When your epic backstory doesn't match the level in D&D - Level 1 Backstories 

Level 1 backstory: I was a gardener eavesdropping at the window of my closest friend when a wizard convinced him to go to a volcano in the worst part of the country.

I like the idea that the wizard actually was once a great wizard. He made a bunch of clones that didn't turn out the same strength as himself. So the clones all remember these great things the original did but don't have nearly the same power as him.

"What I lack in experience, I make up with enthusiasm", we've all been there, bruh.

“I’ve been granted- *casts thaumaturgy* minor powers” is hilarious when half of Tiefling bloodlines have thaumaturgy as a bonus cantrip

Unfortunately the rat also had a long and complicated backstory, it was adopted by two dragon parents who were murdered by a dwarf. The rat swore vengeance and tracked the dwarf to a local tavern.....

"That sounds a lot like my story actually." "Really?" "No, but I did want to go next." Love the line, love the delivery.

""I've dedicated my life to him and been granted...Minor powers." Slays me every time.

Gotta be honest, Byron makes the best damn dwarf I've ever seen. His size, personality, voice, and demeanor fit the Dwarf stereotype perfectly. I can't wait for more.

I loved how Rob's backstory was just 'Sword for hire'. Which is one of the most appropriate level 1 backstories ever.

So happy that this has finally started! I've been so nervous! I hope you like the series! If you wanna see us playing D&D for real, come check us out on this channel! ^^^

"Targrim huh? Lemme guess... you've also slain a kraken and a lich as well?" "Oh, nay! My identical brother, Fargrim, killed those first... I had to slay... THE KRAKOLICH!" "Also, we should set aside a pool of our earnings from this first quest to resurrect our slain party member."

Imagine going to a group of complete strangers irl and telling them your over-dramatic life story out of nowhere 😂

"Oh no! My identical twin brother!" - So many D&D players, including my roommate. Way too accurate.

The production value and the acting to back it up…you folks in front of and behind the camera are all incredible…that make up and costume design HOLY

Everyone's out here talking about Falgrim, and I just can't stop chuckling over Phoenix casually sipping a drink and peeking up over the edge of the table.

Alright. When his identical twin brother show'd up I actually laughed really really hard. Having someone die in session 0 is pretty spot on for D&D good job guys. Can't wait for more.

At least you guys made it out of the tavern with only one death! 🔥 Can't wait to see the rest of the season.

I always liked making characters with fairly normal backstories. "Me? I was a farmer but my land got bought out for highway construction. Decided to go into adventuring. My family? All still alive and well. I visit from time to time. Why are you looking at me like that?"

Britt got her character down to a T The bardic enthusiasm, the delivery of her words... Amazing! Can't wait for the others to act their characters out as well

I love the idea that the "bla"grimms are really a bunch of facsimiles, but no one can differntiate between them, so some achived some great feats and everyone gets the praise for them. They just roll with that even if it's unjustified and braggish.

Brilliant, great production values and performances.

"I killed a dragon, a kraken, and a lich." "Really?" "No, but that's what I intend on saying in one year or so." is the answer to recover from that lol

Damn it was worth the wait!

Yeah his backstory was over the top, but he could be a notorious liar and that could be part of his act. 🤔 Also, don't you think it's weird how we introduce our characters with their deepest motivations right from the get-go, like the priest? Honestly, if I was a listening villain, I'd immediately plan a trap baiting the priest by throwing some kid in a river. 😅

So freakin good. Byron is a goddamn treasure. Can’t wait to watch this unfold.

"What i lack in experience i make up for in enthusiasm" The most underrated quote in this whole video lmao

As a GM of many years, I can say this was painfully true. Where to even begin?

Talgrim showing up had me laughing pretty hard. This reminds me of the movie : The Gamers:Dorkness Rising lol "Hide behind the pile of dead bards..."

Now I want to play a low level character that's known as "the kraken slayer", and hated the nickname because he didn't actually slain a kraken. He was just a crew on a ship full of heroes, that happened to be attacked by a kraken. The heroes killed the kraken, while my character hides in a barrel. Everyone who happened to be on the deck started to be called "the kraken slayer". My character hates it, but the heroes was too nice and said things like, "well without you helping on the ship we won't be able to do all that."

"My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions and loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered son. Husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next." Dude you're a level one halfling bard, and you stole that from Gladiator. "Good artists copy, great artists steal" Mate that's Picasso. Stop. Just stop.

Seriously though, Byron's accents. One million chef's kisses.

I like to give myself backstory challenges, and one I gave was to make a backstory that included several levels worth of adventuring, but it made sense for the character to be starting at level 1 and have no advantages from that backstory that were not fitting for a 1st level character. I came up with Khalin Bronzebeard, dwarven life cleric, age 372 (350 was the average max lifespan for a dwarf in this setting). After decades of rising through the ranks of his priesthood and the dwarven nation's military, he discovered the kiing's nephew was involved in a plot to overthrow the king, and step one was discrediting that king via secret deals with the goblin army the dwarves were at war with. Khalin discovered and foiled the plot, but was ordered by his high priest and the king to never speak of the disloyalty as the king was already in a weak political situation and rumblings of betrayal in the royal family would only worsen that. Khalin, being Lawful, accepted the order, then handed over his badge of rank and holy symbol, as he would not continue to work under deceivers. Disillusioned, Khalin sold all his magical gear and moved with his wife and children to a surface city, where he invested everything in starting a brewery and distillery. The enterprise became a home-away-from home for dwarven expatriates and grew to become a successful business. Now, a couple of centuries later, the business is in the capable hands of his descendants, and Khalin is widowed, post mild stroke and has the beginnings of dementia. He's looking for one last adventure to go out on a good note and do some good before he heads to the afterlife to be with his deity and his wife. In the meantime- He only has his old starting gear that he kept for sentimental reasons; the brewery business is in a financial crunch and cannot give him extra resources. His dementia has made it hard for him to recall things that would be beyond a low level character's knowledge, including the more complex prayers and spells, and his physical issues have undone any ability score advancements/feats he would have had.

The details in this is just absolutely marvelous. For instance when Byron puts his hands on the table to dramatically stand up and then its just about 1 foot cause hes a dwarf XD Looks great

Fargrim: "I didn't interrupt you while you were telling your shitty little story" Rowan: No, actually you did... right from the first few words.

I am SOOO looking forward to this series because: 1) Costumes, and characters, and 2) Britt

I love that, while they all sit around in a tavern as their characters, all their lines, gestures and mimicry is something that goes on at the table in real life.

SO MANY TIMES. I spent 20 years studying the arcane, and now I know 6 spells; all level 1. I lived my entire life in a forest, but I do die in a round against 2 wolves. Asmodeus saw great potential in me and we made a pact where I would be his champion, I cast eldritch blast and miss the bandit.

The character reset for dying in first session is always hilarious. The team is doing a great job so far

Brilliant! Britt's sarcasm was greatly missed. I cannot wait to see how they all play off each other in the coming episodes!

"what I lack in experience I make up for enthusiasm" my favourite line

This actually kinda makes me want to play a character who is delusional. Like they grew up doing all that stuff in their imagination, but can't seperate it from reality so geniunely believes they've achieved all that.

I hope you like the series guys! If you want to see a Behind the Scenes director's commentary on the episode, come over to my Twitch (twitch.tv/roberthartleygm) and drop a follow. I'll be going over the ep shot by shot on Thursday (NZ time)

1:30 😮 That's Willow! She was amazing in the film, and I've always wanted to see more of her since, so I'm glad ya'll found a part for her. Hopefully we get to hear the other characters' backstories too!

I once had a particularly homicidal DM back in 3.5 edition, and my response was, instead of identical brothers, to create a series of twenty characters with increasingly stupid builds, as a deterrent. I can't remember most of them now, but I have a particular fondness for #10, Pokey-Man. He was a half-ogre bard who had been minmaxed to hell and back for maximum reach with a longspear. Can he heal? No. Can he sneak? No. Can he make spot and listen rolls?No. Can he succeed in even simple bardic lore rolls? No. Can he even perform music? Of course not. What he can do is cast a spell, extend his freaky mutant arms, stand on his tippy toes, and a whole lot of other janky stuff to reach over the entire battlefield and stab the spellcaster 45 feet away. Of course, the only magic on this spear was an enchantment that made it have extra reach, so it only did 1d6 damage, but shut up he's helping. And in case you're curious, I made it to #4 before the DM figured out what was going on.

My 1st level characters: I am an ancient immortal warrior from ages past, returning to the world to reclaim my lost glory My 10th level characters: I'm a goat merchant having a mid-life crisis

Those secret twin / identical sibling stories are ever so original and definitely never happened before. Every good GM should implement one :P

Lol Britt's "No, I just wanted to go next" made me laugh so hard I had to pause! Looking forward to season 1!

0:29 Ahh Viconia.....He must be one of her conquests.

The weirdest thing is seeing Rowan actually knowing what they're talking about

Britt: "no but I did want To go next." Very Underated line. Also loved Byron's accent.

Holy heavens! What a production! Congratulations on the first episode! I'm so excited for the next one! Everyone looks amazing! The acting sooo natural!

I must say this is a dream coming true, I'm super fan of fantasy genre and D&D in particular and when I first found VLDL videos it was a random episode from Epic NPC man (I didn't know it was a series back then) and I was also a fantasy MMORPG player so I could relate and found it great! But now you not only deliver super funny, beautifully done D&D skits but also allow me to regularly watch you guys playing D&D with this amazing DM that is Hartley... I wanted to send some love from Brazil as a big fan, you are really making my life happier from across the globe and thats awesome! Can't wait for more, see you soon!

DM: "Oooh, natural 20..." Rat: "BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!!!"

Britt being back makes this all seem so complete. She's a fantastic actress! Awesome moment!!!

This is INCREDIBLY accurate. Lmao! You guys were entirely on point the whole time! Well done. The level of quality you guys put into your skits is far above average and I find it rather astounding and might I say a crying shame, that this channel is as underrated as it is.

I can't believe the production value of these RU-vid channels with bonafide actors and everything. There must be a lot more scratch to go around than I imagined.

The Twin replacement Character is soooo DnD Logic. Normally with a death like that I used to allow a Jnr to appear or the "son of..." the dead Character to avoid re-rolls and new back stories... LOL

Ok so Rowan did not kill the rat, he actually killed Fargrim for interrupting him

Man, this is freaking great. The production values are great, you guys are killing it over there.

I'm so glad this came together! First episode was amazing. Definitely looking forward to where this goes.

1:18 soo basically a Bard... can't wait for the "You are not dead, it's all in my head" songs when the fight starts Bard!

I am now most interested in Targrim's parents. They must be so proud, having not one, but multiple sons each capable of such greatness. I can only assume the third, fourth and any other children are all also equally amazing.

Absolutely glorious! I would raither watch this than anything thing on the TV!! Keep it up VLDL, glad to see everyone is back together!! All the way from the USA.

Already in love with this serie:) Great job guys, keep it up!

Seeing Phoenix barely peeking over the table as a halfling... Priceless!!!

The part about him slaying dragons was especially funny. I had an elf who got killed twice, both by dragons. His name was Glorian but became known as Glorian Dragonfodder. He was known to run away in panic at anything with scales. Shades of Robin from Holy Grail.

I am *so* hyped to watch more of this. I love you guys!

Brilliant way to start off the series guys. Keep them coming!!

Fargrim: "I did not interrupt your boring little story did i?" .. No man, you interrupted Rowan before he could even tell it. 🤣

The mage dying to a critical hit by a rat, only to be replaced by his identical twin brother is amazing.

Okay y'all this is great and I'm living for the content y'all make. I'm wishing I had crew where I live to play D&D with or Pathfinder

Holy shit the production value! So proud of how far y'all have come!

Imagine running a DND campaign with this size party, absolute chaos.

[Mouse] Special Ability - When another party members backstory is interupted, automatic nat 20 roll on attack, double damage and piercing damage. Spawns identical brother/sister of slain character with similar backstory.

Absolutely brilliant! Loved it! As an avid watcher of Viva D&D, this is perfect.

I've heard a few really good level-appropriate backstories for new characters. They don't have to be dull. Anyway, fun video and great costumes!

That Byron guy is really great at accents. His southerrner was fantastic, and his scottish is pretty sweet

This is just started and it already shows you what a perfect cozy experience D&D game with your friends looks like. I'm rooting for this to become as succesful series as your other ones and more

Holy hell this was so well done. Can’t wait to see more!

When you ask someone "How's it going?" and they give you their life story.

I swear, ever since I found VLDL, I can't believe that what I'm watching right now is free. Free. With how much the VLDL crew do in each and every video, you would think that this was something you rent out or buy out of Netflix or some other streaming platform. But all of this? Free. Shoutout to the VLDL crew for doing so much for so little

"I didn't interrupt your shitty little boring story" says the dwarf who did exactly that before it could even start 😂 Also, typical squishy Wizard going down in one hit bahahahaha love it 🤣

This brings back memories of my D&D days.

woah production value gets better and better nice work :D

I love how there are so many little jokes in amongst the main one. Like how Damakos has "minor powers" and Britt is famous in "most bars". Favorite was Fargrim interrupting Rowan and then saying "I didn't interrupt your story"

I love it, I love all the characters so far "That sounds a lot like my story actually." "Really?" "No, but I did want to go next." Brilliant line, perfect execution The way Fargrim interrupted Rowan's character when she said "Tall misterious hooded man" was so natural and hilarious Its all perfect, just like I expected

I just love how little Phoenix is somehow even smaller sat round the table next to some fairly giant fellows ^_^. So ready for this series!

Back in the day, I used to love watching the RU-vid channel The Guild, but since they stopped, I'm super excited that I found you guys.

AS a DM for 25 years, this made me laugh WAYYYY too hard. Can't tell you how many times this scenario unfolded with new campaigns. The one-upmanship was real hahaha. Brilliant skit!!

I lost it when Fargrim got up from his chair. xD

this is absolutely fantastic, you are all brilliant as always.

Congratulations on the first episode. I loved it. Makes me want to think about playing it again. 🤪

I've definitely played with "one of those", they didn't survive either :D Also, holy crap the production quality is amazing!

Fargrim’s a Wizard, isn’t he? Also, I was surprised he didn’t just write Jr on the same character sheet. “Thanks for bringing me along pa… Papa is dead!”

Nice one, and nice to see these familar faces from all around the VLDL universe!

I think everyone who has been doing this long enough has seen this type of player. And everyone at some point wished a rat would just nat20 them. Great stuff

*slams drink on the table* "ANOTHER! Seriously, congrats to Rob, Adam, and the crew. Episode one looks amazing!

I was expecting rowans backstory to be “I’m bodgar and I hit thing with muh axe!”

"those are all the same thing." haha that cracked me up

Oh boy, I love it so much! Probably I will look into your DnD contend too!