Handbooker Helper: Backgrounds

[@dr_jeckel__6710]

"who picks bar fights so he can remember what it feels like to touch another person" GOOD GOD that is depressing

[@sky0kast0]

Yeah isn't it... Just perfect 👌

[@double2helix]

@@sky0kast0 replace remember with experience and it gets worse

[@sky0kast0]

True

[@solisholder]

me right now

[@MegaVideoman23]

I mean I know Ashley has been in and won a bar fight... but...

[@dylanchinn8155]

On the next Handbooker Helper, Henry teaches us about the new Good Boy class

[@RRitter]

[@bluefootwalking]

Henry is the goodest boy :D

[@JJ-ml7pq]

....Is it weird that I think it might be cool for Henry to host one episode about using animal familiars? (Unless they already have an ep about that- haven’t seen them all yet.)

[@bluefootwalking]

YES! THIS! DO THIS THING!

[@Eidenhoek]

*agrees a lot*

[@C_Bat]

A wild Ashley Johnson and Henry appears!!

[@bleedlifedry]

Damn it you bet me to it. Lol

[@JirkaKunst]

The big thing is when I finally realized I DO NOT have to match my class with a background. No more criminal rogues, entertainer bards, acolyte clerics and sage wizards! It is more fun if you switch it up!

[@biancabrooks280]

I’m making a Warlock who was just a simple Soapmaker. She just wants to live a simple life and take over the family business! Damn the Fae!!

[@Manicies]

I'm currently playing an elven wizard/monk multiclass with the acolyte background, and it is turning out QUITE fun

[@alecchristiaen4856]

i once made a rogue archaeologist...Indiana Jones, i played Indiana Jones

[@locorocky1]

I once played a Dwarf Sailor Monk and he was awesome

[@kennybrightwell1877]

I’ve got an Aasimar Criminal Paladin I am quite excited to start playing when everything lets up.

[@wearenumbooone8434]

Two Ashley Johnson videos in a row? Thank you, CR

[@basiliskxviii]

They've gotta take advantage of the time she's available!

[@robertabugelis3962]

Yeah, I have a feeling they are cranking these out because her shooting schedule is creeping up.

[@solisholder]

and then she disappears for 5 years when will she return from the war

[@coffeekhan]

Right?

[@Strix182]

I feel like Ashley is very much calling me out for my half-elven ranger sailor, who has crippling trust issues and a gambling addiction.

[@wierdalien1]

Isnt that just Brian W Foster

[@MistressDragonFlame]

A negative Con Sorcerer? Do they have a sibling named Backup?

[@jpumbaa1]

No, his name is Caleb.

[@richardshelley143]

Or maybe Get Help

[@SoyDrinker]

@@jpumbaa1 Caleb's con is 6 higher than the character in this video.

[@patheronaetherson2860]

Less than 10 con, with the lowest hit die class, is an absolute deathwish

[@BeaglzRok1]

@@patheronaetherson2860 Aside from Wizard, and at least Sorcerers get CON save proficiency.

[@bradleyunderhill6449]

Henry in the background, handbooker helper on rangers pets and familiars would have been perfect.

[@abenteurersuchengelegenhei2002]

*would have / would've

[@unboundsky9999]

6:44 Critical Role is a very professional company.

[@marvinhubregtse5776]

0:12 so professional

[@Warhammered]

And we love it that way. ^_^

[@pvic6959]

i hate it when people dab but when she does it, i like it lol

[@biancabrooks280]

Whenever Ashley Johnson dabs, an angel gets its wings. (Edited for spelling)

[@Fyreflier]

the angel's name is Aziraphale. what wonderful timing

[@tylergriffin3667]

But not a Yasha

[@arke4936]

@@tylergriffin3667 nope, a Yasha gets a stormlord

[@MrUmakemelaff]

@@arke4936*Laughs in Hand*

[@davidparkes7741]

@@tylergriffin3667*Laughs in what happened to Yasha in ep 105.*

[@pleaseendme69]

WHEN'S HENRY'S HANDBOOK HELPER

[@C_Bat]

The episode about Animal Companions, and it would be an amazing April Fool's

[@curtisholsinger6023]

"Handbooker Helper: Halfling Mounts"

[@dustinb4286]

It will be the episode when they talk about spells and they go over "Silence".

[@TheRenegadePaladin]

@@C_Bat They could put him on camera, and have him bark a few times, put what they want him to say in subtitles ,

[@alanardominim]

oh my god, yeesss, have him just do tricks while brian does voice over and the team adds the drawings

[@FalconLight]

I demand Dabshley to be a emote in the twitch Chanel

[@Ayselx]

Arsequeef needs to get on that

[@UncooperativeMultiplayer]

I second this to the utmost degree

[@gggibson7156]

Genius

[@caseygray2328]

Figuring out backstories is one of the best parts of making new characters

[@proto303]

that and fuguring out the basic concept

[@Enndorii]

I wish my players gave a damn. I would love to help them create awesome backstories but none of them are willing to put in the time.

[@caseygray2328]

@@Enndorii maybe a way to get them into it would be to offer some sort of incentive or bonus to having a backstory, like possible allies or unique knowledge of something relevant to the story

[@Enndorii]

casey gray there’s that, but they also don’t care to play. I think I’m just going to have to try to find a new group

[@caseygray2328]

@@Enndorii good luck too you dude

[@JorizzleMeNizzle]

My wife’s very first time playing D&D, I introduced her with the Lost Mines of Phandelver. After rolling up a character and starting to play, the characters we’re introducing themselves, and when it came my wife’s turn to tell us a bit about her background she got nervous and wasn’t sure what to say. I told her, “You can literally be anything! If you want to be a goat, that works!” So she said, “Okay then I’m a goat.” During the first goblin encounter she had no idea what was happening, panicked and ran in a circle, head butting the cart and knocking herself out... Flawless execution. Haha

[@BiggySn1p3r]

Who love's Ashley Johnson's laugh?

[@KimKimeraKimes]

I like it, but Taliesan's laugh is absolutely wholesome to me.

[@proto303]

@@KimKimeraKimes that low rumbly voice... MHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[@fire_playz5110]

Mee

[@trcsonic]

It's good to see Ellie having a good relationship with a dog.

[@gabrieledettomilvus1348]

Youuuuu, oh my goodness, this is gold Thank you master

[@parcelfam2877]

Seeing Ashley dab is all I needed in my life

[@artisticskin]

"Vivid characters create vivid moments that stick with you for a lifetime." TRUTH

[@xXthetwiggXx]

HENRY IS THE BEST BOY

[@greatmoney]

4 people don't know the most important internet rule: *Always upvote Ashley M.F. Johnson.*

[@Pluveus]

Upvote with your Johnson.

[@megavore97]

Ashley’s voice is silky smooth Edit: *AND THAT DAB LMAO*

[@Victor_Nova_56]

The weird thing is... ...I literally just made a half-elf captain using the alternate salior background 'pirate' whose crew was killed. This feels so weird.

[@SapphireDragon357]

Time to change whatever piddly name you came up with to Slapdash O'Leander. :P

[@Victor_Nova_56]

He already has a fabulous name: Maximilan Valentine

[@andreagriffin8744]

Oh, that name! Keep it!! 😄

[@ratpac_m]

'Slapdash O'Leander' is my next character name.

[@ninjazerofour6697]

My favourite thing is just imagining that this is Ellie teaching Joel about D&D stuff.

[@hunacean]

Aww, you guys are spoiling us with this many Ashley content. How am I going to manage with all the withdrawal symptoms once she goes away to shoot blindspot (which is loved by at least a dozen of people)

[@cassiebanks]

Thank God I'm not the only one that while I was massively enjoying this video, could feel the cold, hard fingers of New York coming to drag her back. *sniff, sniff*

[@amberblackwell7687]

Yaaaaaas, Ashley!! We missed you!!

[@Scorpious187]

I find it rather ironic that Ashley's doing the HH video for Backgrounds a couple weeks after getting roasted by Sam... "And Ashley... her character is... I mean, does she even know?"

[@herz5159]

Her backstory is Amnesia so it fits 😂

[@BrutusMaximusAurelius]

I suspect many new Slapdash O'Leanders in the near future.

[@lancecarlisle1749]

He's gonna be the new Drizzt, isn't he?

[@thenotsoguitarguy9429]

The little, distant "ding" at the end of the theme song is never not satisfying. Puts a smile on my face every time.

[@RonPower]

I agree. I do miss the music from the first few videos though.

[@blakesmith7058]

Its more like "ding! :D"

[@vision_walker]

She's so calm but the words coming out of her mouth are so chaotic. I love Ashley

[@1AmGroot]

6:02 my friend once played a half orc barbarian who was actually a table that broke when a fat wizard sat on him, so the wizard turned him into a half orc barbarian with a 5 in all mental abilities and dexterity but a 20 in strength and constitution

[@haydenhamilton7189]

I’m not used to hearing Ellie this happy.

[@garrettrobinson3826]

Ashley should know that a maxed-out Charisma stat isn't the only thing you need to be a fully-realized character; she's working with a +5 modifier every day of her life.

[@elfbreath]

LOVING all the Ash-o-lee this week!

[@NoGodsUnderStars]

Ashley AND Henry in one video?! Darn, I can only like this video once!

[@inkblotblues8748]

Let Henry host the next Handbooker Helper! Just 5 minutes of uninterrupted Henry footage.

[@skyblade7438]

Marvel did 2 hours of Goose, so sure, why not?

[@blasalvice]

I'm sure I'm not the only one who could listen to you for hours :D

[@TheAAMoy]

10 hours of "Last of Us" kzbin.info/www/bejne/l33KamuJadirqac

[@dermeseti]

Henry does Animal Companion Handbooker Helper when?

[@knuckles543]

Maybe on a ranger vid, with Laura

[@PunkJr]

It's so funny, I was JUST looking up new backgrounds for a character I'm building right as this was posted! YAY!

[@micah5847]

Captain Slapdash O'Leander contructs intricate rituals to touch the skin of other men

[@johnharrison2086]

I love the idea that a character picks bar fights just to feel the touch of another person! I laughed out loud at that!

[@TardisPilot2004]

Henry has made this video into a Doggos & Draggos video.

[@verdurite]

Please do an animal companion handbooker helper with Henry!!!!

[@michaelcooper8824]

Barks, growls and whines... with subtitles for those cretins who do not speak the blessed language of the wild.

[@druid_zephyrus]

that 48 hour memory is a very interesting idea. also did you just put my man Chod on blast? It makes so much sense that he was once a duck.

[@thehiddenninja3428]

@Follow the howl Step 1: have a 48 hour memory Step 2: reach level 4, so you can pick a feat Step 3: Keen mind Result: You now have a flawless 720 hour memory!

[@thepurehealer1279]

Doctor Dance Buffalo is the best name I have ever heard

[@STARmod]

She talks ab dnd with so much passion, that's nice.

[@MTVENGE]

i could listen to ashley talk for years

[@Gravy_Jones]

Man, doubling up on Ashley today!

[@silverlaughterLOL]

I was just listening to the playlist and all of a sudden, I was like "why do I hear Ellie?" XD

[@masonmiller5394]

All hail the totem of the duck

[@druid_zephyrus]

best Totem, and now that I know Chod was cursed!!!!! we need The Darrington Brigade to make some sort of cameo. maybe just a few ducks in a desert oasis, idc need me some more Chod

[@samualwatkins]

My first character before his background was figured out: “I’m a human Paladin who has a bone to pick with the undead!” After his background: “I was found on the side of a dirt road and raised by a Tiefling merc with flying armor who raised me by her self with tales of knights and adventures and joined an order of Paladins who travel to other countries to deal with dark forces similar in concept to Hellboys’ BPRD, until one day my team was killed and I was taken captive by a vampire who decided to hire me to help deal with other vampires who where encroaching on her turf.” There was a lot more and then I made the Vampire Noblewoman a player character with her own long backstory that deals with identity erasure and the nature of changing myths over time, spoiler alert she is one of the hero knights the paly grew up listening to.

[@FrankstaPasta]

“...so much more with which to play.” - audible gasp from me as I hear a sentence spoken aloud without ending on a preposition 😍😍😍😍

[@bewareofsnow]

Yes!! This made me so happy!

[@skycloud5695]

You know, after the outro Jingle I almost clicked off this video before I got to see Ashley preform an MLG Dab. Thank God I lingered.

[@battlescargigantica2159]

I've been playing D&D for well over 20 years, even though I know (most) of the stuff that is said in these videos, they are so entertaining that I watch and love them anyway. I'm so happy for this channel and it's success

[@Arcyo]

We get both a Henry and a Slashdab in one video? Truly, this is a blessed day.

[@Calex55KH]

thank you for leaving the dog in the video for the sake of leaving the dog in the video. We are truly blessed

[@timmyj9318]

Nice. Now we just need an Dab-shley Emote on Twitch!

[@chrisblake4198]

Wish I'd had this six months ago! Would have made explaining backgrounds to my rookies much easier. Great job as always folks.

[@nmkyl]

Landlord = inevitable BBEG

[@SwollaG7]

who else caught that lionel gayheart reference? :)

[@meanyvizzini8347]

Is... does that mean... is that canon?

[@williamwall3403]

@@meanyvizzini8347 I think it was kinda implied originally that he was under some sort of magics given the way he acted.

[@BrianWilkersontheAuthor]

Backgrounds are magnificent in D&D 5E. My current character was created in exactly this fashion - rolling a dice for traits and then pulling them together into a narrative. He has been great fun to roleplay. Ashley did an equally magnificent job explaining both the mechanical and story potential of this aspect of the game.

[@MrColoskyj]

So much Ashley today! So sweet!

[@Elheru42]

Well that was one of the most pleasant 6 minutes of my life. Thank you Ashley.

[@jpumbaa1]

Clicked because Handbooker Helper, gave it the thumbs up because Henry.

[@weedmanbrandon]

Ashley you rock

[@gamergeek322]

Ashley! Henry!!

[@Dedmeetdm]

Henry is the Goodest Helper!

[@aFadaMadrinha]

This is the first time I watch a Handbooker Helper-video and I immediately have to pause to tell you how much enjoyed your jingle 💘

[@MrFuzzyscreen]

I needed a detailed explanation on character backgrounds so I came here. I came to the right place.

[@ShagShaggio]

10/10 would half-orc duck barbarian with chronic memory loss again

[@Hatska2wolf]

This is all I needed in my life, nothing makes me smile more than Ashley Johnson and Henry!!!!

[@bootychelle1]

I'm so happy I saw the lil pupper

[@rodrigoluzz7534]

Dunno why but a duck transformed into a half orc barbarian sounds very cool (and fun) to play

[@GratuaCuun]

He was a guest character on the VM campaign. Matt even came up with a Barbarian Totem path of the Duck for him. www.dmsguild.com/product/239392/Totem-of-the-Duck--Option-for-Totem-Warrior-Barbarians

[@Cheesy611]

After watching Ashley's Between the Sheets, the connection to the sea that Pike had makes me cry !

[@hartzy7425]

Aw man I didn't see it until you pointed it out. That's some tear jerking stuff.

[@Cheesy611]

@@hartzy7425 It is! She has found subtle ways to show her connection to the sea!

[@Dustinisanartist]

Now I really want to play a duck barbarian in my next D&D game!

[@m3divh]

This felt like the Intro to Pillars of eternity 2.... :D

[@trishalish13]

I made a joke (but not really) request earlier about Henry joining every CR show and IT IS HAPPENING.

[@Shadylikeatree]

Ashley doing the video and a reference to Lionel. I love it.

[@CathrineMacNiel]

didn't expect that duck here.

[@erbgorre]

i feel like doctor dance buffalo is going to be a critter that shows up in the yeehaw game ranch in the near future

[@_mrcrypt]

This is a little more info than I'm used to... a little more in-depth. I like it. Thank you.

[@CMLT.]

Quack quack ... remind me of C1's Lionel played by Heder, love his character background :D

[@radioactivekid007]

“Who picks bar fights so he can remember what it feels like to touch another person” xD best line ever

[@DaniGeez]

Henry’s handbooker helper on familiars

[@עומרשרייבר-ל4ר]

"A duck that turnd into a half orc barbarian that only remember his last 48 hours" Me: aggressively write it down

[@griff9288]

My adventurer is a guard who got a knee replacement

[@wolfenrichtophen6010]

Then an bearded elf fighter reveals that he... had the courtesy of... having mated with an White Dragon... And somehow married said dragon... Main reason hes adventuring is to help his wifes' hoarding pile... She mostly wants books... and the party never knew why he was shipping so many books....

[@rubenlarochelle1881]

The duck cursed by a witch to be an half-orc barbarian who can only remember the last 48 hours might be the best character ever

[@majormoron605]

"who picks barfights just to remember what it feels like to touch another person" ouch, that's a mean burn

[@localbasedfairy2248]

Ashley: "You've got--" me: thE PERFECT WARLOCK

[@OGDanteZero]

Immediate thumbs up when Henry appears!

[@wolfybat3335]

No need to remind us to like... See Ashley, instantly like :)

[@courtneychristine6357]

HENRY!!!

[@CaptainRed1000]

I’m really glad that she brought up the possibility of customising backgrounds. That was the thing that confused me the most during my first Character Creation.

[@limors]

That slash though!

[@nathanford5665]

We have a mighty need for more Henry

[@MelodicQuest]

If only there was some way for me to show my support for this video....

[@StevenJQuinlan]

Sentient hat piloting a suit of armour, what on earth is a good background for that

[@allyquilter5433]

I didn't need to learn about background but I will literally click on anything with Ashley in it.

[@TealTheDropster]

listening to this video feels like Ellie teaching Joel how to play Dungeons and Dragons in a post apocalyptic earth

[@NoTime2Explain676]

We didn’t do it because it would’ve required a lot of work that we weren’t willing to do, but one of my friends wanted to make a character that was a wizard polymorphed into a goose and he can only honk but can still cast spells

[@Cloud_Seeker]

Didn't do what? Give your characters a background? I think you make pretty bad characters if you ignore background. However your wizard polymorph idea isn't legal by Raw rules. Not unless a goose can cast spells, but they can't.