Today I watched a show about a healer, a fighter, a rogue and a wizard… oh and a (some) goblin(s),, going on an epic quest. ‘One Hit Die’ is another show in the Dungeons & Dragons, Magic The gathering, RPG, fantasy table top gamer youtube comedy genre. It is very niche, but that is the type of thing that can potentially find an audience.

What I liked about OHD is the show’s ability to poke fun at a lot of different things in the genre. From the start the show’s title sequence is a parody of the epic title sequence of Game Of Thrones. They even go so far as to highlight the new location in episode four, much in the way that Game Of Thrones alters its map based titles based on the primary location of the story in that episode.

My other favorite moments related to the mild fourth wall breaking that would occasionally occur. Typically this presented itself in the ways that the character described gear, such as a dagger having +5 damage (or something like that) or the way situations were described based on character class abilities. The best moment, in my opinion, was when the rogue character attempted to break down a complex battle mathematically, and obvious struggled.

Dungeons & Dragons and Lord of the Rings isn’t really my thing, but I appreciate storytelling that is in some ways out of the box. Breaking the fourth wall, even in parody, is often considered a ‘no-no’ but this is the web, ‘convention’ can shove it. I want to see more rule breaking.

Of course I also had a few issues with the show. While I’m the first to say that this genre is a little ways off from my own personal sweet spot I do think that the script was a little lacking in consistency. We are spoiled by big budget comedies with teams of writers churning out joke after joke after joke. It’s hard for one writer to keep up with the pacing we’ve become accustomed to and I see this area is a major hurdle for web creators trying to make consistent content without much money. At the same time there are some jokes that just didn’t seem to play well between the actors. I’m not sure if they were just not hitting the beats right or what, but it came off as a mild lack of experience in communication between actors and the director that would probably work itself out in a longer run.

Where the show really shines though, performance and writing wise, is typically in those character confessional scenes. OHD is filmed in that now classic, ‘The Office,’ mocumentary style. These sequences gave the actors a little more room to show off their characters. I particularly enjoyed the segments with the wizard. That poor guy is just a terrible wizard…

My biggest concern with the show was that it exists as a sort of pitch series for a bigger, better, logger, longer show. The hope is to release the episodes while pushing an IndieGoGo campaign to raise funds for the next installment. This is why OHD is referred to as a ‘Prologue series’ rather than a first season. Where the concern lies is that I didn’t feel OHD went big enough. The show was shot in a single location, over just four short days. The costumes and the makeup are top notch but there needed to be some well choreographed fighting, slicker camera movements or editing, at least something to break up the monotonous walk and talk through the forest. Forests can be very beautiful, but it seems like a lot of shows have had challenges shooting in them, with so much green it is tough to make any one thing stand out and make things visually interesting

If the goal is to really sell the show then you need to go all out. Spend extra time and money on the pitch and then find ways to cut costs in a longer version. There is a lot of potential here, with a clever writing style and a fun take on a well loved genre. Creator Spenser Estabrooks promises me that a full season of the show would feature a big increase in production value, and that’s the show I really want to see.

You can help fund ‘One Hit Die’ by checking out their IndieGoGo campaign at http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/one-hit-die-season-1 and you can share the show with your friends at their website OneHitDie.com.