Natural Six is a new, UK-based Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition actual play series that has aired its first episode, ‘The Gods Are Real‘.

It comes after months of teases, introductory episodes, and a very successful Kickstarter that raised over £65,000 for a limited series. Finally, the show has paid off the wait and made its already-sizable fandom happy.

One of Natural Six‘s draws comes from its impressive cast. Its players include veteran voice actors like Ben Starr (Clive Rosfield in Final Fantasy XVI), Alex Jordan (Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty) and Doug Cockle (Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher games), as well as internet gaming personalities Aoife Wilson (formerly of Eurogamer) and Hollie Bennett (formerly of PlayStation Access).

The DM, Harry McEntire, is an acting talent himself, best known for playing Noah in Xenoblade Chronicles 3.

However, Natural Six has more to offer – with occasional wobbles – than just impressive names.

Natural Six’s Players and D&D Characters

Natural Six‘s players have known each other much longer than they’ve been playing D&D, and it shows. The table atmosphere is up there with the very best TTRPG actual play shows. Everyone is happy to play off of the others, let their character be the butt of the joke, and lean into others’ roleplaying choices.

Despite their clear friendship and real-life chemistry, Natural Six‘s cast are able to keep things D&D-focused. They don’t go on lengthy one-man shows about themselves as players or distract with out-of-game discussion. Even when there are diversions (such as Bennett’s brief aside on Welsh spoons), it’s relevant to the in-game action.

Natural Six benefits from professionalism and competence without sacrificing its genuine chemistry and homely feel.

At the same time, it’s clear many of the cast are relatively new to D&D 5e or TTRPGs as a whole. There are several rules missteps in ‘The Gods Are Real’, including from DM Harry McEntire.

None of these are egregious or particularly distracting. Almost every D&D 5e table with new players has forgotten which numbers make up an attack roll or how two-weapon fighting works. Even slightly lengthier rules asides, such as Cockle’s brief struggle with bonus action spellcasting, don’t bog the game down.

Furthermore, many of the Natural Six cast’s characters are the sort that brand-new D&D 5e players would make. This is not a criticism.

They are all, from the Dragonborn Druid Kelnys (Doug Cockle) to the D&D 5e Human Fighter Endellion (Hollie Bennett), charming without being overly complex or niche. They’ll feel familiar to any D&D DM who has onboarded new players, being the right mixture of archetypal and original.

The cast’s chemistry and experience with acting help. They seem to naturally sort themselves into idealist-cynic pairs for maximum comedy and character insight.

Some, such as the grammatically confusing Kobold ‘I’ (Alex Jordan) or cheery Tiefling Bard Dolly (Aoife Wilson), feel distinctive and complete from the very start. Others, such as aloof amnesiac Elf Radian (Ben Starr) or the layered Endellion, feel like they’ll have more to show in future episodes.

Natural Six doesn’t aim for elevated D&D as a storytelling tool like Dimension 20. Instead, it’s D&D 5e like you or I would want to play, and stronger for it.

Natural Six In Action

‘The Gods Are Real’ isn’t the first outing for Natural Six‘s characters. They have previously done a series of low-stakes sessions to build hype and introduce the audience to the world and characters.

Instead, ‘The Gods Are Real’ is the first episode in the planned fortnightly series, and the first to properly introduce a storyline. After a while, it hits the ground running in this regard.

Unlike many D&D shows (and campaigns), Natural Six doesn’t open with incidental, irrelevant quests. ‘The Gods Are Real’ catapults the players in media res as bodyguards for the world’s nine most powerful Clerics as they perform a magic-free pilgrimage.

This high-concept start does make the first hour of the session feel odd, as it’s devoted almost entirely to player character shenanigans (you would not believe how often the word “spoon” is said). The intriguing premise gets left alone for some significant time, aside from being mined for setting and comedy.

People who want a high-action start to a D&D campaign need to wait until the episode’s back half. However, many who enjoy getting to know characters and their dynamics before anything real happens are in for a treat. The pacing can feel off (you could be a decent way through The Lord of the Rings in the time it takes a main story beat to happen), but isn’t that true of any D&D campaign?

McEntire doesn’t make it easy for himself or for a casual viewer. After the requisite introduction full of proper nouns, he introduces nine plot-relevant NPCs (and some others) at the same time. Even he notes it’s hard to keep track of.

It can be hard to memorise which major Cleric is which, but their broad archetypes are easy to remember.

In addition to that, McEntire gets a pass for how much lore he dumps at the beginning because of how flat-out interesting Reliquiae, the world of Natural Six, is.

Following a cosmic war, the gods of Good stand triumphant, and those of Evil and Chaos have been banished. Despite this, the flaws and iniquities of mortals still mean there is evil and strife in the world, just in a less cosmic fashion.

The player characters all serve the Web, a sinister conspiracy that does unsavoury things for a price – either gold or service. Guess which the protagonists chose?

This fascinating world and premise help make even Natural Six‘s exposition interesting.

When combat happens, it’s something almost any D&D 5e DM will recognise. A group of wolves ambush the players and their charges. I have used wolves as an early encounter in three different campaigns, all three of which have one player in common. He’s never minded.

Combat does see the rules confusion and mistakes appear quicker, but Natural Six‘s DM McEntire helps keep things flowing. The only real sticking point (pun not intended) is how the Web spell and the Restrained condition work. Even then, McEntire and Ben Starr keep things light.

It’s one of McEntire’s strengths as a D&D 5e DM. He can correct his players or shut down things that break the rules without it coming off as a rebuke. His good-natured DMing – and the genuine friendship between the cast – shines through.

Sticklers for D&D 5e rules or lethal combat might find Natural Six not to their tastes. However, players who take a more lax approach or are more invested in camaraderie and story will enjoy it.

Speaking of, Natural Six‘s story seems to be going places. Without spoilers, ‘The Gods Are Real’ continues its high-concept opening to end on a note I would never personally begin a D&D 5e campaign with. I hope McEntire has the storytelling chops to see it through, and so far there’s little reason to doubt.

In Conclusion

Ultimately, I cannot rate Natural Six highly enough, at least from its freshman outings. The cast and their characters are enjoyable, the table atmosphere inviting, and the story fascinating. It’s not like the rules knowledge or combat are significant weaknesses, despite occasional mentions.

Harry McEntire and the Natural Six cast have set themselves a hard task with their particularly high-concept and high-stakes story. Nonetheless, I hope to see them meet that challenge. Even moreso, I hope to spend more time with Endellion, I, Kelnys, Radian, and Dolly.

As always, please do like this article and share it around. Likewise, please give some other Artificial Twenty content a read, like the suggestions below.

For recommendations of other TTRPG actual plays (if once a fortnight isn’t enough), check out ‘The Best TTRPG Actual Play Series and Podcasts‘.

If you’ve only ever watched D&D and not played it, ‘Five Ways to Find a Dungeons & Dragons Group‘ can help remedy that.