doesn't feel manufactured. Combat is well-paced and tactical, but the roleplay moments carry genuine emotional weight.

With 248 episodes across three seasons and a 4.9-star rating from 362 reviews, Drakkenheim has earned serious credibility. The first campaign is a complete 52-episode arc, which makes it a perfect entry point -- no commitment to hundreds of hours before you know if you like it. The show was popular enough that it became an official D&D Beyond campaign module, meaning you can actually play through the same story at your own table. New episodes stream live on Tuesdays before hitting podcast feeds. If you appreciate actual plays that balance dark fantasy atmosphere with moments of genuine comedy, Drakkenheim delivers consistently.

Jesters of Ravenloft has one of the best hooks in actual play podcasting: a group of improvisers and comedians discover that they are the characters in a D&D campaign, and their sketch comedy troupe has to escape the nightmare realm of Ravenloft. It is a meta premise that actually works because the cast -- Tyler Hewitt, Del Borovic, Guy Bradford, and Adam McNamara, with Ryan LaPlante as DM -- are legitimately skilled improvisers who can sell the bit. The show is part of the Dumb-Dumbs & Dice network, which operates under the Fable & Folly umbrella, and they produce eight different TTRPG shows. Jesters stands out as their flagship. Two new episodes drop every week, recorded and streamed live on Twitch every Wednesday at 7:30 PM ET, which is an aggressive release schedule that keeps momentum high. The podcast has racked up over two million downloads and regularly lands in the top 50 fiction podcasts on both Spotify and Apple Podcasts, which is impressive for a show that leans hard into comedy. The Ravenloft setting gives the show a horror-comedy tone that works surprisingly well -- think improv comedians trapped in a gothic horror campaign where nothing goes according to plan. The D&D 5e rules provide structure, but the comedy always comes first. If you like your tabletop gaming with a heavy dose of sketch comedy energy and do not mind some chaos at the table, this one is worth your time.

Girls Who Don't DnD started with a premise so simple it practically sells itself: three women who have literally never played Dungeons & Dragons sit down with a DM named Cory, who owns all the books but hasn't really read them, and they just... figure it out together. What makes the show special is how genuinely they stumble through the rules while accidentally creating a campaign that longtime players would envy. The learning curve is part of the entertainment. You get to hear real "wait, I can do THAT?" moments that veterans forgot they once had.

Cory turns out to be a surprisingly talented storyteller and voice actor, building a homebrew world that grows more intricate with each session. The players bring an infectious energy -- they care about their characters in ways that feel unforced, and their tactical decisions range from brilliant to hilariously catastrophic. Episodes run around two and a half hours, released monthly, which gives each session room to breathe.

The production quality is genuinely impressive for what started as a casual actual play. Sound design, music cues, and clean audio make this a polished listen. With 89 episodes across two seasons and a 4.8-star rating from 380 reviewers on Apple Podcasts, the show has built a dedicated following. If you started playing D&D during the pandemic boom or you've always been curious but intimidated, this is the show that meets you exactly where you are. It proves you don't need decades of experience to tell a great story around a table.

Greetings Adventurers has been running since November 2012, making it one of the longest-running D&D actual play podcasts in existence. Originally called Drunks and Dragons -- a name they dropped in 2019 because it gave newcomers the wrong impression -- the show is built on a foundation of improvised comedy filtered through D&D 5e rules. Michael DiMauro serves as Dungeon Master while Tim Lanning, Mike Bachmann, Jennifer Cheek, and Nika Howard round out the current cast, playing characters like T'Chuck, Screech Echo, Selene Von Esper, and R'Oarc. The show has accumulated over 670 episodes across nine seasons, which is a staggering amount of content. They won the Academy of Podcasters Award for Best Gaming Podcast in 2017, and the quality has stayed consistent through the years. What keeps Greetings Adventurers fresh despite its long run is the cast's genuine enjoyment of each other's company. The humor is collaborative rather than competitive, and DiMauro builds campaigns that give each player room to shine. The GeeklyInc network produces the show, and they have built a loyal community around it. Weekly episodes mean there is always something new, and the improvised nature keeps things unpredictable. For listeners who want a podcast with deep roots and hundreds of hours of established lore, this is one of the originals that helped define what actual play D&D could be.

Can We Level Up Yet? is a newer entry in the D&D actual play space, created by Jo Steel, Vee Harris, Noah Lance Holcomb, and Kael Steel. The title captures a feeling every tabletop player knows: that impatient itch to gain your next level after a long session of adventuring. This smaller, independent podcast has the energy of friends genuinely having fun at the table rather than performing for an audience, which gives it an approachable, relaxed vibe. The cast brings a mix of comedy and earnest roleplay to their sessions, and the dynamic between the players feels natural and unscripted. Hosted on Transistor, the show is still building its audience and catalog, which means new listeners can get in on the ground floor without facing the daunting back-catalog problem that plagues longer-running shows. The production is clean and listenable without being overly polished -- you can hear the dice rolls and the table talk, which adds to the authenticity. The comedy leans into the absurd situations that D&D naturally generates when a group of friends makes questionable decisions together. There is something refreshing about a show that is not trying to be the next Critical Role and is instead just focused on having a good time with the game. If you enjoy discovering new actual play podcasts while they are still finding their voice, Can We Level Up Yet? is worth adding to your rotation.

Halfway to Heroes follows the story of four graduates from the Scrimore Academy, a school built to train warriors against an Illithid invasion that has not been seen in over 30 years. The funding has dried up, the school is closing, and these recent graduates are about to discover that the world of Modras might not be as peaceful as everyone thought. Created by Adam DeWees and featuring a cast that includes Shaun DeWees, Dustin DeWees, Johnny, and Barry, this is very much a family-and-friends affair, and that closeness translates into comfortable table chemistry. The characters are memorable -- Shaun plays Ubo, a Tortle Artificer, while Barry pilots Ultrex, a Warforged Paladin, and the party dynamic of underprepared academy graduates bumbling into real danger provides both comedy and genuine tension. Part of the Majestic Goose Network, the show releases every other Tuesday, giving the creators time to craft episodes that feel purposeful rather than rushed. The homebrew setting is well-thought-out, with the Illithid threat providing a compelling backdrop that slowly comes into focus as the campaign progresses. The Lore and Pour bonus episodes, where the cast discusses D&D lore over drinks, add extra context for listeners who want to go deeper. The name says it all -- these characters are not legendary heroes yet, and watching them grow toward that status is half the fun.

Oxventure started as a YouTube series from the Outside Xtra and Outside Xbox crews and grew into one of the most approachable D&D actual play podcasts around. The cast -- Jane Douglas, Andy Farrant, Mike Channell, Ellen Rose, and Luke Westaway, with Johnny Chiodini as DM -- play like a group of friends who happen to be funny, not comedians performing for an audience. That distinction matters. The humor comes naturally from the characters and situations rather than from anyone trying to land bits.

The format leans toward shorter, self-contained adventures rather than sprawling multi-year campaigns, which makes Oxventure a good pick if you want complete story arcs without committing to 300 episodes. Each session runs at a comfortable length, and the DM keeps things moving without bogging down in mechanical minutiae. The party includes standout characters like Prudence the tiefling warlock and Dob the half-orc bard, who have become fan favorites for their unpredictable decisions and genuinely funny roleplaying moments.

With over 230 episodes in the catalog, there is plenty to binge, and the show has expanded beyond D&D into Deadlands and Blades in the Dark for variety. The production is clean, the audio is solid, and new listeners can jump into any story arc without needing prior context. If you have been looking for a D&D podcast that feels like sitting in on game night with people who actually enjoy each other's company, Oxventure delivers exactly that. It is part of the Geek Media Podcast Network and available on all major platforms.

Lawful Stupid has been grinding out weekly 5e sessions since 2017, which puts them in a pretty rare club: actual play shows that actually survive past the honeymoon phase. The crew runs long, serialized campaigns where characters get the room to grow, die badly, come back wrong, and generally wreck whatever plans the DM thought were airtight. Episodes usually run around an hour, which makes the show easy to keep up with if you're trying to squeeze a session into a commute or a dog walk.

The comedy leans heavy on bit work and the kind of jokes that only make sense because the players have been riffing together for years. You can hear it in the timing. Someone sets up a line, the table pauses for half a beat, and then the whole thing collapses into everyone talking over each other. The group is self-aware enough to make fun of its own tropes without it getting smug, and the DM keeps the rules tight enough that combat still has stakes even when the party is being idiots.

What sets it apart from a lot of the 5e pack is patience. Plot threads planted 40 episodes ago pay off in ways that feel earned rather than lucky. If you're picking up the show now, the back catalog is genuinely intimidating, but the hosts usually point newcomers toward specific arc starting points on their socials. Good pick for anyone who wants comedy DnD that still takes the story seriously when it needs to.

Big Trouble, Little Gods runs a homebrew 5e setting where the pantheon is, generously speaking, petty and cheap. Mortals keep getting dragged into god-tier arguments because that's just how the cosmology shakes out, and the party of adventurers at the center of the show is stuck trying to survive the collateral damage. It's a fun setup because it gives the DM, Savinth Row, license to throw weird stuff at the players without the usual suspension-of-disbelief tax.

The cast plays it mostly straight. There's comedy, but it comes out of character voice and bad decisions rather than table chatter or meta jokes. That makes episodes feel closer to an audio drama with dice than a hangout show, which is a flavor some listeners specifically hunt for. Combat is described vividly enough that you can actually track positioning in your head, and the group isn't afraid to let fights run long when the tension earns it.

Production is clean. Microphones are level, ambient music cues in and out without swallowing dialogue, and scene transitions are edited tight. Episodes come in around 60 to 90 minutes, which is manageable compared to some of the three-hour monsters in the genre. The campaign has been rolling since 2020 and has built up real continuity, with reincarnated characters, dead gods staying dead, and consequences that stick. Worth a try if you want your DnD with actual lore weight behind it.

The Billowing Hilltop started as a straight 5e campaign and has since branched into other systems when a story needs them, which is a good sign of a group that actually cares about matching mechanics to tone. The main draw is the DM's worldbuilding. Locations have economies, NPCs remember who stiffed them on a tavern bill, and the party's choices redraw maps in ways that feel permanent rather than cosmetic.

The cast has a warm, lived-in dynamic. Nobody is playing for the podcast; they're playing for each other and the mic just happens to be on. That ends up being the show's real pitch. You get to eavesdrop on friends who actually like each other running a game they care about, and the laughs land harder because they're not performed for an audience. When things go badly for a character, there's genuine groaning at the table.

Episodes are usually 90 minutes to two hours, which is standard for the format. Audio quality has improved noticeably across the run, so newer episodes are a cleaner experience if you're sampling. Combat encounters get described with enough spatial detail to follow along without a battlemap, and the DM is generous about recapping previous events at the top of each ep, which helps when you've been away for a few weeks. Solid mid-tier actual play that rewards patient listening.

As The World Taverns leans into the soap opera energy its name is promising. DM Scot Simpson runs a campaign built around interpersonal drama, long-simmering rivalries, and the kind of NPC relationships that would feel at home in a daytime serial if you swapped the business suits for leather armor. It's a smart angle because it gives the players room to do actual character work instead of just rolling initiative every ten minutes.

That's not to say combat gets short-changed. Fights are tactical and the DM telegraphs consequences well, so when the party pulls off something clever it actually feels like they earned the win. But the show's best moments tend to come in the quiet scenes. A character confronts her estranged mentor in a back room, a rogue tries to talk himself out of a debt he can't repay, a cleric wrestles with an oath he knows he's about to break. The players commit hard to these beats and the DM gives them the space to land.

The show is relatively new, which is actually a selling point right now. The back catalog is catchable in a couple of weeks of steady listening, so you can get current before you're overwhelmed. Episodes sit around 90 minutes. Audio is clean and levels are consistent across the cast. Recommended if you've burned out on combat-heavy campaigns and want something more character-driven.

Evermorrow is a homebrew 5e campaign set in a world the DM has clearly been cooking for years before the dice ever hit the table. You can tell within a couple of episodes because the names of places and factions get dropped without explanation and they all fit together, the way things do in a setting that has its own internal logic rather than one being improvised week to week. The party plays low-level heroes who keep stumbling into problems that are several weight classes above them.

The show's tone runs darker than most comedy-forward actual plays. There's humor, but it's the kind that comes out at a funeral. Characters get hurt, get scared, make choices they can't take back. One of the standout arcs involves a paladin slowly losing her faith after a village she swore to protect gets burned out from under her, and the player doesn't rush the grief. She lets it sit for episodes. That kind of patience is rare and it's what gives Evermorrow its weight.

Combat is described with cinematic flair without slowing to a crawl. The DM uses sound design sparingly but effectively, and episodes clock in around two hours. Audio production is polished from the start of the run, so you can jump into episode one without wincing at the levels. Worth it for listeners who want fantasy with real stakes and a patient storyteller.