High Rollers: Aerois

[@derek2297]

Mark must put in so much work to build these encounters to really put a way overpowered high level party to challenge. Bravo High Rollers and thank you for such great entertainment

[@pixelmaws8151]

I wouldn't blame trott for playing a purely martial class for their 3rd campaign.

[@TheBaldParakeet]

Man fr

[@Blasted2Oblivion]

Human fighter. No fancy spells or racial abilities. Just hit and hit some more.

[@alexsander471]

I've never played any TTRPG myself but seeing Lucius this entire campaign was a bit painful at times, the times the dice have let him down when he was about to do some spectacular shit is kinda devastating. I know everyone can get fucked over by luck but it seems Trott had a particularly hard time with his rolls.

[@FrumpybutSuperSmart]

I hope he does. It would be way less stressful to watch. Or maybe a half caster like an artificer!

[@Skylord_F]

It would be cool to see Trott play a crunchier character in a main game

[@FrumpybutSuperSmart]

I thought Trott was aware that Wish can just cast any spell of 8th level or lower, because of when he cast Disintegrate with it against Xarkira's Wall of Force.

[@MorinehtarTheBlue]

Such awareness isn't necessarily permanent. Considering he routinely forgets his class abilities it really shouldn't be that surprising.

[@MJAlloid]

He's not a thinker...

[@pbg9188]

I think he got penalised for leaning into the drama as his first instinct. His second instinct was to cast Waterbreathing.

[@bryan__m]

@@pbg9188I don't know if the waterbreathing spell actually occurred to him. First instinct was teleport-without-teleport, second instinct was waterbreathing-without-waterbreathing. I'm a softie so I would have ruled differently, but Trott didn't seem upset by it so that's the important part.

[@christopherbrown9188]

Yeah, at first, I thought he was dramatically casting teleport and was then like, no change that to waterbreating. Rather than using a wish effect, which basically removes him from combat for the rest of the encounter. Then bam, lost the ability to cast wish.

[@ch3ls3ab0t6]

For anyone on the fence, I highly recommend the High Rollers glitter dice if they're still available. They are absolutely gorgeous. I collect dice and have literally thousands. This set is one of my favorites.

[@RealRizzardofozz]

Dude I love this campaign. I've actually started re-watching it from the start!!

[@Edrysian]

I did that a couple times with Lightfall, but life’s changed since then so I don’t have the time now to do that with Aerois😅. How’s the re-watch going?

[@ryanhale6339]

Mark is doing such an AWESOME job running high-level D&D! The whole campaign, honestly. But we constantly hear about how hard it is to create proper challenging encounters for high-level PC's. And Mark keeps coming up with excellent encounters, bosses, etc. IMHO, this campaign is BETTER than Critical Role's current campaign because of how Mark keeps ratcheting up the epicness!

[@matthewward1346]

Agreed. On the merits of game balancing, narrative, and player agency, Mark is a way better DM than Mercer.

[@TheRedDevil7494]

​@@matthewward1346 let's not go there, Mark would hate to see comments like this. Especially when it comes to his good friend. They're both great in their own ways! 😅

[@matthewward1346]

@connorjeffery7400 go where, exactly? I'm not disparaging Mercer. He is great at voices, maps, networking talent, and descriptions. Like you said, great in their own ways... which is exactly why I said "in terms of x, y, and z". Honestly, this is exactly why I don't post in critical role spaces anymore. The slightest hint at criticism of Matt sends some of you into a complete tizzy. The guy is a human being, not a holy sage... jeez.

[@TheRedDevil7494]

@@matthewward1346 All I said was Mark has said time and time again about not putting one person below him for so and so reasons because it's not the kind of compliment you think it is. 😬 I like HR because it feels like a home game whereas CR is more like an Movie Epic... Plus you said "a way better DM than Mercer" that to me sounds like you're putting one above another to me 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@matthewward1346]

@connorjeffery7400 I don't think I've ever heard him say that. You are just butt-hurt that someone had the gaul to say "better than mercer". I don't ascribe to your zealotry for the man, get over it. We all have our own opinions and we all create hierarchies in our minds, being a condescending douche over such a meaningless opinion as this is just stupid.

[@annaspringbear]

Oh man, cheering and crying and laughing and punching the air, this story man, the way you're all playing it, just absolutely wonderful

[@mikewithington4755]

Omg, Hadar stole the audio. All we have is silence

[@alexsander471]

can't have shit in Aeoris 😭

[@mithren86]

Had it working for a bit then vanished again

[@amyheath8261]

I really hope we get some more moments between Lucius and Sky Prince Arudan before the campaign ends

[@spoffington4517]

Could you not argue that Trott's use of wish was still replicating a spell effect like teleport or something? It's sad to see him lose wish

[@MorinehtarTheBlue]

I mean yes and no. It's a lot of comparatively trivial details but it isn't quite the same. If Trott had given it a bit of a think and it would have simply been water breathing. And with Mark being a stand-up DM Lucius will get another 9th level spell so he isn't losing out.

[@spectra20000]

So glad we're getting donations in YT Vods again, I missed them.

[@nanospeed2550]

Me too!!

[@huwjackson8110]

Yes!!!! I swear time slows down while I wait for each of these to come out

[@Derploop]

Wow, I can't wait to see Tom's next one shot character, Aalwys Gosfirst

[@utopia2112]

I always love when Mark makes both of us cry. He's mah favorite DM.

[@johnplesia5154]

Peak, PEAK, spoilies: That NAT20 death save was IMMACULATE. Amazing. Kim's attacks had to miss for that to happen, yes indeed. At 2:54:15 for anyone wondering.

[@nyanwizard2735]

Perfect time for to Lucius take prismatic wall

[@KHitsuga]

Everything now just makes me see Endwalker in everything Mark does XD

[@FyreDrac]

been watiing for this! cant wait to see where this goes!

[@FyreDrac]

so audio on moblie is borken and i cant get teh quality above 360p on pc. fucking stellar episode technical issues aside. That was a fucking glorious episode. you guys are amazing and so inspiring to me. you help to keep me inspired to keep running my own game even with all the shit going on in my life

[@BlackShadow1991]

I don''t have a stake on that 'Wish' call, as long as behind the scenes situation was considered fine by all parties, that's not my business and I'd rather focus on the game itself 🙂And this was a very awesome session with some clutch rolls when they were needed the most... Plus what an end, eh? The upcoming fight is bound to be epic as well. Stay awesome, HR! 👍

[@123Nightcloud]

If you mean "can't cast wish again" by "the wish call", that's part of the spell itself from what I know, or at the very least is how Mark has run it for ages haha

[@andrewthorpe3377]

@@123Nightcloud The issue with 'the Wish call' is that he essentially used it to replicate the teleport spell, and using wish to replicate a spell does not incur the risk of losing it. It's up to the HR team, at the end of the day, but it wasn't the best call.

[@123Nightcloud]

@@andrewthorpe3377 ooh right yeah that makes sense! My assumption was "because he didn't directly say teleport it therefore didn't count as the teleport spell" specifically, but it could easily have been an oversight on their part

[@andrewthorpe3377]

@@123Nightcloud I hope it was an oversight, because punishing a player for describing the mechanics of a spell but not explicitly naming the specific spell itself in the heat of battle is just unnecessarily cruel, in my eyes. That said, I accept it's up to the HR team to decide how to interpret the rules at their table. If the people at the table are okay with the outcome, then that's the end of it, but that doesn't mean I won't share my opinion on the matter.

[@danielwaters476]

​@@andrewthorpe3377 I would agree, but he didn't do the teleport spell, everyone was all over the battlefield. It was similar to the spell but didn't have to worry about the touch Condition which makes it way more powerful.

[@GrynLin]

Counterspell has no verbal component so Lucius should have his breath to start

[@Blasted2Oblivion]

That might have been due to Mark's mistake prior. He was describing the holding breath mechanics and referred to speaking as a somatic requirement rather than verbal. It would not surprise me that he would hear what Mark says and accept it rather than assume it was a mistake.

[@henryparker8035]

No, he cast a slow spell last season near the end which is verbal I think

[@emmatrix9556]

love this sad its coming to an epic but so hyped for campaign three

[@EverlastingEclipse]

That wish basically cast teleport It shouldn't have had the downside

[@mme.veronica735]

Teleport has a chance of failure, that wish didn't

[@joshangrian]

It’s all about wording/intent. If Trott had said, “I use wish to teleport us to Casatorus,” then Mark probably wouldn’t have counted it as a true wish, but because he he just said “I wish we all were out of the water and safe” there is no spell that does exactly that as worded.

[@andrewthorpe3377]

@@mme.veronica735 Having an object associated with the location you are trying to telport to (a material component) nulifies that risk and makes it 100% chance you will land on target. When using wish to replicate another spell, you do not need to meet the requirements in the spell, including material components.

[@ThunderKnightZ92]

Also, as with most of your encounters you set up, I love the choices. FFX is one of my favorite games, so I love the work you’ve done to mix it in, as all of the gurren Lagann references and the anime/game pulls.

[@BrenTheBrain07]

Does the video have audio cause it doesn't for me

[@Flummiification]

have the same problem on mobile, on PC there is audio edit: only the App, Browser works fine als well edit: finally decided to work

[@johanwittens7712]

​​@@Flummiificationame here. No audio on my mobile device. Edit: now half an hour later it's fixed. Must have been too quick trying to watch it after it was uploaded...

[@bluedrago4483]

There's no sound 😢😢

[@thenoblecrook5694]

Yeah no audio for me either 😢

[@matthewward1346]

Same here 😢

[@Zelmel]

I legit actually liked that bit at the start. I'm sure it made exactly no sense to people who are audio only, but I smirked IRL so that's pretty good.

[@Blasted2Oblivion]

Is there a reason Lucius couldn't use wish to cast water breathing on the party? It avoids the negative consequences of his wish AND solves the problem of them being under water. [Edit] Beyond just not thinking of it I mean.

[@mme.veronica735]

Just not thinking of it until too late is the thing. He could have, but he specifically didn't. You gotta be careful with wish spells it was bound to happen at some point

[@otakumatt]

I am fully convinced that he forgot about that part of the spell considering he mentioned reading further down a few seconds later

[@johngilbert4789]

Also, what he got was just a teleport, that's a spell wish can replicate

[@Derploop]

yep, first thought I had 😅 The burden on casters is that the player really needs to know their spells, both for game flow and to play them to the mega broken level that casters are

[@Amon2323]

@@mme.veronica735 feels like the character is being punished for the player forgetting. Right there we have in game evidence that Lucius *would* know that and not have cast the wish that the others were telling him is what ‘Lucius would do’. Seems a little along the lines of expecting the player to have the characters’ skills

[@Greare]

This is an amazing campaign, thank you High Rollers

[@dxmixnj6583]

Yeah...the consequences on the wish spell feel really iffy to me idk. He basically cast teleport and because he doesn't need ANY Requirements I'd argue that even range and an object of the desired place weren't needed. It just kind of feels as if Trott is being held to a higher standard and is being unnecessarily punished again. It was his own use of the wish spell after all and not through a cursed object or creature. Edit: Don't get me wrong, I think Mark is an awesome and talented DM, but this call in particular just feels incredibly wrong and cruel

[@danielwaters476]

Yeah but he didnt cast teleport because if he did everyone would've had to be in 5 feet of him. He just took everyone from across the battlefield and moved them. Which is pretty shit to lose a wish on and maybe Mark could've given a little bit of health back for the "safe". But it's still not the teleport spell.

[@man111395]

​@Daniel Waters wish removes the need for all requirements for the spell, so the range doesn't matter either.

[@Kaardoron]

Thank you! Yes!

[@MommyOfZoeAndLiam]

Haha, watching Tom go through Verbal, Verbal, Verbal....we just did this to our DM over the weekend. We put together a plan for the big bad of our 2 year campaign and used the Gate spell to pull her into a trap and then cast silence so she couldn't teleport away while we wailed down damage and then cast blindness so her attacks were at disadvantage. I was incredibly proud because it was my plan.

[@gigrim54495]

5 monsters with 2 HP bars, but, over all, they have like, a 5th of the HP of the 1 monster.

[@MattCherwin]

Am I misremembering? I thought Mark specifically told Trott last episode that the seed *couldn't* swallow the orb like that? Or did Mark change that in the moment just so he had an excuse to not do 5d10 damage to Lucius? Oh, and you gotta feel bad for Tom as everyone makes fun of him for correctly noting that the wall placement is different. Not that they were required to be the same, but his recommendation to stay three squares away from the wall was perfectly correct based on the previous session.

[@andrewthorpe3377]

I know it's up to them to interpret the rules how they see fit, so I want to acknowledge that first, but wasn't Lucius's wish just the effect of a teleport spell, and thus not really subject to the" lose the wish spell" penalty? He basically used it to recreate a spell, he just didn't specifically name the spell in his wish...

[@mme.veronica735]

teleport has a chance of failure unless you have an item from the place you're teleporting to. Since no dice were rolled for failure and I don't believe Lucious had such an item it is technically beyond any spell of 8th level or lower

[@andrewthorpe3377]

@@mme.veronica735 "The basic use of this spell is to duplicate any other spell of 8th level or lower. You don't need to meet any requirements in that spell, including costly components." I would consider needing an item from the place in order to teleport there without risk a "requirement" that would be waived when using wish to replicate a spell.

[@Blasted2Oblivion]

He also could have used that feature to cast water breathing on the party but that is a different discussion.

[@Kaardoron]

Yes! Mark is a fucking fantastic DM but was way too unfair this time.

[@bryan__m]

I'm so sad the merch store is down. Even though the campaign is over I'd still love to buy one of those dice sets for my upcoming trip to D&D in a Castle!

[@GrynLin]

Kinda harsh interpretation of that Wish, still funny Teleport wasn't the wording

[@Kaardoron]

Yup. Way too harsh

[@adjimbo1619]

Is it just me or is there only 360p vid quality

[@MystWalkur]

!Tom! Mobile Audio isn't working 😢

[@DanielBohnen]

What an odd thing to happen I'm sure it's on KZbin's end but still

[@MommyOfZoeAndLiam]

Enh, I get that it is building to a final encounter, but I am more about story and I wish Kalas was open to actually working together to face Hadar....I don't know, maybe I misunderstood his statement at the end.

[@ItZoTom]

Getting so close to catching up and being able to watch live! Shit is getting crazy and I’m here for it ✌🏻

[@mtbrocket]

I finally got to see this episode. This is sssoooo good. Great job. 😊

[@Durzo]

I did slightly panic about Mother's Day...

[@Derploop]

Doesn't the spell eating reaction only work on spells that aren't instantaneous?

[@itachi112059]

Audio is back!

[@aidanthornton173]

I wonder if charging a greater restoration with a 9th level spell slot and applying it directly to the Titans head would help to clear his mind or, is he completely under Hadars control?

[@Blasted2Oblivion]

I would bet that if it was caught early enough then yes but full blown puppet mode is probably too far gone for greater restoration.

[@MorinehtarTheBlue]

It's a smart idea but I don't think having an instant cure is very strong from a narrative perspective. And if this thing can overcome a Titan's innate resistance to such things than it's a situation where the spells of a mortal caster probably won't help.

[@TheKing-gn9br]

Mark! That was a bit harsh. Lucius literally used the teleport spell! Give him wish back!!!!!!!!!😮😡😡😡😡

[@Kaardoron]

I agree 100%

[@brads2041]

Awesome episode

[@WildStallion67]

THAT ENDING!!!!!

[@Tamyrlin]

Bad call on Wish consequences, Mark! Lucius' wish only replicates a 7th Level Teleport spell (and it doesn't even teleport them that far!). This is not some off-beat, reality-bending magic here, and so the application of the Wish consequences to Lucius is seemingly inappropriate under the circumstances.

[@MystWalkur]

Agreed, I was very confused when Mark started reading out what happens when a spell effect isn't replicated. Just because Trott started RPing what his wish was instead of just saying "I replicate teleport" sucks

[@em688]

Completely agree, especially given he tries to "help" Tom between combats 10 minutes later. Monkey's pawing Lucius for Trott not having an encyclopedic knowledge of his options then performing an analogue of a 0 consequences option with the worst consequences possible was toxic DMing at best.

[@FyreDrac]

​@@em688 or have you considered the concept that dms are human too and make mistakes??

[@em688]

@@FyreDrac don't get me wrong. I'm not saying Mark is a toxic DM in general. I've watched 5 years worth of content and am very supportive of the show in general. I'm saying this particular decision is the kind of thing toxic GMs do, and the way he interacts with Trott in particular (holding him to a much higher standard than the rest of the table and punishing him unnecessarily) is ABSOLUTELY a recurrent borderline toxic behavior. Mark is a great GM. This was one of the worst calls he's made, and it fits with one of his worst patterns and even that's probably only 8 or 10 times over the course of the whole show.

[@mme.veronica735]

ahhh but teleport has a chance for failure, asking for a teleport with absolute certaintity to a place without a teleportation circle and without possessing an associated object comes with a 25% chance of not going where you want

[@JJwatching]

kajskskdod AHHHHHHH THE HONOUR IM GENUINELY AHHHH SUCH A GOOD FEELING

[@IcsulX]

This is the second time Lucious can't cast wish ever again :))

[@diene4music836]

Happy to catch up today

[@JosiahIronclad]

Lucius? I think you mean Lord Lucius Virion-Elluin Elenasto of the Elenastos of Gusthaven.

[@kellygingrich4302]

yay donos are back on the youtube!

[@Techstriker1]

Another! 🌠

[@Ogmetaldad9155]

Johnny and Ellen aren't used to a paladin that does paladin things. Just saying in their defense on reacting to Sentry's damage 😊

[@drmm3r367]

Wait why didn't he just wish to case water breathing

[@placate9051]

I was thinking the same, but I guessing he was panicked and when he doubled checked the wish spell with a cooler head Mark didn't let him change the wish

[@razzlebazzle420]

I think it was more accurate in an RP sense to hold Lucius to the panicked decision: he was drowning! Plus it was a way for Mark to actually put the party on a better footing. They were gonna lose a member, they couldn't breathe, and a minute is a long time in initiative order. It was a good call.

[@Zelmel]

Mark, Americans aren't going "wait, it's not Mother's Day!" They're going "Oh fuck, I forgot it was Mother's Day!" They're not (immediately) giving you crap, they're panicking about pissing off their moms!

[@Derploop]

Real talk, why the fuck didn't Trott just use wish to replicate water breathing? lol

[@BigCheddarMC]

High Rollers is the best !

[@roccolazzari5016]

Ah! I missed the donation readings

[@rozu7772]

Audio's back on! 😃

[@kellygingrich4302]

Lucius does it again.

[@jamesmaceaveli6679]

The last wish 😢

[@SunShine35310]

2:02:18 2:46:00

[@kyleweir689]

HB curse only lasts for one minute, right?

[@davidallen-smith1291]

Starbane a la Knight Artorias

[@toneart1623]

is tom okay

[@wyattfrye8262]

33:32 you can replicate ANY 8th level or lower spell of your choosing…. Water breathing is a level 3 spell…. Teleport is 7th level. Those are the spells you were looking for this kind of effect Mr. Trott. Read. The. Goddamn. Spell.

[@SebastianPedersen91]

While I agree with the sentiment, is not this a very typical Lucius move? Anything else would almost feel a bit out of character :P Also it gives the narrative an interesting/surprising break point, and perhaps new oppertunities. Note: At this point I have not watched much past the event you are referring to in this episode. On the other hand, I would personally cut Trott some slack as a GM, as there migth be some misconception due to how the Wish ring worked - he migth not have realized that the item and the spell worked differently. Just my two cents :)

[@em688]

@@SebastianPedersen91 honestly, the whole thing just felt bad. Mark does this to Trott fairly often, and Trott is by far the most experienced at DND in general, but virtually no one is experienced at extremely high level DND. He CLEARLY hadn't read the spell. There's an obvious interpretation with 0 consequences (Teleport) that even fits within how they played it. He just arbitrarily said "fuck you, no wish in my game anymore because you can't read", and that's a DM faux pax at best. I sincerely hope he does something about it later in the episode. Functionally, Mark cast Teleport and crushed him for fun. Edit: He even asks Tom "are you sure you don't want to heal more outside the fight? You know how much it hits for and you haven't healed enough" 10 minutes later. It's an extreme double standard.

[@Tamyrlin]

I believe this is a bad call by the DM, not by Lucius. Mark should have realized that the wish was essentially replicating a Teleport spell and ruled it as such as far as the consequences of Wish are concerned.

[@Pancakeli]

@@SebastianPedersen91 Well it's less that Trott made the wrong choice, and more that he replicated the effects of a spell of 8th level or lower by teleporting the party above water, and suffered the stress for it as if he hadn't just cast teleport. Edit: this isn't to say anybody's made some terrible awful horrible error that will ruin anybody's experience. I mess up like this all the time, and so do many other dm's and players. There's also some wiggle room for the way Wish considers the range of spells, and since Lucius wasn't within 10 feet of everyone else, it wasn't an exact replication of the Teleport spell. It was an in the moment decision that dm and players all agreed they were happy with, so even if some comment nerds like myself would've made a different decision, it's their game they're playing at the end of the day.

[@MystWalkur]

This is more on Mark than Trott Trott realized at the table that the Trident he was counting on all week to save him wasn't going to work because of attunement. He then talks though his two possible plans with the table, Mark saying dominate monster wont work. I don't understand why they (Trott included) didn't let him talk out the Wish. It wasn't gaming the system, it's a normal thing to do, especially since it was literally just a 7th level teleport. Mark should have said, "So you're saying you want to teleport the party to a safe location? Ok, that sounds like it replicates a spell."

[@Kicksticks]

SPOILERS The more I think about it while I don't think it was thought out too well I believe they made the right call with Wish. Replicating the Teleport spell would have only had a 25-50% chance of working if Casatoros came under Seen casually or Viewed once as well as being On Target. To me I don't think a "chance of faillure" constitutes "safely". Lucius also wasn't thinking about "take me to Casatoros safely" he wanted the Wish spell to "move them" somewhere safe above the water.. just my thoughts on it

[@andrewthorpe3377]

Exactly. Lucious, didn't ask to be teleported to Casatoros. He asked to be teleported somewhere safe above the water's surface, if not using those exact words. The wording of the spell was so vague in regards to where he was trying to go, it would be DM's discretion whether the spell worked or where he went with it, as was the case here. You could argue that because there was no specific place mentioned (though I'm sure Lucious had some place in his mind, Mark just never asked him for specifics) landing in Casatoros could be considered landing on target, off-target, or in a similar area, depending on how you want to look at it. It just doesn't make sense for it to be a mishap. Also, using Wish to replicate a spell means you do not need to meet the requirements in the spell, including components, and if you have an object associated with a location (arguably a component requirement), you can teleport to that location with 0% chance of failure.

[@Kaardoron]

Totally disagree. And Mark should have, at the very least, reminded Trott of the spell replicating effect before making it final.

[@blackh9604]

ITS PRIMED FOR A 20

[@MystLunarabne]

34:00 ...I mean he literally could've just used Wish to cast Water Breathing but ok.

[@dethmin173]

cool

[@jaysmaltz1951]

Why doesn't the enemy have to make a constitution saving throw like you demand from everyone else?

[@FrumpybutSuperSmart]

What are you referring to?

[@that_one_guy_1731]

Where's my sound? 😡

[@Blasted2Oblivion]

Hadar took it.

[@ThunderKnightZ92]

Mark…. Is this the sin spawn on the kilika temples steps? Cool

[@Random_Kelsey]

2:50:33 That's hot