High Rollers: Aerois

[@Synetik]

Sentry: Thank you. That was a hard fight. I nearly didn't make it. You all saved me multiple times. Lucius: First time?

[@Crispi1260]

*spoiler* This whole arc has been incredible. From the intense grind that wore them down to almost nothing, through the epic battle with the 4 Knights of the Order to the brilliant climax with this fantastic Kellara fight. I have never been so scared for a party, so moved by the sacrifices made by NPCs, and so saddened by the end of what would traditionally be thought of as a "baddie". These brilliant moments are just some of the things that have me coming back week after week, and will have me returning for a long time to come.

[@richardsmith1898]

I took an extended break and am just now returning to Aerois, to this amazing fight... For fucks sakes these streams, these videos, this campaign deserves so so so many more eyes on it. It's a hidden gem and the story is brilliant. I'm over here misty eyed thanks to Mark and the gang's storytelling...

[@wheuxlikesstuff]

At 1:07:24 I am incredibly confident that Mark Hulmes fudged that roll to give Katie a special moment since she was feeling down. Normally I'm against fudging, but in this instance that's good DMing.

[@UncleverCarapace]

Fudging rolls is a DM power that should be used judiciously. At the end of the day, the point of D&D (and every other board game) is to have fun. If a player can't catch a break and is genuinely not having a good time, I think a fudged roll is perfectly permissible. But if the DM is always making up numbers and bending rules to make sure That Cool Thing goes off right, the players can easily end up feeling like nothing they do makes a difference because the DM is just going to do whatever they want anyways. So I don't mind fudged rolls. The rules should serve your group, not the other way around. Whether this specific roll was honest or not is immaterial - if it wasn't, then it's fine, and if it was, it was in service of Mark making sure his friends were enjoying this game they play together.

[@rpc808]

I agree we also wouldn't get to see this bit happening 1:14:08

[@bryan__m]

50% chance you're wrong.

[@marshman2415]

I respectfully disagree. I don't think it's his way to fudge rolls gi en what he's said in the past. I could be wrong though! 😅

[@KKBash]

@@marshman2415He had said in the past that at least one of the encounters that an enemy had just a few HP left and it would have ruined the encounter or made the experience bad if a PC died from a handful or so of HP. He just called it good.

[@TheFrozenFlame05]

Anyone else want Nina to draw the party at the end with all their new stuff, and they can compare it to the original artwork.

[@travisboothe5670]

32:01 I love that Quill healed max! Totally hope they get married one day.

[@azguarder]

Spoiler* Poor Katie that first round where she couldn’t do anything because of the charged mote I could just feel her frustration

[@Pancakeli]

Yeah, especially finding out afterwards that it didn't even stay charged, so it was entirely pointless too. I'm sure that felt great.

[@BDTMack]

So happy to see Part 2 of this incredible boss fight! Last episode I loved the mechanics of filling up the lantern and then using it to make Kellara vulnerable so much that when the environment changed from the Mourning Garden to this disc of light in the Astral Sea, I worried the fight wouldn't be as unique. Then Kellara started dropping the motes of light and Mark explained how each character could get a special power move and my worries were banished away! Cannot wait to see some power moves this episode. I'm sure Mark will nail it in ways I can't even anticipate!

[@jordanroutledge777]

Epic titan fight in aerois orbit. Nice aesthetics.

[@Kicksticks]

Love this fight so much. Hopefully we get to see some other characters show off their limit break in the future!!

[@Blindy_Sama]

I love this campaign! Also don't forget to check out season 5 of evening Star also ran by this awesome dungeon master :-)

[@blonkkiller9113]

whaaat i love mark

[@Blindy_Sama]

@@blonkkiller9113 yes there's probably a wiki where you can find information to find all the episodes I don't think they're all on the same KZbin channel I think they're divided up but yeah they just started season 5 Mica Burton is also in it

[@Blasted2Oblivion]

Wait...it's still going? I thought it stopped. You just made my fucking day.

[@travisboothe5670]

Someone needs to animate this fight! Then the whole series!

[@lessonsinfailing]

That relief everyone shows is amazing. I play ttrpgs and, I've never got so involved in my life. Kudos guys.

[@markjust86]

Lucious definitely should be the one getting free god stuff!!!

[@BlackShadow1991]

That was an awesome conclusion to an absolutely epic fight 👍And consider what other fights await, I cannot wait to see how Mark will keep the ball rolling.

[@MaximumHyperfixation]

I love how Rihannons hair changes in like every episode.

[@velocitywolf4899]

As someone who is about to run their first session this weekend, I hope one day I can do something a quarter of how amazing this was! One day, one day😂

[@idoshulman6379]

Might be because earlier on the lowlands vibe was much more harsh and now it's a lot more of a space high fantasy

[@Nathaniel_McVie]

A question for the HR crew, if they see this, that is. I've noticed you've stopped using the 'chart of damage' when someone in the party gets knocked down or nat20'd. Was there a reason? I would assume it would make late game a lot more difficult if Lucius popped his other lung :D

[@wormboygirl7556]

my best guess as to why they don't use the injury table anymore is that they're high level, and got access to spells that could easily fix the injuries on the table

[@Kicksticks]

@@wormboygirl7556 Yeah It seems more like its just a hassle at this stage.

[@J0K3R_the_Nerd]

Oh I’m crying again😩 but also Mark stole Naruto Uzumaki Barrage for Aela and it’s perfect 🤘

[@Narmocu]

I love Trott, and I love the Lucius RP, but I'll never *completely* understand the insistence on upcasting first level spells like that. Granted it was a crit, but he did less with a 9th than Quill did with a 2nd. They just don't scale very well. There are plenty of other thematic things he could replicate with wish, even without really "wishing" if he wants to avoid that. Still, awesome episode and great payoff.

[@salamanda550]

Eh, Chromatic Orb is Lucius' signature spell at this point, honestly, so I think it mostly just adds to the character.

[@BetterKnownAsMalice]

It’s purely RP, I would love to see him use some other 8th & 9th level spells

[@travisfuller436]

Same thing for Quill with mass cure wounds. Mass Heal is such a superior use of a 9th level spell slot

[@kellygingrich4302]

What a fantastic arc!

[@Edrysian]

Spoiler* Can't wait to see those twin scimitars in action from Nova. In my head they're amazing and the image of Nova summoning these twin blades and slicing things left and right with them is just so cool in my head!

[@j-mc2144]

10:11 Selfless Quill deciding who to heal 13:20 "I fly" *You cannot* 15:50 Complimenting DM 19:00 Sadge Aila turn, I feel your pain 23:02 Distance spell messup no. 3 34:10 Come.. WISE NOVAAA 36:00 Bruuutal 46:04 I'm shaking and crying rn 54:37 GRAVI THRUUUST 58:20 FISTING the shit out of Khelara 1:01:50 Fuck you. 1:03:29 Tom "I like to watch" Hazell and his Fuck you turn LMAO 1:07:46 TYRANNOSARAUS 1:11:17 Hooooolllyyyy fuuuuuck QUILL and a POG chromatic Orb 1:13:52 Aila's SUPACHARGE 1:39:20 Tom's Face 1:40:42 Tom's face no.2

[@FyreDrac]

Fuck dude. You guys. What? Just godamn this was a fucking roller coaster of an episode. Well done

[@BigCheddarMC]

Absolutely sick final boss fight.

[@ledraxus6396]

I'm catching up! Looking forward to joining live!

[@vivienne6962]

The episode got released after the Queen died and it's called Sorrow Incarnate. That's a nice coincidence

[@nkbg2390]

Coincidence?

[@lolageez1]

@@nkbg2390 The first one that came out the week before had the same name

[@nkbg2390]

@@lolageez1 yeah I know was making a haha there

[@Scott_Burton]

Still playing a lot of catch up, and I know this is an old video and the cast will probably never even notice this. But I see so many people who take the medicine proficiency, often have a long forgotten healer's kit in their inventory. And still use the "as an action stabilize a creature with 0HP with a medicine check at DC 10" while ignoring that the healer's kit has 10 uses, one of which can be used as an action to stabilize a creature with 0 HP without needing to make a wisdom (Medicine) check. While it is a finite resource, the healer's kit is a means to stabilize someone, with _no_ failure, by using an action. While you save the use of the healer's kit, using a medicine check to _attempt_ to stabilize them is still sacrificing an action, but with a chance of failure. [I'm playing catch up, because everything went crazy for 2 years at work, so I can only get 1-3 episodes in on my days off, or 1 episode scattered across 2 or 3 days after work, and I've made a point of keeping current on the new campaign so I don't have to play catch up beyond "I'll catch the VOD release in a couple days"]

[@travisboothe5670]

I think I would have chosen the cloak of light. Your gonna need some light to fight HADAR!!!

[@travisboothe5670]

But twin blade Nova is going to look so cool in the fan art!

[@annaspringbear]

Incredible arc!!

[@darinmany5397]

The Dm has so many cool NPC who can explain to the party how they need to interact with the world. Sentry you need to lead the Guardians. Mark the dm does not want to tell them how to play the game. Bishop could have guided sentry.

[@sambirtill1330]

I would like to suggest the "Sherlock Hulmes Effect" similar to the more famous Matt Mercer Effect but instead focused on the expectation of amazing and dynamic combats that mere mortals cannot hope to achieve.

[@richardsmith1898]

followed by the soul scorching tears of Gideon that accompany his amazing storytelling...

[@MorinehtarTheBlue]

The Matt Mercer effect unfortunately covers any online DM who demonstrates mastery of the craft. Technically it extends to their fantastic casts as well. And I've certainly seen the DM name substituted for whatever great DM the watcher first encounters. The funny thing is my first encounter with Mark was on Rollplay: Far Verona.

[@eshelynn]

I've been thinking about this for a while now... Is Valla going to be a sacrifice to kill Hadar?

[@thefracturedbutwhole5475]

I don't think so, Starbane seems to genuinely love Valla and doesn't want to put her in danger, the Storm-chasers certainly would not sacrifice Valla. I think Ciasca will return and end up sacrificing herself to stop and/or kill Hadar and Valla will take her place as Goddess of Aerois, but I may be wrong.

[@MorinehtarTheBlue]

I believe it has something to do with Valla's time and space powers. It gives me the feeling that she was created to be the solution to the Hadar problem.

[@ItZoTom]

A true squeaky bum time fight. Crazy how far the party have come and how strong they all are now!

[@slipperysnip]

dear god I want to know what each character's limit break was

[@Mr.AffaDavid]

Starting to get a feeling that the way to kill Hadar is to use one of the champions as a sacrifice, like using Tidus instead Yuna from FF10 to stop the cycle of Sin

[@sonofstarth1358]

I love the Dark Souls Soul Focusing

[@Derploop]

Katie's forearm is turning into Aila's in this thumbnail.

[@feathers3411]

I'm almost there, I'm almost caught up, I can TASTE the end

[@blackh9604]

55:53 hype nova moment

[@DefZombie]

Missed opportunity to give the special Item to lucius in cloak form in honor of night frost

[@heartdice2512]

Gosh darn it, that made me cry again ;_;

[@demilts]

Holy moly geeez what an incredible fight. I would love to know what each characters limit break was.

[@demilts]

Please I do ship Sentry and Max but it seems like Sentry isn't one for a relationship?? An ace rep perhaps??

[@darinmany5397]

I feel mark has not explained that very well to them. I feel Mark has explained everything perfectly to the players.

[@Sorenzo]

Does Nova use armor? I don't remember if she got any when she swapped to fighter, but I was surprised it didn't seem appealing to her to get magical full plate. I can't help but feel that the mantle of life would've been good for Quill, I mean, he could really use more life 😅

[@Pancakeli]

I think she uses half plate or breast plate since you only get heavy armor proficiency from fighter if it's your starting class. Full plate armor also has a strength requirement of 15, and it halves your speed if you don't meet that requirement. Aside from that, everyone was mostly full up on attunement or felt their characters wouldn't use any of those items, so cool twinblades

[@darthbonk8617]

i love your series

[@T3hIluvatar]

Lucius using his 9th level spell slot to chromatic orb, not once but twice ???

[@kyleweir689]

Holy Aura this combat shows why you need to keep track of spell duration. This definitely went longer than 1 minute (10 rounds) right?

[@travisfuller436]

He cast it twice. First with 8th level and then with 9th level

[@lolageez1]

13:45: Birderman: No Way Home

[@reaptatorynowolf2808]

Who or what pushes Quill up when he failed the dex save an hour into the fight?? 1:11:39

[@rpc808]

Siaska I think since the stars are her domain

[@Markcrazeer]

Siaska or soul bound kelaras presence prevents them from leaving.

[@jaimeecrook2918]

im pretty sure theyre insinuating it was hesper (so yeah siaska)

[@calconone7250]

Ground may as well have not been falling at all. Its disappointing that DM"s do this so often when a campaign has gone on long enough. Every battle is a guaranteed win with no significant casualties, failure isnt a genuine threat, and stuff gets hastily added to save player characters. This campaign started off fantastic, but it has turned into a very low-stakes game as it has gone on.

[@bryan__m]

@@calconone7250 meanwhile the last several fights have left me almost uncomfortably nervous because it seems like they have no chance of winning whatsoever, compared to the earlier fights that I could half pay attention to in the background because I knew they'd win in the end.

[@ghostrunner6815]

Felt like there was some bad rulings in this one. The players were on their best behaviors to not start a couple arguments here.

[@MrAltissimo]

Ah yes, High Rollers: Beyond Light. Thankfully no micro-transactions.

[@levicooper4529]

so good!!!!!

[@GamingForSurvival]

I hate how trott always declines god power magic items, he still has a messenger ring attuned for Christ sake

[@nyanwizard2735]

Can’t believe there was a tpk 10 minutes in, daaaarn

[@slendertataGames]

Spoiler Nova and Tiangong, twin warriors now wielding twin blades this shit is too cool mark pls stop

[@dethmin173]

coool

[@cald1421]

1:11:07

[@Christopher_Pug]

The last few episodes have been a serious slog.

[@epiclevelcraft]

🖤🖤🖤🤘

[@danielbutler6823]

After all these years I sure hope it doesn't end so anti climactic.

[@wyattfrye8262]

I mean if I was to criticize this would’ve been shorter if you stayed on the ship and quill flys around casting the light cantrip to give artillery fire from orbit on that one section of the forest when you guys first entered and mark would hand wave most of it, as in your destroying a lot of the undead, and probably would’ve saved one and half stream of time to finish this raid on nightbloom hold. However, it was still a wonderful time and can’t wait for to see those swords in action.

[@camigoesbrr4064]

I want to like but it’s on 777 so I’m commenting my support instead!!

[@znerolz]

The Queen has left this mortal realm. God save the Queen. Long live the King

[@JosiahIronclad]

Are we gonna get the dual scimitars’ stats and abilities? Oh wait, let me guess, +1 to attack, can fart once per day.

[@bryan__m]

Attacks get +1d4 radiant and +1d4 necrotic damage. You can spend a charge to create a crescent of darkness or crescent of light, or if you create both they become a crescent of the moon. Not sure what light or moon do, but darkness creates a 30ft aura of dim light, and you can give an ally half cover or deal 2d6 necrotic damage to an enemy. No farting abilities that I can see, but I'm not caught up yet either.